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diff --git a/23025-h/23025-h.htm b/23025-h/23025-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec2ac1d --- /dev/null +++ b/23025-h/23025-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9178 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of Business Etiquette, by Nella Henney. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + +div.trans-note {border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; color: black; background: #dee; + margin: 3em 15%; padding: 1em; text-align: center;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: 85%; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%; font-size: 95%;} + + .totoc {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left; font-size: 95%;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Book of Business Etiquette, by Nella Henney + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book of Business Etiquette + +Author: Nella Henney + +Release Date: October 13, 2007 [EBook #23025] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF BUSINESS ETIQUETTE *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Marcia Brooks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images from the Home Economics +Archive: Research, Tradition and History, Albert R. Mann +Library, Cornell University) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1><i>The Book of</i><br /> +BUSINESS ETIQUETTE</h1> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 315px;"><img src="images/p002.jpg" width="315" height="500" alt="p002" title="p002" /></div> +<br /> +<center>COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY<br /> +DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY<br /> +<br /> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION<br /> +INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN<br /> +<br /> +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES<br /> +AT<br /> +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.<br /> +<br /> +<i>First Edition</i></center> + +<h3> +RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED<br /> +(AS BEFITS AN AUTHOR)<br /> +<br /> +TO<br /> +THREE BUSINESS MEN<br /> +</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ACKNOWLEDGMENT" id="ACKNOWLEDGMENT"></a>ACKNOWLEDGMENT</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>It would be a pleasure to call over by name +and thank individually the business men and +the business organizations that so graciously +furnished the material upon which this little +book is based. But the author feels that some +of them will not agree with all the statements +made and the inferences drawn, and for this +reason is unable to do better than give this +meager return for a service which was by no +means meager.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<center><a href="#ACKNOWLEDGMENT"><b>ACKNOWLEDGMENT</b></a></center> +<br /> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Part I" width="70%"> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td><h2>PART I</h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#I"><b>I</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The American Business Man</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#II"><b>II</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Value of Courtesy</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#III"><b>III</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Putting Courtesy Into Business</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#IV"><b>IV</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Personality</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#V"><b>V</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Table Manners</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#VI"><b>VI</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Telephones and Front Doors</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#VII"><b>VII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Traveling and Selling</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#VIII"><b>VIII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Business of Writing</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#IX"><b>IX</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Morals and Manners</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'></td><td><h2>PART II</h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#X"><b>X</b></a></td><td align='left'>“<span class="smcap">Big Business</span>”</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#XI"><b>XI</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In a Department Store</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#XII"><b>XII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A While With a Traveling Man</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#XIII"><b>XIII</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tables for Two Or More</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#XIV"><b>XIV</b></a></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Ladies First?</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="trans-note">Transcriber's Note: Please note that the book does not credit an +author. The Library of Congress lists Nella Henney as the author.</div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h2>PART I</h2> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h1>THE BOOK OF<br /> +BUSINESS ETIQUETTE</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE AMERICAN BUSINESS MAN</h3> + +<p>The business man is the national hero of +America, as native to the soil and as typical of +the country as baseball or Broadway or big advertising. +He is an interesting figure, picturesque +and not unlovable, not so dashing perhaps +as a knight in armor or a soldier in uniform, but +he is not without the noble (and ignoble) qualities +which have characterized the tribe of man +since the world began. America, in common +with other countries, has had distinguished +statesmen and soldiers, authors and artists—and +they have not all gone to their graves unhonored +and unsung—but the hero story which belongs +to her and to no one else is the story of the +business man.</p> + +<p>Nearly always it has had its beginning in humble +surroundings, with a little boy born in a log<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +cabin in the woods, in a wretched shanty at the +edge of a field, in a crowded tenement section or +in the slums of a foreign city, who studied and +worked by daylight and firelight while he made +his living blacking boots or selling papers until +he found the trail by which he could climb to +what we are pleased to call success. Measured +by the standards of Greece and Rome or the +Middle Ages, when practically the only form of +achievement worth mentioning was fighting to +kill, his career has not been a romantic one. It +has had to do not with dragons and banners and +trumpets, but with stockyards and oil fields, with +railroads, sewer systems, heat, light, and water +plants, telephones, cotton, corn, ten-cent stores +and—we might as well make a clean breast of it—chewing +gum.</p> + +<p>We have no desire to crown the business man +with a halo, though judging from their magazines +and from the stories which they write of +their own lives, they are almost without spot or +blemish. Most of them seem not even to have +had faults to overcome. They were born perfect. +Now the truth is that the methods of accomplishment +which the American business man +has used have not always been above reproach +and still are not. At the same time it would not +be hard to prove that he—and here we are speak<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>ing +of the average—with all his faults and failings +(and they are many), with all his virtues +(and he is not without them), is superior in character +to the business men of other times in other +countries. This without boasting. It would be +a great pity if he were not.</p> + +<p>Without trying to settle the question as to +whether he is good or bad (and he really can be +pigeon-holed no better than any one else) we +have to accept this: He is the biggest factor in +the American commonwealth to-day. It follows +then, naturally, that what he thinks and feels +will color and probably dominate the ideas and +the ideals of the rest of the country. Numbers +of our magazines—and they are as good an index +as we have to the feeling of the general public—are +given over completely to the service or +the entertainment of business men (the T. B. +M.) and an astonishing amount of space is devoted +to them in most of the others.</p> + +<p>It may be, and as a matter of fact constantly +is, debated whether all this is good for the country +or not. We shall not go into that. It has +certainly been good for business, and in considering +the men who have developed our industries +we have to take them, and maybe it is just as +well, as they are and not as we think they ought +to be.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was a time when the farmer was the +principal citizen. And the politician ingratiated +himself with the people by declaring that +he too had split rails and followed the plow, +had harvested grain and had suffered from wet +spells and dry spells, low prices, dull seasons, +hunger and hardship. This is still a pretty sure +way to win out, but there are others. If he can +refer feelingly to the days when he worked and +sweated in a coal mine, in a printing shop, a cotton, +wool, or silk mill, steel or motor plant, he +can hold his own with the ex-farmer's boy. We +have become a nation of business men. Even +the “dirt” farmer has become a business man—he +has learned that he not only has to produce, he +must find a market for his product.</p> + +<p>In comparing the business man of the present +with the business man of the past we must remember +that he is living in a more difficult world. +Life was comparatively simple when men +dressed in skins and ate roots and had their +homes in scattered caves. They felt no need for +a code of conduct because they felt no need for +one another. They depended not on humanity +but on nature, and perhaps human brotherhood +would never have come to have a meaning if +nature had not proved treacherous. She gave +them berries and bananas, sunshine and soft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +breezes, but she gave them trouble also in the +shape of wild beasts, and savages, terrible +droughts, winds, and floods. In order to fight +against these enemies, strength was necessary, +and when primitive men discovered that two +were worth twice as much as one they began to +join forces. This was the beginning of civilization +and of politeness. It rose out of the oldest +instinct in the world—self-preservation.</p> + +<p>When men first organized into groups the +units were small, a mere handful of people under +a chief, but gradually they became larger and +larger until the nations of to-day have grown +into a sort of world community composed of +separate countries, each one supreme in its own +domain, but at the same time bound to the others +by economic ties stronger than sentimental or +political ones could ever be. People are now +more dependent on one another than they have +ever been before, and the need for confidence is +greater. We cannot depend upon one another +unless we can trust one another.</p> + +<p>The American community is in many respects +the most complex the world has ever seen, and +the hardest to manage. In other countries the +manners have been the natural result of the +national development. The strong who had +risen to the top in the struggle for existence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +formed themselves into a group. The weak who +stayed at the bottom fell into another, and the +bulk of the populace, which, then as now, came +somewhere in between, fell into a third or was +divided according to standards of its own. Custom +solidified the groups into classes which became +so strengthened by years of usage that even +when formal distinctions were broken down the +barriers were still too solid for a man who was +born into a certain group to climb very easily +into the one above him. Custom also dictated +what was expected of the several classes. Each +must be gracious to those below and deferential +to those above. The king, because he was king, +must be regal. The nobility must, <i>noblesse +oblige</i>, be magnificent, and as for the rest of the +people, it did not matter much so long as they +worked hard and stayed quiet. There were upheavals, +of course, and now and then a slave with +a braver heart and a stouter spirit than his companions +incited them to rebellion. His head was +chopped off for his pains and he was promptly +forgotten. The majority of the people for thousands +of years honestly believed that this was the +only orderly basis upon which society could be +organized.</p> + +<p>Nebulous ideas of a brotherhood, in which each +man was to have an equal chance with every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +other, burned brightly for a little while in various +parts of the world at different times, and flickered +out. They broke forth with the fury of an +explosion in France during the Revolution and +in Russia during the Red Terror. They have +smoldered quietly in some places and had just +begun to break through with a steady, even +flame. But America struck the match and gathered +the wood to start her own fire. She is the +first country in the world which was founded especially +to promote individual freedom and the +brotherhood of mankind. She had, to change +the figure slightly, a blue-print to start with and +she has been building ever since.</p> + +<p>Her material came from the eastern hemisphere. +The nations there at the time when the +United States was settled were at different +stages of their development. Some were vigorous +with youth, some were in the height of their +glory, and some were dying because the descendants +of the men who had made them great were +futile and incapable. These nations were different +in race and religion, in thought, language, +traditions, and temperament. When they were +not quarreling with each other, they were busy +with domestic squabbles. They had kept this +up for centuries and were at it when the settlers +landed at Jamestown and later when the <i>May<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>flower</i> +came to Plymouth Rock. Yet, with a +cheerful disregard of the past and an almost sublime +hope in the future they expected to live happily +ever after they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. +Needless to add, they did not.</p> + +<p>Accident of place cannot change a man's +color (though it may bleach it a shade lighter or +tan it a shade darker), nor his religion nor any of +the other racial and inherent qualities which are +the result of slow centuries of development. +And the same elements which made men fight in +the old countries set them against each other in +the new. Most of the antagonisms were and +are the result of prejudices, foolish narrow prejudices, +which, nevertheless, must be beaten +down before we can expect genuine courtesy.</p> + +<p>Further complications arose, and are still arising, +from the fact that we did not all get here at +the same time. Those who came first have inevitably +and almost unconsciously formulated +their own system of manners. Wherever there +is community life and a certain amount of leisure +there is a standard of cultivated behavior. And +America, young as she is, has already accumulated +traditions of her own.</p> + +<p>It is beyond doubt that the men who came +over in the early days were, as a rule, better timber +than the ones who come now. They came to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +live and die, if necessary, for a religious or a political +principle, for adventure, or like the debtors +in Oglethorpe's colony in Georgia, to wipe +clean the slate of the past and begin life again. +To-day they come to make money or because +they think they will find life easier here than it +was where they were. And one of the chief reasons +for the discontent and unrest (and, incidentally, +rudeness) which prevails among them +is that they find it hard. We are speaking in +general terms. There are glorious exceptions.</p> + +<p>The sturdy virtues of the pioneers did not include +politeness. They never do. So long as +there is an animal fear of existence man cannot +think of minor elegances. He cannot live by +bread alone, but he cannot live at all without it. +Bread must come first. And the Pilgrim Father +was too busy learning how to wring a living from +the forbidding rocks of New England with one +hand while he fought off the Indians with the +other to give much time to tea parties and luncheons. +Nowhere in America except in the South, +where the leisurely life of the plantations gave +opportunity for it, was any great attention paid +to formal courtesy. But everywhere, as soon as +the country had been tamed and prosperity began +to peep over the horizon, the pioneers began +to grow polite. They had time for it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>What we must remember—and this is a reason, +not an excuse, for bad manners—is that these +new people coming into the country, the present-day +immigrants, are pioneers, and that the life +is not an easy one whether it is lived among a +wilderness of trees and beasts in a forest or a +wilderness of men and buildings in a city. The +average American brings a good many charges +against the foreigner—some of them justified, +for much of the “back-wash” of Europe and +Asia has drifted into our harbor—but he must +remember this: Whatever his opinion of the +immigrant may be the fault is ours—he came +into this country under the sanction of our laws. +And he is entitled to fair and courteous treatment +from every citizen who lives under the folds +of the American flag.</p> + +<p>The heterogeneous mixture which makes up +our population is a serious obstacle (but not an +insuperable one) in the way of courtesy, but +there is another even greater. The first is +America's problem. The second belongs to the +world.</p> + +<p>Material progress has raced so far ahead of +mental and spiritual progress that the world itself +is a good many years in advance of the people +who are living in it. Our statesmen ride to +Washington in automobiles and sleeping cars,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +but they are not vastly preferable to those who +went there in stagecoaches and on horseback. +In other words, there has been considerably more +improvement in the vehicles which fill our highways +than there has been in the people who ride +in them.</p> + +<p>The average man—who is, when all is said and +done, the most important person in the state—has +stood still while the currents of science and +invention have swept past him. He has watched +the work of the world pass into the keeping of +machines, shining miracles of steel and electricity, +and has forgot himself in worshipping them. +Now he is beginning to realize that it is much +easier to make a perfect machine than it is to +find a perfect man to put behind it, and that man +himself, even at his worst (and that is pretty +bad) is worth more than anything else in the +scheme of created things.</p> + +<p>This tremendous change in environment resulting +from the overwhelming domination of +machinery has brought about a corresponding +change in manners. For manners consist, in the +main, of adapting oneself to one's surroundings. +And the story of courtesy is the story of evolution.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to run some of our conventions +back to their origin. Nearly every one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +them grew out of a practical desire for lessening +friction or making life pleasanter. The first +gesture of courtesy was, no doubt, some form of +greeting by which one man could know another +as a friend and not an enemy. They carried +weapons then as habitually as they carry watches +to-day and used them as frequently, so that when +a man approached his neighbor to talk about the +prospects of the sugar or berry crop he held out +his right hand, which was the weapon hand, as a +sign of peace. This eventually became the handshake. +Raising one's hat is a relic of the days +of chivalry when knights wore helmets which +they removed when they came into the house, +both because they were more comfortable without +them and because it showed their respect for +the ladies, whom it was their duty to serve. And +nearly every other ceremony which has lasted +was based on common sense. “Etiquette,” as +Dr. Brown has said, “with all its littlenesses and +niceties, is founded upon a central idea of right +and wrong.”</p> + +<p>The word “courtesy” itself did not come into +the language until late (etiquette came even +later) and then it was used to describe the polite +practices at court. It was wholly divorced from +any idea of character, and the most fastidious +gentlemen were sometimes the most complete<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +scoundrels. Even the authors of books of etiquette +were men of great superficial elegance +whose moral standards were scandalously low. +One of them, an Italian, was banished from court +for having published an indecent poem and +wrote his treatise on polite behavior while he +was living in enforced retirement in his villa outside +the city. It was translated for the edification +of the young men of England and France +and served as a standard for several generations. +Another, an Englishman, spent the later years of +his life writing letters to his illegitimate son, telling +him exactly how to conduct himself in the +courtly (and more or less corrupt) circles to +which his noble rank entitled him. The letters +were bound into a fat, dreary volume which still +sits on the dust-covered shelves of many a library, +and the name of the author has become a synonym +for exquisite manners. Influential as he +was in his own time, however, neither he nor any +of the others of the early arbiters of elegance +could set himself up as a dictator of what is polite +to American men, of no matter what class, and +get by with it. Not very far by, at any rate.</p> + +<p>It is impossible now to separate courtesy and +character. Politeness is a fundamental, not a +superficial, thing. It is the golden rule translated +into terms of conduct. It is not a white-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>wash +which, if laid on thick enough, will cover +every defect. It is a clear varnish which shows +the texture and grain of the wood beneath. In +the ideal democracy the ideal citizen is the man +who is not only incapable of doing an ungallant +or an ungracious thing, but is equally incapable +of doing an unmanly one. There is no use lamenting +the spacious days of long ago. Wishing +for them will not bring them back. Our +problem is to put the principles of courtesy into +practice even in this hurried and hectic Twentieth +Century of ours. And since the business man is +in numbers, and perhaps in power also, the most +consequential person in the country, it is of most +importance that he should have a high standard +of behavior, a high standard of civility, which +includes not only courtesy but everything which +has to do with good citizenship.</p> + +<p>We have no desire for candy-box courtesy. It +should be made of sterner stuff. Nor do we care +for the sort which made the polite Frenchman +say, “Excusez-moi” when he stabbed his adversary. +We can scarcely hope just yet to attain +to the magnificent calm which enabled Marie +Antoinette to say, “I'm sorry. I did not do it +on purpose,” when she stepped on the foot of her +executioner as they stood together on the scaffold, +or Lord Chesterfield, gentleman to the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +end, to say, “Give Dayrolles a chair” when his +physician came into the room in which he lay dying. +But we do want something that will enable +us to live together in the world with a minimum +degree of friction.</p> + +<p>The best of us get on one another's nerves, +even under ordinary conditions, and it takes infinite +pains and self-control to get through a trying +day in a busy office without striking sparks +somewhere. If there is a secret of success, and +some of the advertisements seem trying to persuade +us that it is all secret, it is the ability to +work efficiently and pleasantly with other people. +The business man never works alone. He +is caught in the clutches of civilization and there +is no escape. He is like a man climbing a mountain +tied to a lot of other men climbing the same +mountain. What each one does affects all the +others.</p> + +<p>We do not want our people to devote themselves +entirely to the art of being agreeable. If +we could conceive of a world where everybody +was perfectly polite and smiling all the time we +should hardly like to live in it. It is human nature +not to like perfection, and most of us, if +brought face to face with that model of behavior, +Mr. Turveydrop, who spent his life serving as a +pattern of deportment, would sympathize with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +the delightful old lady who looked at him in the +full flower of his glory and cried viciously (but +under her breath) “I could bite you!”</p> + +<p>When Pope Benedict XI sent a messenger to +Giotto for a sample of his work the great artist +drew a perfect circle with one sweep of his arm +and gave it to the boy. Before his death Giotto +executed many marvelous works of art, not one +of them perfect, not even the magnificent bell +tower at Florence, but all of them infinitely +greater than the circle. It is better, whether +one is working with bricks or souls, to build +nobly than to build perfectly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<h3>THE VALUE OF COURTESY</h3> + +<p>Every progressive business man will agree +with the successful Western manufacturer who +says that “courtesy can pay larger dividends in +proportion to the effort expended than any other +of the many human characteristics which might +be classed as Instruments of Accomplishment.” +But this was not always true. In the beginning +“big business” assumed an arrogant, high-handed +attitude toward the public and rode +rough-shod over its feelings and rights whenever +possible. This was especially the case among +the big monopolies and public service corporations, +and much of the antagonism against the +railroads to-day is the result of the methods they +used when they first began to lay tracks and +carry passengers. Nor was this sort of thing +limited to the large concerns. Small business +consisted many times of trickery executed according +to David Harum's motto of “Do unto +the other feller as he would like to do unto +you, but do him fust.” The public is a long-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>suffering +body and the business man is a hard-headed +one, but after a while the public began to +realize that it was not necessary to put up with +gross rudeness and the business man began to realize +that a policy of pleasantness was much better +than the “treat 'em rough” idea upon which +he had been acting. He deserves no special credit +for it. It was as simple and as obvious a thing +as putting up an umbrella when it is raining.</p> + +<p>People knew, long before this enlightened era +of ours, that politeness had value. In one of the +oldest books of good manners in the English +language a man with “an eye to the main chance” +advised his pupils to cultivate honesty, gentleness, +propriety, and deportment because they +paid. But it has not been until recently that +business men as a whole have realized that courtesy +is a practical asset to them. Business cannot +be separated from money and there is no use +to try. Men work that they may live. And the +reason they have begun to develop and exploit +courtesy is that they have discovered that it +makes for better work and better living. Success, +they have learned, in spite of the conspicuous +wealth of several magnates who got their +money by questionable means, depends upon +good will and good will depends upon the square +deal courteously given.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>The time is within the memory of living men, and +very young men at that, when the idea of putting +courtesy into business dealings sprang up, but it +has taken hold remarkably. When the Hudson +Tubes were opened not quite a decade and a half +ago Mr. McAdoo inaugurated what was at that +time an almost revolutionary policy. He took +the motto, “The Public be Pleased,” instead of +the one made famous by Mr. Vanderbilt, and +posted it all about, had pamphlets distributed, +and made a speech on courtesy in railroad management +and elsewhere. Since that time, not +altogether because of the precedent which had +been established, but because people were beginning +to realize that with this new element creeping +into business the old régime had to die because +it could not compete with it, there have +been all sorts of courtesy campaigns among railroad +and bus companies, and even among post +office and banking employees, to mention only +two of the groups notorious for haughty and +arrogant behavior. The effects of a big telephone +company have been so strenuous and so +well planned and executed that they are reserved +for discussion in another chapter.</p> + +<p>Mr. McAdoo tells a number of charming +stories which grew out of the Hudson Tubes experiment. +One day during a political convention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +when he was standing in the lobby of a hotel in +a certain city a jeweler came over to him after +a slight moment of hesitation, gave him one of +his cards and said, “Mr. McAdoo, I owe you a +great debt of gratitude. For that,” he added, +pointing to “The Public be Pleased” engraved +in small letters on the card just above his name. +“I was in New York the day the tunnel was +opened,” he continued, “and I heard your speech, +and said to myself that it might be a pretty good +idea to try that in the jewelry trade. And would +you believe it, my profits during the first year +were more than fifty per cent bigger than they +were the year before?” And we venture to add +that the jeweler was more than twice as happy +and that it was not altogether because there was +more money in his coffers.</p> + +<p>Mr. McAdoo is a man with whom courtesy is +not merely a policy: it is a habit as well. He +places it next to integrity of character as a qualification +for a business man, and he carries it into +every part of his personal activity, as the statesmen +and elevator boys, waiters and financiers, +politicians and stenographers with whom he has +come into contact can testify. “I never have a +secretary,” he says, “who is not courteous, no +matter what his other qualifications may be.” +During the past few years Mr. McAdoo has been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +placed in a position to be sought after by all +kinds of people, and in nearly every instance he +has given an interview to whoever has asked for +it. “I have always felt,” we quote him again, +“that a public servant should be as accessible to +the public as possible.” Courtesy with him, as +with any one else who makes it a habit, has a +cumulative effect. The effect cannot always be +traced as in the case of the jeweler or in the story +given below in which money plays a very negligible +part, but it is always there.</p> + +<p>On one occasion—this was when he was president +of the Hudson Railroad—Mr. McAdoo +was on his way up to the Adirondacks when the +train broke down. It was ill provided for such +a catastrophe, there was no dining car, only a +small buffet, and the wait was a long and trying +one. When Mr. McAdoo after several hours +went back to the buffet to see if he could get a +cup of coffee and some rolls he found the conductor +almost swamped by irate passengers who +blamed him, in the way that passengers will, for +something that was no more his fault than theirs. +The conductor glanced up when Mr. McAdoo +came in, expecting him to break into an explosion +of indignation, but Mr. McAdoo said, +“Well, you have troubles enough already without +my adding to them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>.”</p> + +<p>The conductor stepped out of the group. +“What did you want, sir?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Why, nothing, now,” Mr. McAdoo responded. +“I did want a cup of coffee, but never +mind about it.”</p> + +<p>“Come into the smoker here,” the conductor +said. “Wait a minute.”</p> + +<p>The conductor disappeared and came back in +a few minutes with coffee, bread, and butter. +Mr. McAdoo thanked him warmly, gave him his +card and told him that if he ever thought he +could do anything for him to let him know. The +conductor looked at the card.</p> + +<p>“Are you the president of the Hudson Railroad?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Well, maybe there's something you can do +for me now. There are two men out here who +say they are going to report me for what happened +this morning. You know how things have +been, and if they do, I wish you would write to +headquarters and explain. I'm in line for promotion +and you know what a black mark means +in a case like that.”</p> + +<p>Mr. McAdoo assured him that he would write +if it became necessary. The men were bluffing, +however, and the complaint was never sent in. +Apparently the incident was closed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<p>Several years later Mr. McAdoo's son was +coming down from the Adirondacks when he lost +his Pullman ticket. He did not discover the +fact until he got to the station, and then he had +no money and no time to get any by wire before +the train left. He went to the conductor, explained +his dilemma, and told him that if he +would allow him to ride down to the city his +father, who was to meet him at the Grand Central +station, would pay him for the ticket. The +conductor liked the youngster—perhaps because +there was something about him that reminded +him of his father, for as chance would +have it, the conductor was the same one who +had brought Mr. McAdoo the coffee and +bread in the smoking car so many months +before.</p> + +<p>“Who is your father?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Mr. McAdoo.”</p> + +<p>“President of the Hudson Railroad?”</p> + +<p>“Yes.”</p> + +<p>“Boy, you can have the train!”</p> + +<p>So far as monetary value of courtesy is concerned +we might recount hundreds of instances +where a single act of politeness brought in thousands +of dollars. Only the other morning the +papers carried the story of a man who thirty +years ago went into a tailor's shop with a ragged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +tear in his trousers and begged the tailor to mend +it and to trust him for the payment which +amounted to fifty cents. The tailor agreed +cheerfully enough and the man went his way, +entered business and made a fortune. He died +recently and left the tailor fifty thousand dollars. +Not long before that there was a story of +an old woman who came to New York to visit +her nephew—it was to be a surprise—and lost +her bearings so completely when she got into the +station that she was about ready to turn around +and go back home when a very polite young man +noticed her bewilderment. He offered his services, +called a taxi and deposited her in front of +her nephew's door in half an hour. She took his +name and address and a few days later he received +a check large enough to enable him to +enter the Columbia Law School. A banker is +fond of telling the story of an old fellow who +came into his bank one day in a suit of black so +old that it had taken on a sickly greenish tinge. +He fell into the hands of a polite clerk who answered +all his questions—and there were a great +many of them—clearly, patiently, and courteously. +The old man went away but came back +in a day or so with $300,000 which he placed on +deposit. “I did have some doubts,” he said, +“but this young man settled them all.” Word<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +of it went to people in authority and the clerk +was promoted.</p> + +<p>Now it is pleasant to know that these good +people were rewarded as they deserved to be. +We would be very happy if we could promise a +like reward to every one who is similarly kind, +but it is no use. The little words of love and the +little deeds of kindness go often without recompense +so far as we can see, except that they happify +the world, but that in itself is no small +return.</p> + +<p>Courtesy pays in dollars and cents but its +value goes far beyond that. It is the chief element +in building good will—we are speaking +now of courtesy as an outgrowth of character—and +good will is to a firm what honor is to a man. +He can lose everything else but so long as he +keeps his honor he has something to build with. +In the same way a business can lose all its material +assets and can replace them with insurance +money or something else, but if it loses its good +will it will find in ninety cases out of a hundred +that it is gone forever and that the business itself +has become so weakened that there is nothing +left but to reorganize it completely and blot out +the old institution altogether.</p> + +<p>One must not make the mistake of believing +that good will can be built on courtesy alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +Courtesy must be backed up by something more +solid. An excellent comparison to show the relation +that good manners bear to uprightness +and integrity of character was drawn a number +of years ago by a famous Italian prelate. We +shall paraphrase the quaint English of the original +translator. “Just as men do commonly +fear beasts that are cruel and wild,” he says, +“and have no manner of fear of little ones such +as gnats and flies, and yet because of the continual +nuisance which they find them, complain +more of these than they do of the other: so most +men hate the unmannerly and untaught as much +as they do the wicked, and more. There is no +doubt that he who wishes to live, not in solitary +and desert places, like a hermit, but in fellowship +with men, and in populous cities, will find it a +very necessary thing, to have skill to put himself +forth comely and seemly in his fashions, gestures, +and manners: the lack of which do make +other virtues lame.”</p> + +<p>Granting dependability of character, courtesy +is the next finest business builder an organization +can have. One of the largest trust companies +in the world was built up on this hypothesis. A +good many years ago the man who is responsible +for its growth was cashier in a “busted” bank in +a small city. The situation was a desperate one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +for the bank could not do anything more for its +customers than it was already doing. It could +not give them more interest on their money and +most of its other functions were mechanical. The +young cashier began to wonder why people went +to one bank in preference to another and in his +own mind drew a comparison between the banking +and the clothing business. He always went +to the haberdasher who treated him best. Other +men he knew did the same thing. Would not +the same principle work in a bank? Would not +people come to the place which gave them the +best service? He decided to try it. Not only +would they give efficient service, they would give +it pleasantly. It was their last card but it was +a trump. It won. The bank began to prosper. +People who were annoyed by rude, brusque, or +indifferent treatment in other banks came to this +one. The cashier was raised to a position of importance +and in an incredibly short time was +made president of a trust company in New York. +He carried with him exactly the same principle +that had worked so well in the little bank +and the result in the big one was exactly the +same.</p> + +<p>In a leaflet which is in circulation among the +employees at this institution there are these paragraphs:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>We ask you to remember:</p> + +<p>That our customers <i>can</i> get along without us.</p> + +<p>(There are in Greater New York nearly one hundred +banks and trust companies, every one of them actively +seeking business.)</p> + +<p>We <i>cannot</i> get along without our customers.</p> + +<p>A connection which, perhaps, it has taken us several +months to establish, can be terminated by one careless or +discourteous act.</p> + +<p>Our customers are asked to maintain balances of certain +proportions. If they wish to borrow money, they +must deposit collateral. They must repay loans when they +mature; or arrange for their extension.</p> + +<p>If a bank errs, it must err on the side of safety, for +the money it loans is not its own money but the money of +its depositors. We (and every other bank and trust company) +operate almost entirely on money which our customers +have deposited with us. The least we can do, then, +is to serve them courteously. They really are our employers.</p> + +<p>Ours is a semi-public institution.</p> + +<p>Every day, men try to interest us in matters with +which we have no concern. It is our duty to tell these +men, very courteously, why their proposals do not appeal +to us. But they are entitled to a hearing. It may be +that they are not in a position to benefit us, and never will +be. But almost every man can harm us, if he tries to do +so. And a pleasantly expressed declination invariably +makes a better impression than a favor grudgingly granted. +We ask you, then, to remember that our growth—and your +opportunities—depend not only upon the friends we make, +but <i>the enemies we do not make</i>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +Remember names and faces. Do something, say something +that will bring home to those who do business with +us the fact that the Blank Trust Company is a very human +institution—that it wants the good will of every man and +woman in the country.</p></div> + +<p>That is the kind of courtesy which has builded +this particular organization. It is a pleasure to +visit it to-day because of the spirit of coöperation +which animates it. They have done away +with the elaborate spy systems in use in so many +banks, although they keep the management well +enough in hand to be able to fasten the blame for +mistakes upon the right person. The employees +work with one another and with the president, +whom they adore. It is, as a matter of fact, +largely the influence of the personality of the +president filtering down through the ranks which +has made possible the phenomenal success which +the institution has enjoyed during the past few +years, another proof of the fact that every institution—and +Emerson was speaking of great institutions +when he said it—“is the lengthened +shadow of one man.”</p> + +<p>Banks have almost a peculiar problem. Money +is a mighty power, and to the average person +there is something very awesome about the place +where it is kept. Mr. Stephen Leacock is not +the only man who ever went into a bank with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +funny little guilty feeling even when he had +money in it. When one is in this frame of mind +it takes very little on the part of the clerk to +make him believe that he has been treated rudely. +Bank clerks are notoriously haughty, but the +fault is often as much in the person on the outside +as in the one on the inside of the bars, especially +when he has come in to draw out money +which he knows he should not, such as his savings +bank account, for instance. The other day a +young man went into a savings bank to draw +out all of his money for a purpose which he knew +was extravagant although he had persuaded +himself that it was not. Throughout the whole +time he was in the bank he was treated with perfect +courtesy, but in spite of it he came out growling +about “the dirty look the paying teller gave +him!”</p> + +<p>It is not only in the first contact that civility +is important. Eternal vigilance is the price of +success as well as of liberty. Another incident +from the banking business illustrates this. Several +years ago a bank which had been steadily +losing customers called in a publicity expert to +build up trade for them. The man organized a +splendid campaign and things started off with a +flourish. People began to come in most gratifying +numbers. But they did not stay. An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +investigation conducted by the publicity man +disclosed the fact that they had been driven away +by negligent and discourteous service. He went +to the president of the bank and told him that he +was wasting money building up advertising so +long as his bank maintained its present attitude +toward the public. The president was a man +of practical sense. There was a general clearing +up, those who were past reform were discharged +and those who stayed were given careful training +in what good breeding meant and there was no +more trouble. Advertising will bring in a customer +but it takes courtesy to keep him.</p> + +<p>Business, like nearly everything else, is easier +to tear down than to build up, and one of the +most devastating instruments of destruction is +discourtesy. A contact which has taken years +to build can be broken off by one snippy letter, +one pert answer, or one discourteous response +over the telephone. Even collection letters, no +matter how long overdue the accounts are, bring +in more returns when they are written with tact +and diplomacy than when these two qualities are +omitted. If you insult a man who owes you +money he feels that the only way he can get +even is not to pay you, and in most cases, he can +justify himself for not doing it.</p> + +<p>Within the organization itself a courteous at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>titude +on the part of the men in positions of +authority toward those beneath them is of immense +importance. Sap rises from the bottom, +and a business has arrived at the point of stagnation +when the men at the top refuse to listen to or +help those around them. It is, as a rule, however, +not the veteran in commercial affairs but +the fledgling who causes most trouble by his bad +manners. Young men, especially young men +who have been fortunate in securing material advantages, +too many times look upon the world +as an accident placed here for their personal enjoyment. +It never takes long in business to relieve +their minds of this delusion, but they sometimes +accomplish a tremendous amount of damage +before it happens. For a pert, know-it-all +manner coupled with the inefficiency which is almost +inseparable from a total lack of experience +is not likely to make personal contacts pleasant. +Every young man worth his salt believes that he +can reform the world, but every old man who has +lived in it knows that it cannot be done. Somewhere +half way between they meet and say, +“We'll keep working at it just the same,” and +then business begins to pick up. But reaching +the meeting ground takes tolerance and patience +and infinite politeness from both sides.</p> + +<p>“It is the grossest sort of incivility,” the quo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>tation +is not exact, for we do not remember the +source, “to be contemptuous of any kind of +knowledge.” And herein lies the difficulty between +the hard-headed business man of twenty +years' experience and the youngster upon whose +diploma the ink has not yet dried. “Ignorance,” +declares a man who has spent his life in +trying to draw capital and labor together and +has succeeded in hundreds of factories, “is the +cause of all trouble.” And a lack of understanding, +which is a form of ignorance, is the +cause of nearly all discourtesy.</p> + +<p>So long as there is discourtesy in the world +there must be protection against it, and the best, +cheapest, and easiest means of protection is courtesy +itself. Boats which are in constant danger +of being run into, such as the tug and ferry boats +in a busy harbor, are fitted out with buffers or +fenders which are as much a part of their equipment +as the smokestack, and in many cases, as +necessary. Ocean liners carry fenders to be +thrown over the side when there is need for them, +but this naturally is not as often as in more +crowded waters. A single boat on a deserted +sea with nothing but sea-gulls and flying fish in +sight cannot damage any one besides herself. But +the moment she enters a harbor she has to take +into account every other vessel in it from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +<i>Aquitania</i> to the flat-bottomed row-boat with +only one man in it. It is a remarkable fact that +most of the boats that are injured or sunk by +collision are damaged by vessels much smaller +than themselves. Most of these accidents (this +statement is given on the authority of an able +seaman) could have been prevented by the use of +a fender thrown over the side at the proper moment. +Politeness is like this. It is the finest +shock absorber in the world, as essential from an +economic point of view as it is pleasant from a +social one. In business there is no royal isolation. +We are all ferry boats. We need our +shock absorbers every minute of the day.</p> + +<p>No boat has a right to run into another, but +they do it just the same, and a shock absorber is +worth all the curses the captain and the crew can +pronounce, however righteous their indignation +toward the offending vessel. Sometimes politeness +is better than justice.</p> + +<p>Most of the causes of irritation during the +course of a business day are too petty to bother +about. Many of them could be ignored and a +good many more could be laughed at. A sense +of humor and a sense of proportion would do +away with ninety per cent of all the wrangling +in the world. Some one has said, and not without +truth, that a highly developed sense of humor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +would have prevented the World War. Too +many people use sledge-hammers when tack +hammers would do just as well. They belong in +the same company with William Jay whose immortal +epitaph bears these words:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Here lies the body of William Jay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who died maintaining his right of way.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He was right, dead right, as he sped along,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Courtesy is restful. A nervous frenzy of +energy throughout the day leaves one at sunset +as exhausted as a punctured balloon. The fussy +little fellow who fancies himself rushed to death, +who has no time to talk with anybody, who cannot +be polite to his stenographer and his messenger +boys because he is in such a terrible hurry, is +dissipating his energy into something that does +not matter and using up the vitality which should +go into his work. He is very like the engine +which President Lincoln was so fond of telling +about which used so much steam in blowing its +whistle that every time it did it it had to stop.</p> + +<p>The Orientals manage things better than we +do. “We tried hurrying two thousand years +ago,” a banker in Constantinople said to a tired +American business man, “and found that it did +not pay. So we gave it up.” There is always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +time to be polite, and though it sounds like a +contradiction, there will be more time to spare if +one devotes a part of his day to courtesy.</p> + +<p>But there is danger in too much courtesy. +Every virtue becomes a vice if it is carried too +far, and frank rudeness is better than servility +or hypocrisy. Commercial greed, there is no +other name for it, leads a firm to adopt some such +idiotic motto as “the customer is always right.” +No organization could ever live up to such a +policy, and the principle back of it is undemocratic, +un-American, unsound and untrue. The +customer is not always right and the employer in +a big (or little) concern who places girls (department +stores are the chief sinners in this) on +the front line of approach with any such instructions +is a menace to self-respecting business. +America does not want a serving class with a +“king-can-do-no-wrong” attitude toward the +public. Business is service, not servility, and +courtesy works both ways. There is no more +sense in business proclaiming that the customer +is always right than there would be in a customer +declaring that business is always right, and no +more truth.</p> + +<p>No good business man will argue with a customer, +or anybody else, not only because it is bad +policy to do so, but because his self-respect will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +not allow it. He will give and require from his +employees courteous treatment toward his customers, +and when doubt arises he will give them +(the customers) the benefit of it. And he will +always remember that he is dealing with an intelligent +human being. The customer has a +right to expect a firm to supply him with reliable +commodities and to do it pleasantly, but he has +no right to expect it to prostrate itself at his feet +in order to retain his trade, however large that +trade may be.</p> + +<p>Too little has been said about courtesy on the +part of the customer and the public—that great +headless mass of unrelated particles. Business +is service, we say, and the master is the public, +the hardest one in the world to serve. Each one +of us speaks with more or less pitying contempt +of the public, forgetting that we ourselves are +the public and that the sum total of the good +breeding, intelligence, and character of the public +can be no greater than that of the individuals +who make it up.</p> + +<p>“Sid,” of the <i>American Magazine</i>, says that +he once asked the manager of a circus which +group of his employees he had most trouble +keeping. Quite unexpectedly the man replied, +“The attendants. They get ‘sucker-sore’ and +after that they are no good.” This is how it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +happens. The wild man from Borneo is placed +in a cage with a placard attached bearing in big +letters the legend “The Wild Man from Borneo.” +An old farmer comes to the circus, looks +at the wild man from Borneo in his cage, reads +the placard, looks at the attendant, “Is this the +wild man from Borneo?” he asks. No human +being can stand an unlimited amount of this sort +of thing, and the attendant, after he has explained +some hundred thousand or so times that +this really is the wild man from Borneo begins to +lose his zest for it and to answer snappishly and +sarcastically. An infinite supply of courtesy +would, of course, be a priceless asset to him, but +does not this work both ways? What right have +people to bother other people with perfectly foolish +and imbecile questions? Is there any one +who cannot sympathize with a “sucker-sore” +attendant? And with the people who are stationed +about for the purpose of answering questions +almost anywhere? There are not many of +us who at one time and another have not had the +feeling that we were on the wrong train even +after we had asked the man who sold us the +ticket, the man who punched it at the gate, the +guard who was standing near the entrance, and +the guard who was standing near the train, the +porter, the conductor, and the news-butcher if it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +was the right one and have had an affirmative answer +from every one of them. How many times +can a man be expected to answer such a question +with a smile? For those who are exposed to +“suckers” the best advice is to be as gentle with +them as possible, to grit your teeth and hold your +temper even when the ninety-thousandth man +comes through to ask if this is the right train. +For the “suckers” themselves there are only two +words of advice. They include all the rest: Stop +it.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to tell what the value of courtesy +is. Perhaps some day the people who have +learned to measure our minds will be able to tell +us just what a smile is worth. Maybe they can +tell us also what Spring is worth, and what happiness +is worth. Meanwhile we do not know. +We only know that they are infinitely precious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h3>PUTTING COURTESY INTO BUSINESS</h3> + +<p>We talk a great deal about gentlemen and +about democracy and a good many other words +which describe noble conceptions without a very +clear idea of what they mean. The biggest mistake +we make is in thinking of them as something +stationary like a monument carved in granite or +a stone set upon a hill, when the truth is that they +are living ideas subject to the change and growth +of all living things. No man has ever yet become +a perfect gentleman because as his mind +has developed his conception of what a gentleman +is has enlarged, just as no country has ever +become a perfect democracy because each new +idea of freedom has led to broader ideas of freedom. +It is very much like walking through a +tunnel. At first there is only darkness, and then +a tiny pin point of light ahead which grows wider +and wider as one advances toward it until, finally, +he stands out in the open with the world be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>fore +him. There is no end to life, and none to +human development, at least none that can be +conceived of by the finite mind of man.</p> + +<p>There are hundreds of definitions of a gentleman, +none of them altogether satisfactory. Cardinal +Newman says it is almost enough to say +that he is one who never gives pain. “They be +the men,” runs an old chronicle, “whom their +race and bloud, or at the least, their virtues, do +make noble and knowne.” Barrow declares that +they are the men lifted above the vulgar crowd +by two qualities: courage and courtesy. The +Century Dictionary, which is as good an authority +as any, says, “A gentleman is a man of +good breeding, courtesy, and kindness; hence, a +man distinguished for fine sense of honor, strict +regard for his obligations, and consideration for +the rights and feelings of others.” And this is +a good enough working standard for anybody. +The Dictionary is careful to make—and this is +important—a gentleman not one who conforms +to an outward and conventional standard, but +one who follows an inward and personal ideal.</p> + +<p>Of late days there has been a great deal of +attention paid to making gentlemen of business +men and putting courtesy into all the ramifications +of business. Without doubt the chief reason +for it is the fact that business men themselves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +have discovered that it pays. One restaurant +frankly adopted the motto, “Courtesy Pays,” +and had it all fixed up with gilt letters and +framed and hung it near the front door, and a +number of other places have exactly the same +policy for exactly the same reason though they +do not all proclaim the fact so boldly. It is not +the loftiest motive in the world but it is an intelligent +one, and it is better for a man to be polite +because he hopes to win success that way than +for him not to be polite at all.</p> + +<p>Human conduct, even at its best, is not always +inspired by the highest possible motives. Not +even the religions which men have followed have +been able to accomplish this. Most of them have +held out the hope of heavenly reward in payment +for goodness here on earth and countless millions +of men (and women, too, for that matter) +have kept in the straight and narrow path because +they were afraid to step out of it. It may +be that they were, intrinsically, no better men +than the ones who trod the primrose path to +the everlasting bonfire, but they were much +easier to live with. And the man who is courteous, +who is a gentleman, whatever his motives, +is a more agreeable citizen than the one who is +not.</p> + +<p>Now how—this is our problem—does one go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +about making a gentleman? Environment plays, +comparatively speaking, a very small part. “The +appellation of gentleman,” this is from a gentleman +of the Seventeenth Century, “is not to be +affixed to a man's circumstances, but to his behavior +in them.” It is extremely doubtful if +courtesy can be taught by rule. It is more a +matter of atmosphere, and an instinct “for the +better side of things and the cleaner surfaces of +life.” And yet, heredity, training, and environment +all enter into the process.</p> + +<p>It is a polite and pleasant fiction that courtesy +is innate and not acquired, and we hear a +great deal about the “born lady” and the “born +gentleman.” They are both myths. Babies +are not polite, and the “king upon 'is throne with +'is crown upon 'is 'ead” has had, if he is a gentleman, +life-long training in the art of being one. +There is still in existence a very interesting outline +which was given by Queen Victoria and +Prince Albert to their oldest son, the Prince of +Wales, on his seventeenth birthday. It contained +a careful summary of what was expected +of him as a Christian gentleman and included +such items as dress, appearance, deportment, relations +with other people, and ability to acquit +himself well in whatever company he happened +to be thrown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<p>The King and Queen, although they were probably +unaware of the fact, were acting upon the +advice of an authority on good manners at court +a number of years before their time. “Indeed,” +says the old manuscript, “from seven to +seventeen young gentlemen commonly are carefully +enough brought up: but from seventeen to +seven-and-twenty (the most dangerous time of +all a man's life, and the most slippery to stay +well in) they have commonly the rein of all license +in their own hand, and specially such as do +live in the court.” If we bring the sentence up +to date, and it is as true now as it was then, we +may substitute “business” for “court.” Business +men as well as courtiers find the ages between +seventeen and seven-and-twenty “the most +slippery to stay well in” for it is during these +years that they are establishing themselves in the +commercial world. As a general thing, but it is +wise to remember that there is no rule to which +there are not exceptions, by the time a man is +twenty-seven his habits are formed and it is too +late to acquire new ones.</p> + +<p>Most children undergo a painstaking and +more or less painful course of instruction in good +manners and know by the time they are men and +women what should be done whether they do it +or not. Our social code is not a complicated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +one, and there is no excuse except for the youngsters +who have just growed up like Topsy or +have been brought up by jerks like Pip. It is, +without doubt, easier to be polite among people +who are naturally courteous than among those +who snap and snarl at one another, but it is a +mistake to place too much emphasis on this part +of it. Too many men—business men, at that—have +come up out of the mire for us to be able to +offer elaborate apologies for those who have +stayed in it. The background is of minor importance. +A cockroach is a cockroach anywhere +you put him.</p> + +<p>It is easy to envy the men who have had superior +advantages, and many a man feels that if +he had another's chance he, too, might have become +a great gentleman. It is an idle speculation. +His own opportunities are the only ones +any man can attend to, and if he is sensible he +will take quick advantage of those that come, not +in dreams, but in reality, and will remember what +a very sagacious English statesman said about +matters of even graver import: “It makes no difference +where you are going. You've got to +start from where you are.”</p> + +<p>The lack of early training is a handicap but +not a formidable one, especially to a business +man. As the Spaniards say, there is little curi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>osity +about the pedigree of a good man. And +no man needs to be ashamed of his origin. The +president of a firm would naturally be interested +in the ancestry of a young man who came to ask +him for the hand of his daughter, but if the man +has come to sell a bill of goods he does not care a +snap. In discussions of the social evil it is often +said that every child has a right to be well born, +but Robert Louis Stevenson saw more deeply +and spoke more truly when he said, “We are all +nobly born; fortunate those who know it; blessed +those who remember.”</p> + +<p>The finest Gentleman the world has ever seen +was born some two thousand years ago to the +wife of a carpenter in Bethlehem and spent most +of His time among fishermen, tax-collectors, +cripples, lepers, and outcasts of various sorts; +and yet in the entire record of His short and +troubled life there is not one mention of an ungraceful +or an ungainly action. He was careful +to observe even the trivialities of social life. +Mary and Martha were quarreling before dinner. +He quieted them with a few gracious +words. The people at the marriage feast at +Cana were worried because they had only water +to drink. He touched it and gave them wine. +The multitude who came to hear Him were tired, +footsore, and hungry. He asked them to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +seated and gave them food. He dined with the +Pharisees, He talked with the women of Samaria, +He comforted Mary Magdalen, and He +washed the feet of His disciples. He was beset +and harassed by a thousand rude and unmannerly +questions, but not once did He return an +impatient answer. Surely these things are godlike +and divine whatever one may believe about +the relation of Jesus Christ to God, the Father.</p> + +<p>It has been said that every man should choose +a gentleman for his father. He should also +choose a gentleman for his employer. Unfortunately +he often has no more option in the one +than he has in the other. Very few of us get exactly +what we want. But however this may be, +a gentleman at the head of a concern is a priceless +asset. The atmosphere of most business +houses is determined by the man at the top. His +character filters down through the ranks. If he +is a rough-and-tumble sort of person the office is +likely to be that kind of place; if he is quiet and +mannerly the chances are that the office will be +quiet and mannerly. If he is a gentleman everybody +in the place will know it and will feel the +effects of it. “I am always glad John was with +Mr. Blank his first year in business,” said a +mother speaking of her son. Mr. Blank was a +man who had a life-long reputation for being as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +straight as a shingle and as clean as a hound's +tooth, every inch a gentleman.</p> + +<p>“How do you account for the fact that you +have come to place so much emphasis on courtesy?” +a business man was asked one day as he +sat in his upholstered office with great windows +opening out on the New York harbor. He +thought for a moment, and his mind went back +to the little Georgia village where he was born +and brought up. “My father was a gentleman,” +he answered. “I remember when I was a boy +he used to be careful about such trifles as this: +‘Now, Jim,’ he would say, ‘when you stop on the +sidewalk don't stop in the middle of it. Stand +aside so you won't be in anybody's way.’ And +even now,” the man smiled, “I never stop on +the sidewalk without stepping to one side so as to +be out of the way.”</p> + +<p>The life of a young person is plastic, easy to +take impressions, strong to retain them. And +the “old man” or the “governor,” whether he is +father, friend, or employer, or all three, has infinitely +more influence than either he or the +young man realizes. At the same time it is perfectly +true that young people do not believe +what older ones tell them about life. They have +to try it out for themselves. One generation +does not begin where the other left off. Each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +one of us begins at the beginning, and the +world, with all that it holds, is as wonderful +(though slightly different, to be sure) and as +new to the child who is born into it to-day as it +was to Adam on the first morning after it was +created.</p> + +<p>It is almost tragic that so many young men +take the tenor of their lives from that of their employers, +especially if the latter have been successful. +This places a terrific responsibility upon +the employer which does not, however, shift it +from the employee. His part in business or in +life—and this is true of all of us—is what he +makes it, great or small. And the most important +thing is for him to have a personal ideal of +what he thinks best and hold to it. He cannot +get it from the outside.</p> + +<p>“Courtesy is not one of the company's rules,” +wrote the manager of a large organization which +has been very successful in handling men and +making money. “It is a tradition, an instinct. +It is an attribute of the general tone, of the dominating +influence of the management in all its +relations. It is a part of the general tone, the +honor, the integrity of the company. For three +generations it has been looked upon as an inheritance +to be preserved and kept irreproachable. +Employees are drawn into this influence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +by the very simple process of their own development. +Those who find themselves in harmony +with the character of the company or who deliberately +put themselves in tune, progress. Those +who do not, cannot, for long, do congenial or acceptable +service.” This is the statement from +the manager of a firm that is widely known for +courteous dealing. Their standard is now established. +It is a part of the atmosphere, and +their chief problem is to get men who will fit +into it.</p> + +<p>An employer does not judge a man on an abstract +basis. He takes him because he thinks he +will be useful to his business. This is why most +places like to get men when they are young. +They are easier to train.</p> + +<p>Every one likes good material to work with, +and employers are no exception. They take the +best they can find, and the higher the standard +of the firm the greater the care expended in +choosing the employees. “Whenever we find a +good man,” said the manager of a big trust company, +“we take him on. We may not have a +place for him at the time but we keep him until +we find one.”</p> + +<p>Except during times of stress such as that +brought about by the war when the soldiers were +at the front, no business house hires people in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>discriminately. +They know, as the Chinese have +it, that rotten wood cannot be carved. “It is +our opinion,” we quote from another manager, +“that courtesy cannot be pounded into a person +who lacks proper social basis. In other words, +there are some people who would be boorish under +any circumstances. Our first and chief +step toward courtesy is to exercise care in +selecting our employees. We weigh carefully +each applicant for a sales position and try +to visualize his probable deportment as our +representative, and unless he gives promise of +being a fit representative we do not employ +him.”</p> + +<p>But it is not enough to take a man into a business +organization. Every newcomer must be +broken in. Sometimes this is done by means of +formal training, sometimes it consists merely of +giving him an idea of what is expected of him +and letting him work out his own salvation. +Granting that he is already familiar with the +work in a general way, and that he is intelligent +and resourceful, he ought to be able to adapt +himself without a great deal of instruction from +above. All of this depends upon the kind of +work which is to be done.</p> + +<p>Nearly every employer exercises more caution +in selecting the man who is to meet the public<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +than any other. It is through him that the all-important +first impression is made, and a man +who is rude or discourteous, or who, for any reason, +rubs people the wrong way, simply will +not do. He may have many virtues but unless +they are apparent they are for the time being of +little service.</p> + +<p>Most salesmen have to go to school. Their +work consists largely of the study of one of the +most difficult subjects in the catalogue: human +psychology. They must know why men do what +they do and how to make them do what they, the +salesmen, want them to do. They must be able +to handle the most delicate situations courteously +and without friction. It takes the tact of a +diplomat, the nerve of a trapeze performer, the +physical strength of a prize fighter, the optimism +of William J. Bryan or of Pollyanna, and the +wisdom of Solomon. Not many men are born +with this combination of qualities.</p> + +<p>The best training schools base their teaching +on character and common sense. One very remarkable +organization, which has at its head an +astonishingly buoyant and optimistic—and, it +is hardly necessary to add, successful—man, +teaches that character is nine-tenths of success +in salesmanship and technique is only one-tenth. +They study technique and character along with it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +in a scientific way, like the students in a biological +laboratory who examine specimens. Their +prospects are their subjects, and while they do +not actually bring them into the consultation +room, they hold experience meetings and tell +the stories of their successful and unsuccessful +contacts. The meetings are held at the end +of the day, when the men are all tired and +many of them are depressed and discouraged. +They are opened with songs, “My Old Kentucky +Home,” “Old Black Joe,” “Sweet Adeline,” +and the other good old familiar favorites +that make one think of home and mother +and school days and happiness. One or two +catchy popular songs are introduced, and the +men sing or hum or whistle or divide into groups +and do all three with all their might. It is irresistible. +Fifteen or twenty minutes of it can +wipe out the sourest memory of the day's business, +and trivial irritations sink to their proper +place in the scheme of things. The little speeches +follow, and the men clap and cheer for the ones +who have done good work and try to make an intelligent +diagnosis of the cases of the ones who +have not. When the leader talks he sometimes +recounts his early experiences—he, like most +good salesmanagers, was once on the road himself—and +if he is in an inspirational mood, gives<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +a sound talk on the principle back of the golden +rule. The spirit of coöperation throughout the institution +is amazing and the morale is something +any group of workers might well envy them.</p> + +<p>Most business houses recognize their responsibilities +toward the young people that they hire. +Well-organized concerns build up from within. +The heads of the departments are for the most +part men who have received their training in the +institution, and they take as much pains in selecting +their office boys as they do in selecting +any other group, for it is in them that they see +the future heads and assistant heads of the departments. +In hiring office boys “cleanness, +good manners, good physique, mental agility, +and good habits are primary requisites,” according +to Mr. J. Ogden Armour in the <i>American +Magazine</i>.</p> + +<p>In one of the oldest banks in New York each +boy who enters is given a few days' intensive +training by a gentleman chosen for the purpose. +The instructor stresses the fundamentals of +character and, above all things, common sense. +Courtesy is rarely discussed as a separate quality +but simple instructions are given about not going +in front of a person when there is room to go +around him, not pushing into an elevator ahead +of every one else, not speaking to a man at a desk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +until he has signified that he is ready, and about +sustaining quiet and orderly behavior everywhere. +The atmosphere in the bank is the kind +that encourages gentlemanly conduct and the +new boys either fall in with it or else get out and +go somewhere else.</p> + +<p>It takes more patience on the part of the +youngsters in the financial district than it does +in most other places, for the men there work +under high tension and are often cross, worried, +nervous, and irritable, and as a result are, many +times, without intending it, unjust. The discipline +is severe, and the boy would not be human +if he did not resent it. But the youngster who +is quick to fly off the handle will find himself +sadly handicapped, however brilliant he may be, +in the race with boys who can keep their tempers +in the face of an injury.</p> + +<p>Three boys out of the hundreds who have +passed through the training school in the bank +of which we were speaking have been discharged +for acts of discourtesy. One flipped a rubber +clip across a platform and hit one of the officials +in the eye, one refused to stay after hours to finish +some work he had neglected during the day, +and one was impertinent. All three could have +stayed if each had used a little common sense, +and all three could have stayed if each act had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +not been a fair indication of his general attitude +toward his work.</p> + +<p>One of the most difficult organizations to manage +and one against which the charge of discourtesy +is frequently brought is the department +store. Yet a distinguished Englishwoman visiting +here—it takes a woman to judge these things—said, +“I had always been told that people in +New York were in such a hurry that, although +well-meaning enough, they were inclined to appear +somewhat rude to strangers. I have found +it to be just the reverse. During my first strolls +in the streets, in the shops, and elsewhere, I have +found everybody most courteous. Your stores, +I may say, are the finest I have ever seen, not excepting +those of Paris. Their displays are remarkable. +Their spaciousness impressed me +greatly. Even at a crowded time it was not difficult +to move about. In London, where our +shops are mostly cramped and old-fashioned, it +would be impossible for such large numbers of +people to find admittance.”</p> + +<p>The tribute is a very nice one. For a long +time the department stores have realized the difficulties +under which they labor and have been +making efforts to overcome them. They have +formed associations by which they study each +other's methods, and most of them have very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +highly organized systems of training and management. +One big department store carries on +courtesy drives. Talks are given, posters are +exhibited, and prizes are offered for the most +courteous clerks in the store. “We know that +it is not fair to give prizes,” the personnel manager +says, “because it is impossible to tell really +which clerks are the most courteous, but it stimulates +interest and effort throughout the organization +and the effects last after the drive is +over.”</p> + +<p>One big department store which is favorably +known among a large clientèle for courteous +handling of customers depends upon its atmosphere +to an enormous extent, but it realizes that +atmosphere does not come by chance, that it has +to be created. They have arranged it so that +each clerk has time to serve each customer who +enters without the nervous hurry which is the +cause of so much rudeness. The salesclerks who +come into the institution are given two weeks' +training in the mechanical end of their work, the +ways of recording sales, methods of approach, +and so on, as well as in the spirit of coöperation +and service. By the time the clerk is placed behind +the counter he or she can conduct a sale +courteously and with despatch, but there is never +a time when the head of the department is not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +ready and willing to be consulted about extraordinary +situations which may arise.</p> + +<p>It is during the rush seasons such as the three +or four weeks which precede Christmas that courtesy +is put to the severest test, and the store described +in the paragraph above bears up under +it nobly. It did not wait until Christmas to begin +teaching courtesy. It had tried to make it +a habit, but last year several weeks before the +holidays it issued a bulletin to its employees to +remind them of certain things that would make +the Christmas shopping less nerve-racking. The +first paragraph was headed <span class="smcap">HEALTH</span>. It ran as +follows:</p> + +<p>“If you want to be really merry at Christmas +time, it will be well to bear in mind during +this busy month at least these few ‘health +savers’:</p> + +<p>“Every night try to get eight good hours of +sleep.</p> + +<p>“All day try to keep an even temper and a +ready smile.</p> + +<p>“Remember that five minutes lost in the morning +means additional pressure all day long.</p> + +<p>“Try to make your extra effort a steady one—not +allowing yourself to get excited and rushed +so that you make careless mistakes.</p> + +<p>“Try to eat regularly three good nourishing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +meals, relaxing completely while you are at the +table and for a little while afterward.</p> + +<p>“Breathe deeply, and as often as you can, good +fresh air—it cures weariness.</p> + +<p>“And don't forget that a brisk walk, a sensible +dinner, an hour's relaxation, and then a hot +bath before retiring, make a refreshing end for +one business day and a splendid preparation for +the next.”</p> + +<p>There were six other paragraphs in the bulletin. +One asked the salesclerks to take the greatest +care in complying with a customer's request +to send gift purchases without the price tags. +Another asked them to pay strictest attention to +getting the right addresses, and most of the +others were taken up with suggestions for ways +to avoid congestion by using a bank of elevators +somewhat less conveniently located than the +others, by limiting their personal telephone calls +to those which were absolutely necessary, and so +on. In both tone and content the bulletin was +an excellent one. It first considered the employees +and then the customers. There was no +condescension in the way it was written and there +was no “bunk” about what was in it. But the +bulletin was only a small part of an effort that +never stops.</p> + +<p>The purpose of the store is, to quote from its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +own statement, “to render honest, prompt, courteous +and complete service to customers” and the +qualities by which they measure their employees +are as follows:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Qualities" width="60%"> +<tr><td align='left'>Health</td><td align='left'>Accuracy</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Loyalty</td><td align='left'>Thoroughness</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Coöperation</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Initiative</td><td align='left'>Responsibility</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Industry</td><td align='left'>Knowledge</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Courtesy is not included in the list but it is +unnecessary. If these qualities are developed +courtesy will come of its own accord. It is +worth noting that health comes first in the list. +To a business man, or indeed to any other, it is +one of the most precious possessions in the world, +and is the best of backgrounds upon which to +embroider the flower of courtesy.</p> + +<p>Every employer who has had any experience +knows the value of a contented workman, and +does what he can to make and keep him so by +paying him adequate wages, and providing comfortable, +sanitary, and pleasant working conditions. +Contentment is, however, more an attitude +of mind than a result of external circumstances. +Happiness is who, not where, you are. +We do not mean by this that a workman should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +be wholly satisfied and without ambition or that +he should face the world with a permanent grin, +but that he should to the best of his ability follow +that wonderful motto of Roosevelt's, “Do +what you can where you are with what you have.” +No man can control circumstances; not even the +braggart Napoleon, who declared that he made +circumstances, could control them to the end; +and no man can shape them to suit exactly his +own purposes, but every man can meet them +bravely as a gentleman should.</p> + +<p>Most big business concerns supply rest rooms, +eating places, recreation camps, and all manner +of comforts for their employees, and most of +them maintain welfare departments. No business +house under heaven could take the place of +a home, but where the home influence is bad the +best counterfoil is a wholesome atmosphere in +which to work. Recently an institution advertising +for help, instead of asking what the applicant +could do for it, pictured and described what +it could do for the applicant. The result was +that they got a high-class group of people to +make their selection from, and their attitude was +one which invited the newcomers to do their best.</p> + +<p>Factory owners are paying a good deal of attention +to the appearance of their buildings. +Many of them have moved out into the country<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +so as to provide more healthful surroundings for +work. Numbers of modern factory buildings +are very beautiful to look at, trim white buildings +set in close-cut lawns with tennis courts and +swimming pools not far away, red brick buildings +covered with ivy, sand-colored ones with +roses climbing over them, and others like the one +famous for its thousand windows, rather more +comfortable than lovely. In our big cities there +are office buildings that look like cathedrals, railroad +stations that look like temples, and traffic +bridges that look (from a distance) like fairy +arches leading into the land of dreams. They +are not all like this. We wish they were. But +it is to the credit of the American business man +that he has put at least a part of his life and work +into the building of beautiful things. The influence +which comes from them is, like nearly all +potent influences, an unconscious one, but it +makes for happiness and contentment.</p> + +<p>The problem of keeping the employees contented +is somewhat different in every place. +House organs, picnics, dances, recreation parks, +sanitariums in the country and so on can be utilized +by “big business,” but the spirit which animates +them is the same as that which makes the +grocery man at Hicksville Centre give his delivery +boy an afternoon off when the baseball team<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +comes to town. The spirit of courtesy is everywhere +the same, but it must be kept in mind that +the end of business is production, production +takes work, and that play is introduced in order +that the work may be better. This is true +whether we are looking at the matter from the +point of view of the employer or of the employee. +What is to the interest of one—this is gaining +slow but sure recognition—is to the interest of +the other.</p> + +<p>Certain kinds of mechanical work are very trying +because of their monotony. The work must +be done, however, and in well-ordered places it is +arranged so that the worker has brief periods of +rest at regular intervals or so that he is shifted +from one kind of activity to another. It is poor +economy to wear out men. In the old days before +the power of steam or electricity had been +discovered, boats were propelled by slaves who +were kept below decks chained to their seats, and +watched by an overseer who forced them to continue +rowing long after they had reached the +point of exhaustion. The galley slave sat always +on the same side of the boat and after a few +years his body became so twisted and warped +that he was no good for anything else, and pretty +soon was not even good for that. Then he was +thrown into the discard—most of them died be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>fore +they got this far along—and the owner of +the boat had to look out for more men. Something +like this happens to the soul of a man who +is bound to dreary, monotonous work without relief +or any outlet for growth. It is deadening to +him, to his work, and to his employer. The far-sighted +employer knows it. The masters of +slaves learned it many years ago. The chain +which binds the servant to the master binds the +master to the servant. And the fastening is as +secure at one end as it is at the other.</p> + +<p>Too strict supervision—slave-driving—is fatal +to courtesy. The places which have intricate spy +systems to watch their employees are the ones +where there is most rudeness and trickery. The +clerk who is hectored, nagged, spied upon, suspected +and scolded by some hireling brought in +for that purpose or by the head of the firm himself +cannot be expected to give “a smile with +every purchase and a thank you for every goodbye.” +The training of employees never stops, +but it is something that should be placed very +largely in their own hands. After a certain point +supervision should be unnecessary.</p> + +<p>Most places hate to discharge a man. Labor +turnover is too expensive. Most of them try to +place their men in the positions for which they +are best suited. It is easier to take a round peg<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +out of a square hole and put it into a round one +than it is to send out for another assortment of +pegs. Men are transferred from sales departments +to accounting departments, are taken off +the road and brought into the home office, and are +shifted about in various ways until they fit. If +a man shows that “he has it in him” he is given +every chance to succeed. “There is only one +thing we drop a man for right off,” says an employment +manager in a place which has in its +service several thousand people of both sexes, +“and that is for saying something out of the way +to one of our girls.”</p> + +<p>This same manager tells the story of a boy he +hired and put into a department which had been +so badly managed that there were a number of +loose ends to be tied up. The boy threw himself +into his work, cleared up things, and found himself +in a “soft snap” without a great deal to do. +He happened not to be the kind of person who +can be satisfied with a soft snap, and he became +so restive and unhappy that he was recommended +for discharge. This brought him back +to the head of the employment bureau. He, instead +of throwing the young man out, asked that +he be given a second trial in a department where +the loose ends could not be cleaned up. It +was a place where there was always plenty of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +work to do, and the young man has been happy +and has been doing satisfactory work ever +since.</p> + +<p>The house in which this happened is always +generous toward the mistakes of its employees +if the mistakes do not occur too persistently and +too frequently. In one instance a boy made +three successive errors in figures in as many days. +He was slated for discharge but sent first before +the employment manager. As they talked the +latter noticed that the boy leaned forward with +a strained expression on his face. Thinking perhaps +he was slightly deaf, he lowered his voice, +but the boy understood every word he said. Then +he noticed that there was a tiny red ridge across +his nose as if he were accustomed to wearing +glasses, although he did not have them on, and +when he asked about it he discovered that the +boy had broken his glasses a few days before, +and that he had not had them fixed because he +did not have money enough.</p> + +<p>“Why didn't you tell us about it?” the employment +manager asked.</p> + +<p>“It was not your fault that I broke them,” +the boy replied. “It was up to me,” an independent +answer which in itself indicates how +much worth while it was to keep him.</p> + +<p>The manager gave him money enough to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +the glasses mended, the next day the boy was +back at work, and there was no more trouble.</p> + +<p>An employee in the same organization unintentionally +did something which hurt the president +of the firm a great deal. But when he went to +him and apologized (it takes a man to admit +that he is wrong and apologize for it) the president +sent him back to his desk, “It's all +right, boy,” he said, “I know you care. That's +enough.”</p> + +<p>In a big department store in New England +there was a girl a few years back with an alert +mind, an assertive personality, and a tremendous +fund of energy. She was in the habit of giving +constructive suggestions to the heads of the departments +in which she worked, and because of +her youth and manner, they resented it. “I +took her into my office,” the manager said. +“I'm the only one she can be impertinent to there +and I don't mind it. It is a bad manifestation +of a good quality, and in time the disagreeable +part of it will wear off. She will make an excellent +business woman.”</p> + +<p>“If a man finds fault with a boy without explaining +the cause to him,” we are quoting here +from an executive in a highly successful Middle +Western firm, “I won't fire the boy, I fire the +man. We have not a square inch of space in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +this organization for the man who criticizes a +subordinate without telling him how to do better.” +Unless the plan of management is big +enough to include every one from the oldest saint +to the youngest sinner it is no good. Business +built on oppression and cut-throat competition, +whether the competition is between employer and +employee or between rival firms, is war, and war, +industrial or political, is still what General Sherman +called it some years ago.</p> + +<p>We hold no brief for paternalism. We have +no patience with it. All that we want is a spirit +of fairness and coöperation which will give every +man a chance to make good on his own account. +This spirit inevitably flowers into courtesy. In +every place courtesy should be, of course, so +thoroughly a part of the surroundings that it is +accepted like air or sunshine without comment. +But it is not, and never has been except in old +civilizations where manners have ripened and +mellowed under the beneficent influence of time. +Our traditions here—speaking of the country as +a whole—are still in the making, but we have at +least got far enough along to realize that it is +not only worth while to do things that are good, +but, as an old author has it, to do them with a +good grace. It cannot be accomplished overnight. +Courtesy is not like a fungous growth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +springing up in a few hours in the decayed parts +of a tree; it is like that within the tree itself which +gives lustre to the leaves and a beautiful surface +to the whole. It takes time to develop it—time +and patience—but it is worth waiting for.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<h3>PERSONALITY</h3> + +<p>All that makes a man who he is and not +someone else is called personality. It is the sum +total of his qualities, a thing inborn, but including +besides such externals as dress, manner, and +appearance. It is either a tremendous asset or +a terrific liability, and so important that certain +schools which purport to teach success in business +declare that it is everything. Which is just +as foolish as saying that it is nothing.</p> + +<p>One of these success-before-you-wake-to-morrow-morning +schools of business instruction dismisses +the fact which has remained true through +three thousand years of change, namely, that +there is no short cut to success, as a myth, and +even goes so far as to say that it is almost impossible +to achieve success to-day by working for it. +E. H. Harriman they give as an example of a +man who did no work but won success by smoking +cigars while other men built railroads for him, +quoting a joking remark of his to prove a serious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +point, when, as a matter of fact, Mr. Harriman +was one of the large number of American business +men who have literally worked themselves to +death. Foch said that he won the war by smoking +his pipe, but does any one believe that the +great commander won the war by not working? +What he meant was that he won the war by +thinking, and the worn face, which seemed almost +twice as old when the conflict was over, +showed how hard that work was.</p> + +<p>It is so impossible for a false doctrine to stand +on its own feet that the spread-eagle advertisement +of this school contradicts itself long before +it gets to the “Sign here and mail to-day” coupon. +“The first time you try to swim,” shouts +the advertisement, “for instance, you sink; and +the first time you try to ride a bicycle you fall +off. But the ability to do these things was born +in you. And shortly you can both swim and +ride. Then you wonder why you could not always +do these things. They seem so absurdly +simple.” It may be that there are people who +have learned to swim and to ride a bicycle by sitting +in a chair and cultivating certain inherent +qualities but we have never heard of them. Everybody +that we ever knew worked and worked +hard swimming and riding before they learned. +The only way to learn to do a job is to do it, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +the only way to succeed is to work. Any school +or any person who says that “the most important +thing for you to do is not to work, but first to +find the short road to success. After that you +may safely work all you like—but as a matter of +fact, you won't have to work very hard,” is a liar +and a menace to the country and to business.</p> + +<p>But the value of personality is not to be under-estimated. +“Nature,” says Thackeray somewhere +in “The Virginians,” “has written a letter +of credit upon some men's faces, which is honored +almost wherever presented. Harry Warrington's +[Harry Warrington was the hero who +brought about this observation] countenance +was so stamped in his youth. His eyes were so +bright, his cheeks so red and healthy, his look so +frank and open, that almost all who beheld him, +nay, even those who cheated him, trusted him.” +It was the “letter of credit” stamped upon the +face of Roosevelt, pledge of the character which +lay behind it, which made him the idol of the +American people.</p> + +<p>Personality is hard to analyze and harder still +to acquire. The usual advice given to one who +is trying to cultivate a pleasing manner and address +is “Be natural,” but this cannot be taken +too literally. Most of us find it perfectly natural +to be cross and disagreeable under trying cir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>cumstances. +It would be natural for a man to +cry out profane words when a woman grinds +down on his corn but it would not be polite. It +was natural for Uriah Heep to wriggle like an +eel, but that did not make it any the less detestable. +It was natural, considering the past history +of Germany and the system under which he +was educated, for the Kaiser to want to be lord +of the world, but that did not make it any the less +horrible.</p> + +<p>Another bromidic piece of advice is “Be perfectly +frank and sincere.” But this, too, has its +limits. Some people pride themselves on saying +exactly what they think. Usually they are brutal, +insensitive, wholly incapable of sympathetic +understanding of any one else, and cursed, besides, +with a colossal vanity. A man may determine +to tell nothing but the truth, but this does +not make it necessary for him to tell the whole +truth, especially when it will hurt the feelings or +the reputation of some one else. No man has a +right to impose his opinions and prejudices, his +sufferings and agonies, on other people. It is +the part of a coward to whine.</p> + +<p>And yet a man must be himself, must be natural +and sincere. Roosevelt could no more have +adopted the academic manner of Wilson than +Wilson could have adopted the boyish manner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +of Roosevelt. Lincoln could no more have +adopted the courtly grace of Washington than +Washington could have adopted the rugged simplicity +of Lincoln. Nor would such transformations +be desirable even if they were possible. The +world would be a very dreary place if we were +all cut by the same pattern.</p> + +<p>A number of years ago in an upstate town in +New York there was a shoe store which had been +built up by the engaging personality of the man +who owned it. He had worked his way up from +a tiny shoe shop in New Jersey where, as a boy, +he made shoes by hand before there were factories +for the purpose, and he had always kept in +close touch with the business even after he owned +a large establishment and had a number of men +working under him. He stayed in the shop, +greeted his customers as they came in, and many +times waited on them himself.</p> + +<p>When he retired from active business he sold +out to a man exactly his opposite in temperament, +as good a man, so far as character went, +as himself, but very quiet and taciturn. A woman +who had always patronized the shop and +was a friend of them both came to him soon after +the transfer was made and said, “Now, Mr. Tillis, +the reason this place has prospered so is on +account of the personality of Mr. Kilbourne.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +His shoes are good but people can get good +shoes at other places. They come here because +of Mr. Kilbourne. They like him, and if you +are not careful they will stop coming now that he +is gone. You've got to smile and show them +you are glad to see them.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Tillis felt that the woman was telling the +truth. He decided that he would stay in the +shop and greet each customer with a gladsome +smile and make himself generally pleasant and +agreeable. The next day he was fitting a shoe on +a woman who was also an old customer and a +friend of both men. He was smiling in his best +manner and congratulating himself that he was +doing very well when the woman abruptly took +her foot off the stand. “What are you laughing +at?” she demanded.</p> + +<p>Some years later he told Mr. Kilbourne about +it. “I decided then that there was no use in me +trying to be you. You had been yourself, and I +made up my mind that I'd be myself.”</p> + +<p>And that is, after all, the only rule that can +be given. Be yourself, but be very sure that it +is your best self.</p> + +<p>It is personality which permits one man to do +a thing that another would be shot for. What +is charming in this man is disgusting in that. +What is a smile with one becomes a smirk with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +another. What makes one succeed will cause +another to fail. It is personality that opens the +doors of opportunity. It cannot, alone, keep +them open, but it is worth a good deal to get +inside.</p> + +<p>We were interested to observe the methods +used by three young men who were looking for +jobs, not one of whom would probably have succeeded +if he had used the tactics of either of the +others.</p> + +<p>The first wanted to talk with the biggest executive +in a large organization. He had fought his +way through the ranks until he had got as far as +the man's secretary. “Mr. So-and-So does not +see people who want jobs,” said that young lady.</p> + +<p>“I don't want a job,” he prevaricated mildly, +“I want to talk to him.”</p> + +<p>The girl let him in.</p> + +<p>“Mr. So-and-So,” he said, “I don't want a +job. I want advice.”</p> + +<p>His manner was so ingenuous and charming, +his earnestness so glowing, that the man at the +desk listened while he talked, and then talked a +while himself, and ended by giving the young +man the position (as well as the advice) that he +wanted. But if he had been less attractive personally +and the older man had been shrewd +enough to see through the ruse (or perhaps he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +did see through it but made the proper discount +for it) or had been opposed to trick methods, the +scheme might not have worked so well.</p> + +<p>The most universal weakness of intellect lies +in the part of the brain which listens to flattery. +Very few people like compliments laid on with a +trowel, but no man can resist the honest admiration +of another if it seems sincere. And since it +is the sort of thing that one likes almost above all +else he often takes the false coin for the true.</p> + +<p>The second young man met the rebuff so familiar +to young men looking for their first job, +“We want men with experience.”</p> + +<p>“That's what everybody says,” the boy answered, +“but what I want to know is how we are +going to get that experience if you don't give us +a chance.”</p> + +<p>The older man sympathized, but had no place +for the other and told him so.</p> + +<p>“What would you do if you were I?” the +young man asked as he turned to leave. The +other grinned. “Why, I'd work for a firm for +a week for nothing,” he said, “and show them +that they could not get along without me.”</p> + +<p>The boy stopped. “All right,” he said, “let +me work for you a week.”</p> + +<p>The older man had not expected this but he +gave the youngster a chance and he made good.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>The third young man had reached the point of +desperation. He had been out of a job several +weeks. He had been trying to get one all that +time and had not succeeded. He walked into +the employment bureau of a certain concern and +said, “I want a job. I want a good job. Not +some dinky little place filing letters or picking +up chips. If you've got an executive position +where there is plenty of work and plenty of responsibility, +I want it.” They asked him a few +questions about what he had been doing and a +few more about what he thought he could do, and +ended by giving him a desk and an office.</p> + +<p>It would be foolish to advise any one to follow +any of these plans. Each man must work out +his own method, all the better if it is an original +one. Most business men like a simple approach +without any flourishes. “It is astonishing,” says +one man whose income runs to six figures, “how +many things one can get just by asking for +them.” The best reporter in America says that +he has always found the direct method of approach +better than any other. None is infallible +but this has the highest percentage of success.</p> + +<p>So far as personal appearance is concerned—and +this is one of the most important elements +in the fashioning of personality—the greatest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +variations are not due to intrinsic differences in +character, nor to differences of feature or form, +but to the use and disuse of the bathtub. More +sharp than the distinction between labor and +capital or between socialism and despotism is +that between the people who bathe daily and +those who go to the tub only on Saturday night +or less often. The people with whom personal +cleanliness is a habit find dirt, grime, and sweat +revolting. To them “the great unwashed” are +repulsive.</p> + +<p>“When you teach a man to bathe,” says John +Leitch in his book on “Industrial Democracy,” +“you do more than merely teach him to cleanse +his body. You introduce him to a new kind of +life and create in him a desire for better living.”</p> + +<p>The month before he began his wonderful +work at Tuskegee, Booker Washington spent +visiting the Negro families in the part of Alabama +where he was to teach. “One of the saddest +things I saw during the month of travel +which I have described,” he writes in his autobiography, +“was a young man, who had attended +some high school, sitting down in a one-room +cabin, with grease on his clothing, filth all around +him, and weeds in the yard and garden, engaged +in studying a French grammar.”</p> + +<p>Farther on he writes, “It has been interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>ing +to note the effect that the use of the tooth-brush +has had in bringing about a higher degree +of civilization among the students. With few +exceptions, I have noticed that, if we can get +a student to the point where, when the first or +second tooth-brush disappears, he of his own motion +buys another, I have not been disappointed +in the future of that individual. Absolute cleanliness +of the body has been insisted upon from +the first.”</p> + +<p>Cleanliness is an attribute of civilization. We +find it amusing to read that three or four hundred +years ago bathing for pleasure was unknown, +that when soap was first invented it was +used only for washing clothes, and that even so +late as the Seventeenth Century an author compiling +a book of rules for the gentleman of that +day advises him to wash his hands every day and +his face almost as often! In the monasteries +bathing was permitted only to invalids and the +very old. Perfume was used copiously, and +filth and squalor abounded. This even in royal +circles. Among the common people conditions +were unspeakable.</p> + +<p>To-day a gentleman bathes and shaves every +day. He keeps his hair brushed, his finger nails +immaculate (or as clean as the kind of work +which he does permits), his linen is always clean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +and his shoes are polished. He is not over-fastidious +about his clothes, but he has respect +enough for himself as well as for the people +among whom he lives to want to present as agreeable +an appearance as possible. “Dress,” wrote +Lord Chesterfield to his son, “is a very foolish +thing, and yet it is a very foolish thing for a man +not to be well-dressed, according to his rank and +way of life.... The difference in this case +between a man of sense and a fop is that the fop +values himself upon his dress; and the man of +sense laughs at it, and at the same time knows he +must not neglect it.”</p> + +<p>It is a cheap device for a man to trick himself +out with lodge pins and fraternity symbols, rings, +and badges in the hope that they will open doors +for him. Highly ornamental jewelry of any +kind is inappropriate. Not many men can offset +a heavy gold watch chain stretched full length +across their bosoms, not many can live down a +turquoise ring set with pearls, and very few can +bear the handicap of a bright gold front tooth. +Artists, alone, may gratify their taste for velvet +jackets, Tam-o'-Shanters, and Windsor ties, +but the privilege is denied business men. Eccentricity +of dress usually indicates eccentricity +of temper, and we do not want temperamental +business men. It is hard enough to get along<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +with authors and artists and musicians. The +business man who is wise wears conventional +clothes of substantial material in conservative +colors. Good sense and good taste demand it.</p> + +<p>The time has passed when uncouthness of +dress and manner can be taken as a pledge of +honesty and good faith. The President of the +United States to-day is a well-dressed, well-groomed +man, and no one thinks any the less of +him for it. Men no longer regard creased trousers, +nicely tied cravats, well-chosen collars, +and harmonious color combinations as signs of +sissiness, snobbishness, or weak-mindedness.</p> + +<p>Formal dinners and other ceremonious functions +require evening dress. It is the custom, +as the Orientals say; and for the sake of other +people present if not for his own, a man should +undergo the discomfort, if he finds it a discomfort, +and many men do, of conforming to it. +Holiday attire gives a happy note of festivity +which might otherwise be lacking. It is quite +possible to point to a number of men who have +succeeded in business who were wholly indifferent +to matters of dress. But it does not prove +anything. Men rise by their strength, not by +their weakness. Some men wait until after they +have become rich or famous to become negligent +of their personal appearance. But it is well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +to remember that “if Socrates and Aristippus +have done aught against custom or good manner, +let not a man think he can do the same: for they +obtained this license by their great and excellent +good parts.”</p> + +<p>A well-dressed man is so comfortably dressed +that he is not conscious of his clothes and so inconspicuously +dressed that no one else is conscious +of them.</p> + +<p>In a good many instances it is not his own +dress which bothers a business man so much as +it is that of some one else—his stenographer, for +instance. Men do not have quite so much opportunity +to make themselves ridiculous as women. +Their conventions of dress are stricter, +and, as a rule, they can express their love of +color and ornamentation only in their choice of +ties and socks. Girls have practically no restrictions +except what happens to be the style at +the moment, and a young girl untrained in selecting +and combining colors and lines, and making +money for the first time in her life, is more +likely than not to make herself look more like a +Christmas tree than a lily of the field.</p> + +<p>The big department stores which employ hundreds +of girls to meet and serve their customers +have settled the problem for themselves by requiring +the girls to wear uniforms. The uni<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>form +is very simple; often a certain color during +working hours is prescribed, but the girls are +permitted to choose their own styles. Other +places have women who look after the welfare +of the girls and prevent them from laying themselves +open to misunderstanding by the way they +dress. Large organizations can afford to have +a special person to take care of such matters, but +in a small office the problem is different.</p> + +<p>Of course, a man can always dismiss a girl +who dresses foolishly or carelessly, but this is +sneaking away from a problem instead of facing +it. High-class offices have comparatively +little trouble this way. In the first place, they +do not attract the frivolous, light-headed, or +“tough” girls; in the second place, if such girls +come, the atmosphere in which they work either +makes them conform to the standards of the office +or leave and go somewhere else. If a girl in +his office dresses in a way that he considers inappropriate, +a man may tactfully suggest that +something simpler would be more dignified and +more in keeping with business ideals and traditions. +But, oh, he must be careful! On no subject +is one so sensitive as on his personal appearance, +and women, perhaps, more so than men.</p> + +<p>There is a limit to how far an employer should +go in dictating the manner of his employees'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +dress. When the head of a big Western department +store declared that he would discharge all +the girls who bobbed their hair, most of us felt +that he had gone a bit too far, even while we saw +the logic of his position. While it is the only +sensible way in the world for a woman to wear +her hair the majority of people have not yet +come to think so. To the average person, especially +to Mrs. Grundy, who is really the most +valuable customer a department store has, the +impression given by bobbed hair is one of frivolity +or eccentricity. The impression given the +customer as she enters a store is a most important +item; the head of the store knew it, and therefore +he placed the ban on bobbed hair. Whichever +side we take in this particular case this is +true: The business woman should give, like the +business man, an impression of dependability, +and she cannot do it if her appearance is abnormal, +or if her mind is divided between how she is +looking and what she is doing.</p> + +<p>It is almost funny that we let the faults and +mannerisms of other people affect us to such an +extent. They are nothing to us, and yet a man +can work himself into a perfect frenzy of temper +merely by looking at or talking to another who +has a fidgety way of moving about, a dainty +manner of using his hands, or a general demean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>—or +that is delicate and ladylike. Men like what +the magazines call “a red-blooded, two-fisted, he-man.” +But the world is big enough to accommodate +us all whether the blood in our veins is +red or blue, and it is perfectly silly for a man to +throw himself into a rage over some harmless +creature who happens to exasperate him simply +because he is alive.</p> + +<p>It is an altogether different matter when it is +a question of one man taking liberties with another. +Most people object to the physical nearness +of others. It is the thing that makes the +New York subways during the rush hours such +a horror. It is not pleasant to have a person so +near that his breath is against your face, and +there are not many men who enjoy being slapped +on the back, punched in the ribs, or held fast by +a buttonhole or a coat lapel. A safe rule is +never to touch another person. He may resent +it.</p> + +<p>The garrulous or impertinent talker is almost +as objectionable as the hail-fellow-well-met, slap-on-the-back +fellow. Charles Dickens has a record +of this kind of American in the book which +he wrote after his visit in this country: “Every +button in his clothes said, ‘Eh, what's that? Did +you speak? Say that again, will you?’ He was +always wide awake, always restless; always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +thirsting for answers; perpetually seeking and +never finding....</p> + +<p>“I wore a fur great-coat at that time, and before +we were well clear of the wharf, he questioned +me concerning it, and its price, and where +I bought it, and when, and what fur it was, and +what it weighed, and what it cost. Then he +took notice of my watch, and asked me what <i>that</i> +cost, and whether it was a French watch, and +where I got it, and how I got it, and whether I +bought it or had it given me, and how it went and +where the keyhole was, and when I wound it, +every night or every morning, and whether I +ever forgot to wind it at all, and if I did, what +then? Where I had been to last, and where I +was going next, and where I was going after +that, and had I seen the President, and what did +he say, and what did I say, and what did he say +when I had said that? Eh? Lor' now! Do +tell!”</p> + +<p>This sort of curiosity is harmless enough, but +exasperating, and so childish that one hates to rebuke +the person who is asking the foolish questions. +There is another kind which is perhaps +worse—the man who asks intrusive questions +about how much salary another is getting, how +old he is (men are as sensitive on this subject as +women) and so on and on. It is perfectly le<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>gitimate +to refuse to answer any question to +which one does not wish to reply. Every man +has a right to mental privacy even when he is denied, +as he is in so many modern offices, any other +kind of privacy.</p> + +<p>A loud or boisterous person is objectionable. +Many times this is through carelessness, but +sometimes, as when a man recounts the story of +his dinner with Mr. Brown, who is a national figure, +in a voice so loud that all the people in the +car or room or whatever place he happens to be +in, can hear him, it is deliberate. The careless +person is the one who discusses personalities +aloud in elevators, on the train, and in all manner +of public places. Exchanging gossip is a pretty +low form of indoor sport and exchanging it aloud +so that everybody can hear makes it worse than +ever. Names should never be mentioned in a +conversation in a place where strangers can overhear, +especially if the connection is an unpleasant +one. Private opinions should never be aired +in public places (except from a platform).</p> + +<p>The highly argumentative or aggressive person +is another common type of nuisance. He +usually raises his voice, thus drowning out the +possibility of interruption, and talks with so +much noise and so many vigorous gestures that +he seems to try to make up for his lack of intel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>lect +by an excess of tumult. Arguments have +never yet convinced anybody of the truth, and it +is a very unpleasant method to try. Most arguments +are about religion or politics and even if +they were settled nothing would be accomplished. +In the Middle Ages men used to debate about +the number of angels that could stand on the +point of a pin. Hours and hours were wasted +and learned scholars were brought into the discussion, +which was carried forward as seriously +as if it were a debate between the merits of the +Republican and Democratic parties. Suppose +they had settled it. Would it have mattered?</p> + +<p>One of the most offensive public plagues is the +man who leaves a trail of untidiness behind him. +No book of etiquette, not even a book of business +etiquette, could counsel eating on the streets in +spite of the historic and inspiring example of Mr. +Benjamin Franklin walking down the streets of +Philadelphia with a loaf of bread under each arm +while he munched from a third which he held in +his hand. One can forgive a man, however, if +he, feeling the need of nourishment, eats a bar of +chocolate if he takes great care to put the wrappings +somewhere out of the way. No man with +any civic pride will scatter peanut hulls, cigarette +boxes, chocolate wrappings, raisin boxes, +and other debris along the streets, in the cars, on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +the stairs, and even on the floors of office buildings. +Garbage cans and waste-baskets were +made to take care of these things.</p> + +<p>Tidiness is worth more to a business man than +most of them realize. In the first place it gives +a favorable impression to a person coming in +from the outside, and, in the second place, it +helps those on the inside to keep things straight. +Folders for correspondence, card indexes, memorandum +files and other similar devices are essential +to the orderly transaction of business.</p> + +<p>Keeping ashes and scraps of paper off the +floor may seem trifles, but such trifles go far toward +making the atmosphere, which is another +word for personality, of an office. Some men +have secretaries who take care of their desks and +papers and supervise the janitor who cleans the +floors and windows, but those who do not, find +that they can manage better when they have a +place to put things and put them there.</p> + +<p>Nothing has more to do with making a gentleman +than a courteous and considerate attitude +toward women. In business a man should show +practically the same deference toward a woman +that he does in society. Any man can be polite +to a woman he is anxious to please, the girl he +loves, for instance, but it takes a gentleman to be +polite to every woman, especially to those who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +work for him, those over whom he exercises authority.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary for a man to rise every time +one of the girls in his office enters his private +audience room, but he should always rise to receive +a visitor, whether it is a man or woman, and +should ask the visitor to be seated before he sits +down himself. In witheringly hot weather a +man may go without his coat even if his entire +office force consists of girls, but he should never +receive a guest in his shirt sleeves. He should +listen deferentially to what the visitor has to say, +but if she becomes too voluble or threatens to +stay too long or if there is other business waiting +for him, he may (if he can) cut short her conversation. +When she is ready to go he should rise +and conduct her to the door or to the elevator, as +the case may be, and ring the bell for her. He +cannot, of course, do this if his visitors are frequent, +if their calls are about matters of trifling +importance, or if he is working under high pressure.</p> + +<p>We once had an English visitor here in America +who thought our manners were outrageously +bad, but there was one point on which we won a +perfect score. “Any lady,” he said, “may travel +alone, from one end of the United States to the +other, and be certain of the most courteous and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +considerate treatment everywhere. Nor did I +ever once, on any occasion, anywhere, during my +rambles in America, see a woman exposed to the +slightest act of rudeness, incivility, or even inattention.” +Conditions have changed since then. +Women had not left their homes to go into +offices and factories, but unless we can hold to +the standard described by the Englishman, the +change has not been for the better, for any of the +people concerned.</p> + +<p>Since the Victorian era our ideas of what constitutes +an act of rudeness have been modified. +Then it would have been unthinkable that a woman +should remain standing in a coach while men +were seated. Now it is possible for a man to +keep his place while a woman swings from a +strap and defend himself on the grounds that he +has worked harder during the day than she (how +he knows is more than we can say), and that he +has just as much right (which is certainly true) +as any one else. Yet it is a gracious and a chivalrous +act for a man to offer a woman his place +on a car, and it is very gratifying to see that hundreds +of them, even in the cities, where life goes +at its swiftest pace and people live always in a +hurry, surrender their seats in favor of the women +who, like themselves, are going to work. +Old people, afflicted people, men and women who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +are carrying children in their arms, and other +people who obviously need to sit down are nearly +always given precedence over the rest of us. +This is, of course, as it should be.</p> + +<p>But the heart of what constitutes courtesy has +not changed and never will. It is exactly what +it was on that day nearly four hundred years ago +when Sir Philip Sidney, mortally wounded on +the field of Zutphen, gave his last drop of water +to the dying soldier who lay near him and said, +“Thy need is greater than mine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>.”</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> +<h3>TABLE MANNERS</h3> + +<p>In the old books of etiquette in the chapter +on table manners the authors used to state that +it was not polite to butter your bread with your +thumb, to rub your greasy fingers on the bread +you were about to eat, or to rise from the table +with a toothpick in your mouth like a bird that +is about to build her nest. We have never seen +any one butter his bread with his thumb, but——</p> + +<p>There are in the United States nearly five million +people who can neither read nor write. We +have no statistics but we venture to say there are +as many who eat with their knives. There are +people among us—and they are not all immigrants +in the slum districts or Negroes in the +poorer sections of the South—who do not know +what a napkin is, who think the proper way to +eat an egg is to hold it in the hand like a piece of +candy, and bite it, the egg having previously +been fried on both sides until it is as stiff and as +hard as a piece of bristol board, who would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +recognize a salad if they saw one, and who have +never heard of after-dinner coffee.</p> + +<p>Very few of them are people of wealth, but an +astonishing number of successful business men +were born into such conditions. They had no +training in how to handle a knife and fork and +they probably never read a book of etiquette, but +they had one faculty, which is highly developed +in nearly every person who lifts himself above +the crowd, and that is observation.</p> + +<p>In addition to this a young man is very fortunate, +especially if his way of life is cast among +people whose manners are different from those +to which he has been accustomed, if he has a +friend whom he can consult, not only about table +manners but about matters of graver import as +well. And he should not be embarrassed to ask +questions. The disgrace, if disgrace it could be +called, lies only in ignorance.</p> + +<p>A number of years ago a young man who was +the prospective heir to a fortune—this charming +story is in Charles Dickens's wonderful novel, +“Great Expectations”—went up to London for +the express purpose of learning to be a gentleman. +It fell about that almost as soon as he arrived +he was thrown into the company of a delightful +youth who had already attained the minor +graces of polite society. Very much in earn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>est +about what he had set out to do, and blessed +besides with a goodish bit of common sense, he +explained his situation to Herbert, for that was +the other boy's name, mentioned the fact that he +had been brought up by a blacksmith in a country +place, that he knew practically nothing of the +ways of politeness, and that he would take it as +a great kindness if Herbert would give him a +hint whenever he saw him at a loss or going +wrong.</p> + +<p>“‘With pleasure,’ said he, ‘though I venture +to prophesy that you'll want very few hints.’”</p> + +<p>They went in to dinner together, a regular +feast of a dinner it seemed to the ex-blacksmith's +apprentice, and after a while began to talk about +the benefactress who, they believed, had made it +possible.</p> + +<p>“‘Let me introduce the topic,’ began Herbert, +who had been watching Pip's table manners +for some little time, ‘by mentioning that in London +it is not the custom to put the knife in the +mouth—for fear of accidents—and that while +the fork is reserved for that use it is not put further +in than necessary. It is scarcely worth mentioning, +only it's as well to do as other people do. +Also, the spoon is not generally used over-hand +but under. This has two advantages. You get +at your mouth better (which after all is the ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>ject), +and you save a good deal of the attitude +of opening oysters on the part of the right elbow.’</p> + +<p>“He offered these suggestions (said Pip) in +such a lively way, that we both laughed and I +scarcely blushed.”</p> + +<p>The conversation and the dinner continued +and the friendship grew apace. Presently Herbert +broke off to observe that “society as a body +does not expect one to be so strictly conscientious +in emptying one's glass, as to turn it bottom upwards +with the rim on one's nose.”</p> + +<p>“I had been doing this,” Pip confessed, “in an +excess of attention to his recital. I thanked him, +and apologized. He said, ‘Not at all,’ and resumed.”</p> + +<p>This was written many years ago but neither +in life nor in literature is there a more beautiful +example of perfect courtesy than that given by +Herbert Pocket when he took the blacksmith's +boy in hand and began his education in the art of +being a gentleman. Not only was he at perfect +ease himself but—and this is the important point—he +put the blacksmith's boy at ease.</p> + +<p>It is worth remarking, by way of parenthesis, +that Herbert's father was a gentleman. “It is +a principle of his,” declared the boy, “that no +man who was not a true gentleman at heart, ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +was, since the world began, a true gentleman in +manner. He says, no varnish can hide the grain +of the wood; and that the more varnish you put +on, the more the grain will express itself.”</p> + +<p>The American table service is not complicated. +Any intelligent person who knows the +points covered by Herbert Pocket, who knows +that one should not cut up all of his meat at the +same time but mouthful by mouthful as he needs +it, that it is not customary to butter a whole slice +of bread at once nor to plaster cheese over the entire +upper surface of a cracker, can by a dint of +watching how other people do it find his way +without embarrassment through even the most +elaborate array of table implements. The easiest +way to acquire good table manners (or good +manners of any other kind, as far as that goes) +is to form the habit of observing how the people +who manage these things most gracefully go +about it. It is best to begin early. To use one +of David Harum's expressive maxims, “Ev'ry +hoss c'n do a thing better 'n' spryer if he's ben +broke to it as a colt.”</p> + +<p>Eating should be, and, as a matter of fact, is, +when one follows his usual custom, an unconscious +process like the mechanical part of reading +or writing. It is only when he is trying to be +a bit more formal or fastidious than is habitual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +with him that a man gets tangled, so to speak, in +the tines of his fork.</p> + +<p>Cooking is one of the fine arts. Poets, painters, +sculptors, musicians, and millionaires have always +paid tribute to it as such—and so is dining. +Like a great many other arts it was first developed +among royal circles, and there was a time +when the king resented the idea of a commoner +being able to dine with grace and elegance. Since +then it has become democratized, and now there +are no restrictions except those which a man +places about himself. And there is no earthly +(or heavenly) reason why a man should not eat +in the way which society has established as correct, +and a good many reasons why he should.</p> + +<p>Physicians—and this is the strongest argument +we know—might advance their plea on the +grounds of good health. In this case we find, +as we do in a number of others, that what good +manners declares should be done is heartily endorsed +at the same time by good sense. It is +only among people of blunted sensibilities that +nice table manners count for nothing; for</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There's no reproach among swine, d'you see,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For being a bit of a swine.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Among business men it is often perplexing to +know whom and when to invite. Generally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +speaking, the older man or the man with the superior +position takes the initiative, but there are +an infinite number of exceptions. Generally +speaking, also, the man who is resident in a place +entertains the one who is visiting, but there are +infinite exceptions to this as well, especially in +the case of traveling salesman. All courtesy is +mutual, and it is almost obligatory upon the +salesman who has been entertained to return the +courtesy in kind. Such invitations should be +tendered after a transaction is completed rather +than before. The burden of table courtesy falls +upon the man who is selling rather than the one +who is buying, probably because he is the one +to whom the obvious profit accrues.</p> + +<p>Social affairs among the wives of business +men which grow out of the business relations of +their husbands follow the same rules as almost +any other social affairs. Nearly always it is the +wife of the man with the higher position who issues +the first invitation, and it is permissible for +her to invite a woman whom she does not know +personally if she is the wife of a business friend +of her husband.</p> + +<p>The biggest hindrance to the establishment of +good manners among business men is the everlasting +hurry in which they (and all the rest of +us) live. There must first of all be leisure, not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +perhaps to the extent advocated by a delightful +literary gentleman of having three hours for +lunch every day, but time enough to sit down and +relax. Thousands of business men dash out to +lunch—bad manners are at their worst in the +middle of the day—as if they were stopping off +at a railroad junction with twenty minutes to +catch a train and had used ten of them checking +baggage. And they do not always do it because +they are in a hurry. They have so thoroughly +developed the habit of living in a frenzied rush +that even when they have time to spare they cannot +slow down.</p> + +<p>Pleasant surroundings are desirable. It is +much easier to dine in a quiet spacious room +where the linen is white and the china is thin, the +silver is genuine silver, and the service is irreproachable, +than in a crowded restaurant where +thick dishes rattle down on white-tiled tables +from the steaming arms of the flurried waitress, +where there is no linen, but only flimsy paper +napkins (which either go fluttering to the floor +or else form themselves into damp wads on the +table), where the patrons eat ravenously and untidily, +and where the atmosphere is dense with +the fumes of soup and cigarettes. But luxury in +eating is expensive and most of us must, perforce, +go to the white-tiled places. And the art of din<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>ing +is not a question of what one has to eat—it +may be beans or truffles—or where one eats it—from +a tin bucket or a mahogany table—it all +depends upon <i>how</i>; and the man who can eat in +a “hash-house,” an “arm-chair joint,” a “beanerie,” +a cafeteria, a three-minute doughnut +stand or any of the other quick-lunch places in as +mannerly a way as if he were dining in a hotel +<i>de luxe</i> has, we think, a pretty fair claim to the +title of gentleman.</p> + +<p>The responsibility for a dinner lies with the +host. If his guest has had the same social training +that he has or is accustomed to better things +he will have comparatively little trouble. All he +can do is to give him the best within his means +<i>without apology</i>. We like to present ourselves +in the best possible light (it is only human) and +for this reason often carry our friends to places +we cannot afford. This imposes upon them the +necessity of returning the dinner in kind, and +the vicious circle swings around, each person in +it grinding his teeth with rage but not able to +find his way out. Entertaining is all right so +long as it is a useful adjunct to business, but +when it becomes a burden in itself it is time to +call a halt.</p> + +<p>Smoking during and immediately after a meal +is very pleasing to the man who likes tobacco, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +if he has a guest (man or woman) who objects to +the smell of it he must wait until later. On the +other hand if his guest likes to smoke and he does +not he should insist upon his doing so. It is +a trifling thing but politeness consists largely +of yielding gracefully in trifles.</p> + +<p>Old-fashioned gentlemen held it discourteous +to mention money at table, but in this degenerate +age no subject is taboo except those that +would be taboo in any decent society. Obviously +when men meet to talk over business they +cannot leave money out of the discussion. In a +number of firms the executives have lunch together, +meeting in a group for perhaps the only +time during the day. It helps immeasurably to +coördinate effort, but it sometimes fails to make +the lunch hour the restful break in the middle of +the day which it should be. It is generally much +more fun and of much more benefit to swap fish +stories and hunting yarns than to go over the details +of the work in the publicity department or +to formulate the plans for handling the Smith +and Smith proposition. Momentous questions +should be thrust aside until later, and the talk +should be—well, <i>talk</i>, not arguing, quarreling, +or scandal-mongering. The subject does not +greatly matter except that it should be something +in which all of the people at the table are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +interested. Whistler was once asked what he +would do if he were out at dinner and the conversation +turned to the Mexican War, and some one +asked him the date of a certain battle. “Do?” +he replied. “Why, I would refuse to associate +with people who could talk of such things at +dinner!”</p> + +<p>Polite society has always placed a high value +on table manners, but it is only recently that they +have come to play so large a part in business. +Some one has said that you cannot mix business +and friendship. It would be nearer the truth +to say that you cannot separate them. More +and more it is becoming the habit to transact affairs +over the table, and a very pleasant thing it +is, too. Aside from the coziness and warmth +which comes from breaking bread together one is +free from the interruptions and noise of the office, +and many a commercial acquaintance has +ripened into a friend and many a business connection +has been cemented into something +stronger through the genial influence of something +good to eat and drink. It is, of course, a +mistake to depend too much upon one's social +gifts. They are very pleasant and helpful but +the work of the world is done in offices, not on +golf links or in dining rooms. We have little +patience with the man who sets his nose to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +grindstone and does not take it away until death +comes in between, but we have just as little with +the man who has never touched the grindstone.</p> + +<p>Stories go the rounds of executives who choose +their subordinates by asking them out to lunch +and watching the way they eat. One man always +calls for celery and judges his applicant by +what he does with it. If he eats only the tender +parts the executive decides that he is extravagant, +at least with other people's money, but if +he eats the whole stalk, green leaves and all, he +feels sure that he has before him a man of economy, +common sense, and good judgment! The +story does not say what happens when the young +man refuses celery altogether. Another uses +cherry pie as his standard and judges the young +man by what he does with the pits. There are +three ways to dispose of them. They may be +lowered from the mouth with the spoon, they +may be allowed to drop unaided, or they may be +swallowed. The last course is not recommended. +The first is the only one that will land a job. +But tests like this work both ways and one is +rather inclined to congratulate the young men +who were turned down than those who were accepted.</p> + +<p>All this aside, an employer does want to know +something about the table manners of an em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>ployee +who is to meet and dine with his customers. +An excellent salesman may be able to convince +a man of good breeding and wide social +training if he tucks his napkin into his bosom, +drinks his soup with a noise, and eats his +meat with his knife, but the chances are against +it.</p> + +<p>A man who is interested heart and soul in one +thing will think in terms of it, will have it constantly +in his mind and on the tip of his tongue. +But the man of one subject, whatever that subject +may be, is a bore. It is right that a man +should live in his work, but he must also live outside +of it. One of the most tragic chapters in +the history of American life is the one which +tells of the millions and millions of men who became +so immersed in business affairs that they +lost sight of everything else. The four walls +of the narrow house which in the end closes +around us all could not more completely have +cut them off from the light of day. It is a long +procession and it has not ended—that line of +men passing single file like convicts down the +long gray vaults of business, business, business, +with never a thought for the stars or the moon +or books or trees or flowers or music or life or +love—nothing but what casts a shadow over +that dismal corridor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">These are dead men with no thought<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of things that are not sold or bought.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">* * * * *<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In their bodies there is breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But their souls are steeped in death.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is not a cheerful picture to contemplate +(and it seems a good long way away from table +manners), but the men who form it are more to +be pitied than blamed. They are blind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + +<h3>TELEPHONES AND FRONT DOORS</h3> + +<p>“If the outside of a place is not all right,” +says a man who spends the greater part of his +time visiting business houses and talking with +business men, “the chances are that it is not +worth while to go inside.”</p> + +<p>There are three ways of getting inside: by +letter (which has a chapter to itself), by the +front door, and by telephone. And there are +more complaints against the telephone way than +either or both the others, which is perfectly +natural, since it is the most difficult to manage. +In the first place, it requires good behavior from +three people at the same time, and that is a +good deal to expect. Secondly, they cannot see +one another—they are like blind people talking +together—and no one of them can do his +part unless the other two do theirs. In the +third place, the instrument is a lifeless thing, +and when something goes wrong with it it rouses +the helpless fury inspired by all inanimate ob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>jects +which interfere with our comfort—like +intermittent alarm clocks, collar buttons that +roll under the furniture, and flivvers that go +dead without reason in the middle of country +roads. In each case whatever one does has no +effect. The alarm clock continues to ring (unless +one gets out of bed to shut it off, which is +worse than letting it ring), the collar button remains +hid in the darkest part of the room, the +flivver remains stuck in the muddiest part of the +road, and the telephone is worst of all, for the +source of the trouble is usually several miles +away and there is no means of getting at it.</p> + +<p>The telephone is a nuisance—no one denies +it—but it is a necessity also—no one denies that, +either—and one of the greatest conveniences +in an age of great conveniences. Some of the +disagreeable features connected with it cannot +be done away with but must be accepted with as +much tranquility as we can master, like the terrific +noise which an aëroplane makes or the trail of +smoke and cinders which a railway train leaves +behind. The one who is calling, for instance, +cannot know that he is the tenth or eleventh +person who has called the man at the other end +of the wire in rapid succession, that his desk +is piled high with correspondence which must +be looked over, signed, and sent out before noon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +that the advertising department is waiting for +him to O. K. their plans for a campaign which +should have been launched the week before, that +an important visitor is sitting in the library growing +more impatient every minute, and that his +temper has been filed down to the quick by an +assortment of petty worries. (Of course, no office +should be run like this, but it sometimes happens +in the best of them.)</p> + +<p>Some one has said that we are all like islands +shouting at each other across a sea of misunderstanding, +and this was long before telephones +were thought of. It is hard enough to make +other people understand what we mean, even +with the help of facial expression and gestures, +and over the wire the difficulty is increased a +hundred fold. For telephoning rests upon a +delicate adjustment between human beings by +means of a mechanical apparatus, and it takes +clear thinking, patience, and courtesy to bring +it about.</p> + +<p>The telephone company began its career some +few years ago unhampered by the traditions to +which the earlier corporations were slave, the +old “public be damned” idea. Their arbitrary +methods had brought them to grief, and the new +concern, with a commendable regard for the lessons +taught by the experience of others, inaugu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>rated +a policy of usefulness, service, and courtesy. +The inside history of the telephone is one of +constant watchfulness, careful management, and +continuous improvement; and every improvement +has meant better service to the public. +(We are not trying to advertise the telephone +company. We realize that it has been guilty, +like every other business, of manifold sins.)</p> + +<p>Even the fact that there is a telephone girl instead +of a telephone boy is due to the alertness +and good business sense of the company. To +put a boy before a switchboard and expect him +not to pull it apart to see how it was made; or +to place him in a position to entertain himself +by connecting the wrong parties and listening +to the impolite names they called each other +and expect him not to do it, would be expecting +the laws of nature to reverse themselves. The +telephone company tried it—for a while. They +discovered, besides, that a boy will not “take” +what a girl will. It makes no difference what +goes wrong with a connection, the subscriber +blames the operator when many times the operator, +especially the one he is talking to, has had +nothing to do with it. The girls have learned +to hold their tempers (not always, but most of +the time), but when boys had charge of the +switchboards and the man at the end of the wire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +yelled, “You cut me off!” and the youngster +had not, he denied it hotly: “You're a liar! I +didn't!” The subscriber would not stand for +this, angry words flew back and forth, and more +than once the indignant young operator located +the subscriber (not a very difficult thing for him +to do) and went around to settle things in person. +Words were not always the only weapons +used.</p> + +<p>If this had continued the telephone would +never have become a public utility. People would +have looked upon it as an ingenious device but +not of universal practical value. As it is, good +salesmanship and efficient service first elevated +a plaything to a luxury and then reduced the +luxury to a necessity. And it was possible not +only because the mechanism itself is a miraculous +thing but because it has had back of it an intelligent +human organization working together +as a unit.</p> + +<p>We say this deliberately, knowing that the +reader will think of the times when the trouble +he has had in getting the number he wanted has +made him think there was not a thimbleful of +intelligence among all of the people associated +with the entire telephone company. But considering +the body of employees as a whole the +standard of courteous and competent service is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +extraordinarily high. The public is impatient +and prone to remember bad connections instead +of good ones. It is ignorant also and has very +small conception of what a girl at central is +doing. And it is quick to blame her for faults +of its own.</p> + +<p>One of the worst features of telephone service +is the fact that when one is angry or exasperated +he seldom quarrels with the right person. +Some time ago a man was waked in the middle of +the night by the ringing of the telephone bell. +He got out of bed to answer it and discovered +that the man was trying to get another number. +He went back to bed and to sleep. The telephone +bell rang again, and again he got out of +bed to answer it. It was the same man trying +to get the same number. He went to bed and +back to sleep. The telephone bell rang the third +time, he got out of bed again and answered it +again and found that it was still the same man +trying to get the same number! “I wasn't very +polite the third time,” he confessed when he told +about it. But the poor fellow at the other end +of the wire probably had just as touching a story +to tell, for unless it had been very important for +him to get the number he would hardly have +been so persistent. The girl at the switchboard +may have had a story of her own, but what it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +was is one of those things which, as Lord Dundreary +used to say, nobody can find out.</p> + +<p>The girls who enter the service of the New +York Telephone Company (and the same thing +is true in the other branches of the telephone service, +especially in big cities where there are large +groups to work with) are carefully selected by +an employment bureau and sent to a school +where they are thoroughly grounded in the mechanical +part of their work and the ideals for +which the company stands. They are not placed +on a regular switchboard until they have proved +themselves efficient on the dummy switchboard, +and then it is with instructions to be courteous +though the heavens fall (though they do not express +it exactly that way). “It is the best place +in the world to learn self-control,” one of the +operators declares, and any one who has ever +watched them at work will add, “Concentration, +also.” One of the most remarkable sights in +New York is a central exchange where a hundred +or more girls are working at lightning +speed, undisturbed by the low murmur around +them, intent only on the switchboard in front of +them, making something like five hundred connections +a minute.</p> + +<p>They are a wonderfully level-headed group, +these telephone girls, wonderfully unlike their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +clinging-vine Victorian grandmothers. They +do not know how to cling. If a man telephones +that he has been shot, the girl who receives the +call does not faint. She sends him a doctor instead +and takes the next call almost without the +loss of a second. If a woman wants a policeman +to get some burglars out of the house, she +sends her one; if some one telephones that a +house is burning, she calls out the fire department—and +goes straight on with her work. +Now and then something spectacular happens +to bring the splendid courage of the girls at the +switchboards to the attention of the public, such +as the magnificent service they gave from the exchange +located a few feet from Wall Street on +the day of the explosion, but ordinarily it passes, +like most of the other good things in life, without +comment.</p> + +<p>The New York Telephone Company tries +to keep its girls healthy and happy. At regular +intervals they are given rest periods. Attractive +rooms are prepared for them, tastefully +furnished, well-lighted, and filled with comfortable +chairs, good books, and magazines. Substantial +meals are supplied in the middle of the +day at a nominal charge. Special entertainments +are planned from time to time, and best +of all, the play time is kept absolutely distinct<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +from the work time, a condition which makes +for happiness as well as usefulness.</p> + +<p>The girls are not perfect, they are not infallible. +And they are only a third part of a telephone +call. They work under difficulties at a +task which is not an easy one, and their efficiency +does not rest with them alone but with the +people whom they serve as well.</p> + +<p>A telephone call begins with the subscriber. +Very few people understand the intricate system +of cable and dynamos, vacuum tubes, coil +racks, storage batteries, transmitters and generators +which enable them to talk from a distance, +and a good many could not understand them +even if they were explained. Fortunately it +is not necessary that they should. The subscriber's +part is very simple.</p> + +<p>He should first make sure that he is calling +the right number. In New York City alone, +forty-eight thousand wrong numbers are asked +for every day by subscribers who have not consulted +the telephone directory first, or who have +unconsciously transposed the digits in a number. +For example, a number such as 6454 can easily +be changed to 6544. The telephone directory is a +safe guide, much more so than an old letter or bill +head or an uncertain memory. Information may +be called if the number is not in the directory, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +one should be definite even with her. She cannot +supply the number of Mr. What-you-may-call-it +or of Mr. Thing-um-a-bob or of Mr. Smith +who lives down near the railroad station, and she +cannot give the telephone number of a house +which has no telephone in it. She has no right +to answer irrelevant questions; is, in fact, prohibited +from doing so. Her business is to furnish +numbers and she cannot do it efficiently if +she is expected also to explain why a cat has +whiskers, how to preserve string beans by drying +them, what time it is, what time the train leaves +for Wakefield, or what kind of connection can be +made at Jones's Junction.</p> + +<p>In calling a number the name of the exchange +should be given first. The number itself should +be called with a slight pause between the hundreds +and the tens, thus, “Watkins—pause—five, +nine—pause—hundred” for “Watkins +5900” or “Murray Hill—pause—four, two—pause—six, +three” for “Murray Hill 4263.” +The reason for this is that the switchboard before +which the operator sits is honeycombed +with tiny holes arranged in sections of one hundred +each. Each section is numbered and +each of the holes within it is the termination +of a subscriber's line. In locating “Watkins +5900” the girl first finds the section labelled “59<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>” +and then the “00” hole in that section, and if +the “59” is given first she has found it by the +time the subscriber has finished calling the number.</p> + +<p>The number should be pronounced slowly and +distinctly.</p> + +<p>When the operator repeats it the subscriber +should acknowledge it, and if she repeats it incorrectly, +should stop her and give her the number +again. And he should always remember, however +difficult it may be to make her understand, +that he is talking to a girl, a human being, and +that the chances are ten to one that the poor +connection is not her fault.</p> + +<p>To recall the operator in case the wrong person +is connected it is only necessary to move the +receiver hook slowly up and down. She may +not be able to attend to the recall at once but +jiggling the hook angrily up and down will not +get her any sooner. In fact, the more furious +the subscriber becomes the less the girl knows +about it, for the tiny signal light fails to register +except when the hook is moved slowly; or if the +switchboard is one where the operator is signalled +by a little disk which falls over a blank +space the disk fails to move down but remains +quivering almost imperceptibly in its usual position.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>After he has placed a call a man should wait +at the telephone or near it until the connection +is made. Too many men have a way of giving +their secretaries a number to send through and +then wandering off somewhere out of sight so +that when the person is finally connected he has +to wait several minutes while the secretary locates +the man who started the call. It is the +acme of discourtesy to keep any one waiting in +this manner. It implies that your time is much +more valuable than his, which may be true, but +it is hardly gracious to shout it in so brazen a +fashion.</p> + +<p>It has been estimated that in New York City +alone, more than a full business year is lost over +the telephone every day between sunrise and +sunset. There are 3,800,000 completed connections +made every day. Out of each hundred, six +show a delay of a minute or more before the person +called answers. In each day this amounts to +a delay of 228,000 connections. Two hundred +and twenty-eight thousand minutes (and sometimes +the delay amounts to much more than a +minute) is the equivalent of 475 days of eight +hours each, or as the gentleman who compiled +these interesting statistics has it, a business year +and a third with all the Sundays and holidays intact. +In the course of a year it amounts to more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +than all the business days that have elapsed +since Columbus discovered America!</p> + +<p>It may be argued that we would be better off +if we lost more than a year every day and did all +our work at more leisurely pace. This may be, +but the time to rest is not when the telephone bell +is ringing.</p> + +<p>The telephone on a business man's desk should +always be facing him and it should not be tricked +out with any of the patent devices except those +sanctioned by the company. Most of them lessen +instead of increase efficiency. A woman +in her home where calls are infrequent may hide +her telephone behind a lacquered screen or cover +it with pink taffeta ruffles, but in a business office +it is best to make no attempts to beautify it. +It is when it is unadorned that the ugly little +instrument gives its best service.</p> + +<p>There should always be a pad and pencil at +hand so that the message (if there is one) can +be taken down without delay. The person at +the other end probably has not time (and certainly +has not inclination) to wait until you have +fumbled through the papers on your desk and +the rubbish in the drawers to locate something +to write on and something to write with.</p> + +<p>“Hello” is a useless and obsolescent form of +response in business offices. The name of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +firm, of the department, or of the man himself, or +of all three, according to circumstances, should be +given. When there is a private operator to take +care of the calls she answers with the name of +the firm, Blank and Blank. If the person at +the other end of the wire says, “I want the Advertising +department,” she connects them and +the man there answers with “Advertising department.” +The other then may ask for the manager, +in which case the manager answers with his +name. It is easy to grow impatient under all +these relays, but a complicated connection involving +half a dozen people before the right one +is reached can be accomplished in less than a +minute if each person sends it straight through +without stopping to exchange a number of “Helloes” +like a group of Swiss yodelers, or to ask +a lot of unnecessary questions.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to scream over the telephone. +The mouth should be held close to the +transmitter and the words should be spoken +carefully. In an open office where there are +no partitions between the desks one should take +especial pains to keep his voice modulated. One +person angrily spluttering over the telephone +can paralyze the work of all the people within +a radius of fifty feet. If it were a necessary evil +we could make ourselves grow accustomed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +it. But it is not. And there is already enough +unavoidable wear and tear during the course of +a business day without adding this.</p> + +<p>“<i>Hello, what do you want?</i>” is no way to +answer a call. No decent person would speak +even to a beggar at his door in this way and the +visitor over the telephone, whoever he is, is entitled +to a cordial greeting. <i>The voice with the +smile wins.</i></p> + +<p>An amusing story is told of a man in Washington +who was waked one evening about eleven +o'clock by the telephone bell. At first he swore +that he would not answer it but his wife insisted +that it might be something very important, and +finally, outraged and angry, he blundered +through the dark across the room and into the +hall, jerked down the receiver and yelled, +“Hello!” His wife, who was listening tensely +for whatever ill news might be forthcoming, was +perfectly amazed to hear him saying in the next +breath, in the most dulcet tones he had ever used, +“Oh, how do you do, I'm <i>so</i> glad you called. +Oh, delightful. Charmed. I'm sure she will +be, too. Thank you. Yes, indeed. So good +of you. <i>Good</i>-bye.” It was the wife of the +President of the United States asking him and +his wife to dinner at the White House.</p> + +<p>If the person calling is given the wrong de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>partment +he should be courteously transferred to +the right one. Courteously, and not with a +brusque, “You've got the wrong party” or “I'm +not the man you want” but with “Just a minute, +please, and I'll give you Mr. Miller.”</p> + +<p>The time when people are rudest over the telephone +is when some one breaks in on the wire. +It might be just as well to remember that people +do not interrupt intentionally, and the intruder is +probably as disconcerted as the man he has interrupted. +If he had inadvertently opened the +wrong door in a business office the man inside +would not have yelled, “Get out of here,” but +over the telephone he will shriek, “Get off the +wire” in a tone he would hardly use to drive the +cow out of a cabbage patch.</p> + +<p>In an effort to secure better manners among +their subscribers the telephone company has +asked them to try to visualize the person at the +other end of the wire and to imagine that they +are talking face to face. Many times a man +will say things over the telephone—rude, profane, +angry, insulting things, which he would not +dream of saying if he were actually before the +man he is talking to. And to make it worse he +is often so angry that he does not give the other +a chance to explain his side of it, at least not until +he has said all that he has to say, and even then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +he not infrequently slams the receiver down on +the hook as soon as he has finished!</p> + +<p>Listening on a wire passes over from the field +of courtesy into that of ethics. On party lines +in the country it is not considered a heinous offense +to eavesdrop over the telephone, but the +conversation there is for the most part harmless +neighborhood gossip and it does not matter +greatly who hears it. In business it is different. +But it is practically impossible for any one except +the operator to overhear a conversation except +by accident, and it is a misdemeanor punishable +by law for her to give a message to +any one other than the person for whom it was +intended.</p> + +<p>In every office there should be a large enough +mechanical equipment manned by an efficient +staff to take care of the telephone traffic without +delay. “The line is busy” given in answer to a +call three or four times will send the person who +is calling to some other place to have his wants +looked after.</p> + +<p>Few places appreciate the tremendous volume +of business that comes in by way of telephone or +the possibilities which it offers to increase business +opportunities. They are as short-sighted +as the department store which, a good many years +ago, when telephones were new, had them in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>stalled +but took them out after a few weeks because +the clerks were kept so busy taking orders +over them that they did not have time to attend +to the customers who came into the store!</p> + +<p>Another important vantage point which, like +the telephone, suffers from neglect is the reception +desk. Millions of dollars' worth of business +is lost every year and perfect sandstorms +and cyclones of animosity are generated because +business men have not yet learned the great +value of having the right kind of person to receive +visitors. To the strangers who come—and +among the idlers and swindlers and beggars who +assail every successful business house are potential +good friends and customers—this person +represents the firm,—is, for the time being, the +firm itself.</p> + +<p>It is very childish for a man to turn away from +a reception desk because he does not like the manner +of the person behind it, but business men, sensible +ones at that, do it every day. Pleasant connections +of years' standing are sometimes broken +off and valuable business propositions are carried +to rival concerns because of indifferent or insolent +treatment at the front door. Only a short time +ago an advertising agency lost a contract for +which it had been working two years on account +of the way the girl at the door received the man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +who came to place it. He dropped in without +previous appointment and was met by a blonde +young lady with highly tinted cheeks who tilted +herself forward on the heels of her French pumps +and pertly inquired what he wanted. He told +her. “Mr. Hunt isn't in.” “When will he be +back?” “I don't know,” and she swung around +on the impossible heels. The man deliberated +a moment and then swung around on his heels +(which were very flat and sensible) and carried +the contract to another agency. Instances of +this kind might be multiplied. Some business +men would have persisted until they got what +they wanted from the young lady. Others would +have angrily reported her to the head of her office, +but the majority would have acted as this +man did.</p> + +<p>Most men (and women), whether they are in +business or not, do not underestimate their own +importance and they like to feel that the rest of +the world does not either. They do not like to +be kept waiting; they like to be received with +a nice deference, not haughtily; they do not like +to be sent to the wrong department; and they +love (and so do we all) talking to important people. +Realizing this, banks and trust companies +and other big organizations have had to appoint +nearly as many vice-presidents as there were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +second-lieutenants during the war to take care +of their self-important visitors. Even those +whose time is not worth ten cents (a number of +them are women) like to be treated as if it were +worth a great deal. It is, for the most part, an +innocent desire which does no one any special +harm, and any business that sets out to serve +the public (and there is no other kind) has to +take into account all the caprices of human vanity. +We cannot get away from it. Benjamin +Franklin placed humility among the virtues he +wished to cultivate, but after a time declared it +impossible. “For,” he said, “if I overcame pride +I would be proud of my humility.”</p> + +<p>Courtesy is the first requirement of the business +host or hostess and after that, intelligence. +Some business houses make the mistake of putting +back of the reception desk a girl who has +proved herself too dull-witted to serve anywhere +else. The smiling idiot with which this country +(and others) so abounds may be harmless and +even useful if she is kept busy behind the lines, +but, placed out where she is a buffer between the +house and the outside world, she is a positive affliction. +She may be pleasant enough, but the +caller who comes for information and can get +nothing but a smile will go away feeling about as +cheerful as if he had stuck his hand into a jar of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +honey when he was a mile or so away from soap, +water, and towel.</p> + +<p>A litter of office boys sprawling untidily over +the desks and chairs in the reception room is as +bad, and a snappy young lady of the “Now see +here, kid” variety is worse.</p> + +<p>The position is not an easy one, especially in +places where there is a constant influx of miscellaneous +callers, and it is hardly fair to ask a +young girl to fill it. In England they use elderly +men and in a number of offices over here, too. +Their age and manner automatically protect +them (and incidentally their firms) from many +undesirables that a boy or girl in the same position +would have considerable difficulty in handling. +And they lend the place an air of dignity +and reserve quite impossible with a youngster.</p> + +<p>In some offices, especially in those where large +amounts of money are stored or handled, there +are door men in uniform and often plain clothes +huskies near the entrances to protect the people +(and the money) on the inside from cranks and +crooks and criminals. In others, a physician's +office, for instance, or any small office where the +people who are likely to come are of the gentler +sort, a young girl with a pleasing manner will do +just as well as and perhaps better than any one +else. In big companies where there are many de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>partments, +it is customary to maintain a regular +bureau of information to which the caller who is +not sure whom or what he wants is first directed, +but the majority of businesses have only one person +who is delegated to receive the people who +come and either direct them to the person they +want to see or turn them aside.</p> + +<p>Most of them must be turned aside. If the +stage managers in New York interviewed all the +girls who want to see them, they would have no +time left for anything else, and the same thing is +true of nearly every man who is prominent in +business or in some other way. (Charlie Chaplin +received 73,000 letters during the first three +days he was in England. Suppose he had personally +read each of them!) Hundreds of people +must be turned away, but every person who +approaches a firm either to get something from +it or to give something to it has a right to attention. +Men are in business to work, not to entertain, +and they must protect themselves. But the +people who are turned away must be turned +away courteously, and the business house which +has found some one who can do it has cause to +rise and give thanks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + +<h3>TRAVELING AND SELLING</h3> + +<p>The etiquette of traveling includes very few +points not covered by the general laws of good +behavior. Keeping one's place in line before the +ticket window, having money ready and moving +aside as quickly as possible instead of lingering +to converse with the ticket-seller about train +schedules and divers other interesting subjects +are primary rules. It is permissible to make +sure that the train is the right one before getting +on it, but it is unnecessary to do it more than half +a dozen times. When the sign over the gate +says “Train for Bellevue” it probably <i>is</i> the +train for Bellevue, and when the guard at the +gate repeats that it is the train for Bellevue the +chances are that he is telling the truth.</p> + +<p>An experienced traveler usually carries very +little baggage. A lot of suitcases and grips are +bothersome, not only to the one who has charge +of them, but also to those who are cramped into +small quarters because of them. A traveler +may make himself as comfortable as he likes so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +long as it is not at the expense of the other passengers. +If they object to an open window the +window must stay down. Lounging over a seat +is bad form, especially if there is some one else in +it. So is prowling from one end of the car to +the other. Besides, it makes some people nervous. +Snoring is impolite and so is talking in +one's sleep, but they are beyond remedy. Talking +with the person in the berth above or below is +not, however, and is much more disturbing than +the noise of the train. Forgetting the number +of one's berth and blundering into the wrong +place is a serious breach of good manners in a +sleeping car, and it is extremely severe on timid +persons who have gone to bed with visions before +their minds of the man who was murdered in +lower ten and the woman who brought her husband's +corpse from Florida in the same berth +with her.</p> + +<p>Among men, “picking up” acquaintances on a +train or boat is allowable if it comes about in a +natural way, but there are men who object to it. +Many business men do not discontinue their +work because they are traveling. Portable +typewriters, secretaries, the telegraph and other +means of swift communication have made it possible +for them to accomplish almost as much as +if they were in the office back home. Such men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +do not like to be interrupted, and if a garrulous +or an intrusive person approaches it is within the +bounds of courtesy to turn him aside. Generally, +however, there is a comradery of the road, +a sort of good fellowship among voyagers which +lets down ordinary bars, and the men who like +to rest as they travel find it highly diverting and +interesting to talk with other men from various +parts of the country. This holds true in hotels, +especially in the commercial hotels, where traveling +men foregather to meet their customers +and transact their business, and in hotels in small +places where the possibilities for amusement are +limited and the people have to depend on one +another for entertainment. But there are limits. +No man should ever thrust himself upon another +and it is almost an iron clad rule that he should +never “pick up” women acquaintances when +traveling. It is permissible to talk with them, +but not to annoy them with personal attentions +nor to place them under obligation by paying +their bills. If a man and a woman who are traveling +on the same train fall into conversation and +go into the dining car together, each one should +pay his or her own check, or if he insists upon +paying at the table she should insist upon settling +afterwards. In hotels also this is essentially +true.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hotels are judged more by the people who +come to them than by anything else. The guests +indicate the quality of the service, and for this +reason, most hotels prefer that they be gentlemen. +There is an atmosphere about a first-class +hotel that frightens away second-rate people. +Most places have standards and many a man has +been turned away even when there was an empty +room because the management did not like his +looks.</p> + +<p>Tipping is one of the most vexatious petty +problems with which a traveler is confronted. +It is an undemocratic custom which every sensible +man deplores but sees no way around. +Waiters, porters, and other functionaries who +are in positions to receive tips draw very small +salaries, if any. They depend upon the generosity +of the public they serve. The system may +be all wrong (we believe it is) but it means +bread and butter to those who live by it, and it is +only just, as matters are now arranged, for the +traveler to pay. It is foolish to tip extravagantly +or to tip every pirate who performs even +the most trifling service, but a small fee, especially +if the service has been good, is a courtesy +not to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>Tipping originally grew out of kindness. The +knight who had received special attention at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +hands of his squire expressed his gratitude by a +special reward. The word “gratuity” itself indicates +that the little gift was once simply a +spontaneous act of thoughtfulness. It has degenerated +into a perfunctory habit, but it should +not be so. Excellent service deserves a recompense +just as slip-shod service does not. And +no one has a right to spoil a waiter (or any one +else) by tipping him for inefficient work. In +hotels and restaurants the standard fee is ten +per cent of the bill.</p> + +<p>Regular travelling of any kind even under +favorable circumstances is a great wear and tear +on the disposition. Commuters who go in and +out of town every day are a notoriously hag-ridden +lot, and the men who go on the road are +not much better. But there is one enormous difference. +It is the privilege of the commuter to +growl as much as he likes about the discomforts +of the road and the stupidity of the men who +make up the time tables, but travelling men—we +are speaking of salesmen especially—can never +indulge in the luxury of a grouch. One of the +biggest parts of his job is to keep cheerful all +the time and that in itself is no small task. (Try +it and see.) A farmer can wear a frown as +heavy as a summer thunder cloud and the potatoes +will grow just the same; a mechanic can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +swear at the automobile he is putting into shape +(a very impolite thing to do even when there is +no one but the machine to hear), and the bolts +and screws will hold just as fast; a lawyer can +knit his brows over his brief case and come to his +solution just as quickly as if he sat grinning at +it, but the salesman must smile, smile, smile. The +season may be dull, the crops may be bad, there +may be strikes, lockouts, depressions and deflations, +unemployment—it makes no difference—he +must keep cheerful. It is the courtesy of +salesmanship, and it is this quality more than any +other that makes selling a young man's job—we +do not mean in years, but in spirit—an old +one could not stand it.</p> + +<p>In the good old days when the country was +young and everybody, from all accounts we can +gather, was happy, salesmen in the present sense +of the term were almost unknown. There were +peddlers, characters as picturesque as gipsies, who +travelled about the country preying chiefly on +the farmers. Often they spent the night—hotel +accommodations were few and houses were far +apart—and entertained the family with lively +tales of life on the road. Next morning they +gave the children trifling presents, swindled the +farmer out of several dollars and made themselves +generally agreeable. The farmer took it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +all in good part and looked forward with pleasure +to the next visit. The peddlers came in pairs +then, like snakes, but they were for the most part +welcome and there was genuine regret when they +became things of the past like top-buggies and +Prince Albert coats.</p> + +<p>After the peddler came the drummer, a rough, +noisy chap, as his name indicates, harmless +enough, but economically not much more significant +than the peddler. He stayed in the business +district where he was tolerated with good-natured +indulgence. He was less objectionable than the +man who followed him, the agent. He was (and +is) a house-to-house and office-to-office canvasser +and a general nuisance. He sold everything +from books to life insurance, from patent potato +peelers to opera glasses. He still survives, but +not in large numbers, for his work, like that of +the peddler and the drummer, has been swallowed +up by the salesman.</p> + +<p>The rewards which modern salesmanship holds +out to those who succeed at it are so large that +the field has attracted all kinds of men, highly +efficient ones who love the game for its own sake, +grossly incompetent ones who, having failed at +something else, have decided to try this, and adventurers +who believe they see in it a chance to +get rich quick. The teachers of salesmanship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +tell us that we are all selling something, even +when there is no visible product. The worker, +according to them, is selling his services just as +the salesman is selling goods. It may be true, +but we all could not (and it is a blessing) go out +and sell things in the ordinary sense in which we +use the word. Some of us have to be producers. +But the salesman's work is important. We do +not discredit it.</p> + +<p>Salesmanship is built on faith. A man must +believe in his product and then must make other +people believe in it as firmly as he does. So devoted +are some salesmen to their work that it is +difficult to tell whether they consider their calling +a trade, a profession, a science, or a religion. +Sometimes it is all four. Sometimes it goes beyond +them and becomes a kind of mesmerism in +which the salesman uses a sort of hypnotic process +(which is simply the result of being over-anxious +to sell) to persuade the prospect that he +cannot wait another day before buying the particular +article that the salesman is distributing. +The article may be stocks and bonds, wash cloths, +soap, or hair nets. It makes no difference, but +he must be filled with enthusiasm and must be +able to pass it along. And this very virtue which +is the foundation of successful salesmanship is +likely to lead the salesman into gross rudeness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +For the man who is selling is so eager and so +earnest that he forgets that the man who is buying +may have his own ideas on the subject.</p> + +<p>The first step in salesmanship is to acquire a +thorough knowledge of the product. The next +is to gain access to the man who is to buy it. This +is not always easy. Business men have been +annoyed so much by agents that they have had to +erect barriers, in many instances almost impenetrable +ones. It is especially difficult in big +cities where the pressure is heavy, but most worth +while business men have learned the value of +contact with the world outside and are willing to +give almost any man an interview if he can show +a valid reason why he should have it. Whether +he gets a second interview or not depends upon +how he handled the first one.</p> + +<p>There are many ways of getting into an office. +A salesman usually stands a much better chance +if he writes ahead for an appointment. It is +much more courteous to ask a man when he +wants to see you than to drop in on him casually +and trust to luck that the time is not inopportune. +Some salesmen are afraid to write because +they think the knowledge of what they +have to sell will prejudice the prospect against +it. At the same time they feel that if they can +only get a chance to talk to him a few minutes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +they can over-ride the prejudice. A salesman +may come into an office without letting the man +know what his purpose is (though it is best to +begin with cards on the table) but he will not +come in (unless he is a crook) under false pretenses.</p> + +<p>The friends of a salesman can sometimes be +very useful to him in presenting him to valuable +prospects, and when they feel that the meeting +will result in mutual benefit they are glad to do +it. Sometimes the friend will give a letter or +a card of introduction. Sometimes he will telephone +or speak for an appointment. It is best +when these come unsolicited, though it is permissible +to ask for them. No man should depend +upon the help of his friends. A salesman should +be able to stand on his own feet, and if he and his +product together do not form a strong enough +combination to break down all obstructions there +is something wrong with one or the other of +them.</p> + +<p>The best card of admission at the door of a +business office is a pleasing personal appearance +coupled with a calm and assured manner. This +is a universal standard of measuring a man's +character and calibre. Until we have heard him +speak we judge him by the way he looks. It is +a dangerous practice, as the proverb warns us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +but the percentage of hits is high enough to make +us continue to use it.</p> + +<p>A favorite device with a certain cheap type of +salesman is to give his name to the girl at the entrance +desk and ask her to tell Mr. Brown that +Mr. Green has sent Mr. Smith to call. The Mr. +Green is entirely fictitious, but since Mr. Brown +has several business acquaintances of that name, +he interrupts his work and comes out to see Mr. +Smith and discovers that he is a life insurance +agent who thinks that if he can once get inside +he can “put it across.” Most business men have +no use for such practices and rarely allow the +salesmen who employ them to stay in their offices +any longer than it takes to get them out. Besides, +the salesman places himself under a handicap +to begin with. He will find it pretty hard +to convince the man in the office that he is not +dishonest about his goods just as he is about himself. +He is the greatest enemy of his profession. +And he makes the work of every one else engaged +in it infinitely harder. It is something +every business and profession has to fight against—the +dishonest grafter who is using it as a means +of swindling society.</p> + +<p>Most salesmen give their names at the entrance +desk instead of presenting their cards. +Psychologists and experience have taught them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +that the card is distracting and that even if the +interview is granted it is harder to get the attention +of the other man if he has a card to twiddle +between his fingers. It is more conventional to +send in a card (a good card is a letter of introduction +in itself) but if the salesman finds it a +handicap, however slight, he should by all means +dispense with it. If the card is cheap or flashy +or offensive in any way it arouses prejudice +against the man who bears it before he has had a +chance to present his case in person. The business +card may be the same as the personal card, +simply a bit of pasteboard bearing the name and +perhaps the address, or it may be larger than the +ordinary personal card and bear the name of the +firm for which the salesman is working, and in +addition, if it is a very simple design, the trademark +of the firm.</p> + +<p>Whether to rise when a caller enters and shake +hands is a question to be settled by each person +according to the way he likes best. It is certainly +more gracious to rise and ask him to be +seated before resuming one's own place. But +promiscuous handshaking is an American habit +which Europeans as a rule frown upon and in +which a number of Americans do not indulge, +for they like the grasp of their hand to mean +something more than a careless greeting and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +reserve it for their friends. In any case, the +caller should not be the first to extend his +hand.</p> + +<p>If a man is accustomed to see a great number +of people he will find it too much of a strain on +his vitality to shake hands with them all. Roosevelt +used to surprise strangers with the laxness +of his grasp, but the Colonel had learned to conserve +his strength in small things so that he +might give it to great ones. The President of +the United States has more than once in the +course of the history of our country come to the +end of the day with his hands bleeding from the +number of times people have pressed it during +the day. Now the President ought to be willing +to give his life for his country, but he ought +not to be required to give it in this way. It +probably meant a great deal to each one of the +people in the throng to be able to say, “I once +shook hands with the President,” but how much +more it would have meant if each one of them +could have said, “One day I helped my President,” +even if the help was so small an act of +thoughtfulness as forbearing to shake his hand.</p> + +<p>But to get back to salesmen: Some of them +have a way, especially the over-zealous ones, of +getting as close to the prospect as is physically +possible. They place their papers or their brief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +cases on the desk before which the prospect is +sitting, hitch their chairs up as close as they can, +and talk with their breath in his face. No one +likes this and it is only a rude and thoughtless +salesman who is guilty of it. One man who had +been vexed by it over and over again had the +visitor's chair nailed to the floor in his office +some little distance from his own. And he +never had a caller who didn't try to move it +nearer to him!</p> + +<p>For years it has been the habit for business +men to receive their callers at their desks, but +lately there has been a turning away from this. +The desk is usually littered with papers and letters +which the caller can hardly help reading, and +there are constant interruptions from the telephone +and the other members of the office. For +these reasons a number of business men are going +out to see their callers instead of bringing them +in to see them, a practice which is much more cordial +than the other if one can afford the time for +it. One big business house abolished its large +reception room and built in a number of smaller +ones instead. In this way each visitor has privacy +and there is a feeling of hospitality and +coziness about the little room which the bigger +one failed to give. Each room was fitted up +with comfortable chairs, books, and magazines so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +that if the caller had to wait he would have the +means of entertaining himself.</p> + +<p>Once a man agrees to see a salesman or other +visitor he should give, in so far as it is possible, +his full attention to him. It is better to refuse an +audience altogether than to give it grudgingly. +A prominent man cannot possibly see all of the +people, salesmen and whatnot, who want to talk +with him or he would have no time left to keep +himself prominent. A busy man has to protect +himself against the cranks and idlers who try to +gain access to him, and most men have to have +devices by which they can rid themselves of objectionable +or tiresome callers. One man who +has a constant stream of visitors has only one +chair in his office, and he sits in it. Another +never allows a visitor to enter his office, but goes +to the outer reception room and stands while he +talks. One man stands up as a signal that the +interview is at an end. Another begins to fumble +with the papers on his desk, and the salesman +does not live who is not familiar with the man +who must hurry out to lunch or who has only five +minutes to catch a train. One man has his secretary +or his office boy interrupt him after a visitor +has been in as much as ten minutes, to tell him +that Mr. So-and-So is waiting outside. Another +rises to his feet and walks slowly toward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +door, the salesman following, until he has maneuvered +him out. If the salesman is a man of sense +none of these devices will be necessary. He knows +that a courteous and prompt departure helps his +cause much more than an annoying persistence, +and the man who stays after his prospect's mind +has lost every interest except to get him out of +the way is lacking in one of the fundamentals of +social good manners as well as business good +manners. Rarely, perhaps never, does he succeed. +For the successful salesman is the one +who can put himself into his prospect's place and +let him know that he has made a study of his +needs and is there to help him.</p> + +<p>Carefully prepared approaches and memorized +speeches are worth much to the beginner, +but an agility in adapting himself is much +more important. Ludendorff failed to get to +Paris because his original plan was upset and he +could not think quickly enough to rally the German +army and attack from a different angle. +Most salesmen have to talk to men who are continually +interrupted to attend to something else. +And most business men know what they want, or +think they do, and when they ask a direct question +they want a direct answer. Many a young +salesman has ruined himself so far as his career +was concerned because he went out with instruc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>tions +to keep the interview in his hands and every +time the man he was “selling” asked a question +he passed airily over it and kept stubbornly on +the road he had mapped out for himself. The +salesman cannot think in theoretical terms; he +must think concretely and from the point of view +of the man he is trying to convince. As one very +excellent salesman has put it, he must get the +prospect's own story and tell it to him in different +words, and if he can actually show him a way +to decrease expenses or to increase output he +will win not only his attention, but his heart as +well.</p> + +<p>The salesman must be absorbed in his commodity, +but not to the exclusion of the man he is +trying to “sell.” A beginner of this type went +into a man's office some time ago and rattled off +a speech he had memorized about some charts. +The man listened until he came to the end—the +boy was talking so rapidly and excitedly that it +would have been hard to interrupt him except by +shouting at him—and then quietly told him that +he had not been able to understand a word of +what he had said. “You have not been talking +to me,” he explained. “You have been talking +at me.”</p> + +<p>Another salesman of the same general kind +went into the office of a busy lawyer one morn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>ing +recently in a building which happened to be +owned by the lawyer.</p> + +<p>“I am going to give you some books,” he announced.</p> + +<p>The lawyer asked him what they were, but the +salesman refused to be diverted before he had +led up to the dramatic moment in his carefully +planned speech at which he thought it best to +mention the name of the books. He went through +the whole of his canvass and then thrust a paper +under the lawyer's face with “Sign here” above +the dotted line.</p> + +<p>“I thought you were going to give them to +me,” the lawyer said.</p> + +<p>The salesman began to explain that of course +he could not give him the books outright and so +on and on and on—everybody has heard this part +of his speech. The lawyer laughed and the salesman +lost his temper. Very angry, he started out +of the room. Near the door which opened into +the hall was another door which opened into a +closet that contained a shelf which was a little +more than five feet high. The salesman opened +this door by mistake and struck his head smartly +against the shelf. This made him angrier than +ever. He jerked the other door open and +slammed it behind him with a crash that nearly +broke the glass out. This was more than the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +lawyer could stand. He sprang up and started +in pursuit of the salesman, who by this time was +on his way into another office in the same building. +The lawyer asked him where he was going. +The salesman told him.</p> + +<p>“Not in my building,” the lawyer said. “I +can't have the men who have offices here disturbed +by people who act like this. Now go on,” +he added kindly but firmly, “and let's forget that +you ever came here.”</p> + +<p>And the salesman went.</p> + +<p>Salesmanship is service, and the man who persuades +another to buy something he knows he +does not want, does not need, and cannot use, is +a scoundrel. “Good salesmanship,” and this is +the only sort that any self-respecting man will +engage in, “is selling goods that won't come +back to customers that will.” It is cumulative +in its effect, and the man who sells another something +that really fills a want wins his eternal +gratitude and friendship. He tells his friends +about it, they come to the same salesman and the +product begins almost to sell itself. But it takes +patience and courtesy to bring it up to this point.</p> + +<p>Some salesmen kill a territory on their first +trip. Bad manners can do it very easily. Sometimes +they make themselves so objectionable that +the customer will buy to get rid of them, espe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>cially +if the purchase does not involve more than +a dollar or two. Sometimes they carry the customer +along so smoothly with plausible arguments +that they persuade him to buy something +that he knows he does not want. It is all right +so long as the salesman is present, but discontent +follows in his trail. Sometimes—stocks and +bonds salesmen are guilty here—they wheedle +the customer into buying more than he can afford, +beginning on the premise that since their +stocks are good (and the men who sell fraudulent +ones use the same methods) a man should if +he has a hundred dollars buy a hundred dollars' +worth, if he has a million he should buy a million +dollars' worth, if he has a home he must mortgage +it, if he has an automobile he must sell it. +No good salesman works like this. People are +very gullible and it takes little argument to persuade +them to invest nearly all they have in something +that will make them rich in a hurry, but the +fact that they are foolish is not quite sufficient +justification for fooling them. Even if the +stocks and bonds are all the salesman believes +and represents them to be, no man has a right to +risk his home or his happiness for them. A +worth while salesman leaves his customer satisfied +and comes back a year later and finds him +still satisfied. And this sort of customer is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +best advertisement and the best friend any business +can have.</p> + +<p>Bad salesmen create violent prejudices against +the firms they represent. For the average customer, +like the average man, judges the whole of +a thing by the part that he sees. To most of +us the word Chinaman calls up the picture of +the laundryman around the corner in spite of +the fact that there are some three hundred million +Chinamen in the world engaged in other occupations. +Salesmen who are consumed with +their own importance do their firms more harm +than good. They usually are men in positions +too big for them (they may not be very big at +that) and are for the most part of not much more +real consequence than the gnat which sat on the +tip of the bull's horn and cried, “See what a dust +I raise!” Glum and sullen salesmen—there are +not many of them—are of little genuine value to +their firms. It is not true that when you weep +you weep alone. Gloomy moods are as contagious +as pleasant ones, and a happy man radiates +happiness.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to look pleasant when one's +nerves are bruised from miscellaneous contacts +with all sorts of people, but it is an actual fact +that assuming the gestures of a mood will often +induce the mood itself. The man who forces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +himself to <i>look</i> cheerful (we are not talking +about the one who takes on an idiotic grin) may +find himself after a while beginning to <i>feel</i> +cheerful. After he has greeted the elevator boy +with a smile (it may be a very crooked one) and the +hotel clerk and the waitress and the bootblack +and the paper boy he is likely to find that the smile +has straightened out into a genuine one. It does +not always work—it is like counting to a hundred +when one is angry—but it is worth trying.</p> + +<p>Salesmen find their greatest difficulties among +people of little education. It is the people with +fewest ideas that cling to them most tenaciously. +Scholars and scientists and business men who +have learned to employ scientific methods are +constantly watching for something new. They +welcome new discoveries and new ideas, but the +man in the backwoods of ignorance has a fence +around the limits of his mind and it is hard for +anything to get inside it. He is open to conviction, +but like the Scotsman, he would like to +see the person who could “convict” him. It is +hard work to get a new idea into the mind of a +man who is encased in a shell of ignorance or +prejudice, but the salesman is worse than bad-mannered +who lets another man, whoever he is, +know that he thinks his religion is no good, that +his political party is rotten, that his country is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +not worth a cancelled postage stamp, and that +the people of his race are “frogs,” “square-heads,” +“dagos,” “wops,” or “kikes.”</p> + +<p>Salesmen who are themselves courteous usually +meet with courtesy. The people who move +graciously through life find comparatively little +rudeness in the world. And a good salesman is +courteous to all men alike. With him overalls +command as much respect as broadcloth. It +pays—not only in money, but in other things that +are worth more.</p> + +<p>A salesman should be especially careful of his +attitude toward the representatives of rival +houses and their products. His eagerness to +advance his own cause should never lead him into +belittling them. He need not go out of his way +to praise them nor should he speak of them insincerely +in glowing terms; but an honest word +of commendation shows that he is not afraid of +his rivals in spite of the fact that they too have +excellent goods, and when it is impossible to +speak well of them it is best to stay silent.</p> + +<p>It is not hard to see why business men spend so +much time and effort in selecting their salesmen. +They know that one who is ill-mannered or offensive +in any way indicates either a lack of breeding +or a lack of judgment on the part of the parent +concern. And one is about as bad as the other.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE BUSINESS OF WRITING</h3> + +<p>Half the business letters which are written +should never be written at all, and of the other +half so many are incomplete or incoherent that a +transaction which could be finished and filed away +in two letters frequently requires six or eight.</p> + +<p>A good letter is the result of clear thinking +and careful planning. In the case of the sales-letter +it sometimes takes several weeks to write +one, but for ordinary correspondence a few minutes +is usually all that is necessary. The length +of time does not matter—it is the sort of letter +which is produced at the end of it.</p> + +<p>Books of commercial correspondence give a +number of rules and standards by which a letter +can be measured. But all rules of thumb are +dangerous, and there are only two items which +are essential. The others are valuable only as +they contribute to them. The letter must succeed +in getting its idea across and it must build +up good will for its firm. And the best one is +the one which accomplishes this most courteously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +and most completely in the briefest space of +time (and paper).</p> + +<p>There should be a reason back of every letter +if it is only to say “Thank you” to a customer. +Too much of our national energy goes up in +waste effort, in aimless advertising, worthless +salesmanship, ineffective letter writing, and in a +thousand and one other ways. A lot of it is +hammered out on the typewriters transcribing +perfectly useless letters to paper which might +really be worth something if it were given over to +a different purpose.</p> + +<p>A good letter never attracts the mind of the +reader to itself as a thing apart from its contents. +Last year a publishing house sent out a hundred +test letters advertising one of their books. Three +answers came back, none of them ordering the +book, but all three praising the letter. One was +from a teacher of commercial English who declared +that he was going to use it as a model in +his classes, and the other two congratulated the +firm on having so excellent a correspondent. +The physical make-up of the letter was attractive, +it was written by a college graduate and +couched in clear, correct, and colorful English. +And yet it was no good. No <i>letter and no advertisement +is any good which calls attention to itself +instead of the message it is trying to deliver</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>There is not much room for individuality in +the make-up of a letter. Custom has standardized +it, and startling variations from the conventional +format indicates freakishness rather than +originality. They are like that astonishing gentleman +who walks up Fifth Avenue on the coldest +mornings in the year, bareheaded, coatless, sockless, +clad in white flannels and tennis slippers. +He attracts attention, but he makes us shiver.</p> + +<p>Plain white paper of good quality is always in +good taste. Certain dull-tinted papers are not +bad, but gaudy colors, flashy designs, and ornate +letter heads are taboo in all high types of business. +Simple headings giving explicit and useful +information are best. The name and address +of the firm (and “New York” or “Chicago” +is not sufficient in spite of the fact that a +good many places go into no more detail than +this), the cable address if it has one, the telephone +number and the trademark if it is an inconspicuous +one (there is a difference between <i>conspicuous</i> +and <i>distinctive</i>) are all that any business +house needs.</p> + +<p>Hotels are often pictured on their own stationery +in a way that is anything but modest, but +there is a very good reason for it. The first +thing most people want to know about a hotel is +what sort of looking place it is. All right, here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +you are. Some factories, especially those that +are proud of their appearance, carry their own +picture on their stationery. There is nothing to +say against it, but one of the most beautiful factories +in America has on its letter head only the +name of the firm, the address, and a small trademark +engraved in black. Sometimes a picture, +in a sales letter, for instance, supplements the +written matter in a most effective way. And +whenever any kind of device is really helpful it +should by all means be used, subject only to the +limits of good taste.</p> + +<p>It is more practical in business to use standard +size envelopes. If window envelopes are used +the window should be clear, the paper white or +nearly so, and the typewritten address a good +honest black. The enclosure should fit snugly +and should be placed so that the address is in +plain view without having to be jiggled around +in the envelope first. A letter passes through +the hands of several postal clerks before it +reaches the person to whom it is addressed, and +if each one of them has to stop to play with it +awhile an appreciable amount of time is lost, not +to mention the strain it puts on their respective +tempers. The paper of which an envelope is +made should always be opaque enough to conceal +the contents of the letter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>Practically all business letters are typewritten. +Occasionally a “Help Wanted” advertisement +requests that the answer be in the applicant's +own handwriting, but even this is rare. +In most places the typing is taken care of by +girls who have been trained for the purpose, but +most young girls just entering business are +highly irresponsible, and it is necessary for the +men and women who dictate the letters to know +what constitutes a pleasing make-up so that they +can point out the flaws and give suggestions for +doing away with them.</p> + +<p>The letter should be arranged symmetrically on +the page with ample margins all around. Nothing +but experience in copying her own notes will +teach a stenographer to estimate them correctly +so that she will not have to rewrite badly placed +letters. It is a little point, but an important +one.</p> + +<p>Each subject considered in a letter should be +treated in a separate paragraph, and each paragraph +should be set off from the others by a +wider space than that between the lines, double +space between the paragraphs when there is +single space between the lines, triple space between +the paragraphs when there is a double +space between the lines, and so on.</p> + +<p>A business letter should handle only one sub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>ject. +Two letters should be dispatched if two +subjects are to be covered. This enables the +house receiving the letter to file it so that it can +be found when it is needed.</p> + +<p>When a letter is addressed to an individual it +is better to begin “Dear Mr. Brown” or “My +dear Mr. Brown” than “Dear Sir” or “My dear +Sir.” “Gentlemen” or “Ladies” is sometime +used in salutation when a letter is addressed to a +group. “Dear Friend” is permissible in general +letters sent out to persons of both sexes. Honorary +titles should be used in the address when +they take the place of “Mr.,” such titles as Reverend, +Doctor, Honorable (abbreviated to Rev., +Dr., Hon.,) and the like. Titles should not be +dropped except in the case of personal letters.</p> + +<p>Special care should be taken with the outside +address. State abbreviations should be used +sparingly when there is a chance of confusion as +in the case of Ga., Va., La., and Pa. “City” is +not sufficient and should never be used. Nor +should the name of the state ever be omitted +even when the letter is addressed to some other +point in the same state, as from New York to +Brooklyn. And postage should be complete. +A letter on which there is two cents due has +placed itself under a pretty severe handicap before +it is opened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is astonishing how many letters go out every +day unsigned, lacking enclosures, carrying the +wrong addresses, bearing insufficient postage, +and showing other evidences of carelessness and +thoughtlessness. In a town in New England +last year one of the specialty shops received at +Christmas time twenty different lots of money—money +orders, stamps, and cash—by mail, not +one of which bore the slightest clue to the identity +of the sender. Countless times during the +year this happens in every mail order house.</p> + +<p>The initials of the dictator and of the stenographer +in the lower left-hand corner of a letter +serve not only to identify the carbon, but often +to place the letter itself if it has gone out without +signature. The signature should be legible, +or if the one who writes it enjoys making flourishes +he may do so if he will have the name neatly +typed either just below the name or just above +it. It should be written in ink (black or blue +ink), not in pencil or colored crayon, and it +should be blotted before the page is folded. The +dictator himself should sign the letter whenever +possible. “Dictated but not read” bears the +mark of discourtesy and sometimes brings back +a letter with “Received but not read” written +across it. When it is necessary to leave the office +before signing his letters, a business man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +should deputize his stenographer to do it, in +which case she writes his name in full with her +initials just below it. A better plan is to have +another person take care of the entire letter, beginning +it something like, “Since Mr. Blake is +away from the office to-day he has asked me to +let you know——”</p> + +<p>The complimentary close to a business letter +should be “Yours truly,” “Yours sincerely” or +something of the kind, and not “Yours cordially,” +“Yours faithfully” or “Yours gratefully” +unless the circumstances warrant it.</p> + +<p>In writing a letter as a part of a large organization +one should use “We” instead of “I.” A +firm acts collectively, no one except the president +has a right to the pronoun of the first person, +and he (if he is wise) seldom avails himself +of it. If the matter is so near personal as to +make “We” somewhat ridiculous “I” should, of +course, be used instead. But one should be consistent. +If “I” is used at the beginning it should +be continued throughout.</p> + +<p>Similarly a letter should be addressed to a firm +rather than to a person, for if the person happens +to be absent some one else can then take charge of +it. But the address should also include the name +of the addressee (whenever possible) or “Advertising +Manager,” “Personnel Manager” or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +whatever the designation of his position may be. +The name may be placed in the lower left-hand +corner of the letter “Attention Mr. Green” or +“Attention Advertising Manager,” and it may +also be placed just above the salutation inside the +letter. Sometimes the subject of the letter is indicated +in the same way, <i>Re Montana shipment</i>, +<i>Re Smythe manuscript</i>, etc. These lines may be +typed in red or in capital letters so as to catch the +attention of the reader at once. If a letter is +more than two pages long this line is often added +to the succeeding pages, a very convenient device, +for letters are sometimes misplaced in the +files and this helps to locate them.</p> + +<p>A business letter should never be longer than +necessary. If three lines are enough it is absurd +to use more, especially if the letter is going +to a firm which handles a big correspondence. +Some one has said with more truth than exaggeration +that no man south of Fourteenth Street +in New York reads a letter more than three +lines long. But there is danger that the too +brief letter will sound brusque. Mail order +houses which serve the small towns and the rural +districts say that, all other things being equal, it +is the long sales letter which brings in the best +results. Farmers have more leisure and they +are quite willing to read long letters <i>if</i> (and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +this <i>if</i> is worth taking note of) they are interesting.</p> + +<p>All unnecessary words and all stilted phrases +should be stripped from a letter. “Replying to +your esteemed favor,” “Yours of the 11th inst. +to hand, contents noted,” “Yours of the 24th +ult. received. In reply would say,” “Awaiting +a favorable reply,” “We beg to remain” are dead +weights. “Prox” might be added to the list, +and “In reply to same.” “Per diem” and other +Latin expressions should likewise be thrown into +the discard. “As per our agreement of the 17th” +should give place to “According to our agreement +of the 17th,” and, wherever possible, simplified +expression should be employed. Legal +phraseology should be restricted to the profession +to which it belongs. Wills, deeds, and +other documents likely to be haled into court +need “whereas's” and “wherefores” and “said's” +and “same's” without end, but ordinary business +letters do not. It is perfectly possible to +express oneself clearly in the language of conversation +(which is also the language of business) +without burying the meaning in tiresome +verbiage. And yet reputable business houses +every day send out letters which are almost ridiculous +because of the stiff and pompous way they +are written.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>The following letter was sent recently by one +of the oldest furniture houses in America:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Madam</span>:</p> + +<p>Herewith please find receipt for full payment of your +bill. Please accept our thanks for same.</p> + +<p>Relative to the commission due Mrs. Robinson would +say that if she will call at our office at her convenience we +shall be glad to pay same to her.</p> + +<p>Thanking you for past favors, we beg to remain,</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;">Yours very truly,</p></div> + +<p>Contrast that with this:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Brown</span>:</p> + +<p>We are returning herewith your receipted bill. Thank +you very much.</p> + +<p>If you will have Mrs. Robinson call at our office at her +convenience we shall take pleasure in paying her the +commission due her.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;">Yours very truly,</p></div> + +<p>Here is another letter so typical of the kind +that carelessness produces:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>:</p> + +<p>I have your letter of the 27th inst. and I have forwarded +it to Mr. Stubbs and will see him in a few days and talk +the matter over.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;"> +I remain<br /> + Yours sincerely,</p></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>Would it not have been just as easy to write:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Thompson</span>:</p> + +<p>Thank you for your letter of the 27th. I have forwarded +it to Mr. Stubbs and will see him in a few days +to talk the matter over.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right;">Your sincerely,</p></div> + +<p>In the preparation of this volume a letter of +inquiry was sent out to a number of representative +business houses all over the country. It +was a pleasure to read the excellent replies that +came in response to it. One letter reached its +destination in the midst of a strike, but the publicity +manager of the firm sent a cordial answer, +which began:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Your very courteous letter to Mr. Jennings came at a +time when his mind is pretty well occupied with thoughts +concerning the employment situation in our various plants.</p> + +<p>We shall endeavor, therefore, to give you such information +as comes to mind with regard to matters undertaken by +the company which have contributed to the standard of +courtesy which exists in the departments here.</p></div> + +<p>We select another at random:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It pleases us very much to know that our company has +been described to you as one which practises courtesy in +business. We should like nothing better than to have all +our employees live up to the reputation credited to them by +Mr. Haight.</p> + +<p>As for our methods of obtaining it——</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<p>Contrast these two excellent beginnings with +(and this one is authentic, too):</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In reply to yours of the 6th inst. relative to what part +courtesy plays in business and office management would +say that it is very important.</p></div> + +<p>Routine letters must be standardized—a house +must conserve its own time as well as that of its +customers—but a routine letter must never be +used unless it adequately covers the situation. +There is no excuse for a poor routine letter, for +there is plenty of time to think it out, and there +is no excuse for sending a routine letter when it +does not thoroughly answer the correspondent's +question. The man who is answering a letter +must put himself in the place of the one who +wrote it.</p> + +<p>This is a fair sample of what happens when a +letter is written by a person who either has no +imagination at all, or does not use what he has.</p> + +<p>A woman who had just moved to New York +lost the key to her apartment and wrote to her +landlord for another. This answer came:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Replying to your letter, will say am sorry but it is not +the custom of the landlord to furnish more than one key +for an apartment. Should the tenant lose or misplace the +key it is up to them to replace same.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>The woman felt a justifiable sense of irritation. +She was new to the city and thought she +was taking the most direct method of replacing +“same.” Perhaps she should have known better, +but she did not. Buying a key is not so simple +as buying a box of matches and to a newcomer +it is a matter of some little difficulty. She +was at least entitled to a bit more information +and to more courteous treatment than is shown +in the letter signed by his landlordly hand. She +went to see him and found him most suave and +polite (which was his habit face to face with a +woman). He explained the heavy expense of +furnishing careless tenants with new keys (which +she understood perfectly to begin with) and was +most apologetic when he discovered that she had +intended all the time to pay for it. It would +have been just as easy for him in the beginning +to write:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am sorry that I cannot send you a key, but we have +had so many similar requests that we have had to discontinue +complying with them.</p> + +<p>You will find an excellent locksmith at 45 West 119 +St. His telephone number is Main 3480.</p></div> + +<p>Or:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I am sending you the key herewith. There is a nominal +charge for it which will be added to your bill at the end +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>of the month. I hope it will reach you safely. It is a +nuisance to be without one.</p></div> + +<p>Imagination is indispensable to good letter +writing, but it is going rather far when one sends +thanks in advance for a favor which he expects +to be conferred. Even those who take pleasure +in granting favors like to feel that they do so of +their own free will. It takes away the pleasure +of doing it when some one asks a favor and then +assumes the thing done. Royalty alone are so +highly privileged as to have simply to voice their +wishes to have them complied with, and royalty +has gone out of fashion.</p> + +<p>At one point in their journey all the travellers +in “Pilgrim's Progress” exchanged burdens, +but they did not go far before each one begged to +have back his original load. That is what would +happen if the man who dictates a letter were to exchange +places with his stenographer. Each would +then appreciate the position of the other, and if +they were once in a while to make the transfer in +their minds (imagination in business again) they +would come nearer the sympathetic understanding +that is the basis of good teamwork.</p> + +<p>The responsibility for a letter is divided between +them, and it is important that the circumstances +under which it is written should be favor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>able. +The girl should be placed in a comfortable +position so that she can hear without +difficulty. The dictator should not smoke whether +she objects to it or not. He should have in mind +what he wants to say before he begins speaking, +and then he should pronounce his words +evenly and distinctly. He should not bang on +the desk with his fist, flourish his arms in the air, +talk in rhetorical rushes with long pauses between +the phrases, or raise his voice to a thunderous +pitch and then let it sink to a cooing murmur. +These things have not the slightest effect on the +typewritten page, and they make it very hard +for the girl to take correct notes. No one should +write a letter while he is angry, or if he writes it +(and it is sometimes a relief to write a scorching +letter) he should not mail it.</p> + +<p>It is said that Roosevelt used to write very +angry letters to people who deserved them, drawing +liberally upon his very expressive supply of +abusive words for the occasion. Each time his +secretary quietly stopped the letter. Each time +the Colonel came in the day after and asked if +the letter had been sent. Each time the secretary +said, “No, that one did not get off.” And +each time the Colonel exclaimed, “Good! We +won't send it!” It came to be a regular part of +the day's routine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>Inexperienced dictators will find it good practice +to have their stenographers read back their +letters so they can recast awkward sentences and +make other improvements. It can usually be +discontinued after a while, for dictating, like +nearly everything else, becomes easier with +habit.</p> + +<p>A considerate man will show special forbearance +in breaking in a new girl. Different voices +are hard to grow accustomed to, and a girl who is +perfectly capable of taking dictation from one +man will find it very difficult to follow another +until she has grown used to the sound of his voice. +It is like learning a foreign language. The pupil +understands his teacher, but he does not understand +any one else until he has got “the hang +of it.”</p> + +<p>The training of a good stenographer does not +end when she leaves school. She should be able +not only to take down and transcribe notes +neatly and correctly. She should be able to +spell and punctuate correctly and to make the +minor changes in phrasing and diction that so +often can make a good letter of a poor one. The +most fatal disease that can overtake a stenographer +(or any one else) is the habit of slavishly +following a routine.</p> + +<p>“Many young fellows,” this is from Henry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +Ford, “especially those employed in offices, fall +into a routine way of doing their work that eventually +makes it become like a treadmill. They +do not get a broad view of the entire business. +Sometimes that is the fault of the employer, but +that does not excuse the young man. Those who +command attention are the ones who are actually +pushing the boss.... It pays to be ahead +of your immediate job, and to do more than that +for which you are paid. A mere clock watcher +never gets anywhere. Forget the clock and +become absorbed in your job. Learn to love +it.”</p> + +<p>The position of secretary is a responsible one. +Frequently she knows almost as much about his +business as her employer himself (and sometimes +even more). He depends upon her quite as +much as she depends upon him, though in a somewhat +different way. It takes personal effort together +with native ability to raise any one to a +position of importance, but personal effort often +needs supplementing, and many business houses +have taken special measures to help their employees +to become good correspondents.</p> + +<p>In some places there are supervisors who give +talks and discuss the actual letters, good ones +and bad, which have been written. They go +over the carbons and hold conferences with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +correspondents who need help. In other places +courtesy campaigns for a higher standard of correspondence +are held, while in others the matter +is placed in the hands of the heads of the various +departments, acting on the assumption that these +heads are men of experience and ability or they +would never have attained the position they +hold.</p> + +<p>The president of a bank which has branches in +London and Paris and other big foreign cities +used every now and then to stop the boy who was +carrying a basket of carbons to the file clerk and +look them over. If he found a letter he did not +like, or one that he did like a great deal, he sent +for the person who wrote it and talked with him. +It was not necessary for him to go over the letters +often. The fact that the people in the office +knew that it was likely to happen kept them on +the alert and nearly every letter that left the organization +was better because the person who +wrote it knew that the man at the head was interested +in it and that there was a strong chance +that he might see it.</p> + +<p>What is effective in one place may not be so in +another. Each house must work out its own system. +But one thing must be understood in the +beginning, and that is that the spirit of courtesy +must first abide in the home office before the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +people who work there can hope to send it out +through the mail.</p> + +<p>Roughly speaking there are eight types of +business letters which nearly every business man +at one time or another has to write or to consider.</p> + +<p>The first is the letter of <i>application</i>. The applicant +should state simply his qualifications for +the place he wants. He should not make an +appeal to sympathy (sob stuff) nor should +he beg or cringe. He should not demand a +certain salary, though he may state what salary +he would like, and he should not say “Salary no +object.” It would probably not be true. There +are comparatively few people with whom money +is no object. If it is the first time the applicant +has ever tried for a position he should say so; if +not, he should give his reason for leaving his last +place. It should not be a long letter. A direct +statement of the essential facts (age, education, +experiences, etc.) is all that is necessary.</p> + +<p>Many times the letter of application is accompanied +by, or calls for, a letter of <i>recommendation</i>.</p> + +<p>No man should allow himself to recommend +another for qualities which he knows he does not +possess. If he is asked for a recommendation +he should speak as favorably of the person under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +consideration as he honestly can, and if his opinion +of him is disapproving he should give it with +reservations.</p> + +<p>At one time during the cleaning up of Panama +there was considerable talk about displacing +General Gorgas and a committee waited on +Roosevelt to suggest another man for the job. +He listened and then asked them to get a letter +about him from Dr. William H. Welsh of Johns +Hopkins. Dr. Welsh wrote a letter praising +the man very highly, but ended by saying that +while it was true that he would be a good man for +the place, he did not think he would be as good +as the one they already had—General Gorgas. +The Colonel acted upon the letter confident +(because he had great faith in Dr. Welsh) that +he was taking the wise course, which subsequent +events proved it to be. “Would to heaven,” he +said, “that every one would write such honest +letters of recommendation!”</p> + +<p>The general letter of recommendation beginning +“To whom it may concern” is rarely given +now. It has little weight. Usually a man waits +until he has applied for a position and then gives +the name of his reference, the person to whom he +is applying writes to the one to whom he has +been referred, and the entire correspondence is +carried on between these two. In this way the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +letter of recommendation can be sincere, something +almost impossible in the open letter. It is +needless to add that all such correspondence +should be confidential.</p> + +<p>The letter of <i>introduction</i> is, in a measure, a +letter of recommendation. The one who writes +it stands sponsor for the one who bears it. It +should make no extravagant claims for the one +who is introduced. He should simply be given +a chance to make good on his own responsibility. +But it should give the reason for the presentation +and suggest a way of following it up that +will result in mutual pleasure or benefit. It +should be in an unsealed envelope and the envelope +should bear, in addition to the address, the +words, “Introducing Mr. Blank” on the lower +left-hand corner. This does away with an embarrassing +moment when the letter is presented +in person and enables the host to greet his guest +by name and ask him to be seated while he reads +it.</p> + +<p>Letters of introduction should not be given +promiscuously. Some men permit themselves +to be persuaded into giving letters of introduction +to people who are absolute nuisances (it is +hard to refuse any one who asks for this sort of +letter, but often kindest for all concerned) and +then they send in secret another letter explaining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +how the first one came about. This really throws +the burden on the person who least of all ought +to bear it, the innocent man whom the first one +wanted to meet. No letter of presentation is +justified unless there is good reason behind it, +such, as for instance, in the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This is Mr. Franklin B. Nesbitt. He has been in Texas +for several months studying economic conditions, and I +believe can give you some valuable information which has +resulted from his research there. He is a man upon +whom you can rely. I have known him for years, and I +am sure that whatever he tells you will be trustworthy.</p></div> + +<p>It is a common practice for a business man to +give his personal card with “Introducing Mr. +Mills” or “Introducing Mr. Mills of Howard +and Powell Motor Co.” written across it to a +man whom he wishes to introduce to another. +This enables him to get an interview. What he +does with it rests entirely with him.</p> + +<p><i>Sales letters</i> are a highly specialized group +given over, for the most part, to experts. Their +most common fault is overstatement or patronizing. +The advertisements inserted in trade papers +and the letters sent out to the “trade” are +often so condescendingly written that they infuriate +the men to whom they are addressed. It +is safer to assume that the man you are writing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +to is an intelligent human being. It is better to +overestimate his mentality than to underestimate +it, and it is better to “talk” to him in the +letter than to “write” to him.</p> + +<p>Sales letters are, as a rule, general, not personal, +and yet the best ones have the personal touch. +The letter is a silent salesman whose function is +to anticipate the needs of its customers and offer +to supply them. In this as in any other kind +of salesmanship it is the spirit which counts for +most, and the spirit of genuine helpfulness (mutual +helpfulness) gives pulling power to almost +any letter. The one which presents a special +offer on special terms specially arranged for the +benefit of the customer wins out almost every +time, provided, of course, that the offer is worth +presenting. There is no use in declaring that +all of the benefit is to the subscriber. It would +be very foolish if it were actually true. Once a +man went into a haberdashery to buy a coat. +The shop owner unctuously declared that he was +not making a cent of profit, was selling it for less +than it cost him, and so on and on. The man +walked out. “I'll go somewhere where they have +sense enough to make a profit,” he said.</p> + +<p>A sales letter should never be sent out to a +large group of people without first having been +tried out on a smaller one. In this way the let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>ter +can be tested and improvements made before +the whole campaign is launched. The results +in the small group are a pretty fair indication of +what they will be in the large one, and a tremendous +amount of time and money can be saved by +studying the letter carefully to see where it has +failed before sending it out to make an even bigger +failure.</p> + +<p>On the face of things it seems that an <i>order +letter</i> would be an easy one to write, but the mail +order houses have another story to tell. Order +blanks should be used wherever possible. They +have been carefully made and have blank spaces +for the filling in of answers to the questions +that are asked. In an order letter one should +state exactly what he wants, how he wants it +sent, and how he intends to pay for it. If the +order consists of several items, each one should +be listed separately. If they are ordered from +a catalogue they should be identified with the +catalogue description by mention of their names, +their numbers and prices. One should state +whether he is sending check, money, stamps, or +money order, but he should not say “Enclosed +please find.”</p> + +<p>The commonest form of <i>letter of acknowledgment</i> +is sent in answer to an order letter. If +there is to be the least delay in filling the order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +the letter acknowledging it should say so and +should give the reason for it, but even when the +order is filled promptly (if it is a large or a comparatively +large one) the letter of acknowledgment +should be sent. Then if anything goes +wrong it is easier to trace than when the customer +has no record except the copy of his +order letter. The letter of acknowledgment +should simply thank the customer and assure him +of prompt and efficient service.</p> + +<p>Complaints should be acknowledged immediately. +If there is to be a delay while an investigation +is made, the letter of acknowledgment +should simply state the fact and beg indulgence +until it is finished. Complaints should <i>always</i> +receive careful and courteous attention. Most of +them are justified, and even those that are not +had something to begin on.</p> + +<p>The <i>letter of complaint</i> should never be written +hastily or angrily. It should go directly to +the root of the trouble and should state as nearly +as possible when and where and how it came +about. One should be especially careful about +placing the blame or charging to an individual +what was really the fault of an unfortunate train +of circumstances. The tone should never be +sharp, no matter how just the complaint. +“Please” goes further than “Now, see here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>.”</p> + +<p><i>Collection letters</i> are hardest to write. They +should appeal to a man's sense of honor first of +all. It is a cheap (and ineffective) method to +beg him to pay because you need the money, and +rarely brings any reaction except rousing in his +mind a contempt for you. The first letter in a +series (and the series often includes as many as +six or eight) should be simply a reminder. Drastic +measures should not be taken until they are +necessary, and at no time should the letters become +abrupt or insulting. In the first place, it +is ungentlemanly to write such letters, in the second +it antagonizes the debtor, and if he gets +angry enough he feels that it is hardly an obligation +to pay the money; that it will “serve 'em +right” if he does not do it.</p> + +<p>Advertising is a sort of letter writing. Each +advertisement is a letter set before the public or +some part of the public in the hope that it will +be answered by the right person. It enters into +an over-crowded field and if it is to attract attention +it must be vivid, unusual, and convincing. +Increasingly—and there is cause to be thankful +for this—exaggerated statements are being +forced to disappear. In the first place the ballyhoo +advertisers have shouted the public deaf. +They no longer believe. In the second place advertisers +themselves have waked to the menace of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +the irresponsible and dishonest people who are +advertising and are taking legal measures to +safeguard the honor of the profession.</p> + +<p>One of the most successful advertisers of modern +times was a man who carried the idea of service +into everything he did. For a while he had +charge of soliciting advertising for automobile +trucks for a certain magazine. Instead of going +at it blindly he made a careful study of the map +of the United States and marked off the areas +where automobile trucks were used, where they +could be used, and where they should be used, +and sent it to the manufacturers along with a +statement of the circulation of the magazine and +the advantages of reaching the public through +it. The result was that the magazine got more +advertising from the manufacturers than it could +possibly handle. It is very gratifying to know +that this man succeeded extraordinarily as an advertiser, +for not once during his long career did +he ever try to “put one over” on the public or on +anybody else.</p> + +<p>No advertisement should be impertinent or +importunate. During the war there was a splendid +poster bearing a picture of Uncle Sam looking +straight into your eyes and pointing his finger +straight into your face as he said, “Young +man, your country needs you!” The poster was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +excellent from every point of view, but since the +war, real estate companies, barber shops, restaurants +and whatnot have used posters bearing the +pictures of men pointing their fingers straight at +you saying, “There is a home at Blankville for +you,” “Watch out to use Baker's Best,” and +“You're next!” After all, Uncle Sam is the +only person who has a right to point his finger at +you in any such manner and say, “I need you.” +And besides, there is the moral side of it. Imitation +is the sincerest flattery, but the dividing +line between it and dishonesty is not always clear. +And the law cannot every time prosecute the +offender, for there is a kind of cleverness that +enables a man to pilfer the ideas of another and +recast them just sufficiently to “get by.” It +would be very stupid for a man not to profit by +the experience of other men, but there is a vast +difference between intelligent adaptation of ideas +and stealing them. This is more a question of +morals than of manners, for the crime—and it +is a crime—is usually deliberate, while most +breaches of manners are unintentional and due +to either carelessness or ignorance.</p> + +<p>House memoranda are letters among the +various people who are working there. They +should be brief, above all things, and clear, but +never at the sacrifice of courtesy. Titles should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +not be dropped and nicknames should not be +used although initials may be. Memoranda +should never be personal unless they are sent confidentially. +An open memorandum should never +contain anything that cannot be read by every +one without reflecting unfavorably upon any one. +And it is wise to keep in mind—no matter what +you are writing—that the written record is permanent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2> + +<h3>MORALS AND MANNERS</h3> + +<p>It has become a habit of late years for people +to argue at great length about right and wrong, +and what with complexes and psycho-analysis +and what with this and that, they have almost +come to the conclusion that there is no right and +wrong. Man, so they have decided, is a frail and +tender being completely at the mercy of the +traits he has inherited from his ancestors and +those he has acquired from his neighbors. What +he does is simply the result of the combination of +circumstances that have made him what he is. +There is some truth in it, of course, but what +there is is no bigger than a mustard seed, and all +the volumes that have been written about it, all +the sermons that have been preached upon it, and +all the miles of space that have been devoted to +it in the newspapers and magazines have not +served to increase it. Most of us never give any +one else credit for our achievements and there is +no more reason for giving them blame for our +failures. A gentleman is “lord of his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +actions.” He balances his own account, and +whether there is a debit or a credit is a matter +squarely up to him.</p> + +<p>The pivot upon which all right-thinking conduct +involving relations with other people turns +is the Golden Rule, “Whatsoever ye would that +men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” +It is to the moral what the sun is to the physical +world, and just as we have never made full use +of the heat and light which we derive from the +sun but could not live without that which we do +use, so we have never realized more than a small +part of the possibilities of the Golden Rule, but at +the same time could not get along together in the +world without the meagre part of it that we do +make use of. The principle is older than the +Christian Era, older than the sequoias of California, +older than the Pyramids, older than Chinese +civilization. It is the most precious abstract +truth that man has yet discovered. It contains +the germ of all that has been said and written +about human brotherhood and all that has been +done toward making it an accomplished fact. +And if to-morrow it were to vanish from the +earth we should miss it almost, if not quite, as +much as we should the sun if it were to go hurtling +off into space so far away that we could neither +see nor feel it. In the one case there would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +be no life at all on earth, in the other there would +be none worth living.</p> + +<p>The Golden Rule amounts to no more than +putting yourself into another person's place. It is +not always easy to do. Half of the people in the +United States have very little idea of what the +lives of the other half are like and have no special +interest in knowing.</p> + +<p>“What,” we asked the manager of a bookshop +which caters to a large high-grade clientèle, “do +you find your greatest trouble?”</p> + +<p>“Lack of imagination on the part of our customers,” +he answered promptly, “a total inability +to put themselves into our place, to realize +that we have our lives to live just as they have +theirs. If we haven't a book in stock they want +to know why. If we don't drop everything to +attend to them they want to know why. If anything +goes wrong they want to know why, but +they won't listen to explanations and won't accept +them when they do. They simply can't see +our side of it. And they make such unreasonable +demands. Why, last year during the Christmas +rush when the shop was fairly jammed to +the door and we were all in a perfect frenzy trying +to wait on them all, a man called up to know +if his wife was here!”</p> + +<p>It is not always easy to see life, or even a small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +section of life, from another person's point of +view. A man very often thinks housework practically +no work at all (the drudgery of it he has +never realized because he has never had to do it) +and a woman very often underestimates the wear +and tear and strain of working in an office and +getting a living out of it in competition with hundreds +of other men. Marie Antoinette had no +conception of what it meant when the French +people cried for bread. It seemed impossible to +her that a person could actually be hungry. +“Why, give them cake!” she exclaimed. It +may be pretty hard for a man who is making +$10,000 a year to sympathize with the stenographer +he hires for $600 or $700 a year, or for her +to see his side of things. But it is not impossible.</p> + +<p>Very few of us could honestly go as far as the +novelist who recently advocated the motto: “My +neighbor is perfect” or the governor who set +aside a day for the people in his state to put it +into practice. We happen to know that our +neighbors are, like ourselves, astonishing compounds +of vice and virtue in whom any number +of improvements might be made. It is not necessary +to think them perfect, only to remember +that each one of us, each one of them, is entitled +to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +other words, that every man has a right to a +square deal.</p> + +<p>In the ancient world there were four cardinal +virtues: justice, prudence, temperance, and discretion. +In the modern world of business there +are only two. Others may follow, but these two +must come first. Justice, we mean, and kindness. +No man was ever really a gentleman who +was not just and kind, and we think it would be +almost impossible for one who is, whatever his +minor shortcomings may be, not to be a gentleman. +Just to his employees (or to his employer), +to his customers, to his friends, to +himself, and this justice always tempered with +kindness, the one quality giving the firmness necessary +in dealing with people, the other the +gentleness which is no less necessary.</p> + +<p>In the first place, and this is one of the corner +stones of justice, industrial life must be made +safe for the worker. And it is a job in which he +has as large a part as the man who hires him. +Under present conditions one workman out of +every eight is injured during the year and the +accident is as often his fault as it is that of his +employer. In some instances efficient safety +devices are not provided, in others they are not +made use of.</p> + +<p>Special kinds of work, such as that in which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +laborer is exposed to poisonous fumes, to sand +blasts, dangerous chemicals or mineral dusts, +need special protective devices and men with +sense enough to use them. The employer cannot +do his share unless the worker does his, and +the worker is too quick to take a chance. The +apprentice is usually cautious enough, but the +old hand grows unwary. Ninety-nine times he +thrusts his arm in among belts whirling at lightning +speed and escapes, but the hundredth time +the arm is caught and mangled. And there is +nothing to blame but his own carelessness.</p> + +<h3>WHO AM I?</h3> + +<p>I am more powerful than the combined armies +of the world.</p> + +<p>I have destroyed more men than all the wars +of the nations.</p> + +<p>I am more deadly than bullets, and I have +wrecked more homes than the mightiest of siege +guns.</p> + +<p>I steal, in the United States, alone, over +$300,000,000 each year.</p> + +<p>I spare no one, and I find my victims among +the rich and poor alike, the young and old, the +strong and weak. Widows and orphans know me.</p> + +<p>I loom up to such proportions that I cast my +shadow over every field of labor, from the turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>ing +of the grindstone to the moving of every railroad +train.</p> + +<p>I massacre thousands upon thousands of wage +earners a year.</p> + +<p>I lurk in unseen places and do most of my +work silently. You are warned against me but +you heed not.</p> + +<p>I am relentless.</p> + +<p>I am everywhere—in the house, on the streets, +in the factory, at the railroad crossings, and on +the sea.</p> + +<p>I bring sickness, degradation and death, and +yet few seek to avoid me.</p> + +<p>I destroy, crush or maim; I give nothing but +take all.</p> + +<p>I am your worst enemy.</p> + +<h3>I AM CARELESSNESS</h3> + +<p>Any kind of carelessness which results in injury +(or is likely to result in it), whether the injury +is mental or physical, is criminal. No +plea can justify building a theatre which cannot +stand a snowstorm, a school which cannot give +a maximum of safety to the children who are in +it, a factory which does not provide comfortable +working conditions for the people employed +there, or allowing any unsafe building or part of +a building to stand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>There is a factory (this story is true) which +places the lives of the majority of its employees +in jeopardy twice a day. There are two sets of +elevators, one at the front of the building for +the executives and their secretaries and visitors, +one at the rear for the rank and file of the employees. +Since there are several hundred of the +latter the advantages of the division are too obvious +to need discussion. We have no quarrel +with it. But the apparatus upon which the elevators +in the rear run is so old and so rotten and +so rusty that there is constant danger of its +breaking down. Three times already there have +been serious accidents. The men who are hired +to operate the cars rarely stay more than a week +or so. Protests have been sent in but nothing +has been done. The management knows what the +conditions are but they have never stopped to +realize the horror of it. It is not that they +value a few dollars more than they do human life, +but that they simply do not stop to think or to +imagine what it would be like to have to ride in +the ramshackle elevator themselves. In the offices +of this factory there is an atmosphere of +courtesy and good breeding far beyond the ordinary—in +justice to the people there it must be +said that they do not know the conditions in the +rear, but the management does. And the man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>agement +is polite in most of its dealings, both +with its employees and outside, but polish laid +over a cancerous growth like this is not courtesy.</p> + +<p>There are three essentials for good work: <i>good +lighting</i> (it must be remembered that a light +that is too glaring is as bad as one that is too +dim), <i>fresh air</i> (air that is hot and damp or dry +and dusty is not fresh), and <i>cleanliness</i> (clean +workrooms—and workers—clean drinking water +with individual drinking cups, and in places +where the work is unusually dirty, plenty of +clean water for bathing purposes.)</p> + +<p>In the matter of salaries—economically one of +the most important questions in the world—the +employer should pay, not as little, but as much +as he can afford. No man has a right to hire a +girl (or a boy either) at less than a living wage +and expect her to live on it. The pitiless publicity +which was given the evil of hiring girls at +starvation wages some years ago (in particular +through the short stories of O. Henry, “the little +shop-girl's knight” which, according to Colonel +Roosevelt, suggested all the reforms which he +undertook in behalf of the working girls of New +York) did much in the way of reform, but there +is much yet to be done.</p> + +<p>Money has been called the root of all evil. It +is not money, but greed. Greed and thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>lessness. +Sir James Barrie says stupidity and +jealousy, but both these might be included under +thoughtlessness. Men who are generous almost +to a fault when a case of individual need is +brought before them will hire girls at less than +any one could exist on in decency. When they +meet these same girls in the hall or when they +come directly into contact with them in their +work they may be polite enough, but their politeness +is not worth a tinker's curse. Justice must +come first. Only if the employer pays a fair +day's wage can he expect a fair day's work. +“Even then,” he protests, “I can't get it.” And +this is, unfortunately, in large measure true. As +Kipling said some few years ago, and it still +holds,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From forge and farm and mine and bench<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Deck, altar, outpost lone—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mill, school, battalion, counter, trench,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Rail, senate, sheepfold, throne—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Creation's cry goes up on high<br /></span> +<span class="i2">From age to cheated age:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">“Send us the men who do the work<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For which they draw the wage.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>“I can't even get them here on time,” the employer's +wail continues. The employee may +respond that the employer is not there, but this +has nothing to do with it. Most people are paid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +to get to their work at a certain hour. They +have a daily appointment with their business at +a specified time. It is wise and honorable to +keep it. Tardiness is a habit, and, like most +others, considerably harder to break than to +form, but punctuality also is a habit, not quite +so easy to establish as tardiness because it is +based on strength while the other is based on +weakness. Most of us hate to get up in the +morning, but it is good discipline for the soul, +and we have the words of poets as well as of +business men that</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Early to bed and early to rise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is the way to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Time is one of the most valuable of commodities. +More people are discharged for coming in +late than for any other reason, not excepting (we +believe this no exaggeration) “lay-offs” during +dull seasons. Slipping out before the regular +time and soldiering on the job fall into the same +classification with tardiness. Such practices the +employee too often looks upon as a smart way of +getting around authority, blithely ignoring the +fact which has so many times been called to our +attention: that what a man does to a job is not +half so important as what the job does to him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +The material loss which comes from it is the least +of its harms.</p> + +<p>All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, +but he is duller yet if he tries to mix them. Intense +concentration during working hours followed +by complete rest is the only way to make a +contented workman, and it is the happy workman +(just as it is the happy warrior), in spite of +all that is said about divine discontent, who +counts for most both to himself and to his community. +There is a gladness about earnest +eager work which is hard to find in anything +else. “I know what pleasure is,” declared Robert +Louis Stevenson, “because I have done good +work.”</p> + +<p>Gossiping, idling, smoking, writing personal +letters during working hours (these usually on +the firm's stationery), and a thousand and one +other petty acts of dishonesty are ruinous, not so +much to the house which tolerates them (because +it cannot help itself) as to the person who commits +them. Telephones are the cause of a good +deal of disturbance during business hours in +places where employees spend an appreciable +amount of time on personal calls. In some organizations +they are prohibited altogether; but +in most they are allowed if not carried to excess. +It is not business people who need education in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +this so much as their friends who have never been +in business and seem unable to realize that personal +calls are not only annoying, but time-killing +and distracting.</p> + +<p>Part of the unrest and unhappiness among +employees is due to the fact that vast numbers of +them are working not at what they want to do +but at what they have to do, marking time until +they can get something better. It is very commendable +for a man to be constantly watching +out to improve himself, but it does not in the +meanwhile excuse him from doing his best at the +job for which he is drawing pay. It is dishonest. +It is unsportsmanlike. It is unmanly.</p> + +<p>The question of salary is, from whatever +angle it is approached, a delicate one. “My experience +is,” observed David Harum, “that most +men's hearts is located ruther closter to their +britchis pockets than they are to their vest pockets.” +It is a tender subject, and one that causes +more trouble than almost any other in the world. +Employees who are trusted with the payroll +should not divulge figures and employees who +are on the payroll should not discuss and compare +salaries. Jones cannot understand why +Brown gets more than he does when he knows +that Brown's work is not so good, Brown cannot +see why Smith gets as much as he does when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +is out two or three days in the week, and Smith +cannot see why he has not been made an executive +after all the years he has worked in the place. +There are many sides to the matter of salary adjustment +and they all have to be taken into consideration. +And the petty jealousies that +employees arouse by matching salaries against +one another only serve to make a complex problem +more difficult.</p> + +<p>There is only one base upon which a man +should rest his plea for an increase in salary, and +that is good work. The fact that he has a family +dependent upon him, that he is ill or hard up may +be ample reason for giving him financial help or +offering him a loan, but it is no reason why his +salary should be increased unless his work deserves +it. Paternalism is more unfair than most +systems of reward, and the man who comes whimpering +with a tale of hard luck is usually (but +not always) not worth coddling. Years of experience, +even though they stretch out to three +score and ten, are not in themselves sufficient +argument for promotion. Sometimes the mere +fact that a man has been content to stay in one +place year after year shows that he has too little +initiative to rise in that particular kind of work +and is too timid to try something else.</p> + +<p>Another big cause of trouble among men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +working in the same organization is rigid class +distinction. When a man hires others to work +<i>for</i> him he invites discontent; when he hires them +to work <i>with</i> him there may be dissatisfaction, +but the chances of it are lessened. A business +well knit together is like any other group, an +army or a football team, bound into a unit to +achieve a result. At its best each person in it +feels a responsibility toward each one of the +others; each realizes that who a man is is not half +so important as what he does, and that</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">... the game is more than the player of the game<br /></span> +<span class="i3">And the ship is more than the crew,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>or, as another poet with a Kiplingesque turn of +mind and phrase has it,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">It is not the guns or armament<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or the money they can pay.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It's the close coöperation<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That makes them win the day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It is not the individual<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or the army as a whole,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the everlastin' team work<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of every blooming soul.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Each man is directly responsible to his immediate +superior. He should never, unless the +circumstances are unusual, go over his head and +he should never do so without letting him know.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +It should be impossible, and is, in a well-organized +house, for men coming from the outside to +appeal over a member of a firm. Responsible +men should be placed in the contact positions and +their responsibility should be respected. Salesmen +are warned not to bother with the little +fellow but to go straight to the head of a firm. +Like most general advice, it is dangerous to put +into universal practice. The heads of most +firms have men to take care of visitors, and in +a good many instances, the salesman helps his +cause by going to the proper subordinate in the +first place. It is all very well to go to the head +of a firm but to do it at the expense of the dignity +of one of the smaller executives is doubtful business +policy and doubtful ethics.</p> + +<p>“Passing the buck” is a gentle vice practised +in certain loosely hung together concerns. It +is a strong temptation to shift the accountability +for a mistake to the shoulders of the person on +the step below, but it is to be remembered that +temptations, like obstacles, are things to be overcome. +The “buck,” as has been pointed out, +always passes down and not up, a fact which +makes a detestable practice all the more odious. +One of the first laws of knighthood was to defend +the weak and to protect the poor and helpless; +it still holds, though knighthood has passed out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +of existence; and the creature (he is not even +good red herring) who blames some one else for a +fault of his, or allows him to take the blame, is +beneath contempt.</p> + +<p>When a mistake has been made and the responsibility +fixed on the right person the penalty +may be inflicted. If it is a scolding or a “bawling +out” it should be done quietly. Good managers +do not shout their reprimands. They do +not need to. The reproof for a fault is a matter +between the offender and the “boss.” No one +else has any concern with it, and there is no +reason why the instinct for gossip or the appetite +for malicious reports on the part of the other +employees should be satisfied. The world would +be happier and business would be infinitely more +harmonious if each person in it could realize that +his chief aim in life should be to mind his own +business or, at least, to let other people's alone.</p> + +<p>Private secretaries and other people in more +or less confidential positions are many times +tempted to give away secret information, not so +much for the benefit of the person to whom it is +given as to show how much they themselves are +trusted. Nearly every one who holds a responsible +business position receives items of information +which are best not repeated, and if common +sense does not teach him what should be kept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +private and what should be told, nothing will. +It should not be necessary for the superior to +preface each of his remarks with, “Now, this +must go no further.”</p> + +<p>Matters concerning salaries should always be +confidential, and so should personal items such +as health reports, character references, and so +on, credit reports, blacklists, and other information +of a similar nature. It is compiled for a +definite purpose and for the use of a limited +group of people. It is unethical to use it in +any other way.</p> + +<p>The reason for dismissing a person from a +business organization should be kept private, +especially if it is something that reflects unfavorably +on his character. But the reason should +<i>always</i> be given to the employee himself. He +may not listen, and most of the men who have +had experience in hiring and firing say that he +will not, but that is his own responsibility. The +employer has no right to let him go without letting +him know why. And the employee should +listen—it may not be his fault but he should +check up honestly with himself and find out. +The same thing that lost him this place may +lose him another, and a good many times all that +he can get out of being discharged is a purification +of soul. It is a pity if he misses that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>Discharging a person is a serious matter, serious +from both sides, and it is not a thing to be +done lightly. Most houses try to obviate it in so +far as possible by hiring only the kind of people +they want to keep. “Our efforts toward efficiency” +(we quote from one manager who is typical +of thousands) “begin at the front door. We +try to eliminate the unfit there. We do not employ +any one who happens to come along. We try +by means of an interview and references and psychological +tests to get the very highest type of +employee.” No human test is perfect, however, +and there are times, even in the best regulated +houses, when it becomes necessary to dismiss +persons who have shown themselves unfit.</p> + +<p>It is not always a disgrace to be discharged +and it is not always a step downward. It may +be because of business depression or it may be +because the man is a square peg in a round hole. +Sometimes it is the only experience that will reduce +a man's, especially a young man's, idea of +his own importance to something like normal +proportions, the only one that will clear his mind +of the delusion that he is himself the only person +who is keeping off the rocks the business for +which he is working, in which case it is one of the +best things that could have happened to him.</p> + +<p>A roll call of famous or successful men who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +were fired would take up several reams of paper, +and it is a pretty rash personnel manager (not +to say brutal and unfair) who will throw a man +out like a rotten potato and declare that he is +absolutely no good. Besides, he does not know. +All that he can be sure of is that the man was +not qualified for the job he was holding. And +he should think twice before giving a man a +bad name even if he feels certain that he deserves +it. At the same time he must protect himself +and other business men from incompetent, weak, +or vicious employees. If after his dismissal a +man sends back to his former employer for a +recommendation, the recommendation should be +as favorable as possible without sacrificing the +truth.</p> + +<p>When a man breaks his connection with a +business house, whether he does so voluntarily +or involuntarily, his departure should be pleasant, +or at the least dignified. It is childish to +take advantage of the fact that you are going +away to tell all of the people you have grudges +against how you feel about them, and it is worse +than a mere breach of good manners to abuse +the house that has asked you to leave. If it +has done some one else an injustice, talk about +that all you please, but on your own account be +silent. Even if the fault has been altogether<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +with the house it does not help to call it names. +Self-respect should come to the rescue here. This +is the time when it is right to be too proud to +fight.</p> + +<p>For a long time it has been held bad ethics for +the members of one trade or profession to speak +disparagingly of their competitors, and we have +grown accustomed to say that you can judge a +man by the way he speaks of his rivals. This +has limits, however, and in some instances a mistaken +idea of loyalty to one's calling has led to +the glossing over of certain evils which could +have been cured much earlier if they had been +made public. It is all very well to be generous +and courteous toward one's competitors but the +finest courtesy in any business consists of doing +whatever tends to elevate the standard of that +business.</p> + +<p>Every man likes his business to be well thought +of, and most businesses have organized for +the promotion of a high standard of ethics +as well as for the development of more efficient +methods. Notable among these, to mention one +of the most recent ones, is the Advertisers' Association. +There was a time when the whole profession +was menaced by the swindlers who were +exploiting fraudulent schemes by means of +advertising in magazines and newspapers, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +to-day no reputable periodical will accept an +advertisement without investigating its source +and most of them will back up the guarantee of +the advertiser that his goods are what he represents +them to be with a guarantee of their own. +No publication which intends to keep alive can +afford a reputation of dishonesty, and the efforts +of the publishers toward cleaning up have been +seconded by the association to such an extent that +any person or corporation that issues a deceptive +advertisement, whether or not there was intent +to deceive, will be prosecuted and punished.</p> + +<p>There was a time when a man could do almost +anything within the law in a commercial transaction +and excuse himself by saying “business is +business.” Happily this is no longer true. +Business men have not grown perfect but they +have raised their standards of business morality +as high as their standards of personal morality. +They have learned that business and life are one, +that our lives cannot—and this has a number of +disadvantages—be separated into compartments +like so many tightly corked bottles on a shelf. +We have only one vessel and whatever goes into +it colors what is already there. And it is significant +to remember that muddy water poured +into clean water will make it muddy, but that +clean water poured into muddy water will not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +make it clean. It takes very little ink in a pail +of milk to color the whole of it, but it takes an +enormous amount of milk to have any effect on +a bottle of ink.</p> + +<p>Business men have also learned that the only +way to build a business that will last is to lay its +foundation on the Golden Rule, and many a man +who might otherwise sidetrack the principles of +integrity holds by them for this reason. “Honesty,” +declared one of the most insufferable prigs +America ever produced, “is the best policy.” He +was right. Prigs usually are. It is only because +they are so sure of it themselves that they +irritate us.</p> + +<p>It is a fact, in spite of the difficulty Diogenes +had when he took up his lantern and set out to +find an honest man, that most people like to pay +their way as they go, and the business men who +recognize this are the ones who come out on top. +They do not say that the customer is always right +nor that he is perfect, but they assume that he is +honest and trust him until he has proved himself +otherwise. The biggest mail order house in +America never questions a check. As soon as +an order is received they fill it and attend to the +check afterward. Their percentage of loss is +extraordinarily small. Distrust begets distrust, +and the perversity of human nature is such that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +even an honest man will be tempted to cheat if +he knows another suspects him of it. The converse +is equally true. There are, of course, exceptions. +But the only rule in the world to +which there are no exceptions is that there is no +rule that holds good under all conditions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h2>PART II</h2> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2> + +<h3>“BIG BUSINESS”</h3> + +<p>In the preceding pages we have looked over +the field of etiquette in business in a general +way, and have come to the only conclusion possible, +namely, that the basis of courtesy in business +is common sense, and that whatever rules +may be given must not be followed slavishly, but +must simply be used as guide posts. In the +pages which follow we shall go into detail and +watch courtesy at work among certain groups +and individuals.</p> + +<p>Let us take, for example, a big concern which +employs a thousand or more people. We shall +begin with the president.</p> + +<p><i>President of a Big Organization.</i> Here is a +man who bears a heavy responsibility. He has +not only his own welfare to look after but that of +the men and women who work <i>with</i> (we like this +word better than <i>for</i>) him. His first duty is to +them. How can he best perform it?</p> + +<p>It is a matter of fact that few men rise to such +positions who are not innately courteous. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +one of the qualities which enable them to rise. +For this reason we shall take it for granted that +the president needs no instructions. Already he +has learned the great value of courtesy. But +this does not protect him always from discourtesy +in other people.</p> + +<p>Every man who holds a high position in a big +organization is besieged with visitors, but no one +so much as the president. He is a target for +cranks and idlers and freaks as well as for earnest +business men who want to help him or to get +help from him. Thousands during the course of +a year come to call on him. If he saw them all +he would have to turn over the presidency to +some one else and devote himself to entertaining +visitors. Many of those who come ask for him +when he is not at all the man they want to see, +but they have been taught in the schools of salesmanship +or they have read in a magazine that it +never pays to bother with the little fellow, but +that they should go straight to the top.</p> + +<p>Every minute of the time of the president +of a big company is valuable (all time is valuable, +as far as that goes), and it must be protected +from the people who have no right to infringe +upon it.</p> + +<p>You would think that the vice-presidents and +the managers and the various executives would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +be his best protection. They are not. It is the +person who is placed at the front door to receive +visitors. We shall consider him next.</p> + +<p><i>The Man at the Door.</i> As a matter of fact, +this person is usually a girl, many times a very +young and irresponsible one, because great numbers +of business men have not yet realized the importance +of the position. A well-poised girl or +a woman who has had wide experience in handling +people can fill the place quite as efficiently +as a man, and a great deal more so if the man has +not been chosen because he has the quick sympathy +and ready tact so necessary in taking care of +the needs of a miscellaneous assortment of callers.</p> + +<p>In the house we are observing the person at +the door is a young man who began as a messenger +boy, and who, because he did what he was +asked to do cheerfully instead of sullenly, with a +“Certainly, sir,” and a smile instead of a “That's +Bob's business” and a frown, was made manager +of the messengers, and then first assistant of the +man at the door, and later, when that man was +given another position, was promoted to his +place. The job commands a good salary and +offers chances of promotion. The young man +likes it.</p> + +<p>A visitor comes, a young salesman, let us say,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +who has had little experience. This is only the +second or third time he has tried to storm the +doors of big business. He asks at once for the +president. He does not give his card because +the school where he learned his trade cautioned +him against doing so. (He is perfectly correct, +and he would have been equally correct if he had +given it. The more formal style is to send in +the card.) The man at the door sees at once +what kind of man he has to deal with.</p> + +<p>“The president is busy,” he answers—a safe remark +always, because if he is not he should be; +“maybe I can do something for you.”</p> + +<p>The salesman explains that he has an attachment +to increase efficiency of typewriters. He +would like to show the president how it works.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you don't want Mr. President,” the host +answers. “You want Mr. Jones. He attends +to all such things for us. Will you be seated +here in the reception room,” motioning toward +the door which is at one side of his desk, “while I +find out if he is busy?”</p> + +<p>This concern is very conservative about buying +new attachments and new machinery of any kind, +but it is ever on the alert to discover means of increasing +its output and saving its manpower. +Almost any new idea is worth a demonstration.</p> + +<p>If the man at the desk has an intelligent mes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>senger +boy—and he should have—he sends him +in to Mr. Jones. The boy finds Mr. Jones busy. +He will be free in about fifteen minutes and then +will be glad to see the salesman. The man reports +to the visitor and asks if he cares to wait. +He does. The host offers him a magazine and +asks him to make himself comfortable while he +goes back to his desk to attend to the next visitor.</p> + +<p>This one also wants to see the president.</p> + +<p>“The president is in conference just now,” +the young man replies. “Perhaps there is something +I can do for you in the meanwhile if you +will tell me what you want.”</p> + +<p>“It's none of your business,” he answers +rudely. “I want the president.”</p> + +<p>The chances are against a man of this sort. +He may be a person the president wants to see, +but the odds are ten to one that he is not.</p> + +<p>“I'm sorry but you cannot possibly see him +now. He is busy.”</p> + +<p>“When will he be free?”</p> + +<p>“It is hard to tell. These conferences sometimes +last an hour or two, and I am sure he will +not see you even then unless you tell him why +you want to see him. He is a very busy man.”</p> + +<p>The visitor sputters around a few minutes and +it develops that he is selling insurance. The +young man knows that the president will not see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +him under any circumstances. He is already +heavily insured, as every wise man should be, +and he cannot be bothered with agents who are +trying to sell him larger policies.</p> + +<p>“I'm sorry,” the young man repeats, “but I +am sure there is no use in letting him waste your +time. He is already carrying a heavy policy +and he positively refuses to talk insurance with +anyone, no matter who it is.”</p> + +<p>This should be enough for the salesman. What +the young man says is true. It would be a waste +of his time as well as the president's. He does +not care half so much for the salesman's time—there +is no reason why he should—but notice how +tactfully he tells him that the head of the organization +has no time to spend with him.</p> + +<p>There is a certain rough type of salesman (we +use the word salesman here in the broadest sense, +as the salesmen themselves use it, to cover all the +people who are trying to convince some one else +that what they have is worth while whether it is +an idea or a washing machine or a packet of +drawings)—there is a certain rough type of +salesman who tries to bluster his way through. +He never lasts long as a salesman, though unfortunately +he survives a good many years in +various kinds of business. Even he must not be +turned away rudely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>“I'm sorry,” the young man says to a person +of this sort, “but the president has given positive +orders that he must not be disturbed this +morning. He is engaged in a very important +transaction.”</p> + +<p>The next man who approaches the door has an +authentic claim on the president. It would be +as great a calamity to turn him away as it would +be to let some of the others in. He presents his +card and says that he has an appointment. A +truly courteous man, whenever possible, arranges +an appointment beforehand. The young +man takes the card, waves toward the reception +room, and asks him to be seated while he finds out +if the president is busy. He telephones to the +secretary of the president, tells him who is calling, +and asks if the president is ready to see him. +If the answer is affirmative he asks if he will see +him in his office or out in the reception room. +It is much easier to get rid of a visitor from the +entrance hall or reception room than from an inside +office. If he says that he will see him in +the reception room the girl reports to the visitor +that he will come in a few minutes, offers him a +magazine, and asks him to make himself at home. +If the president says that he will see the visitor +in his office the young man sends one of the messenger +boys to usher him through the building.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now it may be that this man had no appointment +with the president, but that he has used it +as a pretext to break through. In this case, the +secretary answers, after consulting his schedule, +that the president has never heard of such a person +and has no such appointment. A man of +this sort is not worth a minute's consideration. +He has shown himself dishonest at the outset +with a petty contemptible dishonesty, and the +temptation is to pitch him out on his head. But +the young man says quietly:</p> + +<p>“His secretary says that the president has no +appointment with you. I am afraid you have +come to the wrong place. It must be some +other Mr. Beacon.”</p> + +<p>There is a note of finality in his voice which +convinces the visitor that there is no use in going +further.</p> + +<p>The next visitor is a woman who has come to +have lunch with a friend of hers who works in +the accounting department.</p> + +<p>“It is fifteen minutes before time for lunch,” +the young man answers. “I can call her now, +of course, but if you would rather not disturb +her, I'll tell her that you will wait for her in the +reception room until she comes for you.”</p> + +<p>The woman thanks him and agrees that it will +be much better not to disturb her. The young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +man offers her a chair and a magazine and invites +her to make herself comfortable.</p> + +<p>It grows monotonous in the telling for him to +ask each of the visitors exactly the same questions +(never exactly the same, of course) in the +same cordial tone of voice and to tell them to +make themselves comfortable in exactly the same +way, but the means of attaining success in such +a place lies in the fact that he greets each visitor +as if he were the only one he had to attend to, +and that he is, for the time being, at least, completely +at the visitor's service. It is not so much +what the young man says as the way he says it. +“Good morning” can be spoken in such a way +that it is an insult.</p> + +<p><i>The Girl at the Telephone.</i> It is nerve-racking +to stand at the door to receive callers, +but it is much more so to sit at the switchboard +and receive messages. The only point of contact +is through the voice, but it is remarkable +how much of one's personality the voice expresses. +If you are tired your voice shows it; +if you are cross your voice tells it; if you are +worried, your voice betrays it. It is possible for +one (everyone) to cultivate a pleasing voice. +The telephone companies have learned this, and +there is no part of her equipment upon which +they spend more time and effort than on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +voice of the telephone girl. It is interesting to +know that their very excellent motto, “The voice +with the smile wins” did not spring into being +without thought. On the early bulletins this +clumsy phrase was printed: “A smiling voice +facilitates service.”</p> + +<p>The girl at the telephone, even though she receives +a thousand calls a day, must answer each +one pleasantly and patiently. Some people call +without a very clear idea of what they want, and +the fact that business houses have so many different +names for exactly the same job often makes +it difficult for them to locate the person they are +asking for, even when they are fairly sure who it +is they want.</p> + +<p>“May I speak to your personnel manager?” +comes the query over the wire to a girl who has +never heard of a personnel manager.</p> + +<p>“I'm sorry, I did not quite hear you.”</p> + +<p>The person at the other end repeats the word +and the girl is sure she had it right the first time.</p> + +<p>“We have no personnel manager here. Maybe +there is some one else who would do. If you will +tell me what you want——”</p> + +<p>“I want a job.”</p> + +<p>“Just a minute, please, I'll connect you with +our employment manager.”</p> + +<p>Advertising engineers, executive secretaries,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +and many others are old jobs masquerading +under new names.</p> + +<p>More business men complain of the girl at the +telephone than of any other person in business. +She must, under the handicap of distance, accomplish +exactly what the man at the door does, +and must do it as efficiently and as courteously.</p> + +<p>No matter how angry the one who is calling +becomes, no matter how profane he may be, no +matter what he says, she must not answer back, +and she must not slam the receiver down while +he is talking. Perfect poise, an even temper, +patience, and a pleasant voice under control—if +she has these, and a vast number of the telephone +girls have, she need not worry about the +rules of courtesy. They will take care of themselves.</p> + +<p>The numbers that a girl in a business office +has to call frequently she should have on a pad +or card near the switchboard so that she will +not have to look them up. Many business men +ask the girl at the board to give them Blank and +Blank or Smith and Smith instead of giving her +the numbers of the two concerns. She then has +to look them up, quite a difficult task when one +has the headpiece on and calls coming in and +going out every minute. To stop to look up one +number often delays several, and it is a duty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +which should never devolve upon the girl whose +business it is to send the calls through. The +man who is calling, or his secretary, if he has one, +or a person near the switchboard stationed there +for the purpose should look up the numbers and +give them to the operator.</p> + +<p>An efficient girl at the telephone sends numbers +through as quickly as is humanly possible, +but even then she is often scolded by nervous and +harassed men who expect more than can really +be done.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hunter has called Main 6785. It is busy. +He waits. Hours pass. At least it seems so to +him, and he grows impatient.</p> + +<p>“What's the matter with that number, Miss +Fisher?”</p> + +<p>“I'm still trying, Mr. Hunter. I'll call you +when they answer.”</p> + +<p>The line continues busy. Mr. Hunter looks +over the papers on his desk. His nervousness +increases. He takes down the receiver again +and asks what the trouble is. He does not get +the number any more quickly this way, but it +would be hard to convince him that he does not. +The girl says quietly again that she is still trying. +He clings to the receiver and in a few +minutes she answers triumphantly, “Here they +are,” and the connection is made.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>The telephone girl in a big concern (or a little +one) is constantly annoyed with people who have +the wrong number. When it happens ten or +twelve times in the course of a day—fortunately +it is not usually so often—it is hard for her to +keep a grip on her temper and answer pleasantly, +“This is not the number you want,” but +the snappish answer always makes a bad situation +worse, and the loss of temper which causes +it drains the energy of the person who makes it. +It is not merely the voice with the smile that +wins; it is the disposition and temperament to +which such a voice is the index.</p> + +<p><i>The Secretary.</i> The next in the line of defense +is the president's secretary. To him (and +we use the masculine pronoun although this position, +like a good many others, is often held by +women even in the biggest organizations, where +the responsibility attached to it is by no means +small)—to him the president turns over the details +of his day's work. He arranges the president's +schedule and reminds him of the things +he has forgotten and the things he is likely to +forget. He receives all of his visitors by telephone +first and many times disposes of their +wants without having to connect them with the +president at all. He receives many of the callers +who are admitted by the man at the door and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +in the same way often takes care of them without +disturbing the president. He knows more +about the petty routine of the job than the president +himself. He is accurate. He is responsible. +He is patient. He is courteous.</p> + +<p>In order that he may be all these things it is +necessary for the president to keep him well informed +as to what he is doing and where he is +going and what he is planning so that he can +give intelligent answers to the people who come, +so that he can keep things running smoothly +when the president is away, so that he can +answer without delay when the president asks +whether he has a luncheon engagement on +Thursday, and what he did with the memorandum +from the circulation manager, and who is +handling the shipping sheets.</p> + +<p>Men who have their minds on larger matters +cannot keep all the details of their jobs in mind, +but it is significant to know that most successful +business men know with more than a fair degree +of accuracy what these details amount to. Some +secretaries feel very superior to the men who employ +them because they can remember the date +on which the representatives of the Gettem Company +called and the employers cannot. The +author knows a chauffeur who drives for a +famous New York surgeon who thinks himself a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +much better man than the surgeon because he +can remember the numbers of the houses where +his patients and his friends live and the surgeon +cannot. The author also knows a messenger +boy who thinks himself a much bigger man than +one of the most successful brokers in Wall Street +because the broker sometimes gives him the same +message twice within fifteen minutes, the second +time after it has already been delivered.</p> + +<p>The secretary comes to the office every morning +neatly clad and on time. The hour at which +his employer comes in has nothing to do with +him. There is a definite time at which he is expected +to be at his desk. He is there.</p> + +<p>He opens the letters on his desk—and those +addressed to the president come first to him—and +sorts them, throwing aside the worthless +advertising matter, saving that which may be of +some interest, marking the letters that are to +be referred to various other members of the +house, and placing them in the memorandum basket, +piling into one heap those that he cannot answer +without first consulting the president, and +into another those which must be answered by the +president personally. Intimately personal letters +often come mixed in with the rest of the +mail. No man wants a secretary whom he cannot +trust even with letters of this sort, but almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +any secretary worth having will feel a certain +amount of delicacy in opening them unless he is +requested to do so. When these letters are from +people who write often the secretary grows to +recognize the handwriting from the outside of +the envelope, and therefore does not need to open +them. In other cases it is sometimes possible to +distinguish a personal from a business letter. +These should be handled according to the wishes +of the man to whom they are directed. Many +business men turn practically everything—even +the settlement of their family affairs—over to +their secretaries. It is a personal matter, and +the secretary's part in it is to carry out the wishes +of his employer.</p> + +<p>By the time the mail is sorted the president +has come in.</p> + +<p>He rings for his secretary, telephones for him, +sends a messenger for him, or else goes to his +desk himself and asks him to come in and take +dictation. There is no special courtesy or discourtesy +in any of these methods. It depends +on how far apart the desks are, how busy he is, +and a number of other things. He does not yell +for his secretary to come in. He manages to +get him there quietly. It is not necessary for +him to rise when the secretary enters (even if the +secretary is a woman) though he may do so (and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +it is a very gracious thing, especially if the secretary +is a woman) but he should greet him (or +her) with a pleasant “Good-morning.”</p> + +<p>The secretary takes his place in the comfortable +chair that has been provided for him, with +notebook and pencil in hand and at least one +pencil in reserve. He waits for the president to +begin, and listens closely so that he may transcribe +as rapidly as he speaks. If he fails to +understand he waits until they come to the end +of a sentence before asking his employer to repeat. +It is much better to do so then than to depend +on puzzling it out later or coming back and +asking him after he has forgotten what was said.</p> + +<p>Telephone interruptions and others may come +during the dictation but the secretary waits until +he is dismissed or until the pile of letters has disappeared.</p> + +<p>When the president has finished it is the secretary's +time to begin talking. He consults him +about the various letters upon which he needs his +advice and makes notations in shorthand on +them. He reports on the various calls that have +come in and the house memoranda. A good +secretary reads and digests these before turning +them over to his employer, and in most cases +gives the gist of the memorandum instead of the +memorandum itself. It saves time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>The president's secretary usually has a secretary +of his own, a woman, let us say, or a girl +whose preliminary training has been good and +whose record for the year and a half she has been +with the company has been excellent.</p> + +<p>She comes to her desk on time every morning +as fresh as a daisy and as inconspicuous. The +relation that she bears to the president's secretary +is much the same as the relation that he +bears to the president. She gets the letters +that are addressed to him and sorts them in the +same way that he does those of the president. +On days when he is absent she takes care of all +of his work, in so far as she is able, as well as her +own.</p> + +<p>Her employer is considerate of her always. +He does not make a practice of taking ten or fifteen +minutes of her lunch hour or five or ten +minutes overtime at the close of the day, but +when there is a good reason why he should ask +her to remain he does so, asking courteously if +she would mind staying. If she is genuinely +interested in her work—and this young lady is—she +will stay, but if she has an even better reason +why she should go she explains briefly that it is +impossible to stay. He never imposes heavier +burdens upon her than she can bear, but he does +not hesitate to ask her to do whatever needs to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +done, and he does it with a “Please” and a “Thank +you,” and not with a “See, here” and a “Say, +listen to me, now.” She is a very pretty and +attractive girl, but the man she is working for is +a gentleman. To him she is his secretary, and +if he were ever in danger of forgetting it she +would be quick to remind him. She does not go +around with a chip on her shoulder all the time, +and she talks freely with the various men around +the office just as she does with the women and +girls, but it is in an impersonal way. She never +permits intimate attentions from her immediate +employer or any one else.</p> + +<p><i>Executives.</i> “Executive” is a large, loose +word which rolls smoothly off the tongue of far +too many business men to-day. Office boys begin +to think in terms of it before they are out of +knee trousers. “I could hold down the job,” +said a youngster who had hurt his hand and +whose business was to carry a bag of mail from +a suburban factory into New York, “if I could +get some one to carry the bag.” “I can do the +work,” say smart young men in the “infant +twenties” (and many others—there is no age +limit), “but I must have a man to look after the +details.”</p> + +<p>The way to an executive position is through +details. Work, plain hard work, is the founda<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>tion +of every enduring job, and the executive +who thinks he can do without it has a sharp reckoning +day ahead. In most places the executives +have worked their way up slowly, and at no time +along the way have they had that large contempt +for small jobs which characterizes so many young +men in business. They have been perfectly willing +to do whatever came to hand.</p> + +<p>But after all this is said, the fact remains that +an executive is successful not so much because of +his own ability as because of his power to recognize +ability in other men. He is—and this is +true of every executive from the president down—the +servant of his people in much the same way +that the President of the United States is the +servant of the American people. This means +that he must be readily accessible to them, and +must listen as courteously to them as if they were +important visitors from across the sea or somewhere +else.</p> + +<p>Many executives—and this was true especially +during the war—have surrounded themselves +with a tangle of red tape which has to be unwound +every time an employee (or any one else) +wants to get near enough to ask a question. This +is absurd. Sensible men destroy elaborate plans of +management and find they get along better without +them. The Baldwin Locomotive Works,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +which has a hundred years of solid reputation behind +it, has no management plans. “There is +about the place an atmosphere of work, and work +without frills or feathers,” and this is essentially +true of every business that is built to last. Look +at the organizations which, because of war conditions, +rose into a prosperity they had never enjoyed +before. Most of them have collapsed, and +the little men who rose with them (so many of +them and so much too small for their jobs) have +collapsed with them.</p> + +<p>In the big reliable concerns, and the small +ones, too, the high executives are easily approached, +especially by the members of the +organization. In many of the open offices—and +open offices have done much to create a feeling +of comradeship among workers—the desk of the +general manager is out on the floor with the +desks of the rank and file of the employees with +nothing to distinguish it from theirs except the +fact that there is a bigger man behind it. A real +man does not need a lot of elaborate decorations. +They annoy him.</p> + +<p>There are two sides to this, however. Visitors +from the outside are not the only ones who are +likely to waste the time of other people, and a +busy man has to protect himself from indoor +nuisances as well as those that drift in from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +outside. Some do it by means of secretaries, but +a good executive needs no barrier at all between +himself and his own men. They learn soon +enough—we are speaking now of a good executive, +remember—that there is no use in going to +him unless there is some definite reason why they +should, and that the more briefly and directly +they present their problem the more likely they +are to have it settled.</p> + +<p>When an executive receives a caller (or when +any man in a business house receives a caller) he +should <i>receive</i> him and not merely tolerate him. +A young advertising man who began several +years ago had two very interesting experiences +with two gruff executives in two different companies. +Both consented to see him, both kept on +writing at their desks after he entered and gave +him scant attention throughout the interview. +Apparently they were both successful business +men. Certainly they both held positions that +would indicate it. Yet both of them a few years +later came to the young advertising man at different +times looking for jobs. Needless to say +neither found a place with him, not because he +held a grudge against them, but simply because +he knew what kind of men they were and that +they could not help in the kind of business he was +trying to build.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>From the beginning of the interview the host +should do all he can to make his visitor comfortable. +You see a lot in certain magazines +about setting the visitor at a disadvantage by +giving him an awkward chair, making him face +the light and grilling him with questions. It is +pure nonsense.</p> + +<p>It is very gracious for a man to rise to greet a +caller and extend his hand, especially if the caller +is young and ill at ease. It is imperative if it +is an old man or a woman. He should ask the +visitor to be seated before he sits down himself.</p> + +<p>“Well, young man, what can I do for you?” +is hardly a polite way of opening an interview. +The host should wait with a cordially receptive +air until his guest begins, unless he is in a great +hurry. Then he frankly tells the caller so and +asks him to make his business brief.</p> + +<p>Interruptions come even in the midst of conversations +with important visitors, but no visitor +is so important as to permit neglect of one's +employees. These should be met courteously and +dispatched quickly. The host must always ask +the pardon of the guest before turning to the +telephone or to a messenger, and if the guest is +an employee the rule is the same.</p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the interview the host<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +rises and shakes hands with the departing visitor +but does not necessarily go with him (or her) to +the door or the elevator, as the case may be. +This is an additional courtesy in which a busy +man cannot always indulge. The essential part +of every interview is that the visitor shall state +what he wants, that the host shall give the best +answer in his power, and then the sooner the +visitor departs the better for all concerned.</p> + +<p><i>The Rank and File.</i> This is the largest group +in every business. It is the one that fluctuates +most. It is the one from which the discards are +made. It is the one from which officers are +chosen. It is the one in which the real growth of +a business takes place. And by the same token +it is the one, generally speaking, where there is +most discourtesy. Promotion depends upon the +possession of this quality much more than people +realize. Many a man with actual ability to hold +a high position is not given an opportunity to do +so because the men who employ him realize that +he would antagonize those who worked under +him.</p> + +<p>There are among the body of employees in +every concern (even the very best) discontented +members. In most cases, indeed, in nearly all +cases except where there is a chronic grudge +against life which is not affected by external cir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>cumstances, +these are weeded out, and those with +habitual grudges are weeded out along with the +others or else are kept in minor places. Perhaps +it would be more nearly correct to say they keep +themselves there. Sometimes a subordinate +feels that he is unfairly treated by his immediate +superior. He wishes to go to the man above +him in authority. Is it right for him to do so?</p> + +<p>It is an unwritten law that each worker shall +be loyal to the head of his department. Suppose +the head does not deserve it?</p> + +<p>There are three courses open to the worker. +He can leave the job and find another in a different +organization. He can go to the head of +the department and state the case to him. If +this should fail he may appeal to the man above +him, but <i>he should never go over the head of his +own immediate superior without first telling him +that he intends to do it</i>.</p> + +<p>This is an important rule. It holds whether +one has a grievance to present or a suggestion. +Constructive plans should first be talked over +with one's immediate superior, and with his approval +carried to the next man, or he may carry +them himself. If this superior is the sort of man +with whom you are constantly at loggerheads, +you had much better get out and get a place +somewhere else. And if you find that continu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>ally +you are in hot water with the men who have +authority over you, you may be very sure that +the fault is not altogether theirs.</p> + +<p>Subordinates usually have an idea that the +heads of their departments leave all of the work +to them. Well, as a matter of fact, they do leave +a large part of it. If they did not they would +have no excuse for having subordinates. The +reward of good work is more work. This is less +of a hardship than it sounds. Sir James Barrie +once quoted Dr. Johnson's statement that doubtless +the Lord could have made a better fruit than +the strawberry, but that he doubtless never did, +and added to it that He doubtless could have +created something that was more fun than hard +work, but that He doubtless never did.</p> + +<p>The subway guards in New York City say +that the rush which comes just before five o'clock +(the closing time of most of the business houses) +is as great as the one which comes just after. +They call the persons in the former rush the +clock watchers. They have left work about fifteen +minutes early, and to-morrow morning—business +experience has taught this—they will +come in fifteen minutes late. For the most part +these are the discontented workers who spend +“60 per cent of their time in doing their job, and +40 per cent in doing the boss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>.”</p> + +<p>It has always been considered a breach of good +manners to pull out one's watch and look at it in +company. It is true in the office as well as in +the drawing room. The clock watchers are impolite. +It has also been considered a breach of +good manners to hold a guest against his will +against the conventional hour for his departure. +The employers who habitually keep their employees +after closing hours are equally impolite. +It is a question of honor, too. Time is money, +and the time grafters, whether employers or employees, +are dishonest.</p> + +<p>When one employee goes over to the desk of +another it is not necessary for the second to rise. +The first should wait until the one at the desk +looks up before speaking unless he is so absorbed +in his work that he does not glance up after a +minute or two. Then he should interrupt with +“I beg your pardon.” It makes no difference +if one of the employees is a woman and the other +is a man. Work at an office can be seriously impeded +if every time one person goes to the desk +of another the other rises. So many times the +whole conversation covers less time than it takes +to get out of one's chair and sit back down again. +In some places subordinates are required to +stand when a superior speaks to them, but as a +general thing it is not necessary. In such houses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +it is correct to play the game according to the +general standard and to act according to the +rules set down by the men who are in charge of +affairs.</p> + +<p>There is no person so wretched or so poor or +so miserable but that he can find other people +who are more wretched, poorer, or more miserable. +At the same time there is no person so +superior, so wealthy, or gifted but that he can +find other people who are more superior, more +wealthy, and more gifted. It is a part of good +manners to recognize superiority when one finds +it. Youngsters entering business can sit at the +feet of the older men in the same business and +learn a great deal. Knowledge did not enter the +world with the present generation any more +than it will depart from it when the present generation +dies. It is just as well for young people +to realize this. Age has much to teach them. +Experience has much to teach them, and so have +men and women of extraordinary ability. “I +have never met a man,” says a teacher of business +men, “from whom I could not learn something.” +All of us are born with the capacity to +learn. It is those who develop it who amount to +something.</p> + +<p>Petty quarrels should be disregarded and +grudges should be forgotten. This piece of ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>vice +is needed more by women in business than +by men. Men have learned—it has taken them +several thousand years—to fight and shake +hands. They have a happy way of forgetting +their squabbles—this is a general truth—after +a little while, and two men who were yesterday +abusing one another with hot and angry words +are to-day walking together down the hall smiling +and talking as gently as you please.</p> + +<p><i>The Office Boy.</i> If the office boy in a big +business house where much of the work is done +at a white-hot tension—the office boy in a busy +Wall Street office during the peak of the day's +rush, for example—could write his intimate impressions +they would make good reading.</p> + +<p>The temper of the great American business +man is an uncertain quantity. Famous for good +humor and generosity as a general thing, he is, +for all that, at his worst moments the terror of +the office boy's life. Nervous, worried, tired, +and exasperated, he is likely to “take it out” on +the office boy if there is no one else at hand. +There is no defense for such conduct—even the +man who is guilty would not, the next day in his +calmer moments, defend it. Meantime, what +shall the office boy do?</p> + +<p>A hot, tired man with papers fluttering over +his desk, his telephone ringing, and three men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +waiting in line to talk to him about serious problems +connected with the business, yells, “What +do you want?” when the office boy comes to +answer the bell.</p> + +<p>“You rang for me,” the boy answers.</p> + +<p>“I rang half an hour ago,” the man snaps.</p> + +<p>In reality he rang two minutes before. Shall +the office boy remind him of this?</p> + +<p>Not if he values his job!</p> + +<p>Of course it is unjust, but one of the first laws +of discipline is to learn to be composed in the +face of injustice, and the first law of courtesy +for the office boy (and other employees would do +just as well to follow) is: Don't be too harsh with +the boss!</p> + +<p>It is said that the grizzly bear, who is a very +strict mother, often spanks her cubs when she +herself has done something foolish. Julia Ellen +Rogers tells a story of an explorer who came +suddenly upon a bear with two cubs. He was so +frightened that he stood still for a minute or two +before he could decide which way to run. Meantime +the bear, fully as frightened as he, turned +and fled, spanking the two cubs at every jump +in spite of the fact that each was already going +as fast as its legs could carry it. “It was so unexpected,” +continues Miss Rogers, “and so funny +to see those little bears look around reproach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>fully +at their angry parent every time they felt +the weight of her paw, helping them to hurry, +that the man sat down and laughed until he +cried.”</p> + +<p>It was not funny to the cubs.</p> + +<p>Cases in which the office boy is maltreated are +exceptional, though cases in which he is misunderstood +are not. Most office boys have not +one boss but many. There should always be one +person from whom they receive their general +orders and to whom they go with their troubles. +(A youngster should have very few troubles to +report. It is usually the worthless ones who +report.)</p> + +<p>In most places the several office boys are stationed +at a certain point, a desk or a table, with +one of their number more or less in charge. +The rule is that one person be always at the +desk.</p> + +<p>All right. Six office boys. Five out on errands. +One at the desk. The bell rings. The +boy keeps his place. The bell rings again. The +boy keeps his place. The bell rings a third +time, long and insistently, but the youngster, +with a steadfastness worthy of the boy who stood +on the burning deck, still keeps his place.</p> + +<p>A second later an angry official bounces out +and wants to know what on earth is the matter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +and declares that he will report the desk to the +manager. Meanwhile one of the missing five +has returned, and the youngster who had held +the place so long under fire takes the message +from the man and delivers it.</p> + +<p>If the boy should see an opening—and most +business men except those funny little executives +puffed up with their own importance are ready +enough to listen—he may explain how it happened, +but if he has to enter a shouting contest +it is best to stay silent.</p> + +<p>The law of business courtesy—no matter how +far away from this a discussion goes it always +swings back—is the Golden Rule. The subordinate +who feels himself neglected by the men in +positions above him might check himself by honestly +asking himself how he appears to those +beneath him. It is interesting to know that the +one who complains most is usually the one who is +haughtiest when he enters into conversation with +the employees, who, he thinks, are not quite worth +his notice. He feels blighted because the president +does not stop to say “Good-morning” in +the hall, but it is beneath his dignity to say +“Good-morning” to the girl who collects his mail +or “Good-night” to the janitor who comes to +dust his desk when the day's work is over. The +means of attaining courtesy—and if you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +it yourself you will find it in other people—is +by watching your own actions. Teach no +one but yourself. Worry about no one's behavior +but your own. That is job enough for +any one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2> + +<h3>IN A DEPARTMENT STORE</h3> + +<p>Let us now see courtesy at work in a big department +store.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hopkins has taken a morning off to do a +little shopping before he goes away on his summer +vacation. He wants to buy two shirts, a +trunk, a toy for his baby, and a present for his +wife. He is not sure what he wants for the wife +and baby.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hopkins does not like to shop. He remembers +his last expedition. A haberdashery +had sent him a cordial letter asking him to open +an account. He did so, but one morning later +when he went in to buy a waistcoat the rude and +inefficient service he met disgusted him so that +he has not been back since. He knew exactly +what he wanted and asked for it. “Oh, no,” +answered the smart young clerk. “You don't +want that. People have not been wearing waistcoats +like that for years. This is what you +want,” and he exhibited a different style altogether. +It happened that Mr. Hopkins knew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +better than the clerk what he wanted, and the +fact that people had not been wearing waistcoats +like it made no difference to him. As a matter +of fact, the only reason the clerk made the remark +was that he did not have them in stock, and +thought perhaps he could sell by substituting.</p> + +<p>There are other haberdasheries where the service +is distinctly good, but Mr. Hopkins decides +to go to a department store instead. Haberdasheries, +however excellent, do not carry toys +for one's baby nor presents for one's wife.</p> + +<p>Helpem's store has been warmly recommended. +He will go there. It is his first visit.</p> + +<p>When he enters the door he is bewildered by +an array of women's scarfs and gloves and perfume +bottles, handkerchiefs and parasols, handbags, +petticoats, knick-knacks, and whatnot. He +almost loses courage and begins backing toward +the door when he catches sight of a man in uniform +standing near the entrance. He sees that +this man is directing the tides of shoppers that +are surging in, and approaches him.</p> + +<p>“Where can I find the trunks?”</p> + +<p>“Third floor. Elevator in the rear,” the man +answers briefly (but not gruffly). People who +have to answer thousands of questions must be +brief.</p> + +<p>As he passes down the aisle Mr. Hopkins, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +is very observant, notices that all of the girls—most +of the clerks are girls—are dressed in a +pleasant gray. This gives an agreeable uniform +tone to a large establishment which would break +up into jarring patches of color if each clerk +were allowed to wear whatever color happened to +strike her fancy. Good idea, Mr. Hopkins +thinks, very necessary where there are many, +many clerks.</p> + +<p>He does not have much trouble getting the +trunk. He knows pretty well what he wants, +and the obliging salesman convinces him that +the trunk will probably last forever by assuring +him that an elephant could dance a jig on it and +never make a dent. He asks Mr. Hopkins if he +wants his name on it. Mr. Hopkins had not +thought of it, but he does. No, upon second +thought, he will have only his initials stenciled +on in dull red, W. H. H. The trunk will be +delivered in the afternoon and he goes away well +satisfied.</p> + +<p>The shirts are somewhat more difficult. He is +attached to a certain kind of collar and he likes +madras shirts with little black stripes or figures +in them. The man shows him white ones and +wide striped ones and colored ones with the right +collar, and he almost decides that the place does +not keep madras shirts with little black figures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +in them, when he suddenly realizes that he was so +intent on getting the collar that he forgot to say +anything about the material or color. He begins +again, tells the clerk exactly what he wants, and +in a few minutes the proper shirts are before him +and he is happy. While the clerk is folding them, +he asks about ties. It is a good thing. Mr. +Hopkins remembers that he has forgotten ties. +They have great bargains in ties. He drifts +over to the counter and presently has three lovely +ones. One is red, and Mr. Hopkins resolves to be +more careful than he was with the last red one. +His wife burned it. He must keep this hidden.</p> + +<p>The ties remind him that he needs a bathrobe. +An agreeable clerk sells him a dull figured bathrobe, +comfortable and light for summer and +guaranteed to wash, and tells him that a pajama +sale is in progress about four counters away.</p> + +<p>When he has bought six pairs of pajamas he +begins to think of the baby's present. Toys are +on the top floor. The girl there—a wise department +store always chooses carefully for this +place—is very helpful. She asks about the +baby, how old he is, what toys he has, what toys +he has asked for, and so on. Mr. Hopkins tells +her, and after showing him several ingenious mechanical +contrivances, she suggests a train with a +real track to run on. Mr. Hopkins is delighted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +The girl asks if the youngster likes to read. He +does not, but he likes to be read to. “Why don't +you take him a book?” and in a few minutes he +has the “Just-So Stories” tucked under his arm. +As he leaves the girl smiles, “Come back to see +us,” she says.</p> + +<p>All the clerks have said this. The clerk +who sold the shirts said, while they stood waiting +for the change, that he could depend on them. +They would not shrink and the colors would not +run. “We are here in the city,” he continued +(the store was in New York), “but we have our +regular customers just as if we were in a small +town. We don't try to make just one sale and +get by with it. We want you to come back.”</p> + +<p>The girl at the toy counter tells Mr. Hopkins +that there is a woman downstairs who will +help him select something for his wife. He goes +back to the man in uniform to locate her and +finds her in a secluded booth on the first floor. +She asks several questions about whether he +would like china or silver, furniture or linen, but +Mr. Hopkins wants to give his wife something +personal—something she can use or wear. He +has been married several years but not long +enough to know that this is a dangerous thing to +do, but the woman is wise. She suggests a silk +parasol, a kimono, or a dozen handkerchiefs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> + +<p>Such a service as this is not possible except in +very large shops, but in most places clerks are +quick to respond with suggestions for gifts. +There is a pleasure about buying them and selling +them that does not go with ordinary transactions.</p> + +<p>When he buys a parasol the clerk suggests +that they have a very large assortment of handbags, +but Mr. Hopkins's day's work is done, and +the clerk does not insist. None of the clerks in +a good department store is insistent. They offer +suggestions and stand ready to serve, but they +do not try to impose their ideas or their goods +upon the customers. Mr. Hopkins leaves well +satisfied with himself and his purchases. He +will come back.</p> + +<p>The trunk is delivered in the afternoon, not by +the regular wagon, but by an express company. +It is a busy season. Mr. Hopkins is still further +delighted. These people keep their promises. +And as he tips the man who brought it up—he +had to climb three flights of stairs—the man +gives him a card. “Here's one of the boss's +cards,” he says, “in case you want any hauling +done.” Without doubt the man has been instructed +by the boss to distribute his cards, but he +does it with such a grace that it seems to be on his +own initiative.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>It rarely happens that a business man or woman +can shop in the leisurely manner described +above. Most of their shopping has to be done +during the half hour after lunch or during a +frantic few minutes snatched at the beginning or +the end of the day's work. One morning Mr. +Hopkins had to leave home without a collar because +he forgot to send the dirty ones to the laundry +(his wife was away that week) and dashed +into a little shop to get one on the way to the +office. He would have felt like murdering a +clerk who wanted to show him something nice in +the way of gloves or mufflers, and he would have +had a hard time to restrain himself from violence +if the clerk had started in on a eulogy of a new +shipment of English tweeds.</p> + +<p>An intelligent clerk can usually tell when his +customer is in a tearing hurry. It is an unpropitious +time to make suggestions. The clerk +must see things from the customer's point of +view. It is permissible to suggest something +else in place of the thing he has asked for but it +is not good manners to make fun of it or to insist +upon a substitute. Recently a woman wanted +to buy a rug for her automobile. She knew just +what she wanted, but the bright young clerk insisted +that she wanted something else. She finally +bought the rug, but it was in spite of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +clerk rather than because of him. Too many +salesmen kill their sales by thinking and talking +only of their product. The customer is not half +so interested in that as he is in himself. Good +salesmanship relates the product to the customer, +and does it in such a way that the customer is +hardly aware of how it is done.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2> + +<h3>A WHILE WITH A TRAVELING MAN</h3> + +<p><i>In a Big City.</i> We will suppose that our traveling +man has his headquarters in some big city—New +York, Chicago, San Francisco, it does not +matter—and that he has several calls to make before +he goes out on the road.</p> + +<p>There are two kinds of salesmen, those who +make only one sale to a customer and those who +sell something that has to be renewed periodically. +The first sell pianos, real estate, encyclopedias, +and so on; the second sell raw materials +and supplies. The salesman whom we are to +follow is in the second group.</p> + +<p>He has—and so have most men who do this +kind of selling—a regular routine that he follows, +adding new names to the list and deleting +old ones as seems expedient. At this particular +time he has several old customers to visit +and one or two new prospects to investigate before +he leaves town.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary for him to make arrange<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>ments +beforehand to gain access to the old customers. +They know him and they are always +glad to see him. But if there is a chance that the +customer may be out of town, or if it is during a +busy season, he telephones ahead to make sure. +He prefers indefinite to definite appointments, +especially if he has to see two or three people during +the course of a morning or an afternoon; that +is, he would rather have an appointment to come +some time between ten and eleven or between +three and four than to have one for exactly half +past ten or a quarter of three. It is impossible +to tell how long interviews will last. Sometimes +when the salesman counts on staying an hour he +is through in five minutes and sometimes when +he thinks he can arrange things in fifteen minutes +he finds himself strung up for half a day.</p> + +<p>The new prospects—there are three on this +particular morning—he handles in different +ways. To one he has a note of introduction from +a mutual friend. To another he has written a +letter stating why he wishes to call and asking +when it will be convenient for him to do so. The +third, whom he knows by reputation as a “hard +customer” (in the slang sense of the word) who +will have nothing to do with salesmen of any sort, +he decides to approach directly, trusting to his +own presence to get past the girl at the front door<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +and whomsoever else stands between him and the +man he wants to see. He does not write, because +he knows that the man would tear up the letter +and he does not telephone, because he knows that +the man would not promise to see him and that if +he were to call after such a telephone conversation +his chances for success would be lessened.</p> + +<p>Our salesman is careful with his appearance. +He bathes and shaves every morning and takes +special care that his linen is clean and that his +shoes are polished. He does not ornament himself +with a lot of jewelry, and the material of +which his suit is made is plain. He presents, if +you should see him on the street, the appearance +of a clean, solid, healthy, progressive American +citizen. He is poised but he is not aggressive. +He is persistent but he is not obstinate.</p> + +<p>The best public speakers, it is said, never get +over a sinking feeling of fear during the few minutes +just before time for them to speak. It vanishes +as soon as they get to their feet or a very +few minutes afterward, and, strange as it may +seem, it is this very fear that gives them their +power on the platform. The fact that they have +the dreadful feeling nerves them to strenuous +effort, and it is this effort that makes the orator. +In the same way the best salesmen are +those who never get over the fear that perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +they have not thought out the best way to handle +the situation ahead of them. They forget the +fear as they begin to talk to the prospect, but the +fact that it is subconsciously present makes +the difference between the real salesman and +the “dub.”</p> + +<p>Did you ever get to the door of a house you +were about to enter and then turn and walk +around the block before you rang the bell? Did +you ever walk around the block six or eight +times? So have we. Especially on those Wednesday +and Sunday evenings when we used to +go calling. There are not many salesmen who +have not had this experience and who have not, +upon hearing that a prospect they dreaded was +out, turned away from the door with a prayer of +deep thanksgiving. All of which is by way of +saying that selling is not an easy job.</p> + +<p>The salesman whose career we are following +for a short time always has that little feeling of +nervousness before an interview. It is deeper +than ever when he approaches the “hard customer,” +and it is not lessened in the least degree +when he finds a painted and marceled flapper at +the door who looks at him without a word. (Incidentally, +she likes his looks.)</p> + +<p>He takes out his card and asks her to give it to +Mr. Green and say that he is calling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>“He won't see you,” the girl says.</p> + +<p>“Will you tell him, please, that I am here, all +the same? Wait a minute.”</p> + +<p>He takes the card and scribbles on it, “I want +only five minutes of your time,” and hands it to +the girl again.</p> + +<p>She carries it away and presently returns saying +that Mr. Green is busy and cannot see +him.</p> + +<p>“I knew he wouldn't,” she adds.</p> + +<p>“He must be very busy,” the salesman says. +“When shall I be most likely to find him free?”</p> + +<p>“He's no busier now than usual,” the girl responds. +“He's smoking a cigar and looking out +the window.”</p> + +<p>“Will you tell him, please, that I am coming +back to-morrow at the same time?”</p> + +<p>The girl sees that he is very much in earnest. +She respects him for his quiet persistence and +because he has not tried to “kid” her. She would +most likely have joined in heartily if he had, but +he would never have got past her.</p> + +<p>She goes back into the office and returns with +word that the salesman may come in if he will +not take more than five minutes. He thanks the +girl and goes into the office where the “hard customer” +is seated. He does not rise, he does not +say “Good morning,” and he does not take the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +cigar out of his mouth, but this does not disconcert +the salesman. He wastes no time in preliminaries, +but after a brief greeting, plunges at +once into his proposition, stating the essential +points clearly and in terms of this man's business. +He knows what the customer needs pretty +accurately for he has taken the trouble to find +out. He is not broadcasting. He is using line +radio, and everything he says is directed against +a single mark. The prospect is interested. He +puts the cigar aside. The salesman concludes.</p> + +<p>“I'm sorry,” he says, “but my five minutes are +up. Will you let me come back some day when +you are not so busy and tell you more about it?”</p> + +<p>“Sit where you are,” the other says, and begins +firing questions.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later the salesman pockets the +order he wanted and makes ready to depart, feeling +that he has found another friend. The “hard +customer” is ashamed of his gruff reception and +apologizes for it. “I've been so bothered with +agents and drummers and traveling men that +I've promised myself never to see another one as +long as I live,” he says.</p> + +<p>“I can well understand that,” the salesman answers. +“It is one of the hardest things we are +up against, the fact that there are so many four-flushers +out trying to sell things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>.”</p> + +<p>He goes next to see the man with whom he has +made an appointment by mail and finds that he +has been called out of town on business. He +talks with his secretary, who expresses a polite regret +that they were unable to locate him in time +to tell him that his visit would be of no use. He +asks if there is some one else who can take charge +of the matter, but the girl replies that all such +things have to come before Mr. Thompson. He +will not be back until next week, and by that time +the salesman will be out on the road.</p> + +<p>“I'll have another representative of our house, +Mr. Hamilton, call,” he says. “He will write +to find out when it will be convenient for him to +come.”</p> + +<p>The third man on his list is the one to whom +he has the letter of introduction. This is one of +his best prospects. That is why he took such +pains to arm himself with the letter. He has no +trouble getting inside. The man is very busy +but he thrusts it completely aside for the moment. +He does not have to say “Be brief.” Our salesman +has been in the game long enough to know +that he must not be anything else.</p> + +<p>“Frankly,” he says at the end of the talk, “I +am not interested. I have no doubt that what +you say is true. In fact, I have heard of your +firm before and know that its reputation is good.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +But I buy my material, and have for years, from +Hicks and Hicks.”</p> + +<p>“It is a good reliable concern,” the salesman +responds, “and there is no reason why you should +desert them. They depend upon you as much +as you do upon them. But if they happen to be +short of something you want in a hurry, please +remember that our product is as good as theirs. +You can depend upon it with as much certainty.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, I will,” the prospect answers +and the interview is over.</p> + +<p>Did the salesman act wisely? Would he have +gained anything by proving that his house was +superior to Hicks and Hicks? Not if the customer +was worth having. This salesman never +forgets that his part of the job is to build up +business for his own firm, and not to tear down +business for other firms. As it stands, he has in +this case established a feeling of good will for +the house he represents, and has placed it in +such a light that if the rival concern should be +afflicted with a strike or a fire or any of a hundred +or two disasters which might lessen or suspend +its output, the customer will probably turn +to the salesman's house. And if Hicks and +Hicks should sell out or go into bankruptcy the +salesman will have won for his own house a +steady customer of great value.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>In the Sleeping Car.</i> The wise traveling man—and +our salesman is wise—always engages +sleeping accommodations on the train in advance. +This time he has the lower berth in +No. 9.</p> + +<p>When he comes in to take his seat he finds that +a woman has the upper berth in the same compartment. +He is reading a newspaper and she +is reading a magazine. He says nothing until +toward evening, and then he offers to exchange +places with her. She thanks him cordially, explains +that she was late in securing a berth and +that this was all she could get. She is very +grateful and the transfer is made.</p> + +<p>He goes into the smoking car and meets there +several men who are talking together. He joins +them and the conversation runs along pleasantly +enough until one of the number begins to retail +dirty stories. Some of the others try to switch +him off to another subject but he is wound up +and nothing short of a sledge hammer will stop +him until he has run down. Our salesman has +a healthy loathing for this sort of thing. He +has a good fund of stories himself—most traveling +men have—and in the course of his journeyings +he has heard many of the kind that the +foul-minded man in the smoking car is retailing +with such delight. He never retells stories of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +that nature, and he never, when he can avoid it, +listens to them. He knows that he cannot stop +the man, but after a little while he gets up quietly +and leaves. Another man follows him and the +two stand on the rear platform of the train until +time to go to bed.</p> + +<p>Men who are traveling together often converse +without knowing one another's names, and +it is correct that they should. Only a prig refuses +to speak to a man on a train or a boat because +he does not know his name. Opening +conversation with a stranger is not always easy, +and should be avoided unless it comes about in +a natural way. The stranger may not want to +converse. It is correct for a man who wishes +to talk to another first to introduce himself. +“My name is Hammond,” he says, and the man +to whom he says it responds by holding out his +hand (this is the more gracious way, but he may +omit this part of it, if he likes) and pronouncing +his own name. The same rule holds when the +travelers are women.</p> + +<p>Our salesman goes to bed early.</p> + +<p>Two men have the compartment across from +his. They seem very much interested in each +other, for they continue to talk after they have +gone to bed. In order to make themselves heard +they have almost to scream, and the raucous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +sound of their voices is much more disturbing +than the sound of the wheels grinding against +the rails. It is hard to sleep on a train even +under favorable circumstances. Our salesman +has a strenuous day ahead of him—most of his +days are strenuous—and the noise is keeping +him awake.</p> + +<p>He could throw on his bathrobe, climb down +and remonstrate with the two men across the +way. It would be correct for him to do so, but +it would hardly be expedient. People who are +thoughtless enough to be noisy late at night are +often rude enough to be very unpleasant when +any one interferes. The salesman has no +real authority over them, but the porter on duty +at night is supposed to see that a certain amount +of peace and quiet is maintained. The salesman +rings the bell, and when the porter appears, +asks him if he would mind begging the two men +across the aisle to lower their voices. The porter +has had years of experience. He has developed +a soft, pleasant way of asking people to be quiet, +and in a few minutes the car is still except for +the inevitable sound of the train and the snoring +of an old lady near the end of the car. This +last cannot be helped. It must be endured, and +our salesman composes himself into a deep +slumber.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dressing and undressing in a sleeping car are +among the most difficult operations to perform +gracefully. There are no rules. Most men prefer +staying in their berths to making the attempt +in the crowded dressing rooms. Some divide +the process between the two, but no gentleman +ever goes streaking down the aisle half-dressed. +He is either fully clothed or else he is wrapped in +a bathrobe or a dressing gown.</p> + +<p>When our salesman comes in to breakfast the +next morning there is only one vacant place, a +seat opposite a young woman at a table for +two. He crosses over and sits down, first asking +if he may do so. In well-managed dining +cars and restaurants, the seating is taken care +of by the head waiter. He never places a person +at a table with some one else without asking +permission of the one who is already seated. It +is never permissible for a stranger to go to a +table that is already taken if there is a vacant +one available. The young lady bows and smiles. +She has already sent in her order. They talk +during the meal quite as if they had been introduced +and had met by appointment instead of +by accident. She does not introduce herself, nor +does he introduce himself. When she has finished +she asks the waiter for her bill. She pays +it herself—our salesman has too much delicacy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +to offer to do so—and tips the waiter. Then +with a nod and a smile she is gone.</p> + +<p>This salesman is a chivalrous traveler. Whenever +there is an opportunity to render a service to +a woman (or to any one else) he takes pleasure in +doing it. He does not place women under +financial obligation to him, however, and he is +careful not to annoy them with attentions. He +has many times found a taxi for a woman traveling +alone or with children when they have had +the same destination; he has helped women +decipher time tables; he has carried bundles +and suitcases and baskets and boxes for old +ladies who have not yet learned in all their long, +long lives that the way to travel is with as little, +instead of with as much, baggage as possible; and +he has helped young mothers establish themselves +comfortably in place with their children. But +he has never—and he has been traveling a good +many years now—thrust himself upon a woman +and he has never embarrassed one by his attentions.</p> + +<p>He does not “treat” the men whom he meets +by accident during his travels. They often go +in to meals together but each one settles his own +bill, and when they come to the end of the +journey they are without obligations toward one +another. It is much pleasanter so.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>The salesman does not, as a rule, tip the porter +until he leaves the train, and the amount that +he gives then is according to what the porter has +done for him. If he has been in the car a good +many hours and if he has had to ask the porter +for many things, such as bringing ice water at +night, silencing objectionable travelers, bringing +pillows and tables during the day, not to +mention polishing his shoes and brushing his +coat every morning, he is much more generous +than if he had been on the car only a few hours +and had not asked for any special service. Unless +the trip is long he never gives more than a +dollar. Twenty-five cents is the minimum.</p> + +<p><i>By Automobile</i>. From an economic point of +view this problem has come to be almost as large +as the railroad problem, and the part the automobile, +including trucks and taxis, plays in +business is growing larger and larger every year.</p> + +<p>Motorists have a code of their own. They—when +they do as they should—drive to the right +in the United States, to the left in certain other +countries. They take up no more of the road +than is necessary, and they observe local traffic +regulations scrupulously, not only because they +will be fined if they do not but because it is impolite +in Rome to do other than the Romans do. +They hold out their hands to indicate that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +are about to turn, they slow down at crossings, +and they sound their horns as a warning signal +but never for any other reason.</p> + +<p>It is often necessary for a man who is trying to +sell a piece of property to take out to look at it +the man who thinks he will buy it. Needless to +say, it is the former who pays for the trip. Other +business trips are arranged by groups, the benefit +or pleasure which is to result to be shared +among them. Under such conditions it is wise +(and polite) for them to divide expenses. These +matters should be arranged ahead of time. If +one is to furnish the machine, and one the gasoline, +and another is to pay for the lunch, it +should be understood at the outset.</p> + +<p><i>In a Small Town.</i> The salesman is now completely +out of the metropolitan district. He is +in a small town like hundreds of others over the +United States. The hotel is very good in itself, +but compared with the one in the city, which he +has just left, it is inconvenient. He has better +judgment than to remind the people of this. +Instead, when he is talking to them—and he +likes to talk with the people in the towns he is +serving—he talks about what they have rather +than what they have not and about what they +can do in the future rather than what they have +failed to do in the past. It is in this way that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +he discovers how he can best be useful to them.</p> + +<p>He likes to work at the quick pace set by the +big cities but he knows it will not do here. He +goes around to see Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter is +glad to see him, but he has had a bad year. The +crops have not been good, the banks have not +been generous, his wife has been sick, and one of +his children has broken a leg. The salesman +listens sympathetically to this tale of woe, leads +the conversation away from the bad year behind +to the good year ahead, and in a little while they +are eagerly discussing plans for business in the +next month or so. The salesman shows how he +can help, and convinces Mr. Carter that the best +time to begin is right now and gets an order for +supplies from him. It has taken the better part +of the morning, and Mr. Carter asks him to go +home with him to lunch. The salesman would +prefer going back to the hotel, but he knows that +it will give Mr. Carter great pleasure to have +him—his invitation is unmistakably hearty—so +he accepts.</p> + +<p>Before he came the salesman had discovered, +through consulting the directories and by talking +with friends of his who knew the town, who +were worth going to see and who were not. Mr. +Carter he had learned was immensely worth while +and that is why he was willing to spend so much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +time with him. No salesman can afford to stop +and talk with everybody who can give him the +inside story of why business is no good. This +salesman always finds out as much as possible +about a man before he goes to see him. He never +leaps blindly ahead when there is any way to +get a gleam of light first.</p> + +<p>Once in South Carolina he was anxious to +get a large order from a wealthy old man who, +he felt sure, would be a regular customer if he +could once be persuaded to buy. The old man +paid no attention to what he was saying until +he mentioned the picture of a hunting dog that +hung above the desk. The old man's eyes kindled. +This was his hobby and he forgot all about +business while he talked about hunting, and +ended by asking the salesman to go home with +him and spend the night. The salesman accepted +gladly, and the next morning they went +rabbit hunting instead of going back to the +office. The salesman was out of practice in +handling a gun but it was great fun, and the upshot +of it all was that he “landed” the order he +wanted.</p> + +<p>This method is pleasant but wasteful. The +salesman never uses it except as a last resource.</p> + +<p>Much of the success of this salesman (and of +the others who are successful) lies in the fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +that he can put himself so completely into the +place of the man he is trying to sell. He talks +in terms of that man's work, and he tries to sell +only where he believes the sale will result in +mutual satisfaction. He never says anything +about serving humanity, but his life is shaped +around this idea, which is, when all is said and +done, the biggest idea that any of us can lay +ourselves out to follow.</p> + +<p>He is working for a firm that he knows is +honest—no self-respecting man will work for +any other kind—and he wants its financial rating +to stand solid. He does not sell to every man +who wants to buy. He investigates his credit +first, and if there is to be a delay while the investigation +is under way he frankly tells the man +so, and assures him that it is for his protection +as well as for that of the house that is selling the +goods. “It is a form we go through with every +new customer,” he says. “If we did not we'd +find ourselves swamped with men who would not +pay. And that would work hardship on those +who do.” Every business man knows that this +is the only way in which reliable business can be +carried on. And it is reliable business that we +are interested in.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2> + +<h3>TABLES FOR TWO OR MORE</h3> + +<p>A young banker from Smithville is in New +York. It is his first trip.</p> + +<p>You would like him if you could see him. Tall, +sun-burned, clean-cut, well-dressed, thoroughly +alive and interested in everything. He is a bit +confused by the city but he is determined to learn +everything that it has to teach him. He does +not hesitate to ask questions but he likes to find +out without, whenever possible.</p> + +<p>He goes into the dining room of the great +hotel where he is staying, and for the first time +in his life is confronted with an array of silver on +both sides of his plate. At home he always has +a knife, fork, and spoon laid together at the +right of his plate, by which you can see that he +has not lived among people who place much +emphasis on having food daintily or correctly +served. He is not exactly prepared for this. +When he left Smithville he was thinking more +of his business connections than of what he was +going to eat, and how. He is embarrassed be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>cause, +like every sanely balanced person, he likes +to do things as they should be done, and not just +blunder through them. There is no one he can +ask except the waiter, and the waiter seems such +a superior person that he is afraid to ask +him (though it would have been perfectly correct +for him to do so). He gets through the +meal the best way he can and finds that when the +ice cream is brought the only thing he has left +to eat it with is a slender fork with a long handle +and three very tiny prongs. He knows that +he has tripped up somewhere along the line, +but he asks the waiter to bring him a spoon +(he should have asked for a fork) and goes +ahead.</p> + +<p>The next day he is invited out to dinner with +a man who has all of his life been accustomed +to first-class hotels and restaurants and the dining +tables of wealthy and cultured people. He +is somewhat older than our young banker and +he has had a great deal of experience in entertaining +men who have come into the city from +small towns. He is thoughtful, sympathetic, +an excellent host. He leads the way into the +dining room (though they stand together in such +a way that it seems that neither is leading) and +chooses a table. This nearly always means accepting +the one the head waiter indicates,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +though it is quite correct for the host to suggest +the table he would like to have.</p> + +<p>“Does this suit you?” he asks the young banker +before they sit down.</p> + +<p>It suits him exactly. He says as much.</p> + +<p>“Now, what will you have to eat?”</p> + +<p>The waiter has given him a menu card, containing, +so it seems to the young man, a million +things that he might have. A dinner served +in courses was something beyond his knowledge +until the night before, and the dinner then was +<i>table d'hôte</i> instead of <i>à la carte</i>. He flounders +through the card and is about ready to thrust it +aside and say, “Just bring me some ham and +eggs” when his host sees his predicament.</p> + +<p>“Blue Points are usually good at this time of +the year,” he says. “Shall we try them?”</p> + +<p>The young man has not the remotest idea what +Blue Points are but he thinks it will be very delightful +to try them.</p> + +<p>“What kind of soup do you like?” the host +continues when the waiter has departed. “I see +they have vegetable soup and consommé.”</p> + +<p>The young man clutches at the familiar straw. +He will have vegetable soup.</p> + +<p>Throughout the meal the host makes comments +and suggestions and guides his guest through to +the end, and does it so graciously that the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +man from Smithville is not aware that he is doing +it, and feels that it is all due to his own quick +observation that he is getting along so well. No +business man is a perfect host until he can accomplish +this.</p> + +<p>Our young man knows already that one should +sit up at a table and not lean forward or lounge +back, that he should not take large mouthfuls +and that he should not snap at his food, that he +should eat without noise and with great cleanliness. +He knows that his napkin should be unfolded +(it should be unfolded once and not +spread out) and laid across his lap, not tucked +into his collar or the top of his vest. He knows +that he should not eat with his knife.</p> + +<p>He has never seen a finger bowl before but +he has heard of them, so that when one is placed +before him he knows that he should dip the ends +of his fingers into it and dry them on his napkin. +He has also heard that toothpicks are never +used by gentlemen, at least in public, and he is +not surprised when he does not see them.</p> + +<p>He has read somewhere that when a knife or +a fork is dropped to the floor he should not pick +it up himself but should allow the waiter to do +so, and that the waiter should be allowed to clear +away the damage when something is upset on +the table. He knows that long apologies are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +out of order anywhere, and he is not likely to +say anything more than “Excuse me” or “I beg +your pardon” if he should by a clumsy movement +break a glass or overturn a plate of soup.</p> + +<p>But he does not know about the various knives +and forks or about how courses are arranged, and +he does not know about tips.</p> + +<p>It is correct for him to explain to his host, just +as Pip did when he was dining for the first time +with Herbert Pocket, that he is unused to such +things and beg him to give him a few hints as +they go along. But it is less embarrassing to +consult a book of etiquette about fundamentals +and to pick up the other knowledge by close observation.</p> + +<p>He discovers—our young friend uses both +methods—that knives are laid at the right of the +plate in the order in which they are to be used, beginning +at the outside, and that the spoons are +laid just beyond the knives in the same order. The +butter knife (which rarely appears at dinner +time) is usually laid across the little bread plate +at the left of the dinner plate. Forks are placed +at the left of the plate in the order in which they +are to be used, except the oyster fork, which is +laid across the knives or else is brought in with +the oysters. The steel knife is for cutting meats. +The flat fork with the short prongs is for salads.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +Salads are always eaten with a fork. It is sometimes +not very easy to do, but it is the only correct +way.</p> + +<p>This is the general standard, but there are deviations +from it. Nothing but experience in +dining—and a great deal of it—will teach one +to know always what fork or what knife or what +spoon to use when the table service is highly +elaborate. The best policy for a stranger under +such conditions is that of watchful and unobtrusive +waiting.</p> + +<p>The dinners that business men choose for +themselves are rarely divided into numerous +courses. Often they have only two: meat and +vegetables, and dessert. The regular order for +a six-course dinner is: first, an appetizer such as +oyster cocktail, grapefruit, strawberries, or something +of the sort, followed by soup, fish, meat and +vegetables, salad, dessert, cheese and crackers. +One or more of the courses is often omitted.</p> + +<p>The rule for tipping is universally the same: +Ten per cent of the bill.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Suppose the cases had been reversed and the +man from the city had been in Smithville to take +dinner with the young banker.</p> + +<p>He is not accustomed to seeing all of the food +put on the table at one time, nor to having to use<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +the same fork throughout the meal. But he is +a gentleman. He adapts himself to their standard +so readily that not one of the people at the +table could tell but that he had always lived that +way.</p> + +<p>The young banker is a gentleman, too. When +his friends from the city come to visit him he +gives them the best he has and does not apologize +for it. He does not begin by saying, “I know +you are used to having better things than this +but I suppose you can stand it for one meal.” +He simply ushers his guest into the dining room +as cordially and with as little affectation as if he +were the paying teller of the Smithville bank. +No one need ever apologize when he has done or +given his best.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to know that the standard of +our young banker is growing higher and higher +all the time. He likes to know how the people +who have had time to make an art of dining do it +and to adapt his ways to theirs whenever he can.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>It is a grave mistake for a business man to +feel that he must entertain another to the standard +to which the second is accustomed. A poor +man who finds himself under the necessity of +entertaining a rich one should not feel that he +must do it on a grand scale if he has been so en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>tertained +by a rich one. Aside from the moral +question involved the great game of bluff is too +silly and vulgar a one for grown men to play.</p> + +<p>But business men play it and their wives join +in. Suppose Mrs. Davis, whose husband is an +assistant of Mr. Burke, wishes to invite Mrs. +Burke to her home to dinner. She and Mr. +Davis have been formally entertained in the +other home, and the dinner they had there +was superintended by a butler and carefully +manipulated by two maids. Now Mrs. Davis +has no maid, her china is very simple, and the +food that she and her husband have, even when +they entertain their friends, is plain and wholesome. +Should she, for the great occasion, hire +more beautiful china and engage servants? +Should she draw on the savings bank for more +delicate viands?</p> + +<p>To begin with, Mr. Burke knows exactly what +salary Mr. Davis gets. He knows whether it +will warrant such expenditure. Will it make +him feel like placing more responsibility on his +assistant's shoulders to see him living beyond +his means? Is it not, after all, much better for +people to meet face to face instead of hiding +themselves behind masks? The masks are not +pretty, and in most cases deceive only the persons +who wear them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>Men who are friends in business often like +their wives to be friends as well. It is many +times possible to bring about a meeting at the +home of a common friend, but when this is not +convenient, one of the women may invite the +other. If the invitation is to dinner, it is not +correct for Mr. Gardner to invite Mrs. Shandon +even if he knows her and his wife does not. The +invitation should go from Mrs. Gardner and +should be addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Shandon. +If the invitation is for tea, Mrs. Gardner simply +invites Mrs. Shandon, and the nature of the invitation +depends upon whether the affair is +formal or informal.</p> + +<p>As to which of two women should proffer the +first invitation there might be some discussion. +Usually it is the wife of the man whose position is +superior, if they both work for the same concern. +It frequently happens that a man whose +position in business is high is married to a +woman whose social standing is not of corresponding +importance. Perhaps such a man has +a subordinate whose wife is a social leader. In +this case which of the women should extend the +first invitation?</p> + +<p>Most women of eminent social rank realize +and appreciate the fact thoroughly. The social +leader knows that the other woman might be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +embarrassed and hesitant about inviting her to +her home. If she does apprehend this it is only +gracious for her to extend the first invitation +herself.</p> + +<p>In small towns the rule is for the old residents +to call upon the new, and the wife of a business +man who has recently established himself in a +community must wait until the women who live +there have called upon her before she begins to +entertain them.</p> + +<p>In large cities where it is impossible to know +everyone this rule is practically disregarded, and +business men invite one another and ask their +wives to do the same according to the way convenience +and chance make most natural. Women +whose husbands are longest in the employ of +a firm, or whose husbands hold high positions, as +a rule call first on the wives of newcomers or +subordinates.</p> + +<p>It all comes to the same thing whether it is in +a city or a small town or the country. Those +who are already established in the neighborhood +or the business extend the right hand of welcome +and good fellowship to those who are not.</p> + +<p>In order to bring their employees together +socially most big houses now give various entertainments +such as picnics, parties, dances, and +banquets. They are in no way different from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +other entertainments of the same kind so far as +the etiquette of behavior is concerned. Formal +dances and banquets in the evening require evening +dress just the same, except with that very +enormous group (to which most of us belong) +who do not own evening dress. This does not +mean that evening parties must be foregone by +this group or that they should hire gala attire +for the occasion, but simply that the men wear +their business suits and the girls their “Sunday” +dresses. It is just as correct, it is just as much +fun, and it is infinitely wiser than giving a +dollar down and a dollar a week for a <i>décolleté</i> +gown or a swallow-tail outfit.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2> + +<h3>LADIES FIRST?</h3> + +<p>Most girls who are in business are there to +earn a living.</p> + +<p>It is true that an increasing number of wealthy +girls who are under no necessity to work but who +want a definite place in the economic life of the +world are entering business every year, but the +great army of workers is made up of those who +enter business because they are driven into it +(driven, many of them, while they are yet very +young), because it is the only way in which they +can have their own money, or because it is the +only way in which they can raise their standard +of living.</p> + +<p>The majority of business girls come from the +homes of parents in moderate circumstances. +They have had advantages—a high-school or a +college diploma, a certificate from a business +school, travel, specialized training—and all these +they have added to their business capital. In +many instances the opportunities they have had +have not been brilliant, but every opportunity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +however small, carries with it the responsibility +to make the best of it. Upon these girls, since +they outnumber the others and because they have +had advantages (a high-school education is an +enormous advantage if you are looking at it from +the point of view of a person who wanted one but +was not able to get it), rests the responsibility of +setting the pace for others. And the standard +of behavior for the business girl, whether she be +rich or poor or in between, is the same.</p> + +<p>The wealthy girls who enter business deliberately +are usually followed by the same sensible +impulse that started them on their careers, and, +as a rule, they conduct themselves with dignity +and modesty. The wealthy girls who, through a +turn of fortune have been forced into work and +have gone unwillingly, are another matter. “The +rudest girls we have,” is the testimony of most +people who have to deal with them. Conventional +social charm and poise they may have but +they are without that finer sense of courtesy +which makes them accept whatever fate gives +them and make the best of it. The fading +splendor of the days of plenty envelops them +like a cloud—remember that we are speaking of +the unwilling ones—they lose themselves in self-pity, +and the great fun that comes from good +work they miss entirely.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>Many of the poor girls in business have never +known anything but poverty, and their lives have +been cast among people who have never known +anything else. They have had no home training +in the art of behavior (for the people at home +did not know how to give it to them). No one +has ever told them how to dress or act but there +have never been lacking those to condemn them +when they dressed foolishly or acted indiscreetly. +“The silly little things,” they say (and oh, how +superior they are when they say it). Employers +agree, for, after all, it is true, and the silly little +things hold their jobs until they are married, +until they are fired, or (and this happens frequently) +until they wake up, and then they are +promoted to something better. We cannot expect +girls like these, who have grown up without +contact with the gentler side of life, to begin with +a high standard of behavior, but we can (and +do) expect them, once they have been brought +into touch with better things, to raise their standard. +It is no disgrace for a girl to begin in +ignorance and squalor; the disgrace lies in staying +there.</p> + +<p>First of all, the dress of the business girl. +Most of the ill-breeding in the world is due to +ignorance. Ignorance of the laws of beauty +and taste causes one to make a display of finery,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +and over-dressing is a mark of vulgarity whether +one can afford it or not.</p> + +<p>The girl does not live—we believe this is right—who +does not love pretty clothes. But the +average girl does not have money to spend lavishly +for them. Her salary, as a rule, is not +princely, and there are often financial as well as +moral obligations to the people at home. She +cannot have Sunday clothes and everyday +clothes. She must combine the two with the +emphasis on the latter.</p> + +<p>A few years ago it was almost impossible to +accomplish this, but manufacturers have recognized +her needs and are now making clothes especially +for her—plain dresses in bright colors +and dark dresses with a happy bit of trimming +here and there, neat enough to pass the censorship +of the strictest employer, pretty enough to +please the most exacting young girl.</p> + +<p>A woman is no longer thought eccentric if +she wears low heels. The modern flapper is too +sensible for such nonsense as French heels for +standing all day behind the counter. Manufacturers +have discovered this also, and are making +shoes with low heels and broad toes quite as +pleasing as the French monstrosities and infinitely +more comfortable.</p> + +<p>A business girl—or any girl, for that matter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>—should +take pains with her hands and her hair. +Coiffures that might be appropriate in a ball room +are out of place in an office, and heavily +jeweled hands, whether the jewels are real or +imitation, are grotesquely unsuited to office work. +(So are dirty ones.)</p> + +<p>Hair that is glossy and tidy, hands that are +clean and capable, dress that is trim and inconspicuous—add +to these intelligence, willingness, +good health, and good manners and there is not +much left to be desired.</p> + +<p>Certain positions expose girls to the temptation +of dress more than others. She, for instance, +who all day handles lovely garments or +she who all day poses before long mirrors in exquisite +gowns that other women are to wear—can +one expect these girls to go merrily home at +night to a hall bedroom with a one-burner gas +jet and a mournful array of old furniture? They +have a problem that the girl in a glue factory +or a fish cannery does not have to meet—at least +not in so concrete a form. At the same time they +have an opportunity that these other girls do +not have, and it rests with them whether the +opportunity or the temptation gets the upper +hand.</p> + +<p>Positions in which girls are thrown into close +contact with men expose them to temptation of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +another sort. It is in its most acute form when +it brings a poor girl into more or less intimate +association with a rich man. Once, a very long +time ago, a king married a beggar maid and +they lived happily ever after. People have not +stopped writing and talking about it yet, +although it is many centuries since it happened. +It is true that once in a very great while +a girl marries her father's chauffeur or her brother's +valet and finds later that she has acted +wisely; but these are rare exceptions to the general +rule, for the result usually is unhappiness. +Such marriages are always the occasion for big +headlines in the paper, usually a double set of +them, for, in most instances, the divorce follows +within a year or so.</p> + +<p>It is a dangerous thing for a girl to receive +attentions indiscriminately from men, especially +those who drift across her horizon from the great +world outside. It is dangerous (is it necessary +to add that it is incorrect?) for a manicurist to +accept presents from the millionaire whose hands +she looks after. It is unwise for any girl to +accept expensive gifts from a man who is not her +fiancé.</p> + +<p>There are exceptions to this rule, as indeed to +every other. At Christmas or at the time a ceremony +or an anniversary employers sometimes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +give their secretaries or another trusted employee +a beautiful gift, and it is within the bounds of +propriety for the employee to accept it. Often +when he has been away from the office for several +weeks a man presents his secretary a gift +to express his gratitude for the capable way in +which she has managed affairs in his absence, +and this gift the secretary is privileged to accept. +Gifts are seldom presented except where +the association has been a long and highly satisfactory +one.</p> + +<p>But the girl who goes to the theatre with a +man about whom she knows nothing except that +he has the price of the tickets is running a serious +risk. She is violating one of the most rigid principles +of etiquette and she is skating perilously +out beyond the line marked off by common sense. +Nearly every man can, and does, if he is the +right sort, present credentials before asking +a girl if he may call or if he may escort her +to a place of amusement. There are instances +in romantic stories and in real life where a +man and a maid have met without the help of +a third party and have entered upon a charming +friendship. They are rare, rarer in fact +than in fiction. It is banal to say that a girl +can usually tell. But she can, and if she has +any doubt (and this is true of all her relations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +with men) she should have no doubt. She should +stop where she is.</p> + +<p>Where men and girls work together in the +same building or in buildings near one another +they often go to the same restaurant for lunch. +It is natural that they should sometimes sit together +at the same tables. It is correct for a +man to sit at a table where there are already only +girls (if the girls are willing), but it is not correct +for a girl to sit at a table where there are already +only men (however willing the men may be). +In these mixed groups each person pays for +his or her own lunch. It is not even necessary +for the man, or the men, as the case +may be, to offer to do so, and it is a distinct +breach of the rules of etiquette for a girl to allow +a man to pay for her lunch under such circumstances.</p> + +<p>The only time when it is correct for a man and +a girl who are associated together in business to +have lunch, with him the host and her the guest, +is when the engagement is made ahead of time +as for any other social affair. On such an occasion +he should be as attentive as he would +in any other circumstances, taking care of +her wraps and placing her chair if the waiter is +not at hand to do it, suggesting dishes he thinks +perhaps she will like, and making himself as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +generally useful and agreeable as it is possible +for him to be. A point about which considerable +breath is wasted is whether a man should enter a +restaurant with the girl following or whether +he should allow her to lead the way. It makes +no material difference one way or the other, but +usually he permits her to go ahead and follows +closely enough behind to open the doors for her +and to receive whatever instructions the head +waiter has to offer.</p> + +<p>If a man should enter a restaurant and find a +girl whom he knows already seated he may join +her if he thinks he will be not unwelcome, but +this does not make it incumbent upon him to pay +for her lunch. He may offer to do it, but it is +a matter that rests with the girl. If she does +not care to develop his acquaintance she should +not permit it, but if the two are good friends or +if she feels that he is a man she would like to +know, she may give him her check to settle along +with his own. A girl is herself the best judge +of what to do under such conditions, and if common +sense does not show her the way out etiquette +will not help.</p> + +<p>Women in business sometimes bring up perplexing +questions and create awkward situations. +Suppose a man has asked a girl several times to +a business-social lunch and she has accepted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +every time. It seems that she should, as a man +would in the same position, make some return. +If she works for a house where there is a dining +room in which checks do not have to be settled at +the end of every meal she may do so without the +slightest difficulty, but if she is compelled to +take him to a place where the check must be +given to the waiter or paid at the desk before +they leave, she must look out for a different +way of managing things. Business luncheons +are usually paid for by the firm in whose +interests they are brought about, and if the +girl works for an organization where there +are several men employed she may ask one +of them to take her friend out to lunch. Then, +even if she is not present, her social duty is +done. The easiest way out of such a predicament, +it is superfluous to say, is never to get +into it.</p> + +<p>A girl who enters business presumably accepts +the same conditions that men have to +meet. She has no right to expect special favors +because she is a woman. She does get a certain +amount of consideration, as indeed she should, +but she is very foolish and childish if she feels +resentful when a busy man fails to hold open a +door for her to pass through, when he rushes into +his office ahead of her, or when he cuts short an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +interview when she has said only half of what she +had on her mind.</p> + +<p>Much is said about the man who keeps his +seat on a train while a woman stands. His defense +rests upon two arguments, first, that his +need is greater than hers (which is not true) +and, second, that she does not appreciate it even +when he does give it to her (which is not true +either). Unfortunately, there are as many rude +women in the world—and this statement is not +made carelessly—as there are rude men, and in +almost half the cases where a man rises to give +a woman his place the woman sits down without +even a glance toward her benefactor, as if the +act, which is no small sacrifice on the part of a +tired man, were not worth noticing. Every act +of civility or thoughtfulness should be rewarded +with at least a “Thank you” and a good hearty +one at that.</p> + +<p>Old people, cripples, and invalids rarely fail +to secure seats, however crowded a car may be. +A man seldom offers his place to another man +unless it is evident that the other, because of age, +infirmity, or extreme fatigue is greatly in need +of it. Well-bred girls resign their seats to +old men, but if they refuse to accept, the +girls do not insist. At a reunion of Confederate +veterans several years ago a girl rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +from her place on a street car to allow a feeble +old man to sit down. He gripped the strap +fiercely.</p> + +<p>“I ain't dead yet,” he responded sturdily.</p> + +<p>One of the chief petty complaints brought +against women is that they do not keep their +places in line. Some of them appear to have +neither conscience nor compunction about dashing +up to a ticket window ahead of twenty or +thirty people who are waiting for their turn. +Men would do the same thing (so men themselves +say) but they know very well that the +other men in the line would make them regret +it in short order. Two or three minutes is all +one can save by such methods and it is not worth +it. Even if it were more it would still not be +worth it.</p> + +<p>When a woman breaks into a line it is quite +permissible for the person behind her (whoever +he or she may be) to say, “I beg your pardon, I +was here first.” This should be enough. Sometimes +there is an almost desperate reason why +one should get to a window. Many times everybody +in the line has the same desperate reason +for being in a hurry, but now and then in individual +cases it is allowable for a woman (or a +man) to ask for another person's place. <i>But +only if there is a most urgent reason for it.</i> Much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +of courtesy is made up of petty sacrifices, and +most of the great sacrifices are only a larger +form of courtesy. It all comes back to Sir +Philip Sidney's principle of “Thy need is greater +than mine,” but it is only extraordinary circumstances +which warrant one's saying, “My need +is greater than thine.”</p> + +<p>Since the beginning of time, and before (if +there was any before) women have done their +share of the work of the world. Formerly their +part of it centered in the home but now that machinery +has taken it out of the home they have +come out of the home too, to stand in the fields +and factories of industry by the side of their +fathers and husbands and brothers. Because +they have recently been thrown into closer association +in their hours of work than ever before +there has sprung up a certain amount of strife +between men and women, and a great deal is +said about how superior men are to women and +how superior women are to men. It is pure +nonsense. If all the men in the world were put +on one side of a scale and all the women on the +other, the scale would probably stand perfectly +still.</p> + +<p>The woman in business should never forget +that she is a woman but she must remember that +above all things she is a citizen, and that she her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>self +has value and her work has value only as +they contribute to her community and her community +as it contributes to her country. Courtesy +is one of her strongest allies, this quality +which, alone, can do nothing, but, united to the +solid virtues that make character, can move +mountains.</p> + +<p>We have said a good deal as we came along +about courtesy toward oneself and other people, +but perhaps the most valuable of all courtesies +in business is politeness toward one's job. It +is desirable for every woman to be pretty, well-dressed, +and well-groomed, but it is much more +desirable for the woman in business to be able +to do capable and efficient work. She may be +ornamental but she must be useful, and while +she is at the office her chief concern should be +with her job and not with herself. The end of +business is accomplishment, and courtesy is valuable +because it is a means of making accomplishment +easy and pleasant. It is this that gives +us the grace to accept whatever comes, if not +gladly, at least bravely.</p> + +<p>It is a poor workman who quarrels with his +tools (or with his job), so the proverb says, and +there are two lines of Mr. Kipling's that might +be added. He was speaking of a king, but in +a democracy we are all kings:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The wisest thing, we suppose, that a king can do for his land<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is the work that lies under his nose, with the tools that lie under his hand.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And the lines are just as true when “girl” is +substituted for “king” and the pronouns are +changed accordingly.</p> +<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span> +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Book of Business Etiquette, by Nella Henney + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF BUSINESS ETIQUETTE *** + +***** This file should be named 23025-h.htm or 23025-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/2/23025/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Marcia Brooks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images from the Home Economics +Archive: Research, Tradition and History, Albert R. 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