Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet

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Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet
Archive/American Libraries. See
http://www.archive.org/details/whysucceed00lewirich
Transcriber's note:
A large number of printer's typographical errors have been corrected.
In some cases, questionable spellings, tense and words (
e.g.
:
vindicative) have been retained.
—OR,—

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BY H. A. LEWIS.
FINELY ILLUSTRATED.
"Not Failure, but low aim is crime."
SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.
CLEVELAND, OHIO: MOSES, LEWIS & CO.
1888.
C
, 1887.
BY WRIGHT, MOSES & LEWIS.
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS.
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PREFACE.
Some succeed while others fail. This is a recognized fact; yet history tells
us that seven-tenths of our most successful men began life poor. As our title
indicates, we shall endeavor to show "why some succeed while others fail."
Knowing that everybody desires success, and recognizing the old adage,
"Example is the best of teachers," we have selected representative
characters from the multitude of successful men who have climbed the
ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round. These we have followed
from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on the traits of character
that have made them so rich and successful, believing that a careful study
will convince all that the proverbial "luck" had little to do with it. On the
contrary, one is taught those lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance
which are so essential to success in life's struggles. It is fearful to think how
many of our young people are drifting without an aim in life, and do not
comprehend that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar
with the parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent—all may
profit by his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present
this volume.
Every young man is now a sower of seed on the field of life.
The bright days of youth are the seed-time. Every thought of
your intellect, every emotion of your heart, every word of
your tongue, every principle you adopt, every act you
perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will prove bliss
or bane of your after life.
—W .

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INTRODUCTION.
Dear reader, it is a grave undertaking to write a book, especially is it so in
writing a treatise on success and failure, as we have attempted to do in the
work we hereby present you. It is a solemn thing to give advice. Experience
teaches that no one thing will please everybody; that men's censures are as
various as their palates; that some are as deeply in love with vice as others
are with virtue. Shall I then make myself the subject of every opinion, wise
or weak? Yes, I would rather hazard the censure of some than hinder the
good of others.
There need neither reasons to be given nor apologies to be made where the
benefit of our fellow-men is our aim. Henry Clay Trumbull says: "At no
time in the world's history, probably, has there been so general an interest in
biography as that which has been shown of late. Just here lies a weighty
obligation upon these who write, and those who read, of the lives of men
who have done something in the world. It is not enough for us to know
they have done; it belongs to us to discover the 
of their works
and ways, and to gain some personal benefit from the analysis of their
successes and failures. Why was this man great? What general intentions—
what special traits led him to success? What ideal stood before him, and by
what means did he seek to attain it? Or, on the other hand, what unworthy
purpose, what lack of conscience and religious sense, what unsettled
method and feeble endeavor stood in the way of the 'man of genius' and his
possible achievements?" In this volume one sees the barefoot boy rise to the
eminent statesman, the great millionaire, the honored inventor. How was
this accomplished? We believe that a careful study of the different
characters, by the light of the author's opinion of the characteristics
essential to success, as shown in Department Fifth, will show why they
succeeded.
Let the reader follow each character separately, from childhood to
manhood, noting carefully the different changes in the career of each and

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the motives which actuated and brought them about. If this book shall serve
to awaken dormant energies in 
who might otherwise have
failed, we shall feel abundantly repaid. Doubtless, there are others who are
better qualified to write a treatise on such a subject; nevertheless, we have
done our best, and this done, we have attained success.

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QUOTATIONS.
A man, to succeed, must possess the necessary equanimity of temperament
to conceive an idea, the capacity to form it into some tangible shape, the
ingenuity to put it into practical operation, the ability to favorably impress
others with its merits, and the
of
that is absolutely necessary to
force it to success.
—T
A. S
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Labor rids us of three evils.—Tediousness, Vice and Poverty.
—C
.
"
Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable and
ought to be done, and then let nothing stand long in the way of
accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to have
it; few deserve it who do not attain it.
"
"
There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits are
good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly, and
purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price
—
!"
In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his motto
be
.
—H
C
.
"
Be liberal but cautious; enterprising but careful.
"

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"
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we
fall.
"
Fail!—Fail?
In the lexicon of youth, which Fate reserves for a
bright manhood, there is no such word
As—fail!
—"R
."
Benjamin Franklin has truly said: The road to wealth is as plain as the
road to mill.

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D
 D
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Here is a great financier. A man of unusual ability; but who is no
exception to the rule, born poor. His success came by hard work and a
thorough mastery of his business. It is surprising how many Wall Street
operators began life on the farm. In the case of Daniel Drew, at the age of
only fifteen, matters were made worse by the death of his father.
At eighteen, he concluded to go to New York; but, after a discouraging
time of it, his money giving out, he was obliged to return to his home.
However, his trip did not prove a total failure, as subsequent events show.
While in the metropolis he heard that fat cattle could be sold there at a
profit over what he knew they could be bought for, at his country home. He
therefore resolved to go into the cattle business. True, he had no money, he
was a poor country lad, but this made little difference with Drew's
determination. As he had no money with which to buy a drove for himself,
he did the next best thing; this was to induce the neighboring farmers to
allow him to drive their cattle to market on a commission plan. By this one
act the reader can understand the difference between Daniel Drew and the
neighboring farm boys, many of whom were better situated, doubtless, than
was he.
Another characteristic he developed was economy; his money was saved
and with these small savings he added cattle to his drove which were his
own, hence, increased his profits; first one at a time, then two, when at last
he abandoned the commission business, becoming a drover on his own
account. Later, he took a partner and the firm of Drew & Co. became the
cattle kings of America. This was the first firm that ever drove cattle from
the West, and Drew, ever watchful for opportunities to add to his already
increasing income, bought a tavern which became, as Drew knew it would
under good management, the centre of the cattle business in the city on
market days.

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As time passed, as a matter of course, following such a line of procedure,
he became a very rich man, and his disposition being of an enterprising
nature, he began to cast about him for new investments, seeking new fields
to conquer. The explosion of a boat on the Hudson, discommoding for a
time the existing line, offered to Drew the favorable opportunity for which
he was looking, and as was characteristic he at once improved his chance.
He immediately placed on the river the "Water Witch"; the old line resumed
business; the fares were reduced until the profits of both companies were
eaten up. The opposition tried to intimidate, they tried to buy out, and then
tried to negotiate some other deals, but all in vain. On the contrary Drew
put on the "Westchester," and instead of stopping at Peekskill, he extended
to Albany. He next bought the "Bright Emerald," and started an evening
line. This was a new feature in those days and as it enabled the business
men to travel without loss of time, it became eminently popular.
Drew was a man with a fertile mind; he made a study of whatever he
undertook; he was a hard man to beat. He bought the "Rochester," and next
bought out the old line. For a long time he had things pretty much his own
way; then came a new opposition. This time, through negotiations, he won
the opposition over and established the celebrated "People's Line," naming
their first boat after his new partner, "St. John." Mr. Drew, in connection
with others, formed the "Stonington Line" between New York and Boston,
and still later he opened the "Champlain Transportation Company" from
White Hall, New York, to Rouses Point, Vermont. He next placed his
shoulder under Erie, endorsing its paper to the amount of ten millions. Later
still he was elected President of this company, and as Erie and Central are
natural enemies, Vanderbilt and Drew henceforth became hostile toward
each other. Mr. Drew wanted to extend Erie west. To do this he must get a
special act of the Legislature. Of course, he had Vanderbilt and Central,
with all their patronage, with which to contend, and a bitter fight it proved
to be; but in those days Daniel Drew seemed invincible in court, and the bill
passed, Erie re-issuing stock and extending its lines.
He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to him is that
religious body indebted for that grand institution, "Drew Theological
Seminary." Many men would have made a worse use of vast wealth than

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did Daniel Drew. He was a man who was quiet; he kept his "points," and
was a pleasing conversationalist. In 1879 he died, leaving two children.

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R
 S
.
This wonderful man was born at Verona, Oneida County, New York, over
sixty years ago. In early life, he determined to earn all that he could, and
spend less than he earned. When he arrived at the age of fifteen, he
removed to Troy, and entered the grocery store of one of his brothers. Until
eighteen years of age he remained here as a clerk when he had saved money
enough to buy an interest in another store of which another brother was
proprietor. Here he remained several years in successful trade, when the