A COBBLER’S RICHES.

Wairarapa Age, 14 March 1929, Page 2

A COBBLER’S RICHES.

Making of a Fortune. MILLIONS OF SHOES. A GENEROUS MILLIONAIRE. The village cobbler has always been the village thinker, -says the Children’s [Newspaper. As he isits alone at his bench, all day he comes to shrewd conclusions about party politics, the town l council, last Sunday’s sermon, or some scientific volume got from the library. His cronies say he has a long head and a .sharp tongue; he calls' them woolgatherers. | It is lucky for the town- of Zlin, in Czecho-Slovakia, that one shoemaker was thoughtful, even beyond) the wont of shoe-makers. Tomas Batas father 'Aflas a cobbler before him, and the boy was brought up to the old. methods. If he worked hard and did not offend his customers he woul just earn enough to keep a working family and pay for his own funeral at last. But ns he stitched away Bata thought that if he could! save more time he could make more money.' He turned it over and over, iill he found two or three ways of saving a second ■without, scamping workmanship. A few Iseconds saved on every pair of shoes mounted up considerably in a year. Soon Bata was able to employ another man to help him; in time the number rose to eight. Bata was now quite a prosperous small tradesman, and neighbours exr peeted him to buy a villa and-take a hand in parish affairs. Instead, he spent his savings- on a voyage to America. Be wanted io see whether Henry Ford’s mot®r-ar factory could teach him how to save a few more seconds a day. INTELLIGENT WORKING-MEN. When Bata returned -people said, “Don’t bring your foreign notions here. Our working-men are nothing but stupid peasants. They qould never learn to handle machinery. You will be ruined l if you try to get anything into their skulls.” But Bata believed that all human beings are teachable if they get the right teacher. He set up his factory, and -showed the people how to do their work. They proved as intelligent as anyone else, and now 12,000 of them are earning high wages, while Batu is a millionaire. He ’ives simply, and' his wife has only two maids. Money is needed for the welfare schemes. Young people between 14 and 17 are cheaply lodged and fed in model hostels. In the evening they can attend free classes in various , .school subjects, including foreign languages. Bata specially urges them to learn English, saying, “It open a window into the world. After 17 a boy receives a wage greater than the average schoolmaster or civil servant, and he cam have one of Bata’s model cottages, with central heating, bathroom, running water, and a garden. A three-storey garage i-s being built, and Bata hopes his work- , people will soon own 300 cars. Bata has improved the health of the whole district. Not only has hebuilt a hospital and several small sanatoriums, but ho has also made it easier for ptmple to keep healthy by selling them soap and fruit exceedingly cheaply. At first he went to- the local dealers and said: “People cannot buy oranges at such an enormous price. Ask a reasonable price and you will have a huge sale.” The dealers refused, so Bata sent to Italy and bought a shipload. He looks after his -people like a father, and gives them ten per cent, on their savings. BOOTS FOR AMERICAN FEET. Among Bata’s ‘employees are a hundred blind people who would have been beggars but for him. It is lucky for them, and for thousands of others, that a humble cobbler long ago was bent on saving a few seconds a day. Still ho is working with his people, and still he is seeking to save time. Again (and again valuable machinery has been ■invented which can do things a little quicker. But quickness is not sacrificed to thoroughness When he wished to sell boots to America Bata did not ssy. “Feet are feet the world over; send a *'argo of the usual sizes.” he first had of 500 feet taken in New York, and then designed new shapes and sizes to suite the American foot. Now he sells so* many boots to America that he can afford to change a dollar less than American, manufacturers! He would set to work in the fame way to make shoes for Turkey or Nigeria. And so he is a millionaire. But he gives himself no air?. “I am not the master,” he says to his workpeople, “the customer is the master.” He may not bo the master; he is something more: he is the father.