Newspapers / Polk County News and … / Dec. 22, 1910, edition 1 / Page 5
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Danced With Queen Victoria Her Majesty Selected Richard Vaux, Then Secretary of Legation, as Her Parinerfand Praised His Skill and Grace; It was in the autumn of 1879, at a TM-ll J.I 1 A reception giyen in .rmiaaeipma 10 Samuel J. Randall, then speaker of the national house of representatives, that I first met Richard. Vaux, who, for many years before his death, which occurred in 1895, when he was in his eightieth year, was regarded as one of the Quaker City's most dis tinguished citizens and one of the world's . best known penologists. As he appeared at that reception, Mr. IVaux was a typical dandy in dress, despite the fact that he then had sixty-three years to his credit His clothes had the artistic touch that only the most fashionable and expert of tailors can give. His feet were immaculately shod. Jt took only a glance to tell that he was proud ot, his profusion of curly hair. Yet, in the presence of his genial smile, the hu jnorous twinkle in his eye, and his iincere and charming manner one thought of only the true gentleman behind the mask of faultless almost foppish dress. Speaker Randall introduced, me to Mr. Vaux, and in doing so remarked that the latter had once been prom inent in the diplomatic service, of the country. "Not exactly prominent," amended Mr. vaux, wnen ivir. xtanaa.ii aaa de parted. "I was only secretary of the legations at London and Brussels, and in a great many respects I have al ways regarded a secretary of legation as nothing more than a high grade clerk. But " and Mr. Vaux smiled fascinatingly "there was one experi ence I had as secretary of legation of which I have always been proud, and I am sure I have every reason to be proud of it I will tell you about it. 'When I was secretary of .the Amer ican legation at the court of St. James, Queen Victoria was hiving the most brilliant court and social expe rience of her reign, for th& prince consort was then living and she had not given up her love of gayety lo go in life-long mourning in memoir of lim. At that time the queen wasll not ed lor being especially iona or lanc liVeu; Versiom of James D. Layng, Who Was Present at the Famous Interview, Assert ed Vanderbilt Didn't Use the Oft-Quoted Phrase Every once in a while, iwherf the question of the relations of the cor porations to the public Is under dis cussion, some v one rises and retells the story in which William H. Vander bilt, successor of his father; the Com modore, was made to say, "Oh, the public be damned!" And playing up on this alleged .saying of . a prominent public utility man of his day- per haps the most famous of his time ne of the public utility corporations of New York city and New Jersey has taken for its motto, "The public be pleased." ; Yet, according to the atory once told me by a fellow trav el of Mr. - Vanderbilt at the very time when he was said to have con vened the public to the realms of the damned, no such remark, or anything ftke it, was made either by Mr. Van derbilt or by any other member of jjtoe party. My informant was the late names D. Layng, for many years a ilfiadinp' ntlmoil nnarafnr in the T 1 H . Ne West, holding high positions with we Big Four system, of which he Jas vice-president, the Pennsylvania unes west of Pittsburg, and other Jromiuent railway corporations. Here i1 Mr. Layng's version of the incident, ao told for the first time in print "Some eight vears after the death l the commodore, his fatter. Wil- 01 H. Vanderbilt and a few railroad feu who were associated- with him was among the number went on an sPection trin of some -of the Van- erbiit lines west of Chicago. At that e the neoDle of Illinois, and esne cy of Chicaero. were ereatlv Inter ested jn certain railroad matters in f "ich the Vanderbilts had a hand, when it was announced through 0 regular newspaper channels that J- Vanderbilt, with a party of ends, was on his way from- New, 0rk to Chicago, where he expected slop a few days before making a "r of inspection over the Chicago Northwestern railway, at least one Chicago's newsDaners conceived idea ...v , a 'route. I remember tierfeetlv well v. - -vjivilCl. UVMUUCU VUi ' Ul aw en we were still perhaps two hours, 1 Chicago and sent in the card Ir- Vanderbilt. : ; . ' tn'd V11 see nim' feaid Mr.. Vanderbilt, 0 'o a few moments the 'young man CCUDled chteflv in nnlHne Mr. anderbilt questions ' relating to . the road matters which happened to tereetine Chipnen mmt t the Ulent. Mr VanlarhlU talVcrl mnrti 5" than I had ever known him. to ing; and before I had been in London long I was told on all sides by her admiring subjects that she was espe cially graceful In the square or coun try dances, something rather difficult for a woman so short and stout. "Well, there was to be a great court ball, an especially brilliant function. It was generally known that the queen intended to, take part in some of the dances, and sd, when I was 'command ed,' as they have it over there, to at tend this court ball, I was very happy 1 Today, even, I can hold my own in the Virginia reel or In the lancers, but in those days it was said of me that' I was. an exceptionally graceful dancer. Whether that was true or not, ! don't know, but I do "know that my pleasure in dancing made me most impatient for the night of the greats court ball to arrive. "How carefully I dressed for the event, and in those days, sir, I prid ed myself on dressing with scrupulous, neatness r.nd care, and it was said of me that I was the best dressed at tache in London. How eagerly I watched the queen dance, to discover for myself that her reputation as an exceedingly graceful dancer was not a whit exaggerated. And then, sud denly, in an intermission, how sur prised and supremely happy I was made when I was informed that the queen herself had 'commanded' me to dance with her in the next square dance. And as I went forward to Fortune Was John Franklin Miller's Story of the Way In Which He Chanced to Em bark In the Sealskin Business. "Don't tell me that luck pure luck doesn't play an important role in the affairs of men. I know better." The speaker wars John Franklin Mil ler, who, a year or two -before, in 1881; had been elected to the United States senate from California "I presume," continued the senator, who made a fortune out of Sealskins, "that the majority of fortunes are the Old Anecdote talk before; he was in good spirits, and, besides,- he seemed to take quite a liking to the newspaper man. "How many questions the reporter had asked and had answered-for him I don't know, except to say that they were-jnany, when he put this ques tion: "But how4 will the public take this proposition, Mr. Vanderbilt?' Mr. Vanderbilt smiled tolerantly; I could see plainly that he thought the matter under discussion was so unimportant as hardly to merit attention. Then he replied, still smiling, and in a ge nial off-hand manner: 'How will it take it? Why, I don't believe the public cares the first damned thing about the matter. I don't believe it interests the public in the slightest' Then the interview drifted on to some other subject, only to come to an end a little later, with Mr. Vanderbilt bid ding the reporter a cordial good day. "I would take my oath that Mr. Van derbilt made no other reply, than the one I have repeated to you, for I heard his conversation .with the reporter from beginning. to end. Therefore, you can imagine what our astonishment was when, on getting the newspapers, we discovered that Mr. Vanderbilt was quoted in one ofvthem as having said in response to the question, 'But how will the public take this proposi tion, Mr. Vanderbilt?' 'Oh, the public be damned!' At once I was for cor recting the statement, and I made such a suggestion to Mr. Vanderbilt, who, I have always believed, . never felt that the reporter 'had willfully misrepresented him. But, Mr. Van derbilt shook his head determinedly. "'No,' he said, it would be of no use. You . can never catch up with a lie.- - "So I have kept silent until now," added Mr. Layng, "and I am only re lating the incident now because, just this morning, I -w the public-be-damned' story shifted by a public speaker to the shoulders of Commo dore Vanderbilt, who had been dead eight years when the remark that is the basis of the whole story was. sup posed to have been made." (Copyright, 1910, by E. , J Edwards. All Rights Reserved.) . Charitable to Hlm. i "Where is your husband?" "Well, I don't want to knock, and rhate to tell' a lie ". V ' f; "What do you mean?" "Hadn't you heard that he Is dead? Not What He Had Hoped For. "What's the matter, old man? You seem downhearted.'' . - . - "I have reason to be. The court has just "decided that the lady I've arranged to marry may retain posses- .... ..... M ! V.. eion of her cniiaren. j meet her I was told that the queen had beheld and liked my dancing, and so had sent for me. "She received me with a cordial, but very dignified bow, and permitted me to lead her out upon the floor. As I went through the first half of the dance with her I was in a maze ot terpsichorean delight-I believe I never danced better in my life, and I doubt if I ever had a more graceful or responsive partner. Ah, all too soon the delightful experience was' over. For, as was her custom, the queen changed partners the latter half of the dance; but as she parted from me she smiled graciously and gave me a few words of -commendation that I have never forgotten. 'You dance very well, Mr. Vaux she said." v Mr. Vaux's countenance .was lighted with a glow of happy reminiscence., f ?That experience and those words of praise are among the most grati- fying incidents of my career," he continued, "and I think I am safe in saying that I am the only lining American who has ever had the high privilege of dancing with Queen Vic toria." Then, after a x moment's pause, he added: "In fact, I never heard of any other American, living or dead, who ever did dance with her." "Not even James Buchanan when he-was our minister to Great Brit ain?" I asked. "No, Mr. Buchanan never danced. He couldn't," Mr. Vaux replied with mock solemnity. (Copyright, 1910, by E. J. Edwards. All Hlghts Reserved.) Born of Luck result of hard work, great foresight and sagacity. But I am absolutely convinced that luck often plays as important a part in creating wealth as ability and hard work. "Take my own case. Before I en tered the Union army as an Indiana volunteer, I was. succeeding very well as a young business man'. 1 was cau tious without being timid; I was in dustrious; I was optimistic and en thusiastic, and I tell you, enthusiasm counts for everything in the Way of making a fortune under ordinary con ditions. But, curiously enough, though I applied all these character istics to business after the war was over, everything I attempted went wrong, and when I finally received my appointment as" collector of the port of San Francisco, I was delighted, for I was absolutely dependent upon the salary that the position brought me for. my support "Well, one day there came into the office bf the collector about the queer est looking sea-faring man I ever saw. But he had a clear and honest eye, and a very soft and mellow voice, and I was immediately impressed. ' "'I want you to come down and see what I have on my ship,' he said. "I asked him why, but he would say no more, so, after a little hesita tion, I accompanied him to his ves sel. There he showed me a great heap of sealskins, salted down. " 'I am going to take these to London to be dyed, but first I have a proposition to make to you,' he said. . 'I wont you and some of your friends to victual my ship, guarantee the, wages of the crew and furnish me with a little money so that I can get to London hen, when I come back, I want you to victual my ship and guarantee the crew's wages once more, and for doing this I will give you a share in the sealskins I will get on my next trip.' j , - "I asked him where he had got the skins then on board and where he in tended to get the others, but he re fused to tell. I must rely on his good faith in -the matter, he said; all he would tell me was, that he' knew where there were millions of the best seals to be found anywhere in the world, and he alone knew where. Did I want to come in with him? "Now, wouldn't you say that was a most reckless proposition for me to consider? Yet Idid consider It I don't know why to this day and I per suaded two of my friends to join me In doing what the captain wished. And something more than a year later that old fellow put into port with his vessel loaded down with a new lot of sealskins, and my sharfe of the profits was several thousand dollars. : Then he told us where- lay the island on which he had discovered the seals in such great quantities, and imme diately we organized, a company that secured from the government the vex elusive right of conducting sealing op erations on the -island In question. "That Was the-beginning of the famous Alaska Commercial Fur com pany. It brought me a fortune, and It was a case of pure luck. And curious ly enough, from that time on to this day, 1 have been almost invariably successful in every , business under taking in which I have had a part, al though to many of thse ventures I have not begun ; to give the thought that I gave to thbse'earlier ventures of mine which turned out so disastrous ly that I had to look to Uncle Sam for a job. When that queeV old sea cap tain came into my office and persuaded ino to' look at his sealskins, my, luck changed for good." V . (dopjTUTht 1910, by E. J. Edward. AH ' Right JteservedJ , TAR HEEL PUBLIC TALK Creaia off ,3ent County Stoats xCIfyjped and Condensed - v.- ' - - ... ; ? in a Column. - FARMERS' ' : MEETING A Annual Session at Greensboro M em- bership Increasing. XSreensboro.The North Carolina Farmers' Union met in annual session here. When the session of last De cember was held there were only 935 locals in the State; now there are more than 1,500. The membership a year ago was 20,000; during the last year it has more than doubled. Forty five counties were organized; 20 more have been organized since that time. Last year, there was $3,631.04 in the treasury, while today there is more than $10,000. The following officers were elected: H. Q. Alexander, Mecklenburg, presi dent; J. M. Tempfeton, Wake, vice president; E- C. Faires, King's Moun tain, secretary-treasurer; J. Z. Green, general organizer; A'. C, Shuford, Ca tawba, chairman; P. R. W. Plyler, Union; W. H. Moore Pitt; I. M. Cog gins, Chatham; Dr. J. H. Smith, Surry, executive committee. The principal business' discussion was education along agricultural lines in' high schools. A petition was adopted me morializing the Legislature to provide for the teaching of agriculture in the rural schools and to provide better and larger facilities for higher educa tional institutions. v "s Agricultural education was the chief topic of the session. The union believes that the best way to improve agricultural methods and to uplift the farmer and his sons and daughters is to provide training for them along lit erary lines and also train him, for farming; to make of farming a profes sion, instead of making its followers men engaged in drudgery. The prin cipal things to be studied are the soil, fertilizers, rotation of crops, selection of seeds and improved methods bf farm life.,.- ' - I The union is working with a view to paving the State in the near future make adequate provision for the teaching of branches in agriculture in one or more of State highschoots in each county, and thus have some thing in the nature of county schoo for teaching agriculture. - Baptist Mission Board Meets. The North Carolina Baptist State board of mission in session at Raleigk made apportionments for the Various Baptist mission fields af Jthe State on the basis uf expending $50,000 in this work for the year following the lead of the recent State convention. This is something like 25 per cent more than last year. The largest appor tionments for missions is in the Neuse Atlantic Association, which comprises ten of the extreme eastern and coast al counties. The board of missions which Is composed of prominent Bap tist ministers and laymen in all parts of the State, re-elected John E. Ray as president I ,Work of a Catawba Boy. . A Catawba boy, Ernest Starnes, a resident of Hickory, won the boys' corn club prize in the 1910 contest, over 263 contestants. The prize was a week's trip to Washington, all ex penses paid, and $25 for spending money, and either one carload of lime, or one ton of fertilizer. The winning corn, which yielded 146.23 bushels to the acre, will bring the fortunate grower $2 a bushel for seed corn. This corn, grown by Ernest Starnes on his fathers farm in Hick ory's northwest suburbs, cost $14.18 to produce. It is worthy of note that young Mr. Starnes, only 16 years old, won the bey faremr's premium a scholarship n Lenoir College at the Catawba county fair, in 1909. Will Have a Race Track. A charter; has been secured by the Wilmington j Driving Association and the organization .expects to get busy at once on a race trapk and have a grand standi bleachers, stables for the horses and houses for attendants erected. ; ' It is the intention, of the promoters not only to have contest for ocal horses but to have tournaments which will be open to horses owned by sportsmen in this and other States. A Family Hog. , Mr. J. W. Watson, Jr., of Kenly, says that one day this week Mr. H. R. Hinnant, of Spring Hill township, Wil son county, killed a hog which netted,! when killed, seven hundred and nine-; teen pounds, and thinks the porker an other year ; would have tipped the scales at one hundred pounds. The hog was not as fat as he might have been; was two years, three months and twelve days- old. t Big Day at Winston-Salem. More than 5,000 visitors were at tracted .to Winston-Salem to formally celebrate the completion of the South bound railway, running front Win ston-Salem to Wadesboro, a' distance of 83 milesj Col, Frank H. Fries, rep resenting Gov. Kitchin, delivered the address of j welcome, Mayor R. ' G Rhett of Charleston . responding. : Edi tor J. . Dan! el3 of the Raleigh Newt and Observer was among the, othei speakers. The exercises were brought to. a close with a banquet, ; at whicfc over 300 covers were laid. Advertising I Talks I V V A DRUGGIST AND AN AD MAN r How 7,000 People In a Town of 85,000 Were Induced to Visit For mer's Store In One Day. There is a druggist in Schenectady named Quinn. He opened up there a year ago. He believed in newspaper advertising in a modest way and fig ured on doing about $400 worth of it. There is also in Schenectady a newspaper called the Schenectady Ga zette. It has an advertising . manager who readsi, thinks and writes advertis ing. His name is Awer. When Mr. Quinn, the druggist, be gan advertising he became an object of special interest to Mr. Awer, the advertising man. . Now, in the equipment . of the Ga- eette is a weekly cut service; on the advertising manager's table are the leading advertisements of the coun try; in the advertising manager's brain there is an unusual fertility of practical ideas. So Mr. Quinn, the druggist, looked at Mr. Awer's copy, and it. was good. He tried it, which was better. He tried, often, and the drug store became the center of interest. Then he forgot the expenditures in attending to business, wisely figuring that if he kept busy the advertising bill would take care of Itself. - Three months after he started 7,000 people called and bought at the drug store in one day! This in a city of B5,000! The entire advertising in one year was only $1,800 and the business Is now established and flourishing. How was it done? For the first six weeks the copy talked only of a drug Btore of good service. Every phase of this was given space. Then came a sale of silverware articles, all at a little over cost and well worth the money. More "service" advertise ments followed. Then a 60-centbox of candy1 was given away with every BO-cent purchase orover. This was really the work of a budding genius. Special displays were made of articles selling at or over 60 cents. They were foods carrying enough profit to stand the cost of the candy, or nearly so. They suggested the thing to be pur chased and nearly every purchaser bought from the list Over 7,000 boxes of candy were giyen away and It actually cost but little over the store expenses of the day! - So Quinn, the druggist, flourishes in his adopted city. Does he believe in advertising?- Certainly. He believes In the Schenectady Gazette, too. He says one is as good as the other and each is perfect in kind. The drug stores are valuable ad vertisers. There are lots of Quinns waiting and this tells the story of what one Quinn did. A sale made bv bulldozlna 0 0 0 the customer or over-persuad- J Ing Jiinvmay result In a small profit today, but it will result J In sending that person to an- -1.1 A A 0 uLiicr feiurc tomorrow. The Power of Repetition. It is not the occasional adno mat ter how big it is, that builds up a bus! ness and keeps it going and prosper ing, but repetition. . Mr. Arthur Bris bane, the famous editor of the New York Evening Journal, says: - "If a thing happens once or twice that doesn't produce very much effect upon the beholder. But when it hap pens twice it is four times as power ful in its effect as when it happens once. And when it happens three times it is sixteen times as powerful as when it happens twice and so on." "Repetition reputation" says an able writer on advertising. Economy In" Modern Way. Two hundred and more years ago the trade of the average man could be drummed through the tongue, but with the coming -of a multiplicity of wants' vast numbers of .people and the Invention of movable printing blocks it was inevitable, that man would see the economy of appealing to thousands instead of a few, and so we have modernlay advertising. But don't misread; advertising may be seen chiseled on the walls of Pom peii, and there is no reason to think that it was new in A. D. ; '79.-0. ?t Morgan in the Springfield (nL)'News. The end of a magazine it where the ads begin ;-the end J of "a newspaper is the last line t on the last page, f f J- ' z I . I " Take a Chance. " J Don't let lack of experience fright en you out of attempting new plana. If you never make any experiments yon may , never make any mistakes, but you .will - never; make any suc cessesjelther. 1 , 8 THE ELEMENT OF HON;-, g ESTY IN ADVERTISING. f WA . ft BY GEORGE S. BANTA, B. A. . Advertising. Is now not the unexpected but the expected thing of every legitimate busi ness. We do not believe that a man has a burden of Tronest convictions about the merit of kte rrnm-ftt tf k Mfiitae r caw A anything about-them. It sinrn p ply isn't human nature for. a 0 man to act that way. WA ' A J At 1 tkl. nnu iric coiucrtg ui una statement is just as true, 8 namely, that we look with sus- Tt Inn nn tk niilaf W XASftlllrl all suffer a nervous shock to meet with a man foolish enough to advertise, a "shell game" because it would vio late -our instinctive feeling that the man who isseeking the Hrtht nf nnhliritx vwitK his V wares has something good to offei something that you will want a second time. I was told the other day by a 8 friend of mine, a local furniture . . . . a?aier, ot a large snoe store on Chicago which does not'adver- A Using in the newspapers. It ft depends upon its location, one bring it business. My friend 5j thought that he was citing an K example of a store that is ma- king a great success without advertising. Yet, from the way. in which he cited the instance, it was clear that in his own mind he recognized this as an exceptional case. "But," you ask, "why should advertising my bustness make people look upon it more hon orable and worthy of confi dence?" Listen. . A man came Into your office today whom you had never seen bqfore. You dealt with him at arm's length be cause he was a stranger to you. A few minutes later a busi ness" man you seex every day came in and your attitude S 6 A toward him was entirely dif- j ferent from that you showed H toward the stranger. With one you were acquainted from fre- Tji niiant mptlnna and i ntr i course. The other one you knew nothing about It Is exactly the same with advertising. The first adver tisement may not go far to ward getting your business into the confidence of your commu nity. ' But keep on I It won't be long until your honest news paper messages will tell and will, before you realize It, give you a credit rating In the pub lic mind that you would never think of parting with. NOT ASHAMED OF HIS GOODS Why One Business Man Advertised and Prefers Newspapers to Other Mediums. - 1 This is the manner in which a Michigan business man explains why he advertises and why he uses news papers in preference to any other', medium: . "I advertise in the newspapers be-i cause I am not ashamed of my goods! or my work and to let people knowj about myself, my store and my stock;! because I cater , to the intelligent! class and they read the papers, and Ij believe in increasing my business;) because I can talk to more people! through the newspapers at a greater) distance In less time and at a morot reasonable price than in any other' way; because my newspaper adver-; tising has brought me, greater returns! for the least expenditure of any ad-i vertising I have done; because wheni I write an ad I am not too stingy to pay for placing it in the best possible' medium or to have it inserted so it is attractive; because I know my ad is seen and read by every one in the house where the paper goes." ' Successful Advertising. j The secret of successful advertising1' is in making a business of It, not oc-v casionally, but all the time. It is. necessary to have something worth! advertising then advertise it right andi results will follow. No , amount- of? advertising will sell a thing nobody wants. The things offered must "make good" the advertisement " If you have no bargains to offer, you haven't learned your business. If you have, it is -the province of an adver tisement to call them to the attention oi tne Duyer. An oner or a Dargain, if made right, will attract the atten-. tion of the buyer and if the offer is made good, the next offer will be look ed for. It is necessary to have the advertisement reach the possible cus tomer. The country merchant has, no Deuer meaium man a live, local pa per which goes into" the 'homes! In r4hrtai"v pmintrv - lilvarflolnv nan if done right and backed up with the "goods." Exchange. ;' An Observation. Kreivnotfce it?"' auerled thk mn who asks, Questions on the installment plan. v "Did I ever noticed what?! queried the Innocent bystander. . . - . ..; "That the man who shakes uan(U the hardest is always the hardest to shaker'vCpncludied( the other,,. i
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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Dec. 22, 1910, edition 1
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