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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 1912)
lpjonij Ur. Frank Crane Half Luck Half Me By Dr. Frank Crane SAY ALL you please about the reign of law, pooh-pooh nt luck, and pish lusli ut hootloos: the fact ruinnins Hint one of the chief elements in success is clmnce. Men have nmile fortunes, won bat tles, achieved fame and captured wo men's hearts, because things happened just right. A bad run ot lucu lias noi only broken men nt cards, lint it lias kept men from being elected to the presidency, ruined business men's ca reers, thwarted tlie schemes of diplo mats and lout kings their thrones and now and again their heads. Even in the pie of all-lawful science, tickle Lady Fortune has put a uguroiis linger. The Watts boy watches Ins grandmother's kettle and stumbles up on the biggest idea of the nineteenth century the stennl-engine. Newton observes a falling apple and discovers the law of gravitation. The ulcauiza tiou of rubber, the master secret of this rubber age, was due to an accident. And Chanipollion guessed just plain guessed the inclining of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. So, it's all luck Not at all. It about hair luck. The other half is the alert mind. Luck is the pitcher; the alert mind is the catcher. " The formula for success is half luck half inc. All the good fortune in the world will be of no use if I am not wide awake and do not grab the ball when it is thrown. Also, not all my skill and wit will avail if chance does not bring something my way. To say "What's the use'f It's all liwW" is wrmiL'. It is also an error for onii ti imiiLMiin he can will the triune of success witli mathematical certainty. The truth lies between. The Law of Luck AND NOW, here enters a curious . fWt. In wit: that there is law in chance. Luck has its laws as accurate as those of mechanics. One of the strangest things, and one of the most undeniable, in the world, is the law of averages. There is no way to tell if I am going to throw double' sixes at one east of dice; but in a thousand throws, double sixes will come about so often. Oreat business enterprises, the in vestment of billions of dollars, nnd al together our most important concerns, are based upon this apparently shift ing sand the law of averages. '1 he great life insurance companies are as solid as the government, so they say; COVER DESIGN JACK LONDON Drawn by E. P. UPJOHN HALF LUCK HALF bK luiitorlul THE CAITAIN OF THE SUSAN DREW . Illustrations lit) John 0 Tinlil 1'ase FRANK CRANE 2 JACK LONDON 3 THE DRAMA OF MY LIFE . ... IVAN NARODNY 5 MUKDEN: "THE HLOODY SUNDAY ": KRONSTADT Illustration ho Wilson Knrcher HYSTERIA IN CHILDHOOD LOOKINO FORWARD TO THE NEXT NUMBER H. ADDINGTON BRUCE G . 15 Everywhere in Every Town Indoors and outdoors in homes, offices, stores and factories -on streets, trolleys, autos and boats everywhere in every town, every body can now have electric light. This, the fulfilment of Edison's dream, is made possible by the economy and lasting endurance of the Edison Mazda Lamp This lamp gics twice as much liht as the best uf earlier lamps and at one-fifth less cost. It makes electric light as sen sible for the cottage or the little store as for the mansion or the big office or factory. More Light Lower Cost The economies of Kilison Mania light ami improvements in lighting company sen icegie you as nnicn ciecinc i.fcm ilny for a dime as you could buy twintv-fne years ago for a dollar- Wiring Costs Less, Too Klectric-wiring today costs less than it used to and dis turbance anil marring of walls are avoided. All these economies make electric light "the light uni versal" more light, whiter and belter light for ecrybody because everyone can now af foul it. If you arc now using elec tricity, put I' dison Mazdas in the same sockets and compare results. Tki Srm1loB tit Edisoi Maidt cartoi II vour home or place of Im.inen ii not wired, fin.l out today from your llsht- 1 .r the bct ty.c ana uci ui uiwu ....... General Electric Company nt and they rest upon the truth that while any one life is liable to go out at any Uour, yet in twenty thousand cases deaths can be calculated with scientific accuracy. The railway business can beV conducted at a profit, because an nver-y age number of people are sure to do what no one of them is at all sure to do. When the eight o'clock train pulls out from Chicago for Omaha, for in stance, it is about so full, :i."() days in thn vpnr: the. nasseiiLrers come from all corners of the world, moved by the most diverse and erratic intluences; few or none of them have taken that train before. Any given hiy the huge department store in the city contains about a cer tain number of customers, each one of whom is wholly a free agent and only dropped in upon a whim; yet, these thousands of whims make a dependable law, just as a thousand frail hemp fibres make a strong rope. And the same thing is true of the little cigar stand on the corner. ( I refer, of course, lo the law and not to the hemp rope.) 1 lie moral oL all lins is inai me suc cessful person is not the one who has I "a sure thing.". Setting aside the privi I leged classes, who can not be said to be 1 playing the game at all, the rule is that , success conies not to the alert man nor to the lucky man, but to the alert man who knows how to seize advantages. Success is not a mathematical prob lem. It is a game. That is why it is so interesting. y Largest Electrical Manufacturer in the World Snles Office in Ml Lrde Cities JSOS Lamp Aiencies Everywhere Clurantet ( EutUrnra an ' Coodi Eltttrical Opportunity Keeps Coming Til ERE is no greater ho-.li than to say flint nnnortimit v conies but once. Omior inn v keens coining witn tna strange regularity of tlie law of aver ;1."PS. And success is not onlv a iraine. but a great and noble game. Put into it all oiir (tiiirage and prudence, .judgment and daring, be a fair winner and a good lnsor and the name is worth the playing. Hut success is only a game; u s only a by-play to life. They who take it too seriously make a great mistake. It is such mistaken mortals that commit suicide when they fail in business, or at least turn sour when they fail. Put a man never grips life rightly!, until he has reached a plane of thought and feeling where he doesn't, in the bottom of his heart, really care much whether he is rich or poor, fatuous or obscure. All that is a game. The real business of life lies elsewhere and con sists in enjoying (iod's good world, tast ing the pleasure of helping men, dis covering and following the truth, and doing useful and joy-giving work. In these things there is no luck. All is pure and perfect law and certainty. To he a success in inoney-niauing and il.it'.t.. .... " w i.tnul twit nrn inn . ..... n . mni'Ii. Then the hand is steadier, the evo truer. Din.. (1... flwitt ll.i n until! Clini'f I1IL' llllli; Lll:ill wX'U.tU.'VJ.., mill lnnch when von lose, and wish the winner well; and don't be over-proud when you are successful, remembering linu- tniwli luck had to do with it : and don't forget that after all the real busi ness of life, that which makes a man immortal and "a little lower than the angels," can be done quite as well by a failure as by a success; indeed, often better fill,.. VOl prollt ! iiiherlMiiB ll.r n.lierll.r I