i8a5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE, 



19 



HINTS TO THOSE WHO WANT TO BE- 

 COME PROFICIENT IN BUSINESS. 



SOMETHIXC; TO ( I-ERKS, UEDCCEU FROM 2o VEAKS 

 OF EXPERIENCE. 



Firi<t Hint. 



0RDEK Avas heaven's first law, and it 

 must be our first law here in the office : 

 therefore each clerk is provided with a 

 scribbling-book, and every mark wit Ii 

 pen or pencil must be made in this 

 book, unless it is made on the letter you are 

 answering, as a note of what you have \\ rit- 

 ten to your correspondent. I have almost 

 always had trouble in getting clerks to ob- 

 serve this rule ; and then, I am sorry to say. 

 new clerks are the w(H'st, because they can 

 not understand what harm it may do to 

 make their computations on an old envel(»i)e 

 or piece of viapi-r picked out of the waste- 

 basket, instead of making all their marking 

 and scribbling in a book. One without ex- 

 perience can not tell how much trouble it 

 makes in an office like ours, to have writing 

 and figures on a piece of paper left on some 

 of the desks. No one dare throw it away, 

 for feav it may be important, and such 

 scraps are sometimes kept arountl foi- weeks 

 and months. For the same reason. I object 

 to tablets. A book costs little more, and 

 then any offer that has ever been made to 

 anybody^ or any figures that have been i)ut 

 down, can always be found, even if somebody 

 should claim we had wronged him by an er- 

 ror, and should not make com])laiiit until 

 weeks or months afterward. Your compu- 

 tation or scribbling book should be dated, in 

 order that you niMy be able to fix the' date of 

 any transaction. ";is we have mentioned, 

 wlien called upon to do so. The pages 

 should be filled close and solid, as far as you 

 go— not only on account of economy. l>ut 

 that you may learn correct business lialiits. 

 If you open the book at random, and scribl)le 

 in it here and there, it is unsightly and nn- 

 tifly, and can not well be kciH accuratcdy 

 dated. If 1 pay you for your time, it is my 

 privilege to direct matters, and say liowtlu'V 

 shall be kept ; and Mhatever marks or fig- 

 ures or writing is done on time that you 

 charge me for, is my proi)erly. If I ch<)ose 

 to have it preserved, "it is my rigid. 



Second Hint. — Provide yoiu'self with paper- 

 weights of some kind, and see that no loose 

 papers are ever lying on the top of your desk. 

 A gust of wind may sweep them off on the 

 tlobr, and they be mixed uji or lost. J lave 

 your paper-weights labeled, and kvv.p them 

 on top of the proper pile of ])apers or letters. 

 Allow no loose papers a place on your desk, 

 or in the drawers to your desk. liifact. keep 

 no papers or proi)erty of any kiiul that you 

 are not using or likely to use. Fight against 

 accumulations of rubbish and dead property 

 as if it w-ere an insidious foe. Make every 

 thing about you count somewhere, and keep 

 it moving. 



Third Hint. — If you spoil an envelope or 

 postal card or sheet of paper, by no means 

 waste time in tearing it up. It will be just 

 as safe if you lay it quietly by in our waste- 

 paper basket. I have seen a new clerk oc- 

 (Uipy considerable time in tearing a sheet of 

 I)aper to pieces, nnd then throw it toward 



the waste-paper basket, leaving the pieces 

 to blow about the room ; whereas, if it 

 had been quietly deposited whole, it would 

 i not only have saved her time, but the clerk 

 who cares for the room, in picking up the 

 little bits. Our waste-paper basket will hold 

 whole papers, but little pieces rattle through 

 it. 



Fourth Hint.— ^yhen you make a mistake 

 in writing any word or 'figure, under no cir- 

 cumstances undertake to scratch it out A\ith 

 a knife or any similar implement. Cross it 

 out with a pen, then put down the word you 

 Avant. If you get a whole line wrong, cross 

 out the line neatly. It is not necessary to 

 j make a great number of crosses, for such 

 I motions take time, and mar the beauty of 

 I your work. Draw two pai'allel lines across 

 : the error or line, and this will indicate to any 

 ; reader that such portions are not to be reail 

 or considered. A single line across a word 

 does very Avell : Init it may be mistaken for 

 the cross of a t. and therefore I would draw 

 two parallel lines with the pencil, rather 

 than cross each letter or figure. If you do 

 ! not discover that the letters or liguies are 

 I wrong until the letter has been written, aft- 

 1 er crossing out the word in the way I have 

 1 indicated, put the proper word or ligure just 

 I abo\ (' the one crossed out. Under no cir- 

 cumstances make one figure on top of 

 another. Expensive blunders and consider- 

 1 able (luarrels have resulted because clerks 

 i persist in this very bad habit. Clerks some- 

 j times urge that there was not any room to 

 write the word properly, unless theyscratch- 

 I ed out the wrong one with a penknife. 

 I When yon meet a case of this kind, please 

 bring il to uu\ and I will show you how to 

 fix it. Every clerk should be able to write a 

 small i)lain "hand, with the express view of 

 being able to interline things of this kind 

 ; when necessaiy. One great reason why we 

 ! employ women 1o do writing, rather than 

 ; men, is l)ecause they are usually taught to 

 ; write a small i>lain liand. 



Fifili Hint.—U you are not able to make 

 ] figures so phiin that no one can ever mistake 

 I one figure for another, set about doing it 

 I at once, and ))racliee on them, and decide on 

 i wavs of making tiiem until you can do it so 

 I well that no one will sav, during ten years of 

 j work, that lie ever read a G for a 0, a 7 for a 

 ] . a 2 fin- a o. etc. You can yuactice makiug 

 these figures in your couii)utal ion-book, and 

 I will pay you for the time of doing it. 

 j Si.dh /7/»f.— When you are intrusted with 

 I letters to answer, be sure that every (jues- 

 tion your correspondent asks is answered in 

 some" way or other. If he asks a question 

 that is answered jilainly in the A B C book, 

 write him a postal card.telling him the ABC 

 book mailed him covers the ground fully ; 

 and if you can. without great trouble, tell 

 liim wliat page in the book treats on the sub- 

 ject. If vour corresiiondent asks for a price 

 list, be verv sure that he has one ; and after 

 you have sent it, tell him so. Never say a 

 price list has been sent, because you are just 

 qointf to send it. Accustom yourself to tell- 

 ing the exact truth in every thing you do. 

 Manv business men and women have crip- 

 pled their moncv value by getting into this 

 on<> lud)it of writing to people that things 



