The Americanization of Edward Bok

He noticed that these New England authors rarely visited New York, or, if they did, their presence was not heralded by the newspapers among the…

He arrived in Boston on Sunday evening; and the first thing he did was to despatch a note, by messenger, to Doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes,…

He was told what the idea was: that every successful man had something to tell a boy, that would be likely to help him, and that Edward wanted to see…

"You know I am a doctor," he explained, "and this shop is my medicine. I believe that every man must have a hobby that is as different from his…

"Now," he continued, "if you think you can learn something from me, learn that and remember it when you are a man. Don't keep always at your business…

"Well," he said musingly, "I think 'The Chambered Nautilus' is my most finished piece of work, and I suppose it is my favorite. But there are also…

"Now, here is a little girl," he said, as he sat down at the desk with the boy beside him, "who wants my autograph and a 'sentiment.' What sentiment,…

"Ah," he said, rousing himself, as a maid appeared, "that means luncheon, or rather," he added, "it means dinner, for we have dinner in the old New…

Of course the boy thought as Longfellow did, and it was a very happy boy that evening who, in full view of the large audience in the immense theatre,…

"I shall be glad to see you, my boy," said Mr. Phillips. "And so you are going to see Phillips Brooks? Let me tell you something about Brooks. He has…

"Oh! did he?" laughingly said Doctor Brooks. "That is nice advice for a man to give a boy. I am surprised at Wendell Phillips. He needs a little talk…

"Take my Bible, here," he continued, as he took up an old and much-worn copy of the book. "I have a number of copies of the Great Book: one copy I…

"You see," went on the preacher, "I put into these books what other men put into articles and essays for magazines and papers. I never write for…

And is the most comfortable way this true gentleman went on until the boy mentioned that he must be keeping him from his work.

"You like books, you say?" he went on, as he opened his letters. "Well, then, you must come into my library here at any time you are in Boston, and…

He asked the boy then about his newspaper work: how much it paid him, and whether he felt it helped him in an educational way. The boy told him he…

"There is always good in everything, I think," replied Phillips Brooks. "A thing must be pretty bad that hasn't some good in it." Then he stopped,…

Edward's journalistic instinct here got into full play; and although, as he assured his host, he had had no such thought in coming, he asked…

No light of welcome came from those sad yet tender eyes. The boy closed upon the hand in his with a loving pressure, and for a single moment the…

The boy was dumfounded! Louisa Alcott, his Louisa! And he did not know her! Suddenly the whole sad truth flashed upon the boy. Tears sprang into Miss…

"Oh, I think so, I think so," said Emerson, to the boy's astonishment. "Let me see. Yes, here in this drawer I have many letters from Carlyle."

For a moment he groped among letters and papers, and then, softly closing the drawer, he began that ominous low whistle once more, looked inquiringly…

The going was all so different from the coming. The boy was grateful that his last impression was of a moment when the eye kindled and the hand…

The father of Edward Bok passed away when Edward was eighteen years of age, and it was found that the amount of the small insurance left behind would…

The city editor of the Brooklyn Eagle had given Edward the assignment of covering the news of the theatres; he was to ascertain "coming attractions"…

Unfortunately, however, Miss Coghlan had been taken ill just before the raising of the curtain, and, there being no understudy, no performance had…

On reaching home that evening he found a summons from The Eagle, and the next morning he received a rebuke, and was informed that his chances with…

One evening when Edward was attending a theatrical performance, he noticed the restlessness of the women in the audience between the acts. In those…

Edward's partner now introduced him into a debating society called The Philomathean Society, made up of young men connected with Plymouth Church,…

It now entered into the minds of the two young theatre-programme publishers to extend their publishing interests by issuing an "organ" for their…

There was a periodical called The Plymouth Pulpit, which presented verbatim reports of the sermons of Mr. Beecher, and Edward got the idea of…

The young publishers could now go on. Understanding that Mr. Beecher's sermons might give a partial and denominational tone to the magazine, Edward…

It is here that Edward's autographic acquaintances stood him in good stead. He went in turn to each noted person he had met, explained his plight and…

By this time Edward Bok had become so intensely interested in the editorial problem, and his partner in the periodical publishing part, that they…

All this time, while Edward Bok was an editor in his evenings he was, during the day, a stenographer and clerk of the Western Union Telegraph Company…

After his father passed away, the position of the boy's desk--next to the empty desk of his father--was a cause of constant depression to him. This…

Edward had been much attracted to Mr. Cary, and the attorney believed in the boy, and decided to show his interest by pushing him along. He had heard…

The control of the Western Union Telegraph Company had now passed into the hands of Jay Gould and his companions, and in the many legal matters…

Edward had now become tremendously interested in the stock game which he saw constantly played by the great financier; and having a little money…

Construing the financier's silence to mean at least not a prohibition, Edward went to his Sunday-school teacher, who was a member of a Wall Street…

Of course the boy's buying and selling tallied precisely with the rise and fall of Western Union stock. It could scarcely have been otherwise. Jay…

One day a rumor became current on the Street that an agreement had been reached by the Western Union Company and its bitter rival, the American Union…

But it so happened that Edward knew the rumor was true, because Mr. Gould, some time before, had personally given him the contract of consolidation…

On Sunday afternoon, Edward's Sunday-school teacher asked the boy to walk home with him, and on reaching the house took him into the study and…

Edward keenly felt the responsibility placed upon him. He could never clearly diagnose his feelings when he saw his teacher in this new light. The…

How long a string it was Edward never discovered, but he determined there and then to end his Wall Street experience; his original amount had…

The meeting was protracted, and at one o'clock Mr. Gould suggested an adjournment for luncheon, the meeting to reconvene at two. Turning to Edward,…

Edward felt that this exceeded the limit of fair treatment by employer of employee. He spoke of it to Mr. Cary, and asked whether he would object…

The day before he was to leave the Western Union Telegraph Company the fact of his resignation became known to Mr. Gould. The financier told the…

"You are making a great mistake," answered the little man, fixing his keen gray eyes on the boy. "Books are a luxury. The public spends its largest…

But, as facts proved, the "little wizard of Wall Street" was wrong in his prediction; Edward Bok was not choosing the wrong business.

Years afterward when Edward was cruising up the Hudson with a yachting party one Saturday afternoon, the sight of Jay Gould's mansion, upon…

"Well," said the financier, who was in his domestic mood, quite different from his Wall Street aspect, "I see in the papers that you seem to be…

"I have because I always felt you had it in you to make a successful man. But not in that business," he added quickly. "You were born for the Street.…

In 1882 Edward, with a feeling of distinct relief, left the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company and associated himself with the…

His chief regret on leaving his position was in severing the close relations, almost as of father and son, between Mr. Cary and himself. When…

Edward felt that his daytime hours, spent in a publishing atmosphere as stenographer with Henry Holt and Company, were more in line with his…

He discussed the matter with his former magazine partner, Colver, and suggested that if they could induce Mr. Beecher to write a weekly comment on…

"I don't believe in it, boys," said Mr. Beecher when Edward and his friend broached the syndicate letter to him. "No one yet ever made a cent out…

The third check was treated the same way. When the boys handed him the fourth, one morning, as he was pinning it up over the others, he asked:…