“Do you consider,” I said, “that the average American boy of to-day has
equally as good a chance to succeed in the world as you had when you
began life?”
“Every bit, and better. The affairs of life are larger. There are
greater things to do. There was never before such a demand for able
men.”
“Were the conditions surrounding your youth especially difficult?”
“No. They were those common to a very small New York town in 1832. I
was born at Stockbridge, in Madison County. Our family had its roots
in Scotland. My father’s ancestors were the Robertsons, Watsons and
McGregors of Scotland; my mother came of the Puritans who settled in
Connecticut.”
“Dr. Gunsaulus says,” I ventured, “that all these streams of heredity
set toward business affairs.”