- fore a graduating class in New York, said:
"There are several classes of young men. There are those who do not do all their duty, there are those who profess to do their duty, and there is a third class, far better than the other two, that do their duty and a little more.
"There are many great pianists, but Paderewski is at the head because he does a little more than the others. There are hundreds of race-horses, but it is those who go a few seconds faster than the others that acquire renown. So it is in the sailing of yachts. It is the little more that wins. So it is with the young and old men who do a little more than their duty. Do your duty and a little more, and the future will take care of itself." (Text.)
(2284)
Overproduction in Nature—See Destruction Necessary.
Overshadowed—See Living in the
Shadow.
OVERSIGHT
Many a good plan has failed through oversight of some forgotten or neglected factor.
Two years after Mr. Cassatt became general
manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
Robert Garrett walked into the office of
George B. Roberts, then president, and exclaimed
gleefully: "Mr. Roberts, we have
secured control of the Philadelphia, Wilmington
and Baltimore Railroad. We are
not disposed, however, to disturb your relations
with the property, and you need not
give yourself any uneasiness on that score."
This road, owned by New England capitalists, extended from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and had been operated in the interests of the Pennsylvania. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, always on the lookout for an open path to New York, coveted the small but important stretch of track and resented the Pennsylvania's control of it.
President Roberts was amazed and not a little discomfited by the easy assurance of Mr. Garrett. As soon as the exultant Baltimore and Ohio man had gone there was a conference between President Roberts and Mr. Cassatt.
"Garrett says they've got the P. W. & B.," said Mr. Roberts.
"Oh, no, they haven't," replied the general manager.
That night there was a meeting of Pennsylvania Railroad directors in New York. Mr. Cassatt was the presiding genius. He told them where he could lay his hands on a block of P. W. & B. stock that would put the control forever in the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Before the directors rose from their chairs a check was drawn for $14,949,052.20. It hangs in a frame now on the walls of the treasury of the Pennsylvania Railroad, canceled to show that the money was there waiting when it was presented. At the time it was written, it was the largest check ever recorded. The Garretts were completely routed. They couldn't understand how they had come to overlook that block of stock, and they were equally at a loss to know how Cassatt had discovered it and negotiated the purchase over night.
(2285)
Ownership Settled by Sheep—See Testimony, a Sheep's.
OWNERSHIP, THE SOUL'S
Thomas Traherne, a poet whose works became known only after his death, wrote this verse:
My infancy no sooner opes its eyes
But straight the spacious earth
Abounds with joy, peace, glory, mirth,
And, being wise,
The very skies
And stars do mine become.
(2286)
