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Show low do you know you are getting too old to wlftcoiiduct your business as you know It ought 3Rlto be conducted? jft An answer to the question from the man 'Bfwho Is beginning to make the statement to his family and near friends ought to contain a fjjllof implied advice for the young man who Is ?wSlsure that ho Is old enough for the problems gffins in hand. Few old mcn admlt that their in- iunes from a lack of knowledge and experience; (is from a physical deterioration which leaves 5 ;h unsteady legs and lax recuperative powers ihcss strain and worry. On the other hand, the in banks upon his leg muscles, his capacity for t Hp, his optimism, and his energy. We iWOn en0l,t- Perhaps, that tnc man with all cal energy should not have also all the J:nowl-0 J:nowl-0 experience of tho business world. Tho comblna-. comblna-. g)"bo Irresistible. But should tho man with all 'Jig ccJeo fall out of line because of a lack of muscle, jfanan the young man should He down because fit he lacks experience? L.ltorally a man is Just as old and just as young an he allows himself to be, and the appreciation appre-ciation of this truth will go far toward a solution of tho' difficulties of the man who Is too old and of the man who is too young. The fact of all stubborn conditions is that the" young man does not become old soon enough, while the old man allows himself to get too old and to stay that way. The young man who may have an abundance of . animal spirits, good nature, energy,, and optimism Is Inclined In-clined to stay young too long under present conditions. Too many counter attractions appeal to him, taking his attentions .from tho everyday conditions which ho needs to face If he would travel toward success. His course in the schools already is shortened, for the most nart. and ho may step into the harness of business or ot tho professions quicker and more easily than ever before. But ho has a younger head on him. with perhaps overdeveloped overdevel-oped legs and arms, when ho Is compared with the man his father was at that age. More tangible things beckon his youth away from tno business world to which lie aspires than beckoned to his father, and stepping Into, the harness of business earlier than his father did. the necessity for cultivating an older head should appeal to him as a business proposition not to bo neglected. ' It has been discovered that the traveling salesman's record-breaking days lie on tho sunny side of -10 years; after -15 years old he loses Jhe Initiative that prompts catching tho earliest trains and staying to the last one with a promising customer. It Is not so much that ho can not physically take up the activities that onco made a record, but that his mental lassitude Interferes with his seeing the necessity for such activities Should the young man at 23 have all tho knowledge, sobriety, and appreciation of the things that may be his naturally at 50. what an advantage h would have In the selfish raco to success! Yet a good deal of this is possible. There Is never a reason why the experiences of the father may , not bo handed down to the son provided th-ro bo mutual Intelligence and the proper spirit developed In tho father. Certainly the greatest capital possessed by the young man toward n business career should be In having a father fa-ther who In every sense Is a good business man. A father who IS a good business man can not fail to have appreciated positions, conditions, opportunities, and tho whole category of possibilities which fall to tho average aver-age man In retrospect after he has passed them. Looking back upon these, where' Is the father who does not seo Ills mistakes? "I have observed that about every flvo years 1 pass through a period In which I wish that I might have done something radically different to what 1 have done." said a friend of tho writer's. "Theso periods began with me before I had reached my majority. Even then I began saying to myself, 'Well, I am a little 'too old now.' and 1 have kept this up, always. But I havo , noticed frequently that after saying as much under such circumstances the thought would stay with me, and I have found myself turning to some of these things three or four years after the original idea and its dismissal on account of age. I have lost time and money and opportunity op-portunity because of the disposition, whereas If I hnd to go through the same conditions again I know I would not balk at such opportunities." Thero are few businesses where head work is necessary nec-essary In conjunction with experience that the man who is old only by years should ndt be a factor In Its success. Tho man with white hair and a clear, sound brain has only Jilmself to blamo if ho is deposed on account of age. Such a man has the warning ot his approaching condition condi-tion In his hair; It is the danger signal' Indicating his growing Infirmities unless ho shall check them. He needs an awakened Interest In tho everyday world around him. to shado his prejudices, to rcnow his appreciations of tho good things of life, to make sure that every day. ho Is nllve and an integral part of the world that is doing things. A business man explained to me tho other day how-it how-it would benefit tho manufactory in which his dearest friend was so deeply Interested, if only that friend's father fa-ther could he taken up literally and tossed out, through a window. The manufactory had experienced a fire and PPPJ heavy loss in consequence. Tho business man had loaned PPfl his services to the extent of his accounting department's PPfl opening a whole new set of books and system of accounts PPfl according to tho latest methods and tendering St to tin PH friend's factory in the new quarters. But the father, as PPfl a silent member of the company, had entered his earnest IPPPJ protest against (lie idea, wholly on the grounds that ho PPPJ himself had established tho business thirty years before PPJ with only tho doublo entry system of accounts, and thot PPPJ a system "good enough for me ought to be good enough IPPPJ for you." At the last accounts the father was holding PPPJ out against the system of books that would give an ab- PPPJ solute record of the business of the house, predicting ruin PPH because of the "new fangled ways" proposed. PPPJ A young, active business man with an idea that ap- pPPJ proaches an Inspiration Is just as much in need of the PPPJ cold water of an older Judicial mind as the old man Is in PPPJ need to seek tho novelty and inspirations of the youthful PPPJ present. An ideal condition should be presented In the PPPJ gray head In co-partnership with the young man in his PPPJ activity. But the two mentalities arc not in harmony PPPJ as a general proposition; the young man finds his ideal PPPJ partner in the young man and the old man finds comfort PPPJ In tho gray head with whom he may exchange rccollec- PPPJ tlon and reminiscences. IPH But all the while tho world is moving faster -than it PPPJ |