A Small-Town Clerk at Twenty-One At Forty President of a Big Corporation The True Life Story of a Young Man of Ordinary At twenty-three years of age I was working in a far western state at the hum-drum life of clerking in a dry-goods store. I had felt the angry sting of poverty since the day I started to work. I knew what it was to skimp on my meals; to walk to and from work to save car-fare; to refuse invitations out because I hadn't the proper clothes to wear; to practice rigid economies which cramped my very soul. My paltry salary of $12.00 a week bought me only the barest necessities of life. Yet from this unpromising start I have become the owner of a $20,000,000 business. No one left me any money, or backed me in any way. I did not amass wealth from speculation. Nor did I change my line of business. I won my success wholly by my efforts in everyday business. But to get back to my story. One day things didn't go at all well at the store. I was despondent. What use was I anyway? What chance had I of ever becoming anything but a miserable, underpaid wage-slave all my life? Depressing thoughts such as these ran through my mind and plunged me deeper than ever into the black pit of despair. Truly the world had nothing to offer me. The Then, one evening, heart-sick, I slowly climbed the stairs that led to my tiny bed-room to while away the hours in reading, for I was broke, as usual, and had to stay home. hours slipped by. I read till well past midnight a wonderful inspirational book. Then suddenly a feeling came over me which I cannot well describe. The room seemed to be filled with a bright light. I could not feel the chair I was sitting on nor see the wall of the room. I felt as though I was suspended in air. Inspiring thoughts flashed through my being. The air seemed charged with elecmind; delightful feelings thrilled my whole tricity. The best way I can explain it is to say that I had a "vision." Some power within me seemed to have taken control of my mind. I saw-actually felt-myself the proprietor of a chain of thriving moneymaking retail stores spread all over the country. Something told me they numbered onc hundred. There was my name on each store. I saw myself in a beautiful home, surrounded by all the luxuries that money can buy. I was a success a great success. And, strangest of all, I actually felt and lived the part. Then slowly, as though I was awakening from sleep, my eyes began to make out the old familiar pictures on the wall of my room. I heard the wobbly chair squeak, street noises became audible, and . . . my vision was blotted out as quickly as it had come. I was back to earth again-and broke. Of course, the whole thing was ridiculous, the result of indigestion, no doubt. Fancy me, a $12.00-a-week clerk, even to suppose that I could run, much less own, a chain of stores. Then came the thought, "Why not?". Why not, indeed? Other men had done it, and so could I. Right then and there I determined to make that dream come true. From the day of that vision I have known nothing but success. Every single thing I saw in my vision has come true. I am proud to say that today I own and operate 197 retail stores scattered throughout 25 states. Last year I did a business of $21,70,000. And for it all I have to thank you, for your writings inspired my vision-it was one of your books I was reading when I had my inspiration. It was you who gave me my start toward success. It was you who buoyed me up in my darkest hours. Frankly, I feel that I owe all of my success The man who spoke was Mr. J. C. Penney, whose name is today a household word in the middle-western states. He operates the largest chain of retail drygoods and clothing stores in the world today numbering nearly 300. And the man to whom he attributed his success, who is he? He is Dr. Orison Swett Marden, famed as the greatest writer of inspirational literature in the world to-day. Mr. Penney says, "From Dr. Marden's books I got not only the idea that I could Succeed, but also the great truth that any man-yes, every man, has in himself the capacity for success, if he will only use it. "What I have done, any one can do. I do not consider myself an unusual man in any way. I am simply an average American citizen, without any exceptional powers at all. There are thousands of men all through the country with much greater talents, more education and a much better equipment for success than I possess. But despite this I am making a success of my chosen line of work." Mr. Penney continues, "As regards the Marden books, 'Heading for Victory' is the greatest and the best book that Dr. Marden has ever written. I am telling all my friends to read this great book. I myself find continual help in reading and rereading it. I wish that 'Heading for Victory' could be placed in the hands of every ambitious man in America. I know that it will make any man who will read it a better, a more efficient and a more successful man." What Dr. Marden has done for J. C. Penney he has also done for hundreds of other famous men. Theodore Roosevelt, Charles M. Schwab, Luther Burbank, Judge Ben B. Lindsey, Hudson Maxim, John Wanamaker-these men and scores of others have written to Dr. Marden in personal appreciation of his great work. What this wonderful book "Heading for Victory" has done for them it will do for you-if you will let it. "Heading for Victory"-maker of millionaires and leaders of men-is yours. together with a year's subscription to THE NEW SUCCESS-Marden's Magazine-for only $5.00. You needn't risk a single penny. Merely fill in and mail the coupon. "Heading for Victory" goes to you immediately with the understanding that you may read it and keep it for five days. Then if for any reason it fails to delight you, send it back and your $5.00 will be refunded instantly without argument. You take no chances whatever. Without doubt "Heading for Victory" will give you a tremendous impulse towards success, and it may make you a millionaire, just as it did Mr. Penney. So as you stand to gain all and to lose nothing, mail the coupon now. THE NEW SUCCESS, 1573 St. James Bldg., New York, N. Y. Enclosed find $5.00 for "Heading for Victory" and a year's subscription to THE NEW SUCCESS. It is understood that if I am not satisfied I may return the book within 5 days and my $5.00 will be refunded and order will be cancelled. W Astounding Ignorance of Schoolboys E often hear slurring comments on the defects and incompleteness of modern education. But usually these criticisms are general rather than specific. But here is a case that is specific, in which a number of boys in their final year at twelve public schools in New York, were invited to a newspaper office and underwent a test examination. A dozen silver watches were offered as prizes and the questions asked were taken from the text books which the boys used in school. In announcing the result of the examination, the newspaper said: "So glaring is the ignorance, even of the most ordinary subjects, shown by the pupils examined by the newspaper that even the most skeptical will pause and doubt whether the present system should not be abolished root and branch." convert fractions into decimals but not one could convert decimals into fractions. Only one boy attempted to solve this simple problem in proportion. If four men eat sixty-four pounds in two weeks, how many pounds will sixteen men eat in seven weeks? The answers in history and geography were hazy and incorrect. Only one boy could read properly. A boy in class 8-B, about to graduate soon, was painful to listen to. Many pupils did not know the meaning of common words though they could read them. This is only a brief statement of some of the facts developed in this examination. But even this is enough to make one of "the most skeptical pause and doubt whether the present system should not be abolished root and branch." THE boys were examined in spelling, arithmetic. WE venture to say that the boys in country schools geography, and history; they read and wrote from dictation. Their grades ran from 6-B to 8-B. There were seventeen words given for spelling, all of them common everyday words. Not one pupil even among those who were to graduate in a few months spelled all the words correctly. One boy in class 8-A-2 spelled one word correctly. Several boys had only two words spelled correctly, and the newspaper conducting the competition said, “The general average is so low as to be almost unbelievable." In the arithmetic test four boys failed to add up a column of four figures correctly. Many of them could could make an infinitely better showing than did these city boys. The country boy is apt to think enviously of the scholastic possibilities of a great city. But he should remember that success does not lie in the scholarship obtainable but in the acquisitiveness of the scholar. The foundation of the highest attainments in all human pursuits has been had by teachers of the country common schools. Only let the scholar apply himself and master the books at his disposal and he will find himself standing level with and often far above those whose much larger opportunities for learning were neglected or shirked in their day of opportunity. Speeches That Made Men Famous I.-Burke's Impeachment of Hastings "THE story of the crimes of Hastings," says Ma caulay, "made the blood of Burke to boil in his veins. He had a native abhorrence of cruelty, of injustice, of disorder, of oppression, of tyranny, and all these things, in all their degrees, marked the course of Hastings in India. They were, moreover, concentrated in individual cases, which exercised Burke's passionate imagination to its profoundest depths, and raised it to such a glow of fiery intensity as has never been rivaled in our history." "The energy and pathos of the great orator," in his final speech, as Macaulay puts it, “extorted expressions of unwonted admiration, even from the stern and hostile chancellor; and for a moment seemed to pierce even the resolute heart of the defendant." At length the orator concluded. Raising his voice till the old arches of Irish oak resounded, he said: Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach the common enemy and oppressor of all. Say, "Hello!" STOP a minute and say “Hello” As down Life's Road you go; Houses Without Nails N Alberta, Canada, there exists a village where no nails have been used in the construction of the houses. These were built by Ruthenian immigrants, and are of the typical Ruthenian style-long, pitchroofed, thatched, and wide in the eaves. Even the door, an affair of slender twigs, woven and laced together, swings on home-made hinges, and is latched with a wooden hasp. The floor is of hewn logs unnailed. The roof is a wonderful fabric of poles and cross-woven wheat straw ten inches thick, packed tightly and solidly, and laid with such care that it will endure any weather for twenty years. He Tore Off the Sham Draperies of Virtue! The world gasped in amazement! Society was shocked at his merciless exposures. The guilty, branded with their infamy, hung their heads in dishonor! They cried out to stop himthey invoked the powers of earth to silence him. Alone he defied the world! Was he master of the passions of men that he could craze with hatred and hypnotize with love? What was his strange magic that held hundreds of thousands spellbound? Why did one man give his own life to take the life of Brann the Iconoclast. BRANN The Iconoclast! A Few Chapters A Pilgrimage to Perdition A Sacred Leg Show Satan Loosed for a Season The American Middle Man From the Gods to the Gutter The Woman Thou Gavest Me Driven to the Devil The Seven Vials of Wrath The Professional Reformer The Locomotive Engineer Fake Journalism Rainbow Chasers The Social Swim "The Perfumes of Passion" A Prize Idiot of the Earth The Old Maid's Auction H Brann, The Iconoclast Of Whom Elbert Hubbard Said "He saw through the hollow mockeries of society and religion. He was an Iconoclast-an Image Breaker. He unloosed his tongue and pen in de nunciation of all and everything that appeared to stand between the sunlight and his ideals. He was the Wizard of Words -the Master of our Language. He took the Eng lish language by the tail and snapped its head off for his own delectationand the joy of the onlooker E tore off the sham draperies of Virtuesnatched away the purple cloak of Hypocrisy-threw aside the mock mantle of Modesty-laid bare the blinding nakedness of Truth! With the fury of an avenging angel he hurled himself upon every fake and fraud in Christendom. With a boldness that outraged convention, struck terror to the hearts of the timid, blasted the lives of the guilty, he revealed the shame of the great and mighty, the rich, the titled, the powerful. No money, no influence, no human agency was strong enough to encompass his downfall. For Brann wielded the power of words! He wove a pattern of words and it breathed with life, shone with beauty, scintillated with satire. At his touch cold type kindled into fire, glowed with the red heat of wrath, blinded with the white flare of passion. With the genius of his pen he ruled the emotions of men, played upon the heartstrings of humanity. Under his inspiration his pen became an instrument of destruction that wrought the crashing havoc of a cyclone-again it be came as a scourge of scorpions that flayed to the raw-or again it was a gleaming rapier that pierced swiftly, cleanly, fatally. He Made The World BLUSH FOR SHAME 12 VOLUMES SHIPPED FREE And now you may have this beautiful twelve-volume set for five days free examination. If, at the end of that time, you decide that you do not want to keep the set, you are at liberty to return it and the trial will not have cost you a cent. If you keep the set, as you doubtless will, pay for it on the amazingly easy terms of your own selection as shown on the coupon. Each of the twelve volumes contains 320 pages, making a total of over 3800 pages. Address, The Brann Publishers, Inc., Dept. 321, 130 East 25th Street, New York City, and the set will be shipped prepaid at once, securely packed in a wooden box. |