Office boy

“ To many it may seem remarkable, to others amusing, and to the minority a thing unbelievable, that before the end of the first week William should have been manager of the office so far as its routine was concerned. Every one who has had the honour of acquaintance with a first-class office boy will understand. Those who have not had that experience will not, and to them is added those who do not regard boys, office or otherwise, as having the remotest bearing upon, connection with, or part in the working of the world of to-day. ”

“ It was not funny to the cubs.
Cases in which the office boy is maltreated are exceptional, though cases in which he is misunderstood are not. Most office boys have not one boss but many. There should always be one person from whom they receive their general orders and to whom they go with their troubles. (A youngster should have very few troubles to report. It is usually the worthless ones who report.)
In most places the several office boys are stationed at a certain point, a desk or a table, with one of their number more or less in charge. The rule is that one person be always at the desk. ”

“ If you still want to be a Secret Service man, take the office boy job. They’ll find out soon enough that you’re more than an office boy. Take any chance you can find to get into the service, even if you have to start by sweeping floors and washing windows.”
“It’s all very well for you to say that, Roy. But you never did it yourself. You never had a bit of trouble to land a job, and you got a full-sized man’s job when you were only through high school. I’ve gone through high school, too, and I can hardly get a boy’s job.”
“You don’t look at it right, Willie. ”

“ From Office Boy to Reporter
Page 77
77 “I’ve got you!” exclaimed the officer. “Come to the station house.”
“Not without a fight!” exclaimed the youth, aiming a blow at the officer.
The policeman drew his club, and it looked as if there would be a battle royal, when another officer came up and the two bluecoats soon subdued the youth. As they started to march him to the station house, in the basement of the city hall, which was near by, the Italian demanded to know who was going to pay for his peanuts. ”

“ The supervision of Bessie Kraker and the office-boy.
Equally fixed were the details of the grubby office itself. Like many men who have pride in the smartest suburban homes available, Mr. Wilkins was content with an office shabby and inconvenient. He regarded beautiful offices as in some way effeminate.... His wasn’t effeminate; it was undecorative as a filled ash-tray, despite Una’s daily following up of the careless scrubwomen with dust-cloth and whisk. She knew every inch of it, as a gardener knows his plot. ”

“ It is the office, however, which is very apt to capture the country boy, because it offers wages on which a boy can at least sustain life. Almost any boy who has worked in a country store has picked up some knowledge of book-keeping, and book-keeping is taught theoretically in many high-schools, as well as in the countless business "colleges" of the country. It is not difficult, therefore, for a boy to obtain sufficient knowledge of its rudiments to be able to take the first position above that of office-boy. ”

“ He never knows when he goes to the office in the morning on what errands he may be sent, or what duties he may be called upon to discharge. He may be sent to Brooklyn, or Jersey City, with a message—sometimes even farther away. He may be detained to supply the place of an absent office boy, or sent up town to go out and walk with a child. In the evening he may be directed to accompany a lady to the theater as escort. These are a few of the uses to which telegraph messenger boys are put.
Of course Paul had had his share of varied commissions. ”

“ This girl, Alice, entered a law office at the age of fourteen, supposedly to do the work of an office boy. Now, after seven years in business, through the friendship and influence of men far above her socially, she holds the position of private secretary to the most influential man in Washington—a position which by rights belongs only to a well-educated young woman of good family. ”

“ BOSS (to new boy) —"You're the slowest youngster we've ever had. Aren't you quick at anything?"
BOY—"Yes, sir; nobody can get tired as quickly as I can."
A small boy went into a business office that displayed a sign, "Boy Wanted."
"What kind of a boy does youse want?" he asked of the manager.
"Why, a decent boy," said the manager. "One who is quick, doesn't swear, smoke cigarettes, whistle round the office, shoot craps—"
"Aw, gee, boss," interrupted the boy, "youse don't want a boy; youse wants a girl."
"How does your boy Josh like his job in the city?" ”

“ The boy bowlegged off to an adjoining office and returned with the pleasing tidings that the Boss was Too Busy.
“Go back and tell him that it is to his interest that I be allowed to come alongside now,” said Field Secretary.
The boy reluctantly went away again, and in a moment later came back and told the F. S. to take a seat. Whereupon the F. S. took it, and then for one long, lonely newspaper-reading, thumb-twirling, watch-glancing hour he held it down without a whimper.
Finally he called the boy again and told him [34] that he’d like to see the Boss during the present era if possible. ”

“ The country boy minds his folks, and his teacher. But everything else minds him. He is boss of every critter on the place, from the hens to the horses, whenever he has anything to do with them at all. So he learns to think for them, as well as for himself. In the city the boy has no chance to give orders—he's under orders, all the time; the traffic cop, the truant officer, the boss in the shop or the office, the street car conductor, the janitor—everybody bosses him and he bosses nothing, except his kid brothers and sisters. ”

“ This was the place for the superintendent, and for gentlmen who from time to time address the boys.
The superintendent was at that time Mr. Charles O'Connor, who still retains the office. Probably no one could be found better adapted to the difficult task of managing the class of boys who avail themselves of the good offices of the Newsboys' Home. His mild yet firm manner, and more than all the conviction that he is their friend, and feels a hearty interest in their welfare, secure a degree of decorum and good behavior which could hardly be anticipated. ”

“ Anybody might of thought, to see me sittin' there in the Ellins lib'ry, leanin' back luxurious in a big red leather chair lookin' over the latest magazines, that I'd been promoted from head office boy to heir apparent or something like that. I expect some kids would have stood on one leg in the front hall and held their breath; but why not make yourself to home when you get the chance? I knew the boss was takin' his time goin' through all them papers I'd brought up, and that when he finished he'd send down word if there was any instructions to go back. ”

“ The superintendent's office will bring him into relations with youth [51] during all its stages, from early childhood through the entire adolescent period. He must be able to see life and the world through the eyes of a little child, of a growing boy, and of a young man. The sympathy which he needs is not a compassionate feeling for youth, but a feeling with youth, an ability to put himself in its place; to feel as young people feel, and to understand why they act as they sometimes do. ”

“ In the office, for the sake of discipline, I frequently adopt a querulous manner, finding it necessary in dealing with office-boys, but the moment I leave shop behind me I become a different individual entirely, and have been called a moteless sunbeam by those who have seen only that side of my character. ”

“ Another danger is, that the boys will be so engaged in the duties of their offices, as to neglect their studies. This would be, and ought to be, fatal to the whole plan. Avoid it in this manner. State publicly that you will not appoint any to office, who are not good scholars, always punctual, and always prepared; and when any boy, who holds an office, is going behind hand in his studies, say to him kindly, "You have not time to get your lessons, and I am afraid it is owing to the time you spend in helping me. ”

“ The boy messenger is especially interesting as a human type. He comes into a public office raw and untrained, and he usually leaves it a well-disciplined and decent-mannered man. If it unfortunately happens that discarded boy messengers frequently join the ranks of the unemployed, or even of the unemployable, it is difficult to believe that they can ever become hooligans. How is the boy licked into shape? First of all, in any large body of men or boys there is a recognised standard of conduct; even the boy who lives in the street is conscious of a standard of the street ”

“ My Dear Boy:—You write me that you have been kept very much in your office of late because the general superintendent has taken your chief clerk for the same position in his own office. You hope that your friend, the auditor, may be able to furnish you a good man who has such a thorough knowledge of accounts that you will be able to give less attention to such matters and therefore be out on the road that much more. ”

“ Daniel was astounded. Not to accept such a magnificent proposal! As soon as he could speak he said that he had no thought of anything else but acceptance.
“Well,” said Mr. Gore, “you must decide for yourself; but come, sit down, and let us talk it over. The office is worth fifteen hundred a year, you say; well, it never will be worth any more. Ten to one if they find out it is so much the fees will be reduced. You are appointed now by friends; others may fill their places who are of different opinions, and who have friends of their own to provide for. ”

“ Prefects, however, as opposed to Sixths, were accustomed to take unto themselves a small boy and give him the use of their study on the condition that he dusted it, cleaned their cups and plates, and made himself generally useful. Although this office received the derogatory title of 'being study-slut,' it was, on the whole, rather sought after, as only the more attractive and popular members of the workroom were chosen for the position. ”

“ Even the chiefs’ outside associates were tremendous, buyers and diplomatic representatives; big-chested men with watch-chains across their beautiful tight waistcoats. And like envoys extraordinary were the efficiency experts whom Mr. Pemberton occasionally had in to speed up the work a bit more beyond the point of human endurance.... One of these experts, a smiling and pale-haired young man who talked to Mr. Ross about the new poetry, arranged to have office-boys go about with trays of water-glasses at ten, twelve, two, and four. ”

“ I remember reading an anecdote when a boy, of a man who, through his wisdom and patriotism, had gained great renown, but who, through envy, was assigned to a position which was considered very degrading. ”

“ The Post Office has from the earliest times drawn upon the boy population of this country to do a large portion of its work. The postboys were carrying letters across country three hundred years ago, though in many cases the term “boy” was merely an official designation, and the individual was nearer his second than his first childhood. The labour is cheap—that of course is an advantage in the eyes of the Treasury—but there is also a peculiar fitness in the employment of the young in work which above all things demands quickness, alertness, and a capacity for endurance. ”

“ All he's got to do now is to convince the boss of it, an' git promoted."
"Why, look here," said the merchant who was in need of a boy, "aren't you the same boy who was in here a week ago?"
"Yes, sir," said the applicant.
"I thought so. And didn't I tell you then that I wanted an older boy?"
"Yes, sir. That's why I'm back. I'm older now."
OFFICE-SEEKERS
Mayor Mitchel of New York was talking at a dinner about office-seekers.
"A good man had just died," he said, "and with unseemly haste an office-seeker came after his job. ”

“ These laws provided that if a boy went to work too young he must make up for it by attending night school.
It was these latter lads who seemed to be making the most fun. They evidently did not care much about the lessons.
“Here comes another!” cried a voice, as Larry walked down the street toward the school. “Let’s make him run the gauntlet!”
“Line up!” shouted several, and they formed a124 narrow path, with boys on either edge of the sidewalk, making a lane which Larry would have to pass through. ”

“ The fighting instincts of the average boy are indeed the chief difficulties of his Superintendent. “I was coming out of sorting-room ground floor when Messenger B—— and I knock up against one another. ”

“ He feels, as he starts, an impulse to be pure and noble. He is surrounded by clerks in an office. A fortnight passes, and one evening, when he is hurrying home after office hours, he hears a fast young man whisper at the desk, “Poor fellow, he’s off to be pinned to his mother’s knee.” ”

“ We want young men to hold our offices, young men of brains, like yourself. It is the history of our organization that such young men, almost from the moment that they assume office in the union, make rapid strides in their work. They are sure to earn rapid promotion. We see to that; we push them along. Why, I know of a young man about your age who, like yourself, was a foreman before joining the union. In less than a year after doing so he was promoted to be a superintendent. ”