AN AGENTS'

There is no luck in life. Luck is of our own making. Luck means rising at 6 in the morning, living on one dollar a day if you make two, minding your own business and not meddling with other people's; luck means the hardships and privations which you have not hesitated to endure, the long nights that you have devoted to work; luck means the appointments you have never failed to keep, the trains you have never failed to catch; luck means trusting in God and in your own resources, a religion whose motto is "Help yourself and Heaven will help you."

If you are successful all the social failures will howl at the top of their voices that you have always been lucky. You may certainly be lucky for a short time, but you cannot always be lucky any more than you can always be unlucky. The man who plays cards every day of his life will tell you at the end of the year that he has been lucky as many times as he has been unlucky.

The same in life: the only way to be lucky that is to say, successful-is to leave nothing to chance, but to work and work and work again; to inspire confidence in others by the strength and uprightness of your character; to make yourself indispensable by your reliability and your devotion to your calling, pleasant by your cheerfulness, respected for your honesty and sincerity; and always to bear in mind that what can be obtained once by tricky means can, as a rule, be obtained forever and ever by honest ones.-Max O'Rell.

A PLANTATION SONG

1902

Dey grumbles 'bout de winter, but hit never comes ter stay:

De vi'let in de snow-drif' is a-dreamin er de May;

De sunshine's over yonder, shinin' hot fer makin' hay,

En dey gwine ter be a harvest in de mawnin'!

Dey ain't no use in sighin' w'en de thunder rollin' nigh

En shakin' er de winders in de blue bend er de sky;

De storm is makin' ready fer de rainbow, by en by,

En we'll reap de happy harvest in de mawnin'!

Den sing acrost de medders, en sing acrost de wheat,

En sing acrost de gyardens whar de roses lookin' sweet;

En listen, listen, listen, 'till you heah de worl's heart beat

Fer joy at all de harvest in de mawnin'! Frank L. Stanton.

"Possession is nine points of the law," and frequently all the profits.

"A man who will not flee will make his foes flee," but what if his foes be made of the same metal?

"Let a child have its will, and it will not cry," but its parents will.-Era.

LIFE INSURANCE SOLICITING AS A

BUSINESS. (Continued.)

Published by courtesy of Success, which paper published the article referred to; basing it on an interview with President James W. Alexander.

The agent who wins does so absolutely on his own merit. A young man who begins with no influence may think he is heavily handicapped when compared with the fellow who has plenty of prosperous relatives and friends to take out insurance, and give him letters of introduction. As a matter of fact he is at very slight disadvantage. Friends and relatives, no matter what their preliminary promises and intentions may have been, are very often tound wanting when the time comes for them to be useful, and the man who has been depending upon them is apt to be greatly disappointed and disheartened, whereas the man who has based no hopes on the promises of friends does not feel any discouragement of this kind. He gets to work at once, in the most practical way. He asks no favors and makes friends on the mutual benefit plan. While it is, of course, better to begin any business in youth, middle-aged and elderly men are not by any means barred from the insurance field, so long as they retain their mental and physical vigor. Some remarkable successes have been won by men who have passed the meridian of life. Through an unfortunate circumstance, a good business man may fail, but he has two assetsexperience and knowledge of men—which he can almost immediately turn into money in life insurance soliciting.

It is of the young men that I am thinking most. A novice will have many disappointments. Persons whom he felt certain of getting will fail him. "Prospects" that he had strong hopes of will suddenly turn cold, and many will postpone, indefinitely, the matter of taking out a policy. He will make mistakes that will cost him premiums, but he must not allow these setbacks to discourage him. He must remember that they are the common lot of all. If he is a weakling, or discovers that, by reason of temperament or some other cause, he is not

adapted to the insurance business, he will drop out before many months have passed. But, if he has the true spirit, if he is determined to "fight it out," he will keep at work, and will be glad he did so. He will find that his first efforts, that seemed barren of results, have not been fruitless, after all. The "prospects" that put him off will begin to succumb. He will be unearthing new ones constantly, many of them in accidental ways. Those whom he has insured will tell their friends about it and about him, and will become zealous workers in his interest. Thus will the circle of his business become gradually wider and his income larger. "The agony of first efforts" will be a thing of the past; he will be a full-fledged insurance agent, well satisfied with the present and with the prospects for the future. OFTEN THE MOST CONVINCING TALKER CANNOT CLOSE A DEAL.

All this means not only hard work, but also hard work coupled with tact and system. The matter of system is very important in soliciting, and yet it is likely to be neglected by a young agent. The latter is very prone to waste time. If he does not see a certain man, he may not have anybody else on his list to interview at once, and so whiles away a number of hours in idleness. When he gets a good premium, he is under strong temptation to "rest on his oars." A man of superabundant energy can, of course, do more work in a day than can he who is only ordinarily endowed. I most certainly do not believe that a man should overtax himself. He should measure his capacity for work and conform to it evenly and regularly. He should make up his mind to see a certain number of men every day. By this method he will accomplish much more than the man who works by spurts and starts, proceeding on the principle of doing two days' work in one and resting the next two days.

A careful canvass is as important as an energetic one. The work does not by any means consist entirely in calling on men. It is essential to obtain information about a man before you call on him, learning all you can of his business prospects, his income, his family, and his personal characteristics. Armed with this knowledge, you

are in a very much better position to state your life insurance arguments in a way that will appeal to him, than if you called on him in a haphazard way, as many agents do. Before calling, outline, in your mind, the argument you intend to use with that particular man, yet be quick and clever enough to change your tactics the instant you notice that you are on the wrong tack. You must know the best time to call, when to leave, and when to ask your visitor for his signature. You must never lose sight of the fact that this signature is what you are after. Yet you must be very careful not to present the application until the time is ripe for it. There are men who are brilliant talkers, who can invariably convince a man that he needs insurance, yet who fail as agents simply because they do not know how to close a deal; they seem to lack that delicate insight and understanding of the workings of another mind that tells a good solicitor just when his "prospect" is ready for the final thrust. Such men lack tact, a quality which should be inborn, but which can be cultivated and developed in a marked degree if a man gives his mind to it and is intelligent enough to profit by experience.

Employment is man's salvation. Idleness is a curse. To toil, to labor, to work is divine. Learn to be busy. Doing and achieving brings happiness. Emerson said: "The high prize of life, the crowning fortune of a man, is to be born to some pursuit, which finds him in employment and happiness-whether it be to make baskets or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs."

A MERCHANT'S MAXIMS.

On the tombstone of John Donough, of New Orleans, the following maxims are engraved as the merchant's guide to young men in life:

"Remember that labor is one of the conditions of existence.

"Time is gold; throw not one minute away, but place each one to account. "Do unto all men as you would be done by.

"Never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day.

"Never bid another do what you can do yourself.

"Never covet what is not your own. "Never think any matter so trifling as not to deserve notice.

"Never give out what does not come in. "Study in your course of life to do the greatest amount of good."

A POINT ON CARPENTRY.

Senator Platt, of Connecticut, was building a house, and had occasion to hire a carpenter.

"You know all about carpenter work?" asked Senator Platt.

"Yes, sir," was the reply.

"You make windows, and blinds?" "Oh, yes, sir."

"How would you make a Venetian blind?"

The man thought steadily for several minutes. "I think," he remarked finally, "that I would punch him in the eye." Washington Post.

LIFE ASSURANCE FABLES.

ALL FOR A SONG.

The attention of an Eastern Fakir, who was hard up for cash, was arrested one day by the loud braying of an ass that belonged to an Oriental Rug Merchant who lived in the same village.

"What a rich and melodious voice your donkey has!" said the Fakir, with playful irony.

"Yes," replied the Merchant, who took the Fakir's gibe in all seriousness, "and his voice is as remarkable for power and volume as it is for sweetness."

"If I had the time," exclaimed the Fakir, "I should like nothing better than to teach him to sing."

"I never heard of such a thing!" cried the astonished merchant.

"Probably not," said the Fakir. "It's a most difficult task, and takes infinite pains. Why, I wouldn't guarantee to make a really first-class singer of that donkey in less than fifty years!"

"Could you do it in that time?" inquired the merchant.

"Certainly," replied the Fakir. "I'll guarantee it absolutely, and if you will pay me liberally, I can reduce the time, perhaps, to thirty-five or forty years.

"What would you charge?" asked the Merchant.

"I shall expect an annual stipend of 100 denarii," replied the Fakir.

So they struck a bargain.

But a friend of the Fakir, learning of the transaction, upbraided him for his folly. "You are sure to be exposed," said he.

Then the Fakir closed his left eye tightly and said, "Fifty years is a long time. Lots of things may happen before the end of that period. I may die, or the Merchant may die, or the donkey may die. Meanwhile I can live with reasonable comfort on the annual stipend which the merchant has bound himself to pay me."

MORAL.

Find out something about the standing and reputation of those who make glittering promises as to the future. The only life assurance companies that have failed have been those that have been managed by incompetent or unscrupulous men, or by those who have conducted the business on an unscientific basis. And yet the managers of such concerns are the ones who hold out the most alluring prospects to a confiding public. If you want genuine assurance; assurance that will be cheapest in the end, go to a company that has a record for successful management; is run by men of character and experience, and is conducted on absolutely scientific principles. Then you will secure both protection and profit.

MY! WHAT A "JOLLY!"

R. L. Foreman says in his June circular: Many of our new agents may not have learned the great practical value of THE EQUITABLE NEWS, which is published by the Society each month for the instruction of its agents. Its editor, Mr. Frank F. Edwards, has served a long apprenticeship in the Equitable's most successful agency at Pittsburg, and is in a position to realize just what is most helpful to the men in the field. But in order that it may be interesting as well as instructive, he manages to lighten up each issue with much that is humorous and entertaining. I read a good many life assurance papers, but find none so bristling with apt and snappy good things, applicable to our own business, as this little paper. Read it from cover to

cover every month. You cannot afford to miss a line of it.

[Thanks, Foreman; what is it you want?-ED.]

A SURPRISE PARTY FOR DILDAY. In severing his connection with the Louisville agency to accept the position of an Inspector of Agencies, Mr. N. J. Dilday gave a lunch to the entire agency force of the Louisville agency. Many of those present spoke of the regret they felt at losing Mr. Dilday as an active co-worker in their field, and the pleasure they felt in the fact that his new duties would keep him among them part of the time. Many letters were received from out of town agents, who were unable to be present, of which the following is a good example:

The announcement contained in letter signed by yourself and Mr. Powell that you had disposed of your interest in the Kentucky Agency came as a big surprise to me, and corresponding regret I assure you.

The latter, though, is largely mitigated by the fact that the change means but a step higher in the Equitable's roster for both of the old firm of Dilday & Powell, and that old Kentucky will still share part of your time in your new duties through the home office.

Every one present promised his best efforts to Mr. Powell and the Louisville agency for the balance of the year, and then came the surprise for Mr. Dilday, as he was presented with a very handsome diamond pin by the agency force, as a mark of the esteem and affection in which he is held by them. Mr. Dilday replied feelingly and fittingly, and said that he could assure the "boys" that the feeling was mutual.

"Nature has written a letter of credit upon the faces of some men, which is honored whenever presented."-Thackeray.

[Must be a very small "some." We've presented ours at the Western National Bank and to M. Murray, cashier of the society, but they always want an endorsement. Must be like the man who told the conductor that "his face was his ticket," and received the reply: "All tickets must be punched."-ED.]

Priscilla to Miles Standish said:

I'm sure I cannot see,

Any Equi-ta-ble reason
Why I your wife should be.

By proxy to me you've proposed,
Maybe you have endurance,

But with your suit I have disposed,
You've not enough assurance.

Moral.-Young men should never propose, unless they are there with the "goods." J. A. W.

EDWARD AGNEW..

The name of Edward Agnew is very familiar to those of the Equitable family who read Mr. Tarbell's monthly honor list-and that means every one of us. Mr. Agnew has been connected with the Pittsburg agency for seventeen years, and during the greater part of that time he has kept himself right up among the leaders.

"Young" Agnew, as his associates call him, is over seventy years of age, but he still makes the young men hustle to keep anywhere near his class. Only a few months ago Manager Woods offered a prize for the largest amount of business produced during two months. More than one hundred were in the competition, but Mr. Agnew won it.

Mr. Agnew is one of the few men who were honored by being asked to speak at the Fortieth Anniversary Convention in 1899. During his remarks he said, in speaking of his first visit to the home office: "I came over and was introduced to Mr. Hyde: and Mr. Alexander, who introduced me. said: 'Mr. Hyde, here is a presbyterian, and here is an old man'-he called me an old man, and that was thirteen years ago. I don't consider that I'm very old, for I hope to live until we celebrate at least the half century of the Society."

And so say we all of us; we don't want any fewer Agnews in the Equitable, we

want more.