Modern Americans Part 15

"'Kin we take our clothes off?'

"As the weather was warm I said, 'Yes, every st.i.tch, if you like.' And soon they were a mob of naked, howling savages, tearing through the woods, jumping into the lake, or pelting each other with mud."

After supper, Mr. Thompson Seton tells us, the boys gathered around the camp fire while he told them one Indian story after another. For two days the boys ate, swam, canoed, and, what was most important of all, they became acquainted with the two men. There was no harm done the boats, teepees, or outfit other than fair wear and tear during that camping, and before it was over Mr. Moale, instead of having a gang of bandits to combat the year round, had now a guard of staunch friends, ready to fight his battles and look out for his interests when he was away.

That was the beginning of it. Every boy in the village is now a member of the tribe, and three other bands have been formed in the neighborhood. All this was in 1900. Since then thousands of workers have become interested and the work has spread, until today the Boy Scouts of America is one of the best known organizations of the country.

One reason for the growth of the Boy Scout movement is the fact that scouting usually makes boys cleaner and more manly than they were before. Should you like to know the Scout Laws that they learn and practice? The first law is this: "_A scout is trustworthy._" This means a scout's honor is to be trusted. Boy Scouts everywhere make a great deal of the word _honor_. The following story shows the scout's idea of honor: "A little newsboy boarded a crowded car the other night with a very large bundle of papers, and the conductor, with coa.r.s.e good-nature, tried to favor him by not taking his fare, although of course he could not do this without cheating the railway. The boy looked at him with indignation, and could not believe that he was the conductor. He went all through the car hunting for the real conductor to whom he might pay his fare."

"_A scout is loyal_," is the second law. _Loyalty_ is another word that is dear to the scout. Have you ever heard a scout say bad things about his scout master or about his fellow scouts behind their backs?

Not very often, I am sure. If a scout has anything to say against any one, he goes directly to him and talks it over. The Scout Law explains loyalty saying: "He is loyal to all to whom loyalty is due, his scout leader, his home and parents and country." He must stick to them through thick and thin against any one who is their enemy, or whoever talks badly of them.

Have you ever seen the scouts salute the flag? The smiling faces and beaming eyes show that they love the flag dearly. Few can sing better than the scouts, for they mean every word they sing.

The instant our nation entered the great world war the Boy Scouts offered themselves to their country to do whatever the president asked. Since most of them were too young to enlist, it was at first thought that they could not do much. As the months pa.s.sed, however, the boys have found one task after another, until now they are so busy that they put to shame many older people.

Then, too, the Boy Scouts have worked so silently, without making a fuss about what they were doing. In many of our large cities they have planted "war gardens" on every vacant lot they could get. In most cases all they raised in these gardens was given to the Red Cross.

Furthermore, they have been the best friends the farmers have had.

These scouts in large numbers have left their comfortable city homes to work on farms. They have not asked for the easy, pleasant jobs, but have been willing to do the thing that needed to be done most whether it was pleasant or not. Have you ever wondered who put up the thousands of posters asking the people to save food and buy bonds? In many cases this work has been done by the scouts.

The Boy Scout has been able to do so much because he is taught to be brave. The coward has no place among the scouts. The lad who is not willing to rough it soon drops out. Long hikes, coa.r.s.e food, and hard work try the _stuff_ that's in a boy. If he can stand up to all these he is sure to develop the endurance that makes him brave.

As soon as the war began, the educated young men of our country went to the officers' training camps to learn to become officers. After thousands of these young men who had tried to become officers had failed, the people began to wonder what the trouble was. Finally they asked the great army officers who had examined them, and received this answer: "Your young men are slouchy; slouchy in the way they hold their shoulders, slouchy in the way they walk, slouchy in their use of the English language, slouchy in the way they think." Should you like to know how the young men who had once been scouts fared? Almost without exception they pa.s.sed, for the training they had received as scouts had cured them of much of their slouchiness.

A scout is not only brave but he is also courteous and helpful to others. Nothing delights a scout more than to be able to help a child or an old man or woman across a busy street. For these little services he must not receive tips. Major Powell, the great English Scout organizer, tells of a little fellow who came to his house on an errand. When offered a tip the lad put up his hand to the salute and said, "No, thank you, sir, I am a Boy Scout."

About the hardest thing a scout is expected to do is to smile and whistle under all circ.u.mstances. "The punishment for swearing or using bad language is, for each offense, a mug of cold cold water poured down the offender's sleeves by the other scouts."

Much more could be written in favor of the Boy Scouts. They are a body of boys of whom we are proud. And we shall ever be grateful to Ernest Thompson Seton for his n.o.ble work in organizing the Boy Scouts in America.

"_Be Prepared_"

JOHN WANAMAKER

It was a stormy, rainy day in New York City. We wanted to visit some of the great stores and shops, but were afraid of the bad weather.

Our friends who lived in the city laughed at us. They said: "This is just the kind of a day to go to Wanamakers. We will take the subway to the bas.e.m.e.nt door and never be in the wet at all."

So we hurried to the underground railroad that runs beneath the busy streets, and were soon riding away in a fast express train. On we went in the darkness, through winding tunnels to the other end of the city.

At last we stopped at a brilliantly lighted platform and were told that this was our destination. Leaving the train we did not ascend to the street, but went through great doors into a large room that was as light as day. Elevators took us up, up, from floor to floor. And what did we see, I hear you ask. We saw everything one could wish to buy.

We saw everything we had ever dreamed of purchasing. We saw many beautiful things of which we had never heard, and we felt as if we were visiting a magic palace.

At noon we ate our lunch in a pleasant restaurant up at the very top of the enormous building. It was quiet and peaceful, and we were glad to rest. When we were through, we found an attractive little concert hall where many persons were listening to a deep-toned organ.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN WANAMAKER (On left) Great Merchant and Philanthropist]

We were told we were welcome to sit down and hear the sweet music. An hour pa.s.sed before we were ready to leave. Then we continued our sightseeing, and it was late in the afternoon before we were ready to go home. We returned the same way we had come and when we were once more far up town in our own familiar street the rain had just stopped.

Then we realized we had been in doors all day long and known nothing of the storm. It had indeed been just the kind of a day to go to Wanamakers.

And what is Wanamakers? It is the name of two great stores, one in New York City and the other in Philadelphia. The owner, John Wanamaker, is the man who first thought of selling all manner of articles in one store, and so built what we call today a department store.

No one who knew John Wanamaker when he was a boy thought he had any better chances than any other boy among his playmates, and no one foretold that he would become a great merchant.

A plain two story house in Philadelphia was his early home. There he lived with his father and mother. His father was a brick maker, and while John was very small he would help his father by turning the bricks over so they would dry evenly. His father died in 1852. John was just fourteen, and he went to work in a book store. His wages were $1.50 a week, but he managed to save a little. His mother encouraged him and he says of her, "Her smile was a bit of heaven and it never faded out of her face till her dying day."

Although at first the boy earned but little to help this good mother, he soon was able to care for her in a way beyond his highest hopes.

What caused him to succeed? His capital! "But," you say, "he had no money; he was poor." True, his capital was not money. Let us see what it was. A few words will tell us. He had good health, good habits, a clean mind, thriftiness, and a tireless devotion to whatever he thought to be his duty.

He worked hard outside of business hours, improving himself for any opportunity that might come. And one came when he was twenty-one years of age.

The directors of the Philadelphia Y. M. C. A. were looking for a young man to become Secretary of the a.s.sociation. They were anxious to secure an earnest energetic person who would make a great success, for it was the first time that such a position as Y. M. C. A. secretary had been established. They selected John Wanamaker and paid him $1,000 a year.

He went to work with a will, and everyone felt that he more than earned his salary. All the time he was saving, just as he had been doing when he worked in the book store. He had great hopes and plans.

When he had saved $2000 he and a friend of his own age started a business of their own. Their store was named Oak Hall and they sold men's clothing. At that time business houses did not advertise in the newspapers as they do today. Neither were signboards used. Just imagine how puzzled the good folk of Philadelphia were when, one morning, they saw great billboards all over their peaceful city. On these were two letters, W. & B. No one knew what these letters meant.

Everyone was guessing, and it was not until Oak Hall was opened that the public learned that W. & B. stood for Wanamaker & Brown, the name of the new firm.

Their first day's business brought in thirty-eight dollars. John Wanamaker himself delivered the goods in a wheel barrow. Then he hurried to a newspaper office and spent the entire thirty-eight dollars for advertising. After reading of the wonderful goods on sale there, customers poured into Oak Hall. They bought, too, for again John Wanamaker had spent his money wisely. He had hired the highest paid clerk in Philadelphia to manage the sales room, which meant that each customer was waited upon well and went away pleased, ready to tell his friends about the new store.

What do you suppose was told the oftenest? Probably you would not guess, because today all business houses have followed the plan that was used first in Oak Hall.

You will be surprised when you hear that it was the custom of having one price for a garment and sticking to it that caused the most talk.

This price was marked plainly on a tag attached to the article to be sold, and any one could see it. Before this, clothing merchants had not marked their goods, but tried to get as much as possible from a customer. Often one suit of clothes had a dozen prices on the same day. So you can see what a change the energetic young man made. He did more than this. Because he wanted to please the public, he said if any customer was not satisfied he could return his purchase and receive his money back. This was a startling idea, but it worked, and made many friends for the young firm.

Their store waked up Philadelphia. Every week some new advertising appeared. Once great balloons were sent up from the roof. Stamped on each one was the statement that any one who found the balloon and returned it to Oak Hall would receive a suit of clothes. You can imagine how the people hunted for those balloons. One was found five months afterward in a cranberry swamp. The frightened farmer who saw it swaying to and fro thought at first that some strange animal was hiding there. You may be sure he was glad to hurry to Oak Hall with his prize and get the promised suit of clothes.

John Wanamaker kept on economizing and saving, for he wanted a bigger business. Then the idea came to him of selling many kinds of goods under one roof, and the modern department store was born. The store, though small at first, gradually grew until it finally became the largest in Philadelphia. Then it was that he decided to build an even larger one in New York City.

Today there are department stores throughout our country in every city and town. We like them and take them as a matter of course. But let us remember they had their beginning in the idea of this boy from Philadelphia.

His success looks very great to us, but it was built up step by step.

He says it is due "to thinking, toiling, and trusting in G.o.d." This seems to sum up his life. Besides business, his interest in religious affairs has always been great. He has given of his wealth to many n.o.ble charities and helpful organizations. In Philadelphia he built a great building for a Sunday School alone. Thousands of persons attend this school each Sunday and there are cla.s.ses there during the week for those who have had to leave school at an early age. He has remembered the Y. M. C. A. and, perhaps because of his early work with it, has been unusually generous in giving buildings to struggling a.s.sociations. He even built one in the far away city of Madras, India, thus stretching out his influence for good nearly around the world.

But while he has had thought for those far away, he has also cared for the people who work for him. His stores were the first to have an entire holiday on Sat.u.r.day during the hot days of summer. This was done so the men and women could leave the crowded city, if they wished, on Friday evening, and have a vacation of two full days in the country or at the seash.o.r.e.

Then, too, he has encouraged the various departments of the stores to form clubs and musical societies. At times there have been two bands in the New York store, one composed of men and the other of women.

They have rooms and hours in which to practice.

Besides playing and singing, some of the clubs study English, foreign languages, and many other subjects. It is possible for every person employed in one of the Wanamaker stores to add to his stock of knowledge through this club life.

Some years ago John Wanamaker began giving a pension to those who had served him for a certain length of time. This plan has since been followed by other firms because it promotes faithfulness and interest in the business.

This interest makes each one connected with the store realize he is a part of it. Perhaps this is shown best by the way pensioned men and women responded to Mr. Wanamaker's call in 1917, after so many men had left to join the army and navy. They went back to take the places of those who had gone, feeling that in so doing they were serving their country.