MONEY FOR BOYS.
Seven Ways to Get a Place--The Way a Boy Should Advertise--Openings
Everywhere for the Right Kind of Boys--Beating the
Booksellers--Stories About Smart Boys--Twenty-five Hints to Hang
Your Fortune On--How a Towheaded Country Boy Became a Great
Editor--A Barrel Full of Postage Stamps--How a Poor Boy Became the
Richest Man in the Country--The Journey from Nothing to Forty
Millions--The Best School in the World--The Beginnings of Great
Fortunes.
Boys, you can do it! What! get rich? attain to fame? Yes, both. “But I
have no chance.” Neither had Humphry Davy, nor Jay Gould, nor Henry
Wilson. But the first became one of the greatest of scientists; the
second, the richest man in the country; and the third, vice-president of
the United States.
“The best school is the school of adversity,” said Rousseau, who, from a
waiter in a restaurant, became the most noted man of his age. The boy,
Horace Greeley, wandered up and down the streets of New York, asking of
printers if they “wanted a hand,” and was everywhere laughed at and
turned away; and the boy, George W. Childs, worked for $2 a week as a
clerk in a book store, saved money, bought the Philadelphia _Ledger_,
and became a millionaire.
“I have no capital,” you say. But you have ten servants (fingers) to
work for you. Daniel Manning, ex-President Cleveland’s Secretary of
Treasury, started as a newsboy. John Wanamaker, the great merchant,
commenced in a book store at $1.25 a week. Fred Douglass, the colored
orator, began life as a slave without a cent. And P. T. Barnum, the
world-famed showman, rode a horse for ten cents a day. No chances! You
have _five_ on each hand. No capital! It is the _blood_ that fights and
wins. If you have no opportunity, make it. Do not wait for something to
turn up; _turn_ something up. Be a match for events. The world’s great
and rich men have forced their way to success at the bayonet points of
their fingers, and with the iron pry of an unconquerable will. Boys,
here are a few hints for you:
_Section 1. How a Boy can Get a Place._
SEVEN WAYS TO GET A POSITION.
266. FREE SERVICE.--Make friends with a clerk. Offer to go with him on
the delivery wagon. He will be only too glad of your assistance. The
next step will be to help in odd jobs about the store. After a little
familiarity with the business, you will find an opening. Your friendly
clerk will have a sick day, or a leave of absence, or a vacation. The
employer knows you have assisted the clerk, and will gladly give you his
place for a day or a week, and from temporary employment it is but a
step to a permanent place.
267. SPECIAL DEPARTMENT.--Make yourself familiar with a particular
department of the work of shop or store. Suppose you take a pound of
tea. It will surprise you to find out how many things you can learn
about so insignificant a thing as a pound of tea. Ascertain the
different brands; what markets they come from; where they are raised;
how they are manufactured; in what quantities they are shipped; what
are the fluctuations in price; who are the largest dealers; in what
section of the country the trade is chiefly carried on. A study of these
things will suggest other branches. A year given to a study of this
kind, and you will know more about tea than the most trusted employee,
whose knowledge is commonly of a superficial kind. Then, if you have an
opportunity, you can surprise the merchant with a knowledge of his
business, and he will be sure to give you a place as soon as he has an
opening. One merchant says: “I always have a place for a person who can
tell me anything about my business I don’t know myself.”
268. SHOW SUPERIORITY OF GOODS.--A man occupied his spare moments in
measuring the linear feet of advertisements contained in the different
Sunday papers, and sent the result to the one which had printed the
most. Go around among customers and find what brand of goods they like
the best. Then report to the makers of these brands, and you may be sure
they will take an interest in you if they see that you take an interest
in them.
269. ADVERTISING.--Here is an advertisement for the right kind of boy:
“A brisk-footed, up-to-date boy, not afraid to work, will take a place
at low wages for the sake of learning the business.” Here you have four
qualities in two lines--quickness, intelligence, industry, and low
wages--the four things men are looking for, and such an advertisement
will not wait long for a reply.
270. INFLUENCE.--Great names are mighty. Introduce yourself to the
greatest man in your town, and tell him your qualifications and
ambitions. Do not be afraid of him. A truly great man is more willing
to do a real kindness to a meritorious boy than you think. Robert
Lennox, an old-time New York merchant, one Sunday at church saw a timid
young person looking anxiously around as if for a seat. “Come with me,”
said Mr. L., “and I will give you a seat.” The next day the young man
took a letter of recommendation to the store of a merchant. “Can I get a
small bill of goods to begin business with?” he inquired. “I will trust
anybody that Robert Lennox invites into his pew,” was the reply. “I owe
all my success in life,” said Jonathan Sturges, “to the invitation of
Robert Lennox to sit in his pew.” With the great-and-good-man’s
indorsement you will find places waiting for you.
271. A TRIAL WEEK.--All many boys want is a chance. When you apply in
vain for a place, tell the proprietor you are sure that he needs you,
and that you will come a week for nothing (better a month if you can
afford it). If you really have the merit you think you have, it will be
strange if you cannot displace some indolent or indifferent employee.
272. COMMISSION.--Offer to sell the dealer’s goods on commission. You
must leave a deposit to cover the worth of the goods. Take the articles
to your friends and tell them you are trying to get a place. In most
cases, if the goods are cheap, they will try to help you, and you will
be able to make an excellent report to your employer. When he sees that
your service means money in his pocket, he will be eager to employ you
at a salary.
_Section 2. What Boys Can Do._
TWENTY HINTS FOR BOYS.
273. THE BOY MAGICIAN.--For fifty cents you can buy a book entitled
“The Parlor Magician,” containing one hundred tricks for the drawing
room. A few weeks’ practice should make you master of these arts, and
then with your outfit you are ready for a money-making tour. It is best
to take along a friend, as in some of the most clever tricks you will
need an assistant.
274. THE GLASS-BLOWER.--For twenty-five cents you can get a book with
full instructions in the curious art of glass-blowing. The wondrous
forms you will be able to produce, the pleasure of the work, and above
all the money derived from the sale of your products, will delight the
heart of any boy. There is money in glass-blowing after you have
mastered the art, but if you would make a business of it you must
apprentice yourself for a time to a master of the trade.
275. THE DIME LUNCH.--There are thousands of business men and clerks in
our large stores and offices who would prefer to pay ten or fifteen
cents rather than go out to a restaurant. Especially is this the case in
rainy weather. Pretty boxes with tasteful lunches could be prepared at a
small cost, and taken through the places of business. The important item
is attractiveness.
276. CANCELLED STAMPS.--In every large city there are dealers who will
pay you for canceled stamps. Ordinary stamps bring about ten cents per
thousand, but rare ones bring very high prices. Ask all your friends for
their canceled stamps. In a store in New York there are several barrels
full of postage stamps collected by boys. Each barrel contains a
million.
277. THE BOYS’ PRESS.--Do you know you can get a printing press with
complete outfit, a full font of type, and one hundred cards for $3? You
can make money easily by printing cards and doing other small press
jobs. Charge fifty cents, seventy-five cents or $1 for cards, according
to the quality of paper and amount of printing.
278. SAW AND SCROLL.--Most interesting articles, both of use and
ornament, can be made by the scroll-saw. Some have earned boys’ fortunes
in making these curious articles, and there is as much pleasure in
making them as in getting the money for them.
279. THE MAGIC LANTERN.--The very best lantern and slides can be
obtained for $6. From that figure the price runs downward to fifty
cents. Purchase a good one and give parlor exhibitions at a charge of
five cents admission. As you become more expert, you can increase your
price. If you are a success at the business, your services will be in
demand for more pretentious entertainments, where you can make $5 or
more in a single evening.
280. CANDY MAKING.--What can please a boy better than candy making.
Offer your services free for a short time to a confectioner. When you
have learned the trade, which you can do in a little while, commence the
business on your own account in a small way. Beginning with those sweets
which are easily made, you can extend your art as your business
increases until you have a good trade.
281. ODD JOBS.--“I push baby carriages through the park at five cents
apiece,” says a Chicago boy. “I clean and oil bicycles,” says a New
York lad. “I stand on the Boulevard and pump up tires,” declares a
third. “I buy a dozen lemons and a pound of sugar and sell lemonade on
all holidays and at times of parade,” says an enterprising schoolboy. “I
carry bundles and valises from the train, and make often fifty cents a
day,” says a Boston youth. “I hang up a slate on the front gate and take
store orders for neighbors,” says a bright village lad.
282. GENERAL EMPLOYMENT AGENCY.--Inform a hundred or more families in a
particular district that at a certain hour of the day you will be there
to carry messages, roll out barrels of ashes, go on errands, mail
letters, black boots, and do whatever work they may require. If the work
is sufficient to warrant it, a business partnership of boys may be
formed, so that while one is engaged another can go on his usual rounds,
and thus insure punctuality.
283. COLLECT MAGAZINES.--Almost every one takes a literary magazine, and
some take two or three. After a time they become refuse on their hands.
Many persons would gladly give you a truck-load. But these are worth
money, and second-hand dealers who sell them at five cents apiece will
give you three cents for them.
284. VACANT LOT.--If you live in the city, get the owner of a vacant lot
to give you the privilege of raising vegetables. With a little
experience you can easily raise from $50 to $100 worth of vegetables on
a lot 20 × 100 feet. This will go far to eke out the support of a large
family.
285. BICYCLE TEACHING.--Here is a field for a stout lad of fifteen
years. There are thousands of modest young ladies and men, especially
elderly gentlemen, who would like to learn to ride a wheel, but do not
like the publicity of a riding academy. Issue some neat cards and
circulate them from house to house with the information that for the sum
of $1 you will teach any one to ride. Most people have a back yard where
such instruction could be given. Having no rent to pay, you could easily
afford to take them for that price, as you have the advantage over the
professional instructor, both of cheapness and privacy. There is a lot
of money in this for the right kind of a boy.
286. FIRST-COST SALES.--When public attention is aroused upon any
subject, consider how you can turn it to account. Here is what a boy
thirteen years old says: “When ‘Coin’s Financial School’ came out and
the people were talking about it, I wrote to Mr. Harvey, the author, and
got a lot of the books and sold them all before they got into the book
stores here. I have made in this and like enterprises $500.” Like
opportunities were presented in our late war, with the Dewey buttons,
battleship pictures, etc. Keep your eyes open. Opportunities to make
money are all about you. The alert boy makes the successful man.
* * * * *
Boys, there is gold in all the mountains, pearls in all the seas, and
money in every street. Elijah Morse at fifteen years of age bought a
recipe for stove polish, paying $5 for the materials. He peddled it in a
carpetbag, and from this small beginning grew the celebrated “Rising Sun
Stove Polish,” whose huge factory covers four acres at West Canton,
Mass., and whose proprietor is immensely rich. Cornelius Vanderbilt was
a poor boy without a cent. When he died his estate was valued at
$40,000,000.
Boys, there is a fortune for you. It is not to be found, but made by
hard work. Write on your banner, “Luck is a fool. Pluck is a hero.”