The Hazel Green Herald

WIDE AWAKE
Alertness One of the Indispensable Conditions of Success.

It is interesting to notice the different degrees of success attained in business or professional life, by men who apparently start with equal chances. Those who fail of success in gaining money may be as successful as the millionaires in making themselves useful and their lives happy; yet an observer may learn much from noticing the causes which led to failure or to success. One characteristic of successful men is close and wide-awake attention to the work in hand, such, for instance, as marked a New York driver on the line of stages, which have recently been withdrawn from Broadway. He had a genius for driving a stage, and was noted for keeping his stage full of passengers, and for taking in more fares than any other driver on the route. His success was not accidental. His eyes were forever on the lookout, both on Broadway and in the side streets, so that he never failed to see a distant nod or a slight gesture. A similar alertness for business is noticeable among the fruit-peddlers, the boot-blacks and the news-boys of New York. Three carts full of bananas and other fruit may be often seen standing close together by the side-walk. The man in the middle cart will work every moment-standing up, calling attention to his stock, and alert to grapple with anyone who comes up with the slightest intention of buying. But the other venders will be seated and half-dozing, or reading a newspaper, carelessly waiting for a customer to ask for fruit. Before noon the appearance of the wagons shows the inevitable result. By night the middle wagon is empty, while the other venders wheel home a good part of their stock to keep till the next day, and complain of "bad luck" and "hard times." Some of the boot-blacks fly about through the crowds like shuttles, eagerly examining every pair of boots, and asking here and there: "Have a shine, sir?" Even the beggars keep a close watch on the stream of coppers, and never stay long in a spot where their income begins to fall away. This business which takes advantage of every opening, is one of the indispensable conditions of success. -Youth's Companion.