Business Success

( Originally Published 1885 )

- A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF HENRY W. GRADY.

HENRY W. GRADY, of Georgia, was an eminently successful editor and public speaker. He was a native of the South ; and soon after the close of the war he decided to become an editor, and formed a deliberate determination to win distinction in that profession. But the South was poor, and he went to New York in search of success. He had but very little money with him, and after registering at the Astor House he went over to the Herald office to look for work. Thomas B. Connery, late Secretary of Legation to Mexico, was then managing editor. He received the youthful Georgian with his usual urbanity. The conversation turned upon the political situation in Georgia. Grady laid bare the inside of Georgia politics. It was so entertaining that Connery invited him to write an article upon it, and the invitation was promptly accepted.

Over to his rooms at the Astor House sped the young journalist. In less than three hours the article was completed. It filled nearly two columns of the Herald.

The style was quaint and dashing. Interest in the subject was first adroitly fastened. After that the reader unconsciously absorbed all that was said, and was sorry when the end was reached. It was with the utmost joy that Grady saw the article in the Herald the next morning. His funds were low ; it meant a new supply of money. The sky of his intellect was aglow with hope. After breakfast he crossed the street.

He knew little about the hours of morning newspapers in New York. He reached the Herald office at nine in the morning and remained there six hours before Mr. Connery entered. The editor greeted him cordially, and even vouchsafed a few words of praise over his work, but said nothing about payment therefor.

The Georgian was too modest to hint at his necessities. He beat around the bush awhile, and finally returned to the Astor House much downcast. After paying his hotel bill he had barely enough money to take him back to Atlanta. He had no friends in New York, and he dared not longer trust himself away from the base of his supplies. As it was, he had so little in his pocket that he rode from New York to Atlanta 'without a mouthful to eat.

Before his departure he had sought the post of Herald correspondent in Atlanta.

He was taken aback when Mr. Connery assured him that the Herald had no salaried correspondents in the South, but his eyes sparkled when he was told that he was at liberty to gather what news he could, and forward it at space rates. He went to work with a will after reaching Atlanta.

For a month he showered the Herald with small telegrams. The most of them were used. At the end of the month he received a check for $35. It covered the article printed while he was at the Astor House. It was not as much as he expected, but it inspired him with fresh hopes, and renewed his energies.

A young Bohemian must be very frugal and extremely economical to live on $35 a month. Yet the young writer kept at work with a will, and threw all his energy and power into that work. He may have had many discouraging moments, but unknown to him, peace and plenty were near at hand.

In less than a month after his return from New York, an incident occurred which showed conclusively Mr. Grady's ability as a newspaper correspondent.

One afternoon he received a telegram from Mr. Connery asking him to ascertain whether the name of a certain man was registered at any Atlanta hotel. Grady was on the street in an instant. He examined all the hotel registers in the city and could find no such name. Then he sat down, rubbed his head, and wondered why the Herald wanted to get upon the man's trail. The name seemed strangely familiar.

He turned over the files of the Herald looking for it. He found it. The stranger had been mixed up in some Cuban trouble, had fled from Havana, and had landed in Charleston a fortnight before.

Now he shows his skill, his ability, his sagacity, for it is nothing short of that. He begins to reason, and his thoughts run as follows : This man would not be likely to go from Charleston to Atlanta. But to what place would he probably go ? The conclusion to which he soon came was that in all likelihood he would at once go to New Orleans. No sooner had he reached this conclusion than he determined to find out, if possible, whether the man really was in New Orleans. He therefore telegraphed at once to a friend in the Crescent City, asking him to search the hotel registers there. His friend did so and found the stranger. With-out loss of time Grady wired this dispatch to Connery:-- ATLANTA, GA., 16TH.

To THOMAS B. CONNERY, New York Herald :

Your man is registered at the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans. HENRY W. GRADY.

It need not be said that Mr. Connery was dumfounded. It was scarcely three hours since he had sent his inquiry to Grady at Atlanta, and in that remarkably short time Grady had found the man in New Orleans. Surely, Grady was the man for him. Grady stock began at once to go up. He had struck the bull's eye in journalism with unerring aim. His fortune was made. That year he received over $6,000 from the Herald alone for his services.

The substance of the above incident was contributed to the New York Sun by Amos J. Cummings, who received it from Mr. Grady's own lips.

Now what is the lesson from this for all young men? He was devoted to his business. He was determined to succeed. He must find a way or make a way. Most young men would have been content to look over the registers of the Atlanta hotels, and telegraph back to Mr. Connery at New York, " No sir, he is not at any hotel in Atlanta." Not so Mr. Grady. "If he is not here, where is he ? Mr. Connery wants to know where he is. I must find out if I can." Hence, the lucky telegram to New Orleans. And on this sagacity turned the destiny of a life brilliant and eminently successful.

Mr. Grady made his mark. He impressed his personality upon his city, his State, his section in the Union, and upon the whole country. His sudden and premature death was sincerely mourned by thousands who knew him and by multitudes who had only read the products of his thought and the oratorical eloquence of his speech in the newspapers of the land. Industry, enterprise, earnestness, and a determination to succeed will win success, whereas the opposite of these characteristics will produce failure, disaster, and even disgrace.