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Show I" GETTING A START 1 I f NATHANIEL C. FOWLER., Jr. j (Copyright, 1315. by the" McClure Newspaper "syndicate.) " THE EYE AND THE EAR., Tou were born with an empty brain. Nature did not give you intelligence and refused to contribute even tbe self-preservative Instinct of the animal. ani-mal. All that you know today, and all that you can ever receive, enters your head either through the eye or the ear. Each voluntary or involuntary involun-tary glance of the eye, and each sound which enters your ear, is registered in or on a brain cell, there to remain forever, even though you may forget the occurrence. ..You cannot help seeing, and you cannot can-not help hearing. Much of what you see and what you hear may be of little lit-tle or no consequence to you, ani it would seem a waste of brain material to record these sensations; but, as you cannot avoid this recording, it behooves you to determine, aa far as is within your power, what you shall see and what you shall hear. You must see and you must hear anyway. Will you attempt to regulate the eye and the ear, or wiU you allow al-low them to run amuck? Thousands, yes, millions, of men see and yet see not; and as many hear and yet hear not. They lie dor-man dor-man and allow impressions to come to them and to occupy the cells of their brains, without using discrimination discrimina-tion in the receiving and without attempting at-tempting to utilize the result. One man walks along the city or the village street. His eyes and his ears are receiving innumerable impressions, im-pressions, which he does not attempt to regulate, and which he allows to play havoc with his brain. Another man, while he cannot avoid that which is before him and around him, discriminates, dis-criminates, focuses his eyes and turns his ears toward the sights and sounds which will add to his stock of information. in-formation. ' It is as easy to see and hear intelligently intelli-gently as it is to accept involuntarily impressions and sensations. It is impossible for the bright and intelligent man to look out of the window, to walk along the street, to occupy a chair at his desk, to mingle with his fellow men without obtaining obtain-ing something worth while to him, to his work, and to the world at large. It is not enough to receive, for mere receipts may have no commercial or other value. It is what you do with what you receive that counts in every market. , What you need is everywhere, Indoors, In-doors, outdoors, in the street, in the fields and woods. Will you merely allow it to pass inside of you, either through your eye or through your ear, unconsidered, or will you so regulate your brain that it will separate the wheat from the chaff and place it in a position which will benefit you and your community? Will you be a receiver, a mere retainer, re-tainer, or will you be a mill ever ready to grind the grist that is constantly coming to you? You are master of it all. It is for you to say whether what you receive is to be beneficial or worthless. Receive Re-ceive you must. What are you going to do with what you receive? SNAGS. Progression's marching road is seldom sel-dom straight. It runs along the highways high-ways and into the byways, over the valley, the hills, and the mountains. There is no royal road to success, no easy way of accomplishment, notwithstanding not-withstanding that "Royal Roads" and "Easy Ways" abound in half the spellbinding spell-binding harangues which irresponsible writers and talkers hurl upon their young victims, who, with bated breath, drink in the words which seem to proclaim pro-claim the doctrine of "Something for Nothing," or "Much for Little." I recall an incident: A friend of mine, well grounded in experience, started an enterprise under a new environment. en-vironment. His apparent immediate success was remarkable. The business paid at the start. He was elated. His friends congratulated him. His small capital appeared to be sufficient. Business rolled in and profits seemed assured. This condition continued for many months. Then he struck a dead center. Business dropped off. Profits no longer appeared on the balance bal-ance sheet. To use the language of the streets, he was "up against it," and "up against it" hard. He persevered perse-vered and won, but for nearly a year his nose was at the grindstone. He worked day and night. Every week obstacles ob-stacles presented themselves which appeared to be almost insurmountable. In the end, however, his perseverance, combined with ability and experience, conquered, as is usually the case. Comparatively few men succeed continuously. Few, very few, business busi-ness houses pay a continuous profit. Like our highways, the business road Is not constantly smooth, and it is seldom straight. Gold-tipped prospects pros-pects may be leaden underneath, and the sky is not often clear for more than a few days at a time. It Is sure to be cloudy, it is sure to rain. The glorious encouragement of the sun is not to be wholly depended upon. A dark day is coming. Success depends not only upon capital, cap-ital, experience and ability, but upon an appreciation of possible, if not probable, disaster. The good trade of today may not be duplicated tomorrow. The best of goods do not sell continually, con-tinually, and there Is little profit which does not fluctuate. Even the strongest municipal bond may be worth more today than It will be tomorrow. Nothing in business appears to be standard and sure. $ Every road either has a snag In the middle of it. or there are snags beside be-side it which the storm will drive into the center. Expect difficulties. Anticipate snags, even when you appear to sail on the flood tide of success. Many a yachtsman has started out on a calm morning and been wrecked by the afternoon storm, even during a season of good weather. Reef before the hurricane strikes. Be ready to meet the wind and storm. "Make haste slowly." See that your anchor is ready for heaving, that your linns are strong enough to hold. Be prepared for wind and wave. If they don't come you are fortunate. If they do come your preparation may enable you to ride them and make a safe harbor. Recognize the fact that there is such a thing as a snag, even when you do not see it. It is there, or may be. And, if it is there, do not be discouraged. discour-aged. Do not sit back and wail in listless tone, "Just my luck. I might have known it." Tackle that snag with a mighty determination to wrest it from your path and annihilate it. Then, when It has ceased to be, march on to the next obstruction, fortified by the consciousness of your power to handle what is to come, as well as that which has been. |