From office boy to partner;

              50 HASKINS & SELLS July
JOSEPH A D R I A N PADON, "may his
tribe increase, awoke one morn, from
a dream of peace" to find his dream of one
day being admitted to the firm of Haskins
& Sells had come true.
The story of Joseph Adrian Padon and
his rise from office boy to partner is one of
the romances of accountancy. No longer
may business lay claim to all the romance.
Accountancy, although a relatively new
profession in this country, now comes for­ward
and asserts its right to recognition
as a field in which a career may be made
by the humblest beginner who is endowed
with the proper fundamental attributes.
Accountancy may hold many other un­heralded
romances. There can be few
others which are more interesting and
thrilling than Mr. Padon's.
In some respects this sketchy story may
read like the story of Arabian Nights.
But any one who knows the inside work­ings
of accountancy, knows that many of
the nights involved are far different from
those described by, Scheherezade. Let it
not be forgotten that the years from
June 20, 1904, when Mr. Padon, at the age
of sixteen, took up his duties as office boy,
to June 1, 1926, the date on which he be­came
a partner, have been packed with
hard work, difficulties and trying situations,
supplemented by more or less of a steady
competitive test and pioneering in a new
territory. All these obstacles, and more,
have been overcome by the worthy candi­date
in his quest for recognition.
This account would lack certain interest
were some of the intimate details to be sup­pressed.
They are matters of which to be
proud, even though to a certain party they
may prove embarrassing at this stage of his
career. One in particular we cannot re­frain
from mentioning. On June 15, 1905,
the new manager of our Saint Louis office
wrote to "New York," which then was
recognized as the seat of authority, the
following letter: "Before Mr. Franklin
left, he advised us that he had promised
Adrian Padon, an office boy, an advance
from $4.50 to 35.00 per week, effective
July 1, 1905. This latter rate is what this
office has been accustomed to pay previous
office boys, and we would be glad if you
could see your way clear to carry out M r .
Franklin's promise, as the present boy is
an exceptionally reliable one and we be­lieve
merits the slight advance."
Apparently summoning all his available
courage, Mr. Ludlam approved the recom­mendation
and beneficently made it effec­tive
June 1 instead of July 1, as had been
suggested by Saint Louis. While we are
unable so to determine from the file, this
action may have been prompted by some
remorse at having previously underesti­mated
the youngster's worth, inasmuch as
the employment blank dated Saint Louis,
June 20, 1904, bearing the approval of
Messrs. Sells, Ludlam, Dunn, and Fero,
and stating that Padon had been engaged
at $4.50 per week, contains the notation,
"should be $4.00."
Thus began a rise which brought the
young man to a financial level on June 1,
1926, in keeping with the exacting duties
and heavy professional responsibilities im­posed
upon individuals who engage in the
practice of accountancy on a large scale.
But the rise has not been confined to
compensation. Mr. Padon, during the long
years, has passed successively through the
various grades from junior assistant to
supervising accountant. His file shows
that in August, 1908, when he was but
twenty, his services were being utilized on
an important railroad engagement, as far
as managerial wisdom would permit in the
light of his youth. Gradually, however,
with years and experience he became a
strong factor in the Saint Louis office, in
spite of numerous changes in the manage­ment
of that office and the necessity of
satisfying managers of various types and
temperaments—not a mean compliment
to Mr. Padon's personality and versatility.
With the opening of the Tulsa office,
From Office Boy to Partner