gentleman chosen for the purpose. The
instructor stresses the fundamentals of character and, above all things,
common sense. Courtesy is rarely discussed as a separate quality but
simple instructions are given about not going in front of a person when
there is room to go around him, not pushing into an elevator ahead of
every one else, not speaking to a man at a desk until he has signified
that he is ready, and about sustaining quiet and orderly behavior
everywhere. The atmosphere in the bank is the kind that encourages
gentlemanly conduct and the new boys either fall in with it or else get
out and go somewhere else.

It takes more patience on the part of the youngsters in the financial
district than it does in most other places, for the men there work under
high tension and are often cross, worried, nervous, and irritable, and
as a result are, many times, without intending it, unjust. The
discipline is severe, and the boy would not be human if he did not
resent it. But the youngster who is quick to fly off the handle will
find himself sadly handicapped, however brilliant he may be, in the race
with boys who can keep their tempers in the face of an injury.

Three boys out of the hundreds who have passed through the training
school in the bank of which we were speaking have been discharged for
acts of discourtesy. One flipped a rubber clip across a platform and hit
one of the officials in the eye, one refused to stay after hours to
finish some work he had neglected during the day, and one was
impertinent. All three could have stayed if each had used a little
common sense, and all three could have stayed if each act had not been
a fair indication of his general attitude toward his work.

One of the most difficult organizations to manage and one against which
the charge of discourtesy is frequently brought is the department store.
Yet a distinguished Englishwoman visiting here--it takes a woman to
judge these things--said, "I had always been told that people in New
York were in such a hurry that, although well-meaning enough, they were
inclined to appear somewhat rude to strangers. I have found it to be
just the reverse. During my first strolls in the streets, in the shops,
and elsewhere, I have found everybody most courteous. Your stores, I may
say, are the finest I have ever seen, not excepting those of Paris.
Their displays are remarkable. Their spaciousness impressed me greatly.
Even at a crowded time it was not dif