prices, and destroying all chance of profit. Both Carnegie and Pullman had gone to New York to see the board of directors of the Union Pacific. Meeting Mr. Pullman one evening in the St. Nicholas Hotel, Andrew Carnegie suggested a merger of the two companies. He talked in glowing terms of the mutual advantages of working with, instead of against, each other. Pullman listened attentively, but wasn't wholly convinced. Finally he asked, "What would you call the new company?" Carnegie replied promptly: "Why, the Pullman Palace Car Company, of course."

That did it. Pullman's face brightened. "Come into my room and let's talk it over" he said. That talk made industrial history.

One of the simplest, most obvious and most important ways of gaining good will and making people feel important is by remembering names. Yet, how many of us do it? How often are we introduced to a stranger, chat a few minutes, and can't even remember his name when we say good-bye? Most people do not remember names for the simple reason that they don't take the time and energy required to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. Still another point: practice, more practice. And invent associations to help you remember, the wilder the better.

Indeed, the importance of accurate memory is such today that it's a rare executive who doesn't use a transcribing machine. For example, the dictating machine, originally used solely for correspondence now doubles as a memory receptacle for that mass of information which must be recorded and filed for future action. Even telephone conversations these days are being recorded by the mechanical memories. Over the centuries the number of facts, and faces, has increased astronomically. Consequently, that tricky phenomenon called memory has been the object of more despair, hope, curiosity, affection and investigation than any other aspect of human behavior with the possible exception of sex.

Aristotle, reputed to have known everything there was to know in his time, placed the seat of memory in the soul, which was located, he said, in the heart; hence our expression, "to know by heart."

But he was wrong. It isn't that simple. In fact, it isn't that simple at all.

In the first place, there's no single thing capable of being called memory. There are as many kinds of memory as there are senses and combinations of senses. For analogy, we all "remember" what an orange is. It's spherical, orange in color, has a certain sweet-tangy taste, and feels a certain way. Our "memory" of an orange is thus an ensemble of many physical operations.

Secondly, a very complicated process occurs in the making of a memory. difficult is it that psychologists are not really sure they understand how it works. But this is what they do think happens: the 10 billion nerve cells in the human brain interact in various ways. As impressions hit them, they undergo tiny changes in structure. Naturally, the harder hit they are, the more lasting the change in structure. If they are hit hard enough or often enough, the change lasts, and you "remember." Conversely, if they are not hit hard or often, the change doesn't endure, and you "forget."

You can't change the structure of those nerve cells for long unless you try. And as you age, your nerve cells become less plastic. That's why older people have more difficulty remembering recent events than recalling experiences and facts and faces from their youthful years, when their nerve cells were more impressionable. One thing is certain, however, no matter what your age, you can improve your memory through repetition, studying your information longer, and establishing a mood of receptivity. In short, pay attention.

Here are some additional suggestions that will help:

1. Intend to remember. This involves conscious effort, but a memory can only flourish in a proper climate of friendliness.

2. Understand the meaning of what you're trying to remember.

3. Organize what you know into a meaningful pattern.

those things that appear logical you.

It is easier to recall

4. Become genuinely interested in what you want to remember. No boy really enthralled by baseball has trouble remembering all the players' batting averages and hundreds of other facts about his heroes.

5. Use as many senses as possible. For illustration, if you are introduced to a stranger, look at him and repeat his name aloud-"Mr. Smith?" So glad to meet you, Mr. Smith." You are then using your senses of sight and hearing and they

reinforce each other.

6. Associate what you want to remember with what you know. Every fact you already possess is a "hook" on which you can hang some new fact. This is the main reason why people who know several languages readily learn additional ones (and the reason many TV-quiz experts know so much about their favorite subject or hobby).

7. If you cannot find a logical association for a new fact, invent your own. And the wilder the better. If you want to memorize the Gettysburg Address and the first letter of each sentence forms a code for you, fine. Use it.

Perhaps the most important trick to learn is to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, don't try to remember everything. A merciful Providence has endowed us with the ability to forget, a gift we take for granted. Imagine remembering everything you see every day, from the ceiling at the moment you awaken to the light switch just before you retire! With the average life expectancy of 70 today, it's estimated that the normal individual can look forward to 15 trillion (15,000,000,000,000) "bits" or units of information in a lifetime.

Don't worry about it though. In this nuclear age, much of this staggering load has been shifted to the gigantic shoulders of the wondrous "memory monsters" created by science. One such device, capable of digesting and remembering millions of facts, resembles a futuristic kitchen and requires expert technicians to make sense out of its maze of wires, lights and buttons. The latest entry the field is a portable "memory mite"-a camera-sized recorder which is shorter than a pencil, weighs less than three pounds, and can store an hour long talk.

But science notwithstanding, a cultivated memory can still be your greatest asset. Ethel Barrymore got her first big chance when her stage manager discovered she had memorized every part in His Excellency the Governor and was ready to step into the leading lady's shoes at once.

The great Napoleon III of France boasted that he could remember the name of every person he met. His secret? If he didn't hear the name distinctly, he said, "So sorry, I didn't get the name clearly." Then, if it was an unusual name, he would say, "How is it spelled?"

During the conversation, Napoleon took the bother to repeat the name several times, and tried to associate it in his mind with the man's features, expression, and general appearance. If the man were someone of importance, Napoleon went to even further pains. As soon as he was alone, he wrote the man's name down on a piece of paper, looked at it, concentrated on it, fixed it securely in his mind. Then he tore up the paper. In this way, he gained an eye impression of the name as well as an ear impression.

You can use this same technique for remembering other things that are important to you.

All this takes time and effort, but "good manners" are made up of petty sacrifices. And one more thing. At that next party, wouldn't you like to come up with that long-lost gag at just the right moment? It's up to you. -End-

Famous New York City Bodybuilder LEROY COLBERT in photos by ANTHONY.