Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — SUCCESS IN SELF-POSSESSION. [ARTICLE]

SUCCESS IN SELF-POSSESSION.

So Say* Walter Damrozch, and Ho Surety Ought to Know. The man who makes public appearances must have self-possession, says Walter Damrosch. I have learned by great experience that this quality is all-important There have been times when the slightest perturbation on my pgft would have made my orchestrayay out of time and out of tune. The musicians in an orchestra place just as much faith in their conductor as do soldiers in their general. The best example of this quality I ever witnessed was aboard an Atlantic liner. The second day we ran into violent weather. The propeller shaft broke, and we were drifting helplessly. The waves ran high and a general scare ensued. Hysterical women ran hither and thither and the men were pale and nervous. The. officers, not knowing what had happened, at first, were obviously frightened. A pandemonium seemed imminent In the midst of it all a young man whom I remember by the name of Stone, who was making his first voyage, came out of his stateroom in an Immaculate yachting suit; he was cool and collected. A man who had been racing up and down, clad in one or two scanty garments, seized him by the shoulders, jammed him against the rail, and frantically said: “For heaven’s sake what is the matter? What is the matter?” “Go and ask the captain, please.” replied Stone. “Have you any idea what is going on?” Stone pulled out his watch, looked at it and said, as he puffed a cigar: "I suppose it is something that happens every Tuesday morning. This Is my first trip over, and I’m not running the ship this time.” In five minutes order was restored, because other excited passengers became calm at the self-possession of the young man.—Success.