Gem City Business College - Yearbook (Quincy, IL)

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Actual Business and Banking Department G. C. B. C. from a Photograph WE PRESENT herewith a photographic view of a section of the the department as it looks in working order. The banks and other offices Actual Business and Banking Department of the Gem City situated in the back part of the room do not show very clearly, on account Business College, taken while in session. The picture does not of the distance from the camera. Many of the offices do not show at all, do justice to the room, yet it will give the reader a general impression of being located in the section of the room not shown in the photograph. —

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♦ ♦ Importance of Commercial Studies ♦ ♦ TOO much emphasis cannot be placed on the value of the commercial and short- hand subjects. The branches compris- ing our courses are extremely practical to any one who expects to engage in business either for himself or for others. Our courses cf study have been very care- fully worked out. and are now the result of forty years of improvement. We have kept them up to the highest standard in order to fully meet the exacting demands of the busi- ness public. The science of bookkeeping should be un- derstood by everyone whether he expects to put this knowledge to actual use or not. The proprietor or manager of a business should be as well posted as the man who takes charge of the books. The practice of bookkeeping and stenography is very pleasant and profita- ble, and those who are skilled in these sub- jects are in constant demand in business offices. There is a large call at all times for thoroughly competent stenographers and bookkeepers. In order to make a success of bookkeeping or office work, however, it is necessary to be proficient in the different branches of the courses we offer. A knowledge of commercial law is of great importance. One who understands the princi- ples of contracts is qualified to draw up his own agreements as well as to pass upon the legal points in contracts presented to him by others. Every business man should under- stand negotiable instruments and the various rules of law in connection with their use; such as, endorsements, details of presentment, col- lection, protests, etc. He should likewise be familiar with the rules of agency, partner- ship, and corporations, so that he may act in any of these capacities with a clear under- standing of his rights and duties. The pur- chase and sale of goods, the rules of shipping through common carriers, the conveyance of property both by deed and by will, and many other points of interest to everyone are care- fully taken up in connection with our business course. The subject of mathematics is everywhere recognized as essential in the mental develop- ment of young people. In our business and full combination courses, commercial arithme- tic is given an important place. The work is subdivided into three sections in different grades of advancement. Only those subjects are treated that are directly useful in the busi- ness office or factory. Higher forms of mathe- matics are not taken up, but much attention is given to practical work. The rapid calculation work is given special attention, daily drills being held in which ac- curacy and speed are made of first importance. Adding, multiplying, the use of aliquots, com- puting interests and discounts, averaging ac- counts, etc.,. are dwelt on until each student is proficient in these valuable accomplishments. It is surprising to what degree of proficiency one may be trained and developed in this work. Penmanship. Too much stress cannot be placed upon the importance of a good hand- writing for business purposes. All the stu- dents of the business department receive daily lessons in penmanship by efficient teachers. There is no extra charge for taking the sub- ject of business penmanship. For those who desire to specialize in penmanship or to be- come teachers of such, we have an elegantly equipped Normal Penmanship department pre- sided over by Prof. Behrensmeyer, who de- votes his whole time to the different branches of the beautiful art. There is a separate tuition for the Normal Course in penmanship Letter writing i an important part of our business, shorthand, and penmanship courses. The student is taught the correct forms, and given a large amount of practice in writing letters on various business subjects. The sub- jects of punctuation and correct business English are taught in connection with the letter writing work. Spelling is an accomplishment that every- one should endeavor to acquire. It is unfor- tunate that the public schools of the country are not giving the attention to the subject of orthography that they formerly did. Those who take our courses of study have daily drills in written spelling, and all are brought up to a high standard of proficiency before finishing the courses. Our actual business and banking depart- ment is very practical and interesting. In this department the student learns to transact dif- ferent kinds of business just as it is done in the outside world. He learns business man- agement and auditing as well as bookkeeping. In this department, he puts into practice the facts, customs, and principles learned in the other parts of the course. All our students are enthusiastic in their praises of this depart- ment of the school, an d many of them after going into business for themselves write us that what they learned in this department has been of great benefit to them in making a success. Shorthand has come to be a necessity for both young men and women who expect to make the greatest success in business life. There is a large field for those who qualify themselves thoroughly in shorthand and type- writing, and the other branches of this course. Th ere is no more pleasant occupation than that of amanuensis or reporter. Shorthand has been the stepping stone for hundreds of prominent people who are now at the head of large institutions. Shorthand, especially, fur- nishes an easy avenue of advancement to young men who wish to get into large busi- ness enterprises for themselves. Typewriting of course is an adjunct of shorthand; they naturally go together. In connection with our courses of study, our students become familiar with the various modern office devices, such as the adding machine, the mimeograph, the letter-press, and other duplicating devices, check protect- ors, etc.

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ID Actual Business and Banking Department The Largest, Best Equipped, and Most Suc- cessful Department of the Kind Conducted by any Business College in America PROFESSOR J. H. CRAFTON, who pre- sides over this department, has been an instructor of this school for over thirty years. He is also a director of the Illinois State Bank and of the Gem City Building and Loan Association both of this city. He endeavors at all times to keep his department thoroughly practical and up to date, and with his long and successful experi- ence in this work, together with his practical experience in the business world, he has built up a great actual business department. There is nothing in the country quite equal to this department and it is necessary for one to take the work to appreciate its scope and magnitude. Two able assistants, besides the principal, devote their whole time to this department. Here the student puts into actual practice the knowledge acquired from his text books and class instruction, and after com- pleting the required work he is qualified to fill acceptably any bookkeeping position. The Actual Business department presents an interesting and lively scene to the visitor. It is a veritable bee hive of industry. Here the students are conducting on their own account and with each other the various lines of business embraced in the course. Whole- sale dealers are filling orders from retail merchants. They in turn are selling to their customer ' s or, learning of a better market elsewhere, are shipping goods away to a conj-; : mission merchant, who sells them and returns the proceeds. The transportation company is busy hurrying shipments to purchasers; insur- ance agents are writing policies on property; real estate dealers are effecting sales; bank tellers are receiving deposits or paying checks; merchants are borrowing money at bank, or discounting the notes received from their customers; bank clerks are collecting notes and drafts; stenographers are taking dictation — and all the business activities of a great city are here going on at once, each student striving to make a success of his own work. This department is a miniature business world in itself. It is fitted up in regular counting-house style, no expense having been spared in providing modern equipment, and it is certainly the most elegant and best appointed Actual Business and Banking de- partment in America. There are four large banks, two commission houses, two wholesale houses, a real estate office, insurance office, express office, and freight office — each elegantly furnished and conveniently situated for the transaction of business, together with desks for two hundred retail merchants, located throughout the body of the room, each representing a separate business in a different town. The lines of business followed embrace wholesaling, retailing, commission, insurance, transportation, banking, etc. The Actual Busi- ness Course is carefully graded. The student first begins as a single proprietor, and after advancing sufficiently in the work he admits a partner, and the business is conducted in this form for another period, when he finally incor- porates the business and conducts it on this plan until the course is completed. Each student, on entering the department, is furnished by the principal with his capital in college currency, when he at once leases a store, pays a month ' s rent, and proceeds with 1 business as in the great outside world. He deposits his money in the bank; buys and sells goods; draws checks, notes, and . ..drafts; discounts notes at the banks; opens % ' and closes his books at regular periods, and in this way he not only learns to transact business correctly, but he also keeps his own books, which are made up entirely from his own transactions with the other members of the department. Merchant and Bookkeeper. Each student is thus both merchant and bookkeeper, and as he passes through the several grades of this department he receives a thorough, practical knowledge of business transactions and book- keeping that would require many months of practice in every-day life to obtain; and when he has finished his course he is competent to transact any general business, or to keep any set of business books. Our banks are conducted on the modern plan, and are fitted up in first-class style with every convenience necessary for properly systematizing and filing the details of a regular banking business. The system of bookkeeping adopted conforms to that used by the best national and private banks. The volume of business transacted in these banks is as great as that of any well-regulated bank in the great business world. The Variety and character of the transactions correspond to those of the best banks, and the student who successively fills the office of messenger, collection and discount clerk, teller, cashier, and general bookkeeper, is qualified to perform the same duties in any banking house of the country without further practice or appren- ticeship. Practice in Dictating Letters. Each stu- dent who takes the Business Course gets a very beneficial and practical drill in dictating his business letters to a stenographer, who transcribes them on the typewriter and re- turns them for the student ' s signature. Stu- dents in this department also learn to use the adding machine and other practical office de- vices. The Actual Business and Banking depart- ment belongs to, and is a part of the Business Cou rse of this institution, and the students are therefore entitled to its advantages without -payment of additional tuition: it is included in the Life Scholarship.