280

two thousand dollars. With this money he began
active business. Presently, too, he married a
Christian girl, who had faith in his future, and con-
fidence in him. She might well argue in her heart
that a dutiful son would make a devoted husband.

The Civil War had just begun. Many dis-
couraged his enterprise and prophesied failure,
but the self-reliant, straightforward young man
had no expectation of defeat. He possessed will-
power to the degree which Victor Hugo calls
genius. He had also the habit of hard work. He
swept his store, and kept his account books. When
a bill of goods was to be delivered, and no one
was at hand to do it, he was not too-proud to
trundle the wheelbarrow along the street. Did he

 

JOHN WANAMAKER.

cream, then, that some day Philadelphia would ask
him to represent hér in Congress? Emerson truly
said, “The man that stands by himself, the uni-
verse stands by him also.” Canon Farrar well
calls labor the girdle of manliness.

Fifteen years passed on. The young merchant
had attended closely to business, advertised largely
and judiciously, held strictly to one price, given
customers the best for their money, chosen men
enterprising and sagacious for the heads of his de-
partments, and now, at the end of these years,
found himself the owner of three stores, covering
mearly seven acres, one of them, the largest retail

LITTLE BIOGRAPHIES.—HOW SUCCESS TS

WON.

dry goods store in America, with three thousand
employees!

Was this chance? Was this luck? It was
consummate ability. It was the work of a mind
that thought out large plans and original methods.
It was the logical fortune of a man that with quick-
ness of perception knew how to seize opportuni-
ties, that could inspire prompt, strong men with his
own enthusiasm, that could systematize, and with
swift conclusions, few words and bold action,
could crowd much into little time; that with genial
and polished manners knew how to win friends
in the business world, in circles high or low, and
also how to hold them — ah! it is his sincerity that
has held them. .

He might count his honors, his public recogni-
tions, if he would. When the Centennial Exposition
was talked of, and Philadelphia looked about for
men to aid in the vast enterprise, John Wanamaker
was one of the first called to the national work.
He was made chairman of the Bureau of Revenue,
and with the aid of the Board of Finance, he raised
the first million dollars ; he was chairman of the
Press Committee that brought the subject before
the whole country; and with much labor and
judicious management, he stood by and helped
carry the enterprise through to its success.

Meantime he had’ been a leader in every good
work, He was one of the founders of the Chris-
tian Commission. In the Moody meetings, his elo-
quence and leadership were invaluable; his sym-
pathy and tenderness touched thousands of hearts.
Daily and systematic reading had enriched his
thought, trained his mind, enlarged his sympathies,
broadened his outlook, widened the horizon of all
his heights. Saida prominent man to us recently,
“T have not read a book for five years, business is
so absorbing.” But the man who does not daily
broaden his mind and heart, goes poor into eternity.

In the later years, Mr. Wanamaker has given
one hundred thousand dollars to the Young Men’s
Christian Association, of which he has been presi-
dent for thirteen years, has built a church near his
country home, has aided hospitals and orphanages,
and, says a friend, ‘‘ He gives a fortune every year
in private charities.” ‘Three years ago he estab-
lished an Industrial College at Bethany, where five
hundred boys and girls, under the presidency of
Rev. Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, study bookkeeping,
telegraphy, cooking, embroidery, printing, painting,
etc. A mission akin to that of Cooper Institute,
Thousands of our future citizens will probably
bless him all their lives for having been thus en-
abled by him to earn their living, and to establish
themselves profitably and pleasantly in business.

How does he find time to accomplish these
charities, and yet manage his great business in-
terests? He saves the moments, often studying
the next Sunday-school lesson as he goes from his
business to his home. On his desk I read the

4