Go#righ! N"
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"27
WILLIAM M..,iM.t:v Tww mnrira Lusu
■. iBRARY OF
T*»o Copiet Received
MAR 12 '903
Copynjnt Entry
-
CLASS • : L XXc No,
M
COPY 0.
Richardson Company
l Reserved
PREFATORY NOTE.
HE following pages have been prepared with two dis-
tinct purposes in view: first, to give a closer view
T of a number of distinguished contemporary Ameri
cans ; and, second, to set out, in bold relief, the
most important elements of success, as tliey are conceived
and attested by these eminent persoriages. There is no
kind of reading at the same time more stimulating, more
entertaining, and more genuinely instructive than biog-
raphy ; especially if such biography brings us face to
face with the most practical and vital problems and ques-
tions of everyday life.
The material for this work has been drawn from many
persons and sources. For the sketch of John D. Long,
we are especially indebted to Mrs. Mary C. Robbins ; for
that of Cardinal Gibbons, to Rev. Charles W. Currier ;
for that of John W. Daniel, to Mr. E. A. Herndon ; for
that of Charles Emory Smith, to Mr. Clarence E. Daw-
son ; for that of David Starr Jordan, to Prof. William J.
Neidig ; for that of Henry Watterson, to Mr. Ernest L.
Aroni ; and for that of Senator W. A. Clark, to Mr.
Joaquin Miller. All sketches included, indeed, have been
prepared by unusually capable writers. The instructive
discussions of the various elements of success are almost
as diverse in authorship as the biographies, although the
veteran author, Mr. William M. Thayer, has been the
largest contributor.
It is earnestly hoped that this combination of living
careers, coupled with wise and instructive counsel, may
especially appeal to the youth of both sexes as well as to
many others older in years.
CONTENTS.
P \ irr ONE LEADERS IN PUBLIC LIFE.
CHAPTER I. Page
I l| I ODORE ROOSEVl II. . . . . • • . . 25
(iii Success Sketch of his Life — A Leader from Youth — From
Wi tkling to Athlete Enters Public Life — Career in the Assem-
bly Combined Writing with Hunting — -Efforts to Reform Gotham
In the Navy Department — Leader of Rough Riders — The First
Battle- His Triumph at Philadelphia — President.
I M CI8IOH 01 Cum: VCTER, ........ 42
CHAPTER II.
William Pierce Ekyk, ........ 51
( )n Success - - His Life and Career — At College — Enters the Pro-
fession of tlif Law Beginnings of his Public Life — Member of the
Paris Commission President of the Senate — His Public Service
— Love of Outdoor Life — A Pish Story — Some Characteristics.
The Gospel "i Health, ........ 59
CHAPTER III.
William Jennings Bryan, . . . . . . . 67
Hi- Definition of Success — Boyhood — School Days' — -College
Career In Prize Contests First Political Meeting — The Young
Lawyer -Nebraska Politics — Elected to Congress — As Editor
Nominated for President His Defeat — Campaign of 1!H)0 —
The Man.
Honesty is \n Elemeni of Success, ..... 83
CHAPTER IV.
John Davis Long, . . . . . . . 91
On the Problem.of Life His Ancestry - Life in Oxford County,
Maine At Hebron Academy College Career — As a Law Student
The Lawyer Political Beginnings Governor of Massachusetts
Secretary of the NTavv Personal Characteristics.
1 Hon 1 01 Companions, ........ 104
-
CONTENTS. 9
/ / CHAPTER V. PAGE
John Warwick Daniel, HI
/ Places Emphasis on Persevering Effort — Entrance into Political
/ Life — A Virginia Campaign — Elected to Congress — In the
United States Senate — As an Orator — Mental Characteristics —
Tone of his Public Life — Relations with the People — His Ancestry
Youth and Education — Military Career — Begins the Study of
Law — The Lawyer — Personality.
The Importance op Perseverance, 122
CHAPTER VI.
Marcus Alonzo Hanna, ........ 132
The Key to his Success — A Typical American — Parentage — Leaves
College and Begins Work — His Early Business Enterprises —
Qualities as a Manager — First Meeting with William McKinley
Tha Expansion of his Business Interests — Why he Entered
Politics — Later Political Career — The Campaign of 1896 — A
Convention Episode — Characteristics — Not a Boss — As an Orator
More Characteristics — Business Methods — Attitude toward
Labor.
Industry, ........... 146
CHAPTER VII.
Charles' Emory Smith, 157
How Successes are Achieved — Incidents of his Life Compared with
those of the Life of Benjamin Franklin — Birthplace, Parentage and
Education — Choice of Vocation — Early Newspaper Experience —
Career at Union College — His- Part in the Campaign of 1860 —
Becomes Editor of the Albany Express — Meeting with Horace
Greeley — Editor of the Philadelphia Press — Made Minister to
Russia — Campaigns with McKinley — His Appointment as Post-
master-General — -Personal Characteristics — A Forceful and
Eloquent Public Speaker — To what he Attributes his Success.
Choosing an Occupation, ........ 168
CHAPTER VIII.
Charles Arnette Towne, ........ 179
On the Qualifications that Assist Success — Some Moral and Mental
Traits — His Early Life — School Days — College Career — First
10 CONTENTS.
Page
Efforts in Politics Revolt against Machine Methods — Election to
Congress — His Eloquent Plea on the Money Question — Leader of
the Silver Republicans NTominated for Vice-President by the
Populist Convention Appointment to the United States Senate
— Retirement from Political Life.
Oppoktunity, .......... 190
CHAPTER IX.
William Boyd Allison, 200
On the Elements of Success — His Birth and Ancestry — Where
Educated — Admitted to the Bar — Removal to Iowa — Activity in
Local Politics — Elected to Congress — First Important Service — -
Becomes an Authority on Public Finance — A Temperate Partisan
in Politics — Some Characteristics.
" " ™
CHAPTER X.
I . I "l;<.l 1M WHY, 222
/lli> Detestation of Lying — Birthplace — George Dewey's Boyhood
First Cruise — Schooling — At the Naval Academy — Tn the Civil
War -Afloat and Ashore — Characteristics — Manila — Personal
Trails.
Common Sense, 241
CHAPTER XI.
Aii'MM Jeremiah Beveridge, ....... 245
On what Brings Success — His Early Struggles — How he Completed
his College Course A Hard Worker and Brilliant Speaker in
College — Prepares for the Bar His Rapid Rise as a Lawyer —
Enters Public Life — Mental Characteristics — Forensic Power
Career in Politics Electiu i to the United states Senate Philip-
pine Speech.
Tact 043
CONTENTS. 11
PART TWO— LEADERS IN PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
CHAPTER NIL Pa 6e
/Henry Watterson, ......... 259
On the Elements of Success — His Personality — A Man of Great
Versatility — Methods of Work — Birth and Early Surroundings —
Education — " The New Era " — ■ Newspaper Career in New York
— War Correspondent — Becomes Editor of the Louisville "Courier-
Journal " — Some Difficulties Encountered — His New Policy —
What Politics Means to him — Member of Congress — As a Public
Speaker — Home Life — What Leads to Success in Journalism.
Courage and Self-Confidence, ...... 269
CHAPTER XIII.
D/vid Starr Jordan, ......... 279
On Purpose — Birthplace and Parentage — -Youthful Character-
istics — In School — Love of Nature — At College — The Teacher
and Investigator — With Agassiz at Penikese — President of Indiana
University — Accepts the Presidency of Leland Stanford Junior
University — In Private Life — In the Class Room — An Im-
pressive Lecturer — His Literary Work — Sense of Humor — As a
University President — Views on Education — Personality — Scien-
tific Work.
Singleness of Purpose, ......... 288
Jam,
\
CHAPTER XIV.
/ /
ies Cardinal Gibbons, ....... 295
His Conception of Success — The Office of Cardinal — His Birth
place — The Cardinal's Cathedral — Early Training— First
Priestly Labors — Made Bishop — Attends the (Ecumenical
Council of 1869 — At Richmond — Archbishop at Forty-three —
Characteristics — Habits — Third Plenary Council of Baltimore —
The Catholic University — Created Cardinal — A Well- Rounded
Character — Home Surroundings — In Public Life.
Duty, . .307
12 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV. PAGE
Ki>\\ \i.i> Everett Hale, ........ 314
/On " What Career " - -Part in the Twentieth Century Celebration
in Boston Divisions of his Career — As a Journalist — As a
Christian Minister -Social Reformer — Publicist and Patriot —
Character of His Writings — As an Educator — Antiquarian — His
Views as to the Purposes of Life — His Uplifting Personality.
Not Above One's Business, ....... 330
CHAPTER XVI.
Qosneral Lew Wallace, 336
A Confession — His Distinguished Career — Ancestry — Incident
in Career of His Father — Early Pranks — Ambitions — Painting
Under Limitations — His First Literary Work — Reads Law — In
the Mexican War — Lawyer — Military Career Renewed — Civil
War — Literary Career — Methods of Work.
How to Use Yourself, ........ 348
CHAPTER XVII.
Russell Herman Conwell, ....... 354
How to Succeed — His Boyhood — Early Oratorical Efforts —
Struggles for an Education — The Call to Arms — Yale College —
Journalistic Experiences — Admitted to the Bar — Enters the
Ministry — His First Church — Work in Philadelphia — The
Temple College — Characteristics.
Minding Little Things, ........ 365
CHAPTER XVIII.
Sil^s Weir Mitchell, . . . . . . . . 369
Observations about Successful Careers — Birthplace and Education
— At Home — The Doctor — His Study — As a Conversationalist —
Bric-a-B.rac -The Author — Fondness for his Native City — His
Literary Career Literary Methods.
*erils or Success, ......... 381
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
13
Pagi:
390
Thk
kles William Eliot, ....
On Happiness — Two Estimates of President Eliot — His Con-
temporaries—An Early Appreciation of his Administrative
Abilities — As a Teacher in Harvard — Chosen President of
Harvard — A Period of Reconstruction — The Elective System
Some Facts and Figures — His Educational Philosophy — At
Heart a Democrat — As an Essayist — His Influence with Students
— A Religious Man —As an Administrator — Characteristics.
Secret of a Happy Life, 4Qr,
CHAPTER XX.
JosejjA Jefferson, ....... 414
/Success as Understood by Mr. Jefferson — His Rank among Actors
— Blending of the Man and Actor— His Theatrical Lineage —
Maternal Ancestry — Birthplace and Early Surroundings
Glimpses of Jefferson in the Early Days — The Mexican War
Period — His First Permanent Success — Tn Australia — Visits
South America — His Career in London — Later Career His Per-
formances of Rip Van Winkle — His Art.
How to re Insignificant, 42 G
433
CHAPTER XXI.
J(/hn Heyl Vincent, .......
On Success — What he Represents — Birth and Early Environment
— His Ambitions to go to College — In Pennsylvania — At School
— As a Teacher — Enters the Ministry — Some Early Character-
istics — Career in the West — As an Editor — Secretary of the Sun-
day School Union — Further Education — First Identification with
Chautauqua — Some Chautauqua Results — President Garfield's
Tribute — Literary Work — Home Life — Sermons — Loyalty.
Self-Education, ......
CHAPTER XXII.
James Whitcomr Riley, ......
A Poetic Interpretation of Success — Birthplace and Boyhood —
A Picture of His Childhood — Early Theatrical Leanings— A
Practical Joker — School Days — The " Leonainie " Episode Per-
sonal Appearance — Preeminent Qualities of his Work — In What
His Uniqueness Lies — " Poems Here at Home " — The Two Classes
of Mr. Riley's Poetry— Asa Balladist — His Lyrics — The Poet
of the People — Characteristically American.
Personal Purity and Nobility, 469
447
455
n CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIII. Page
[om v.s Br v< ke i i Reed, ..••••••
On the Righl Use of Wealth A Conversation Glimpses of His
Characteristics Strength of his Personal Convictions— His Home
How it Bespeaks the Man Favorite Club Early Environment
an d Ancestry The Schoolmaster — At College— Habits of Read-
ing— Journeys to California Admission to the Bar — His Return
Easl Enters Public Life — Member of Congress— A Memorable
Speech Speaker Readiness in Debate — Literary Side of his
Career His Epigrams.
Make, Save, Give all You Can,"
PART THREE-LEADERS IN BUSINESS AND
INDUSTRIAL LIFE.
CHAPTER XXIV.
476
493
507
Andrew Carnegie, ........
Mr. Carnegie on Success — His Early Boyhood in the United
Nates His Birthplace — Ancestry — Messenger Boy — Death of
His Father.— Learns Telegraphy — Becomes on Employee of the
Pennsylvania Railroad — Secretary to Thomas A.Scott — A First
[/vestment — During the Civil War — How he Became Connected
with the Iron and Steel Industry — His Organizing Ability — A
Magazine Episode — His Careful Method — A Great Traveler —
His Devotion to Golf -His Benefactions — Characteristics as a
Thinker. Writer, and Speaker — His Literary Work — A Few
Extracts — His Personality — Secret of his Success.
1 1<>\\ ro Si \kt ix Life, ........ 524
CHAPTER XXV.
M irshall Field, ......... 533
Mr. Field on the Elements of Success and Failure — His Rank
among Merchants -As an Individual — His Wholesale and
Retail Business General Estimate of His Wealth — His Busi-
Methods —Foundation Stone of His Success — How His
Mercantile Business Grew— A Man of Modest and Retiring Dis-
position Hi- Associations Restricted to a Few — Private Bene-
Eactions Religious bite Public Benefactions — The Field
Columbian Museum (lifts to Chicago University — Birthplace
and Boyhood Private Life.
'I'm 3Toi ng Man in Mercantile Life, ..... 545
CONTENTS.
15
CHAPTER XXVI.
Page
551
William Andrews Clark, ...
On/Paramont Elements of Success — Type of the Successful West-
er.nPioneer — Birthplace — Lineage — Early Education — Removal
the West — A Teacher in the Common Schools — Further Edu-
cation — Studies Law — A Change of Purpose — First Mining
Experiences — Becomes a Trader and Merchant — Organizes a
Banking House — Successful Mining Projects — A Hard Worker —
An Episode — Efforts in Behalf of Montana — His Political Career
A Memorable Contest — Elected United States Senator — His
Home and Home-Life — Man of Culture and Patron of Art —
Personal Characteristics.
Method, ........... 562
/
CHAPTER XXVII.
John Pi/rpont Morgan, ........
Oil/Aids to Success — Birthplace — Descended from an Old Amer-
(n Family — How Educated- — Beginning of his Career as a
ker — Inherited Advantage — J. P. Morgan & Company — What
Lr. Morgan Does — Secret of His Power in Financial Circles —
in Incessant Worker — Personal Appearance — Method of Trans-
acting Business — His Wonderful Knowledge of Men — Reorgan-
izer and Constructer — His Noteworthy Achievements on Behalf
of the United States Government — Art Collector — His Fondness
for Yachting — Gifts to Public Institutions — Characteristics.
How Great Things are Done,
569
584
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Uohn Waxamaker, ......... 593
On How to Succeed — Date and Place of his Birth — Parentage —
A Country Boy — At School — Early Industry — " Everybody's
Journal"— Secretary of Y. M. C. A. — Begins his' Mercantile
Career — Steady Expansion of his Business — New York Store —
In Politics — Postmaster General under Harrison — As a Citizen —
His Religious Work — Other Enterprises — Keynote of his Success
— As an Exemplar.
How to Fail, .....••••• 601
CHAPTER XXIX.
Thomas Alva Edisox, ......••
What Brings Success — Boyhood of a Genius — Newsboy, Editor,
and Chemist at Fifteen — Heroic Tuition Fee— Not a Prig —
Among Tramp Telegraphers — In Louisville — Astonishes Eastern
N
611
j,; CONTENTS.
Page
Operators First Patent In New York — Capacity for Work —
Personal Appearance —His Estimate of the Patent Pirate — A
Closer View of Edison — Indifference to Plaudits — As a Business
Man A Sensitive Nature — Place Among Scientists — At Work
The Phonograph — Economic Features of his Inventions —
Non-Electrical Experiments — His Principal Inventions — Achieve-
ment of the Twentieth Century — Edison the Man.
The Vut'i hi w [dea, ........ 624
CHAPTER XXX.
John 1>wi-<>.\ Rockefeller, ....... 634
On the Important Elements of Success — His Hank Among the
Captains of Industry — His Great Wealth — Place of his Birth
Parental Qualities Inherited — -His Boyhood Marked by Indus-
try and Economy — Removed to Cleveland — Interest in Church
Work -Education — Beginning of his Industrial Career — His
Introduction to the Oil Industry — The Standard Oil Company —
other Business Enterprises — His Personality — Homes and Home
Life - To What his Wonderful Success is Due — Philanthropies.
I in l.i m, ii: of Economy, ........ 645
CHAPTER XXXI.
Jameg Pekome Hill, ......... 652
Where Opportunity Lies — Born in Canada — Ancestral Stock —
How Educated — From County Clerk to Railroad President — Re-
organization of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad — Transformation
of t he Northwest Fortune Fairly Earned — The Great Northern of
To-day -His Methods — The Training of Young Men — Mr. Hill
a Many-sided Man — His Home at St. Paul — Interest in Agri-
cultural Pursuits — Philanthropies — Something of his Personal
Achievements.
I in Victory i\ Defeat, 66-1
CHAPTER XXXII.
Charges Michael Schwab, ....... 677
On the Fundamental Elements of Success — Highest Salaried Man
in the World In the Prime of Life — Birthplace — Boyhood —
How Educated Begins Life as a Clerk in a Grocery Store —
Stake-Driver Early Promotions — Head of Steel Works — An
Illustrative Anecdote — How he Works — Secret of his Power —
Interested in Young Men -How he Regards Organized Labor —
Not a 'IN rani .
Manners \\i> Dress, 688
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
William McKinley, ......
Photograph by Clinedinst.
Lincoln at Gettysburg, .....
President Roosevelt in the Cabinet Room, .
Photograph by Clinedin-'-t.
Senator Frye as President of the Senate, .
Photograph by Clinedinst.
WiLliam J. Bryan at Home, . . . .
Photograph by Townsend.
Secretary Long in the Navy Office,
Photograph by Clinedinst
Portrait of Senator Daniel, .
Photograpli by Parker.
Senator Hanna at Work, .
Photograph by Clinedinst.
Charles Emory Smith at his Df.sk,
Photograph by Clinedinst.
Portrait of Ex-Senator Towne,
Photograph by Marceau.
Portrait of Senator Allison,
Photograph by Parker.
Admiral Dewey at Manila, .
Front painting by H. T. See.
Portrait of Senator Bkveridge,
The Doctor. .......
Editorial Room of Henry Watterson,
Photograph by Klauber.
Portrait of President David Starr Jordan.
Photograph by Marceau.
Portrait of Cardinal Gtbbons,
I'll )tograph by Bachrach ■
25
43
82
105
123
147
169
191
214
240
249
259
268
289
306
331
3 III
364
18
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PoHTKAn of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell,
Photograph by Meynen.
Portraii OF Charles William Eliot,
Photograph by Notman.
Joseph Jefferson as " Bob Acres,"
Photograph by Sarony.
Portrait of Bishop Vincent,
Photograph by Girder & ( 'ook.
Portraii "i James Whitcomb Riley,
Photograph by Marceau.
Portrait <>i Thomas Brackett Reed,
Photograph by Dupont.
I Hi New York Exchange,
Photograph by Eockwood.
Portrait of Andrew Carnegie,
Photograph by Eockwood.
Portrait <>i Marshall Field, .
Photograph by Steffens.
Portrait of William A. Clark,
Photograph by Marceau.
Portrait of J. Pierpont Morgan,
Photograph by Mendelssohn, London.
Portrait of John Wanamaker,
Photograph by Gutekunst.
Thomas A. Edison in his Laboratort,
Photograph by Brady.
Portrait <>i John 1). Rockefeller,
Photograph by Dana.
Por i R \i i of James J. Hill.
Photograph by Pach.
Portraii of Charles M. Schwab,
Photograph by Duals.
Page
380
408
. . 427
416
468
492
Facing j>. 507
525
544
56:'.
585
000
625
6 14
665
689
INTRODUCTION.
TN this stirring age it is difficult to find a sincere advo-
X cate °^ me diocrity. The vast majority desire self-devel-
T opment and self-advancement along the lines which
their ambitions mark out for them. The impulses toward
betterment come from so many sources, are so comprehen-
sive and so widely prevalent, that the whole modern world
is, as it were, infected with a desire for improvement. This
desire to excel, whether in a professional career, in business,
in statecraft, in artisanship, or in the humbler walks of life,
is ennobling, and deserves the highest stimulation, for out
of it have come the ''shining marks" of history and the
most worthy examples of private life.
The simple possession of a right desire is not sufficient
in itself to procure all that such a desire implies. It must
be accompanied by action, and often by the most heroic
and self-sacrificing effort. It is true that in the career of
every man there are some incontrollable elements, but
these bear only a slight proportion, either in number or
importance, to the elements which he can control. In
other words, the character, the career, and the fortunes of
every man are largely in his own keeping. He is what
he makes himself. He can have what he desires if he will
pay the price. He must take a mental inventory of him-
self and determine whether he possesses the qualities,
either actual or potential, that fit him for a leader or a
follower. If it is to be the former, he will need all the
heroic virtues — courage, persistency, application, self-recog-
nized honesty — that may come to him as a natural heritage
or through acquirement.
Shakespeare says, "Some men are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon
INTRODUCTION.
them." If this were paraphrased by the substitution of the
words successful and success for the words great and
greatness, il might form a fairly exhaustive scheme of
explanation covering the various causes of success. The
point must not be overlooked, however, that success is by
qo means a correct synonym for greatness.
Bj far the greatest number of successful men .have
become such through their own achievements; the other
two classes mentioned in our paraphrase seem to reach
success through a manifest destiny. What, then, are some
of the elements that enter into success when self-achieved?
Obviously the first essential toward success is a domi-
nating purpose— one that has so fastened itself upon the
ambitions that the person so possessed recognizes no
obstacle too great to be overcome. To this must be added
the executive agencies of courage and industry. John
Kit to, an eminent writer, expresses himself in these words:
-I am not myself a believer in impossibilities. I think
that all the fine stories about natural ability, and so on,
are mere rigmarole, and that every man may, according to
his opportunities and industry, render himself almost any-
thin- he wishes to become." This view may possibly be
extreme, if taken literally, but the emphasis put upon
industry is certainly borne out in many concrete examples.
■ It is the worker who dignifies the task, and not the task
thai ennobles the worker."
Maik the following facts from the biographies of the
world's celebrities : —
Th 11 ilow Weed walked two miles through the snow with
pieces of rag carpet about his feet for shoes, that he might
borrow a book.
Samuel Drew went on with his studies when he was too
poor to l»n\ bread, and when he could appease the pangs
of hunger onlj bj tying a girdle about his body.
Lord Eldon, England's greatest Chief Justice, being too
INTRODUCTION. 21
poor to buy books when a boy, borrowed and copied three
folio volumes of precedents, and the whole of Coke on
Littleton.
John Scott, after working hard all day, studied long
into the night, tying a wet towel around his head to keep
awake.
Hugh Miller hammered an education from a stone
quarry.
Henry Wilson worked on a farm for twelve long years
for a yoke of oxen and six sheep.
The immortal Lincoln walked forty miles to borrow a
book which he could not afford to buy.
Goethe spent his entire fortune of over half a million
dollars on his education. Let the reader notice the differ-
ence between his success and that of Jay Gould.
Milton wrote "Paradise Lost" in a world he could not
see, and then sold it for fifteen pounds.
John Bunyan wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" in prison, at
the behest of conscience and in disregard of the edict of his
accusers.
Euripides spent three days writing five lines, and those
lines have lived centuries since his language has ceased to
be spoken.
Sir Isaac Newton spent long years on an intricate cal-
culation, and his papers having been destroyed by his dog
Diamond he cheerfully began to replace them.
Carlyle, after lending the manuscript of the "French
Revolution" to a friend, whose servant carelessly used it to
kindle a fire, calmly went to work and rewrote it.
Napoleon waited for an appointment seven years after
he had thoroughly prepared himself.
Blucher, although he lost nine battles out of every ten,
still pressed on witli an iron determination which won for
him the title of "Marshal Forward."
Cyrus W. Field risked a fortune and devoted years of
INTRODUCTION.
seeminglj hopeless drudgery, amid the scoffs of men, to
lay tli" Atlantic cable.
Handel practiced on his harpsichord in secret, until
every key was hollowed by his fingers to resemble the
howl of a spoon.
George Stephenson worked fifteen long years for his
firsl successful locomotive.
Richard Arkwright, founder of cotton manufacture in
England, began life by shaving people in a cellar at a
penny a shave.
These citations might be prolonged indefinitely, but
sufficient have been produced to show the practical power
of the will over the environing circumstances that often-
times apparently block the way of ambitious youth. Dif-
ficulties call out great qualities and make greatness pos-
sible. If there were no difficulties there would be no
success. The spark yi the flint would sleep forever but
for friction; the fire in man would never blaze out but for
antagonism. The moment man is relieved of opposition or
friction and the track of his life is oiled with inherited
wealth or other aids, that moment he often ceases to
snuggle, and, therefore, ceases to grow. ''The real differ-
ence between men is energy. A strong will, a settled
purpose, an invincible determination, can accomplish almost
anything, and in this lies the distinction between great
men and little men.*'
The second element in success, though closely allied
with the first, is courage. Courage may take on many
differenl tonus, and any one of its many attributes may
he emphasized as tin; particular element of success. No
more forcible illustration of this is needed than a careful
reference to the utterances of the sages and men of action
of all ages. ''The education of the will.*' says Emerson.
•is the objeel "f 'Mil' existence. For the resolute and the
determined there is always time and opportunity.*' "To
TXTR O D 17 C TION. 23
think a tiling impossible/' says another, "is to make it so.
Courage is victory; timidity is defeat." Napoleon says.
" The truest wisdom is a resolute determination," and to
this President Porter adds. "Invincible determination, and
a right nature, are the levers that move the world." "Lit-
tle minds," interposes Irving, '"are tamed and subdued
by misfortunes, but great minds are above them," while
the dramatic dictum of Bulwer rings out in clarion tones,
" In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for bright
manhood, there is no such word as fail." Another says,
"Intense, ceaseless activity is the law of life": and still
another, "It is defeat that turns bone to flint: it is defeat
that turns gristle to muscle ; it is defeat that makes men
invincible.'' So, armed with this quality of the soul, —
courage, — we need never fear the consequences in the
presence of opposition ; defeat may be only the threshold
of victory.
Life is the arena of many forms of courage ; as many,
in fact, as there are lines of human action. There is
physical courage, which dares to meet and overcome phys-
ical opposition. This form of courage is by no means low ;
but there are higher forms of courage. To be a martyr,
one must have something more than the resignation to
meet physical torture and death. He must have the
courage to think the unthought and speak the unspoken,
and not only to think and speak thus, but to do it amid
the jeers of hatred and the hisses of calumny. But for
this form of courage no triumphant vessel would to-day
move upon the waters : no engine would jar the earth with
its iron tread ; no magic wires would belt the globe. His-
tory would be unstained with blood, it is true, and the
simple record would be a colorless legend of submission —
a world of rayless midnight, perhaps without stars.
The darkness of the past has been illumined by the
fagot fire kindled at the feet of courage. No grand libra-
24 INTRODUCTION.
ries would adorn our cities, no inspiring canvases make
living the walls of galleries of art, had not moral courage
dared to depicl its story. The steps of the world's progress
have been over the red altars of human sacrifice.
Physical, intellectual, and moral courage have heen
the grand leaders in the ceaseless conquest of thought.
All honor to the martyrs of science and religion and
human freedom! "Who falls for the love of God shall
rise a star."
No age of human history has offered such a grand
reward to courage in its highest sense as the present. The
supreme need of human society to-day is a bold and fear-
less spirit of individuality. In both politics and religion
we see a disgusting cowardice that makes men slaves to
base schemes and cunning tyranny. The call of the hour
is to duty. The courageous performance of duty leads to
nobility ; and this quality is not only one of the highest
in human character but even an attribute of divinity
itself.
If you would, therefore, make the most of life, oo not
seek the " path of least resistance " ; rather welcome the
difficulties in your way. Do not be frightened by them or
ili^eouraged because of them. They are your opportunities
for winning success. " He who refuses to make use of,
or flings away, his opportunities, flings away his man-
hood."
PART ONE.
LEADERS IN PUBLIC LIFE.
LINCOLN'S ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG.
CHAPTER I.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
ON SUCCESS SKETCH OF HIS LIFE A LEADER FROM YOUTH FROM
WEAKLING TO ATHLETE ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE CAREER IN THE ASSEMBLY
COMBINED WRITING WITH HUNTING EFFORTS TO REFORM GOTHAM
IN THE NAVY DEPARTMENT LEADER OF ROUGH RIDERS THE FIRST BATTLE
HIS TRIUMPH AT PHILADELPHIA PRESIDENT. DECISION OF CHARACTER.
Success must always include, as its first element, earning
a competence for the support of the man himself, and for the
bringing up of those dependent upon him.
In the vast majority of cases it ought to
include financially rather more than this.
But the acquisition of wealth is not in the
least the only test of success. Successful
statesmen, soldiers, sailors, explorers, histo-
rians, poets, and scientific men are very much
more essential than any mere successful
business man can possibly be.
The average man into whom the average
boy develops, is, of course, not going to be
a marvel in any line, but, if he only chooses to try, he can be
very good in any line, and the chances of his doing good work
are immensely increased if he has trained his mind. If, of
course, he gets to thinking that the only kind of learning is
that to be found in books, he will do very little ; but if he
keeps his mental balance,— that is. if he shows character,— he
will understand both what learning can do and what it can-
not, and he will be all the better the more he can get.
Perhaps there is no more important component of character
than steadfast resolution. The boy who is going to make a
great man, or is going to count in any way in after life, must
make up his mind not merely to overcome a thousand ob-
stacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses or defeats.
^7^^o-cc Senator Allison reported from the committee a bill
making a complete revision of the metho > : -leering the
duties and creating new machinery for the classification and
appraisement of imports. It was accompanied by an elabo-
rate printed report collating all the laws on that subject which
had been enacted since the foundation of the government up
to that time. This bill passed the Senate in 1888 I: was
not considered in the H: ;se. When the Mills tariff bill came
to the Senate this bill - :ached to it as an amendment,
but failed of enactment with the Mills bill. This bill, fa
ever, was introduced by Mr. McKinley in the House in Decem-
ber, 1SS9. and became a law substantially as it passed the
Senate about a year before. Under this law all our customs
collections are now made, no material amendments having
since been made to it.
The House passed in 1SSS. at an early stage of the session,
a bill providing for a revision of tariff duties on the line? :
the Democratic contention of a tariff for revenue only, known
as the Mills bill. It was thoroughly considered by the Finance
Committee in the Senate, first by a sub-committee of which
Senator Allison was chairman. This sub-committee held hear-
ings and took testimony comprehending three large octavo
volumes, and continued its work during most of the summer
of that year. Senator Allison reported the bill from the full
committee in September and had charge of it on the floor of
the Senate. It was considered up to adjournment on October
30 without passing. It passed the Senate ai the following
short session in 1889, but did not become a law because of the
WILLIAM BOYD ALLISON. 211
failure of the House to agree to the Senate amendments, or to
a conference. These Senate amendments made an elaborate
revision of the tariff on the lines of "protection" as distin-
guished from that of ''for revenue " as proposed by the Mills
bill, and it introduced many new views as to the classification
of objects of import duty. It especially provided, among
other things, for ample protection to the tin-plate industry,
which provision was later on embodied in the McKinley bill,
the important amendment relating to tin-plate being offered
by Senator Allison on the floor of the Senate and agreed to
after debate.
In 1890 the McKinley bill passed the House, embodying in
its provisions the classifications and changes which were con-
sidered and passed by the Senate a year before, although it
increased in many particulars the rates of duty proposed in
the Senate amendments. The bill was considered by a sub-
committee of the Finance Committee of which Senator Alli-
son was a member, and was reported to the Senate by Senator
Morrill. During its consideration in the Senate, Senator Alli-
son, having had charge of it in sub-committee, practically
took charge of it on the floor of the Senate. He was also
active in proposing and offering amendments to what was
the Wilson bill, which became a law in 1S91. He was on the
sub-committee that prepared the amendments to the Dingley
tariff bill of 1897 and gave patient attention to this subject
for more than two months in the spring of that year.
He was strongly urged by President Garfield to accept the
position of Secretary of the Treasury under his administration.
The same tender was made by President Harrison in 1889,
and it is well known that he could have taken the position of
Secretary of State under President McKinley"s first admin-
istration, but he declined all these tempting offers of adminis-
trative positions, preferring to represent in part the state of
Iowa in the United States Senate, that position being more
congenial to his tastes and more in line with his life work
and studies.
He was frequently mentioned as an available candidate
for president, and was three times strongly supported by his
own state in National conventions for that office. It should
be said in justice to him that he never had a consuming
ambition for the place, so that no disappointment lurked in
212 LEADERS OF MEN.
his mind or memory because others were selected as candi-
dates of the Republican party.
Although the Senate in its organization is supposed to be a
conservative body, with long continued service of its mem-
bers, there is no man now in the Senate who was there when
Senator Allison took the oath of office in 1873, and there are
few now living who served in that body prior to 1873.
Senator Jones of Nevada and Senator Allison took the oath
of office on the same day and therefore are contemporaneous,
but the latter having served eight years in the House is the
senior in service at the Capitol at this time, and it may be
truthfully said that he is the natural and recognized leader
of that body and exerts a wider influence than any other
member of it. He is chairman of the Republican caucus of
the Senate and as such has charge and control of the
business of the Senate. His time is probably more fully
occupied during sessions of the Senate than any of his
colleagues. The exacting duties of the chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations make it necessary for him to
know the scope of every bill which carries an appropriation
of public money, and it is often necessary for him to be
absent from the chamber during the sessions on committee
work, especially during the short sessions and near the close
of every session. And while his name may not appear so
actively and prominently on the floor of the Senate as will
the names of some others, yet all the important legislation
undergoes an investigation from him and from his committee
in some form. He is always listened to in the Senate,
because when he speaks he endeavors to illustrate the topic
under debate and to contribute information upon the matter
pending.
He has always been an active though temperate partisan,
and has been able to secure the respect and esteem of his polit-
ical opponents by his fairness of method and deference to the
opinion of those who differ from him. He has spoken in every
campaign in Iowa since 1862, first making a thorough canvass
of his district when he was in the House, and afterwards
when elected to the Senate making a general canvass of the
state. His speeches, though not as attractive in an oratorical
sense as those of some of his colleagues, are always interest-
ing, entertaining, and instructive to his audience.
SENATOR WILLIAM B. ALLISON.
POWER OF CHARACTER. 215
He was married in 1854 to Miss Anna Carter, daughter of
Daniel Carter of Ashland, Ohio, a man of prominence in that
portion of the state. She was a highly intelligent, amiable,
and beautiful woman, and greatly beloved by all who knew
her. She died at Dubuque in 1860. In 1873 he married Miss
Mary Nealley of Burlington, Iowa, the adopted daughter of
Senator andJMrs. Grimes. During the last few years of her
life she was an invalid, and in spite of all that love and skill
and affection would suggest she gradually declined and died
in August, 1883.
Senator Allison has sometimes been criticised because of
his hesitation to express opinions upon subjects or matters
upon which he is called to make decision. This is a mistaken
view of his character. He does hesitate, but only to give full
consideration of the subject. Therefore he does not introduce
into the Senate bills of an experimental character or which
meet the fancy or suggestion of some one who seeks radical
changes in existing conditions. He is on this account often
called a conservative in the discussion and consideration of
public measures. He carries this conservatism into his every-
day life. As an illustration of this : He has lived in the
same house at Washington, No. 1124 Vermont avenue, since
1877, during the life of his wife and her mother, Mrs. Grimes,
and he still resides there. When in Iowa he resides at No.
1134 Locust street, Dubuque, which has been his home from
August, 1857, until now.
During his whole service he has been an active and tireless
worker on matters of public character, not only during ses-
sions of Congress, but during most of the recesses. This con-
stant attention to his public duties and willingness to take
upon himself the consideration of public questions is probably
one of the reasons why he has so much strength in the Sen-
ate, because it is believed by his associates that he gives full
consideration of the subjects placed in his charge.
POWER OF CHARACTER. .
eHARACTER must not be confounded with reputation.
Character is what a man is ; reputation may be what
he is not. Character is one's intrinsic value ; reputa-
tion is what is thought of him — his value in the market of
public opinion. Hence, character is stable and enduring ;
216 LEADERS OF MEN.
while, as another has said : " The reputation of a man is like
his shadow ; it sometimes follows and sometimes precedes
him ; it is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter than him-
self."
Character is indispensable. Every one is in duty bound to
possess it. It is not optional with us to cultivate it or not, as
we please ; it is a solemn obligation. Professor Blaikie, of
the University of Edinburgh, said to a class of young men :
" Money is not needful, power is not needful, cleverness is not
needful, fame is not needful, liberty is not needful, even
health is not the one thing needful ; but character alone, is
that which can truly save us, and if we are not saved in this
sense, we must certainly be damned." Smiles urges the same
truth : " Every one is in duty bound to aim at reaching the
highest standard of character • not to become the richest in
means, but in spirit ; not the greatest in worldly position, but
in true honor ; not the most intellectual, but the most virtu-
ous ; not the most powerful and influential, but the most
truthful, upright, and honest."
Character is greater, even, than intellect. It is the most
valuable possession a youth ever acquires. Without it he is
poor, though he may have amassed a million dollars. The
most abject pauper on earth is the man without character.
He may live in a stately mansion and flourish his magnificent
turnout, and obsequious fools may applaud him ; but he is a
moral tramp, nevertheless, more perilous to society on account
of his money, and to himself also.
Every youth, then, should know that it is his and her
sacred duty to make unblemished character ; that is an obliga-
tion they cannot shirk. It may not be their duty to be wise
and learned, or to be senators or senators' wives, but it is their
duty to possess spotless characters. Anything short of this
cheats society and robs God. The youth who denies this
truth, and lives indifferent to the worth of character, will
probably drift along with the current of events until the star
of his destiny reaches its zenith on the meridian of Sodom.
Character is, also, power ; and it is this thought that we
especially emphasize now. It is said that " knowledge is
power," but knowledge may exist without character. Add
character to it and we have invincible power. Luther said:
" The prosperity of a country depends, not on the abundance
POWER OF CHARACTER. 217
of the revenues, nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor
on the beauty of its public buildings ; but it consists in the
number of its cultivated citizens, its men of education,
enlightenment and character. Here are to be found its true
interests, its chief strength, its real power. "
When Jonathan Goodhue, of New York city, died, the
din of traffic was hushed in the streets. Commerce felt the
loss keenly, and merchant and artisan crowded around his
bier at the funeral. The mayor and other officials were there.
The poor and unfortunate were there, too. None were so
high and none so lowly as not to do him reverence. His char-
acter drew them there. The preacher said on that occasion :
" It is the recognized worth of private character which has
extorted this homage. It is the man himself, the pure, high-
minded, righteous man who adorned our nature, who digni-
fied the mercantile profession, who was superior to his
station, his riches, his exposures, and made the common
virtues more respected and venerable than shining talents or
public honors. This was the power of his life."
We have just paid our centennial tribute to the memory
of Washington "the father of his country," whose personal
character more than his skill as a general, or his ability as a
statesman, has enshrined him in the heart of his countrymen.
John Adams was president in 1798, when it was expected that
France would declare war against the United States, and he
wrote to Washington saying, " We must have your name if
you will permit us to use it ; there will be more efficacy in it
than in an army." This was a greater tribute to his charac-
ter than that of a general in the War of the Revolution, who
declared that Washington's presence " doubled the strength
of the army." Moral qualities live longer than intellectual
ones, because they have more power over the hearts of men,
and for this reason, the name of Washington is connected
with more places and events, in this country and Europe, than
that of Napoleon or Caesar.
When character is found in union with great talents and
the. best social qualities, its power is phenomenal. This is
eminently true of Chauncey M. Depew, of whom a biographer
says : " He is a serious orator on any occasion worthy of
high eloquence, a shrewd and far-seeing politician, a broad-
minded statesman, a successful business man, a skilled law-
218 LEADERS OF 3IEN.
yer, a polished man of society and of the world, and, above
all, in all the private relations of life, a thoroughly manly
man, a Christian gentleman." From his earliest boyhood he
loved reading, and studied men and things. Everybody was
his friend, and a neighbor prophesied that he would become
renowned because of his ability, energy, perseverance, and
moral principle. In college he was a great reader, fine
debater and orator, "most cordially liked, and most thor-
oughly respected. " A classmate said of him recently : " Depew
stood conspicuous above all the men of his time in college for
the remarkable union of two sets of qualities : a purity of
feeling and conduct, a clearness of soul and speech, and a
largeness and firmness of integrity and honor which are
rarely seen, united with a breadth of sympathy, a kindliness
of heart, and a generosity of good fellowship which drew the
best men to him. He never bent, never swerved, never
showed any stain to the purest eye." He is now what he was
then, and this fact explains his wide influence, great popular-
ity, and remarkable success.
Smiles says: "Character is one of the greatest motive
powers in the world. In its noblest embodiments, it exem-
plifies human nature in its highest forms, for it exhibits man
at his best."
Character must not be undervalued as capital. It has been
said, " When poverty is your inheritance, virtue must be your
capital," and many young men have learned the truth of this
maxim from personal experience. They have found that
they started in business just as well without money as they
could have done with it. Some years ago a youth of sixteen
years was advised to sell bread on commission, because it
would be more profitable to him than to drive a bread cart on
monthly wages. He had learned the business of a baker, and
had sold bread from a cart for several months.
"But I have no money to invest in horse and wagon," he
replied ; " every dollar of my earnings I have given to my
mother for the support of the family."
"Buy a horse and wagon on credit," advised the friend.
"A dozen men in town will sell you an outfit on credit
because they know you. Poverty, with such a character as
you have, is a better capital than ten thousand dollars would
be to some men."
POWER OF CHARACTER. 219
Encouraged by this counsel he found no difficulty in pur-
chasing a horse and wagon, for which he paid in less time
than he promised. He succeeded in business, established a
bakery of his own, became a prominent citizen of his town,
represented it in the House of Representatives, was chairman
of its school committee, subsequently represented his sena-
torial district in the Massachusetts Senate ; for twenty years
presided over more political, temperance, anti-slavery, and
religious conventions than any other citizen of his county
because of his ability in that line ; was presidential elector to
one of the most important Republican conventions ever con-
vened; and more than twenty years ago was Massachusetts
commissioner to the International Exposition at Paris,
France. Character did it. It was better capital for him than
money. Had he possessed only money he might never have
got beyond the bakeshop. It was capital that did even more
for him out of his business than in it. Money could only have
aided him in the bakery business; it would not have made
him an enterprising, useful, and honored citizen. But char-
acter did all this, and even more, for him.
Money capital will not secure confidence, or, at least, not
the confidence requisite in the transaction of business. Enough
money will beget confidence in the pecuniary ability of a
trader, but that alone will not beget confidence in his moral
ability. It is not a guarantee against lying, cheating, or
other forms of over-reaching ; but character is. Hence, it is a
peculiar kind of capital, constantly increasing in value, intro-
ducing the possessor to channels of influence and power he
had not thought of. It was said of that famed New York
merchant, Gideon Lee : "It was his misfortune — if, indeed,
it be one — to be born poor ; it was his merit, by industry and
perseverance, to acquire wealth. It was his misfortune to be
deprived of an education when young ; it was his merit to
force it in maturer age. It was his misfortune to be without
friends in his early struggle, to aid him by their means or
counsel ; it was his merit to win them in troops by a character
that challenged all scrutiny."
It is not the sight of money that makes the creditor feel
easy, but it is the sight of character. The "sound of the
hammer at five in the morning " satisfies him that industry is
only one virtue of many in the heart of the toiler whose
220 LEADERS OF MEN.
hammer is heard so early in the morning. Even the money
capital of the debtor who is seen in the playhouse, or heard in
the barroom, does not make the creditor easy, for he knows
that these and kindred resorts have exhausted the pecuniary
resources of many a trader.
A young man was serving as clerk on an annual salary of
five hundred dollars. He was as efficient, reliable, and pains-
taking, however, as he would have been on a salary of five
thousand. Customers liked him, his employers confided in
him, his habits were correct, and his character was without a
stain. He was surprised, one day, by an offer from one of
their best patrons to become his partner in an extensive job-
bing business. " Put your character against my money, and
we will share the profits equally."
The modest young man scarcely knew what to say at first.
After recovering from his surprise, however, the subject
was canvassed with the customer, and a speedy conclusion
reached. The partnership was consummated, and it proved
harmonious and successful. The character of the young mer-
chant was worth more to the concern than the capital of his
confiding friend. It gave the firm standing at once. Its
value grew, also, from year to year, giving the company a
firmer grip upon public confidence. He who had only charac-
ter to invest found himself in a few years among the leading
men of the city, not only one of its merchant princes, but one
of its counselors, officers, and benefactors. The money in-
vested at the outset had been long forgotten, but the character
which the young man put in had grown fairer, richer, and
more influential.
Sixty years ago, a boy of eight or ten years, in Danville,
Maine, lost his father by death. His mother was too poor to
support the large family of children, so this son went to live
with a neighbor, a farmer. He was a good boy ; industrious,
pleasant, self-reliant, truthful, aspiring, and manly. The
farmer and his wife liked him. He was a great reader, and
his employer encouraged him to improve his spare moments in
that way, and he allowed him all the schooling there was in
town— a few weeks each year. At fourteen, however, he
thought he might go up higher. He felt that he might do more
and better in Boston! After proper conference with his mother
and the farmer, he left for Boston, having little more money
POWER OF CHARACTER. 221
than enough to pay his passage there. Thinking it wise for
him, under the circumstances, to accept the first offer, he went
to work on a farm in Roxbury, at four dollars a month, at the
same time keeping a lookout for a chance in a store. In two
years a favorable opportunity introduced him to mercantile
business in Boston. Without being conceited at all, he knew
that he was fitted for such a sphere. Scarcely three years
more elapsed before Joshua Stetson, a leading merchant of
Boston, attracted by his intelligence, self-reliance, ability, and
high character, offered to furnish him with capital to com-
mence business for himself. He accepted the kind offer, and
became a merchant, at the corner of Mechanic and Hanover
streets, just as he became twenty years of age. At the end of
four years, his trade amounted to one hundred thousand
dollars annually. Then followed the firm of Jordan, Marsh &
Company, before he was thirty years of age ! It was his devo-
tion to business, and, more especially, his personal character,
that led Mr. Stetson to offer him capital with which to set up
business for himself. Character was transmuted into literal
cash capital.
Louis XIV. ruled large France, but he could not conquer
little Holland. The reason was not quite clear to him, and so
he asked Colbert, his minister. The latter replied, "Because,
sire, the greatness of a country does not depend upon the
extent of its territory, but on the character of its people. It is
because of the industry, the frugality, and the energy of the
Dutch that your majesty has found them difficult to over-
come." The war capital of France was a standing army ;
that of Holland was character.
CHAPTER X.
GEORGE DEWEY.
HIS DETESTATION OF LYING — BIRTHPLACE GEORGE DEWEY'S BOY-
HOOD FIRST CRUISE SCHOOLING AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN THE
CIVIL AVAR AFLOAT AND ASHORE CHARACTERISTICS MANILA PER-
SONAL TRAITS. COMMON SENSE.
If I remember correctly, I gave my father considera-
ble bother and worry when I was a boy, and even during
part of my college course. I was n't mali-
cious, or classed in any sense as bad, and I
think that I uniformly tried to make the
most out of my opportunities and behaved
myself.
There is nothing that I detest so much in
a man as lying. If he has n't the courage to
tell the truth, let him at least keep his mouth
entirely closed. I don't believe that any
man ever lost anything in the long run by
telling the truth. At the same time, I don't
think any man ever gained anything in the long run by tell-
ing a lie. s^^Z? r~^\
2u
^^
ca
DMIRAL DEWEY was born in Montpelier, Vt., Decem-
ber 26, 1837. And if early rising really be a state
quality, as Vermonters claim, prosperity follows hard
upon the practice of it. To have seen the city of Montpelier
is to have beheld the very embodiment of industry and thrift,
and of comfortable wealth, their consequence. Everybody
appears well-to-do, and, what "is better, busy. The little city
is bright and clean, with solid and tasteful houses of the
colonial type, mostly of brick, set back behind broad, shaded
GEORGE DEWEY. 223
lawns. The wide streets are lined by magnificent elms, and
the green hills of Vermont tower high above you on either
side as you walk. Montpelier, like most Vermont towns, was
built upon the hills first, and it was perhaps with reluctance
that the settlers came down into the narrow valley of the
Onion, now called the Winooski.
The cottage where George was born and passed his child-
hood still stands, but it has been removed some distance down
the street from its old site, directly across from the white-
columned State House. In bygone days it was a vine-clad
cottage, and the Onion river ran through the pleasant fields
and gardens behind it, between weeping willows and stone
walls. The steep, velvet side of a hill rises from its farther
bank. Little George loved the river ; his bare feet knew
every stone in it. One day he was summoned out of the
rapids and dragged reluctant into the parlor to meet "com-
pany." The "company" still have a vivid memory of the
very small boy with the roguish black eyes and restless face
— none too clean — and of the sinewy, bare little legs, and
even of the battered straw hat, innocent of brim, which he
held bashfully in his hand while the introduction was in prog-
ress.
George's sister Mary, two years younger, was his constant
companion when his excellency permitted. She knew no
keener joy than that of plodding after him many a weary
mile with a tin of worms. To bait his hook was a privilege
unspeakable. How often of late has she lived over those
years while awaiting news of him from the far-away Orient !
George was not a great reader in those days. " Robinson
Crusoe" pleased him and aroused a passion for adventure in
far-away lands which he took out in tramps over his own
Vermont mountains, with sister Mary, perhaps, as man Fri-
day. But a fateful day came when his big brother Charles,
twelve years older, presented him with a copy of the " Life
of Hannibal." Snow lay thick on the steep slope behind the
State House, and over it a heavy crust with surface like
glass. To ten-year-old Hannibal here was a Jungfrau ready
to hand and well-nigh as formidable. Orders were at once
issued to sister Mary, in this instance the army and all the
appurtenances thereof, who cheerfully left her "Child's Life
of Queen Bess " and the cozy fireside to follow her captain
224 LEADERS OF MEN.
over the Alps — no mean undertaking — and afterwards to
pay for her loyalty, poor little soul ! by a week in bed. His-
tory does not mention what happened to George.
It could scarce be expected that a general or an admiral
should go through life without fighting. Fights occurred in
those days, though the town records of Montpelier fail to re-
veal time or place or results. If rumor be true, however, re-
sults were with the future admiral. He was a born leader,
and owned a temper that kind Dr. Dewey had more than once
to reckon with. George had a wiry little frame, and its con-
stant activity made the gaining of flesh quite out of the ques-
tion. The Rev. Mr. Wright, a prominent clergyman of Mont-
pelier, remembers the admiral at this period very well. Mr.
Wright was a schoolmate. "George was always a fighting
boy," said he. So is the child father to the man.
Mr. Wright also recalls going to " nigger minstrel " shows
in George Dewey's barn. George was the life and soul of
these shows (and they were by no means confined to such low
comedy as minstrels) — he was business manager, stage
manager, took the leading parts, and I believe the future
admiral's productions were exclusively brought forth here.
Sister Mary invariably preferred the audience and a back seat,
whence she could admire without being seen. But on one oc-
casion the regular leading lady (ten years old), being unavoid-
ably absent, Mary was peremptorily told to come forward and
take the part. "But I don't know it at all, George," she
objected. That made no difference. George was to fire his
pistol at the awkward crisis, and so Mary carried off the mat-
ter, on the whole, very creditably.
This pistol-shooting, by the way, proved a huge drawing
card, and attracted such crowds to the theater that there was
scarce standing room. A wholly unwarranted interference
on the part of the neighbors put an untimely end to plays and
play bills by an edict from the doctor. A peanut stand near
the door, another feature of popularity, modern managers
might do well to copy.
The bump of destructiveness seems to be a necessary at-
tribute to the fighting character, and it was not lacking in
George Dewey. His chief offense in this direction was the
killing of a pet dove which belonged to a young lady of twelve
in the neighborhood. But since this very trait in the admiral
GEORGE DEWEY. 225
has finally led to the destruction of all the Spanish ships he
could lay hands on, he has recently, though not until recently,
been forgiven by the aggrieved lady, who still lives in Mont-
pelier. She has so far gone against her convictions as to have
penned him a letter of congratulation.
It is not generally known that the admiral's first cruise
took place when he was no older than eleven. It happened in
this wise : He started out one day in his father's buggy, ac-
companied by his friend Will Redfield, bent upon an overland
trip of adventure — to drive the cows home, it has been said.
But when they came to the Dog river, which enters the Wi-
nooski some distance from the town, they found it higher
than the oldest inhabitant had ever seen it, the ford impassa-
ble from recent rains. William prudently counseled turning
back, but to this the admiral would not listen.
"What man hath done, man can do," said he, and he
whipped up his horse and went at the ford four bells. Need-
less to say, he found no bottom ; the superstructure of his frail
craft, which in this case was the buggy top, cast adrift and
floated swiftly away toward Lake Champlain, while the ad-
miral serene as ever, and the thoroughly frightened William,
clambered on board the horse and managed to land in safety.
When the boy reached home the doctor was away on a pro-
fessional call, and an innate sense of tactics bade George go
directly to bed, without waiting for supper. The father found
him apparently asleep, but was not deceived, and immediately
began to chide him for his rashness, when his son replied from
the depths of the covers : —
" You ought to be thankful that my life wath thpared."
Alas ! the future admiral lisped.
George Dewey was sent first, when a little chap, to the
Washington County Grammar School in Montpelier. The
scholars there did not have the reputation of being amenable
to discipline, and it is to be feared that George was no excep-
tion to the rule. To this school, after a variety of failures,
came Mr. Z. K. Pangborn, now Major Z. K. Pangborn of the
Jersey City Journal. The boys, quite exhilarated by the suc-
cess they had had with former masters, made a bold stand,
with young George Dewey to the front and center. George
was at once called upon for examination, but, the spirit of
mutiny being rife within him, he declined to go. The dominie
226 LEADERS OF MEN.
thereupon seized the collar of young Dewey with one hand
and his whip with the other ; no quarter being cried, none was
given, and the lad got a whipping the like of which had never
been served out in that district. He was then told to go
home, and Mr. Pangborn went along, the rest of the school
trooping at his heels. Dr. Dewey stood at his door, and siz-
ing the situation at sight of the procession, dismissed the boys
and took the schoolmaster and George to his study.
"What is it, my son ?" he asked.
In answer George stripped off coat and shirt and showed a
back covered with red stripes, which gave his father more
pain than he felt himself. But the doctor was a just man — a
very just one. Perceiving that George was still not as repent-
ant as he should be, he brought him round by declaring that
he himself would add to the punishment if Mr. Pangborn had
not given enough. The hint proved sufficient.
It was natural that a boy of Dewey's spirit should grow to
have an affection for the dominie who did not flinch from his
duty. When Mr. Pangborn went to Johnson, Vt., a year or
so afterward to establish a private academy, George followed
him thither by his own request. Perhaps it was here he wrote
the essays on " Fame," which his sister treasured for a quarter
of a century or more and sent to him six years ago. Captain
Dewey replied on reading it over that it was much better than
he ever expected to write again.
At fifteen he went to the Norwich Military Academy at
Norwich, Vt., and it was while there he conceived a strong
taste for a military life, and expressed a desire to go to
Annapolis. This was greatly against his father's wishes.
But it had never been the doctor's policy to thwart his chil-
dren, and he consented. It so happened that Dewey men-
tioned his ambition to George Spalding, a schoolmate of his,
to discover that Spalding had like designs. It was Spalding
who obtained the appointment, and Dewey the alternate,
through Senator Foote. But fate, in the guise of a stern New
England mother, stepped in at this juncture, and so it came
about that the Rev. George B. Spalding preached a war
sermon in Syracuse, New York, upon the occasion of his old
schoolmate's great victory.
Dewey entered the class of 1854 at the age of seventeen.
At that time he was a strong, active boy of medium height,
GEORGE DEWEY. 227
with flashing black eyes and shoulders beginning to broaden.
He could swim as one born to the water should, and excelled
in all outdoor exercises. At Annapolis he found the line
sharply drawn between the Northern and Southern boys, and
George proceeded at once to get into trouble. He had a spirit
that would bear no insult, and he was singled out by the
leader of the Southern lads as the most promising of the
Northern faction, for a little excitement. The Southerner was
not disappointed. George was far from resenting the term
of " Yankee " ; he thought that of " dough-face " more oppro-
brious, and as the quarrel grew his enemy did not stop there.
So, one day, coming out of mess, George waited for him and
calmly knocked him down, and got decidedly the better of
the mix-up that followed. Sometime afterward he had an
inkstand hurled at his head in the reading room, which re-
sulted in another personal encounter, with the freshman admi-
ral again victorious. But the matter did not end even here,
for the Southerner wrote a challenge to mortal combat with
pistols at close range. The offer was accepted with alacrity,
the seconds chosen, and even the ground paced off, when the
classmates, seriously alarmed, informed some of the officers
stationed at Annapolis. And so again fate was kind to
Dewey's country.
It is pleasant to learn, when now the South and the North
are firmly united under the one flag with one heart for our
country, that the breach was eventually healed. On both
sides were lads of honor and courage, quick to recognize these
qualities in the other, and. as the class became united, George
Dewey grew to be one of its most popular members. Some-
how, a quiet fellow who can " do things " is always popular,
and George was this kind.
Young Dewey was graduated in 1858, number five in his
class. But fourteen out of perhaps sixty-five who started in
received diplomas. George was not naturally a student, but
he excelled in the study of seamanship. It may be well to
mention here that Admiral Dewey is the logical result of a
system which produces the best naval officers in the world.
The reason of this is not far to seek. We have not only the
very finest of material to choose from, for the American offi-
cer combines valuable qualities of his own with the necessary
traits which are found in the English and other northern
228 LEADERS OF MEN.
races, but also because the whole result of the Annapolis
training may be summed up in the phrase "the survival of
the fittest." It is the refined metal alone that comes out.
At Annapolis a lad is thrown entirely upon his own resources.
He knows there is no bottom under him if he falls ; and he is
forced to enter into competition with the brightest minds from
all over the country for his very existence, as it were. And he
is put to a discipline and hardship more rigid than that of the
enlisted man aboard ship. His superiors know no such thing
as favor.
George Dewey entered the academy with a hatred of
lying. He went into the service with this feeling intensified,
and in all the years he has been at sea he has been lenient
with Jack for every offense but this. As a midshipman he
was sent to the European station, cruising for two years in
the Mediterranean on the Wabash, with Captain Barron, of
Virginia, who afterward joined the Confederate navy. Visit-
ing Jerusalem he sent an olivewood cane to his grandfather,
then living in Vermont. The old gentleman died with that
cane by his side, and his very last words were of affection
for the grandson who had sent it. In 1860 George returned
to Annapolis to be examined for a commission, showing his
ability by leading his fellows. This stand, combined with
that of his graduation, gave him a final rating of three in his
class.
A great deed like the victory of Manila is not the accom-
plishment of an hour, nor yet of a day, but of a lifetime.
The spirit that impelled the eleven-year-old hero across the
flood was the same, to be sure, as that which sent Commodore
Dewey into a black harbor in the Malay archipelago, past un-
known shallows and frowning forts and over torpedoes, to
fight a treacherous race. But in the commodore, boyish dar-
ing was tempered by years of hard study of his profession and
other years of hard fighting in some of the fiercest battles of
the Civil War.
Dewey was at home in Montpelier when Sumter was fired
upon. One week afterward he secured his commission as
lieutenant and was ordered to the steam sloop Mississippi, of
the west Gulf squadron. He was then twenty-three years
of age, and the black eye had become piercing. It will be
remembered that Farragut raised his flag over this fleet in
GEORGE DEWEY. 229
February, 1862. The Mississippi was the only side-wheeler
of the lot. Commander Melancthon Smith was her captain
and Dewey her first lieutenant. Early in April the larger
ships, the Mississippi among them, were unloaded and hauled
over the bar, and by the night of the twenty-third the squadron
was ready for the business of running past the formidable bat-
teries of St. Philip and Jackson, ready to conquer the Con-
federate fleet beyond and to press on to New Orleans.
Farragut divided his ships into two divisions, Capt. Theo-
dore Bailey to have command of that going first, and the
Mississippi was the third in his line. Decks were white-
washed, no lights were showing, and the night was inky
black save for the lurid red of an occasional Confederate fire.
The big ships, having a speed of only eight knots, hugged the
shore to avoid the swift current. On, on they steamed, a
slow, stately procession that knew no check, until the flames
of the broadside guns leaped into the very ports of the bat-
teries and the shot struck in mid-air. So close were they that
the gunners hurled curses at each other across the narrow
space of black water. On the high bridge of the side-wheeler,
in the midst of belching smoke and flame, stood Dewey, guid-
ing the Mississippi as calmly as though he were going up
New York bay on a still afternoon in Indian summer. He
was perfect master of himself.
"Do you know the channel, Dewey?" Captain Smith
asked anxiously and more than once as he paced from port to
starboard. The lieutenant was very young, only twenty-four,
and the situation would have tried a veteran.
" Yes, sir," replied Dewey with confidence each time. But
he admitted afterward that he expected to ground any mo-
ment.
This is how Chief Engineer Baird, U. S. N., who was there,
remembers him : "I can see him now in the red and yellow
glare flung from the cannon-mouths. It was like some terri-
ble thunderstorm with almost incessant lightning. For an
instant all would be dark and Dewey unseen. Then the forts
would belch forth, and there he was away up in the midst of
it, the flames from the guns almost touching him, and the big
shot and shell passing near enough to him to blow him over
with their breath, while he held firmly to the bridge rail.
Every time the dark came back I felt sure that we would
230 LEADERS OF MEN.
never see Dewey again. But at the next flash there he stood.
His hat was blown off and his eyes were aflame. But he gave
his orders with the air of a man'in thorough command of him-
self. He took in everything. He saw a point of advantage
and seized it at once. And when from around the hull of the
Pensacola the rebel ram darted, Dewey like a flash saw what
was best to be done, and as he put his knowledge into words
the head of the Mississippi fell off, and when the ram came up
alongside the entire starboard broadside plunged a mass of
iron shot and shell through her armor, and she began to sink.
Her crew ran her ashore and escaped. A boatfs crew from
our ship went on board, thinking to extinguish the flames
which our broadside had started and capture her. But she
was too far gone. Dewey took us all through the fight, and
in a manner which won the warmest praise, not only of all
on board, but of Farragut himself. He was cool from first to
last, and after we had passed the fort and reached safety, and
he came down from the bridge, his face was black with
smoke, but there was n't a drop of perspiration on his brow."
Things began to go wrong on the river a year later, and
Farragut once more ran up from the Gulf to adjust them.
Port Hudson shoals and currents are among the most danger-
ous on the stream, and it was while running the forts here
that the Mississippi was lost. The Hartford and Albatross
led, then came the Monongahela and Kineo, the Richmond
and Genesee, followed by the Mississippi alone. The Monon-
gahela and her consort both grounded, though they managed
to get off. But directly opposite the center of the Port Hud-
son battery the Mississippi stuck hard and fast, as fair a
target as could be wished. Shot after shot was poured into
her until her hull was riddled, and she had to be abandoned.
She was hit two hundred and fifty times in half an hour. The
officers who took the first boats never returned, and so the
task of getting the men to safety devolved upon Lieutenant
Dewey. Twice he went to the Richmond and twice came
back, until at last he and Captain Smith stood alone on the
deck. She was set afire in five places. "Are you sure she
will burn, Dewey?" the captain asked as he paused in the
gangway. Dewey risked his life to go to the ward room for a
last look, and together they left the ship, Dewey without his
coat tails, sorrowfully, with the shot splashing all around him.
GEORGE DEWEY. 231
Lieutenant Dewey was then made first lieutenant of one of
the gunboats which Farragut used as a dispatch boat. The
admiral used often to come aboard and steam up near the
levee to reconnoiter, and he grew to have a great liking for
the quiet young lieutenant. The Southerners had a way of
rushing a field piece to the top of the high bank, firing point-
blank at the gunboat, and then of backing down again. Upon
one such occasion Farragut sawDewey dodge a shot. Said he:—
" Why don't you stand firm, lieutenant ? Don't you know
you can't jump quick enough ?"
A day or so after the admiral dodged a shot. The lieuten-
ant smiled and held his tongue ; but the admiral had a guilty
conscience. He cleared his throat once or twice, shifted his
attitude, and finally declared : —
" Why, sir, you can't help it, sir. It 's human nature, and
there 's an end to it."
Lieutenant Dewey that same year was at Donaldsonville,
and afterward succeeded to the temporary command of the
Monongahela when her captain, Abner Read, was killed.
If getting into the thick of the fighting be deemed good
fortune (and Admiral Dewey would call it so), Lieutenant
Dewey was one of the luckiest officers in the war. He was
Commodore Henry Knox Thatcher's first lieutenant on the
Colorado at Fort Fisher in December and January, 1864-65.
The Colorado, you may be sure, was well within striking
distance of the fort, but, being a wooden ship, was in the
second circle. Toward the end of the second engagement,
when matters were moving the right way, Admiral Porter
signaled Thatcher to close in and silence a certain part of the
works. As the ship had already received no inconsiderable
damage, her officers remonstrated. But Dewey, who, in addi-
tion to dash and bravery, had now acquired marked tactical
ability, was quick to see the advantage to be gained by the
move. "We shall be safer in there," he said quietly, "and
the work can be taken in fifteen minutes." It was. The New
York Times, commenting upon this part of the action, spoke
of it as " the most beautiful duel of the war." When Admiral
Porter came to congratulate Thatcher the latter said, gener-
ously : —
" You must thank Lieutenant Dewey, sir. It was his
move."
232 LEADERS OF MEN.
The "move" won for Thatcher the nomination of acting
rear admiral, and when, next month, he was sent to relieve
Farragut at Mobile Bay, he recommended Dewey for his fleet
captaincy. Probably the department hesitated, for fear of
arousing jealousy, to give so great a promotion to so young a
man, for Dewey was not appointed. But in March, 18G5, two
months after Fort Fisher, his courage was promptly rewarded
by a commission as a lieutenant-commander.
After the war Lieutenant-Commander Dewey served for
two years on the European squadron, first on the Kear-
sarge, and then on the flagship Colorado. In 1867, while
on duty at Portsmouth, he became engaged to Miss Susy
Goodwin, daughter of Ichabod Goodwin, known as the " fight-
ing governor" of New Hampshire. In 1868 he was attached
to the Naval Academy, then in charge of Admiral Porter, and
many officers now in the navy have a keen recollection of the
hospitable quarters on the Santee. In 1870 he received his
first command, that of the Narragansett. In 1872 came the
great and, so far as the public knows, the only cloud upon
his life. Late in that year he was left a widower. The admi-
ral has one son, George Goodwin Dewey, born in 1872. He
has not followed his father's career, but after graduating at
Princeton embarked in business in New York city.
In 1875 Lieutenant-Commander Dewey was advanced to
be commander, and was assigned to the Lighthouse Board.
Next he was in command of the Juniata, of the Asiatic
squadron, and recent events showed that he employed his
opportunities to good advantage. He was honored in 1884,
upon attaining his captaincy, by receiving the Dolphin,
which was among the very first vessels in our new navy, then
known as the " White Squadron."
It was in New York harbor, while on the Dolphin, that
Captain Dewey showed how thoroughly he knew the vagaries
of human nature as well as the principles of good discipline.
Perhaps he bore in mind some lesson inculcated in early youth
by a wise father. At any rate, the admiral has always been
noted for his ability to deal with "Jack." The "Jack" in
question was a paymaster's yeoman, or something of the
kind, and he refused to obey an order of the first lieutenant,
because, he said, it was outside the line of his duty. The lieu-
tenant, after vainly remonstrating with him, reported the
GEORGE DEWEY. 233
matter to Captain Dewey, who sauntered out on deck and
looked his man through and through, which made the yeo-
man exceedingly uncomfortable. Nevertheless he remained
stubborn. " What ! " said the captain, "you refuse ! Do you
know that that is mutiny ? When you entered the service you
swore to obey your superior officers." The man was silent
and made no move, whereupon the captain very quietly told
the corporal to call the guard, stood the obdurate yeoman on
the far side of the deck and bade the marines load. Then he
took out his watch. "Now, my man," said he, "you have
just five minutes in which to obey that order," and began to
call the minutes. At the fourth count the yeoman moved off
with considerable alacrity, and has since been one of the
strongest opponents of the policy of tampering with the " old
man," as the admiral has for some time erroneously but
affectionately been called in the forecastle.
From the Dolphin, in 1885, Captain Dewey went to the
Pensacola, then flagship of the European squadron. Since
1888 he has occupied various responsible positions on shore,
such as a second time a member of the Lighthouse Board and
chief of the Bureau of Equipment. At his promotion to be
commodore he went to the head of the Board of Inspection
and Survey. It is said that the commodore was averse to the
Asiatic station, where he hoisted his burgee on the first day
of 1898. He had been in poor health, however, and welcomed
sea duty on that account, as did his friends for him. But war
with Spain was then among the strong probabilities, and
Commodore Dewey regretted being sent so far away from the
Atlantic, which the naval experts considered was to be the
principal battle ground. As the commodore was leaving New
York for his new station he made the remark, which has
since proved to have been not without significance, that he
was the first commodore in Asiatic waters since Perry. As it
turned out he went, as ever, into the thick of it. The depart-
ment put the right man into the right place.
The characters of Admiral Dewey and of his father, Dr.
Dewey, are in many respects strongly alike, despite the dif-
ferent fields of usefulness in which each has been placed.
Both have the same quiet sense of humor and the habit of
looking at the bright side of life. Both are the rare type of
man who does that duty which comes to hand with all his
234 LEADERS OF MEN.
might. The doctor was a man to be trusted implicitly ; so is
the admiral, and that fact has even become a byword at the
Navy Department. The doctor's nature was essentially reli-
gious, of the special kind of religion which is known as
charity ; Dr. Dewey's charity began at home, with his chil-
dren, to spread over the countryside. The admiral's has
spread wherever Jack Tar has trod. He makes no parade of
religion ; his devotional books and his Bible are hid in his
cabin where none can see them. But they are there. The
admiral has won fame because it came in the line of duty.
He did not seek it, but the custom he had formed of doing
things well made it inevitable. And this custom he got from
his father.
Both men are quiet. The admiral talks little but never
about himself. He also comes naturally by a love of music
and has an excellent voice ; there are many men and women
now in Montpelier, who remember with pleasure the guitar
he brought home from Norwich and the songs he sang to it.
At Annapolis he was a member of the midshipman's choir.
He also inherits from the doctor his love of children. The
youngsters in his native town call him " Uncle Captain," and
when he revisits the old place he is frequently surrounded by
a juvenile audience, for he tells a child's story to perfection,
which in itself is no mean gift. Of late years his health has
not been rugged, but he is an ardent sportsman, indulging
his taste when it is possible, but of all lubberly exercises he
prefers riding. His manner with strangers is almost reserved,
but cordial ; with friends he is unmistakably earnest. Out-
side of the study of tactics and of his profession, which he
has most completely mastered, he has read little.
The admiral, as may be supposed, has an eminently human
side to him. He is exceedingly popular, especially in Wash-
ington, where he belongs to several clubs, the Metropolitan,
and the Army and Navy. He is also a member of the Uni-
versity Club of New York, and was at one time of the Somer-
set, Boston.
At the farewell dinner given to him in November of 1897,
Colonel Hopkins recited some verses of his own which seem
to embody the enthusiastic esteem in which the commodore is
held: —
GEORQE DEWEY. 235
"Ashore, afloat, on deck, below,
Or where our bulldogs roar,
To back a friend or breast a foe,
We pledge the commodore.
" We know our honor '11 be sustained
Where'er his pennant flies ;
Our rights respected and maintained,
Whatever power defies."
Perhaps the admiral has gained a somewhat unjust reputa-
tion in regard to dress ; he has, at least, proved that the art of
being spick and span is not at variance with that of a sea
fighter. He has done more ; he has settled it for all time that
they go together properly. A neat appearance runs a long
way toward one's estimate of a man, and if the admiral really
is as particular to shift into evening clothes at the stroke of
the bell as he is to change the watch at sea, that is as it should
be. One of the most vivid recollections which a niece at
Montpelier retains of her uncle is a long row of boots strung
outside of the captain's door.
This peculiarity has served to raise him in the estimation
of the men forward, who believe that an officer should be
everything that he requires of his ship. And however they
may grumble at scrubbing and " bright work," they have no
use for a captain who lets his ship go. The admiral, in re-
turn, has a strong sympathy for the enlisted man. " Give him
a show. He '11 be good now," is a remark he has often been
heard to make. He bears in mind the hardships of forecastle
life, and is almost long-suffering of liberty-breakers, foc'sle-
scrappers, and others who come aboard not quite what they
should be. Intuitively a leader of men, he has found the
faintly drawn line between leniency on the one hand and im-
position on the other. A factor in the Manila victory by no
means to be despised was the enlisted man, and it may be
counted upon as certain that the jackies of the Asiatic squad-
ron were one and all for Dewey.
A blue jacket who made a cruise with him tells this charac-
teristic story in the New York Sun. I give it in his own
words, that the flavor may not be lost : " We had n't been to
sea with him long before we got next to how he despised a
liar. One of the petty officers went ashore at Gibraltar, got
236 LEADERS OF MEN.
mixed up with the soldiers in the canteens on the hill and
came off to the ship paralyzed. He went before the captain
at the mast the next morning. He gave Dewey the 'two-
beers-and-sunstruck ' yarn.
"'You're lying, my man,' said Dewey. 'You were very
drunk. I myself heard you aft in my cabin. I will not have
my men lie to me. I don't expect to find total abstinence in a
man-o'-war crew. But I do expect them to tell me the truth,
and I am going to have them tell me the truth. Had you told
me candidly that you took a drop too much on your liberty,
you'd have been forward by this time, for you at least re-
turned to the ship. For lying you get ten days in irons. Let
me have the truth hereafter. I am told you are a good sea-
man. A good seaman has no business lying.'
"After that there were few men aboard who didn't throw
themselves on the mercy of the court when they waltzed up to
the stick before Dewey, and none of us ever lost anything by
it. He'd have to punish us in accordance with regulations,
but he had a great way of ordering the release of men he had
to sentence to the brig, before their time was half worked out."
When war broke out between this country and Spain, Com-
modore Dewey at Hong-Kong, found himself in a singular
and trying position. He was forced to leave British waters,
and with no coaling station nearer than Honolulu there was
but one thing to do — take Manila. But the taking of Manila
involved first the capture and destruction of the Spanish fleet,
which in turn was comparatively simple after it was once cor-
nered. A Spanish fleet with a couple of thousand islands to
dodge among is about as easy to catch as a hog in a ten-acre
lot. Fortunately for Dewey, however, Montojo evidently had
the notion that the American commodore had been long
enough in the tropics to appreciate the blessings of that word
" to-morrow."
It is said that Commodore Dewey, counting on this trait of
the Spanish character as well as upon existing conditions
when he left Mirs Bay, predicted to a day the time of the
battle. He also had his mind then made up as to what he
was going to do, and he carried out his programme without
a hitch. The harbor of Manila lies on the western side of
Luzon, the principal island in the Philippine group, and is
about one hundred and twenty miles in circumference — too
GEORGE DEWEY. 237
large to afford adequate shelter for vessels putting in there.
It was protected by forts at the entrance, the most important
being upon Corregidor Island, where the squadron arrived
about eight o'clock on Saturday evening, April 30. The moon
was up, but no lights showed from the ships until a spark
from the dispatch boat McCulloch drew the fire of the forts.
It was returned, and the fleet passed on. Steaming at slow
speed all night, with the men at full length beside their guns,
gray dawn disclosed the sleeping city of Manila, and Cavite,
with its white houses and battlements, and its great arsenal
close at hand. And there, best news of all after the peril-
ous darkness through which few men slept, lay the Spanish
fleet, afloat on the dead water of daybreak. A great shout,
as of one accord and from one throat, went up from the Amer-
ican ships : —
" Remember the Maine ! "
It is not clear from the reports in what shape the Spaniards
were discovered or how they maneuvered afterward. Proba-
bly the Reina Cristina and some of the larger vessels got
up anchor and formed a line of battle. But that does not
matter. Suffice it to say that Commodore Dewey, heading
his own line in the Olyrnpia, steamed past them five times
with a gradually decreasing range, and practically annihi-
lated the enemy's fleet, forts and all, in two hours. Then he
drew off, as the morning was very hot and the men had had
only a cup of coffee, and ate breakfast. After a little rest he
returned and finished his work.
He did not lose a ship nor one of his brave men. The mat-
ter was as simply and effectively carried out as a bit of
squadron evolution off the Chesapeake capes. Our officers
navigated among strange shoals with a sure hand, and the
superb gunnery that has been our pride since the days of
John Paul Jones did the rest. The Spanish loss was fearful.
Neither squadron contained an armored ship. The Ameri-
can vessels had their vitals covered by what are known as
protective decks, while but two of the Spanish ships were so
built. But for all that they might have riddled and sunk some
of our squadron had they been able to shoot. The little
Petrel, secure in their wild inaccuracy, danced up to within
a thousand yards of their forts.
The results are best told by Admiral Dewey himself. His
238 LEADERS OF MEN.
terse cablegrams have become history. At Manila Bay he
showed the effects of his schooling under Farragut. One of
Farragut's strongest points was his ability to choose the
most advantageous distance, even when it brought him within
a biscuit's throw of the batteries, as at Fort St. Philip. And
the same fearlessness and cocksureness which led Farragut
into Mobile Bay and up the Mississippi, sent Dewey straight
to Manila.
The service knows Dewey as an ideal head of a fleet. Per-
fectly courageous, of thoroughly balanced judgment, and
quick of decision, he has the qualities which carry one to
fame if opportunity be given. The man and the hour fortu-
nately came together, and the country is the richer in another
brilliant page of history and another heroic figure.
Whatever this war has cost or may cost, it will be repaid
to the country in the very wonderful influence upon the young
people of our land, who will surely grow to manhood and wo-
manhood with exalted views of patriotism and duty, which it
is worth almost any sacrifice to have instilled.
Dewey in this light stands for far more than the brilliant
victor in a famous fight, or as the author of a proud page of
history. His career has given a lofty impetus to the young,
which will bear noble fruit in nobler aspiration. He has be-
come one of the most valued possessions which a nation can
have — a national hero. After all, the Romans read more
deeply into the human heart, and into the impalpable causes
which sway humanity, when they apotheosized their great
men, than we are apt to grant. Washington, Nelson, Far-
ragut, and the others on the long list of men of heroic deeds
stand for aspiration and noble planes of life and thought.
Every man added is the world's gain, and to such a list must
be added the name of Dewey.
In a summary of the characteristics of Admiral Dewey
must not be omitted his never-failing consideration of others ;
his avoidance of act or word that suggests the importance of
his own unique position ; his finesse of manner and speech,
and man-of-the-world nature mingled with a directness and
force of speech and rugged sailor spirit which show them-
selves as conditions demand ; and, finally, his everyday,
matter-of-fact method of living, acting, and talking
There is no better term than " horse-sense," though it be
ADMIRAL DEWEY AT MANILA.
COMMON SENSE. 241
homely, to express the strongest quality in the make-up of the
Admiral. He knows that the use of common sense in all acts
is the greatest influence for success, and he never fails to em-
ploy the good stock of it he possesses. After all, in life, that
is what a man needs more to meet every emergency than any-
thing else.
COMMON SENSE.
,OMMON sense is the most uncommon kind of sense,"
said Dr. Emmons ; and a truer remark was never
made. It is the kind of sense for which we have the
most use ; and, therefore, it ought to be more common than
it is. But the schools cannot furnish it. Teachers cannot
teach it. Pupils must possess it in the natural way, by birth-
right, or cultivate it by sharp observation. It is what some
writers call "tact," or is closely related to it.
It is told of four men who met in Australia, that three of
them were college graduates who worked on a sheep farm for
the fourth, who was too ignorant to read and write, or to keep
accounts. One of the three employees had taken a degree at
Oxford, another at Cambridge, and the third at a German
university ; and here they were, at last, on a sheep farm !
College educated to take care of brutes ! Evidently.they had
missed the mark. Educated to be leaders of thought, they
became drivers of sheep. They had failed in every undertak-
ing for want of common sense, and finally became the serv-
ants of a man who knew as little about school as they did
about the common affairs of life. But the ranchman had
a practical turn of mind, and had become wealthy by his
business. Without an education, he had accomplished more
by his common sense than his employees had, though drilled
in the curriculum of famous universities. The fact shows
that education does not create common sense. It was a born
quality in the ranchman, but left out of the students' make-up,
and the best university could not supply the deficiency. Cul-
ture against ignorance, the college against the ranch; and
the ranch beat every time ; not because the ranchman knew
more, nor because he knew less, but because of the practical
use he made of what he did know. It is no argument against
the highest education, but it is an argument for the culti-
242 LEADERS OF MEN.
vation of common sense. All the knowledge in the world is
of little use to him who does not know how to use it.
A professor of mathematics in a New England college was
called a "bookworm." Books were all he knew. His knowl-
edge of common things was very limited indeed. One day, as
he was going out, his wife asked him to call at the store and
get some coffee. Before returning he called for the coffee.
"How much will you have?" inquired the merchant. The
inquiry was unexpected by the professor, and related to a
practical matter about which he knew nothing, so he answered,
after a little, " Well, I declare ; my wife did not say, but I
think a bushel will be enough." The fact does not discount
mathematics, but it does plead eloquently for acquaintance
with common things.
Dr. Emmons, who made the wise remark quoted at the
beginning of this paper, had very little knowledge of the com-
mon affairs of life. He did not know how to harness or un-
harness a horse. He was never known to attempt to harness
one ; but, on one occasion, in peculiar circumstances, he did
unharness the faithful old family horse, but in doing so took
the harness entirely to pieces, unbuckling every strap, so that
it took his hired man some time to put it together again. The
hired man said, "That horse was too much unharnessed."
How can we account for such lack of common sense ? The
author could scarcely credit a fact like the foregoing had he
not seen it with his own eyes. How can it be explained ? In
this case, another incident will answer. We were getting the
doctor's best hay into the barn. There were three loads of it.
On reaching the barn with the second load, the hired man
observed a shower coming up very rapidly, and he said to the
doctor, who was near by, " The other load will get wet unless
the boy has some one to help him take it away." The doc-
tor took the hint, but answered promptly, " Making hay is
your business, and making sermons mine." He went to his
study, and the hay got wet. Here was singleness of purpose
with a vengeance. Dr. Emmons did not believe in knowing
how to do but one thing, so he gave common sense no show
at all.
Such examples illustrate the importance of becoming
familiar with common things, and the process of doing so
cultivates common sense. In this way men become practical.
COMMON SENSE. 243
They learn, thereby, not only what to do, but how to do it ;
and the former is of little value without the latter.
The schools give learning, but experience in the daily busi-
ness of life gives wisdom, and wisdom is better than learn-
ing. Abraham Lincoln's hard experience in the backwoods,
and his struggles to enter the legal profession, were of more
value to him than a college diploma. These qualified him to
conquer secession, and steer the ship of state through the
roughest political waters ever sailed over. A well-trained
mind, rather than learning, makes a great statesman, and his
was well trained by the stern necessities and experiences of
early life.
Gibbon says, " Every person has two educations, — one he
receives from others, and the other he gives to himself."
Doctor Emmons had only one, that he received " from others,"
— the college. Lincoln had only one, that which he gave to
himself in the practical things of life. Both might have
accomplished more by the two educations combined.
General Grant was a " matter-of-fact man " — that is, a
man of sound common sense. General Sherman recognized
this dominating quality in him when he wrote that famous
letter that contained these words : " My only point of doubt
was in your knowledge of grand strategy, and in books of
science and history ; but I confess your common sense seems
to have supplied all these." Common sense did more for
Grant and the country than whole libraries of military science
and tactics. It studied "details." In like manner, the wis-
dom of Napoleon and Wellington compassed the smallest
matters, — " shoes, camp-kettles, biscuit, horse-fodder, and the
exact speed at which bullocks were to be driven."
Common sense adapts men to circumstances, and makes
them equal to the occasion. Without it, they "may say even
their prayers out of time," and may aspire to take the second
step before the first has been taken. For this need, Dean
Swift nearly starved in an obscure country parish, while Staf-
ford, his blockhead classmate with practical sense, reveled in
wealth and popularity. Beethoven, the great musical com-
poser, exposed himself to ridicule when he sent three hundred
florins to the store to pay for a pair of shirts and six hand-
kerchiefs. He lacked common sense in common affairs.
When a merchant acts like a statesman, it is proof that he
244 LEADERS OF MEN.
has common sense, but when a statesman acts like an inferior
merchant, it is proof that he has none. Wellington "never
lost a battle because he was a good business man," his biog-
rapher said. That is, he had common sense. It was so with
Gerritt Smith, in a smaller way, and in everyday affairs,
when he settled a difficulty between two of his laborers about
milking a cow, by taking the pail and milking her himself.
It closed hostilities on his farm as effectually as Wellington's
skillful tactics closed the conflict between the English and
French at Waterloo. Common sense that successfully manip-
ulates the smaller things of life, is competent to utilize the
greater ; therefore, have it at any cost.
Some one has said that "more men of ordinary than of ex-
traordinary ability possess common sense." Whether true or
not, one of the most famous men of science that ever lived,
Baron Humboldt, possessed this attribute in a high degree.
His judgment was equally good in great and little things.
He was familiar with the common affairs of life, as well as
with the most difficult problems of science. He was always
sensible and wise. His opinions, in consequence, were of
great value. He was the author of "Kosmos," and other
great works, in which are manifest both "his common and his
uncommon sense." To the personal influence of Humboldt is
due nearly all that the Prussian government did for science,
in the latter part of his life. Agassiz said of him, " The in-
fluence he exerted upon science is incalculable. With him
ends a great period in the history of science, a period to
which Cuvier, Laplace, Arago, Gay-Lussac, De Candolle, and
Robert Brown belonged."
CHAPTER XI.
ALBERT JEREMIAH BEVERIDGE.
ON WHAT BRINGS SUCCESS HIS EARLY STRUGGLES HOW HE COM-
PLETED HIS COLLEGE COURSE — -A HARD WORKER AND BRILLIANT SPEAKER
IN COLLEGE PREPARES FOR THE BAR HIS RAPID RISE AS A LAWYER
ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS FORENSIC POWER ■
CAREER IN POLITICS ELECTION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE — -PHILIP-
PINE SPEECH. TACT.
There are so many elements of success in business, in
professional life, in everyday pursuits, that I feel incom-
petent even to name them. I don't believe
there is any chief element. Ability, tact,
absolute integrity, unflagging perseverance
that never gives up, good health, creating
and organizing ability — a full dozen of ele-
ments there are, without any of which a
man would be likely to make a failure.
Nor must we forget the importance of
work, labor, incessant labor. The Latin
adage has it, "Labor conquers all things."
There is much truth in that. No work for
the world, for humanity, even for ourselves, has ever been
done with ease. Even our bread must we eat by the sweat
of our faces.
LBERT J. BEVERIDGE, United States Senator from
Indiana, was born on a farm in Highland county,
Ohio, October 6, 1862. During the war his father's
fortune was swept away by financial reverses, and from
early youth Albert was inured to a life of toil. As a boy he
worked on a farm as a laborer ; at fourteen he was in the em-
ploy of a railroad contractor driving an old-fashioned scraper
246 LEADERS OF MEN.
in constructing the roadbed, and at sixteen he was in charge
of a logging camp. To-day he is prouder that he is an ex-
pert logger than of any other acquirement. Courage and in-
dustry characterized his career from the beginning. He is a
self-made man in the broadest sense and meaning of the term.
His advance has been rapid and steady.
From his meager income as a day laborer he saved enough
money to enter De Pauw University, from which he was
graduated in 188G. There the same industry, perseverance,
ambition, and thirst for knowledge which characterized his
early youth soon won for him recognition and distinction.
During his entire college course he supported himself by the
prizes he took and from work he did in vacation. He was an
indefatigable worker and delighted in intellectual and espe-
cially in forensic contests. Naturally gifted with a brilliant
intellect and keen discrimination, he gained a reputation as
an orator early in his college career. He was a splendid stu-
dent, especially well informed in history ; ardent and thorough
in his examinations of public questions, intense and untiring
in his eagerness to win in everything he undertook.
As an orator he was regarded in the college from which he
graduated as possessing the art in the highest degree. He
won the State oratorical contest as a representative of De
Pauw, and the Interstate contest held at Columbus, Ohio, in
1885. As a college politician, he was in charge of his "fac-
tion," as college political parties were called, and created and
maintained an organization that never sustained a single
defeat.
In 1886 Mr. Beveridge entered the law office of McDonald
& Butler at Indianapolis as a clerk. There his ability, in-
dustry, and close application to business soon won for him the
confidence of his employers, and he was intrusted with much
of the important law business of the firm. In 1887 he was
admitted to the Indianapolis bar. In 1888 he was married to
Katharine M. Langsdale, daughter of George J. Langsdale of
Greencastle, Indiana. From the day of their marriage till the
time of her death in 1900, his wife was a noble inspiration to
his ambition, and a wise and safe counselor in all his legal
and political achievements. The same year in which he was
married, Mr. Beveridge entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession on his own account in Indianapolis. In that, as in
ALBERT JEREMIAH BEVERIDGE. 247
everything else in which he has been engaged, his progress
was rapid and he soon took rank as one of the leading at-
torneys of the Indiana bar.
Since his college days his fame as an orator has grown,
and he is now regarded as one of the foremost orators in the
country. This talent won for him distinction in the law and
honors in the field of politics. He thinks and speaks with
amazing rapidity. He is ready in debate, quick to see the
force of a point made by an opponent, remarkably resource-
ful and dexterous in bringing to the front the argument that
is necessary to oppose it, which is always delivered with pecu-
liar forcefulness and broadside effect. He has a sympathetic
voice ; is forceful, impressive, and magnetic in manner, and
at times in the delivery of a climax is intensely dramatic.
The services of Mr. Beveridge as a political speaker have
been in demand since 1884, when he participated in the cam-
paign in Indiana. In recent years he has responded to
invitations to deliver addresses upon a number of important
occasions and on various topics.
In 1894, 1896, and 1898 Senator Beveridge took the stump
for the Republican party in Indiana, and in each of the three
campaigns made a most brilliant and effective speaking tour
of the state, contributing largely to the success of the party.
At the close of the campaign in 1898, his friends announced
him as a candidate for the United States Senate. Notwith-
standing the fact that he had never before been a candidate
for office, his reputation as a lawyer, speaker, and political
counselor had attracted such universal attention that his
many friends and political admirers in the state came to
his support, and in a joint caucus of the Senate and House of
Representatives of the General Assembly of Indiana on
January 17, 1899, he was declared the caucus nominee to suc-
ceed David Turpie in the United States Senate. At the time
of his election to the highest legislative branch of the govern-
ment he was little past thirty-six years of age and was one of
the youngest members of the Senate.
Soon after his election to the Senate he went to the Philip-
pines to study the conditions in the islands, in order that he
might be informed on important questions involved in the
policy of dealing with territory that came into the possession
of the United States as a result of the War with Spain.
248 LEADERS OF MEN.
Notwithstanding the fact that Senator Beveridge was one
of the youngest members of the Senate when he entered the
upper branch of Congress, his ability and industry soon won
for him a place among the leaders of that body. Having
made a special study of insular affairs, a thorough investiga-
tion of our commercial relations with foreign countries, and*
the conditions in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, his
utterances on questions of great import at that time were
accepted as authority. On January 9, 1900, he delivered his
first speech in the Senate. His subject was the "Policy Re-
garding the Philippines," and the speech was the most mas-
terful presentation of the subject yet made. It was prophetic
in character, and events have proved the wisdom of his utter-
ances. In fact, the logic of events has done much to strengthen
Senator Beveridge's position on questions of great moment to
the country. His first speeches in the Senate on the policy
regarding the Philippines and Porto Rico were regarded at
the time by conservative Republicans as radical, and by
Democrats as dangerous. But the passage of the Cuban and
Philippine Resolutions by the Senate and House on February
27, 1901, was a vindication of Senator Beveridge's position on
the questions involved in dealing with those islands previous
to the passage of the resolutions.
His Philippine speech was widely circulated, universally
commented upon, and attracted the attention of politicians
and students of events throughout the civilized world.
TACT.
ClP^OR success in life tact is more important than talent, but
|tT it is not easily acquired by those to whom it does not
come naturally. Still, something can be done by con-
sidering what others would probably wish.
Never lose a chance of giving pleasure. Be courteous to
all. " Civility," said Lady Montagu, " costs nothing and
buys everything."* It buys much, indeed, which no money
will purchase. Try then to win every one you meet. " Win
their hearts," said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, " and you
have all men's hearts and purses."
Tact often succeeds where force fails. Lilly quotes the old
fable of the Sun and the Wind: "It is pretily noted of a
contention betweene the Winde and the Sunne, who should
SENATOR ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE.
TACT. 251
have the victorye. A Gentleman walking abroad, the Winde
thought to blowe off his cloake, which with great Wastes and
blusterings striving to unloose it, made it to stick faster to his
backe, for the more the Winde increased the closer his cloake
clapt to his body : then the Sunne, shining with his hot beams,
began to warm this Gentleman, who, waxing somewhat faint
in this faire weather, did not only put off his cloake but his
coate, which the Winde, perceiving, yeelded the conquest to
the Sunne."
Always remember that men are more easily led than
driven, and that in any case it is better to guide than to coerce.
"What thou wilt
Thou rather shalt enforce it with thy smile,
Than hew to't with thy sword."
It is a good rule in politics, "pas trop gouverner."
Try to win, and still more to deserve, the confidence of
those with whom you are brought in contact. Many a man
has owed his influence far more to character than to ability.
Sydney Smith used to say of Francis Horner, who, without
holding any high office, exercised a remarkable personal influ-
ence in the councils of the nation, that he had the Ten Com-
mandments stamped upon his countenance.
Try to meet the wishes of others as far as you rightly and
wisely can ; but do not be afraid to say " No."
Anybody can say " Yes,"though it is not every one who
can say "Yes" pleasantly ; but it is far more difficult to say
" No." Many a man has been ruined because he could not do
so. Plutarch tells us that the inhabitants of Asia Minor came
to be vassals only for not having been able to pronounce one
syllable, which is "No." And if in the conduct of life it is
essential to say "No," it is scarcely less necessary to be able
to say it pleasantly. We ought always to endeavor that
everybody with whom we have any transactions should feel
that it is a pleasure to do business with us and should wish to
come again. Business is a matter of sentiment and feeling
far more than many suppose ; every one likes being treated
with kindness and courtesy, and a frank pleasant manner
will often clinch a bargain more effectually than a half per
cent.
Almost anyone may make himself pleasant if he wishes.
252 LEADERS OF MEN.
" The desire of pleasing is at least half the art of doing it ; "
and, on the other hand, no one will please others who does not
desire to do so. If you do not acquire this great gift while
you are young, you will find it much more difficult after-
wards. Many a man has owed his outward success in life far
more to good manners than to any solid merit ; while, on the
other hand, many a worthy man, with a good heart and kind
intentions, makes enemies merely by the roughness of his
manner. To be able to please, is, moreover, itself a great
pleasure. Try it and you will not be disappointed.
Be wary and keep cool. A cool head is as necessary as a
warm heart. In any negotiations, steadiness and coolness
are invaluable ; while they will often carry you in safety
through times of danger and difficulty.
If you come across others less clever than you are, you
have no right to look down on them. There is nothing more
to be proud of in inheriting great ability, than a great estate.
The only credit in either case is if they are used well. More-
over, many a man is much cleverer than he seems. It is
far more easy to read books than men. In this the eyes are
a great guide. "When the eyes say one thing and the
tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of
the first."
Do not trust too much to professions of extreme good will.
Men do not fall in love with men, nor women with women, at
first sight. If a comparative stranger protests and promises
too much, do not place implicit confidence in what he says.
If not insincere, he probably says more than he means, and
perhaps wants something himself from you. Do not therefore
believe that every one is a friend, merely because he pro-
fesses to be so ; nor assume too lightly that anyone is an
enemy.
We flatter ourselves by claiming to be rational and intel-
lectual beings, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that
men are always guided by reason. We are strange, incon-
sistent creatures, and we act quite as often, perhaps oftener,
from prejudice or passion. The result is that you are more
likely to carry men with you by enlisting their feelings than
by convincing their reason. This applies, moreover, to com-
panies of men even more than to individuals.
Argument is always a little dangerous. It often leads to
TACT. 253
coolness and misunderstandings. You may gain your argu-
ment and lose your friend, which is probably a bad bargain.
If you must argue, admit all you can, but try to show that
some point has been overlooked. Very few people know
when they have had the worst of an argument, and if they
do, they do not like it. Moreover, if they know they are
beaten, it does not follow that they are convinced. Indeed it
is perhaps hardly going too far to say that it is very little use
trying to convince anyone by argument. State your case as
clearly and concisely as possible, and if you shake his confi-
dence in his own opinion it is as much as you can expect. It
is the first step gained.
Conversation is an art in itself, and it is by no means those
who have most to tell who are the best talkers ; though it is
certainly going too far to say with Lord Chesterfield that
"there are very few captains of foot who are not much better
company than ever were Descartes or Sir Isaac Newton."
I will not say that it is as difficult to be a good listener as a
good talker, but it is certainly by no means easy, and very
nearly as important. You must not receive everything that is
said as a critic or a judge, but suspend your judgment, and try
to enter into the feelings of the speaker. If you are kind and
sympathetic your advice will be often sought, and you will
have the satisfaction of feeling that you have been a help and
comfort to many in distress and trouble.
Do not expect too much attention when you are young.
Sit, listen, and look on. Bystanders proverbially see most of
the game ; and you can notice what is going on just as well,
if not better, when you are not noticed yourself. It is almost
as if you possessed a cap of invisibility.
To save themselves the trouble of thinking, which is to
most people very irksome, men will often take you at your
own valuation. "On ne vaut dans ce monde," says La
Bruyere, " que ce que Von veut valoir."
Do not make enemies for yourself ; you can make nothing
worse.
" Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Lest thou also be like unto him."
Remember that " a soft answer turneth away wrath "; but
even an angry answer is less foolish than a sneer ; nine men
254 LEADERS OF MEN.
out of ten would rather be abused, or even injured, than
laughed at. They will forget almost anything sooner than
being made ridiculous.
"It is pleasanter to be deceived than to be undeceived."
Trasilaus, an Athenian, went mad, and thought that all the
ships in the Piraeus belonged to him, but, having been cured
by Crito, he complained bitterly that he had been robbed. " It
is folly," says Lord Chesterfield, "to lose a friend for a jest :
but, in my mind, it is not a much less degree of folly to make
an enemy of an indifferent and neutral person for the sake of
a bon mot."
Do not be too ready to suspect a slight, or think you are
being laughed at — to say with Scrub in Stratagem, "I am
sure they talked of me, for they laughed consumedly." On
the other hand, if you are laughed at, try to rise above it. If
you can join in heartily, you will turn the tables and gain,
rather than lose. Every one likes a man who can enjoy a
laugh at his own expense — and justly so, for it shows good
humor and good sense. If you laugh at yourself, other people
will not laugh at you.
Have the courage of your opinions. You must expect to
be laughed at sometimes, and it will do you no harm. There
is nothing ridiculous in seeming to be what you really are, but
a good deal in affecting to be what you are not. People often
distress themselves, get angry, and drift into a coolness with
others, for some imaginary grievance.
Be frank, and yet reserved. Do not talk much about your-
self ; neither of yourself, for yourself, nor against yourself :
but let other people talk about themselves, as much as they
will. If they do so it is because they like it, and they will
think all the better of you for listening to them. At any rate
do not show a man, unless it is your duty, that you think he is
a fool or a blockhead. If you do, he has good reason to com-
plain. You may be wrong in your judgment ; he will, and
with some justice, form the same opinion of you.
Burke once said that he could not draw an indictment
against a nation, and it is very unwise as well as unjust to
attack any class or profession. Individuals often forget and
forgive, but societies never do. Moreover, even individuals
will forgive an injury much more readily than an insult.
Nothing rankles so much as being made ridiculous. You will
TACT. 255
never gain your object by putting people out of humor, or
making them look ridiculous.
Goethe, in his " Conversations with Eckermann," warmly
commended Englishmen, because their entrance and bearing
in society were so confident and quiet that one would think
they were everywhere the masters, and the whole world
belonged to them. Eckermann replied that surely young
Englishmen were no cleverer, better educated, or better
hearted than young Germans. "That is not the point," said
Goethe ; " their superiority does not lie in such things, neither
does it lie in their birth and fortune : it lies precisely in their
having the courage to be what nature made them. There is
no halfness about them. They are complete men. Sometimes
complete fools also, that I heartily admit ; but even that is
something, and has its weight."
In any business or negotiations, be patient. Many a man
would rather you heard his story than granted his request;
many an opponent has been tired out.
Above all, never lose your temper, and if you do, at any
rate hold your tongue, and try not to show it.
For
" Cease from anger and forsake wrath :
Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil."
" A soft answer turneth away wrath :
But grievous words stir up anger."
Never intrude where you are not wanted. There is plenty
of room elsewhere. "Have I not three kingdoms?" said
King James to the Fly, " and yet thou must needs fly in my
eye."
Some people seem to have the knack of saying the wrong
thing, of alluding to any subject which revives sad memories,
or rouses differences of opinion.
No branch of science is more useful than the knowledge
of men. It is of the utmost importance to be able to decide
wisely, not only to know whom you can trust, and whom you
cannot, but how far, and in what, you can trust them. This
is by no means easy. It is most important to choose well
those who are to work with you, and under you ; to put the
square man in the square hole and the round man in the
round hole.
256 LEADERS OF MEN.
"If you suspect a man do not employ him : if you employ
him, do not suspect him."
Those who trust are of tener right than those who mistrust.
Confidence should be complete but not blind. Merlin lost
his life, wise as he was, for imprudently yielding to Vivien's
appeal to trust her "all in all or not at all."
Be always discreet. Keep your own counsel. If you do
not keep it for yourself, you cannot expect others to keep it
for you. "The mouth of a wise man is in his heart ; the heart
of a fool is in his mouth, for what he knoweth or thinketh he
uttereth."
Use your head. Consult your reason. It is not infallible,
but you will be less likely to err if you do.
Speech is, or ought to be silvern, but silence is golden.
Many people talk, not because they have anything to say,
but for the mere love of talking. Talking should be an exer-
cise of the brain, rather than of the tongue. Talkativeness,
the love of talking for talking's sake, is almost fatal to suc-
cess. Men are "plainly hurried on, in the heat of their talk, to
say quite different things from what they first intended, and
which they afterwards wish unsaid ; or improper things which
they had no other end in saying, but only to find employment
to their tongue. . . . And this unrestrained volubility and
wantonness in speech is the occasion of numberless evils and
vexations in life. It begets resentment in him who is the
subject of it ; sows the seed of strife and dissension amongst
others ; and inflames little disgusts and offenses, which, if
let alone, would wear away of themselves."
" C'est une grande misere," says La Bruyere, "que de
n' avoir pas assez $ esprit pour bien parler, ni assez de judg-
ment pour se taire." Plutarch tells a story of Demaratus,
that being asked in a certain assembly whether he held his
tongue because he was a fool, or for want of words, he
replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue." "Seest thou," said
Solomon,
" Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words?
There is more hope of a fool than of him."
Never try to show your own superiority : few things
annoy people more than being made to feel small.
Do not be too positive in your statements. You may be
TACT. 257
wrong, however sure you feel. Memory plays us curious
tricks, and both ears and eyes are sometimes deceived. Our
prejudices, even the most cherished, may have no secure
foundation. Moreover, even if you are right, you will lose
nothing by disclaiming too great certainty.
In action, again, never make too sure, and never throw
away a chance. "There's many a slip'twixt the cup and
the lip."
It has been said that everything comes to those who know
how to wait ; and when the opportunity does come, seize it.
" He that wills not when he may ;
When he will, he shall have nay."
If you once let your opportunity go, you may never have
another.
"There is a tide in the affairs of man,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune :
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat ;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our venture."
Be cautious, but not over-cautious ; do not be too much
afraid of making a mistake; "a man who never makes a
mistake, will make nothing."
Always dress neatly : we must dress, therefore we should
do it w T ell ; not extravagantly, either in time or money, but
taking care to have good materials. It is astonishing how
much people judge by dress. Of those you come across, many
go mainly by appearances in any case, and many more have
in your case nothing but appearances to go by. The eyes and
ears open the heart, and a hundred people will see, for one
who will know you. Moreover, if you are careless and untidy
about yourself, it is a fair, though not absolute, conclusion
that you will be careless about other things also.
When you are in society study those who have the best
and pleasantest manners. ''Manner," says the old proverb
with much truth, if with some exaggeration, "maketh Man,"
and "a pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommenda-
tion." "Merit and knowledge will not gain hearts, though
they will secure them when gained. Engage the eyes by your
258 LEADERS OF MEN.
address, air, and motions ; soothe the ears by the elegance
and harmony of your diction ; and the heart will certainly (I
should rather say probably) follow." Every one has eyes and
ears, but few have a sound judgment. The world is a stage.
We are all players, and every one knows how much the suc-
cess of a piece depends upon the way it is acted.
Lord Chesterfield, speaking of his son, says, "They tell me
he is loved wherever he is known, and I am very glad of it ;
but I would have him to be liked before he is known, and
loved afterwards You know very little of the
nature of mankind, if you take those things to be of little
consequence ; one cannot be too attentive to them ; it is they
that always engage the heart, of which the understanding is
commonly the bubble."
The Graces help a man in life almost as much as the
Muses. We all know that " one man may steal a horse, while
another may not look over a hedge ; " and why ? because the
one will do it pleasantly, the other disagreeably. Horace tells
us that even Youth and Mercury, the gods of Eloquence and
of the Arts, were powerless without the Graces.
PART TWO.
LEADERS IN PROFESSIONAL LIFE.
CHAPTER XII.
HENRY WATTERSON.
ON THE ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS HI9 PERSONALITY A MAN OF GREAT
VERSATILITY METHODS OF WORK BIRTH AND EARLY SURROUNDINGS —
EDUCATION THE "NEW ERA" NEWSPAPER CAREER IN NEW YORK
WAR CORRESPONDENT BECOMES EDITOR OF THE LOUISVILLE "COURIER-
JOURNAL" SOME DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED HIS NEW POLICY WHAT
POLITICS MEANS TO HIM — MEMBER OF CONGRESS — AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER
— HOME LIFE WHAT LEADS TO SUCCESS IN JOURNALISM. COURAGE AND
SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Among' the many elements of success I would particularly
emphasize that of personality, as it is called. This attracting
and repelling something in men, is a thing
apart ; a light that cannot be hid. As little
can it be described, being in its nature vari-
able. Often it is composed of one part talent
and two parts character ; and he who has it
may, in spite of other deficiencies, command
M: » Large successes are attainable by the
Jm union of aptitude and concentration of pur-
Jfl I] pose, coincident with opportunity; the meet-
ing of the man and the occasion ; the suiting
of the work to the action, the action to the work ; intelligent
self-confidence ; unflagging courage ; absolute probity.
\^Cm^i O^HjAM^ s
2_^>l
T seems trite and inadequate to describe Henry Watterson
as a genius ; yet that is the only term general enough in
character to explain such a man. Unquestionably he is
one of the most brilliant of American journalists. But this
assertion, comprehensive as it is, by no means conveys any
idea of the universality of his attainments. He has won
distinction in the highest politics of his time. He is an orator,
260 LEADERS OF MEN.
a man of letters, a political and social economist, a*n accom-
plished man of the world. He is distinctly of the literary and
artistic temperament, mercurial, emotional, imaginative ; yet
he possesses many of the practical qualities not commonly
allied to these.
In attempting anything like a complete portrait of Henry
Watterson, one hesitates before the complexity of the subject.
His universality is as remarkable as any single trait in his
character. One feels the human side of him, his personality,
intensely, and is drawn closely to him or quite repelled. Con-
sciously or unconsciously it is he who exerts the influence
either way, the other person being merely the recipient. With
his intimates he is a most lovable man ; in the club which he
frequents at home, to all the younger men he is their affec-
tionate " Marse Henry." A woman in tenderness, a thought-
ful friend, full of the sunshine of life, having room in his
composition for all save malice, he is yet fierce and warlike in
his opposition to wrong. He has that sensuousness which
accompanies a fanciful and poetic imagination, relieved by a
loftiness of purpose and a virility that characterize all his
utterances. He is a sentimentalist, yet a man of affairs ;
loving the graces of life, yet living in and enjoying the strife
of partisan politics ; impetuous and emotional, yet purposeful
and far-seeing.
A writer of pure English, his phrases have come to be a
part of our language. Who does not know the Star-eyed
Goddess who was born on a night in 1884, in Washington —
born in the labor of a dispatch — and who leaped straightway
upon the telegraph wire to appear refulgent next morning in
the Courier-Journal ? A less poetic, but equally terse expres-
sion is the " tariff for revenue only," whose absolute finality
it has been sought so often to escape. " Between the sherry
and the champagne " was coined in a letter from Washington
containing the first public intimation that Grant would be a
candidate for a third term. It was meant to cover the wild-
ness of the suggestion.
Journalist, statesman, orator, musician, student of belles
lettres and the arts, at times an indomitable worker, at times
an equally vigorous player,— Mr. Watterson is all of these.
Into all he puts the strong personality that holds attention.
Having suffered nearly all his life from a seriously defective
HENRY WATTERSON. 261
vision, he nevertheless reads with unequaled rapidity. He
seems to take in a whole page at a glance. In the office his
amanuensis reading to him from the "proofs" is rarely per-
mitted to finish a paragraph before a gesture hurries him on
to the next. Yet Mr. Watterson has absorbed and digested
the article. In the same way does he read men or reach a
conclusion on a question of public policy. Back of it all has
been much hard work, close application, earnest study, and a
wide range of information about current affairs.
After all, is not this multiplicity, this complexity, just what
Mr. Watterson is — the journalist ? For what is the journal
but the epitome of life ? True, he is a journalist of an old
school, the last great survivor of that intensely individual
journalism in which the newspaper took its power from the
editor, and not the editor from his paper. It was the school
of Raymond and of Greeley, of the elder Bennett and the
elder Bowles, and of Mr. Watterson's immediate predecessor,
George D. Prentice. In this school was Watterson trained,
and he is its last great exponent.
By birth, instinct, and early surroundings, Mr. Watterson
is a " newspaper man." He was born in Washington, Feb-
ruary 16, 1840, his father being the late Harvey M. Watterson,
who, two years before, had succeeded James K. Polk as a
member of Congress from Tennessee. The elder Watterson
was a journalist. When elected to Congress he owned and
was editing a paper at Shelbyville, Tenn. From 1845 to 1850
he owned and edited the Nashville Union. Mr. Watterson's
ancestry was Scotch-Irish, which accounts for several things.
His father was a strong man, upright, affable, and with
abundant common sense. But it is from his mother that he
derives his remarkable perceptivity and imagination. She
was a woman of superior mental qualities, and her insight
was as keen and penetrating as her son's.
From 1852 to 1856 young Watterson was sedulously at
school, at the Academy of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsyl-
vania. At school he was the editor of the school paper, The
Ciceronian. But the trouble with his eyes caused his removal
from school, and his education was completed by private
tutors at McMinnville, Tenn. His father had a summer home
there, and gave the lad a printing office outfit. The New
Era made its appearance in October, 1856, and for two years
262 LEADERS OF MEN.
Henry Watterson published his paper and pursued his classi-
cal studies in this little mountain town. He says he still
remembers the first article he ever wrote ; it was a bugle-
note article, a call to the party. In speaking of it he says :
"When I saw the whole article had been copied next day by
the Nashville American, then the great paper of that coun-
try, I could n't sleep much that night ; but when I saw it in
the Washington Union I was knocked out completely. The
article went the rounds of Democratic papers all over the
country.'" This happened when he was sixteen years of age.
Two years later, at the age of eighteen, he sought a wider
field. In the latter half of 1858, he was in New York, where
he wrote for Harpers Weekly, just established, The Times,
and other papers. With Whitelaw Reid and John Russell
Young, he was getting his training in the school of Ray-
mond and Forney. In the winter of 1859, he returned to
Washington, and there did much miscellaneous newspaper
work.
Such was the training received by Henry Watterson, when
the outbreak of the war directed his fortunes to another field.
He had acquired many worldly graces, had already a large
acquaintance with men, and, being a close and apt student,
possessed an unusual equipment for a successful career.
He returned to Tennessee, the home of his people, and in
October, 1861, he was made assistant editor of the Nashville
Banner. Early in 1862, Nashville was evacuated by the Con-
federates. Watterson, to use his own phrase, leaped into an
empty saddle as Forrest's cavalry swept by, and that was the
end of editing until October, 1862, when Tire Rebel, a daily
paper, made its appearance at Chattanooga, with Henry
Watterson in charge. It was the soldiers' newspaper, and
naturally was not long-lived, making its last appearance
at Chattanooga, September 9, 1863. An attempt was made
to revive it in a small Georgia town, but with this venture
Mr. Watterson had nothing to do. The story that The Rebel
became a camp follower is an error. Mr. Watterson returned
to the army, serving under Polk and in the Johnston-Sher-
man campaign.
"I came out of the war," Mr. Watterson said, "like many
of the young fellows of the South, a very picked bird, indeed.
In order to escape the humiliation of borrowing from a North-
HENRY WATTERSON. 263
ern uncle, whose politics I did not approve, I went with ray-
watch to an uncle who had no politics at all, and got fifty
dollars on it. Along with two blanket-mates, who were as
poor as myself, I started, or, rather, revived the publication
of an old, suspended newspaper at Nashville. Nothing could
withstand the energy and ardor which we three threw into
this. When we began, there were nine daily papers strug-
gling for a footing in the little Tennessee capital. At the end
of a year there were but two, and of these two ours had
two thirds of the business. After two years, I was called to
Louisville to succeed George D. Prentice as editor of the old
Louisville Journal. Six months later, Mr. W. N. Haldeman,
who owned the Courier, joined with me in combining the
Journal and Courier, under the name of the Courier-Journal.
Incidentally, this led to the purchase of the old Louisville
Democrat. The paper thus established we have conducted —
he the publisher, and I the editor — ever since, now nearly
thirty-three years. During all that time, we have worked
steadily, each in his appointed place, and no issue has ever
arisen between us. We have labored as one instead of two
toward a common end— the making of a newspaper of the first
class and the highest character. Both of us have disdained
money, save as it contributed to this aim. Neither of us has
allowed himself to be diverted by the allurements of specula-
tion or office. The result shows for itself."
With the coming to Louisville there had set in for Mr.
Watterson a period of very hard work. He had married in
Nashville, in 1865, Miss Rebecca Ewing, a daughter of the
Hon. Andrew Ewing of Tennessee. When he took charge of
the Journal he left his wife in Nashville. His whole time was
given up to his business. He slept in a back room adjoining
the office and took his meals at a little restaurant a few doors
away. Upon the consolidation of the two papers he worked,
if possible, with even greater energy. Mr. Prentice was yet
the chief editorial writer, and Mr. Watterson acted as manag-
ing editor. His position was a difficult one. He had found
surrounding Mr. Prentice a number of brilliant men who,
under other influences, might have made a lasting impression
on their times ; but who, taking their cue from their chief,
were too entirely given over to a Bohemian manner of life to
be serviceable to a man with serious purposes. Mr. Prentice
264 LEADERS OF MEN.
was himself in an unlovely old age ; his habits dissolute, and
his power declining or quite gone. The personal aspect of
the case as between the young stranger and the men already
installed was not pleasant. They regarded him as a usurper
and an upstart. He had to rely on a force of men of inferior
quality, but more tractable.
In another and broader sphere was the new pitted against
the old order. Mr. Watterson was one of the first of Southern
men to accept the fact that politically and socially the coun-
try had experienced a complete transformation as a result of
the war and the emancipation of the negroes. Then and
there did he begin the work of reconciliation that he has not
laid down. In the then social conditions of Louisville this
was a difficult and unpleasant, if not a dangerous, attitude.
The old Bourbon spirit was strong in Kentucky, where the
post-bellum belligerents were now in the saddle. Mr. Watter-
son insisted that the three new amendments to the constitu-
tion were the treaty of peace between the North and the
South, and that the South must accept them in good faith.
The feeling was strong against the negro. It was a serious
question whether or not he should be permitted to ride on the
street cars. The law had to be changed to enable his testi-
mony to be received in the courts. Mr. Watterson took an
uncompromising position for the new order. With all the
power of his newspaper he exposed and fought the kuklux
outrages. Yet in sentiment he was intensely Southern ; in
manner a Cavalier of Cavaliers, for all he insists that we
know not Cavalier or Puritan.
But it was not until the death of Mr. Prentice, in January,
1870, that Mr. Watterson ceased to be the practical working
journalist who saw the paper to press every night, to become a
writer and publicist. Already he had made his position clear,
as above indicated, but henceforth his pen was to be in daily
defense of his ideas. The Democratic party had assumed a
hostile attitude that was intensified by the rule of the carpet-
bagger. It was in the hope of getting the party out of this
slough that the Liberal movement was undertaken in the
South. This movement Mr. Watterson led in that section
during 1871 and 1872. The Greeley nomination and its
indorsement by the Baltimore convention were the result of
a campaign by journalists Henry Watterson, Horace White,
HENRY WATTERSON. 265
Samuel Bowles, and Murat Halstead. That the country was
not ready for this attempted reconciliation was no fault of
Mr. Watterson, who for six years had been leading up to it
with unfaltering purpose.
Mr. Watterson had now fairly entered upon his public
career in politics as well as in journalism. Be it understood
that the term politics is never used in relation to him in the
sense of office seeking or office holding. He has been in
politics only to direct a policy. He has never sought office
and never held but one. In obedience to the demands of the
hour, and in compliance with the personal behests of Mr.
Tilden, he consented to an election to the Forty-fourth Con-
gress, in 1876, filling out the unexpired term of Edward Y.
Parsons. After making his mark in the House he declined a
re-election. He had been a member of the Committee on
Ways and Means, and his speeches on the Electoral Commis-
sion had been the most noteworthy utterances on that subject.
This Tilden period was the most picturesque in Mr. Watter-
son's public career. At the urgent demand of Mr. Tilden's
friends, he had presided over the convention that nominated
him for the presidency. He went to Congress because Mr.
Tilden conceived it necessary that there should be in the
House a personal representative who could speak.
To write Mr. Watterson's biography during the last twenty-
five years from the political side, would be to write the history
of Democracy during that period. His influence, however,
has been exerted not as an office holder, but as one independ-
ent of, and undesirous of, office. He has stood for what he
considered pure Democracy against the fallacies that from
time to time have foisted themselves upon the party, — national
fellowship and unity as against sectional prejudice and radi-
calism, honest money as against both irredeemable paper cur-
rency and free silver, and free trade as against all compromise
with protection. The platforms of nearly all the Democratic
conventions from 1872 until 1896 were written by him either
partly or in whole, and, in 1892, he succeeded in reversing in
open convention, by a large majority, the report of the plat-
form committee. Foreseeing, in 1896, the course sure to be
taken by the Chicago convention, he refused to serve as dele-
gate, and later repudiated the platform.
When the Grand Army of the Republic was invited to hold
266 LEADERS OF MEN.
its 1895 encampment in Louisville, Mr. Watterson's speech,
more than any other single cause, brought an acceptance of
the invitation. He did not extend an invitation to the veter-
ans to come to Louisville, but to come South. Speaking on
behalf of the Southern people, he said : —
" Candor compels me to say that there was a time when
they did not want to see you. There was a time when, with-
out any invitation whatever, either written or verbal ; with-
out so much as a suggestion of welcome, you insisted on
giving us the honor of your company, and, as it turned out,
when we were but ill prepared to receive."
He said it would be a pity to refuse to come now, when the
invitation was extended, when the preparations were made,
and the welcome assured. Then, in serious vein, he evoked
the spirit of national fraternity, which he so well knows how
to arouse.. To have declined an invitation couched in such
terms and extended in such a spirit would have been churlish
indeed.
Mr. Watterson is the most persuasive of speakers, as he is
the most persuasive of writers. Whether he is addressing a
turbulent political body or a dignified and imposing audience
such as that which faced him when he delivered the dedica-
tory, address at the World's Fair, his words and his manner
are equally fitted to the occasion. He knows the value of
every tone of the voice, every gesture. Speaking to a politi-
cal body, his gestures are of the hammering and chopping
variety. Resting his right hand in his left, when he makes a
point he chops it off or drives it in with a quick, sharp motion.
If his audience misses a point he waits until somebody sees it,
then everybody does. But his manner is entirely different
from this in the delivery of his lectures or in his addresses
made to sedate audiences on important public occasions.
Then his oratory is ornate, his gestures abundant, graceful,
and impressive. His " reading" is as carefully considered as
that of a well-trained actor, and one is impressed by the dig-
nity of the orator. He is eloquent, full of dramatic force, yet
so scholarly as to satisfy the most exacting requirements of a
classic school.
Mr. Watterson's first lecture, " The Oddities of Southern
Life," was delivered in 1877, followed a little later by a vol-
ume treating the same theme of provincial humor. "Money
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. 269
and Morals " and " The Compromises of Life " followed the
first lecture in the order named, and have been delivered to
delighted audiences the country over. His latest lecture,
" Abraham Lincoln," is an important addition to the Lincoln
literature.
Mr. Watterson's home life is ideal. Loving the freedom
and •' elbow room " of the country, his desire for long years
was to possess a place where he could retire in old age from
the noise aud rush and bustle of the city. In 1896 he discov-
ered his ideal place in a plantation of about one hundred
acres near Jeffersontown, twelve miles south of Louisville.
He purchased the property, beautified it to suit his own
ideas, and moved out from Louisville. Here at "Mansfield"
he does most of his writing, coming usually to the Courier-
Journal office every day or every other day when occasion
demands.
When asked to specify the qualities most needed for suc-
cess in journalism, Mr. Watterson said : "The bases are good
habits, good sense and good feeling : a good common school
education, particularly in the English branches ; application
both constant and cheerful. All success is, of course, rela-
tive. Good and ill fortune play certain parts in the life of
every man. If Hoche or Moreau had lived, either might have
made the subsequent career of Napoleon impossible. But
honest, tireless, painstaking assiduity may conquer ill fortune,
as it will certainly advance good fortune. In the degree that
a man adds to these essentials larger talents, — peculiar train-
ing, breadth of mind, and reach of vision, — his flight will be
higher. But here we enter the realms of genius, where there
are no laws, at least none that may be made clear for ordi-
nary mortals to follow."
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE.
PERSEVERANCE and self-reliance are proof of cour-
age ; their continuance depends upon it. By courage,
we mean that power of the mind which bears up under
all dangers and difficulties.
Fortitude may express one element of this noble virtue,
since fortitude is the power that enables one to endure pain.
The man of fortitude will endure the amputation of a limb ;
the man of courage will do that, and also face the cannon's
270 LEADERS OF MEN.
-mouth. " Courage comprehends the absence of all fear, the
disregard of all personal convenience, the spirit to begin, and
the determination to pursue what has been begun."
Such a quality is needed every hour. The most humble
life will find abundant use for it ; the cares, labors, and
embarrassments that are the common lot of humanity, make
it indispensable. The burdens which boyhood and girlhood
must bear in acquiring an education, learning a trade, resist-
ing temptations, and building spotless characters, demand
better physical and moral courage. A coward will not under-
take to make noble manhood or womanhood. If he did, he
would not merit the approbation of God, who never promises
success to cowardice.
A faint-hearted man would never undertake to prepare a
dictionary, or a history of the United States. Only the most
resolute and determined spirit would take up such a burden.
Here is ample scope for courage that can forego pleasure and
personal comfort, endure privation and wearisome labor, and
conquer opposition of every kind.
At sixteen years of age, Samuel Drew was a wild, reckless
youth, given to idleness, orchard robbing, and even worse
practices. A serious accident that nearly cost him his life,
together with the sudden death of his brother, checked him in
his mad career. He had lost his reputation by evil conduct,
and education by avoiding schools ; and yet he resolved to
regain one and acquire the other. A youth of less courage
would have yielded to despair, declaring that it would be
impossible to surmount the difficulties in his way. But, ris-
ing in the strength of regenerated manhood, he resolved to
become a true man and scholar. He appeared to realize that
the gist of the matter was in him, and to resolve that it should
come out.
Yet he must gain a livelihood on the shoemaker's bench,
where he went to work with a will. Every leisure moment
was devoted to reading and study, and often night contrib-
uted materially to this end. Referring to this period, twenty
years thereafter, he said, " The more 1 read, the more I felt
my ignorance ; and the more I felt my ignorance, the more
invincible became my energy to surmount it.
" Every leisure moment was employed in reading one thing
or another. Having to support myself by manual labor, my
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. 271
time for reading was but little ; and to overcome this disad-
vantage my usual method was to place a book before me
while at meat, and at every repast I read five or six pages.
Locke's ' Essay on the Understanding ' awakened me from
my stupor, and induced me to form a resolution to abandon
the groveling views I had been accustomed to maintain."
Without prolonging his story. Drew became an active
parishioner of Dr. Adam Clarke and a local preacher before
he left the shoe bench. Subsequently he became a distin-
guished author, known to every generation since his day as
the author of an " Essay on the Immateriality and Immor-
tality of the Soul." His fame was spread world wide. Cour-
age did it.
In the late War of the Rebellion, one of our great war
ships — the Cumberland — was attacked by the Confederate
ram Virginia, near Xorfolk, Virginia. The guns of the Cum-
berland could make no impression upon the iron monster
called the "Rebel ram," yet her defenders stood at their guns
bravely, and kept their colors flying until the noble ship,
riddled and rent from stem to stern, sank beneath the waves.
But "she went down with her colors flying." We call that
loyalty, patriotism.
When President Lincoln was renominated for a second
term of office, the army was in great need of recruits. He
resolved to issue a call for five hundred thousand men ; but
leading members of Congress said, " It will endanger your
re-election ; " and they advised him to withhold the order.
But he persisted, and finally went personally before the con-
gressional military committee, where a similiar attempt was
made to induce him to withhold the order. But the attempt
only evoked a higher and grander expression of courage.
Stretching his tall form to its full height he replied, with the
fire of indignation flashing in his eyes, as if he had been asked
to do an act of meanness : " It is not necessary for me to be
re-elected, but it is necessary for the soldiers at the front to be
reinforced by five hundred thousand men, and I shall call for
them ; and if I go down under the act, I will go down, like the
Cumberland, with my colors flying." That was courage cul-
minating in the highest principle.
It was in the terrible battle of Atlanta that the brave and
idolized McPherson fell. The news of his death sped with the
272 LEADERS OF MEN.
speed of lightning along the lines, sending a pang of sorrow
through every soldier's heart. For a moment it seemed as if
despair would demoralize the whole army, until Gen. John A.
Logan, on whom the command now rested, took in the situa-
tion, and, on his furious black stallion, dashed down the lines,
crying at the top of his voice, as he waved his sword in the
air, "McPherson and revenge! McPherson and revenge!"
An eyewitness wrote : " Never shall I forget, — never will one
of us who survived that desperate fight forget, to our dying
day, — the grand spectacle presented by Logan, as he rode up
and down in front of the line, his black eyes flashing fire,
his long, black hair streaming in the wind, bareheaded, and
his service-worn slouch hat swinging in his bridle hand, and
his sword flashing in the other, crying out in stentorian tones,
' Boys ! McPherson and revenge ! ' Why, it made my blood
run both hot and cold, and moved every man of us to follow
to the death the brave and magnificent hero-ideal of a soldier
who made this resistless appeal to all that is noble in a
soldier's heart, and this, too, when the very air was alive with
whistling bullets and howling shell ! And if he could only
have been painted as he swept up and down the line on a
steed as full of fire as his glorious rider, it would to-day be one
of the finest battle pictures of the war." This impromptu
act of courage was even more inspiring than a reinforcement
of ten thousand men, and converted his almost despairing
command into mighty conquerers ; and the day was won.
Such a deed of heroism adds luster to human glory.
Courage is so noble a trait that men respect it even in a
pirate. Pizarro was a pirate bent upon plundering Peru, no
matter what perils and hardships blocked his way. At Gallo,
disease and hunger drove his men to madness, and they
demanded that the enterprise should be abandoned. Just
then a vessel arrived that offered to take them back to
Panama. But Pizarro spurned the offer, and with his sword
drew a line on the sand from east to west. Then, turning his
face to the south, he said to his brother pirates : —
"Friends and comrades! On that side are toil, hunger,
nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death ; on this
side, ease and pleasure. Here lies Peru with its riches ; here
Panama with its poverty. Choose each man what best be-
comes a brave Castilian. For my part I go to the south."
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. 273
Put that courage into a saint and he will become a mission-
ary like Judson, or a reformer like Luther, or a martyr like
Latimer.
When Luther was summoned to appear before the most
august body of Romish magnates who ever convened at
Worms, to answer the charge of heresy, friends said, " It will
cost you your life ; don't go, but flee." He answered, " No ; I
will repair thither, though I should find there thrice as many
devils as there are tiles upon the house tops."
On his way to the stake, Latimer said to his companion in
bonds, Ridley, "Be of good comfort ; we shall this day light
such a candle in England, by God's grace, as shall never be
put out."
Higher courage this than that of the battlefield, where the
watchword is only that of Napoleon, '•' Glory ! " Higher even
than that of Wellington and Nelson, whose watchword was
" Duty !" for his was duty for humanity and God.
True courage is both tender and magnanimous. A braver
man than Sir Charles Napier never carried a sword or fought
a battle. Yet he declined sporting with a gun, because he
could not bear to hurt an animal.
General Grant had no fear of " iron ball and leaden rain " ;
but when Lee surrendered, and the Union men began to
salute him by firing cannon, Grant directed the firing to
cease, saying, " It will wound the feelings of our prisoners,
who have become our countrymen again."
Faith in one's self and one's life pursuit is indispensable,
for it rallies all the difficulties to endeavor. He who thinks
he can, can ; he who thinks he can't, cant. These are the
two classes of persons we meet ; one successful, the other a
failure. A man must confide in his own ability to fulfill his
calling, if he would win. He need not indulge in egotism,
or be over-confident ; but he must believe that he can do what
he undertakes, else he will fail. This sort of faith is just as
indispensable to secular life, as Christian faith is to spiritual
life. Without the latter, "it is impossible to please God";
without the former it is impossible to please ourselves. No
man can really respect himself, unless he has faith in himself
and his chosen pursuit. He needs this in the outset in order to
start well ; and he needs it all along in order to do well.
When Edison conceived the idea of the phonograph, he
274 LEADERS OF MEN.
grew elated over the possibility. Further thought and study
culminated in the belief that he was able to produce the won-
der. He undertook the task under the settled conviction that
he could make the instrument, and that conviction never
wavered, though his progress was slow. Year after year he
studied, experimented, and labored, sometimes encouraged,
sometimes disappointed, but never despairing. It can be done!
I can do it ! This confidence in himself to achieve did not suf-
fer his energies to flag, nor his expectations to waver. At the
end of seven years, his phonograph would talk, but it would
not talk as he desired. It would say jiecie instead of specie.
But it " shall say specie " he resolved ; and in three months
more it spoke the word plainly and loudly as he wished.
Faith in himself conquered, for it kept his courage alive and
caused his faculties to do their best. Without it there would
have been no phonograph.
Mr. Edison's phenomenal success with his electric light is
known the world over. When scientists, editors, and scholars
doubted, his faith never wavered. He was confident that
electrical science was in its infancy, and that he could evolve
from its hidden resources what would startle the world.
Through faith he wrought mightily, adding patent to patent,
until more than a thousand separate patents were involved in
the production of his electric light. We now put electricity
to a great many uses for which we are indebted to Edison,
though we are only beginning to know its priceless value. It
performs errands for us, carrying messages, closing bargains,
and making business hum ; it puts life and power into loco-
motives and sets ponderous machinery in motion ; it runs
cars, lights streets and houses, rings door and table bells,
writes letters, makes fires, and even cures and kills people ;
for we take it as a medicine, and with it execute criminals.
What more will be done with it remains to be seen. Edison
assures us that we are just becoming acquainted with it as a
useful agent, so that we wonder what next its world of mys-
tery will disclose to surprise mankind.
For the present development and use of the electric light,
we are more indebted to Edison than to any other inventor.
His faith in himself and electrical science has wrough
mightily. An editor says : " His improvements in telegraphic
apparatus, and in the working of the telephone, seem almost
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. 275
to have exhausted the possibilities of electricity. In like
manner the discovery of the phonograph, and the application
of its principles in the aerophone, by which the volume of
sound is so amplified and intensified as to be made audible at
a distance of several miles, seem to have stretched the laws
of sound to their utmost limit. We are inclined to regard
him as one of the wonders of the world. While Huxley,
Tyndall, Spencer, and other theorists talk and speculate, he
quietly produces accomplished facts, and, with his marvelous
inventions, is pushing the whole world ahead in its march to
the highest civilization, making life more and more enjoy-
able."
When Edison had labored two years in his own laboratory,
he said, "Two years of experience proves, beyond a doubt,
that the electric light, for household purposes, can be produced
and sold,'' for which he was severely criticised, and even
ridiculed. But long since he fulfilled his own prophecy, as
the increased convenience and comfort of families bear faith-
ful witness,
Edison's remarkable achievements in electrical science are
represented by the excellent illustration,— a fine tribute of
art to the genius and spirit of the great inventor, whose per-
severance, industry, patience, and power of endurance, are
almost without a parallel. He ordered a pile of chemical
books from New York, London, and Paris. " In six weeks he
had gone through the books," writes a co-laborer, "written a
volume of abstracts, made two thousand experiments on the
formulas, and had produced a solution, the only one in the
world that would do the very thing he wanted done, namely,
record over two hundred words a minute on a wire two hun-
dred and fifty miles long. He has since succeeded in record-
ing thirty-one hundred words in a minute."
Charles Goodyear purchased an India rubber life-preserver
as a curiosity. He was told that rubber would be of great
value for a thousand things, if cold did not make it hard as
stone, and heat reduce it to liquid. " I can remedy that," he
said to himself, after turning the matter over in his mind for
a time. The more he pondered, the more confident he was
that he could do it. Experiment after experiment failed.
The money he put into the research was sunk. His last dol-
lar was spent. His family suffered for the necessaries of life.
276 LEADERS OF MEtf.
His best efforts were baffled, and his best friends forsook him
because they thought he was partially insane. A gentleman
inquired after him, and he was told, " If you see a man with
an India rubber cap, an India rubber coat, India rubber shoes,
and an India rubber purse in his pocket, with not a cent in it, —
that is Charles Goodyear." But Goodyear was not a lunatic.
It was faith in his ability to do that caused him to pursue the
idea of vulcanized rubber with such persistency. For five
years he battled with obstacles that would have disheartened
men of less determination, counting poverty, hardship, and
the ridicule of friends nothing, if he could only accomplish his
purpose ; and this he expected to do, as really as he expected
to live. Finally his efforts were crowned with success. Faith
did it. It was a practicable thing ; he believed in it, and he
believed in himself also ; and so he bent his noblest efforts to
the enterprise, and won.
Columbus believed that there was a new world beyond
the untraversed sea, and that he himself was able to find it.
Year after year he sought in vain the patronage that would
make his project possible. Though opposed, thwarted, ridi-
culed, and even persecuted, he pressed his suit over and over.
Adverse circumstances seemed to strengthen his purpose, and
make him invincible. In the darkest hour he never lost heart.
Faith in himself and his great enterprise finally triumphed.
Franklin believed that lightning and electricity were iden-
tical. More famous scientific men than himself believed
otherwise, but this fact did not modify his own opinion. His
conviction deepened as he pondered the matter. He pro-
ceeded to prove what he believed, by the aid of a kite. He
disclosed his purpose only to his son, lest he should be made
the butt of ridicule. But he succeeded. Faith in himself over-
came obstacles, adverse opinions, and current theories, and he
won immortal fame. The same has been true of great states-
men, explorers, discoverers, inventors, and the world's best
workers generally. Faith in their own ability and purpose
made them persistent, and finally victorious. Our own land
is a fruitful illustration of this truth, from the time the Pil-
grims sought freedom to worship God on these shores. The
eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a good record of facts. By
faith the Pilgrim Fathers, warned of God of things not seen
as yet, prepared the Mayflower to the saving of their house-
COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE. 277
holds, and set sail for a place which they should afterwards
receive for an inheritance. By faith they took up their abode
in the land of promise, which was a strange country, in-
habited only by savages and wild beasts, and here they laid
the foundations of this great republic. By faith they endured
privations and hardships, not counting their lives dear unto
themselves, if they could possess a country of their own. By
faith they passed through the Red Sea of difficulty, in tilling
the soil, establishing a government, planting churches and
schools, until, out of their weakness being made strong, they
waxed valiant and mighty, turning to flight the armies of the
aliens. By faith Washington led the American army and
achieved independence, whereby he became known as the
" Father of his Country,*' securing for himself and his pos-
terity the unexampled thrift of a free nation. By faith Lin-
coln came to his reign in a time of great darkness and peril,
when slavery threatened to destroy the government ; and he
broke the chains of oppression and saved the land from over-
throw, whereby he became known as the "Saviour of his
Country." But time would fail me to tell of all those, who,
through faith, have builded a great nation, whose material,
intellectual, and moral resources are without parallel. With-
out faith such an outcome was impossible ; our secular
national life is as impossible as the moral without it. States-
men, historians, scientists, inventors, teachers, merchants,
and artisans must believe that they are equal to any task be-
fore them, to make such a result certain.
Without faith in men and means, not one day of a true life
can be lived. " I have no faith in editors," says a faithless
citizen, as he takes up the morning paper only to lay it down
again, for he cannot believe its news. " I have no faith in
cooks ; whole families have been poisoned by them," and he
cannot eat his breakfast. "I have no faith in men," and so
he declines to do business with them, lest he be cheated. " I
have no faith in engineers ; they are a drunken class," and he
refuses to take the train for the city lest his life be sacrificed
by a reckless engineer. Before nine o'clock in the morning,
it is proven that a single day of real life cannot be lived with-
out faith in men and enterprises.
As with the individual, so with communities, — difficulties
develop faith, and great enterprises follow.
278 LEADERS OF MEN.
The winter of 1866-67 was unusually severe, so that, on
some days, it was impossible to run a ferry-boat between
Brooklyn and New York. On many days merchants were
longer in going from their homes in Brooklyn to their desks
in New York, than passengers were in traveling from New
York to Albany. The public said : " This must not be ; we
must have a bridge ! " And they built one, although fourteen
years were required for the stupendous work.
Ordinary faith would stagger before such an enterprise as
the Brooklyn bridge ; but the discoveries, inventions, experi-
ences, and progress of previous ages made faith that was
equal to the occasion, possible. "It is not the work of any
one man or any one age. It is the result of the study, of the
experience, and of the knowledge of many men of many
ages. It is not merely a creation, but a growth. In no pre-
vious period of the world's history could this bridge have been
built." A hundred years ago there was little or no faith in
such mammoth enterprises.
CHAPTER XIII.
DAVID STARR JORDAN.
ON PURPOSE BIRTHPLACE AND PARENTAGE YOUTHFUL CHARACTER-
ISTICS IN SCHOOL — LOVE OF NATURE AT COLLEGE THE TEACHER
AND INVESTIGATOR WITH AGASSIZ AT PENIKESE PRESIDENT OF INDI-
ANA UNIVERSITY ACCEPTS THE PRESIDENCY OF LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR
UNIVERSITY IN PRIVATE LIFE IN THE CLASS ROOM AN IMPRESSIVE
LECTURER HIS LITERARY WORK SENSE OF HUMOR AS A UNIVERSITY
PRESIDENT — VIEWS ON EDUCATION PERSONALITY SCIENTIFIC WORK.
SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE.
"The youth gets together his materials," says Thoreau,
to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or tem-
ple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-
aged man concludes to build a woodshed
with them."
Now, why not plan for a woodshed at first,
and save this waste of time and materials ?
But this is the very good of it. The gath-
ering of these materials will strengthen the
youth. It may be the means of saving him
from idleness, from vice. So long as you
are at work on your bridge to the moon, you
will shun the saloon, and we shall not see
you on the dry-goods box in front of the corner grocery. I
know many a man who in early life planned only to build a
woodshed, but who found later that he had the strength to
build a temple, if he only had the materials. Many a man
the world calls successful would give all life has brought him
could he make up for the disadvantages of his lack of early
training. It does not hurt a young man to be ambitious in
some honorable direction. In the pure-minded youth, ambi-
tion is the source of all the virtues. Lack of ambition means
failure from the start. The young man who is aiming at
nothing and who cares not to rise, is already dead. There is
no hope for him. Only the sexton and the undertaker can
serve his purposes.
280
LEADERS OF MEN.
The old traveler, Rafinesque, tells us that when he was a
boy, he read the voyages of Captain Cook, and Pallas, and
Le Vaillant, and his soul was fired with the desire to be a
great traveler like them. "And so I became such," he adds
shortly.
If you say to yourself, "I will be a naturalist, a traveler,
a historian, a statesman, a scholar ; " if you never unsay it ;
if you bend all your powers in that direction, and take advan-
tage of all those aids that help toward your ends, and reject
all that do not, you will sometime reach your goal. The
world turns aside to let any man pass who knows whither he
is going.
AVID STARR JORDAN, president of the Leland Stan-
ford Junior University, was born at Gainesville, New
York, on the nineteenth day of February, 1851. His
father was a farmer in comfortable circumstances, who cared
a great deal more for the elder poets than for the current
agricultural literature. His mother was a woman of ability
and force, characterized by strength of will, depth of feeling,
and pithiness of speech. Children resemble their parents ;
" the apple does not fall far from the tree." Dr. Jordan seems
to owe his rare executive ability to his mother, while from his
father he inherited his fine literary sense. He grew up a shy,
serious lad, with large ambitions and a taste for poetry. He
liked to wander off into the woods by himself, where his
sharp eyes were already becoming accustomed to the fine
print of nature. The instinct for generalizing manifested
itself early in him, if we are to believe tradition. It is said
that he once attempted to classify the Assyrian kings ; but as
the materials at hand supplied him with data for but two
kinds, the good and the bad, the task was too simple, and he
gave it up.
Reputations are easily wrecked. Young Jordan developed
a marked distaste for the routine labors of the farm, and was
consequently called lazy by the neighbors. The fact that he
collected butterflies and flowers during his waking hours, and
read poetry, did not modify that judgment. Possibly his
father was blamed for allowing the boy to waste his time
DAVID STARR JORDAN. 281
picking daisies. At any rate the son was held up as a warn-
ing to other boys. Nothing worse could be said of a farmer's
son than that he was lazy.
He was anything but lazy. Master Jordan was sent to the
village school, where he had to get his daily lessons, and after-
ward to the academy for young ladies in the neighboring
town of Warsaw, there being no secondary school for boys
convenient to his home. He spent his spare hours in the
fields. Thus he learned French and Latin, read history, and
grew intimate with the best American and English poets ;
and he made a catalogue of the plants of his native county.
He was allowed more freedom in his school work than if he
had been put through the routine education of the period for
boys. In later years he comments upon the value of such
training. " We know," he says, " that there are some boys
whose natural food is the Greek root. There are others whose
dreams expand in conic sections, and whose longings for the
finite or infinite always follow certain paraboloid or ellipsoid
curves. There are some to whom the turgid sentences of
Cicero are the poetry of utterance But there are
other students . . '«. .to whom the structure of the oriole's
nest is more marvelous, as well as more poetical, than the
structure of an ode of Horace."
An education of this kind was the best one possible for a
naturalist, however bad it might have been for a village
schoolmaster. Its effect was seen when, in 1869, he entered
Cornell University with the first freshman class. The youth
of eighteen was found to be an authority on the habits of bees
and the flora of Genesee and Wyoming counties ; and also on
such homely subjects as hoof-rot in sheep. He had already
begun to teach at the Warsaw academy. At Cornell he
speedily pushed to the front. He was appointed an instructor
in botany in his junior year. In his senior year he became
president of the Natural History Society, which had a mem-
bership that has since been influential in scientific circles.
Mr. Jordan was graduated from Cornell in 1872 with the
degree of M. S. He is the only man who ever received the
Master's degree from that university upon completion of an
undergraduate course. It may be added that he shares with
Dr. Andrew D. White alone the distinction of having had
an honorary degree from the same university — that of LL.D.,
282 LEADERS OF MEN.
granted in 1886. Upon his graduation from Cornell he
was called to Lombard University, Galesburg, Illinois, as
professor of natural history, where he began the study of
the fishes of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes — a
work which he continued during the many years of his resi-
dence in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. His summer
vacations he spent in profitable scientific excursions to various
lands. He identified himself with the training school of Jean
Louis Agassiz on the island of Penikese when it was opened,
and remained a friend of Agassiz until the death of that
great scientist in 1873. In 1874 he returned to Penikese as
lecturer in marine botany. In 1875 he was graduated in med-
icine from the Indiana Medical College, and in the same year
became professor of biology at Butler University, near Indian-
apolis. He was an assistant on the United States Fish Com-
mission from 1877 to 1891. In 1879 he became professor of
zoology at the Indiana University, a position which he held
until 1885, when he was made president of the institution. In
1891 he resigned the presidency of the Indiana University to
take up his life work as president of the Leland Stanford
Junior University in California.
In private and in public life Dr. Jordan is a man of the
simplest habits. "What always strikes even a casual
observer in Jordan," says Professor Anderson, "is that he
seldom does things as other men do them. If it cannot always
be said that his way is the best, his unfailing success attests
that it is anyhow the best for him. In bearing, phrase, turn
of wit and simplicity of life he is unique, and that without
the slightest affectation of originality. This was true of him
as a student. He was probably the best man of his time at
college, yet he was rarely seen to study. He paid his ex-
penses in one way and another by his own labor, yet he was a
man of leisure." This testimony is from a college friend and
classmate. " Perhaps Jordan does not see everything," he
adds ; " it is enough for him to .see what is vital. Those who
have time may dwell, if they will, in the skirts and suburbs
of things ; Jordan strikes for the center. He has the sense of
an Indian for direction, and may be relied upon to bring his
followers out of the woods as promptly as any guide who
could be mentioned."
In the classroom and laboratory Dr. Jordan is an inspira-
DAVID STARR JORDAN. 283
tion to all who come in contact with him. He has the per-
sonal magnetism requisite to a teacher, to begin with ; and
he has in addition that rare sense of adequacy in the expres-
sion of his thoughts which Franklin so well knew the value
of, when he attributed to its cultivation a great part of his
success in science and statesmanship. One of Jordan's most
marked characteristics is his love of sincerity, his hatred of
shams, hypocrisy, pretense. He presents what he knows to
be true, in the most direct language of which he is capable.
He is absolutely frank in his dealings with his subject before
his classes. He knows what he is trying to do.
Dr. Jordan is an impressive speaker upon the lecture plat-
form. He makes use of none of the elocutionary devices, but
speaks as he talks, simply, clearly, sincerely, as one man to
others. He is strikingly undramatic ; it is always he and
none other that is speaking. Where another man would
identify himself with this interest or that, and translate his
thought into physical exemplifications as he went along, in
order to bear in upon his audience the truth in his mind, Dr.
Jordan retains at all times his almost prophetic personality,
and is the more effective for it. He uses no gestures, scorns
the rhetorical effects of climax, speaks clearly in a pleasing
voice, and convinces because of his own belief in what he is
saying. His illustrations are the happiest possible. They
illuminate rather than ornament, and are drawn from every
source. His generalizations are brilliant to the point of
epigram. Not the least attractive feature of his style is his
humor. Few men are so well endowed with the sense of
humor as he.
As a writer, Dr. Jordan is a man of distinct attainments.
The same qualities that mark the expression of his thought
upon the lecture platform are shown in his prose style.
Simplicity, directness, fervor, wide and accurate knowledge,
imagination, humor, — in short, the chief literary virtues, and
some others, — are eminently present with him when he writes.
He exemplifies in a striking way Herbert Spencer's idea that
economy of attention is the first requisite of a good st3 T le.
His keen sense of humor has already been alluded to, but
no casual allusion will express the place that the humorous
holds in his life. Lowell somewhere has said that only those
who knew him best could know that he was a humorist in the
284 LEADERS OF MEN.
morning as well as in the afternoon. Jordan, too, is a humor-
ist in the morning. He is a humorist all the time. Strangers
are sometimes puzzled to know what to think of him when
gravely assenting to some absurdity, or when, with a straight
face, he caps a pretentious piece of foolishness by something
obviously so foolish that even the one addressed has to stretch
his ears to credit it. A case in point is the famous article
upon a mythical ". Sympsychograpb," printed (1896) in the
Popular Science Monthly. This burlesque purported to be an
account of experiments in " mental photography,*' whereby an
absent cat was photographed by means of ''thought waves''
springing from her mental image in the brain of the " Astral
Camera Club of Alcalde." So many readers took the whim
seriously that the magazine had to print an editorial explain-
ing the fun.
It is as a university president that Dr. Jordan is most
widely known and loved. In 1885 he was made president of
the Indiana State University. During his administration of
six years he raised that institution from a position of obscurity
to a position among the leading western colleges ; and this he
did in spite of the niggardly appropriations by the State Legis-
lature : in spite, too, of the remoteness of the seat of the
university. In 1891 he entered upon the presidency of Stan-
ford University. The problem here was as difficult as any
problem that a university president has had to face. Not only
had the new president no faculty, no traditions, no momentum
of scholarly attainment behind him ; he had also no students
to educate. He had nothing to begin upon. The university
was to be created out of hand. But he had the great faith
that overcomes, and brought with him to California Stanford's
first faculty of thirty-eight brilliant young men, "to lecture in
marble halls to empty benches."' "The benches, as benches
will when brilliant men lecture to them, filled themselves
with young men and young women from the beginning, and
there was another great university in the world. The success
of Stanford University dates from the appointment of David
Starr Jordan to be its first president.
Dr. Jordan believes that the end of education is power —
the will and the ability to be useful in the world. Training
and inspiration alone will justify a scheme of teaching. If
these be not present, if cyclopedic wisdom be substituted for
DAVID STARR JORDAN. 285
them, or any other ideal be substituted for them, the educa-
tional plan fails ; for a man who is merely a repository of
knowledge is worth neither more nor less than his equivalent
shelf-full of books in the market-place. He is not strong.
He is not an educated man. He is an absorbent. He is a
sponge. He is a repository of other men's ideas, with no
ideas of his own to give in exchange. He may have been
instructed, but he has not been educated. " The magnet
attracts iron, to be sure," he says, " to^the student who has
learned the fact from a book ; but the fact is real to the stu-
dent who has himself felt it pull. It is more than this — it is
enchanting to the student who has discovered the fact for
himself. To read a statement of the fact gives knowledge,
more or less complete, as the book is accurate or the memory
retentive. To verify the fact gives training ; to discover it
gives inspiration. Training and inspiration, not the facts
themselves, are the justification of science-teaching. Facts
enough we can gather later in life, when we are too old to be
trained or inspired. He whose knowledge comes from author-
ity, or is derived from books alone, has no notion of the force
of an idea brought first-hand from human experience."
Any consideration of Dr. Jordan's educational position
must necessarily include a reference to the "elective system,"
for no educator has more unequivocally espoused this system
than he. Men are born different, he says ; therefore they
require individual training, rather than the training afforded
by a curriculum based upon averages. "No two students
require exactly the same line of work in order that their time
in college may be spent to the best advantage. The college
student is the best judge of his own needs, or, at any rate,
he can arrange his work for himself better than it can be
done beforehand by any committee or by any consensus of
educational philosophers. The student may make mistakes
in this, as he may elsewhere in much more important things
in life ; but here, as elsewhere, he must bear the responsibility
of these mistakes. The development of this sense of responsi-
bility is one of the most effective agencies the college has to
promote the moral culture of the student. It is better for the
student himself that he should sometimes make mistakes than
that he should throughout his work be arbitrarily directed by
others."
286 LEADERS OF MEN.
Physically as well as mentally Dr. Jordan is "a massive
man, as imperturbable as a mountain." He lives upon simple
fare, keeps regular hours, and turns off his work promptly.
His nerves never fail him ; he never worries. He is never in
a hurry for fear something will not be done. Consequently
he can do four men's work without knowing it. The only
thing that ever bothers him is society small talk. He is never
happy at a reception or a swell dinner, with its chatter, or its
smoking, drinking, and speech-making. He plays first base
on the faculty baseball team by way of recreation, or goes off
tramping through "fresh woods and pastures new" in quest
of unnamed birds and fishes. He does not own the silk hat
of the traditional college president. His dignity does not
depend upon the clothes he wears. He is a part of the Palo
Alto ranch, where professors and students and horses and
meadow larks and humming birds grow up together, each
respecting the rights of the other, and all of them unafraid ;
the ranch of the finest fellow-feeling in the world, where the
quail and the robins are tamest, because there is no one there
who has the desire to throw stones at them. His favorite
quotation is the saying of Ulrich von Hutten, " Die Luft der
Freiheit weht (Freedom is in the air)." Freedom is in the air
at Stanford University.
Dr. Jordan's contributions to the literature of science have
been numerous and important. In 1877 he published "A
Partial Synopsis of the Fishes of Upper Georgia ; with Sup-
plementary Papers on the Fishes of Tennessee, Kentucky,
and Indiana," consisting of papers reprinted from the Annals
of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, Volume XI.
In 1880 he was appointed special agent of the United States
Census Bureau for the purpose of inquiring into the marine
industries of the Pacific Coast. While upon this duty, with
the help of Professor Charles H. Gilbert, he made the first
comprehensive survey ever attempted of the fresh-water and
marine fishes of the west coast. The immediate results of
this labor are embodied in the scattered bulletins of the
United States Fish Commission, while the economic aspects
are discussed in the "Fisheries" section of the Tenth Census
Report. In 1882 appeared the "Synopsis of the Fishes of
North America," in two volumes, comprising nearly twelve
hundred pages, the authorship of which is shared with Dr.
DAVID STARR JORDAN. 287
Gilbert. An earlier work, "'The Manual of the Vertebrate
Animals of the Northern United States, inclusive of Marine
Species," has gone through a number of printings, and has
grown from the small pocket edition of 1876 to a stout octavo
volume of nearly four hundred pages. It attempts to give
such guidance with respect to the classification of vertebrate
animals as a botanical key gives with respect to our flora.
"Science Sketches," published in 1888, consists of a number of
unconnected sketches and addresses, written more or less dis-
tinctly with a view to the popular presentation of scientific
thought. It was of these papers that Professor Anderson said
that they "are marked by a union of sound knowledge, with a
whimsical humor and delicate fancy which is sufficiently rare
among men, whether scientific or literary, and which goes far
to convince readers that Jordan might have attained a place
in literature perhaps as distinguished as his place in science."
Another popular presentation of scientific studies is outlined
in his "Factors in Organic Evolution," which is a syllabus to
a course of introductory lectures. It was printed in 1894.
"The Fishes of Sinaloa" was printed in 1895. In 1896 and
189S appeared the "Fishes of North and Middle America," in
three volumes, 3136 pages, done in collaboration with Dr.
Barton W. Evermann, ichthyologist of the United States
Fish Commission. This manual is the most complete and
authoritative of its kind that has yet been written.
In 1896 Dr. Jordan was sent out by the President as com-
missioner in charge of the fur seal investigation authorized
by Congress. Owing to the fact that the regulations formu-
lated by the Paris tribunal of arbitration had failed to accom-
plish their object, there still remained the question between
the United States and Great Britain with regard to pelagic
sealing. Dr. Jordan spent a season in Alaska in the careful
investigation of seal life on the islands, and the results of the
expedition are recorded in three large volumes, "Fur Seals and
Fur Seal Islands of the North Pacific Ocean," 1619 pages in
all, with a supplementary volume of plates. The work was
printed by the Government in 1898.
"Footnotes to Evolution" was published in 1898. The
book comprises twelve popular addresses on the evolution of
life. " Animal Life," a modern text-book of zoology, is by
Dr. Jordan and Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, New York, 1900. In
288 LEADERS OF MEN.
the introduction it is called " an elementary account of
ecology ; that is, of the relations of animals to their surround-
ings and of the responsive adapting or fitting of the life of
animals to these surroundings."
Besides his writings on scientific subjects, Dr. Jordan has
written some notable papers in education and ethics. Of
these, the collection called "Care and Culture of Men" was
published in 1896. It is a volume made up of some eighteen
addresses relating to higher education. " The Story of the
Innumerable Company " (1896) is a series of nine papers upon
ethical, religious, and historical subjects. "The Strength of
Being Clean" (1900) is a Red Cross address upon the quest
for unearned happiness. " Imperial Democracy " (1899) is an
eloquent repudiation of the commercial and materialistic
spirit, so far as American politics is concerned.
A book of poems, " To Barbara, with Other Verses," was
privately printed in 1897. " The Book of Knight and Bar-
bara" (1899) is a collection of tales for children.
SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE.
aRCHBISHOP LEIGHTON said, " To him that knoweth
not the port to which he is bound, no wind can be
favorable." One wind is about as good for him as an-
other.
He may be well equipped, a good craft, sails set, ballast
right, cargo well packed ; but he wants somewhere to go, a
port to enter.
All his activity and preparation are useless without a pur-
pose. A ship without rudder, chart, or compass, on a track-
less sea, tossed about like a cockle-shell by wind and wave, is
an apt symbol of thousands of youths who undertake to cross
the ocean of life without a definite aim. They are more likely
to make shipwreck than a safe harbor.
By singleness of purpose we mean an early decision to fol-
low a certain occupation or profession as a life work, keeping
that object constantly in view, true as the needle to the North
Pole, and pushing for it through sunshine and storm to the
goal. That is what the great apostle meant when he said,
" This one thing I do." That single purpose took possession
of his soul, and all the powers of his nature combined and
bent to its accomplishment. In his triumphant declaration,
PRESIDENT DAVID STARR' JORDAN.
SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. 291
" I press toward the mark for the prize," is not only a daunt-
less spirit, but also the lofty aim that never knows defeat.
Perhaps the wise man put it best of all, when he said to
the young : " Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eye-
lids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right
hand nor to the left." That is singleness of purpose.
Seventy years ago there lived a boy in Farming-ton, New
Hampshire, who thought more of a book and school than he
did of anything else. He was then only six years of age.
When he was eight years old, a neighbor, wife of Hon.
Nehemiah Eastman, and sister of Hon. Levi Woodbury, see-
ing him pass her house, called him in and gave him some
clothes, of which he was in great need. At the same time she
inquired if he knew how to read.
" Yes, pretty well," he answered.
"Come, then, to-morrow, and see me at my house," she
continued. She knew of the lad's fondness for books, and her
object was to encourage him.
Early the next morning, little Henry Wilson (for that was
his name) presented himself before the good lady, when she
said to him : —
" I had intended to give a Testament to some good boy who
would be likely to make a proper use of it. You tell me you
can read ; now, take this book and let me hear you."
He read a whole chapter.
"Now carry the book home," she added ; " read it entirely
through, and you shall have it."
Seven days from that time, he called again at Mrs. East-
man's house, and announced that he had read the book
through.
" Why, so soon ? It cannot be ! " Mrs. Eastman exclaimed ;
" but let me try you."
So she examined him until fully convinced that he had read
the Testament through.
" The book is yours now," she kindly said ; and this was
the first book he ever owned.
When he was ten years old, his father, who was a poor day-
laborer, and worked in a sawmill, bound him by indenture to
a hard-working farmer, to serve him on his farm until the age
of twenty-one. The bargain was that he should have one
292 LEADERS OF MEN.
month schooling each year in winter, but none in summer,
with board and clothes, and, at the close of his service,
should receive six sheep and a yoke of oxen.
He proved a faithful worker, and endeared himself to his
guardian and family.
At twenty-one, he received his six sheep and yoke of oxen,
and sold them at once for eighty-four dollars. This was a
large amount for one who had never possessed so much as
two dollars, and who had never spent so much as a single
dollar.
But, during the eleven years of hard service on the farm,
he had become rich in manly thought and aims. Every
moment of leisure and many hours at night, when he ought to
have been in bed, he devoted to reading and study. Mrs.
Eastman and Judge Whitehouse loaned him books from their
ample libraries.
At twenty-one, he had read nearly a thousand volumes,
including all the numbers of the North American Review pub-
lished at that time. These books embraced the leading works
of British and American statesmen and historians, together
with the works of such writers as Irving, Cooper, and Scott.
His strong desire for learning, as well as his love of country,
were strengthened by this course of reading ; so he resolved to
remove to Natick, Massachusetts, where he could earn much
more in making brogans, and, at the same time enjoy greater
facilities for mental impovement.
In twenty years from the time he began to make brogans
in Natick, he became United States senator, taking the seat
vacated by Hon. Edward Everett. In less than forty years
from the time he became the " Natick cobbler," he was vice-
president of the United States.
His single aim made it possible for him to surmount the
difficulties and endure the privations that crowded between
these two extremes.
When a southern member of the United States Senate
called northern workingmen " mud-sills," Mr. Wilson rose in
his seat, with the fire of indignation flashing in his eyes, and
repelled the charge, saying : —
"Poverty cast her dark and chilling shadow over the home
of my childhood and want was there sometimes, an unbidden
guest. At the age of ten years, to aid him who gave me
SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. 293
being in keeping the gaunt specter from the hearth of the
mother who bore me, I left the home of my boyhood, and
went to earn my bread by daily labor."'
It was such a fearless, withering rebuke of Southern aris-
tocracy, that despised honest toil, as to fairly make it stagger.
Such men as Wilson, under the control of a lofty aim from
boyhood, have made our country what it is — its commerce,
manufactures, mechanic arts, liberty, learning, government,
and Christian institutions.
As the burning-glass focalizes the rays of the sun upon
a single point, increasing the heat a hundredfold, so single-
ness of purpose concentrates the mighty native powers of
these men upon the nation to push it forward in the path to
glory.
It is the absence of this magical quality that leaves thou-
sands of youth to waste their lives in changing from one occu-
pation to another, bringing nothing to pass, and accomplish-
ing nothing for their country or race.
Some of them try to do too little ; others, too much.
The latter class have "too many irons in- the fire," and so
they spoil all. We know that Dr. Adam Clark claimed that
a resolute man cannot have too many irons in the fire. He
said, "Keep them all agoing, poker, tongs, and all."
But there is the trouble. Not one in a thousand can " keep
them all agoing " ; they have neither tact nor wisdom enough
for that. Trying to take care of too many irons, they burn
the whole.
"The master of one trade will support a wife and seven
children, and the master of seven will not support himself."
Even Napoleon, who exclaimed when told that the Alps
were in the way of his armies, " Then there shall be no Alps ! "
and built the Simplon Road over almost inaccessible heights,
— even he had too many irons in the fire at Waterloo, and,
in consequence, lost all.
The men who look into everything are the ones who see
into nothing. Let them look into one thing until they look it
through, and they will finally see into everything.
Another New Hampshire boy was bent on teaching school.
He began to teach in his native town at fifteen years of age.
By the best improvement of his time, he was qualified to
teach at that early age in that locality. He resolved to make
294 LEADERS OF MEN.
it his life pursuit, but his father opposed him in this decision,
and would grant him no aid.
But this noble purpose held the son's soul so firmly within
its power that obstacles and opposition only intensified his
aim. He packed up his few effects, and started on foot for
Boston. He began to sweep and chore at Bryant & Stratton's
Commercial College to pay his way, for he had only eighteen
cents in his pocket when he reached the city. At the same
time, he pursued his studies with more earnestness than ever.
Within a few months he was promoted from janitor to
teacher ; and, in ten years more, he owned the institution at
the head of which he has been for twenty years.
There is no grander spectacle than that of a youth gird-
ing his loins for the battle of life, his sharp eye upon the flam-
ing goal in the distance, his soul on fire with enthusiasm for
victory, and all barriers crumbling beneath his feet.
These are the few who were not born to die. They live for
one noble object, and so they live for all.
Agassiz was so consecrated to the one great purpose of his
life that he said to a lyceum committee who proposed to pay
him three hundred dollars each for a course of six lectures, " I
cannot afford to lecture for money."' Something higher and
nobler engrossed his soul — success in his life work. He lived
for that, and so made all knowledge and science grander.
CHAPTER XIV.
JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS.
HIS CONCEPTION OF SUCCESS THE OFFICE OF CARDINAL HIS BIRTH-
PLACE THE CARDINAL'S CATHEDRAL EARLY TRAINING FIRST PRIESTLY
LABORS MADE BISHOP ATTENDS THE OECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF 18C9
AT RICHMOND ARCHBISHOP AT FORTY-THREE CHARACTERISTICS ■
HABITS THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE THE CATHOLIC UNI-
VERSITY CREATED CARDINAL A WELL-ROUNDED CHARACTER HOME
SURROUNDINGS IN PUBLIC LIFE. DUTY.
My idea of success differs somewhat from that received
generally, when regarded from the mere human, realistic,
or utilitarian standpoint. Success, from a
Christian standpoint, consists more in the
supernatural perfection of intellect and will,
than in the attainment of mere material
advantages. The success of man must be
measured not only by the brief span of life
which measures his earthly existence, but
it must reach into the life beyond the grave.
y Success which has only time and a transitory
■»"> existence as its object is, according to the
Christian's idea, only secondary.
True success is attained by the conscientious discharge of
duty, and by firm adherence to principle. The man who
keeps his destiny before his eyes, and who sacrifices neither
duty nor principle, will be a success.
/<
vceww> YtwOoQrwIfcTJTOii,;
456 LEADERS OF MEN.
AMES WHITCOMB RILEY, the " Hoosier Poet," was
born at Greenfield, Indiana, and there, too, spent the years
of his boyhood. His father was an attorney of some prom-
inence, and a genius in mechanics, having the ability to
imitate in construction almost anything that can be made with
hands — a trait which his son inherits as a mental, though not
manual, characteristic. The father was impatient to see his
son, of whom he was very fond, in masculine attire ; and long
before the child had reached the age when the pinafore is
usually discarded, determined to gratify this desire. He
therefore bought the small amount of material necessary, and
himself cut and made for the coming poet and humorist a
wonderful suit. It consisted of trousers reaching to the feet,
and a coat of the "shad-belly" variety, adorned with the
bright brass buttons then in fashion for gentlemen.
At that age the child's hair was almost as white as wool,
and his face was covered with freckles of generous size and
pronounced color. He was chubby, and the grotesqueness of
this ensemble must have twanged a sympathetic chord in his
infantile breast. When attired in his new suit he bore a
striking resemblance in miniature to Judge Wick, a ponderous
jurist and politician prominent in that section and throughout
the West at that time. The similarity of initials as well as of
person suggested the whim to the rustic wits, and Judge
Wick became his nickname and remained with him after he
had reached his teens, and then, it may be said, became his
nom de guerre, for by that name he fought and conquered in
his more mature boyhood. He was his father's constant com-
panion, and on county court days no end of merriment was
aroused when a conjunction of these two unique personages
with judicial titles forced a comparison and provoked the
risibles of the dullest. When the business of litigation was
on, the boy was left to his own devices. Perched in some
obscure niche or window,' he imitated every movement of the
court, lawyers and witnesses, and there his studies of dialect
and human nature of the Hoosier variety were made, to be
reproduced on the platform and in print in later years.
As he grew older he took part in boy-theatricals, and
always as the " star." His preference was for portrait-paint-
ing as a vocation, but sign-painting offered a more quickly
remunerative field, and to this he turned his attention for
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 457
a while. He even descended to lettering on fences, and the
highways of Hancock and adjoining counties were pictur-
esque with the results of his genius. This became monotonous,
and he again turned his attention to the stage. He joined a
strolling company and became its genius. Finding his lines
faulty or unsuitable, he rewrote them, and sometimes recast the
entire play — abridging, brightening, or throwing into prom-
inence unique characters as his ideas of consistency demanded.
At one time he attached himself to a combination in which
the payment of salaries depended on the amount of patent
medicines sold between acts. The stage was a large wagon
drawn by horses gayly caparisoned. On this was mounted a
large blackboard, on which sketches in black and white were
displayed. Riley was artist, orator, and musician in turn,
drawing illustrations and caricatures of persons in the motley
audience, lauding the virtues of his wares, improvising addi-
tional verses to a song, or playing accompaniments on violin
or guitar, and joining in the chorus. It was a happy, vaga-
bond life, a rebound from the repression of his earlier years.
It made him familiar with his kind, and enriched his dialect
vocabulary and his studies of human nature from life.
During his sign-painting career he sometimes posed as
" the celebrated blind sign-painter." Pretending to be stone
blind, he bewildered the crowds which collected to watch him
work. Mr. Riley was continually playing practical jokes.
Perhaps the most ludicrous was one he played on the Metho-
dist church congregation of his native town. The story is
told by a relative of the poet that this church needed repair-
ing badly, and a committee went about soliciting aid. Mr.
Riley, who was handy at any kind of work, could not help in
a financial way, but volunteered to repair the church clock.
The committee consented. Just before the reopening of the
church he brought the clock back and carefully hung it in its
accustomed place high on the wall over the pulpit. At eleven
o'clock, when the minister was warming to his subject, the
old clock began striking. It struck fifteen, twenty, thirty,
forty, fifty, sixty, and kept on striking. The minister stopped.
The clock did not. It was far out of reach and no ladder was
near. The congregation had to be dismissed.
He rarely attended school with any degree of regularity,
but he learned much from his father, and seemed to absorb
458 LEADERS OF MEN.
knowledge without effort. From early boyhood his thoughts
fell into line in rhythm. Even his first crude rhyming was
not deficient in this respect. His poems are thought out as
he travels or walks the street, and when their time is fully
come he gives them birth regardless of surroundings — at an
office desk in the hum of business, in the waiting room of a
railway station, on the corner of a busy editor's table, or
seated on a low stool with his manuscript on his knees — it is
all one to him. At other times he is very sensitive to sur-
roundings. His reading has taken a wide range, but has been
somewhat discursive, and he has been restrained from thor-
ough study of any model through fear that his strong imita-
tive bent might mar his originality of expression. In response
to the challenge of a friend, he once wrote what professed to
be a newly discovered manuscript poem of the late Edgar
Allan Poe, entitled " Leonainie,'' and so perfect was his work
that so capable a judge as William Cullen Bryant pronounced
it genuine and criticised it at some length as such. When
this unknown Western upstart declared himself the author of
it, he was denounced as a would-be plagiarist.
Mr. Riley is a short man with square shoulders and a large
head. He has a very dignified manner at times. His face
is smoothly shaven and, though he is not bald, the light color
of his hair makes him seem so. His eyes are gray and round
and generally solemn and sometimes stern. His face is the
face of a great actor — in rest, grim and inscrutable ; in
action, full of the most elusive expression capable of humor
and pathos. Like most humorists he is sad in repose. His
language when he chooses to have it so is wonderfully con-
cise, penetrating, and beautiful. He drops often into dialect
but always with a look on his face which shows that he is
aware of what he is doing. In other words, he is himself in
both forms of speech. His mouth is his wonderful feature,
wide, flexible, clean cut. His lips are capable of the grimmest
and merriest lines. He has lips that pout like a child's or
draw down into the straight grim line like a New England
deacon's, or close at one side and uncover his white and even
teeth at the other in the style, slightly, of "Benjamin F.
Johnson," the humble humorist and philosopher. In his
own proper person he is full of quaint and beautiful phi-
losophy. He is wise rather than learned, — wise with the
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 459
quality that is in the Proverbs, — almost always touched with
humor.
Even if Mr. Riley's poetry — which, along with his prose,
now has been brought out in a beautiful uniform edition — had
no claim to distinction in itself, the fact of its unrivaled pop-
ularity would challenge consideration. But, fortunately, his
work does not depend on so frail a tenure of fame as the vogue
of a season or the life of a fad. The qualities which secure for it
a wider reading and a heartier appreciation than are accorded
to any other living American poet are rooted deep in human
nature ; they are preeminently qualities of wholesomeness
and common sense, those qualities of steady and conservative
cheerfulness which ennoble the average man, and in which
the man of exceptional culture is too often lacking. Its
lovers are the ingenuous home-keeping hearts, on whose
sobriety and humor the national character is based. And yet,
one has not said enough when one says it is poetry of the
domestic affections, poetry of sentiment ; for it is much more
than that.
Poetry which is free from the unhappy spirit of the age,
free from dejection, from doubt, from material cynicism,
neither tainted by the mould of sensuality nor wasted by the
maggot of " reform," is no common product, in these days.
So much of our art and literature is ruined by self-conscious-
ness, running to the artificial and the tawdry. It is the slave
either of commercialism, imitative, ornate, and insufferably
tiresome, or of didacticism, irresponsible and dull. But Mr.
Riley at his best is both original and sane. He seems to have
accomplished that most difficult feat, the devotion of one's
self to an art without any deterioration of health. He is full
of the sweetest vitality, the soundest merriment. His verse
is not strained with an overburden of philosophy, on the one
hand, nor debauched with maudlin sentimentalism, on the
other. Its robust gayety has all the fascination of artlessness
and youth. It neither argues, nor stimulates, nor denounces,
nor exhorts ; it only touches and entertains us. And, after all,
few things are more humanizing than innocent amusement.
It is because of this quality of abundant good nature,
familiar, serene, homely, that it seems to me no exaggeration
to call Mr. Riley the typical American poet of the day. True,
he does not represent the cultivated and academic classes ; he
460 LEADERS OF M EN.
reflects nothing of modern thought ; but in his unruffled tem-
per and dry humor, occasionally flippant on the surface, but
never facetious at heart, he might stand very well for the
normal American character in his view of life and his palpable
enjoyment of it. Most foreign critics are on the lookout for
the appearance of something novel and unconventional from
America, forgetting that the laws of art do not change with
longitude. They seize now on this writer, now on that, as
the eminent product of democracy. But there is nothing
unconventional about Mr. Riley. " He is like folks,'' as an old
New England farmer said of Whittier. And if the typical
poet of democracy in America is to be the man who most
nearly represents average humanity throughout the length
and breadth of this country, who most completely expresses
its humor, its sympathy, its intelligence, its culture, and it's
common sense, and yet is not without a touch of original
genius sufficient to stamp his utterances, then Mr. James
Whitcomb Riley has a just claim to that title.
He is unique among American men of letters (or poets,
one might better say ; for strictly speaking he is not a man of
letters at all) in that he has originality of style, and yet is
entirely native and homely. Whitman was original, but he
was entirely prophetic and remote, appealing only to the
few ; Longfellow had style, but his was the voice of our col-
legiate and cultivated classes. It is not a question of rank or
comparison; it is merely a matter of definitions. It is the
position rather than the magnitude of any particular and con-
temporary star that one is interested in fixing. To determine
its magnitude, a certain quality of endurance must be taken
into account ; and to observe this quality often requires con-
siderable time. Quite apart, then, from Mr. Riley's relative
merit in the great anthology of English poetry, he has a very
definite and positive place in the history of American letters
as the first widely representative poet of the American people.
He is professedly a home-keeping, home-loving poet, with
the purpose of the imaginative realist, depending upon com-
mon sights and sounds for his inspirations, and engrossed
with the significance of facts. Like Mr. Kipling, whose idea
of perpetual bliss is a heaven where every artist shall " draw
the thing as he sees it, for the God of things as they are,''
Mr. Riley exclaims: —
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 461
•' Tell of the things jest like they wuz —
They don't need no excuse !
Don't tetch 'em up as the poets does,
Till they 're all too tine fer use ! "
And again, in his lines on " A Southern Singer": —
" Sing us back home, from there to here ;
Grant your high grace and wit, but we
Most honor your simplicity."
In the proem to the volume 4 ' Poems here at Home"' there
occurs a similar invocation, and a test of excellence is proposed
which may well be taken as the gist of his own artistic
purpose: —
" The Poems here at Home ! Who '11 write 'em down,
Jes' as they air — in Country and in Town? —
Sowed thick as clods is 'crost the fields and lanes,
Er these 'ere little hop-toads when it rains !
"Who'll ' voice' 'em? as I heerd a feller say
'At speechified on Freedom, t'other day,
And soared the Eagle tel, it 'peared to me,
She was n't bigger 'n a bumble-bee !
" What We want, as I sense it, in the line
O' poetry is somepin' Yours and Mine —
Somepin' with live-stock in it, and out-doors,
And old crick-bottoms, snags, and sycamores !
Put weeds in — pizenvines, and underbresh,
As well as johnny-jump-ups, all so fresh
An' sassy-like ! — and groun'-squir'ls, — yes, and ' We,'
As sayin' is, — ' We, Us and Company.' "
In the lines '"Right here at Home" the same strain recurs,
like the very burden of the poet's life-song : —
" Right here at home, boys, is the place, I guess,
Fer me and you and plain old happiness ;
We hear the World 's lots grander — likely so, —
We '11 take the World 's word for it and not go.
We know its ways ain't our ways, so we '11 stay
Right here at home, boys, where we know the way.
" Right here at home, boys, where a well-to-do
Man 's plenty rich enough — and knows it, too,
402 LEADERS OF MEN.
And 's got a' extry dollar, any time,
To boost a feller up 'at wants to climb,
And 's got the git-up in him to go in
And git there, like he purt' nigh alius kin !"
It is in this spirit that by far the greater part of his work,
the telling and significant part of it, is conceived. The whole
tatterdemalion company of his Tugg Martins, Jap Millers,
Armazindys, Bee Fesslers, and their comrades, as rollicking
and magnetic as Shakespeare's own wonderful populace, he
finds "right here at home "; nothing human is alien to him ;
indeed, there is something truly Elizabethan, something
spacious and robust, in his humanity, quite exceptional to our
fashion-plate standards. In the same wholesome, glad frame
of mind, too, he deals with nature, mingling the keenest, most
loving observation with the most familiar modes of speech.
An artist in his ever sensitive appreciation and impressiona-
bility, never missing a phase or mood of natural beauty, he
has the added ability so necessary to the final touch of illu-
sion, — the power of ease, the power of making his most casual
word seem inevitable, and his most inevitable word seem
casual. It is in this, I think, that he differs from all his rivals
in the field of familiar and dialect poetry. Other writers are
as familar as he, and many as truly inspired ; but none com-
bines to such a degree the homespun phrase with the lyric
feeling. His only compeer in this regard is Lowell, in the
brilliant Biglow Papers, and several other less known but not
less admirable Chaucerian sketches of New England country
life. Indeed, in humor, in native eloquence, in vivacity, Mr.
Riley closely resembles Lowell, though differing from that
bookman in his training and inclination, and naturally, as a
consequence, in his range and treatment of subjects. But
the tide of humanity, so strong in Lowell, is at flood, too, in
the Hoosier poet. It is this humane character, preserving all
the rugged sweetness in the elemental type of man, which
can save us at last as a people from the ravaging taint of
charlatanism, frivolity, and greed.
But we must not leave our subject without discriminating
more closely between several sorts of Mr. Riley's poetry ; for
there is as much difference between his dialect and his classic
English (in point of poetic excellence, I mean,) as there is
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 403
between the Scotch and English of Burns. Like Burns, he is
a lover of the human and the simple, a lover of green fields
and blowing flowers ; and like Burns, he is far more at home,
far more easy and felicitous, in his native Doric than in the
colder Attic speech of Milton and Keats.
This is so, it seems to me, for two reasons. In the first
place, the poet is dealing with the subject matter he knows
best ; and, in the second place, he is using the medium of
expression in which he has a lifelong facility. The art of
poetry is far too delicate and too difficult to be practiced suc-
cessfully without the most consummate and almost uncon-
scious mastery of the language employed : so that a poet will
hardly ever write with anything like distinction or convinc-
ing force in any but his mother tongue. An artist's command
of his medium must be so intimate and exquisite that his
thought can find adequate expression in it as easily as in the
lifting of a finger or the moving of an eyelid. Otherwise he
is self-conscious, unnatural, false ; and, hide it as he may, we
feel the awkwardness and indecision in his work. He who
treats of subjects which he knows only imperfectly cannot be
true to nature ; while he who employs some means of expres-
sion which he only imperfectly controls cannot be true to him-
self. The best art requires the fulfillment of both these severe
demands ; they are the cardinal virtues of art. Disregard of
the first produces the dilettante ; disregard of the second pro-
duces the charlatan. That either of these epithets would
seem entirely incongruous, if applied to Mr. Riley, is a tribute
to his thorough worth as a writer.
His verse, then, divides itself sharply into two kinds, the
dialect and the conventional. But we have so completely
identified him with the former manner that it is hard to esti-
mate his work in the latter. It may be doubted, however,
whether he would have reached his present eminence had he
confined his efforts to the strictly regulated forms of standard
English. In poems like "A Life Term" and "One Afternoon,"
for instance, there is smoothness, even grace of movement, but
hardly that distinction which we call style, and little of the
lyric plangency the author commands at his best ; while very
often in his use of authorized English there is a strangely
marked reminiscence of older poets, as of Keats in "A Water
Color" (not to speak of "A Ditty of No Tone," written as a
464 LEADERS OF MEN.
frankly imitative tribute of admiration for the author of the
" Ode to a Grecian Urn''), or of Emerson in " The All-Kind
Mother." In only one of the dialect poems, on the other hand,
is there any imitative note. His " Nothin' to Say" has much
of the atmosphere and feeling as well as the movement of
Tennyson's "Northern Farmer." But for the most part,
when Mr. Riley uses his own dialect, he is thoroughly origi-
nal as well as effective. He has not only the lyrical impetus
so needful to good poetry ; he has also the story-teller's gift.
And when we add to these two qualities an abundant share
of whimsical humor, we have the equipment which has so
justly given him wide repute.
All of these characteristics are brought into play in such
poems as " Fessler's Bees," one of the fairest examples of Mr.
Riley's balladry at its best : —
4< Might call him a bee-expert,
When it come to handlin' bees, —
Roll the sleeves up of his shirt
And wade in amongst the trees
Where a swarm 'u'd settle, and —
Blandest man on top of dirt ! —
Rake 'em with his naked hand
Right back in the hive ag'in,
Jes' as easy as you please ! "
For Mr. Riley is a true balladist. He is really doing for the
modern, popular taste, here and now, what the old balladists
did in their time. He is an entertainer. He has the ear of
his audience. He knows their likes and dislikes, and humors
them. His very considerable and very successful experience
as a public reader of his own work has reinforced his
natural modesty and love of people, and made him con-
stantly regardful of their pleasure. So that we must look
upon his verses as a most genuine and spontaneous expres-
sion of average poetic feeling as well as personal poetic inspi-
ration.
Every artist's work must be, necessarily, a more or less
successful compromise between these two opposing and diffi-
cult conditions of achievement. The great artists are they
who succeed at last in imposing upon others their own pecul-
iar and novel conceptions of beauty. But these are only the
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 465
few whom the gods favor beyond their fellows ; while for the
rank and file of those who deal in the perishable wares of art
a less ambitious standard may well be allowed. We must
have our balladists as well as our bards, it seems ; and very
fortunate is the day when we can have one with so much real
spirit and humanity about him as Mr. Riley.
At times the pathos of the theme quite outweighs its home-
liness, and lifts the author above the region of self-conscious
art ; the use of dialect drops away, and a creation of pure
poetry comes to light, as in that irresistible elegy " Little
Haly," for example : —
'• ' Little Haly, little Haly,' cheeps the robin in the tree ;
' Little Haly.' sighs the clover ; ' Little Haly,' moans the bee ;
' Little Haly, little Haly, ' calls the Kill-dee at twilight ;
And the katydids and crickets hollers ' Haly ' all the night."
In this powerful lyric there is a simple directness ap-
proaching the feeling of Greek poetry, and one cannot help
regretting the few intrusions of bad grammar and distorted
spelling. They are not necessary. The poem is so universal
in its human appeal, it seems a pity to limit the range of its
appreciation by hampering it with local peculiarities of
speech.
At times, too, in his interpretations of nature, Mr. Riley
lays aside his drollery and his drawling accent in exchange
for an incisive power of phrase.
" The wild goose trails his harrow "
is an example of the keenness of fancy I refer to. Another is
found in the closing phrase of one of the stanzas in " A Coun-
try Pathway ": —
'■ A puritanic quiet here reviles
The almost whispered warble from the hedge,
And takes a locust's rasping voice and files
The silence to an edge."
In "The Flying Islands of the Night " Mr. Riley has made
his widest departure into the reign of whimsical imagination.
Here he has retained that liberty of unshackled speech, that
freedom and ease of diction, which mark his more familiar
themes, and at the same time has entered an entirely fresh
466 LEADERS OF HEX.
field for him, a sort of grown-up fairyland. There are many
strains of fine poetry in this miniature play, which show Mr.
Riley's lyrical faculty at its best. In one instance there is a
peculiar treatment of the octosyllabic quatrain, where he has
chosen to print it in the guise of blank verse. It is impossible,
however, to conceal the true swing of the lines.
" I loved her. Why ? I never knew. Perhaps
Because her face was fair. Perhaps because
Her eyes were blue and wore a weary air.
Perhaps ! Perhaps because her limpid face
Was eddied with a restless tide, wherein
The dimples found no place to anchor and
Abide. Perhaps because her tresses bea't
A froth of gold about her throat, and poured
In splendor to the feet that ever seemed
Afloat. Perhaps because of that wild way
Her sudden laughter overleapt propriety ;
Or — who will say ? — perhaps the way she wept."
It almost seems as if Mr. Riley, with his bent for jesting
and his habit of wearing the cap and bells, did not dare be as
poetical as he could ; and when a serious lyric came to him,
he must hide it under the least lyrical appearance, as he has
done here. But that, surely, if it be so, is a great injustice to
himself. He might well attempt the serious as well as the
comic side of poetry, remembering that " when the half -gods
go, the gods arrive."
No poet in the United States has the same hold upon the
minds of the people as Riley. He is the poet of the plain
American. They buy thousands of dollars' worth of his verse
e\ery year and he is also one of the most successful lecturers
on the platform. He gives the lie to the old saying, for he is
a prophet in his own country. The people of Indiana are justly
proud of him for he has written " Poems here at home." He
is read by people who never before read poetry in their life
and he appeals equally well to the man who is heartsick of
the hollow, conventional verse in imitation of some classic.
He is absolutely American in every line he writes. His
schooling has been in the school of realities. He takes the
thing at first hand. He considers his success to be due to
the fact that he is one of the people and has written of the
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.
PERSONAL PURITY AND NOBILITY. 469
things he liked and they liked. The time will come when his
work will be seen to be something more, vastly more than the
fancies of the humorist. He is the most remarkable exempli-
fication of the power of genius to transmute plain clods into
gold that we have seen since the time of Burns. He has dom-
inated stern and unyielding conditions with equal success
and reflected the life of his kind with even greater fidelity
than Burns.
This material so apparently grim and barren of light and
shade waited only for the creative mind and sympathetic
intelligence ; then it grew beautiful and musical and radiant
with color and light and life. Therein is the magnificent
lesson to be drawn from the life and work of the " Hoosier
Poet."
PERSONAL PURITY AND NOBILITY.
HOMAS ALVA EDISON was once asked why he was a
total abstainer. He said, "I thought I had a better
^ use for my head." The answer is worth remembering
by any young fellow who means to use his brains. A
wonderful battery they make. Every morning they take up
their work, and start us on our daily pleasure or our daily
duty, if,—
If we have not undertaken to impose on nature's plan for
them.
If we have not tried this stimulus or that stimulus, not in
the plan for which they were made.
The young man who means to do the best possible work his
body and mind can do, keeps his body and mind as pure, as
clean from outside filth, as Edison keeps his brain.
This is what is meant when we are told to keep ourselves
as pure as little children are.
The readers of this book are so well up to the lessons of
this time that they know that the men who are trained for a
football match, or a running match, or a boxing match, have
to keep their bodies from any stimulus but that which is given
by food prepared in the simplest way, so as to suit the most
simple appetite.
It is not simply that a man's body must be in good order
itself. What is needed is that a man shall be ready and able
to govern his body. He shall say " Go," and his body shall
470 LEADERS OF MEN.
go. He shall say " Go faster," and his body shall go faster.
His will, his power to govern his machinery, depends on his
keeping himself pure.
Three hundred years ago, a certain set of men and women
in England earned for themselves the name of Puritans.
That name was given them because they kept their bodies
pure. Those men and women did this because the Saviour of
men and all his apostles commanded them to do so. The New
Testament insists on personal purity as the beginning of all
training and all knowledge. "The wisdom from above is
first pure," it says. And such men as Paul and Peter and the
rest, who changed the world, insisted on personal purity.
They meant that a man's body should be so pure as to be a fit
temple of God. The Puritans of England believed in such
instructions, and they kept their bodies pure. In his inter-
course with women, in his use of stimulants, a Puritan gentle-
man earned his name by his chastity and his temperance.
The Cavaliers, the men at court, ridiculed this obedience to
divine law. What followed on this ridicule ? This followed :
that, when the questions of English liberty were submitted to
the decision of battle, when the fine gentlemen of the court
found themselves in array against the farmers of Lincoln-
shire, led by Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan troopers, who kept
their bodies pure, rode over the gay gentlemen, who did not
keep their bodies pure.
What happened on our side of the water was that the
handful of Puritan settlers in Plymouth and in the Bay, who
kept their bodies pure, were more than a match for the men
of Massasoit and Philip, who did not keep their bodies pure.
They could outmarch them, could outwatch them, could out-
fight them. They could rule their bodies. They could be
firm to a purpose. They had at command such strength as
had been given to them.
Young men of the present day know what are the tempta-
tions which now offer themselves in the life of an American
boy. They are different in different places. " Not long ago,"
says Edward Everett Hale, "I was speaking on the need of
immediate act if one would carry out a good resolution. I
was in the largest theater in Boston. I looked up at the
third gallery, which was crowded with several hundred boys
and young men. I said, ' Go home, and take down from the
PERSONAL PURITY AND NOBILITY. 471
wall of your room the picture you would be ashamed to have
your mother see there,' An evident wave of consciousness
passed over the hundreds of witnesses, as they turned to
each other, as they smiled, or in some way showed that they
knew what I was talking about.
Young men know better than old men what are the pres-
ent temptations. If young men knew as well as old men do
how much of the best life of every country is lost because
the young men do not resist those temptations, they would
pay more attention to what old men say to them. Anybody
who knows the history of the tug of war between France and
Germany twenty years ago knows what happened then. War
tests all forms of manliness. It tests endurance and physical
strength and patience under disappointment. We know who
went under when the French troops, all rotten with the
impurity of France, met the German peasants. The French
Empire disappeared because of the dissoluteness of the French
Empire. A court like that could not expect the support of sol-
diers any stronger than the officers of the headquarters-staff
who marshaled them.
To a man deep down in licentious or intemperate habits, it
is very difficult to prescribe the remedies for his cure. The
trouble is that he has lost the power of will. It is very hard
then to make him will or determine anything. The poor
creature does not know what determination means. He says
at night, " I will never touch liquor again," and the next day,
when he passes a liquor shop, he says, "I have changed my
mind, and I will take it again." Indeed, he has not changed
his mind, he has no mind to change. He never made a reso-
lution, because such a man cannot make a resolution.
For young men, the course is distinct, and not so difficult.
The prayer, "Lead us not into temptation," states it very
precisely. This is the reason why the men who wish to have
our cities temperate wish to close the open saloon in the city.
They want to save young men from a very fascinating temp-
tation. For every young man who reads this page knows
that, while he might go into an open shop with a friend to
drink a glass of beer, to treat or to be treated, he would not
so much as think of buying a bottle of liquor to carry it up to
his own private room and drink it there. What we want,
when we say we wish we could shut up all the liquor shops, is
472 LEADERS OF MEN.
to save from temptation people who have not formed the
habit of drinking. Just the same thing is to be said as
to the temptations to unchastity. If you do not begin, you
will not take a step forward. The moment that you find that
a book is impure, or is such a book as you would not show to
your mother or your sister, that is the moment to put that
book into the fire. Indeed, the mere physical act of putting it
into the fire will be a good thing for you. It will be like one
of the old sacrifices on the altar.
And if you want any reason which you can state to a
friend or yourself, for your taking su.ch a course, the reason
is, that you wish to keep mind and body in the condition in
which it pleased God to make them. You mean to train your-
self precisely as the trainer of a football team or a baseball
team or a boat crew trains his men. You mean that your
hand shall be steady, your feet quick, your arm strong. And,
more than this, you mean to have these powers in immediate
command, so that they shall do just what you, the living
man, want to have done.
The brain of man works most accurately and most steadily,
and therefore most reliably, when it is never plagued or per-
plexed by the influence of liquor. The literary man who is
a total abstainer comes back to his desk every morning most
easily and most readily. On an emergency he sticks to his
work for four and twenty hours, if it is necessary, most
cheerfully. And in that four and twenty hours his work is
best worth reading. You may ask any newspaper man you
choose, or any literary man of fifty years' experience who has
known the other literary men of his time, and they will sub-
stantiate this answer. You may ask any trainer of athletes,
and he will sustain this answer. For absolute physical exer-
tion the point is conceded. The riflemen who take the prizes
in England are total abstinent men. And Greely says him-
self that if he were to take another party to the North Pole he
would take no man if he was not a total abstinent by habit
and principle. In point of fact, the great exertion by which
the American flag was planted nearest the North Pole was
made by men who had no regular spirit ration.
The highest eulogy which can be paid to anyone is to say
that he is noble. It is comprehensive of all the virtues and
of all the graces. There is no one word representing charac-
PERSONAL PURITY AND NOBILITY. 473
ter and esteem which is so all-embracing. There are some
words for which no adequate definition seems possible. The
feeling of their meaning is deeper than any impression which
language is able to convey. Such a word is nobility. If one
were to attempt the substitution of some other word for it,
such as goodness, benevolence, justice, he will find that
neither separately nor collectively do they fully express its
meaning. It can only be stated by circumlocution, and even
then inadequately.
It is first of all a feeling. The appeal which is made to
a noble person is answered almost before it is presented,
because his consciousness of the needs of others is so acute
that the meaning is comprehended intuitively. Nobility is
the expression, not of the intellect so much as of the soul, not
merely of the mind but of the heart. It is often, indeed gen-
erally, expressed in the face, for a really noble person, how-
ever much he may strive to do so, cannot conceal from others
the benevolence which controls his life.
The nobility of feeling involves sympathy with all that is
true and good. It is the condition of a person who looks with
dissatisfaction upon everything low and degrading and is
conscious of entire harmony with that which is elevated and
pure. Such feelings have animated all those who have been
recognized among the choice characters of the world.
Then there is also nobility of character. The feeling has
become habit, and forms what is known among men as char-
acter. It is not a mere emotion, but a mode of life in which
all the powers and attainments are subordinated to the high-
est aims and plans. The noble character finds itself so
intrenched in desires for the welfare of all, that temptations
in the opposite direction cease to be effective. In other words,
his whole being has become ennobled.
Nobility of feeling and character is always accompanied
by nobility of action. Character and action are harmonious,
and cannot be in conflict. There may be good actions per-
formed spasmodically or as the result of impulse by those
whose souls are not noble, but a steady, sustained life,
doing noble deeds, is only possible when connected with those
emotions and conditions which naturally and necessarily pro-
duce them. A life that is noble is always the result of inner
forces and not of external incitements. The topic under con-
474 LEADERS OF MEN.
sideration is not merely nobility, but true nobility. This word
is employed by lexicographers and in literature in different
senses. It is applied to nobility of descent, i. e., to hereditary
nobility, in which the title descends from generation to gen-
eration. It is a title of rank and has no necessary relation to
personal character. While some such noblemen have true
nobility, there are others to whom it is entirely wanting.
There have been men of loftiest worth who have won the
highest crowns of rank or station, while others who are offi-
cially designated by such titles have shown themselves
unworthy to wear theirs. Of Lord Byron it may be said
that he was a great poet and nobleman, but not a noble man,
while of Lord Shaftesbury it must be said that he was alike
noble in rank, in character, and in works, thus combining in
himself the highest qualities of manhood.
The real nobility, however, has already been indicated,
viz., that which consists in personal worth. One may be
truly noble, and recognized as such, though destitute of learn-
ing, scholarship, office, or rank. Indeed, it is frequently
found in persons of the humblest worldly circumstances.
Almost every day we read of acts worthy of heroes, done by
those whose names are scarcely known in the community in
which they dwell. Instances to justify this statement will
meet daily the readers of current literature.
The qualities then which must be sought in order to secure
true nobility are a lofty purpose, deep sympathies, and absolute
self-sacrifice. Neither is sufficient without the others. What
then is the purpose which must enter into and constitute a
noble life ? It must be both general and particular. It
desires to make the best of the whole world and the best of
each member of society. It, however, must save the whole
by saving each part of it. It serves the whole society by serv-
ing the units of which it is composed. Hence nobility does
not neglect little things or to do good in what seems small
and insignificant ways. Nothing is too small and nothing is
too large for a noble soul to do. In statesmanship and patriot-
ism both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were
truly noble. How lofty their aims, how earnestly they sym-
pathized with struggling humanity, and how unselfish and
complete were their sacrifices !
How much nobility is found among business men ! How
PERSONAL PURITY AND NOBILITY. 475
many are doing business, not for their own aggrandizement,
but to benefit their fellow men ! A gentleman of extensive
business told the writer of this but recently that he did not
expect to make any more money. What he made hereafter
was for others.
The same is true also in professional life. In the ministry,
in law, in medicine, are to be found men, not a few, whose
aim is not wealth or fame, but who desire to serve "their
generation according to the will of God." It were easy to
make a catalogue of men and women in all ages who repre-
sent to the world this type of character. They are the
choicest treasures of our World, more precious than mines of
gold and of silver. To enumerate even a few of them would
be impossible here.
The one noble character which rises above all others is the
world's Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the highest
specimen of true nobility the world has ever known. Every
trait illustrating it was found in him and the attainment of it
will be best secured by the study of his life and teachings
and the imitation of his example.
True nobility is possible to all and everywhere. It matters
little whether one be in public position or in private station,
in a royal palace or in a humble cottage, in professional life
or in daily manual labor. There is no place where it will not
have opportunity for exercise. Wherever generosity, purity,
self-sacrifice, truth, and fidelity are found, there will be found
that for which all the people of the world should seek, true
nobility.
" Be noble ! and the nobleness that lies
In other men, sleeping, but never dead,
Will rise in majesty to meet thine, own." — Lowell.
'• Be noble in every thought and in every deed." — Longfellow.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THOMAS BRACKETT REED.
ON THE RIGHT USE OF WEALTH A CONVERSATION GLIMPSES OF
HIS CHARACTERISTICS STRENGTH OF HIS PERSONAL CONVICTIONS HIS
HOME HOW IT BESPEAKS THE MAN FAVORITE CLUB EARLY ENVI-
RONMENT AND ANCESTRY — THE SCHOOLMASTER AT COLLEGE HABITS
OF READING IOURNEYS TO CALIFORNIA ADMISSION TO THE BAR HIS
RETURN EAST ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE MEMBER OF CONGRESS A MEM-
ORABLE SPEECH SPEAKER READINESS IN DEBATE LITERARY SIDE OF
HIS CAREER HIS EPIGRAMS. "MAKE, SAVE, GIVE ALL YOU CAN."
We envious people who cannot be wealthy any more than
we can add a cubit to our stature avenge ourselves by think-
ing and proclaiming that pursuit of wealth
is sordid and stifles the nobler sentiments of
the soul. Whether this be so or not, if who-
ever makes to grow two blades of grass
where but one grew before is a benefactor
of his race, he also is a benefactor who
makes two ships sail the sea where but one
encountered its storms before. However
sordid the owner may be, this is a benefit of
which he cannot deprive the world.
But no progress which did not lift all
ever lifted any. If we let the poison of filth and disease per-
colate through the hovels of the poor, death knocks at the
palace gates. If we leave to the greater horror of ignorance
any portion of our race, the consequences of ignorance strike
us all and there is no escape. We must all move, but we
must all keep together. It is only when the rear guard comes
up that the vanguard can go on.
X?/<£
d> f^d^
'ESTERN pluck, enterprise, and intelligence are rightly
accounted for on the theory that it was the strongest
of mind and heart as well as body that pushed out
from the older communities to the western frontier, especially
552 LEADERS OF MEN.
into the wilds of the Rocky mountain region, in the early
sixties, some 2.000 miles beyond the border line of civilization.
The weak and timid and vacillating are not apt to undertake
the role of pathfinder under the circumstances and conditions
which brought the pioneer to Bannock, Virginia City, and
Last Chance Gulch. It was another race of men that came
at that period to lay the foundation of this young common-
wealth, fitting exactly the poet's ideal of those who "consti-
tute a state,*' and who have given to Montana a pioneer his-
tory and achievements in commerce and enterprise and
government alike honorable and glorious. Among the
pioneers of this stamp none has achieved greater success or
distinction than Senator William A. Clark. The material
benefits which the state has derived from his energy, enter-
prise, and ability, cannot be better presented or illustrated
than by the recital of the story of his busy and eventful
career.
William Andrews Clark, pioneer, miner, merchant, banker,
and United States senator, was born on a farm near Connells-
ville, Fayette county. Pennsylvania, on the 8th of January,
1839. His parents were John and Mary (Andrews) Clark,
both natives of that county. His grandfather, whose name
was also John, was a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, who
emigrated to this country and settled in Pennsylvania soon
after the Revolutionary War. The latter was married to Miss
Reed of Chester county, Pennsylvania, who was of Irish
parentage. Mr. Clark's maternal grandparents were also
from County Tyrone, Ireland, and settled in western Pennsyl-
vania about the beginning of the last century. They were
William and Sarah Andrews. Mrs. Andrews' maiden name
was Kithcart, and she was a descendant of the Cathcart fam-
ily, who were originally Huguenots, the name having been
changed to Kithcart through an error made by a registrar in
the transfer of a tract of land. The Cathcart family emi-
grated from France into Scotland at an early period, and later
moved to the north of Ireland. Subsequently they emi-
grated to the United States, and different branches of the
family settled in New York and Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark's
parents were married in Pennsylvania, and continued to
reside there until 1856, when they moved to Van Buren county,
Iowa, where his father died in 1873. In his religious affilia-
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK. 553
tions he was a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which
he served as an elder for forty years prior to his death.
Senator Clark's father being a farmer, the former's boy-
hood days were spent on the homestead, where he enjoyed
the advantages of three months' winter schooling and nine
months of such farm work as the boy could turn his hand to.
At the age of fourteen he entered Laurel Hill Academy, where
he prepared for college and acquired a good English educa-
tion. After the removal of his father to Iowa, William
assisted the first year in improving and tilling the new
prairie farm and taught school the succeeding winter. He
attended an academy in Birmingham one term and then after-
wards entered Iowa Wesleyan University at Mt. Pleasant,
and later became a disciple of Blackstone. He prosecuted his
legal studies for two years but did not afterwards engage in
the profession ; so that the broad an'd masterful career of a
man of affairs in the Western world was not cut short by his
installment in the lawyer's office.
Young Clark now started toward the setting sun. In
1859-GO he was teaching school in Missouri. In 1862 he
crossed the great plain, driving a team to the South Park and
Colorado and that winter worked in the quartz mines in Cen-
tral City, gaining knowledge and enterprise that afterward
served him to good purpose and perhaps in no small degree
helped to shape his destiny as the future '"quartz king'* of
Montana.
In 1863 the news of the gold discoveries at Bannock readied
Colorado and Mr. Clark was among the first to start for this
new El Dorado. After sixty-five days traveling with an ox
team he arrived at Bannock just in time to join a stampede to
Horse Prairie. Here he secured a claim, which he worked
during this and the following season, clearing up a net profit
of $1500 the first summer. This formed the basis of his future
operations in Montana and the beginning of the immense
fortune he has since accumulated.
In the ensuing five years Mr. Clark's career was one of
push and enterprise characteristic of the man. Instead of
w T orking in the " placers *' he took advantage of the opportu-
nities offered for trade and business and in less than half a
decade was at the head of one of the largest wholesale mer-
cantile establishments in the territory, built up from the
554 LEADERS OF MEN.
smallest beginnings. His first venture was to bring in a
load of provision from Salt Lake City in the winter of 1 803-4,
which he at once sold at amazing profits. The next winter
this experiment was repeated on a larger scale and Virginia
City was his market. In the spring of 18G5 he opened a
general merchandise store at Blackfoot City, then a new and
hustling mining camp. In the fall of the same year he sold
his stock and, being apprised that tobacco was a scarce article
iu the mining camps, went on horseback to Boise City, Idaho,
where he purchased several thousand pounds at a cost of
$1.50 a pound. Securing a team he drove to Helena with his
precious cargo, closing it out at $5.00 and $6.00 a pound to
ready purchasers. In February, 1866, Mr. Clark joined a
stampede to Elk Creek, where he established another store
and sold goods to the miners during the season. He closed
out in the fall and took a trip to the Pacific coast, going as far
as San Francisco, and making a goodly portion of the journey
on horseback. He then returned to Montana with a stock of
goods which he had selected to meet the wants of the miners
and which he disposed of at large profits.
In October, 1866, Mr. Clark went East by way of Fort Ben-
ton and the " Mackinaw route," being thirty-five days in mak-
ing the voyage from Fort Benton to Sioux City. After
visiting the principal cities of the Union, including a sojourn
in the South, he returned to Montana the following year. We
next hear of him as a mail carrier on the Star route between
Missoula and Walla Walla, a distance of four hundred miles,
where his energy and administrative qualities had ample
scope to display themselves ; but he made a success of mail
carrying and staging, as he did of every other undertaking.
His next move was in the direction of a wider sphere of busi-
ness activity.
In the autumn of 1868, Mr. Clark made a trip to New York
city and there formed a co-partnership with Mr. R. W. Don-
nell for the purpose of engaging in a wholesale mercantile
and banking business in Montana — a connection that resulted
in one of the strongest business firms of that period in the
territory. They shipped in a large stock of general merchan-
dise over the Missouri river in the spring of 1869 and estab-
lished an extensive wholesale business at Helena. In 1870
the business was transferred to Deer Lodge and consolidated
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK. 555
with that of Mr. Donnell on the west side city. At this time
Mr. S. E. Larabie was admitted into the business and the firm
of Donnell, Clark & Larabie entered upon a successful career.
The mercantile branch of the business was shortly closed out
and they then gave exclusive attention to banking, first at
Deer Lodge, and at a later date at both that place and Butte
City. In May, 1884, Messrs. Clark and Larabie purchased the
interests of Mr. Donnell in their Montana business and sub-
sequently Mr. Clark and his brother James Ross Clark came
into full ownership of the Butte bank. The banking house
of W. A. Clark & Brother of Butte City, Montana, has since
that time grown into one of the strongest banking institutions
of the West.
But it is in mining investments and in the operations
of vast ore mills and smelters for the treatment of base ores
that Mr. Clark has made the great financial success of his life,
and contributed so largely to the development and prosperity
of his state. No other single individual has played so con-
spicuous a part in this direction. In 1877, Mr. Clark first
began to give attention to the quartz prospects of Butte, pur-
chasing in this year in whole or in part the original Colusa,
Mountain Chief, Gambetta, and other mines, nearly all of
which proved afterward to be fabulously rich.
In order to fit himself for a successful mining career Mr.
Clark spent the winter of 1872-3 at the School of Mines,
Columbia College, taking a course in practical assaying and
analysis, with a general outline of mineralogy, where he
gained a knowledge that afterwards served him excellent
part in his extensive mining, milling, and smelting opera-
tions.
The first stamp mill of Butte, "The Old Dexter," was
finished in 1 87G through the financial help of Mr. Clark. The
first smelter of consequence in the same city was erected by a
company organized by him. This was the Colorado and
Montana Company, which still continues as one of the
leading enterprises of the " copper city." Mr. Clark is one of
the principal stockholders and vice-president of the company.
In 1880 he organized the Moulton Company, which at once
proceeded to the erection of the Moulton Mill and the develop-
ment of the mine. The company built a complete, dry-crush-
ing and chloridizing, forty-stamp mill, sunk a three compart-
55G LEADERS OF MEN.
merit shaft 800 feet, put in modern pumping and hoisting
works and thoroughly explored the property at the cost of
about $500,000. This mine has been in successful operation
ever since. Even through the period of financial depression,
when nearly every other silver mine in the West closed down,
the stamps of the Moulton never ceased to drop. Mr. Clark,
in connection with his brother James Ross, is also the owner
of the Butte Reduction Works, and the Colusa Parrot, and
several other copper and silver mines in connection therewith.
Besides his interests in these companies he has large individ-
ual holdings in the mines of Butte, many of which are in suc-
cessful operation, affording employment to a small army of
men. He also owns valuable mining properties in Idaho and
Arizona. The United Verde Copper Company's property in
Arizona owned by him is one of the mining wonders of the
world. It is probably the richest and most extensive of all
the mines, not excepting the Anaconda, Mountain View, or
any of the big properties of Butte. Mr. Clark completed and
equipped a railroad to the United Verde mine, connecting
with the Santa Fe system, which is a marvel of engineering
and, considering its length, which is 26 miles, it is one of the
most expensive east of the Mississippi river. He has built
immense smelting and refining plants at this mine and the
future output from it will probably only be limited by the
demands of the world's markets.
Mr. Clark established the first water system in Butte and
also the first electric light plant. He is the owner of the
Butte Miner, one of the leading daily papers of the city, and
also president and principal owner of the cable and electric
railways of that city, and largely interested in many other
industrial enterprises besides the mining and smelting of
ores. No man gives closer attention to his extensive busi-
ness affairs than does Mr. Clark, and consequently he is
one of the busiest men imaginable. As illustrative of his
characteristics in this respect the following incident is
related : —
Several years ago a Washington man visited Montana
with a letter of introduction to Mr. Clark. He found the
millionaire seated in a plain, poorly furnished office working
as if his life depended upon it. He was pleasant enough —
for politeness is an invariable rule with him — but it could be
.
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK. 557
plainly seen that he had no time to devote to unimportant
matters. Noting this, Mr. X retired, not, however, before
he had received an invitation to return in an hour and lunch
with him. The meal was of the plainest description and
hurriedly disposed of. Again there was no time for unnec-
essary talk, but Mr. X managed to make the senator
consent to meet him the following morning.
" What time will you come around ?" asked Mr. Clark.
" Any time that will suit you," responded Mr. X .
'" Seven o'clock then,"' responded Mr. Clark, explaining the
earliness of the hour by saying. " I am rather of an early riser.
It is a habit I have got into. I do not ask my employees to
get around any earlier than I do myself. I am always at my
office at seven o'clock every morning when I am in town."
Subsequently Mr. X ascertained that the office hours
of the senator were from 7 a. m. to 7 p. m., with a brief
interval of half an hour in the middle of the day for refresh-
ments.
Notwithstanding that Mr. Clark's time is always in
demand in connection with his vast business interests, still
he has always taken time to respond to any call of public
duty either from his state or his party and the services ren-
dered have invariably been of the highest order. Whatever
he does, he does well. Taking a deep interest in public
and political affairs he has prepared himself by study and
observation to fulfill the highest functions of citizenship.
During the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia in 1870, Gov-
ernor Potts appointed him State Orator to represent Montana,
and his oration on that occasion was a brilliant effort and did
good service in making known the wonderful resources of his
state. In 1884 he was elected a delegate from Silver Bow
county to the first constitutional convention of Montana and
was chosen president of that body. In this position he won
new laurels as presiding officer and showed himself a master
of parliamentary law and tactics. In the same year he was
commissioned by President Arthur to act as one of the com-
missioners of the World's Industrial and Cotton Exhibition at
New Orleans, where he spent several months in the interests
of Montana.
In 1888 Mr. Clark received the Democratic nomination for
delegate to Congress and made a brilliant canvass of the
558 LEADERS OF MEN.
territory, but his defeat was compassed by reason of treachery
within the party camp. When Montana was admitted to the
Union in 1889 and a second constitutional convention was
necessary he was again elected a member of that body and,
as before, was chosen its presiding officer. Upon the first
Legislative assembly, which convened in Helena in January,
1890, devolved the duty of electing two United States sena-
tors. The political muddle growing out of Precinct No. 34
troubles resulted in the organization of two Houses of repre-
sentatives and of the election of two sets of United States
senators. The Democrats elected Mr. Clark and Mr. Maginnis,
and the Republicans Mr. Sanders and Mr. T. C. Power. Mr.
Clark received the unanimous vote of his party in caucus and
in joint session, the claims of which were presented to the
United States Senate and as that body was largely Republican
at the time the issue did not remain long in doubt. Messrs.
Sanders and Power were declared elected ; but Mr. Clark
received from his party in the state the highest honor within
its gift and is as proud of it as if he had enjoyed the full frui-
tion of what he regards as a just and legal election.
Again a senator was to be elected to succeed Colonel San-
ders by the Legislature that convened in Helena in January,
1893. In this body the Populists with three members held the
balance of power. Mr. Clark again received a Democratic
caucus nomination but a small contingent of Democrats under
the avowed leadership of Mr. Marcus Daly refused to go into
the caucus or abide by the decision of the majority. As a con-
sequence the contest was protracted through the entire ses-
sion of sixty days and the gavel fell the last joint session with
no election as United States senator.
It was a memorable contest in which party and factional
strife ran high. On the last ballot and one or two preceding
ones, Mr. Clark lacked but two votes of election, receiving the
support of one Populist and several Republicans in addition to
that of the faithful band of twenty-six Democrats that stood
true to him from start to finish. Mr. Clark headed the delega-
tion to the Democratic convention at Chicago in 1892 and was
justly recognized by the administration in the distribution of
federal patronage in the state.
In reference to his entire public life it may be safely said
that no man in Montana has been more highly honored by
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK. 559
his party or has more readily deserved the confidence and
leadership, with one accord, awarded to him. At all times
and under all circumstances he has been faithful to his party,
as constant and as true-fixed as the North star.
In 1894 the permanent seat of government of Montana was
located. In 1892 the first capital contest, in which several
towns were entered, resulted in leaving Helena and Anaconda
in the field as the only candidates which could lay claim to
the suffrage of the people. Helena was the temporary capi-
tal. Anaconda being the Anaconda Company's candidate
had an immense financial backing and enjoyed the advantage
of a powerful political alliance. For a time it seemed that
this town, owned and controlled by one corporation, would
win the day. People who feared the consequences of such an
outcome were without leadership on which they could lean
with confidence. Helena forces were without organization.
At this juncture. Mr. Clark, whose home is within plain view
of the Anaconda mines, in Butte, and who was, therefore,
surrounded by the strongest Anaconda influences in the
state, cast aside all personal and political ambitions and
entered the fight for the people. From the day that he made
his decision known through the columns of his newspaper,
the Butte Miner, until election day, he was the recognized
leader of the Helena forces. Not only did he contribute
liberally of his time and means but he took the stump and
addressed the people in the principal cities of the state, mak-
ing a powerful and eloquent appeal to their pride and patriot-
ism.
Never in the history of this or any other state was a battle
more intense or exciting. Never did the people more keenly
feel that their rights and liberty were at stake and never did
a citizen receive a greater or more spontaneous ovation than
that which Mr. Clark enjoyed, when, after having unques-
tionably snatched victory from defeat, the people of that state
gathered in thousands at Helena to do him honor. The
citizens bore him on their shoulders from his train, placed him
in the carriage, and then" detached the horses, took their
places at the poles and triumphantly hauled it to the city as a
victor's chariot. It was a battle never to be forgotten and
the unprecedented expressions of gratitude which were
showered upon Mr. Clark form a climax of triumph such as
560 LEADERS OF MEN.
rarely crowns the efforts of any American citizen. It was a
victory which easily gives Mr. Clark rank as the first citizen
of his state and one of the most commanding figures of the
West.
In 1895, the Legislature was largely Republican, but a few
Democrats who were in the House and Senate again made
Mr. Clark their nominee for the United States Senate. In
1898-9 the Democrats again secured control of the state by a
large majority and Mr. Clark was the chief figure in the
contest. This was much embittered by the war waged against
him by Marcus Daly, of the Anaconda Copper Company, of
which Mr. Daly was president and general manager. The
Daly forces, by combining with a man by the name of Con-
rad, secured control of the House of Representatives and
elected the speaker, a pronounced Daly man. Prior to the
meeting of the Legislature the Anaconda Standard, Daly's
personal organ, made a bitter fight against Mr. Clark, pre-
dicting that bribery would be resorted to to secure his
election, and making the broad statement that any member
of the Legislature who voted for Mr. Clark would be branded
as a bribe-taker upon the day appointed by law to vote for
United States senator. A resolution was introduced into the
House of Representatives charging that bribery had been
resorted to in order to secure the election of Mr. Clark, sug-
gesting that a committee be appointed to investigate these
charges. The speaker appointed a committee all of whom
were avowed enemies of Mr. Clark.
A resolution was also introduced into the Senate which
named a committee from that body, all of whom were opposed
to Mr. Clark. The committee held several secret sessions and
when the hour arrived to vote, a man, by the name of White-
side, appeared at the bar of the House exhibiting $30,000
which he claimed that he and others had received for agree-
ing to support Mr. Clark for the United States Senate. Imme-
diately following this incident Mr. Clark branded it as a
conspiracy and demanded a rigid investigation by the
local authorities. The judge of the district court ordered a
grand jury impaneled, which consumed upwards of two
weeks in investigating the charges preferred by Mr. Daly and
his friends, and finally reported that there was no foundation
for the charges made nor evidence to be had sustaining them.
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK. 561
In the meantime the vote for senator continued. Each
day Mr. Clark gained votes, and immediately upon the adjourn-
ment of the grand jury, he received fifty-five votes, seven
more than the required number to elect.
On the eventful morning of the day of election the Repub-
lican members, of whom there were sixteen all told, in both
Houses, held a secret caucus to determine whom they should
support that day for senator. Previous to this they had cast
their vote for different candidates for the high office day by
day, and out of the sixteen, twelve agreed to and did support
Mr. Clark, insuring his election. Later, the twelve Republic-
ans who voted for Mr. Clark assigned as their reason for
doing so, in effect, that Mr. Daly and the Anaconda Copper
Company had dominated the politics of the state of Montana
too long, that their growing power and arrogant methods had
become a menace to all political parties, and that the interests
of the state would be best subserved by the election of Mr.
Clark and the defeat of the Daly faction. It has developed
that the very large majority of the people of the state of Mon-
tana, regardless of politics, acquiesce in and are rejoiced at
the election of Mr. Clark, and are entirely satisfied with the
result of the great contest.
The subsequent continuation of this contest in the United
States Senate and its outcome, as well as the triumphal vindi-
cation of Senator Clark by the Legislature of his state in 1901,
has now become a part of our contemporary history. That
the conspiracy itself was the result of ignoble motives, as it
was groundless in point of legal evidence, cannot at this date
be denied ; and far from besmirching the personal integrity
and reputation of Mr. Clark, the apparent insincerity of the
whole course of proceedings have only tended to put him in a
place of higher regard and public esteem.
In March, 1*869, Mr. Clark was married to Kate L. Stauffer
of Connellsville, Pa. Almost immediately the couple started
for their distant home in the mountains, where they resided
at Helena, later at Deer Lodge and still later in Butte City.
In 1879 Mr. Clark took his family to Paris, where they
remained three years, all of them, including himself, having
acquired a thorough knowledge of the French language. He
then sent them to Dresden, Germany, for two years to acquire
a knowledge of the German language. During these years,
562 LEADERS OF MEN.
Mr. Clark spent the winters in Europe and he and Mrs. Clark
and the eldest children traveled extensively through the
Continent and in parts of Asia and Africa. In late years,
besides their beautiful home in Butte, they have maintained
a residence in the fashionable district of New York city,
where a portion of each year is spent. Mr. Clark's home in
New York is one of the most notable in that city of splendid
palaces and has been furnished and decorated with rare speci-
mens of art, to the collection of which he has devoted much
time and a large amount of money. His art collection is one
of the utmost value and embraces works by Millet, Rousseau,
Corot, Daubigny, Zeim, Casin, Delacroix, Fortuny, I/Hermite,
and La Font. Personally Mr. Clark impresses one as a man
of extensive and varied culture. He is a lover of literature
and patron of art, while in point of attainment as a public
speaker and an administrator he has shown eminent capa-
bilities.
This sketch of Mr. Clark is necessarily general in charac-
ter ; to go into the interesting details of his life, of the strug-
gles of his early manhood, successes of later days, would
require a volume in itself and one that would not be lacking
in intense interest. Enough has been submitted, however, to
prove that he is entitled to a place in the first ranks of the
brave, determined, energetic, and self-made men of the West
who have builded a new empire in the last quarter of a
century.
Mr. Clark is yet in the prime of life and is pushing on to
greater and grander achievements. Though a man of large
wealth, he is still the same warm and steadfast friend, the
same genial companion as in the years of his tensest struggles
and greatest difficulties. He has accumulated riches without
arrogance, a rare case indeed. Above all, he is a good citizen,
public spirited and patriotic, proud of his state and of the
greatest mining camp on earth, which is indebted in so large a
measure to him for its present prosperity.
METHOD.
RDER is heaven's first law," it is said ; also,
" Method consists in the right choice of means to
an end." Here is a distinction, though the two
words cover the line of thought we wish to express.
SENATOR WILLIAM A. CLARK.
METHOD 565
We select " method " because it is the term used in speak-
ing of all kinds of business. " Without method, little can be
done to any good purpose.*'
We say of one person, referring to business, he is method-
ical or systematic ; of another, he is orderly, meaning what
the proverb does, "A place for everything and everything in
its place." This is the ground our subject covers, including,
perhaps, the thought embraced in another maxim, " A time
for everything and everything in its time.''
The benefits of method are dispatch, larger achievements,
better quality, and greater ease and comfort in work. There
is attraction, even beauty, also, in a business that moves, like
the works of a clock, without friction. The systematic divis-
ion of time and labor in our day, in all great manufactories,
is to secure large and quicker results, as well as better goods.
In an armory, thirty men, each producing his particular part
of the musket, will make more and better muskets in a given
time. In a store where each employee knows his time, place,
and work, and is true thereto, more is done, and better done,
and done at less cost, than can be possible otherwise. In
the home where time and labor are adjusted with reference
to the best results, the orderly housewife, rising at an
appointed time, regular as the sun, doing her work as method-
ically as the state department is run, more is accomplished,
all is better done, and that home is more attractive. In the
schoolroom, the pupil who yields cheerfully to the method of
the teacher, observing the precise time for studying this, that,
and the other lesson, with books, papers, slate, pencil, and
other helps arranged in order on his or her desk, will do far
better work, and contribute more to the success of the school,
than the pupil who is restive under rigid method, and whose
desk is suggestive of chaos.
Method has industry, punctuality, observation, persever-
ance, self-control, and other indispensable virtues in its train.
It cannot exist without them, and carries them along up into
manhood and womanhood to bless the whole life. Method in
early life assures method in later life.
John Kitto, a poor boy who lost his hearing by an accident,
had so great a thirst for knowledge that a benevolent gentle-
man took him out of the poorhouse and sent him to school.
His strong desire to make the most of his time and opportu-
566
LEADERS OF MEN.
nities led him into very methodical ways. After a little, he
wrote to his benefactor that he had reduced his labors to a
system, so that he might be able to tell where he was and
what he was doing at any time of the day or week, at the
same time sending to his benefactor a copy of the following
diagram. The spaces in the original diagram were distin-
guished by the colors of which here only the names are given.
Morn.
A. M.
P. M.
Evening
Night
Sunday
Red, 1
Brown, 2
Brown
Brown
Pink, 3
Monday
Yellow, 4
Yellow
Pink
Pink
Pink
Tuesday
Red
Yellow
Pink
Pink
Pink
Wednesday
Green, 5
Yellow
Green
Green
Pink
Thursday
Yellow
Yellow
Pink
Pink
Pink
Friday
Red
Yellow
Blue, 6
Blue
Pink
Saturday
Red
Scarlet, 7
' Red
Red
Pink
1. Optional. 2. Writing to Mr. Woolcombe. 3. Reading. 4. Gram-
mar. 5. Writing to Mr. Harvey. 6. Extracting. 7. Church.
He added : " Those portions of time which I have used
optionally, will be occupied in reading, writing, or walking,
as circumstances may dictate or permit. I shall spend all the
time I possibly can in the library rather than at my lodgings ;
but when not at the library, I shall be at Mr. Barnard's, unless
I take a walk during one of the optional periods."
With this diagram and explanation, Mr. Harvey could tell
where his protege was at any given time, and what he was
doing. Indeed, he might have regulated his watch by this
rigid method.
Kitto carried this method into the exhausting labors of
manhood, when he prepared his "Bible Illustrations," and
other great works. He claimed that it would have been
impossible for him to have produced these works without sys-
tematic labor. He was such a thorough believer in method to
assure dispatch that, in manhood, he required his daughter to
clean his study by the following rules : —
1. Make one pile of religious books.
2. Another of books not religious.
3. Another of letters.
METHOD. 567
4. Another of written papers other than that of letters.
5. Another of printed papers.
6. Put these piles upon the floor.
7. The table being now clear, dust and scour it.
The celebrated Nathaniel Emmons claimed that he could
not work at all, unless order reigned about him. For more
than fifty years the same chairs stood in the same places in his
study, his hat hung on the same hook, the shovel stood on the
north side of the open fireplace, and the tongs on the south
side. During all these years he sat in the same chair to write
his sermons, and the chair occupied the same place ; he wore
a hole through the floor where he sat, so that a new floor for
that spot was necessary. One of his students of theology,
who resided in the family, says of his orderly habits : -
" One day I was sitting by the fire with him, when a brand
fell upon the hearth. I arose and put the brand in its place,
but put the tongs on the north side of the fireplace. The doc-
tor immediately removed the tongs to the south side, but said
nothing. In a few minutes another brand fell, which I
replaced with the tongs, then setting the tongs again on the
north side with the shovel. The doctor arose again and
changed the tongs from the north to the south side. Soon the
brand fella third time, and, as the doctor's movements
appeared to me very singular, I determined to find out what
they meant. Having adjusted the brands, therefore, I placed
the tongs designedly along with the shovel on the north. The
doctor arose, put the tongs in their place on the south side, and
said : —
"'My young friend, as you are going to stay with me, I
wish to tell you now that I keep the shovel on the north side
of my fire and the tongs on the south." *'
Students, like business men, can accomplish much more by
a methodical way of doing than could be possible otherwise.
Cecil, who was a prodigious worker, said : —
" Method is like packing things in a box ; a good packer
will get in half as much again as a bad one."
That quaint old divine, Fuller, was wont to advise : " Mar-
shal thy notions into a handsome method. One will carry
twice more weight trussed and packed up in bundles than
when it lies untowardly flapping and hanging about his
shoulders."
568
LEADERS OF MEN.
Noah Webster never could have prepared his dictionary in
thirty-six years, unless the most exacting method had come to
the rescue. That saved him from ten to twenty years and a
vast amount of anxiety and trouble.
The biographer of Gideon Lee says of him : " He was so
systematic that he kept all accounts posted up to each night,
and all correspondence answered, so that up to the evening
preceding his last illness everything was in its place. With-
out this system and regularity, he could not have accom-
plished a tithe of his projects.'' It was equally true of Amos
Lawrence in keeping his business accounts ; and he gave as a
reason for his method, " I may not be here to-morrow.'"
The Bible says, "To everything there is a season, and a
time for every purpose under heaven. " That certainly includes
human plans ; and there is no way of adjusting one's life to
this fact of Providence except by method.
CHAPTER XXVII.
JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN.
ON AIDS TO SUCCESS BIRTHPLACE DESCENDED FROM AN OLD AMER-
ICAN FAMILY HOW EDUCATED BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER AS A BANKER
INHERITED ADVANTAGES 1. P. MORGAN & COMPANY — WHAT MR. MOR-
GAN DOES SECRET OF HIS POWER IN FINANCIAL CIRCLES AN INCES-
SANT WORKER PERSONAL APPEARANCE — METHOD OF TRANSACTING BUS-
INESS HIS WONDERFUL KNOWLEDGE OF MEN REORGANIZER AND CON-
STRUCTER HIS NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED
STATES GOVERNMENT ART COLLECTOR HIS FONDNESS FOR YACHTING
GIFTS TO PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS CHARACTERISTICS. HOW GREAT THINGS
ARE DONE.
No general formula for the successful accomplishment of
all things by all persons can, in my judgment, be made. Men
differ ; so do conditions.
In all large permanent successes, how-
ever, certain elements are plainly discern-
ible. Foremost among these I should place
honesty of purpose, energy, confident judg-
ment, knowledge of men and values, and
the ability to construct and harmonize. But
above and beyond these is the man himself
— a force that oftentimes outweighs any
mere catalogue of qualifications. Energy
may fail, judgment may fail, or any other of
the special qualities referred to may fail, but the man himself
comes to the rescue.
FEW months ago an American citizen without title or
office landed in England, and so apprehensive was
Threadneedle street of his power in the financial
world, and of the effect which his sudden death might have
570 LEADERS OF MEN.
on the markets, that certain brokers, to protect themselves in
their American investments, immediately took the extraordi-
nary measure of applying to Lloyd's for insurance on his life,
paying premiums at the rate of thirty pounds on the thousand
for three months.
This citizen was J. Pierpont Morgan, who had just organ-
ized the most powerful industrial and financial institution the
world has ever known. It matters not whether he was a large
owner in the United States Steel Corporation ; as its recog-
nized and actual dictator he controlled a yearly income and
expenditure nearly as great as that of imperial Germany,
paid taxes on a debt greater than that of many of the lesser
nations of Europe, and, by employing two hundred and fifty
thousand men, supported a population of over one million
souls, almost a nation in itself. Iron and steel making has
long been known as the basic industry. England's great-
ness and Germany's recent progress were due largely to their
ability to produce iron and steel cheaply and in large quanti-
ties. Mr. Morgan, as ironmaster, controlling the world's
greatest and cheapest sources of iron supply, threatened the
trade and profits of England and Germany, both of which
had already felt the sharp tooth of American competition.
It is no wonder, therefore, that he was regarded at the
moment as the American peril incarnate.
While in England Mr. Morgan bought — whether for him-
self or for American clients, it matters not — one of the great-
est of English steamship companies, the Leyland line, operat-
ing thirty-eight vessels between Europe and America. This
move, following so closely upon the organization of the Steel
Trust, was interpreted at first as a blow to England's suprem-
acy on the seas. It was natural and inevitable that Europe
should anxiously inquire as to the further intentions of this
man, to whom the purchase of a great steamship line seemed
only the incident of a holiday.
About the same time still another episode brought into
high relief Mr. Morgan's power. A panic occurred in the
London Stock Exchange, resulting from the great financial
struggle between Mr. Morgan and certain opposing interests
for the control of the Northern Pacific Railway. A number of
English traders must have faced ruin, with serious subsequent
effects to the whole market, if Mr. Morgan had not stepped in
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 571
and relieved the situation by accepting small payments from
the distressed traders where he might have exacted his pound
of flesh.
No one could follow the accounts of his doings in England,
and of the deep concern which his presence caused, without
realizing the meaning of power. Mr. Morgan, no doubt, con-
trols and influences more money and money interests to-day
than any other man in the world. Perhaps no one, not even
Mr. Morgan himself, fully realizes the responsibility and grav-
ity of that power. Certain it is that the death to-day of Mr.
Morgan would disturb more capital and shake more settled
business institutions than the death of almost any sovereign
in Europe.
If Mr. Morgan were merely rich, he would not be worth
thoughtful attention except as a social problem, but his own
riches constitute the least of his claims to distinction. Now-
adays a rich man has little more opportunity to reach a com-
manding place in the world than a poor man, and often his
riches hamper his advancement. Native force and genius,
sustained with hard work, govern progress among men of
wealth as in any other class. Twenty-five years ago Mr.
Morgan was practically unknown even in Wall- street, and
he could hardly be called wealthy as wealth is now measured.
By deep thinking and hard work he has reached at the age of
sixty-four years, the foremost place in American finance.
He is the most advanced expression of a new world move-
ment, that of ''community of interest," of consolidation ; he
saw that great combinations were to constitute the next step
in the development of industry and commerce, and he took
early advantage of his sagacity.
Mr. Morgan, therefore, is to be considered not as a million-
aire, but as a man of original force. Whether or not he has
used his unquestioned genius to the highest purpose, whether
or not he deserves all the credit or all the abuse that he has
received, are questions the future alone will be able to
answer.
Americans of great wealth may be divided into two
classes : those who are self-made and those who inherit their
riches. The self-made millionaire, although by no means
unknown in old Europe, is peculiarly an American product,
and there is no story which bites more keenly on our popular
572 LEADERS OF MEN.
imagination than that of the poor farmer lad — never a plain
" boy"' — who hoed potatoes at twenty-five cents a day, and
grew to be worth twenty-five millions. To this class belong
such men as Huntington, Armour, the first Astor, the first
Vanderbilt, Peter Cooper, Jay Gould, Hill, and Pullman.
They have all been bold, active, fearless men, sometimes
rough and unpolished, sometimes unprincipled, always force-
ful and original. To their sons and successors these men left
their money, but rarely their force and daring. Passiveness,
polish, and conservatism naturally succeed creative activity,
and the later Astors, Vanderbilts, and Goulds have been con-
servators rather than creators. J. Pierpont Morgan possesses
the somewhat rare distinction, in America, of belonging to both
of these classes. Born to considerable wealth, surrounded in
his youth by evidences of culture, and carefully educated, he
could have led a life of leisure if it had so pleased him. It
was of his own motion that he chose a business career.
It is a significant fact that much of the great wealth of our
country belongs to men who sprung from very old American
families. The Morgan family dates back to 1636, when Miles
Morgan, first of the name, landed on the soil of New England,
and became one of the company which founded the town of
Springfield, Massachusetts. Joseph Morgan, grandfather of
J. Pierpont, was a farmer and tavern-keeper in Hartford, Con-
necticut, with a Revolutionary War record. Joseph left his
son Junius Spencer, the present Morgan 's father, a good prop-
erty on what is now Asylum Hill, Hartford. Junius Spencer,
full of energy and business acumen, was a bank clerk while
hardly more than a boy, then a partner in the dry goods busi-
ness with Levi P. Morton (afterwards Vice-President of the
United States), and later an associate of the millionaire phi-
lanthropist, George Peabody. He made money rapidly, estab-
lished a successful banking house in London, with branches
in America and Australia, and laid the foundation upon which
his son rose to preeminence. At the age of twenty-three he
married Juliet. Pierpont, the daughter of the Rev. John Pier-
pont, poet and preacher, an original thinker, and a combative
reformer, though not particularly endowed with practical wis-
dom. Pierpont was the author of the ringing old poem
beginning : —
" Stand ' the ground 's your own, my braves."
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 573
Mr. Morgan was born April 17, 1837, in Hartford, Connect-
icut, where he continued to live until he was fourteen years
old, attending a neighboring country school for several years.
In 1851 his father moved to Boston, and J. Pierpont became a
student in the famous English High School, graduating at the
age of eighteen. He is described as being a boy of sturdiness
and independence, not talkative, taking small part in the
social side of his school life and not at all distinguished in his
studies, except possibly in mathematics. At one time in his
youth, an old friend of the family told me, young Morgan had
a decided inclination toward poetry writing. For two years
after he left Boston he was a student at the University of Got-
tingen, Germany. At the age of twenty-one he embarked on
his career as a banker, receiving his first experience with the
house of Duncan, Sherman & Co., of New York city.
One of the most complicated departments of banking is
that of foreign exchange ; it is also the department which has*
had the greatest growth in America in recent years. Through
his father's world-wide connections, as well as in his own bus-
iness relationships, Mr. Morgan attained a thorough knowledge
of every intricacy of the foreign business. He acquired a
mastery of the delicate relationships between the business
transactions of nation and nation and he saw the world's
credit system in its broader aspects. Many an able banker is
limited by the lack of such a breadth of view, the possession
of which must have counted high in many of Mr. Morgan's
achievements. It is significant of the elder Morgan's idea of
a banker 's education that he appointed his son, J. Pierpont,
to a position in the foreign exchange department of the
bank at the very beginning of his career, and when he had
mastered the American end of the business he was sent to
London.
All who knew Mr. Morgan in early life agree that from the
very beginning he exhibited the cardinal feature of his char-
acter, the capacity for pursuing his own way without advice,
and that, independent of his father, he worked with him
rather as man with man than as son with father. In 18G0, at
the age of twenty-three, he became the American agent for
George Peabocty & Company, of London, and with that firm
his experience began in the handling of large funds, and he
acquired familiarity with the risks and responsibilities of great
574 LEADERS OF MEN.
business transactions. At the age of twenty-seven he helped
organize the firm of Dabney, Morgan & Company, and seven
years later, in 1871, he formed a combination with the wealthy
Drexels of Philadelphia, the firm being known as Drexel,
Morgan & Company. In 1805 Drexel, Morgan & Company
became J. P. Morgan & Company, and, Mr. Morgan's father
having died in 1800, the London house of J. S. Morgan &
Company, and the Paris branch of Morgan, Harjes & Com-
pany, with all their connections the world over, fell under the
sole dictatorship of J. P. Morgan, and to-day J. P. Morgan is
the supreme director of all this great financial machine.
Significant of the changing centers of the world's money
power is the fact that J. S. Morgan, the father, directed his
banks from London, while J. Pierpont Morgan, the son,
directs the larger system from New York. It was character-
istic also that Morgan should have finally dominated every
' man and every firm with whom he came in contact ; he must,
by nature, be absolute dictator or nothing. It is for this rea-
son, no doubt, that his house has remained a private bank —
a private bank giving larger scope and freedom of action than
a national bank, or any institution limited by fixed rules and
subject to the divided mind of a board of directors. J. P.
Morgan & Company is not a corporation. It is a partnership.
There are many partners — in all eleven besides Mr. Morgan
— and most of them men of the first rank, though wholly
under the influence of the vital personality of the senior mem-
ber.
Comparatively few people possess any very clear concep-
tion of what Mr. Morgan is or does in Wall street. He is
vaguely compared with Mr. Keene, who is a speculator ; with
Jay Gould, who was a wrecker ; with Hill and Harriman, who
are strictly railroad men ; with the Astors, who are primarily
real-estate owners ; with Carnegie, who was an ironmaster.
But Mr. Morgan's business is purely that of a banker — a
worker with money. As such he acts as an agent for rich
clients in the investment of money ; he loans, borrows, trans-
mits money abroad, issues letters of credit, and buys and sells
securities which are the evidences of money. The extensive
foreign connections of J. P. Morgan & Company enable the firm
to do a large business in foreign exchange. The interchange of
merchandise commodities between the United States and the
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 575
rest of the world now amounts to the vast sum of seventy-
seven million dollars for every business day of the year. The
banker who issues the drafts or the credits makes a profit on
every dollar conveyed. J. P. Morgan & Company transact a
large share of this business.
Mr. Morgan is not a practical railroad man, nor a steel
manufacturer, nor a coal dealer, although he is interested in
all these things, because he is constantly buying and selling
railroad and steel and coal stocks. Sometimes for some spe-
cific purpose he buys so much of a railroad company's stock
that he and his clients practically own the railroad, and he
takes a strong position in directing its policy. Not long ago I
heard an apparently intelligent speaker who conveyed the
impression that Morgan bought a railroad out of his surplus
cash as a farmer buys a cow. Nothing could be farther from
the truth. While Mr. Morgan must make use of his own
large means, it no doubt forms but a small part in his vast
deals. The essence of successful banking is connections,
otherwise, friends. While coveting large earnings capital is
proverbially shrinking and timid, fearing to strike out boldly
for itself, and yet ever ready to trust itself with confidence to
the leader whose skill, foresight, and cautious daring have
been steadily fruitful of success. Such a money-master is J.
Pierpont Morgan. The millionaire Peabody trusted him first,
then the Drexels with their vast fortunes, then the Vander-
bilts, for whom he made a profitable sale of bonds early in his
career. All through these years he has thus built up an army
of powerful connections, not only in America, but in England,
France, and Germany, so that more and more millions of
capital follow the dictates of his judgment.
A number of men in Wall street who knew Mr. Morgan
and his methods intimately — and some were his friends and
some his enemies — were asked how he attained the leading
position in the world of finance. The answers were : " He
does exactly as he agrees to do." " He keeps his word."
" He is an honest man." And one said : " He is a gentleman
in his business dealings." It is plain that Mr. Morgan would
not have the handling of such important interests unless men
of money trusted him. But a leader must not only be honest ;
he must justify his leadership by success. The value of his
judgment must be vindicated in good times and bad, else his
576 LEADERS OF MEN.
splendid following will surely fall apart. His followers must
continue to regard him as strong and wise. It should not be
forgotten that Mr. Morgan has been working doggedly at his
profession for forty-four years, and that his prestige and pre-
eminence are of no sudden growth. With these facts in mind
it is plain why Mr. Morgan's life is now so precious to the
markets. When he drops out there is a possibility that some
of the warring interests which he now holds together with an
iron hand, as he holds the rival coal railroads of Pennsyl-
vania, for example, may clash; the aggregation of capital
which he now leads to swift successes may be unable to find
at once another master in whose judgment it reposes such
confidence, and it may begin to withdraw from the great
activities to which Mr. Morgan has spurred it, and with-
drawal of capital means stringency and falling prices.
Besides his own private banking house here and its
branches abroad, Mr. Morgan largely controls a powerful
national bank in New York city — the National Bank of
Commerce, of which he is the vice-president. It is known in
Wall street as "Morgan's Bank." He is a dominating influ-
ence in other banks and financial institutions and a direc-
tor never without much influence in twenty-one railroad
companies, great and small, including the New York Central
and Lake Shore systems. He is a director in the Western
Union Telegraph Company, the Pullman Palace Car Com-
pany, the ^Etna Fire Insurance Company, the General Electric
Company, the greatest electric company in the world, and in
other less important corporations. And through his partners,
who are directors in other railroad and steel corporations, his
influence reaches far and wide. He is a potent, and in times
of trouble the controlling, factor in several of what are known
as the "coal roads "of Pennsylvania — the Erie, the Lehigh
Valley, the Central of New Jersey, and the Reading, together
with their tributary coal fields. He is the predominating
influence in the Southern railway and in three of its connec-
tions, the foremost railroad system of the Southern states,
with over eight thousand miles of track, a system which he
has created, and of which an associate and friend is president.
He is also a power in many other railroads, as witness his
recent appointment of the directors of the Northern Pacific
Railroad, and his evident influence through J. J. Hill in the
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 577
Burlington and Great Northern management. And, as I
have already said, he is at present practically dictator of the
vast steel interests of the country, through the United States
Steel Corporation, and he controls at least one Atlantic steam-
ship line.
It is impossible, of course, for any outsider to know Mr.
Morgan 's exact influence in any one of these vast business
concerns. It may be set down for a fact that if Mr. Morgan's
interests reach into any corporation even slightly, and Mr.
Morgan chooses to dictate, his word is going a long way.
" Why," exclaimed a somewhat enthusiastic admirer of Mr.
Morgan 's, " if he owned one share in a railroad company and
wanted to boss, he'd boss."' Indeed, he has something to do
with so many widely diverse interests, that he occasionally
finds one of his companies fighting another, as when, the other
day, the General Electric Company began suit against the
Lorain Steel Company, one of the components of the Steel
Trust. If anything dim and big in the way of business is
impending in Wall street, brokers tell with bated breath that
Mr. Morgan, or, as it is usually expressed, " The old man," is
behind it. He is the bogy of the street. Indeed, it is amus-
ing to behold in what awe Mr. Morgan is everywhere held.
Every one who speaks of him or about him must first be
assured that the disclosures will go no further, as if he were
committing a sort of treason.
And Mr. Morgan himself sits in his office and works pro-
digiously, apparently paying no attention to what is said
about him, whether good or evil. Mr. Morgan "s office occu-
pies the first floor of a large, somewhat old-fashioned building,
standing at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, New York
city, the financial center of our country and of the world. On
one side in Wall street rises grimly the columned portals of
the United States Sub-Treasury building, with George Wash-
ington standing in bronze dignity in front. On the other side,
in Broad street, facing Mr. Morgan 's window, the new Stock
Exchange is building. Within a radius of a quarter of a mile
are gathered some of the richest banks in America, and the
office whence most of the great railroad and other corpora-
tions of the country are controlled. Uncounted millions of
dollars' worth of business — American, European, Australian.
Chinese, African — is there transacted every hour. But in
578 LEADERS OF MEN.
the crook of the steps of Mr. Morgan's office a man makes a
good living selling lemonade and chewing gum, and he looks
contented, too.
To Mr. Morgan's office come railroad presidents, bank
presidents, and the heads of great corporations, to consult
with him, and once the Secretary of the United States Treas-
ury came to seek his aid in preserving the solvency of the
United States Government. He rarely goes to them ; they all
come to him. Until recently any man might walk up to his
desk, which stands in plain view from the outer office, with-
out the formality of presenting a card ; but while approach-
able, it would be an intrepid man indeed who would call upon
him without definite business in hand.
Mr. Morgan impresses one as a large man, thick of chest,
with a big head set close down on burly shoulders, features
large, an extraordinarily prominent nose, keen gray eyes,
deep set under heavy brows, a high, fine forehead, a square,
bulldog chin. His hair is iron-gray and thin, and his mus-
tache is close cropped. For a man of his age and size he
seems unusually active, moving about with almost nervous
alertness. He is a man of few words, always sharply and
shortly spoken. When a man comes to him Mr. Morgan looks
at him keenly, waiting for him to speak first, and his decision
follows quickly.
A young broker, who had never met Mr. Morgan before,
went to him not long ago to borrow nearly a million dollars
for a client. He told Mr. Morgan what he wanted in half a
dozen words, and handed him the list of securities to be
deposited as collateral. Mr. Morgan looked sharply at his
visitor, "looked at me as if he saw clear through me," as
the broker expressed it, then glanced swiftly down the list.
"I '11 take the loan," he said, and passed the borrower on to
one of his partners. That was all. The whole transaction,
involving a loan larger than the yearly business of many a
small bank, had not taken a minute and a half, and Mr.
Morgan's side of the conversation had consumed not more
than a dozen words.
Mr. Morgan knows to the last degree the psychology of
meeting and dealing with men. The man who sits in his
office, a citadel of silence and reserve force, and makes his
visitor uncover his batteries is impregnable. That is Mr.
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 579
Morgan's way — the way he dealt with a certain owner of
coal lands in Pennsylvania who knew that Mr. Morgan must
have his property, and so had come down prepared to exact
a good price, to "thresh it out with Morgan." Mr. Morgan
kept him waiting a long time, and then he came out bulky,
cold, impressive, looked the coal man in the eye, and only
broke the silence to say, " I '11 give you $ for your prop-
erty." And there the bargain was closed. His way is to deal
brusquely in ultimatums ; he says : "I '11 do this," or, " I '11
do that," and that settles it.
All who know say that Mr. Morgan does not ask advice,
hot even of his partners, and that when he makes up his
mind nothing short of a cataclysm will divert him. No
doubt his confidence in himself inspires confidence in others.
He may make and must have made mistakes, but he goes
tramping forward as though nothing had happened, and even
his partners may be more than half convinced that nothing
has happened or else that it is all a skillful feint in some
unsuspected manceuver.
Mr. Morgan has the surety of judgment and the broad-
ness of mind which enable him to work with large numbers
of men — a strong man with eyes on a clearly denned though
distant purpose,which he alone perceives,marching ruthlessly
forward until his goal is reached. It was Bismarck's way.
We may not like such men, and the cries of those who are
trampled upon may ring ugly in our ears, but this is the
method of the men who accomplish things.
Without what has been so well called the " leaping mind,"
Mr. Morgan never could have accomplished what he has. Mr.
Morgan does not spend many hours at his office, and when he
is there he rarely remains long at one desk. A man who
was long associated with him told me how he "leaped"
through his correspondence, how he was often complete mas-
ter of a proposition before the explanations were half finished,
and the lawyers who drew up the papers for the Steel Corpora-
tion could hardly keep pace with his swiftly enunciated plans.
Indeed, Mr. Morgan is given credit in Wall street, not so
much for his skill in organizing the Steel Trust as he is for the
speed with which the enormous task was accomplished. On
December 12, 1900, he attended a dinner given at the Univer-
sity Club by J. Edward Simmons,of the Fourth National Bank.
580 LEADERS OF MEX.
Charles M. Schwab was there and gave an illuminative
address on the steel and iron industry. Mr. Morgan, though
already a dominant factor in three steel combinations, had
never before met Mr. Schwab, but he was so impressed with
his address, that he conceived the idea of a gigantic com-
bination of the steel interests in America. Three months
later the largest corporation in the world was organized, with
Mr. Schwab as its president, and the stock was on sale.
As yet no account has been given except incidentally, of
what Mr. Morgan has actually done to make him a great
figure in finance. There is not space here to mention even
briefly half of the great money maneuvers which he ha£
planned and carried to success. First of all it is evident that
Mr. Morgan has never been a wrecker, like Jay Gould ; he
has always been an up-builder, or a creator. Most of his
achievements have had for their object the saving of money
waste. Economy in production, economy in management,
economy in interest charges, are what he has always sought.
That is why he never misses an opportunity to strike a blow
at competition in whatever form it may appear. Rival com-
panies compete and lose money ; Mr. Morgan steps in and
combines them, thus saving not only the losses due to the
competition, but economizing also in administrative ex-
penses. In times of great excitement in Wall street, when
panic and loss threatened the entire country, Mr. Morgan has
been the first to come to the rescue with his money and credit,
knowing that panic and uncertainty are among the most
fruitful sources of loss to capital. In the panic of December,
1899, for instance, when call money reached one hundred and
eighty-six per cent., Mr. Morgan at once poured several mil-
lion dollars into the market, and instantly quieted the panic.
For many years he has acted as a sort of balance-wheel to the
country's finance, wielding his immense power and credit so
as to steady the market when panic threatened.
Mr. Morgan has been such a reorganizer and reconstructer
of bankrupt corporations, especially railroad companies, that
Wall street has come to call the process re-Morganizing. He
acts, sometimes, as a sort of expert financial doctor, called
in to treat financial illness for a few — and he knows as well
how to charge as the best specialist in surgery. At other times
he buys up a railroad, as a second-hand furniture dealer buys
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 581
a dilapidated settee, refurbishes it with new upholstery,
stiffens the legs, polishes up the varnish, and sells it for new
at a big profit. One might also liken Mr. Morgan to a shrewd
retail merchant, for he knows so well how to make his goods
attractive that, when he places a fine new line of stocks and
bonds in his window, they are recognized as the latest fash-
ion, and find a ready market.
But this reorganizing is a tremendously difficult business.
For instance, in 1893, Mr. Morgan's firm took hold of what
was then the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway
and Warehouse System, a loose, confused combination of
some thirty jealous companies, all involved in bankruptcy,
with some two hundred and fifty million dollars in securities
outstanding. It required months merely to learn the nature
of the business, and then Mr. Morgan took up the almost hope-
less task of getting the consent of all the warring interests to
his plan of reorganization. He had to persuade, frighten, or
force crowds of creditors to bow to his will, besides providing
the vast sums of money necessary to buy up claims and to
support the railroad while the work of reorganization was
going forward. It is impossible to give more than a hint of
the complications involved in such an achievement ; in this
case there were not fewer than twenty-six foreclosures. And
at the last, in this as in every reorganization, Mr. Morgan
was confronted with the great task of convincing the public
that the new company could so operate the railroad, which
had gone bankrupt before, that it would pay a profit, else the
stocks and bonds would not sell. To-day the Southern Rail-
way, which sprung from this feat of reorganization, is one of
the best railroads in the country, doing a large part of the
transportation business of the Southern states. In a similar
manner Morgan's firm reorganized the West Shore Railroad in
1885, and sold it to the New York Central, thereby stopping the
fierce competition which was injuring both roads ; the Read-
ing Railroad in 1886, the Chesapeake and Ohio in 1888, the
Erie Railroad in 1895, the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1897.
As far back as 1880 Mr. Morgan's firm furnished the money,
forty million dollars, which enabled the Northern Pacific
Railroad to build to the Pacific coast, and in 1887 it saved the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from insolvency by forming a
syndicate to provide that company with ten million dollars.
582 LEADERS OF MEN.
However, many of Mr. Morgan's reorganizations are criti-
cised in Wall street for being slow in paying profits, and he is
accused in some quarters of over-capitalizing his corporations,
basing the stock issue on the most favorable and promising
aspects of the business, rather than on an average accomplish-
ment. Many Wall street men assert that the new Steel Cor-
poration has thus been over-capitalized, and that it can never
earn the expected dividends on so large a capital. This view,
however, is as strenuously combated in other quarters.
Mr. Morgan's most noteworthy achievements have been
the part he played at least three times in relieving the United
States Government from serious financial embarrassment.
As early as 1876, Drexel, Morgan & Company were the chief
instruments in furnishing the cash for refunding the govern-
ment debt, and placing the United States once more on a gold
basis after the years of stress and paper money following the
Civil War. The part that J. P. Morgan & Company played
in 1895, when, after the panic of 1893, gold began to flow out
of the country until it threatened the stability of the treasury,
is familiar history. At that time Morgan and Belmont, with
other bankers whom they had interested, agreed to buy two
hundred million dollars' worth of government bonds, to pay
for them in gold, and to prevent gold, as nearly as possible,
from leaving the country. It was one of the greatest finan-
cial undertakings ever attempted. In effect it placed all the
credit of the private money interest of the country behind
the government, and it saved the day. For this service
J. P. Morgan & Company and associates exacted very large
pay, and when roundly abused for it by the public and in
Congress, they answered that their profits were not large con-
sidering the magnitude and risk of the undertaking. In the
threatened panic of the next year, 1890, Mr. Morgan offered
again to provide gold for the government, but when the
people demanded a popular loan, he immediately wrote to
President Cleveland pledging him his support.
In 1899 J. P. Morgan & Company took the lead in a signifi-
cant departure in American finance. Until then London was
the world money center, and the United States had, therefore,
been a borrower, not a lender. But in 1899 Mr. Morgan's firm
financed the first foreign loan ever negotiated here. With
the assistance of its connections in Europe the entire foreign
J. PIERPONT MORGAN. 583
debt of Mexico, amounting to one hundred and ten million
dollars, was converted. In 1900 the firm took the lead in help-
ing to supply Great Britain with war money, placing twelve
million dollars of bonds in this country, and since then it has
taken part of several other foreign loans.
These are only a few of the achievements of Mr. Morgan
and his firm. A history of J. P. Morgan & Company for the
last six years would constitute a fairly complete history of
Wall street, and, indeed, of finance in the United States.
Business by no means absorbs all of Mr. Morgan's energy.
Perhaps his first interest outside of his work is his enthusi-
asm as a collector of works of art. He is the possessor of
many famous paintings and is interested in rare china,
Limoges ware particularly. As evidences of his taste he has
gathered and presented a collection of fabrics to Cooper
Union, of rare gems to the American Museum of Natural
History, of Greek ornaments to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art. Yachting is his diversion, and he superintended the
building of his steam yacht Corsair in every detail. For
a long time he was commodore of the New York Yacht Club,
to which he recently presented the land for a new club house.
After a hard siege at business Mr. Morgan goes for a cruise,
and it is related that he often takes with him a mass of
papers, and that when his friends look for him he is to be
found below deck buried deep in figures, utterly oblivious to
his surroundings. Fond of a fine dinner, a connoisseur in
wines, and a judge of cigars, he is temperate in all these.
Caring little for society, he occasionally enjoys a quiet party,
and may warm into talkativeness, though never on business
subjects. Anyone who has seen him at the dinners of the
New England Society knows that he enjoys them. There he
will sometimes join in the singing, but it is very rarely that
he makes a speech. None of his few intimate friends are
among his business associates. The outward mark of esteem
which Mr. Morgan bestows upon a man is to present him with
a collie dog from the kennels of his country home. A mem-
ber of many clubs, he is too busy to be much of a club man,
but he has always been a churchgoer, and what is more, a
church worker, being a vestryman of St. George's Church in
Stuyvesant square, and the unfailing friend and helper of its
rector, the Rev. Dr. Rainsford. He has taken especial inter-
584 LEADERS OF MEN.
est in the boys of the church, has helped devise means to
keep them off the street and to teach them trades, and some-
times he attends the evening sessions of their club and talks
to them. Two of his known philanthropies have been the
establishment, at a cost of over five hundred thousand dollars,
of the now well known New York Trade School in the upper
east side of New York, and the founding of a smaller trade
school in connection with St. George's Church.
Mr. Morgan has also given to Harvard University for the
Medical School one million dollars ; for a great lying-in
hospital near St. George's Church, one million three hundred
and fifty thousand dollars ; for St. John's Cathedral, five hun-
dred thousand dollars ; for help toward paying the debts of
the Young Men's Christian Association, one hundred thousand
dollars ; for the Loomis Hospital for Consumptives, some five
hundred thousand dollars ; for a library in Holyoke, Massa-
chusetts ( his father's birthplace ), one hundred thousand
dollars ; for preserving the Palisades along the Hudson river,
one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars ; for a new
parish house and rectory for St. George's Church, three hun-
dred thousand dollars. He also contributed largely to the
Queen Victoria memorial fund and to the Galveston relief
fund ; he presented St. Paul's Cathedral in London with a
complete electric plant, and built a hospital at Aix-les-Bains,
France.
And this is J. Pierpont Morgan, a powerful factor in one
of the greatest departments of human activity, a man
endowed with extraordinary energy and capacity, who has
trampled forward in his own rough way, asking neither
sympathy nor advice ; who has been widely trusted and
feared, little liked and much abused ; who has attained great
wealth, which he neither needed nor desired, except as a tool
to carve a way to greater achievements ; who has worked
prodigiously — in short, a man who has lived his life and
fought his fight to the limit of his power.
HOW GREAT THINGS ARE DONE.
CERTAIN French preacher, whenever he appears in
the pulpit of Notre Dame, draws all the elite of Paris
to hear him ; so fascinating, eloquent, and polished are
his discourses. How comes he to acquire this power ? He
MR. J. RIKRl'ONT MORGAN.
HOW GREAT THINGS ARE DONE. 587
delivers but five or six sermons in the year, generally in the
season of Lent, and then retires to his convent, to spend the
rest of the year in reading and study, and in preparing his
half dozen sermons for the next season.
A preacher may compose fifty sermons in the year ; but
then there will not be a masterpiece among them. Dr. Way-
land took two years to compose his famous sermon on foreign
missions ; but then it is a masterpiece, worth a ton of ordinary
sermons. An eminent lawyer who, without any uncommon
oratorical gifts, won nearly every case in which he was
engaged, upon being asked how he did it, replied : "I learn
all that can be learned of each case before it comes into
court."
After dictating an argument to Boswell, who was prepar-
ing to speak before a committee of the House of Commons,
Dr. Johnson said very wisely to him : " This you must
enlarge on, when speaking to the committee. You must not
argue there as if you were arguing in the schools ; close rea-
soning will not fix their attention ; you must say the same
thing over and over again in different words. If you say it
but once, they miss it, in a moment of inattention. It is
unjust, sir, to censure lawyers for multiplying words when
they argue ; it is often necessary for them to multiply words.*'
Perhaps the success of the great lawyers is largely owing
to the same practice as that of tbe great preachers. The great
aim of the latter is to make their point clear, and impress it on
the minds of their hearers by every means in their power.
"All great preachers," says Professor Tucker, ''succeed by
ceaseless reiteration, under constantly varying forms, of a few
conceptions that have become supreme in their experience."
If one should be asked to give an example of a man of gen-
ius who, from want of steady application to work, failed to
produce what might reasonably be expected of him, he would
probably be at a loss, for a moment, which among many ex-
amples to choose. The name of Coleridge would probably come
first to mind ; but disease and opium had much to do with his
sad inactivity. He was a man of uncommon genius ; every-
thing he has written bears the stamp of genius ; but his will -
aye, that had nothing of the character of genius in it ; his will
was wretchedly weak, and this was the cause of all his trouble.
He planned many things, but accomplished few. He would
588 LEADERS OF MEN.
seldom even attempt to perform what he planned ; yet in plan-
ning he was inexhaustible — boundless projects with very little
performance. He was not, however, lacking in the will to
talk, and his famous talks at Highgate had their effect on the
crowds of young men who flocked to hear him, many of whom
subsequently attained distinction. How often it thus happens
that a man of the finest intellectual qualities has some fatal
defect in his character which ruins him !
Perhaps no better example can be cited than that of a con-
temporary of his, Sir James Mackintosh, a man of brilliant
talents, famous for one or two splendid speeches, one or two
finished essays, and one or two masterly philosophic disserta-
tions. How came this man to produce so little ? The answer
is given in his own words, merely premising that in his youth
he had been allowed to do as he pleased, and had acquired an
indolent habit of straying aimlessly from one subject to
another. "No subsequent circumstance,'' he says, ''could
make up for that invaluable habit of vigorous and methodical
industry which the indulgence and irregularity of my school
life prevented me from acquiring, and of which I have pain-
fully felt the want in every part of my life."' Sir James lived
till near threescore and ten ; and yet, though a man of rare
gifts, with a profound knowledge of art and literature, philos-
ophy and politics, he left little more than a few " precious
fragments," which simply prove what lie might have done,
had he possessed that "invaluable habit," the want of which
he so touchingly deplores.
A dozen such examples might be given, but it is not nec-
essary ; it has already been shown that the finest genius in
the world has done what it has done mainly by industry and
patient thought : and the fact now only remains to be
emphasized that no habit is so valuable, no love of anything
in the world so precious, as the love of labor, of constantly
and regularly producing something useful. Not only does it
conduce to success in life, but it is the purifier of character,
the producer of sane thoughts and of a sweet, wholesome,
contented life. For " success is no success at all if it makes
not a happy mind."' A diligent workman, let him be ever so
ignorant, is a far better man than the most cultivated idler.
This is something that is never considered by those fathers
and mothers who want their sons to be bank clerks and Wall
HOW GREAT THINGS ARE DONE. 589
street merchants. Such positions, with little to do and much
to get, are the very express roads to perdition. The one great
mistake that General Grant made was getting in among the
Wall street sharks.
No man who values his character, no man who values the
true welfare of his children, should engage or cause his chil-
dren to engage in a husiness whose main object is to make
money, not to earn it ; to grow rich without labor ; to rise on
the ruin of others, and to steep the senses in the enjoyment
of material wealth. " Wealth," says somo one, "can never
be conjured out of the crucible of political or commercial
gambling. It must be hewed out of the forest, dug out of the
earth, blasted out of the mine, pounded out on the anvil,
wrought out of the machine shop, or worked out of the loom."
That is why Austria is such a wretchedly poor, bankrupt
country ; one of its chief sources of revenue (and chief cor-
ruptions of the people) is its state lotteries, by which, though
nothing is produced, everybody expects to get rich.
"Of all the work that produces results," says the Bishop
of Exeter, "nine tenths must be drudgery/' There is no work,
from the highest to the lowest, that can be done by any man
who is unwilling to make that sacrifice. Part of the very
nobility of the devotion of the true workman to his work
consists in the fact that he is not daunted by finding that
drudgery must be done ; and no man can really succeed in
any walk of life without a good deal of what in ordinary Eng-
lish is called pluck.
" Ah !" said a brave painter to Mr. Emerson, " if a man
has failed, you will find he has dreamed instead of work-
ing. There is no way to success in our art but to take off
your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad,
all day and every day."
This is the secret of the success of the Germans in this
country ; they are never afraid of drudgery ; they will study
and learn anything to succeed. While French merchants, for
instance, never think of learning any language but their own,
the Germans learn, when required, nearly every language of
Europe. When the French do business with any foreign
country, they write to that country in the language of France ;
but the Germans write in the language of the country with
which they trade. The young merchants of Germany learn
590 LEADERS OF MEN.
their business so thoroughly well that they get into superior
positions wherever they go. After a four years' course in a
commercial school, they serve three years longer in business
houses without pay. The Germans strive, in fact, after thor-
ough equipment in all the professions. There are no quacks
or halflings in Germany. Such people are not tolerated. The
leading merchants of France have found this out by experi-
ence. When the writer was in Paris, in 1862, he found that
most of the responsible positions in mercantile houses were
filled by young Germans. For a young Frenchman has five
hundred thoughts on amour for one on any other subject.
When the Parisians, at the outbreak of the late Franco-
Prussian war, lost their heads and banished the Germans from
their city, they sent away their most skillful workmen in all
those fine and fancy articles for which they had become fa-
mous ; and, after the war, the Parisians found that most of
their trade had gone with the workmen to Vienna. They had
killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.
The law of progress is by gradual steps. A great inven-
tion is usually the result of the labors of three or four men
living at different periods ; and had not the first done his
part, the second would not have done his, nor the third com-
pleted it. Galvani gave the first intimation of the science
which bears his name, galvanism ; Volta showed that it was
a source of power of incalculable importance ; and Humphry
Davy, from the application of the galvanic energy to the
composition and decomposition of various chemical sub-
stances, showed that the power called chemical affinity is
identical with that called electricity, thus creating a new
science called electro-chemistry ; and thence he proceeded, in
the same line of experiments, until he made his grand inven-
tion, the Safety Lamp. Torricelli invented the barometer ;
but he had no idea of the various uses to which it was to be
applied. It was Pascal who showed that it might be used for
measuring the height of any place to which it could be car-
ried ; and it was, I think, Priestley, who showed its various
uses in physical and mechanical researches. Napoleon sent
Jacquard to study the models of machines in the Paris
Museum of Inventions, and Jacquard found there the model
of a machine which gave him the idea for constructing his
wonderful carpet pattern-weaving loom. The Marquis of
HOW GREAT THINGS ARE DONE. 591
Worcester made, in 1G55, a machine which, hy the expansive
power of steam, raised water to the height of forty feet ; then
Thomas Newcomen, an ingenious mechanic, constructed,
about half a century later, a kind of steam and atmospheric
engine, which was used for working pumps ; and a half cen-
tury after this, James Watt, while still working as a mathe-
matical instrument maker, hit upon the ingenious expedient,
the missing link, which practically made the steam engine
what it is, the greatest invention ever made. Thus the great
inventors and discoverers had predecessors who indicated or
attempted something such as they achieved ; thus they were,
as Dr. Hodge calls them, a succession of great bridge builders
— men who spanned the chasm between the beginning and
the ending of great inventions and discoveries.
The same is doubtless true of the great creators in litera-
ture and art. There were epic poets, no doubt, before Homer,
just as there were dramatists before Shakespeare ; and cer-
tainly neither Homer nor Shakespeare could have achieved
anything such as they did achieve, had they had no prede-
cessors. We know, in fact, that Shakespeare first essayed his
marvelous power of dramatic composition by retouching and
reviving old plays — literary corpses into which he breathed
the breath of life — and I have no doubt that Homer did some
inferior work before he rose to the Iliad. We do not know
that the Iliad and the Odyssey are the greatest epics of antiq-
uity ; we know only that they are the greatest that have come
down to us.
Thus it is that the studies and labors of one man help on
the studies and labors of another ; thus it is that thoughts
produce thoughts ; inventions produce inventions ; poems
produce poems ; pictures produce pictures ; laws produce
laws ; and thus the arts and the sciences are carried forward,
link after link, by one mind after another, till the chain be
complete. ""No man," says Garfield, "can make a speech
alone. It is the great human power that strikes from a thou-
sand minds ; this acts upon him and makes the speech."
Think of that, young man, when you are reading Burke's
or Webster's masterpieces of oratory ; think of that, young
woman, when you are reading Walter Scott's or George
Eliot's masterpieces of fiction. You may not make such
speeches or write such stories ■ but they have their influence
592 LEADERS OF MEN.
upon you ; you carry away something' from them ; and they
will help you to make good speeches or to write good stories
of your own. Any other kind you should never attempt to
make or to write. "A man who writes well," says Montes-
cpuieu, ''writes not as others write, but as he himself writes ;
it is often in speaking badly that he speaks well.'* Chatham's
speeches, for instance, consisted of a series of rugged, broken
sentences ; but they were his own, full of significance, charac-
teristic, and true, and they carried ten times as much weight
as the smooth, fluent, and well-worded speeches of his oppo-
nents.
A brawny-armed quarryman strikes forty blows with a big
hammer on a huge block of granite, all apparently in vain.
" If y r ou can't break that block in ten blows," remarked a by-
stander, " you can't do it in a hundred.'" " Oh, yes," said he,
" every blow tells." This is a good illustration of all successful
work. It may- not be apparent, but every conversation, every
speech, every sermon, every story, every experience in life,
tells in making up the man. And when a man, in some
supreme moment, produces, without any apparent effort, and
without any" previous preparation, a masterpiece of oratory, a
grand blaze of eloquence like Chatham's answer to Lord
Suffolk, or Webster's reply to Hayne, it is simply the outcome
of years of study and reflection, the product of a mind stored
with the wit and wisdom of past ages, and trained to success-
ful effort in the moment of necessity. " What though the
fire bursts forth at length," says Dr. Dewey, "' like volcanic
fires, with spontaneous, original, native force ? It only
shows the intenser action of the elements beneath. What
though it breaks like lightning from the cloud ? The electric
fire had been collecting in the firmament through many a
silent, calm, and clear day."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JOHN WANAMAKER.
ON HOW TO SUCCEED DATE AND PLACE OF HIS BIRTH PARENT-
AGE A COUNTRY BOY AT SCHOOL EARLY INDUSTRY " EVERYBODY'S
JOURNAL" SECRETARY OF Y. M. C. A. BEGINS HIS MERCANTILE CAREER
STEADY EXPANSION OF HIS BUSINESS NEW YORK STORE IN POLITICS
POSTMASTER GENERAL UNDER HARRISON AS A CITIZEN HIS RELI-
GIOUS WORK OTHER ENTERPRISES KEYNOTE OF HIS SUCCESS AS AN
EXEMPLAR. HOW TO FAIL.
It is an undeniable fact that the boy in the country pos-
sesses advantages not open to the youth growing up in our
great cities. The lad whose introduction to
the busy world about him occurs amid rural
surroundings, finds his horizon not limited
by the countless structures of God's goodness
to man as exemplified in his works through
bounteous nature. The country boy has
abundant evidence that, among the honored
men of the nation, many have had the ad-
vantages of a youth spent amid the green
fields and pleasant surroundings of a country
life.
The many benefits of a health-giving atmosphere and
wholesome food are advantages the country boy possesses in
excess of the boy in the city. Combined with these, regular
hours of sleep and rest serve to perpetuate the " sound mind
in a sound body," so necessary for those who would attain the
highest measure of usefulness in this busy world.
Free from the temptations which beset the city youth on
every side, luring him on to dissipation and ruin, the country
boy finds his joy and recreation in rational amusements,
which leave no aftermath of regret. Thus he prepares the
foundation of a vigorous constitution and good health on
which to build his life.
I would say to the young fellows who have succeeded in
opening the window that looks out into the world, that in
594 LEADERS OF 31 EN.
order to keep the shutters open and fastened back to the wall,
the chief danger in almost every case, whether a professional
or business life is chosen, — is debt.
OHN WANAMAKER was born July 11, 1838, in a rural
district in the southwestern section of the county (now
city) of Philadelphia.
His grandfather was John Wanamaker of Hunterdon
county, New Jersey, who, in 1815, removed to Dayton, Ohio,
and shortly afterward to Kosciusko county, Indiana, where
he died. He left three sons, one of whom, John Nelson Wana-
maker, married Elizabeth D. Kochersperger, who was of
Huguenot lineage.
John, the oldest of their seven children, was a country boy.
The first money he ever earned was given him for turning
bricks in his father's brickyard. His opportunities for educa-
tion were exceedingly limited, as the public school system of
instruction of those days was very defective. The boys were
often detained after school hours to perform some unfinished
task. It is said of John that when all the rest of the class had
been dismissed, " he would keep the master in, being unwill-
ing to leave until the knotty problem had been solved." He
published a little paper entitled Everybody's Journal, in
which he was greatly interested. In 1852 he obtained employ-
ment in a publishing house on Market street near Fifth at
$1.25 per week. He soon found a better situation in the cloth-
ing store of Barclay Lippincott, where he received $1.50 per
week. From there he went to Bennett's Tower Hall. Men
who worked with him say he was bright, willing, accommo-
dating, and very seldom out of temper. The people liked
him. Mr. Bennett liked him, and when he began to sell cloth-
ing the customers liked him. He was considerate of their
interests ; he treated them in such a manner that when they
came again, they would ask : " Where is John ? "
JOHN WANAMAKER. 505
An ambitious young man like John Wanamaker was not
content to sell goods all his days for other people. He became
the first paid Secretary of the Philadelphia Young Men's
Christian Association at a salary of $1,000 a year. He was
very saving even while a boy, denying himself many a
comfort, that he might take as much as possible of his pay to
his mother at the end of the week. Colonel Bennett said of him ■
•'John was certainly the most ambitious boy I ever saw. I
used to take him to lunch with me and he would tell me how
he was going to be a great merchant. He was greatly inter-
ested in the temperance cause and had not been with me long-
before he had persuaded most of the employees to join a
temperance society. He was always organizing something ; |
he seemed to be a natural born organizer." Up to the year
1861 he had laid by $1,900, when he began business with his
friend Nathan Brown under the firm name of Wanamaker &
Brown in a small store on the southeast corner of Sixth and
Market streets. The partners had a capital of only $3,500. The
total amount of the sales of the first day (April 15, 1801) was
$24.67 ; the business for the first year amounting to $24,367.
In November, 1868, Mr. Brown died, and in December a
special sale was inaugurated, which was unprecedentedly suc-
cessful, enabling Mr. Wanamaker to purchase his partner's
interest, continuing the use of the firm name. In 1869 a store
was added on Chestnut street, and soon afterwards a store on
Market street above Sixth was purchased. Mr. Wanamaker
prosecuted his business with energy and close application, not
taking a single day's recreation until the summer of 1869.
In 1870 he purchased the adjoining buildings at Sixth and
Market streets ; and, in June, 1871, altered into one large
establishment what had until then given room for no less than
forty-five tenants.
In 1875 Mr. Wanamaker purchased the Pennsylvania Rail-
road freight depot at Market and Thirteenth streets, which
was used for several months during the fall and winter by the
great evangelist, D. L. Moody. During the early days of the
Centennial year the old depot was remodeled into a men's
and boys' clothing store, and again enlarged in 1877, when,
on the 12th of March of that year, dry goods, notions, and
ladies' and misses' wear departments were added to the lines
already established. Additions from time to time have been
596 LEADERS OF MEN.
made, until a floor space of fifteen acres is utilized under the
one immense roof, exclusive of warerooms. stables, etc., cov-
ering equally as great an area.
Mr. A. T. Stewart once remarked to Mr. George W. Childs :
'• You have a great business man in your city. I refer to
Mr. Wanamaker. He will be a greater merchant than I ever
have been or ever will be."
September 26, 1896, New York read a new sign in front of
the beautiful palace, Broadway and Ninth to Tenth streets
— ''John Wanamaker, successor to A. T. Stewart."
And now at the beginning of the new century this great
business, managed and operated as one establishment, with
one store in Philadelphia and the other in New York, gives
employment to more than 10,000 persons, the sales of a single
month occasionally reaching over a million dollars.
Mr. Wanamaker was for several years the President of the
Philadelphia Young Men's Christian Association, and it was
during his presidency that the beautiful building at loth and
Chestnut streets was erected at a cost of nearly $500,000, one
hundred thousand dollars of which was contributed by himself.
In i860 he took an active part in the great Sanitary Fair
held in Logan square for the benefit of the sick and wounded
soldiers of the Civil War. He was a member of the Christian
Commission, which did such splendid service during the war.
He was a member of the Citizens' Relief Committee and
assisted in raising funds for the yellow fever sufferers in the
South. He rendered efficient service at the time of the Irish
famine, also later on assisting in securing help for the Ohio
and Mississippi flood sufferers and acting as chairman of
committee for the relief of several towns that had been visited
by fire. Mr. Wanamaker held a responsible position on the
Finance Committee of the great Centennial Exposition in 1876,
and gave considerable attention to the celebration of the 200th
anniversary of the landing of William Penn.
In 1882 he was offered the Republican nomination for con-
gressman at large, but declined it. and in 1886 he declined to
be an independent candidate for mayor. He was very active
in the Presidential campaign of 1888, and served as an elector,
devoting much time and energy to the Republican National
Executive Committee, of which he was a member.
Mr. Wanamaker's interest in politics was always keen, but
JOHN WANAMAKER. 597
his view was from the standpoint of the citizen whose duty it
was to work for the good of the government. He is an " anti-
machinist " in politics, and does not train well under the
direction of bosses. And yet he has done an enormous
amount of strenuous political duty in accord and co-operation
with the regular Republican organization. If all citizens of
our large cities would give the same personal attention to city
affairs that Mr. Wanamaker has given to the affairs of Phila-
delphia, our towns would be better governed and our city
scandals fewer. He gave a great amount of personal atten-
tion to the problem of a satisfactory water supply in Phila-
delphia. On one occasion he offered to purchase the gas plant
of the city at a higher price than the city was. about to accept
for it, and not long ago he offered a large amount in excess of
the price paid for the city's street railway franchise.
Mr. Harrison, on his election, recognized Mr. Wanamaker's
ability and worth, and appointed him Postmaster General,
which office he filled so effectively during all of Mr. Harrison's
administration. He carried with him into his new sphere the
business methods which brought him success in mercantile
life and the nation reaped the benefit of his magnificent
experience.
As Postmaster General he provided quicker transmission
of the mails by pushing the railway companies to new
achievements in rapid transportation. He established Sea
Post Offices, whereby foreign mail is made up aboard ship and
is ready for immediate transmission to inland cities on arrival
at port.
Mr. Wanamaker has been no less active in his religious
than in his secular work. During the great revival times of
1857 he labored diligently among the volunteer firemen, hold-
ing meetings in the engine and hose houses, which resulted
in many hopeful conversions. He was an earnest worker in
the long-to-be-remembered noon-day meeting held in Jayne's
Hall in 1857 and 1858.
On the 14th of February, 1858. Mr. Wanamaker began the
famous Bethany Mission Sabbath School in the rooms of a
cobbler at 2135 South street, the attendance on that Sunday
being two teachers and twenty-seven scholars. The increase
in members soon demanded more room and a tent was set up
on a vacant lot in the same block, which was replaced by a
598 LEADERS OF MEN.
substantial chapel in the fall of that year. In 1864 these
quarters having become entirely too small for the growing-
school a fine stone structure was erected on the corner of
Twenty-second and Bainbridge streets, which has been remod-
eled and enlarged from time to time until it now has a seat-
ing capacity of something over 3,000, and a roll of about 2,700
in the main and junior departments, with a Bible Union com-
prising a membership of 2,300 adults which assembles at the
same hour, 2.30 o'clock, in the church auditorium.
During Mr. Wanamakers administration of the Post
Office Department he attended -this Sabbath School punctually
every Sunday (with very few exceptions) during his four
years' incumbency, traveling over 60,000 miles for this
purpose.
Mr. Wanamaker is president of the first penny savings
bank, an institution incorporated under special laws of the
state of Pennsylvania and organized July, 1888, in one of the
rooms of the Bethany Sabbath School Hall by members of
the Bible Union for the purpose of assisting the poor of the
community to save something for a "rainy day," three and a
half per cent, being allowed on deposits ; the depositors num-
bering January 1, 1901, over 10,000 and the amount deposited
being $328,000.
A flourishing night school (or " college "), for young people
engaged in various occupations during the day, who have not
had the opportunity of securing an education or have neg-
lected the advantages of earlier youth, is now in course of
successful progress.
Almost every good enterprise of a Christian character in
Philadelphia in the past forty years has had Mr. Wana-
makers assistance. He has also been connected with a very
large proportion of the worthy business enterprises. These
relations have caused him to be better known to the people of
the country generally than any other citizen of the Quaker
City. His theory of life and business is well described in
Peter Cooper's statement about himself made at the compli-
mentary banquet given to him once in New York. Mr.
Cooper said: "While 1 have always recognized that the
object of business is to make money in an honorable manner.
I have endeavored to remember that the object of life is to do
good. Hence I have been ready to engage in all new enter-
JOHN WANAMAKER.
HOW TO FAIL. 601
prises and, without incurring debt, to risk the means which 1
have acquired in their promotion, provided they seemed to
me calculated to advance the general good."
Mr. Wanamaker's terse telegram to the Bridgeton, N. J.,
Young Men's Christian Association Anniversary in response to
its secretary's request for a brief sketch of his life, "Think-
ing* trying, toiling, and trusting in God is all of my biog-
raphy,'' gives the keynote of all his wonderful success. As a
merchant he has brought the people of all the world in closer
touch with each other. As a philanthropist he has been a
blessing, especially to the young men of many lands ; as a
Christian worker he has inspired thousands to lead consistent
and beautiful lives. Mr. Wanamaker is not only a true citi-
zen of a great nation, but he is a statesman and a patriot.
Then : —
Closer bind the sympathetic cord
'Twixt man and man ! The blessing of the Lord
P^ver rests on such as willing share
With those who through affliction sadly fare.
Wait then not the coffin lid to close
O'er those we love when in their last repose ;
Garlands bring of flowers while life is warm,
'T will help our brother brave the fiercest storm.
HOW TO FAIL.
HERE is inborn in every man an earnest wish to sue
__ ceed ; to reach the goal at which he will find power
IT and influence ; to be honored by the world and looked
up to by men. There are people in the world who fear
assignment, business failure, more than they fear eternal
perdition ; who guard their dollars with infinitely more pains
than they care for their souls.
Not long since, a well-known minister prepared a lecture
on this subject, derived from the testimony of forty men of
large successes. The evidence deduced is exceedingly valua-
ble, and is herewith produced in connection with the com-
mentaries made upon it for the benefit of every young man
who is interested in the general subject of success. It will be
evident that in a general line of argument the obverse of the
general causes of success will prove to be the general causes
602 LEADERS OF MEN.
of failure. Every mainspring of success is a mainspring of
failure when wound around the other way, but, in addition to
that general line of argument, a large number of definite,
clear-cut, undeniable reasons are set forth by these corre-
spondents, telling with cogency and power just how a young
man can start out in the world and make the least of himself.
These correspondents are not old ladies ; they are not
superannuated ministers ; they are not dealing with social
goody-goodies ; they are not theoretical college professors
more familiar with the silver question at Washington than
with the silver dollars in their own pockets, but they are men
who stand in the front rank of the men of action in the
United States to-day ; most of them are quoted with large fig-
ures in Bradstreet. It is not assumed that they may never
make an assignment, for the Lord only knows what a day
may bring forth ; but they are not making assignments now,
and even if some of them ever should it would in no wise
vitiate the strength of their words, for they all have made at
least one assured success in their lives — a success which the
future can never gainsay.
The question propounded was : "What in your observa-
tion are the chief causes of the failure in the life of the busi-
ness or professional men, barring, of course, periods of
national and financial depression ? " In the first place it may
be well to give the collection of reasons that are assigned in
brief. Many of the correspondents give reasons that are
expressed in very few words. These have all been gathered
together in one long list ; some of them may be and doubtless
are repetitions, in other words, of other statements, but they
are put down just as they appeared in the replies of the
men. As they are canvassed, look at them, as simply a list of
symptoms of a socially sick man. So here are the causes
of failure expressed briefly : —
Bad habits; bad judgment; bad luck; bad associates;
carelessness of details ; constant assuming of unjustifiable
risks — desire to become rich too fast ; drinking ; dishonest
dealings ; dislike of retrenchment ; dislike to say " No " at
the proper time ; disregard of the Golden Rule ; drifting with
the tide ; expensive habits of life ; extravagance ; envy ; fail-
ure to appreciate one's surroundings ; failure to grasp one's
opportunities ; frequent changes from one business to another ;
HOW TO FAIL. 603
fooling away time in pursuit of the so-called good time ;
gambling: inattention; incompetent assistants; incompe-
tency ; indulgence ; jealousy.
Then comes a long list of " lacks " ; study them carefully.
Lack of attention to business ; of application ; of adapta-
tion ; of ambition ; of business methods ; of capital ; of con-
servatism ; of close attention to business ; of confidence in
self ; of careful accounting ; of careful observation ; of defi-
nite purpose ; of discipline in early life ; of discernment of
character ; of enterprise ; of energy ; of economy ; of faith-
fulness ; of faith in one's calling ; of industry ; of integrity ;
of judgment ; of knowledge of business requirements ; of
manly character ; of natural ability ; of perseverance ; of
pure principles ; of proper courtesy toward people ; of pur-
pose ; of promptness in meeting business engagements ; of
system.
Then, too, other reasons besides lack of things were men-
tioned ; such as : —
Late hours ; living beyond one's income ; leaving too
much to one's employees ; neglect of details ; no inborn love
for one's calling ; over-confidence in the stability of existing
conditions ; procrastination ; speculative mania ; selfishness ;
self-indulgence in small vices ; studying ease rather than
vigilance ; social demoralization ; thoughtless marriages ;
trusting your own work to others ; undesirable location ;
unwillingness to pay the price of success ; unwillingness to
bear early privations ; waste ; yielding too easily to dis-
couragement.
Young men, this is a highly significant list of reasons for
failure ; who is there among us who can look into this list
and say, "I answer up to none of these things?" If there
is such a one he is too perfect for earth ; he " is not of the
earth earthy." When we take up the great mass of testi-
mony furnished by these forty correspondents in respect to
reasons for failure, we not only find in this foregoing long list
the specific reasons, but when we sit down to analyze and
dissect this testimony we find that there are certain things
which seem to weigh with special burden upon the hearts and
minds of a great many of these correspondents.
A statesman, whose name is known from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, says, "Young men fail by reason of associations
604 LEADERS OF MEN.
which distract men's thoughts from what should be the main
purpose of each particular life." The president of a prominent
bank puts the same thing in different words when he says :
" Too many irons in the fire,— the one-thing-I-do sort of a man
is the one that surely gets there." A leading merchant puts
the matter in this wise : " Taking up the business of which one
knows nothing and changing from one business to another
because of slight reverses." In almost identical words a
man of great social prominence and wealth says : "In many
cases I think failure comes from not sticking to one thing ;
too many changes are made."
It it easily observed from what these men tell us that con-
centration means collection into a central point ; compression
into a narrow space ; it means a state of being brought to a
point ; when the divine Man tells us that we cannot serve
God and mammon, he means concentration.
These are days of keen competition ; days when "forty
winks " may mean failure. Too many arrows in the quiver
may mean the blunting of the edges of them all ; too many
irons in the fire may mean a cold side to every one of them.
During business hours where are all your thoughts? There is
only one business wherein they can afford to go wool-gather-
ing and that is the wool business.
The best endeavors are killed by too much diversion of
thought, trying to do one thing faithfully and yet thinking of
another thing. It has been written that " a young man's per-
sonal letters have no right to come to his office address," and
it may be added that a young man is treading dangerous ter-
ritory who is afraid to have his mail delivered at any other
place ; but apart from this a man's business office is no proper
place for social visiting. By it there will come weakness to
the integrity of calm business thought. This is common sense ;
and a senator of the United States writes that "lack of com-
mon sense is far more disastrous than lack of book learning."
The treasurer of one of the largest corporations in the country
strikes a magnificent note when he says, "Failure often
comes from the desire to become rich too fast," and a leading
Eastern capitalist gives a significant commentary on this
thought when he says, "Also the very ambitious man who
risks too much, extends his time of credit too far, neglects to
pay cash or at any rate to pay as first agreed." There are
HOW TO FAIL. 005
some things that this will lead to as surely as day will lead to
night ; and one of them is speculation. Speculation is, simply,
who is going to get the wool, you or the other fellow ; it often
happens that it is the other fellow.
It is not only a moral and spiritual virtue not to gamble ;
not to speculate : but it is a safe thing. Everybody knows
this, but the trouble is that so many think that they will be the
hundredth lucky fellow. The Athenians had their altar to
the " Unknown God " and so has America. He is a treacher-
ous deity to worship. Keep at it long enough and you will
fail. You may be fond of indulging in "flyers,*' but many
a man's " flyer " has had waxen wings that melt too soon and
the thing becomes a " tumbler " instead.
Our country is flooded with schemes for quickly getting
rich. How many things there are that promise to give a man
riches for a few dollars ! And the thing held out as a bait is a
dividend at a large rate per cent. But they all like to be hum-
bugged, especially if the bug is a gold one. A writer puts it
very tersely when he says : " Note this ; that no man will give
you a dollar for fifty cents unless it is counterfeit. Gold
mines never go begging for stockholders ; nor anything else
that is gold. A fine spring chicken on your plate is worth a
whole flock of geese on the wing. Leave speculation to the
man who can afford to lose money." But there are hundreds
of young men who for years to come will have no temptation to
speculate in railroad securities. Western mortgages, grain,
cotton futures, or silver holes in the earth, for the simple
reason that they will not have money enough for the manipu-
lators to "let them in.''
Many a young man tries to add to his income by the
pool room, and there is no better way of coaxing failure to
come and sit on your rooftree than to frequent the pool rooms
of our great cities. Many young men and not a few pro-
fessional men have lived blighted lives by frequenting the
pool room. It is true, not much money is required ; you are
not obliged to be a millionaire to speculate in the pool room.
Off somewhere a few fast horses will be trotting a race and
the fast horses there mean fast men in the pool room ; for fast
horses make fast men, though it is a shame that they should.
Nearly every prison cell has had an occupant who was
brought there by trying to get rich too fast in the pool room.
606 LEADERS OF MEN.
If you want to surely fail, just stick to that sort of thing, just
forget that little poem of James Whitcomb Riley, which runs
like this : —
<< WHO BIDES HIS TIME.
" Who bides his time, and day by day
Faces defeat full patiently,
And lifts a mirthful roundelay,
However poor his fortunes be, —
He will not fail in any qualm
Of poverty — the paltry dime
It, will grow golden in his palm,
Who bides his time.
" Who bides his time - - he tastes the sweet
Of honey in the saltest tear ;
And though he fares with slowest feet,
Joy runs to meet him drawing near ;
The birds are heralds of his cause,
And, like a never-ending rhyme,
The roadsides' bloom in his applause,
Who bides his time.
" Who bides his time, and fevers not
In the hot race that none achieves,
Shall wear cool wreathen laurel, wrought
With crimson berries in the leaves ;
And he shall reign a goodly king,
And sway his hand o'er every clime,
With peace writ on his signet ring,
Who bides his time."
We see a man who is in too much of a hurry to get rich,
things come too slow for him ; as some correspondent says,
" They are unwilling to pay the price of success, which price
is to bear early privation.'* So what next ? The next natural
step is failure ; as one of our most prominent and upright
judges says, " Ambition to show for greater force, moneyed
or mental, whatever they actually have." In other words it is
a case of the peacock's feathers in the jackdaw's tail. Many
other correspondents speak of the same thing, living beyond
one's means, or, as a prominent merchant puts it, " spreading
out too much and spending more than one's income." Noth-
ing under Heaven save a miracle can prevent this sort of
HOW TO FAIL. 607
tiling from ending in a total smash-up ; to spend $2.00 when
you only have $1.00 legitimately, means either a business
credit that will some day be lost, or gambling to make up for
things, or else downright theft and embezzlement.
Over-display is not only risky, but it is in bad taste. There
are too many plush curtains downstairs, and corn husk mat-
tresses upstairs, in this world of ours ; too many dollars
spent for club fees, and shillings for the laundry ; too many
men trying to pass for wise, who in reality are only half wise :
over-display means under-concealment some day. It is far
better to sail with ballast and center board than to leave them
behind and crowd on too much sail ; you may not go so fast,
or cut so much of a dash, but 3 r ou are more likely to get there
dry.
A good many correspondents speak of drink as a prolific
cause of failure. Some call it alcohol, some call it whisky,
some rum, — but they all mean the same thing ; they mean the
occasional or the frequent befuddling of the brain with liquor.
We speak of this now, not as a moral issue, nor as a reli-
gious issue, but simply as a common sense issue, since success-
ful men say that it leads to failure. One would be a fool to
spend his time at any certain place if he knew that by remain-
ing there long enough he would contract smallpox ; he would
be a fool to indulge in any sport that would in due time tend
to make him blind or deaf. Why do young men who want to
get on in the world fool with whisky? Why do they think
they can dissipate one night and not fall under the average
the next day? It is a rough but true saying that "a man can-
not drink whisky and be in business."
Then, too, another great enemy of business success is so-
called "society" ; the society that thinks with its heels, and
takes its nourishment out of a bottle. One hour of that
thing at night breathes mildew over every three hours of
work the next day ; and those three hours are either squinting
toward success or failure. Sleep is one of the most important
ingredients in the prescription ^for success; "Sleep is only
nature's banking system of principal and interest." Squander
it unworthily, and every time you do, you lessen your bank
deposit, and have less to draw on for success. Do you
want a great lever in your hand for success ? Then find it in
a fresh and clear brain. Do you want to spike down a tie
008 LEA DEBS OF MEN.
across the rails for a smash-up ? Then come to your daily
work with an aching brain, a muddled judgment, and trem-
bling nerves. It will only be a question of time.
Now let us turn again to our great budget of correspond-
ence, to see what else our forty men had to say concerning
the matter of failure.
A man who sat for a generation in the House of Represen-
tatives wrote that it often came " from an unwise or unfor-
tunate confidence in others." A man is to be despised who
goes through the world holding every man in suspicion ; who
thinks with the old cynic that "every man has his price."
To trust nobody is to prove yourself eminently unworthy of
trust ; but a man does not need to be a simpleton in order to
be trustful ; we simply have to use our judgment. And a lead-
ing dry goods man remarks that failure often comes from
poor judgment ; from an inability to discern the character of
others.
Some have spoken upon the matter of thrift ; as a certain
millionaire puts it : " Unwillingness to economize on the start,
hoping that some fortunate turn in affairs will bring fortune
and fame."
Others, realizing that this lesson may be over-learned, see
a peculiar but a true reason for failure, as a certain prominent
man puts it, " in a lack of ability to steer between the Scylla
of spendthriftness and the Charybdis of miserliness." In
other words, not to be too stingy or too generous.
This is a hard path to steer ; no man is so despicable as the
man who sponges ; who gets all he can and yields up nothing ;
who saves and hoards, and says with the leech, " Give, give,"
but gives nothing himself. That man may not financially
fail, but he will fail in every other way. And, after all, it is
not all of life to " have."
But, on the other hand, there is the over-generous man ;
the kind man that will take the shirt off his back to give to
the poor ; but what is the use of it, after all, if he catches
pneumonia by it and dies ? There is the safe middle course,
into which we all ought to try to steer.
Yet one correspondent seems to think that city boys are in
no danger of steering upon the rock of miserliness. This
gentleman, the proprietor of a large iron industry, says :
" Much failure comes from non-attention to habits of saving,
HOW TO FAIL. 609
habits that are usually of necessity instilled into the minds of
boys brought up in the country ; and from my experience,"
he says, " such habits are almost impossible to teach the city-
bred boys."
Possibly that is put too strongly ; there is a great deal of
heroism in a fellow's being thrifty when he has to be, but there
is more virtue in a fellow's being thrifty when he thinks it is
best to be. Rusticity almost invariably enforces thrift , but
jn a city, a fellow can more often choose for himself whether
he will be prodigal or miserly.
Don't let us think, however, that it is impossible to teach
thrift to a city boy. Hundreds of young men are learning
and practicing this lesson.
But there is one thing sure, and a leading capitalist hits the
nail on the head when he says : " Men fail when they are not
adapted to the work in which they are occupied. The truth
is, every man should be called to his work, as was Paul ;
though comparatively few are called to the same work as was
Paul." True enough ; and yet there is a certain luxurious
sound to that, is there not ? As if all young men could wait
around until just the thing for which they think themselves
adapted turns up. Yet there is nothing more important to
you than to try to find out the thing for which you are the
best adapted. Find out the thing you can best do, and make
that thing the order of your life.
But this may take some time ; it may perhaps take you
clean up to your majority ; what then ? Shall you be in the
meantime idle, earning nothing, just hanging round living
on your father, waiting for 'the revelation of an adaptation ?
By no means ; work at something, study at something,
redeem the time ; be constantly reading along some given
and instructive line, and in due time you will see a vision
and hear a voice ; and that vision and voice will guide you
on, and there will be success rather than failure for you.
But the above presupposes some mental ability and
shrewdness on the part of the young man ; and we are
reminded that a correspondent gives as one reason for failure,
the fact of one's being "born without ability, or brain to
acquire it."
It looks as though that were rather a polite definition of a
fool ; one born without ability, or brain to acquire it. But
610 LEADERS OF MEN.
there are very few young men these days who cannot do a
great deal toward making up for early deficiencies if they
want to do so.
But you may put the conundrum : " Can a natural born
fool ever become anything else ?" And to give an honest
and candid answer, we are compelled to say, no ; but you
may press further than that : you may ask how a natural
born fool would act ; what he would do in order to insure
failure to himself and his business career.
If he will persist in being foolish, if he will insist on invit-
ing failure, then here is the way for him to go about it : Form
bad habits, and keep bad associates ; let him drink and be
dishonest, and forget the Golden Rule ; let him fear to say
"No," and drift with the tide; let him gamble and indulge
himself in laziness ; let him have a lordly disdain for applica-
tion and correct business methods ; let him think himself to
be feeble, incompetent, worthless ; if he does, everybody else
will, — the world largely takes a man at his own valuation ;
let him sneer at early discipline, laugh at holding a definite
purpose, and think that economy is good for only poor people ;
let him think that there is no especial value in possessing a
manly character, and in having everybody think well of him ;
let him go through the world careless of people's feelings, — a
boor in society, — atrial to his own best friends ; let him think
that it makes no difference if he keeps his engagements ten
minutes late; let him procrastinate, — never doing to-day
what he can put off until to-morrow, and never doing to-mor-
row what he can get some one else to do ; let him drink and
swear and break the Sabbath ; let him forget or trample on
the laws of virtue and purity ; let him become a prodigal son.
and live in open sin, trusting that somewhere and sometime
there is a stable with a fattening calf in it waiting for him.
Let him lead that kind of a life, and follow that kind of a
program! What are these things ? The brand of Cain ? No ;
they are the marks of a fool ; yes, of a fool, because not a
single one of them is necessary. All can choose just the
opposite things if they want to do so. It is merely a question
of choice ; merely a question of " looking diligently lest any
man fail."'
CHAPTER XXIX.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON.
WHAT BRINGS SUCCESS BOYHOOD OF A GENIUS NEWSBOY, EDITOR,
AND CHEMIST AT FIFTEEN HEROIC TUITION FEE NOT A PRIG AMONG
TRAMP TELEGRAPHERS IN LOUISVILLE ASTONISHES EASTERN OPER-
ATORS' FIRST PATENT IN NEW YORK CAPACITY FOR WORK PER-
SONAL APPEARANCE HIS ESTIMATE OF THE PATENT PIRATE A CLOSER
VIEW OF EDISON INDIFFERENCE TO PLAUDITS AS A BUSINESS MAN
A SENSITIVE NATURE PLACE AMONG SCIENTISTS AT WORK THE
PHONOGRAPH ECONOMIC FEATURES OF HIS INVENTIONS NON-ELEC-
TRICAL EXPERIMENTS HIS PRINCIPAL INVENTIONS ACHIEVEMENTS OF
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY EDISON THE MAN. THE VALUE OF AN IDEA.
I never did anything worth doing, by accident, nor did any
of ray inventions come indirectly through accident, except
the phonograph. When I have fully decided
that a result is worth getting, I go ahead on
it and make trial after trial until it comes.
Well directed ambition and perseverance will
accomplish almost everything.
I like work. Some people like to collect
postage stamps. Anything I have begun is
always on my mind, and I am not easy
while away from it until it is finished.
I have always kept strictly within the
lines of commercially useful inventions. I
have never had any time to put on electrical wonders, valu-
able simply as novelties to catch the popular fancy.
LAcrvs
612 LEADERS OF MEN.
F one were to ask what person best symbolized the indus-
trial regeneration for which we, as a nation, will stand, it
would be marvelously easy to answer, Thomas Alva
Edison. The precocious self-reliance and the restless en-
ergy of the New World ; its brilliant defiance of traditions ;
the immediate adaptation of means to ends ; and, above all,
the distinctive inventive faculty have reached in him their
apogee.
The mere mass of this extraordinary man's work gives in
itself a striking idea of the force which he exerts in our
material progress. Up to a few days ago the government had
granted Edison no less than seven hundred and sixty-five
patents, while he had in addition one hundred and fifty appli-
cations on file. And this during a working period that has
not yet brought him within many years of the grand climac-
teric, and much of it accomplished in the face of discouraging
financial obstacles.
Mr. Edison is fifty-five years of age and was born in Milan,
Erie county, Ohio. He comes of Dutch parentage, the fam-
ily having emigrated to America in 1730. His great grand-
father was a banker of high standing in New York. When
Mr. Edison was but a child of seven the family fortunes
suffered reverses so serious as to make it necessary that
he should become a wage-earner at an unusually early age,
and that the family should move from his birthplace to Mich-
igan.
Only four years later the boy was reading Newton's
" Principia " with the entirely logical result of becoming
deeply and permanently disgusted with pure mathematics.
Indeed, he seems to have displayed all the due precocity of
genius, one of his notable feats about this time being an
attempt to read through the entire free library of Detroit !
Nor was he by any means a youthful bookworm and
dreamer. The distinctly practical bent of his character was
shown in his operations as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Rail-
way — especially in the brilliant coup by which in 1869 he
bought up on "futures" a thousand copies of the Detroit Free
Press containing important war news, and, gaining a little
time on his rivals, sold the entire batch like hot cakes, so that
the price reached twenty-five cents a paper before the end of
his route. It was at this period, too, that he was posing as
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 613
editor of the Grand Trunk Herald, a weekly periodical of
very modest proportions issued from the train on which he
traveled.
He had also begun to dabble in chemistry and fitted up to
that end a small itinerant laboratory. During the progress of
some occult experiments in this workshop certain, complica-
tions ensued in which a jolted and broken bottle of sulphuric
acid attracted the attention of the conductor. He, who had
been long suffering in the matter of unearthly odors, promptly
ejected the young devotee and all his works. His incident
would have been only amusing had it not been rendered
deplorable from the lasting deafness which resulted from a
box on the ear, administered by the irate conductor in the
course of the young scientist's hegira.
Edison transferred the laboratory to his father's cellar, and
diligently studied telegraphy, establishing a line between his
home and a boy partner's with the help of an old river cable,
sundry lengths of stovepipe, and glass bottle insulators.
Dramatic situations appear at every turn of this man's
life, though temperamentally he would be the last to seek
them. He seems to be continually arriving on the scene at
critical moments to take the conduct of affairs into his own
hands. It was on one of these occasions, when he snatched a
station-master's child from before an approaching train, that
he earned his first lessons in telegraphy from the father. So
apt a pupil was he that the railroad company soon gave him
regular employment, and at seventeen he had become one of
the most expert operators on the road.
There was a saving human quality of error in the boy to
amply redeem him from the colorless perfection of the story-
book model. One is almost glad to hear that he was not by
any means a paragon as an operator, and that he played
"tricks on the company by inventing a device which would
automatically send in the signal to show he was awake at his
post, what time he comfortably snored in the corner. Some
such boyish mischief soon sent him in disgrace over the line
to Canada. The heavy winter had cut off telegraphic connec-
tions and all other means of communications between the
place in which he was sojourning and the American town
of Sarnia. With characteristic promptness and originality
Edison mounted a locomotive and tooted a telegraphic mes-
614 LEADERS OF MEN.
sage, again and again, across the river until the American
understood and answered in kind.
For the next few years Edison was successively in charge
of important wires in Memphis, Cincinnati, New Orleans
and Louisville. He lived in the free and easy atmosphere of
the tramp operators — a boon companion with them, yet
absolutely refusing to join in the dissipations to which they
were professionally addicted. He has always been a total
abstainer and a singularly moderate man in everything but
work, for which he is a perfect glutton. Many are the stories
current of the timely aid given his rollicking colleagues when
their potations had led them into trouble. It was their cus-
tom when a spree was on the tapis, to make him the custodian
of those funds which they felt obliged to save. On a more
than usually hilarious occasion one of them returned rather
the worse for wear and knocked the treasurer down on
his refusal to deliver the trust money ; the other depositors,
we are glad to say, gave the ungentlemanly tippler a sound
thrashing. But, though Edison could be trusted with his col-
leagues' money, he was himself in a chronic state of penury,
since he devoted every cent, regardless of future needs, to
scientific books and materials for experiments. Nor was he
in any great favor with his employers ; they wanted opera-
tors, not inventors, so they — not unreasonably — said.
At one time he was in such straits that a necessary jour-
ney from Memphis to Louisville had to be performed on foot.
At the Louisville station he was offered excellent chances to
put his extraordinary skill to use. He had perfected a style
of handwriting which would allow him to take from the wire
in very legible long hand forty seven and even fifty-four
words a minute. As he was but a moderately rapid sender,
he invented an automatic help which enabled him to record
the matter at leisure and send it off as fast as was needed. Of
this Louisville stay, one of his biographers says : —
"True to his dominant instincts, he was not long in gather-
ing around him a laboratory, printing office, and machine
shop. He took press reports during his whole stay, including
on one occasion the presidential message and veto of the Dis-
trict of Columbia by Andrew Johnson, and this at one sitting,
from 3.30 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. He then paragraphed the matter
received over the wires so that each printer had exactly three
THOMAS ALVA EDISOX. 615
lines, thus enabling a column to be set up in two or three
minutes' time. For this he was allowed all the exchanges he
desired, and the Louisville press gave him a state dinner."
In 1868, Edison attracted much attention by a device utiliz-
ing one submarine cable for two circuits. It won him a posi-
tion in the Franklin telegraph office of Boston. He came
East with no ready money, and in a rather dilapidated condi-
tion. His colleagues were tempted by his " hayseed " appear-
ance to " salt " him, as professional slang terms the process
of giving a receiver matter faster than he can record it. For
this purpose the new man was assigned to a wire manipulated
by a New York operator famous for his speed. But there was
no fun at all. Notwithstanding the fact that the New Yorker
was "in the game" and was doing his most speedy "clip,"
Edison wrote out the long message accurately, and, when he
realized the situation, was soon firing taunts over the wire at
the sender's slowness.
A year later Edison received his first patent — a machine
for recording votes, and designed to be used in the state Leg-
islature. It was an ingenious device, by which the votes
were clearly printed and shown on a roll of paper by a small
machine attached to the desk of each member. The inven-
tion was never used, and Mr. Edison tells with a comical
twinkle in his eyes how amazed he was to hear, on present-
ing it to the authorities, that such an invention was out of the
question ; that the better it worked the more impossible it
would be, for its use would destroy the most precious right of
the minority — that of filibustering. The inventor thinks,
however, that he received quite the worth of his trouble in
the lesson taught him to make sure of the practical need of
and demand for a machine before spending his energies on it.
In this same year, Edison came to New York friendless
and in debt on account of the expense of his experiments.
For several weeks he wandered about the town with actual
hunger staring him in the face. It was a time of great finan-
cial excitement, and with that strange quality of opportunism
which one would think had been woven into his destiny, he
entered the establishment of the Law Gold Reporting Com-
pany just as their entire plant had shut down on account of an
accident in the machinery that could not be located. The
heads of the firm were anxious and excited to the last degree,
616 LEADERS OF MEN.
and a crowd of the Wall street fraternity waited about for the
news which came not. The shabby stranger put his finger on
the difficulty at once, and was given lucrative employment.
In the rush of the metropolis a man finds his true level with-
out delay, especially when his talents are of so practical and
brilliant a nature as were this young telegrapher's. It would
be an absurdity to imagine an Edison hidden in New York.
Within a short time he was presented with a check for $40,000,
as his share of a single invention — an improved stock printer.
From this time a national reputation was assured him. He
was, too, now engaged on the duplex and quadruplex systems,
which were almost to inaugurate a new era in telegraphy.
" Do you have regular hours, Mr. Edison ? " was asked not
long ago. " Oh," he said, " I do not work hard now. I come
to the laboratory about eight o'clock every day, and go home
to tea at six, and then I study or work on some problem until
eleven, which is my hour for bed."
" Fourteen or fifteen hours a day can scarcely be called
loafing," was suggested.
" Well," he replied, "for fifteen years I have worked on an
average twenty hours a day."'
That astonishing brain has been known to puzzle for sixty
successive hours over a refractory problem, its owner drop-
ping quietly off into a long sleep when the job was done, to
awake perfectly refreshed and ready for another siege. Mr.
Dickson, a neighbor and familiar, gives an anecdote told by
Edison which well illustrates his untiring energy and phe-
nomenal endurance. In describing his Boston experience
Edison said he bought Faraday's works on electricity, com-
menced to read them at three o'clock in the morning, and
continued until his roommate arose, when they started on
their long walk to get breakfast. That end, however, was
entirely subordinated in Edison's mind to Faraday, and he
suddenly remarked to his friend : " Adams, I have got so
much to do, and life is so short, that I have got to hustle," and
with that he started off on a dead run for his breakfast."
Mr. Edison's fine gray eye is the clearest ever looked into,
and his fresh, wholesome complexion and substantial, though
not by any means corpulent, figure, are not better described
than by the stock phrase, '"the picture of health." There is
none of the lean and hungry look of the overworked student
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 617
about him. His face, though strongly, even magnificently
chiseled, is almost boyish in its smoothness, and in his man-
ner there is that flavor of perfect simplicity and cheery good
will given only to the very great. He is one of the most acces-
sible of men, and only reluctantly allows himself to be hedged
in from certain interviewers of the baser sort. "Mr. Edison
is always glad to see any visitor," said a gentleman who is
continually with him, " except when he is hot on the trail for
something he has been working for, and then it is as much as
a man's head is worth to come in on him,"
The inventor describes himself as possessing only a fair
amount of manual dexterity in the manipulation of machinery.
Yet he generally controls with his own fingers the mechanism
of his experiments. There have been associated with him
during his working history two or three gentlemen who have
materially aided him, where a second brain and hand are
needed. These cooperative experiments have been carried on
in a very pleasant atmosphere of camaraderie.
Mr. Edison waxes eloquent and righteously indignant over
the treatment which the inventor is only too apt to receive.
He thinks that it is flying in the face of Providence to patent
an important discovery ; for a race of professional sharks has
arisen to dispute, with absolute disregard of facts, priority of
claim to valuable patents. The better known the patentee,
the more liable are they to swarm about with suborned wit-
nesses. Mr. Edison has no fault to find with the patent law
in this matter, but condemns strongly the practice of the
United States circuit court in issuing injunctions forbidding
an inventor to use his discovery until the case is decided — a
period often covering years. He maintains that this works
great injustice to the honest parties to a suit, and that there is
•'no protection in patents at all."
Those who have been associated with Mr. Edison add that
he has been fleeced by unscrupulous lawyers and patent sharks
so unmercifully that it is only to be wondered he has any
faith left in mankind. This is surely a national shame when
one remembers that his earnings have always been valued by
him only as a means of furnishing laboratories to give the
world newer and more wonderful mechanical servants. And
there is partial comfort in the thought that the great inventor
has finally been able to surround himself — first at Newark,
618 LEADERS OF MEN.
then at Menlo Park, and now at Orange — with all the most
elaborate paraphernalia of his magic, with the most delicate
and powerful instruments alike.
Since Mr. Edison has begun to pose as a capitalist he has
broadened the borders of his phylacteries by considerable
investments in the New Jersey lands containing magnetic iron
ore, and has now quite a mining property not far from his
workshop. He will practically found a new industry if his
experiments in ore separating succeed — an attempt for new
methods that will so reduce the work of extracting the ore
from the dirt and stones as to bring on a paying basis num-
bers of mines that are now on the wrong side of the margin
of profit.
Perhaps no one is in a position to give a truer estimate of
the inventor as he appears beyond the threshold of his labora-
tory than Mr. Edward H. Johnson, who was associated with
him in the disillusionizing atmosphere of business for twenty
years. He characterizes Edison as genial and even frolic-
some, with a temperament which might even be called boy-
ish. "In the whole course of our connection," says Mr.
Johnson, "and notwithstanding the many strains on his
temper and the injustices which he suffered from unscru-
pulous business antagonists, we have never had but one
' difference." That was based on a pure misunderstanding
and has long since died a natural death. My association
with him has been of the greatest profit and pleasure to me."
Though Mr. Edison is social in his nature even to the
point of jollity, he is thoroughly averse to the formulas of a
conventional society. Can we expect men who work twenty
hours a day to cultivate the more elaborate graces ? This
is in some sort to be regretted, especially from the point of
view of the circles, which, if he were otherwise minded,
would be open to him ; for he is really a brilliant conver-
sationalist. But while society loses a lion, the world gains
a genius. " He has often been heard/' continued Mr. Johnson,
in his courteous answers to questions, "to express con-
tempt for an inventor who, having produced a single inven-
tion, makes a tour of ' society ' to receive its plaudits, and,
finding the life so agreeable, pursues it permanently, to the
destruction of his further ambition."
It is told that in the halcyon days of Mr. Edison's earlier
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 619
manufactories he absolutely refused to have any system of
bookkeeping, and even kept no record at all of notes to be
paid. When these fell due, he would drop everything and
scurry around to raise the necessary funds — this on the prin-
ciple, as he put it, that the notary's fee on the protested note
was cheaper than keeping books ! He has learned much since
then in the stern regime of the business world ; but it is still
the unqualified opinion of many true friends that both the
world and Mr. Edison would have been gainers if he had left
the conduct of the purely business side of his affairs to asso-
ciates of special commercial training and instincts. For the
inventor has an intolerance of forms in business, as in society.
He undertook an active part in the management of the indus-
tries he had created in consequence of his disappointment at
the slow development of the electric lighting venture. Mr.
Johnson gives him credit for fertility of resource and bril-
liancy of conception in his business management, but easily
shows how little these avail in the exacting world of com-
merce when not backed by the patient pursuit of an estab-
lished order.
This natural disregard for the forms and minutiae of busi-
ness affairs has led to anything but a path of roses for Mr.
Edison in his financial operations.
" He is frank and open to a degree," said Mr. Johnson,
" and despite many a sad experience, as well as oft-repeated
expressions of cynicism under the sense of injustice, he is
always ready with sympathy and an open hand. When he
feels himself injured he is bitter for a time, but this passes
away unless fed by the active hostility of an opponent.
" He is extremely sensitive to criticism of his motives,
and is even too apt to interpret a light remark to mean a
great disparagement. When he is robbed of money he will
easily forget it ; but if attainted in any moral sense he
becomes relentless."
Edison's achievements cannot be separated from com-
merce. He is an inventor, not a discoverer of underlying
laws and mathematical formulas. The keynote of his work
is commercial utility. He is willing to make mathematics,
pure science, his servant ; but as an end in itself, he has no
taste for it. He sees in every idea that ever taxed his brain a
direct, immediate worth to the people about him, though it
020 LEADERS OF MEN.
may not be within the limits of human imagination to com-
prehend the extent of that worth. The masses of his fellows
and their needs are regarded in every test, in every experi-
ment, in the most daring new conception, and in the most
homely improvement alike. He asks himself when a new
idea is suggested : " Will this be valuable from the industrial
point of view ? Will it do some important thing better than
existing methods?" And then, if the answer is clearly
affirmative, "Can I carry it out?'' He is not so much a
seeker after truth as he is a mighty engine for the application
of scientific truths, through unexpected and marvelous chan-
nels, to the fight we are making "in the patient, modern
way." He is an inventor purely, and the greatest of his race.
One might call him the Democrat of Science.
It is a sign not to be passed over without thought, that the
first chamber the visitor enters on invading Mr. Edison's work-
shop at Orange contains his working library with volumi-
nous and closely packed shelves. It is the sumptuous room
of the establishment. Taken in connection with the store of
volumes at his home, his books constitute one of the most
costly and well equipped scientific libraries in the world ; the
collection of writings on patent laws and patents, for instance,
is absolutely exhaustive. It gives in a glance an idea of the
breadth of thought and sympathy of this man, who grew up
with scarcely a common school education. Nor will one find
this self-taught and self-made scientist only a gigantic spe-
cialist. He will respond to any topic of real interest and
value, will talk intelligently and quote appositely.
But while it is significant to note that Mr. Edison's sympa-
thies have not been dwarfed by his early limitations, yet it is
the character of specialist, after all, in which he enchains our
attention ; a more profound impression of him comes when he
stands in his roomy but topsy-turvy laboratory, with its two
well-hung and well-locked doors, or when he is directing the
assistants and skillful workmen, who follow his behest with
something nearly akin to reverence. In the huge system of
electrical manufactories with which he is associated not a
very large proportion of the best helpers come from the col-
leges, so many of which now have special courses in the new
profession. The college training has the danger of spoiling
them for the necessary rough manual labor. For a long time
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 621
a test was applied when a new man came in. He was told
that one of his duties would be to sweep the floor in the morn-
ing — this, of course, only to try him. But if he bridled up
and resented it as an insult, it was evident that he could
never be of much use as an electrician.
Two centuries ago Edison would have had a poor chance
to escape the stake if the good people of Salem had taken an
awed peep at the uncanny materials of his stock room. In
these multitudinous drawers and shelves lurk unearthly relics
of birds, beasts, plants, and crawling things. The skins of
snakes and fishes, the pelts of an extraordinary number of
fur-bearing animals, some of them exceedingly rare, the hide
and teeth of sharks and hippopotami, rhinoceros horns, the
fibers of strange exotic plants, all manner of textile sub-
stances and precious stones from the uttermost parts of the
earth, are there waiting to bridge over their destined gap in
some important machine. Many of the great inventions have
awaited a laborious trial of this infinite variety of material
before they became practical. "'That,'' said Mr. Edison,
pointing to a globe inclosing the filament of the incandescent
light, " never would work right, no matter how hard we tried,
till the fiber of a particular kind of bamboo was put in " — the
marvelously delicate, quivering elastic thread which we have
all seen. The phonograph, too, was only perfected after find-
ing the value of the hard sapphire stone for several of its parts
— the reproducing ball, the recording knife, and others.
A later development of the musical phonograph is among
the last devices which Mr. Edison has perfected. The cylinders
of this instrument can record the most elaborate musical instru-
mentation. It is hard to believe, but the machine has been so
delicately constructed that the very quality of tone in most
instruments was preserved. The effect is its special value,
which Mr. Edison has spent much work in attaining. One
feels tempted to pinch one's self to break the dream when the
violin's long drawn notes with their sympathy and pathos,
the 'cello's marvelous tone, the firm, clear, reed sounds of the
flute, and the cornet's blare are ground out of this insignificant
bundle of bolts and bars — the whole of which one might
almost get into a peck measure.
Perhaps it will give a better idea of what Mr. Edison's
work means to the world than any generalization or enumer-
622 LEADERS OF MEN.
ation to simply state that the duplex and quadruplex systems
of telegraphy begun by him in I860, and finished after six
years of work, have saved in America alone the enormous sum
of $20,000,000. By the duplex system two currents of differ-
ent degrees of strength were sent over the wire in the same
direction, thus doubling its efficiency, while the quadruplex
arrangement became possible when it was discovered that
these two currents could be sent in opposite directions at the
same time — thus enabling one wire to transmit four simulta-
neous messages. Not satisfied with this, Mr. Edison is con-
fident of attaining sextuplex and octuplex systems.
Through the mysterious qualities of a carbon button, Mr.
Edison has been able to construct a little machine called the
tasimeter, which, in different forms, measures degrees of heat,
of moisture, and — in the odoroscope and microphone — of
odors and sounds so small that it is difficult for the human
mind to grasp the situation. The tasimeter will show a sensi-
ble deflection at the one-millionth of a degree Fahrenheit.
The heat from the human body standing eight feet away will
be accurately registered ; a lighted cigar held at the same dis-
tance will give a large deflection, as will the heat of a common
gas jet one hundred feet away. When it was arranged to be
sensitive to moisture, this astonishing instrument was deflected
eleven degrees by a drop of water held on the finger five
inches away. The microphone multiplies the intensity of
sound by the hundred thousand, making the passage of the
tiniest insect sound like a mighty, deafening roar.
Edison's experiments have extended into many fields out-
side the purely electrical. How many times he has pursued
the will-o'-the-wisp of a deluding prospect to a stern recogni-
tion of an unfruitful end, probably he alone can tell. A
devoted student of chemical science, he has delighted in delv-
ing in this fascinating and noble domain.
It is related that a distinguished scientist, visiting Edison
within the year, spoke of some experiments he had made in a
direction that he supposed was unknown and untried.
"Did you try this,*' inquired Edison, "and did you get
such a result?'' The visitor was astonished. Edison had
made the experiments and, with a sure hand, had gone direct
to the heart of the matter and had reached the same unique
result.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 623
He would say to all visiting inventors seeking advice and
encouragement: "I will listen to you, but one thing is
barred — no 'perpetual motion' schemes will ever be con-
sidered."
Edison has probably been more fortunate in combining his
versatile inventive ability with commercial success than any
other inventor living or dead. Not content with one achieve-
ment and its riches, vast sums received from success in one
line are expended in research and experiment in other lines.
His private laboratory at Orange, N. J., is lavishly planned
and stocked with every known tool, with chemical, mineral,
metallic, and organic substances, and the pay-roll of the past
ten years would amount to a king's ransom. With natural
bent, genius, unflagging industry, wonderful discernment and
deliberate selection of subject, Edison may truly be said to be
the greatest exponent of invention, as an art, the world has
yet known.
To-day the world is waiting for the practical introduction
of what may prove to be Edison's greatest commercial suc-
cess — the storage battery.
Edison was recently asked to name his principal inven-
tions. He replied characteristically : —
" The first and foremost was the idea of the electric light-
ing station ; then — let me see, what have I invented? —
well, there was the mimeograph, and the electric pen, and the
carbon telephone, and the incandescent lamp and its accesso-
ries, and the quadruplex telegraph, and the automatic tele-
graph, and the phonograph, and the kinetoscope, and — I don't
know, a whole lot of other things."
When asked if he thought the achievements of the twen-
tieth century would surpass those of the one just closed, he
said with much enthusiasm : —
" They certainly will. In the first place, there are more of
us to work, and, in the second place, we know more. The
achievement of the past is merely a point of departure, and
you know that, in our art, ' impossible ' is an impossible
word."
Edison is a true captain of industry. Work, constant,
enthusiastic work, has ever been his motto. Idleness has no
charms for him, and scarcely has recreation or things that
please the palate. His analytical, questioning, and sanguine
mind is ever reaching for new fields of endeavor. His con-
624 LEADERS OF MEN.
ception is keen and searching, and he puts the impress of
progress on whatever he touches. May he be with us many
years ! His achievements, it is safe to say, will endure to the
end.
THE VALUE OF AX IDEA.
jTDEAS, not gold, govern the world. Machines do much of
jf the world 's work, but machines are born of ideas. A
I human worker without ideas is only a machine. He is
content to serve all his life, doing the same work over and
over again, making the same thing year after year, without
progress, ambition, or purpose. It is the thinking man who
becomes master workman, perhaps proprietor. Ideas become
to him an inspiration and force. They rally his intellectual
powers ; and these control and develop his physical ability.
Stupidity becomes a machine in the workshop of life, but ideas
only can make a man.
It is no chance system that returns to the Hindu citizen a
penny, and to the American laborer a dollar for his daily toil ;
that makes Mexico, with its mineral wealth, poor, and New
England, with its granite and ice, rich : that bids the elements
in one country become subservient to the wants of man,
and in another to sport idly and run to waste ; it is thought
that makes the difference. Ideas do not stir the Hindu and
Mexicans as they do the American. Here they beget enter-
prise and invincible courage that defy difficulties and sur-
mount obstacles. They assure victory.
Young people should take in the worth of an idea, for this
will exert great influence upon the occupation they choose,
the methods they adopt, and the books they read. Idealess
occupations, associates, and books should be avoided, since
they are not friendly to intelligent manhood and womanhood.
Ideas make the wise man ; the want of them makes the fool.
Roger Sherman, a poor boy in Newton, Massachusetts, was
apprenticed to a shoemaker for his board and clothes. There
was every prospect that the poverty of his father would be
that of the son, and that he would never rise higher than the
last on which he worked and the pegs he drove. But early in
life the idea took possession of his soul, " I can become a law-
yer." How it could be done was not quite plain to him ; but
from the time the idea possessed him, he said that it must be
done.
EDISON IN HIS LABORATORY.
THE VALUE OF AN IDEA. 627
That idea was the making of him. It rallied his latent
faculties, and bent them to one end. To become a lawyer
was the dream of his youth. Obstacles dwindled away before
the indomitable spirit which that one idea nursed into stal-
wart life. Every leisure moment became a self-improving
moment. A book was his constant companion. Spare time
was the most valuable time of all, for it was used to improve
his intellect, and fit him for the duties of a noble manhood.
His occupation became a teacher to him. and the world a
school. He learned from everything around him ; and, at
thirty-three years of age, he was admitted to the bar. The
dream of his boyhood was realized. The idea that possessed
him at twelve years of age lifted him out of the dull routine
to which he seemed to be doomed for life, and placed him at
once higher up in the scale of being.
Roger Sherman grew greater and greater as long as he
lived. He became one of the founders of our republic. He
was second to no public man as a statesman and wise coun-
selor, and was one of the committee appointed to draft the
Declaration of Independence. His wisdom and ability were
leading factors in the direction and outcome of the Revo-
lution. Jefferson wrote of him, " He never said a foolish
thing in his life." It might have been said of him, in his
age, as it was of another. " He was so loaded with laurels that
he could scarcely stand erect." The idea of his boyhood, of
which we have spoken, was worth to him all that he became
worth.
Gutenberg was a thoughtful young man, familiar with
manuscript volumes, of which the age in which he lived could
furnish but few. One day, when he was in a meditative
mood, a new idea flashed upon his mind, namely, that letters
might be invented with which to print books, instead of writ-
ing and copying them. He unfolded his idea to his wife, and
she indorsed the suggestion heartily, whereupon the inventor
proceeded at once to reduce his idea to practice. His decided
inventive genius soon triumphed, and the art of printing
became reality.
Gutenberg, who had been a skilled lapidary, now turned
his attention to bookmaking, since which time the value of
his new idea to the world has been illustrated by wonderful
progress in the art. In contrast with the slow, difficult, and
628 LEADERS OF MEN.
very imperfect method of making books by Gutenberg's let-
ters, the methods of our day, multiplying volumes like the
leaves of the forest, are magical indeed. The art of bookmak-
ing now is characterized by rapidity, elegance, and cheapness.
With the latest improvement in the printing press, it is possi-
ble to supply the demands of the world for books at a price
that brings them within the reach of even the poor. The
rapidity with which books are multiplied is a marvel of our
times. A roll of paper, containing a thousand yards, will run
through a Hoe press with almost incredible speed, printing
sheets enough for five thousand volumes in a single day. In
printing newspapers, a roll of paper at one end of the press is
turned out at the other end, printed on both sides, and folded
ready for mailing, at the rate of five thousand papers an hour.
Equally remarkable has been the progress in typesetting, both
by hand and machinery, and it is all the outcome of Guten-
berg's idea of making letters. The inventor set in motion a
train of influences that has changed the secular and moral
condition of mankind. We cannot estimate the value of
Gutenberg's idea.
Nor can we compute the value of Morse's idea, that gave
us the electric telegraph. Morse was coming from Havre
to New York city on board the ship Sully. Dr. Charles S.
Jackson, of Boston, was on board, and was describing an
experiment made in Paris with an electro-magnet, by means
of which electricity had been transmitted through a great
length of wire arranged in circles around the walls of an
apartment. Morse, who was a painter, and had just com-
pleted a three years' residence in Europe to perfect himself
in his art, excitedly said, when Dr. Jackson finished, " Then
messages may be transmitted by electricity."
There the telegraph was born. It only remained to test
the idea. This Morse did, surmounting great obstacles, over-
coming the most discouraging difficulties, making progress
slowly, but surely, until he had the real thing, — the telegraph.
Who can estimate its worth to-day ? Ask the man of busi-
ness who communicates by telegraph with the four quarters
of the globe. The recent fire in New York which destroyed
the headquarters of the great Western Union Telegraph Com-
pany interrupted the business of the whole civilized world for
a day, or until the company renewed the business in another
THE VALUE OF AN IDEA. 629
place. Such is the importance of the telegraph in our day,
and such is the value of Morse's idea on board the Sully.
Patrick Henry is another illustration of our theme. In his
boyhood he appeared to think more of a fishing rod and gun
than he did of true manhood, or a good name. He was not a
machine, but was devoid of laudable ambition and enterprise.
The time came, however, when a new and nobler idea flashed
upon him. He saw that he might become an honored citizen.
He resolved to enter the legal profession, and set himself
about preparing therefor with a will. In an almost incredibly
short time, he was admitted to the bar as a practitioner. His
success was phenomenal. He handled the first case of impor-
tance that came to his management with consummate skill,
and exhibited such power of eloquence that his most intimate
friends were astonished. He won the case by his adroit man-
agement and bewitching oratory, and the admiring crowd
bore him in triumph upon their shoulders from the court
room. An idea did it. But for the thought that awakened
him from his reverie one day, in early manhood, he might not
have outgrown his gun and fishing rod. " I can do something-
better than this," he said ; and he did. The idea roused his
whole being to begin and run a marvelous race.
The worth of an idea is illustrated in the ordinary walks of
life. In every place, and at all times, we are reminded that a
single thought is the most valuable legacy bequeathed to us.
In articles of furniture that make our homes comfortable, and
the utensils of the kitchen that lighten labor and administer
to human wants, we find much to magnify the worth of a
thought. Once they were only ideas in the brain of the
inventor.
So small an article as the watch which we carry in our vest
pocket involves principles of construction, the discovery and
development of which have brought the race* out of ages of
mental gloom. Yet how few note their indebtedness to ideas
when they consult their watches. They keep time, and that
is enough ; and they would be just as good for that if they grew
like acorns.
Says another: "What a miracle of art, that a man can
teach a few brass wheels and a little piece of elastic steel to
out-calculate himself : to give him a rational answer to one of
the most important questions which a being traveling toward
630 LEADERS OF MEN.
eternity can ask. What a miracle that a man can put within
this little machine a spirit that measures the flight of time with
greater accuracy than the unassisted intellect of the pro-
foundest philosopher ; which watches and moves when sleep
palsies alike the hand of the maker and the mind of the con-
triver ; nay, when the last sleep has come over them both.''
And the author of all this was a solitary idea in the mind of
Galileo, when he stood watching the oscillation of a lamp in
the Metropolitan Temple of Pisa. A clear, vivid idea of the
correct measurement of time flashed upon his mind, and his
name and fame became immortal.
Despise not an idea ; for the smallest is better than none.
A man of one idea is sometimes ridiculed. Garrison was per-
secuted for his anti-slavery idea ; but it wrought a revolution.
It made him a public benefactor. His idea was worth all that
liberty was worth. The youth who is rich in ideas will never
be poor in reputation.
Many authors of good ideas have failed to reduce them to
practice. They lacked the practical talent necessary to reap
the profits of valuable conceptions. Hence, many inventors
have derived no pecuniary advantage from their inventions ;
other parties have stepped in and taken the profits. They
were able to beat the bush, but others caught the bird. The
discoverer of gold at Sutter's Mill, California, and the proprie-
tor of the mill never got rich ; both died poor. They could
discover, but they failed to appropriate and keep. It may
require less tact, industry, and perseverance to beget a valua-
ble idea than to reduce it to practice ; for greater difficulties
may obstruct the way of the latter, and more complications,
even, may attend its consummation. Almost without excep-
tion, the successful men, who have made the best practical
use of their ideas, have been men of marked courage, appli-
cation, tact, and determination. Ordinary difficulties did not
cause them to hesitate for a moment and extraordinary ones
seemed to arouse their whole being to almost superhuman
efforts.
An illustration of this point was brought to the attention
of the American people when Congress voted a gold medal to
Mr. Joseph Francis, of Washington, for " his distinguished
services in discovering and applying scientific principles to
inventions for saving human life and other humane pur-
THE VALUE OF AN IDEA. 631
poses." The medal cost six thousand dollars, and was orna-
mented with designs emblematic of the recipient's life work.
It was presented to him by President Harrison. This
crowning act of his success came late in life ; nor was this
distinction gained without heroic struggles with poverty,
opposition, and ridicule, as the following brief sketch of his
life proves : —
Mr. Francis was a Boston boy, and served as page in the
Massachusetts Legislature, from eleven to sixteen years of
age. In 1812, when he was twelve years old, there was an
unprecedented number of destructive shipwrecks, and the
terrible tales of horror wrought deeply upon the sensitive
nature of this gifted boy. The war had destroyed his father's
property, and broken up a family of seven children, so that
Joseph's earnings were necessary, to the last cent, to aid in
the support of his brothers and sisters. In these circum-
stances, it was the more remarkable that he should conceive
the idea of a lifeboat, and proceed — a boy of twelve years —
to produce a model. Every moment, when he was not
required to be at the State House, he spent in a workshop on
Clark street, near Hanover. His progress was slow but sure.
With pluck and hope he worked on. sometimes baffled and
disappointed, and often laughed at, but never yielding to dis-
couragement. He was eighteen years old when his lifeboat,
with all its life-saving qualities, was completed, and was
placed on exhibition at the fair of the Mechanics' Institute, in
Boston, in 1810. He crossed the Rubicon when his lifeboat
was complete. The battle of his life was won by that early
struggle. What manner of stuff he was made of became
manifest then. The thought, tact, resolution, and force of
character necessary to produce the lifeboat, were competent
to produce more and greater results.
The author of Thrift accounts for the failure of some
men to derive advantages from valuable conceptions, by say-
ing : " Some of the best and noblest of men are wanting in
tact. They will neither make allowance for circumstances,
nor adapt themselves to circumstances ; they will insist upon
driving their wedge the broad end foremost ; they raise walls
only to run their own heads against ; they make such great
preparations, and use such great precautions, that they
defeat their own object,— like the Dutchman mentioned by
632 LEADERS OF MEN.
Washington Irving, who, having to leap a ditch, went so far
back to have a good run at it, that when he came up he was
completely winded, and had to sit down on the wrong side to
recover his breath.''
In contrast with this, we see how Francis went to work in
the straightest and shortest way to accomplish his purpose.
He was not only competent to conceive, but having cultivated
those manly qualities that one must possess in order to win,
he was equally well prepared to execute. He would give
practical force to any noble conception.
At the Mechanics' Fair, in 1819, he received a certificate of
merit and a handsome cash prize for his lifeboat ; and, at the
same time, secured the lifelong friendship of Henry Grinnell,
of New York, and Gen. John A. Dix, author of the famous
order, " Whoever pulls down the American flag, shoot him on
the spot.*' Grinnell said to him, "Persevere; you are an
inventor and manufacturer, and your improvements are but a
beginning in a good cause." Young Francis profited by this
friendly counsel, and pressed forward until he fairly earned,
the world over, the honor of being ''Father of the life-saving
service.''
In 1838, another and grander conception engaged the mind
of Francis — that of an iron ship. Although poor and needy,
he hastened to reduce his idea to practice. Having provided
a very humble home for his family in the country, he shut
himself up in a workshop on Anthony street, New York city,
to produce his ideal iron vessel. It took him six years to put
his conception into a real ship, and they were years of hard
study, and harder struggles with want and the indifference of
friends.
In 1847, his famous metal life car was completed ; but Con-
gress repulsed its author, and the Secretary of the Treasury
said to him : —
"There .is no means known under Heaven, nor will there
ever be, of saving life under circumstances such as you
recount ; besides, the government cannot afford to try experi-
ments. Try your life car, and, if it will do anything like what
you represent, you may rest assured the government will
adopt it."
Francis was equal to the occasion. While protesting against
the attitude of the government, he spent the next two years in
THE VALUE OF AN IDEA. 633
proving to the world, at his own expense, the great value of
his invention ; and his success spread his fame over both con-
tinents. From that time his life was a succession of triumphs
in America and Europe. Subsequent to 1855, he spent several
years in Europe, establishing immense factories for the manu-
facture of his iron boats, vessels, and life cars, floating docks,
pontoon bridges and wagons, for five of the leading European
governments. Medals, diplomas, and royal honors were show-
ered upon him from the highest authorities. Crowned heads
recognized his services in the interests of humanity ; and it is
claimed that no American, except General Grant, was ever
more kindly received and honored by nobles and monarchs
than Mr. Francis.
This is a remarkable life, with its lessons for every reader.
The conception of the great idea of his life was the easiest part
of.it. His trials and exhausting labors came when he
attempted to reduce it to practice. Had he been no more res-
olute and invincible than the average American, his concep-
tion never would have attained a real form. He would have
soon found excuse for abandoning his idea in the poverty that
oppressed him, or the difficulties that beset his way. But his
noble qualities of mind and heart served him better than
wealth. They won success for him without private or public
patronage.
CHAPTER XXX.
JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER.
ON THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS HIS RANK AMONG THE
CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY HIS GREAT WEALTH PLACE OF HIS BIRTH
PARENTAL QUALITIES INHERITED HIS BOYHOOD MARKED BY INDUSTRY
AND ECONOMY REMOVED TO CLEVELAND INTEREST IN CHURCH WORK
EDUCATION BEGINNING OF HIS INDUSTRIAL CAREER HIS INTRO-
DUCTION TO THE OIL INDUSTRY THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY OTHER
BUSINESS ENTERPRISES HIS PERSONALITY HOMES AND HOME LIFE TO
WHAT HIS WONDERFUL SUCCESS IS DUE PHILANTHROPIES. THE LEDGER
OF ECONOMY.
It has always seemed to me that there is something unfor-
tunate in being born in a city. Most young men brought up
in New York and other large centers have
not had the struggle which come to us who
were reared in the country. It is a notice-
able fact that the country men are crowding
out the city fellows who have wealthy fathers.
They are willing to do more work, and to go
through more for the sake of winning success
in the end. Sons of wealthy parents have not
a ghost of a show in competition with the
fellows who come from the country with a
determination to do something in the world.
What benefited me the most was the new insight I gained
as to what a great place the world really is. I had plenty of
ambition, and saw that if I was to accomplish much I would
have to work very, very hard indeed.
In my early career I was very economical, just as I am
economical now. Economy is a virtue. A glance through
my first ledger shows me how carefully I kept account of my
receipts and disbursements. I only wish more young men
could be induced to keep accounts nowadays. It would go
far toward teaching them the value of money.
My advice is : keep a little ledger, write down in it what
you receive, and do not be ashamed to write down what you
JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER. 635
pay away. See that you pay it away in such a manner that
your father or mother may look over your book and see just
what you do with your money. It will help you to save
money, and that you ought to do.
I think it is a man's duty to make all the money he can,
keep all he can, and give away all he can. I have followed
this principle religiously all my life. But always live within
your means. One of the swiftest toboggan slides I know of is
for a young fellow, just starting out into the world, to go in
debt.
The chief thing to which I ascribe my business success is
early training, and the fact that I was wulling to persevere. I
do not think there is any other quality so essential to success
of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes
almost everything, even nature.
But don't make the mistake that the struggle for success
means nothing but money. Money is good only if you know
how to use it. Some have all the money they need to provide
for their wants, and still are poor. Indeed, the poorest man I
know of is the man who has nothing but money ; — nothing
else in the world upon which to fix his ambition and thought.
That is the sort of man I consider to be the poorest in the
world.
•@)TMONG the American captains of industry, Mr. John D.
l_ .Rockefeller is the greatest. He combines with this
position that of a master of finance, and it may be that
in this field he will yet prove as great as, or greater than, Mr.
Pierpont Morgan. But as this one is first of all a financier, so
the other is above and beyond everything a master in the
industrial field. It is surprising how very much is told of Mr.
Rockefeller, and how very little is known concerning him. The
material for a book has been published in the newspapers, and
the writers have vied with one another in presenting his great
wealth in the most bewildering lights, yet it is a positive fact
that no man except Mr. Rockefeller himself knows what his
wealth amounts to. His partners in various enterprises, and
the officers of the many companies in which he has invested
636 LEADERS OF MEN.
his wealth, all know something about his means, but no man
knows everything about them.
It is to be doubted whether Mr. Rockefeller himself knows
how much he is worth, and if he knew to-day, the fluctuations
of the listed stocks on the exchange, minute and like the trem-
blings of a needle though they are, must alter the sum of his
wealth with every hour and minute of each working day.
We read a great deal about only one sort of change in his
wealth ; the steady growth* of the same by the accretions of
interest. These are always published upon the assumption
that Mr. Rockefeller is the richest man in the world, and that
he is worth two hundred millions of dollars. This is set down
to his credit in spite of the fact that he has testified in court
that he does not know within ten millions of dollars what his
vast fortune amounts to.
John Davison Rockefeller was born in Richford, Tioga
County, N. Y., July 8, 1839. His father, William Avery, was
a physician and business man as well. With great energy he
cleared the forest, built a sawmill, loaned his money, and,
like his noted son, knew how to overcome obstacles.
The mother, Eliza Davison, was a woman of rare common
sense and executive ability. Self-poised in manner, charita-
ble, persevering in whatever she attempted, she gave careful
attention to the needs of her family, but did not forget that
she had Christian duties outside her home. The devotion of
Mr. Rockefeller to his mother as long as she lived was
marked, and worthy of example.
The Rockefeller home in Richford was one of mutual work
and helpfulness. All were taught the value of labor and of
economy. The eldest son, John, early took responsibility
upon himself. Willing and glad to work, he cared for the
garden, milked the cows, and acquired the valuable habit of
never wasting his time. When about nine years old he raised
and sold turkeys, and instead of spending the money, proba-
bly his first earnings, saved it, and loaned it at seven per
cent. It would be interesting to know if the lad ever dreamed
then of being, perhaps, the richest man in America.
In 1853 the Rockefeller family moved to Cleveland, Ohio ;
and John, then fourteen years of age, entered the high school.
He was a studious boy, especially fond of mathematics and
of music, and learned to play the piano : he was retiring
JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER. 637
in manner, and exemplary in conduct. When between four-
teen and.fifteen years of age, he joined the Erie Street Baptist
Church of Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the Euclid Avenue
Baptist Church, where he has been from that time an ear-
nest and most helpful worker. The boy of fifteen did not
confine his work in the church to prayer meetings and Sun-
day school. There was a church debt, and it had to be paid.
He began to solicit money, standing in the church door as the
people went out, ready to receive what each was willing to
contribute. He gave also of his own as much as was possible ;
thus learning early in life, not only to be generous, but to
incite others to generosity.
When about eighteen or nineteen, he was made one of the
board of trustees of the church, which position he held till his
absence from the city in the past few years prevented his serv-
ing. He has been the superintendent of the Sunday school of
the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church for about thirty years.
When he had held the office for twenty-five years the Sunday
school celebrated the event by a reception for their leader.
After addresses and music, each one of the five hundred or
more persons present shook hands with Mr. Rockefeller, and
laid a flower on the table beside him. From the first he has
won the love of the children from his sympathy, kindness, and
his interest in their welfare. No picnic even would be satis-
factory to them without his presence.
After two years passed in the Cleveland high school, the
school year ending June, 1855, young Rockefeller took a sum-
mer course in the Commercial College, and at sixteen was
ready to see what obstacles the business world presented to a
boy. He found plenty of them. It was the old story of every
place seeming to be full ; but he would not allow himself to be
discouraged by continued refusals. He visited manufacturing
establishments, stores, and shops, again and again, determined
to find a position.
He succeeded on the 26th of September, 1855, and became
assistant bookkeeper in the forwarding and commission house
of Hewitt & Tuttle. He did not know what pay he was to
receive ; but he knew he had taken the first step towards suc-
cess, — he had obtained work. At the end of the year, for the
three months, October, November, and December, he received
fifty dollars, — not quite four dollars a week.
G38 LEADERS OF MEN.
The next year he was paid twenty-five dollars a month, or
three hundred dollars a year, and at the end of fifteen months
accepted a position with the same firm, at five hundred dol-
lars, as cashier and bookkeeper, supplanting a man who had
been receiving a salary of two thousand dollars.
Desirous of earning more, young Rockefeller after a time
asked for eight hundred dollars as wages ; and, the firm
declining to give over seven hundred dollars a year, the enter-
prising youth, not yet nineteen, decided to start in business
for himself. He had industry and energy ; he was saving of
both time and money ; he had faith in his ability to succeed,
and the courage to try. He had managed to save about a
thousand dollars ; and his father loaned him another thou-
sand, on which he paid ten per cent, interest, receiving the
principal as a gift when he became twenty-one years of age.
This certainly was a modest beginning for one of the founders
of the Standard Oil Company.
Having formed a partnership with Morris B. Clark, in 1858,
in produce commission and forwarding, the firm name became
Clark & Rockefeller. The closest attention was given to
business. Mr. Rockefeller lived within his means, and worked
early and late, finding little or no time for recreation or amuse-
ments, but always time for his accustomed work in the
church. There was always some person in sickness or sor-
row to be visited, or some stranger to be invited to the prayer
meetings.
The firm succeeded in business, and was continued with
various partners for seven years, until the spring of 18G5.
During this time some parts of the country, especially Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio, had become enthusiastic over the finding of
large quantities of oil through drilling wells. The Petroleum
Age for December, 1881, gives a most interesting account of
the first oil well in this country, drilled at Titusville, on Oil
creek, a branch of the Allegheny river, in August, 1859.
Petroleum had long been known, both in Europe and
America, under various names. The Indians used it as a
medicine, mixed it with paint to anoint themselves for war, or
set fire at night to the oil that floated upon the surface of their
creeks, making the illumination a part of their religious cere-
monies. In Ohio, in 18 19, when, in boring for salt, springs of
petroleum were found, Professor Hildreth of Marietta wrote
JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER. 639
that the oil was used in lamps in workshops, and believed it
would be '• a valuable article for lighting the street lamps in
the future cities of Ohio." But forty years went by before the
first oil well was drilled, when men became almost as deliri-
ous with excitement as when they rushed to California for
gold in 1849.
Several refineries were started in Cleveland to prepare the
crude oil for illuminating purposes. Mr. Rockefeller, the
young commission merchant, like his father a keen observer
of men and things, as early as I860, the year after the first
well was drilled, helped to establish an oil-refining business
under the firm name of Andrews, Clark & Co.
The business increased so rapidly that Mr. Rockefeller sold
his interest in the commission house in 18G5, and with Mr.
Samuel Andrews bought out their associates in the refining
business, and established the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews,
the latter having charge of the practical details.
Mr. Rockefeller was then less than twenty-six years old ;
but an exceptional opportunity had presented itself, and a
young man of exceptional ability was ready for the oppor-
tunity. A good and cheap illuminator was a world-wide
necessity ; and it required brain, and system, and rare busi-
ness ability to produce the best product, and send it to all
nations.
The brother of Mr. Rockefeller, William, entered into the
partnership ; and a new firm was established, under the name
of William Rockefeller & Co. The necessity of a business
house in New York for the sale of their products soon became
apparent, and all parties were united in the firm of Rocke-
feller & Co.
In 1807 Mr. Henry M. Flagler, well known in connection
with Lis improvements in St. Augustine, Fla., was taken into
the company, which became Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler.
Three years later, in 1870, the Standard Oil Company of
Ohio was established, with a capital of $1,000,000, Mr. Rock-
efeller being made president. He was also made president of
the National Refiners' Association.
He was now thirty-one years old, far-seeing, self-centered,
quiet and calm in manner, but untiring in work, and compre-
hensive in his grasp of business. The determination which
had won a position for him in youth, even though it brought
640 LEADERS OF MEN.
him but four dollars a week, the confidence of his ability,
integrity, and sound judgment, which made the banks willing
to lend him money, or men willing to invest their capital in
his enterprise, made him a power in the business world thus
early in life.
Mr. Rockefeller has proved himself a remarkable organizer.
His associates have been able men ; and his vast business has
been so systematized, and the leaders of departments held
responsible, that it is managed with comparative ease.
The Standard Oil Companies own hundreds of thousands of
acres of oil lands, and wells, refineries, and many thousand
miles of pipe lines throughout the United States. They have
business houses in the principal cities of the Old World as
well as the New, and carry their oil in their own great oil
steamships abroad as easily as in their pipe lines to the Ameri-
can seaboard. They control the greater part of the petroleum
business of this country, and export much of the oil used
abroad. They employ from forty to fifty thousand men in
this great industry, many of whom have remained with the
companies for twenty or thirty years. It is said that strikes
are unknown among them.
With such power in their hands, instead of selling their
product at high rates, they have kept oil at such low prices
that the poorest all over the world have been enabled to buy
and use it.
Mr. Rockefeller has not confined his business interests to
the Standard Oil Company. A very large proportion of his
wealth is now in the form of securities and properties in no
way connected with the petroleum business. He has shown
amazing shrewdness in buying mining and railroad properties
when times were bad, or the owners of these stocks were will-
ing, for other reasons, to sell at low prices. In this way he
has come to own stocks and bonds in seventeen great rail-
roads. Other large sums he has invested in sugar trust, Brook-
lyn Union gas, Consolidated gas (New York), natural gas in
Ohio, Federal steel, coal mines in Ohio, copper mines in Mon-
tana, iron mines in the Lake Superior region, lake steamers ;
also real estate in New York, Chicago, Buffalo, and several
other cities. In the Standard Oil subsidiary companies alone
he is said to be a larger owner than in Standard Oil itself ; at
least his holdings have a larger value than those in the parent
JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER. 641
company. He is reputed to control vast railway systems, to
own every oil car in the land, to possess twenty thousand miles
of oil tubing, two hundred steamers and seventy thousand
delivery wagons. He employs twenty-five thousand men, and
as a financier, employer, a power in the world, he knows no
rival.
With all these different lines of business, and being neces-
sarily a very busy man, he never seems hurried or worried.
His manner is always kindly and considerate. He is a good
talker, an equally good listener, and gathers knowledge from
every source. Meeting the best educators of the country,
coming in contact with leading business and professional men
as well, and having traveled abroad and in his own country,
Mr. Rockefeller has become a man of wide and varied intelli-
gence. In physique he is of medium height, hair gray, blue
eyes, and pleasant face.
He is a lover of trees, never allowing one to be cut down
on his grounds unless necessity demands it, fond of flowers,
knows the birds by their song or plumage, and never tires of
the beauties of nature.
He is as courteous to a servant as to a millionaire, is social
and genial, and enjoys the pleasantry of bright conversation.
He has great power of concentration, is very systematic in
business and also in his everyday life, allotting certain hours
to work, and other hours to exercise, the bicycle being one of
his chief outdoor pleasures. He is fond of animals, and owns
several valuable horses. A great St. Bernard dog, white and
yellow, called '•' Laddie," was for years the pet of the house-
hold and the admiration of friends. When killed accidentally
by an electric wire, the dog was carefully buried, and the
grave covered with myrtle. A pretty stone, a foot and a half
high, cut in imitation of the trunk of an oak tree, at whose
base fern leaves cluster, marks the spot, with the words, " Our
dog Laddie ; died, 1895," carved upon a tiny slab.
It may be comparatively easy to do great deeds, but the
little deeds of thoughtfulness and love for the dumb creatures
who have loved us, show the real beauty and refinement of
character.
Mr. Rockefeller belongs to few social organizations, his
church work and his home life sufficing. He is a member of
the New England Society, the Union League Club of New
642 LEADERS OF MEN.
York, and of the Empire State Sons of the Revolution, as his
ancestors, both on his father's and mother's side, were in the
Revolutionary War.
Besides Mr. Rockefeller's summer home in Cleveland, he
has another with about one thousand acres of land at Pocan-
tico Hills, near Tarrytown on the Hudson. The place is pic-
turesque and historic, made doubly interesting through the
legends of Washington Irving. From the summit of Kaakoote
mountain the views are of rare beauty. Sleepy Hollow and
the grave of Irving are not far distant. The winter home in
New York city is a large brick house, with brownstone front,
near Fifth avenue, furnished richly but not showily, contain-
ing some choice paintings and a fine library.
Mr. Rockefeller will be long remembered as a remarkable
financier and the founder of a great organization, but he will
be remembered longest and honored most as a remarkable
giver. We have many rich men in America, but not all are
great givers ; not all have learned that it is really more blessed
to give than to receive ; not all remember that we go through
life but once, with opportunities to brighten the lives about
us, and to help to bear the burdens of others.
Mr. Rockefeller's private charities have been almost
numberless. He has aided young men and women through
college, sometimes by gift and sometimes by loan. He has
provided the means for persons who were ill to go abroad or
elsewhere for rest. He does not forget, when his apples are
gathered at Pocantico Hills, to send hundreds of barrels to the
various charitable institutions in and near New York, or, when
one of his workingmen dies, to continue the support to his
family while it is needed. Some of us become too busy to
think of the little ways of doing good. It is said by those who
know him best, that he gives more time to his benevolences
and to their consideration than to his business affairs. He
employs secretaries, whose time is given to the investigation
of requests for aid and attending to such cases as are favora-
bly decided upon.
When we come to consider his mere opinions of wealth,
they are at once sensible and surprising. He holds that, since
no man is so rich that there is not another man who is richer,
the riches of man only bring discontent and make him feel
poor. Then again, a man's wealth must be determined by the
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
THE LEDGER OF ECONOMY. 645
relation of his desires and expenditures to his income. If he
feels rich on ten dollars and has everything else he desires, he
really is rich. But a man's expenses usually increase with
his income and nearly always bear the same relation to it ;
therefore, whether he have five thousand or five million, he
is never very much better off. A man's desires expand to an
extent wholly disproportioned to his acquisitions, he says,
and many men have felt much poorer when they have accum-
ulated a fortune of five million than they did when they had
but a million.
Mr. Rockefeller is scarcely past middle life, with, it is
hoped, many years before him in which to carry out his great
projects of benevolence. He is as modest and gentle in man-
ner, as unostentatious and as kind of heart, as when he had
no millions to give away. He is never harsh, seems to have
complete self-control, and has not forgotten to be grateful to
the men who befriended and trusted him in his early business
life.
His success may be attributed in part to industry, energy,
economy, and good sense. He loved his work, and had the
courage to battle with difficulties. He had steadiness of
character, the ability to command the confidence of business
men from the beginning, and gave close and careful attention
to the matters intrusted to him.
Mr. Rockefeller will be remembered, not so much because
he accumulated millions, but because he gave away millions,
thereby doing great good, and setting a noble example.
THE LEDGER OF ECONOMY.
AKE this book and keep an accurate account of your
expenses," said Mr. H. to his son about leaving for
Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, where he would
prepare for college.
'What good will that do?" responded the son, as if his
father were requiring him to do a " little thing " too small for
an aspirant for college honors to be troubled about.
" What good ! " exclaimed the father, somewhat surprised
by the spirit in which his suggestion was received. "It is
one of the things that will help make a man of you, if such a
thing be possible. You may think it is a small matter to put
down every cent that you spend ; but I assure you that it will
646 LEADERS OF MEN.
have much to do with your habits twenty years from now.
You want to know where your pocket money goes — a little
matter, you may think ; but it will do much to incline you to
virtue instead of vice in manhood."
This father was not a fussy man ; he did not attach too
much importance to the expense book ; nor was the son
an exception among boys in regarding it unimportant, small.
Young people of both sexes are apt to class it with the "little
things " that are of no account. Hence, few of them know
where the pocket money goes. The pennies vanish, and the
nickels, and their allowance disappears much sooner than
they expect. Where it is gone is well-nigh a mystery to
them.
Right here is the evil of not keeping an expense book. If
one is not kept in youth, it is probable that it will not be kept
in manhood and womanhood. That business man of whom
it is said, " He does not know the worth of a dollar," did not
keep an expense book in his boyhood. He did not know then
where his money went, and he does not know now. That
woman "who keeps her husband's nose to the grindstone"
continually by her wasteful habits, never thought of an
expense book in her young days. She spent all she could get
hold of then, and she spends all she can get hold of now ;
and she does not know any more about where it goes now
than she did then.
An expense book accurately and conscientiously kept, helps
young people to know themselves. Many have scarcely
scraped an acquaintance with themselves. They do not see
how prone they are to spend money for useless and worse than
useless things ; confections, goodies, knickknacks, fun, and
so on ad infinitum. The expense book will show what they
are on this line. They can see themselves in it, as others see
them. There is the unmistakable record of their weakness.
It stares them in the face ; there is no such thing as denying
it, or getting around it.
To the thoughtful and wise youth, the expense book becomes
a good teacher, and its lesson is never forgotten. It lasts as
long as life lasts.
A young merchant, who was doing a thriving business, was
generous and jolly. He was wont to keep a box of cigars upon
his desk for his own use, and the use of his customers, and,
THE LEDGER OF ECONOMY. 647
perhaps, his employees. It was the duty of one of the clerks to
keep the box of cigars replenished ; and he took it into his
head to keep an account of the number of cigars he put into
the box in three months. At the end of this period he asked
ihe merchant if he had any idea of the number and cost of the
cigars used in three months.
"Not the least whatever," the merchant replied. "It is
possible five or six hundred cigars have been used. Perhaps
not so many."
"You will be surprised, then, if I tell you," added the clerk,
" that over two thousand cigars have been put into that box in
three months, at a cost of not less than one hundred dollars."
The merchant was surprised, and could scarcely believe
the statement, for he kept no account of the cigars used, hav-
ing never kept an account of these little expenses. He kept
no expense book when he was a boy, and so never thought
about keeping one when he became a man. Why should he ?
Is not the boy " father of the man " ?
Whether the young student of whom we have spoken was
faithful to keep an account of his expenses or not, we know
of one boy who was. His parents required him to keep an
expense book before he was old enough to go away to school.
When he left home for the academy, his father allowed him
fifty cents a month for pocket money, with which he could do
as he pleased. But his expense book set him thinking. It
would look better if it should show a balance in favor of his
pocket from month to month.
The thought decided his course, and he spent but twenty-
five cents a month, thus saving one half of his allowance.
The expense book did it. The whole would have gone but for
that accurate account. He became a noble, affluent man, and
often said that the expense book of his boyhood contributed
largely to make him what he was.
The expense book has often established the habit of econ-
omy, which has proven the foundation of a fortune ; while,
on the other hand, neglecting to note the method of spending
money in early life has led to improvidence and want. " The
ship which bore home the merchant's treasure was lost
because it was allowed to leave the port from which it sailed
with a very little hole in the bottom." "A small leak will
sink a ship." The expense book may stop the small leak.
648 LEADERS OF MEN.
" For want of a nail, the shoe of the aid-de-camp's horse
was lost ; for want of the shoe, the horse was lost ; for
want of the horse, the aid-de-camp himself was lost, for the
enemy took him and killed him ; and for want of the aid-
de-camp's intelligence, the a-rmy of his general was lost ; and
all because a little nail had not been properly fixed in the
horse's shoe," — a good illustration of the manner in which an
evil habit of youth, though small in itself, may grow and
curse the whole future life.
So far as money is concerned, the expense book is designed
to guard against such a result.
Amos Lawrence presented to one of his sons on his twelfth
birthday, an expense book, with the following written on the
first page : —
"My dear Sox : — I give you this little book, that you may
write in it how much money you receive, and how you use it.
It is of much importance in forming your early character, to
have correct habits, and a strict regard to truth in all you
do. For this purpose, I advise you never to cheat yourself by
making a false entry in this book. If you spend money for
an object you would not willingly have known, you will be
more likely to avoid doing the same thing again if you call it
by its right name here, remembering always that there is One
who cannot be deceived. I pray God so to guide and direct
you, that when your stewardship here is ended, he may say
to you, that the talents intrusted to your care have been
faithfully employed. Your affectionate father,
"A. L."
In 1822, Lawrence wrote to the father of a boy who came
from Connecticut to serve in his store, " Will it not be well
for him to furnish you, at stated periods, an exact account of
his expenditures ? The habit of keeping such an account will
be serviceable, and, if he is prudent, the satisfaction will be
great ten years hence, in looking back and observing the
process by which his character has been formed."
Joseph Baxendale, one of England's most successful mer-
chants, was well known for his practical wisdom, and the
good influence he exerted over his employees. He saw, every
day, the evils of wasteful habits in early life extending into
manhood and womanhood, and he sought to accomplish by
placards what the expense book might have done in boyhood
and girlhood. He posted up mottoes in his warehouses like
the following : "A penny saved is a penny earned ; " " He
THE LEDGER OF ECONOMY. 649
who spends all he gets, is on the way to beggar} ; ' " Time
lost cannot be regained ; " " Let industry and economy be the
habits of your lives ;" " Lay by something for a rainy day."
These mottoes were reminders and teachers to his work peo-
ple, as the expense book reminds and teaches a boy or girl.
They reformed the habits of some employees by causing them
to reflect. Getting a good idea into their heads from one of
them, changed the current of their lives.
The expense book is an idea, and it suggests an idea to the
owner. Nor is it an ephemeral idea. It takes possession of
the mind for life. It comes to stay. It 'speaks of character,
— how to make or mar it, It lures to virtue and hinders vice.
Many persons, young and old, think of education as belong-
ing only to the schools. This is a grave mistake. If the school
alone can give culture, such men as Henry Clay and Abraham
Lincoln never would have been known, for their best teachers
were outside the schoolroom. Scores and hundreds of scholars,
even, have become such and owe their claims to distinction to
the culture of business, supplemented by the discipline of lei-
sure moments devoted to reading or study. William B. Spooner,
one of the most accomplished and honored merchants Boston
ever had, never went to an academy after he was sixteen. Yet
he became one of the most intelligent, and even gifted, men of
New England. Business was a school to which he went every
day, never absent, nor tardy. He early determined to make it
more than a college curriculum to himself ; and he did achieve
through it the highest elements of manhood, which were of
more value to him and the world than his large fortune that
followed as a matter of course. The writer once called at Mr.
Spooner's office, when the latter showed him three elaborate
reports which he had prepared for that week. One of them
was to be presented to the Board of Trade, of which he was
president ; another to the directors of a bank, of which he was
also president ; and the third to a benevolent society, whose
president he was, also. He prepared all such papers with as
much ability as a college graduate ; and business did it. True,
he improved his leisure moments, which were few, in reading
and attending lectures ; and this, without doubt, had its
decided influence in his rise and progress. But, after all, his
business was his school, and here his powers were developed
and trained. A business run by industry, tact, honesty, per-
650 LEADERS OF MEN.
severance, and philanthropy will make a noble man of the
proprietor in any age and anywhere. Webster defines educa-
tion to be "that series of instruction and discipline which is
intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper,
and the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for useful-
ness in their future stations." Hence, there may be education
without the schoolroom. It is possible for a youth to be more
truly educated out of college than in it. Abraham Lincoln
was better educated than half the graduates of Harvard and
Yale. Proof of this is found in the fact that he was fitted for
"usefulness in his station.'' The farm, shop, and warehouse
teach eminently practical lessons. They teach much even
about science and art. The successful man of business knows
more about philosophy, mathematics, and psychology, after he
has amassed a fortune, than he did before. Experience is a good
schoolmaster. When Edison had wrought his first invention,
he had acquired ability to bring out a half dozen others. The
discipline of one year's business enables a man to do better
work next year. He is more of a man at the close of a year's
work if he has been true to himself, ffis mind is constantly
on the alert to discover the reason of things, and so he is con-
stantly improving and acquiring power. When Schiller was
a boy, the inquisitive characteristic of his mind in manhood
was foreshadowed as follows : during a terrific thunder shower
his father missed him, and ran out of doors to learn his where-
abouts, when he discovered him perched in the top of a tree
which the storm was rocking like a cradle. Much frightened
at the peril of the boy, the father called out, "What are you
there for?" Promptly the answer came back, "I want to see
where the lightning comes from." The lad had a reason for
being there, and a good one, too.
The inquiring mind which led him to ascertain where
lightning comes from was the secret of his manhood's suc-
cess ; and the same would have been true of him had he been
a merchant instead of a scholar.
The late Hon. William E. Dodge, who was known through-
out our land as a wealthy merchant and Christian philan-
thropist, derived all the advantage he ever had from schools
before he was fifteen years of age. At that age his distinc-
tively business life began in New York city, — a school that
was in session as long as he lived. Like Mr. Spooner, he
THE LEDGER OF ECONOMY. 651
determined that manhood should stand for more than wealth
with him, — that everything about his time and business
should contribute strength to his personal character. Conse-
quently, his business was his university. In it he had his
daily drill. Both his head and heart were disciplined by the
duties of his warehouse. The standard he set up made
industry, tact, honesty, and economy absolutely indispensable.
He grew mentally and morally here. It was public school
and Sunday school together, exerting a powerful influence
upon his life. Mr. Dodge's career illustrates what an Eng-
lish journal recently said : " There can be no question nowa-
days that application to work, absorption in affairs, contact
with men, and all the stress which business imposes on us,
gives a noble training to the intellect, and splendid oppor-
tunity for discipline of character. The perpetual call on a
man's readiness, self-control, and vigor which business makes,
the constant appeal to the intellect, the stress upon the will,
the necessity for rapid and responsible exercise of judgment,
— all constitute a high culture." Hence the most successful
men have been those who began the world in their shirt sleeves.
James Harper, founder of the publishing house known as
Harper Brothers, of New York, began his business life in
that city at fifteen years of age. He began in a printing
office in Franklin square. He commenced with the resolu-
tion to make the most out of the business possible, and, by
doing that, to make the most of himself. He applied himself
so closely to his work, declining to engage in pleasures, which
others sought, as to draw down upon himself the ridicule of
his companions. They laughed at his clothes, his awkward
gait, and his large and homely shoes. Finally, one day, a
fellow workman said to him, "Give us your card.'' Forget-
ting himself for a moment, Harper kicked the young scamp
downstairs, exclaiming, " That is my card ; take it !" In five
minutes he was very sorry for the act and made an apology,
adding, " When I get to doing business for myself, I will let
you have work." In thirty years Harper was a wealthy pub-
lisher, and mayor of the city, and among his employees was
the scapegrace whom he kicked downstairs. The latter came
to him in a miserable plight, and he gave him a job to keep
him from starving. It is one thing to make business a school,
but quite another thing to make it the road to ruin.
CHAPTER XXXI.
JAMES JEROME HILL.
WHERE OPPORTUNITY LIES BORN .IN CANADA — ANCESTRAL STOCK
- HOW EDUCATED FROM COUNTY CLERK TO RAILROAD PRESIDENT ■
REORGANIZATION OF THE ST. PAUL AND PACIFIC RAILROAD TRANSFOR-
MATION OF THE NORTHWEST FORTUNE FAIRLY EARNED THE GREAT
NORTHERN OF TO-DAY HIS METHODS THE TRAINING OF YOUNG MEN
MR. HILL A MANY-SIDED MAN HIS HOME AT ST. PAUL INTEREST
IN AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS PHILANTHROPIES — SOMETHING OF HIS PER-
SONAL ACHIEVEMENTS. VICTORY IN DEFEAT.
The railroad interests in this country are not the greatest,
after all. The agricultural interests are most important.
They represent one half the population of
the United States, one half the capital, and
about all the patriotism, religion, and feel-
ing there is.
The country rules the cities. I should be
sorry to see the time come when the city
interests controlled the country. At present
they do not. Whenever a situation comes
up where the integrity of the country is at
stake, the agricultural interests rise up in a
body and sweep the obstacle aside. It is the
man who owns the land, the area upon which we live, who is
the strongest factor in affairs, and he is bound to continue so.
He it is who possesses all the potential qualities that produce
success anywhere, and safeguards the common interests of
our country.
^C
T AMES JEROME HILL, president of the Great Northern
Railroad, is, in many respects, the most interesting of all
the captains of industry who are now at the head of
affairs in this country. He was born in Guelph, Wel-
lington county, Canada, in 1838, and is therefore .about sixty-
JAMES JEROME HILL. 653
four years of age. On his father's side he is descended from
sturdy Irish stock, while from his Scotch mother he inherited
the noble traits of the Dunbar line. He is a typical John
Bull in his build, being short, square, and powerful. His
head is massive, his features are large, his hair is heavy, and
his manner calm, but alert. He is always closely watchful,
and under ordinary circumstances bland.
Unlike most American millionaires, Mr. Hill was ham-
pered in the task of self-creation by a thorough education.
Of a dreamy temperament as a child, he preferred a book and
the woods to the play of other boys. For such a nature there
was, at that time, no opening but the ministry or medicine.
To fit him for the latter profession his parents sent him to the
Rockwood Academy, where he received a thorough ground-
ing in mathematics, Latin, and the sciences, and acquired
that thirst for knowledge which has characterized his whole
life.
At the age of fifteen his fathers death threw him upon his
own resources, and he was obliged to abandon his coveted
profession and to seek employment in a country store. When
about eighteen he came to St. Paul, then a straggling village
on the hem of civilization, and secured employment as ship-
ping clerk in the office of the Dubuque and St. Paul Packet
Company. At that time the Mississippi offered almost the
only opportunity for the study of problems of transportation,
and to this he devoted his attention. He successively enlarged
the scope of his activity, to include the sale of fuel, and the
agencies for the Northwestern Packing Company and the St.
Paul and Pacific Railroad. He was the first to bring coal to
St. Paul, and he opened the first communication between St.
Paul and Winnipeg, then Fort Gary. The latter was accom-
plished in 1872, when he consolidated his interests with
Norman W. Kittson, of the Hudson Bay Company, who was
then operating steamboats between Moorhead and Winnipeg
— thus gradually reaching out.
He next undertook the reorganization in detail of the St.
Paul and Pacific Railroad. When that sickly infant crept
haltingly out upon the trackless prairies to die, Mr. Hill was
the only one to see in it promise of life. The road then con-
sisted of eighty miles of indifferent construction extending
from St. Paul to St. Cloud, two hundred and sixteen miles
654 LEADERS OF MEN.
from St. Paul to Breckenridge, and in the neighborhood of
another hundred miles of track not connected with either of
these lines.
In addition to being $33,000,000 in debt, the road was
utterly discredited on both continents. Mr. Hill persuaded
Mr. Donald Smith and Mr. George Stephen to undertake, with
him, its purchase and reorganization. In 1879 the transaction
was completed, and the road was reincorporated under the
name of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad. Mr.
George Stephen, now Lord Mount-Stephen, was the first presi-
dent, and Mr. Hill the general manager. Mr. Hill was after-
ward elected vice-president, and in 1883 he became president,
which position he still holds. Since that time his achieve-
ment has been without parallel in the history of the railroad
world. He has built and equipped a system of G.000 miles —
with the exception of the original 400 miles — entirely with-
out state or government land-grant or subsidy ; at a capitali-
zation in stocks and bonds of about 830,000 a mile, and at the
rate of nearly a mile a day for every day of his control.
While other transcontinental roads have collapsed and gone
into the hands of receivers, the Great Northern has never
once defaulted the interest on its bonds or passed a dividend.
Figures give no adequate idea of the economic significance
of such an artery of commerce. Because James J. Hill con-
ceived and successfully carried out his project, it may be that
men and women who never even heard of the United States,
much less of the Great Northern Railroad, have been saved
from death by starvation. It may be that sometime the frui-
tion of the idea born in the mind of this railroad man will
serve to avert a nation's famine. The opening and develop-
ing of the great wheat raising states of the Northwest have
had their part in determining the question of war or peace, and
will have again. It has promoted ententes cordiales. It has
shared, with blood ties and diplomacy as a factor, in the
relations of this country with Great Britain, and consequently
the relations of Great Britain with other nations. " Wheat
Across the Sea"' may be equally potent with " Hands Across
the Sea." Each of the 520,000,000 bread eaters of the world is
a shareholder in the Great Northern Railroad. For twenty
cents the Minnesota farmer may send a bushel of wheat or its
equivalent in bread to Western Europe.
JAMES JEROME HILL. G55
When Mr. Hill first mooted the project of a railroad from
Paget sound to the Great La£e waterway, passing through
what was virtually "An Undiscovered Country," he had to
face the knowledge that his road would parallel and run
between, at no tremendous distances in this big continent, two
already existing lines, neither of which had proved successful.
The Northern Pacific had been constructed at enormous cost,
with the assistance of the Federal Government, and its record
had been a series of failures. The Canadian Pacific had had
behind it the resources of the British Empire ; to build it, half
a continent had been put in pawn. Wise men pointed these
things out to Mr. Hill. They said : "Even if he can build
two thousand miles of railroad through new country, without
governmental aid or subsidy, cui bono ? What doth it profit
a man if he build a whole railroad and lose his yearly divi-
dends ? " But Mr. Hill saw with a clearer vision. He went
ahead with that confidence which is possessed only by great
men and fools. Steadily, inch by inch, rod by rod, mile by
mile, the shining rails stretched westward through "the land
of sky-blue water," passing innumerable sparkling Minnesota
lakes, skirting one, bridging another, pushing on through
forests and natural parkways, crossing the line into the newer
Dakota, chasing the limpid waters of the Red river, and
plunging into the trackless ocean prairie — direct, almost, as
the crow flies, across the billowy fields to the confines of
another state ; running beside the turbid Missouri, bombard-
ing and overcoming the Rockies, shimmering through canon,
diving through tunnel, climbing over trestle, ever westward,
until at last they rested by the waters of the Pacific. Purely
as a matter of construction, it was a gigantic feat, rapidly,
safely, and cleanly accomplished. Then came the rub — the
material but no less important question, from every point of
view, of making it pay ; and another phase of Mr. Hill's gen-
ius was called into requisition. That he succeeded is a matter
of railroad history. To the knowledge of a man who knows
his business to the minutest detail, the determination of one
who will not be defeated, the daring of a pioneer, Mr. Hill
must have added an instinctive perception. which bordered on
the gift of prophecy.
Following a railroad come population, trade, civilization.
A railroad, even through unarable country, brings some set
G5G LEADERS OF MEN.
tiers along its line ; a railroad, however poorly managed,
causes some movement of trade. How much more is this true
of a pioneer road through a country every mile of which is pos-
sible of settlement, and great tracts of which are as fertile as
any on earth ! Following the track layers come the settlers.
Following the settlers come the hamlets, villages, towns, cit-
ies, the mills, factories, and all the concomitants of trade.
The building of the depot causes the construction of the school-
house, and the upraising of the church spires to the sky. It
is hardly possible to overestimate the effect of the construc-
tion of the Great Northern upon the development, physical
and sociological, of a great part of our Northwest. The
shriek of the locomotive whistle evoked the spirit of progress.
Village and town sprang up along the line. Dwellings and
granaries dotted the prairies. Hundreds of thousands of acres
of previously non-productive land were put under cultivation.
Desolate prairies began to bloom. The grain elevator, like a
lighthouse in a yellow sea, uplifted itself above the fields of
waving wheat.
That there should have come an outlet for these magnifi-
cent possibilities seems now almost inevitable ; but in this
case the credit must go to James J. Hill. The state of Minne-
sota alone produces, approximately, about SO, 000, 000 bushels
of wheat, or about one thirty-seventh of the total production
of the world. Of this she is able to export two thirds. Of the
Dakotas, not having begun to reach their limit of productive-
ness, North Dakota raised, in 1898, 55,000,000 bushels, and South
Dakota 42,000,000. Oregon produced 24,000,000 bushels. The
modern farming methods in the Northwest challenge the
admiration of the world. Steam and electricity are made to
serve the farmer's purpose. He plows, reaps, thrashes by
machinery. He telephones from his farmhouse to his gran-
aries. Sometimes he receives the latest grain quotations over
a private telegraph wire in his dwelling. Often the acreage of
his farm is expressed in the thousands, sometimes in five fig-
ures. He comes from the poor places of the earth and finds a
home and self-respect. He sends his products to Europe, Asia,
Japan, even China. He furnishes a traffic that provides work
for tens of thousands of employees of transportation lines. He
keeps a procession of grain ships moving to the Sault Ste.
Marie Canal, which makes the " Soo"'rank ahead of far-famed
JAMES JEROME HILL. 657
Suez in point of tonnage. Moreover, he is furnishing bone
and sinew for this great country of ours which cannot be
expressed in figures. And much of this is due to the Great
Northern Railroad.
Unlike other "Napoleons of Finance" and "Railway
Kings " who have preyed upon the interests confided to their
care, Mr. Hill has accepted no salary, profited by the ruin of
no man's fortune, depending for his reward upon the natural
increase in the value of his investment. While he has built
up for himself and other shareholders of the road a constantly
accruing fortune, he has created for the settlers along his line
$1,000,000,000 of wealth in real property. The reduction in
rates of transportation has given the shippers along the road
practically $67,000,000, thus diminishing the company's rev-
enues by that amount.
Nevertheless, in fourteen years, from the beginning of Mr.
Hill's stewardship to 1893, the company had paid to stock and
shareholders between $15,000,000 and $16,000,000, while em-
ployees had received for their share $79,000,000. Owing to its
economy in operation, constantly increasing business and
earning capacity, the Great Northern has made a steady
decrease in freight rates. Last year the president suggested
a new schedule of grain rates, which meant a reduction of
$1,500,000 to the company.
The Great Northern to-day comprises a system of roads
giving in all 6,000 miles of excellent construction, extending
in a network from Puget sound on the west to St. Paul on the
east, from Duluth on the north to Yankton on the south. The
headquarters is at St. Paul, where are located the general
offices and operating staff. During the season of navigation,
Duluth and Superior are, however, the practical terminals,
where the road connects with its own steamers of the North-
ern Steamship Company for Buffalo. Passengers are offered
the perfection of travel, via the Northwest or Northland,
two of the most luxurious steamers of the world. The restful
journey over inland seas, varied with rivers, charming resorts,
and locks, is attracting tourists to the full capacity of the
boats.
In addition to the passenger steamers, a fleet of six freight
vessels offers formidable competition to other transcontinental
lines. For the Great Northern has thus 2,000 miles of railroad
658 LEADERS OF MEN.
from the Pacific Coast, with the added 1,000 miles of cheap
waterway, as against the 3,000 miles entirely by rail of the
other roads. The shipping from Duluth and Superior is far
beyond belief to the casual observer. In 1898 there were
received at these ports 86,000,000 bushels of grain ; sawmills
on the harbor manufactured 324,000,000 feet of lumber ; iron
ore shipments reached 6,000,000 gross tons ; flour mills about
the bay manufactured 2,000,000 barrels of flour. From these
figures, and the fact that the Great Northern handles 65 per
cent, of the business, will be seen the change which has been
wrought in diverting traffic of the Central West from Chicago
and other more southerly lake ports.
As in the conception, construction, and extension of the
road, so in his methods of operation, Mr. Hill's achievement
is unique. He has the genius which in a military age would
have made a Napoleon.
He has made the road ; — he is its head, its hand, its con-
science. He has risen through successive stages and grown
with the road's growth. He has studied, assimilated, taught,
— and moved on. Wherever he left a department he shed a
system. In his rise he has carried with him a staggering
weight of detail. He knows, every inch of the country
through which his road runs — in its geography, topography,
fauna, flora, minerals, water, air, population, resources, and
portable products. He knows the road in its sleepers, rails,
spikes, ballast, engines, shops, sidings, and stations. He
knows exactly what pressure every part of every engine can
endure, what work it is capable of performing, and how long
it should last. So close a touch has he on every detail that he
feels the slightest jar in the vast machine, and his finger falls
instantly upon the disturbing cause. He seems omniscient
and omnipresent, appearing unexpectedly at remote mountain
stations, — from no one knows where, — and vanishing as mys-
teriously as he came.
There is no filtering of authority through vice-president,
general manager, or chief clerk, with the consequent shift-
ing of responsibility ; the enlightenment, reproof, or dismissal
comes on the spot, warmed with Mr. Hill's personality. As a
result of this close relationship between him and his
employees, the Great Northern has been singularly free from
the strikes, agitations, and annoyances which have beset
JAMES JEROME HILL. 659
other roads. The only strike of any consequence was in
1894. It grew out of the fact that the prevailing business
depression of 1893 had made necessary a reduction in the pay
roll of the Great Northern Railroad Company, and this was
brought about in part by reducing the salaries of its officers
and the rates of pay of its employees.
During the winter, representatives of the American Rail-
way Union, formed in 1892, had been active in the work of
organization on the lines of several railroads, among others
the Great Northern. The work was conducted with great
secrecy, and none of the officers of the company had knowl-
edge of it. The company, for years having recognized the old
unions, had no knowledge of complaints, or of any consider-
able dissatisfaction on the part of its employees, who at that
time numbered about eight thousand.
When the cloud finally broke, there were many miscon-
ceptions, therefore, to be cleared away ; and it was not for
some two weeks that Mr. Hill and the strike organizers came
to understand each other. When they did the whole trouble
was promptly and finally settled by arbitration. Through
the whole incident Mr. Hill's was the guiding mind in every
detail, and his clear head, tact, firmness, and fairness were
successful in bringing to a happy issue a matter which might
have had permansntly unfortunate results in the hands of a
man of less generous mould.
In connection with the general offices, there has been
established a school of railroading, where young men are
given a thorough knowledge of every department. When a
new branch road is organized, or a department is created, the
man needed for its head is immediately forthcoming ; for at
the same time Mr. Hill foresaw the future need he foresaw
the man for the place, and began to train the boy. The motto
of the Great Northern road should be, " The child is father to
the man " ; for Mr. Hill believes that strength and swiftness
are in the feet of young men. His son, James N. Hill, is pres-
ident of the Spokane & Northern Division, and third vice-pres-
ident of the general system. His son, Louis. Hill, is vice-pres-
ident of the Eastern Minnesota Division. Both are young men
of great promise, who have served their apprenticeship in every
branch of railroading ; and upon them Mr. Hill is gradually
unloading the enormous burden which he has carried so long.
600 LEADERS OF MEN.
During those years of apprenticeship in the steamboat
office he was preparing himself to fill in the canvas which
then contained but the sketchy outlines drawn by his imag-
ination. Days filled with labor were succeeded by nights of
unremitting study. The subjects devoured were so far apart
in interest, so abstruse and apparently impractical in applica-
tion, that nothing but the preparation of an encyclopaedia
would seem to justify his selection. This omnivorous appetite
for reading, joined to a phenomenal memory, makes his learn-
ing prodigious. Question him on almost any subject and you
are overwhelmed by a steady flow of information, detail, sta-
tistics, until the finite mind reels. No man is so versed in his
own specialty that Mr. Hill cannot teach him something
therein. This course of study was to prepare him not only
for a successful business career, but also to provide resources
of enjoyment for his dearly-bought leisure. He may, like
Carlyle, be described as a sledge hammer with an a?olian-
harp attachment ; for, while his knotted muscles are batter-
ing away for the world's commerce, his delicately strung
sensibilities never fail to give answering music to each wan-
dering wind of beauty or fancy. He is essentially domestic
and lives amid his regal surroundings a life of rugged sim-
plicity.
Mrs. Hill, who was Miss Mary Mahegan, is a woman of
beautiful face and more beautiful character, and is universally
beloved. She possesses a rare combination of quiet humor, tact
and executive ability. To these qualities, and the consequent,
thrift, discipline, and comfort in their domestic affairs, Mr.
Hill ascribes no small measure of his success in life. A fam-
ily of nine interesting and gifted children have grown up
about them. To each has been given the best preparation
which America offers educationally to fit them for the wide
opportunities of their lives.
Several years ago Mr. Hill built in St. Paul one of the hand-
somest houses in America. It is baronial in style, massively
built of brownstone, and contains every interior perfection
known to science. With his characteristic love of detail he
spent a fortune on plumbing, heating, lighting, and ventila-
tion. The interior finish is simple and rich as the exterior.
The house is filled with the rarest and costliest of art treasures,
tapestries, rugs, vases, wood-carving, antique furniture ; all
JAMES JEROME HILL. 6G1
are of the choicest selection and of quiet taste. His art gallery
ranks second or third among the private collections of the
United States. He has a fondness for French art, and among
the gems are some of the best specimens of the modern paint-
ing of that country. Some of the notable ones are Corot's
"Biblis," Ribot's ''Descent from the Cross," Diaz's "Storm,"
Rousseau's " Mont Jean de Paris." Added to these are some of
the masterpieces of Millet, Delacroix, Deschamps, Troyon,
Bouguereau, Henner, Laurens, and Jules Breton. Of every
picture Mr. Hill will give you the conception, the technical and
artistic value, as no one but a painter can do, as well as every
fact of interest concerning each artist. His adeptness as an
art critic is equaled only by his skill as a lapidary ; he has
one of the choicest private collections of jewels in America,
and can detect at a touch any flaw, however obscure. These
jewels he collects for the pleasure he takes in their perfection,
as the members of his family seldom wear them. All these
treasures of their superb home Mr. and Mrs. Hill enjoy and
share without ostentation or vanity — a constant object lesson
and benignant influence to those about them.
One of Mr. Hill's dearest ambitions was to be a soldier,
and it was a bitter blow at the outbreak of the rebellion that,
owing to a defect in his vision, he was not accepted for serv-
ice. Upon this fact, doubtless, his whole career hinged. In
hardships and hairbreadth escapes, traveling by dog sledge
and on foot, he sought to forget this disappointment in fight-
ing his country's battles against wilderness, desert, and
mountain.
Mr. Hill's order of intellect does not permit him a recrea-
tion that is purposeless ; every pastime develops into a
science. Thus his farming, which he began as a relaxation,
has developed an experimental station. His North Oaks
farm, within easy driving distance of St. Paul, contains 5,500
acres, inclosed by a single fence. The land is wooded or
under cultivation, and seven* lakes are included within its
limits. The buildings are unpretentious and simple, like
those of the surrounding farms, but so numerous as to form a
good sized village. They consist of a house for the family,
another for the workmen, horse and cow stables, pigsties,
hay-barns, extensive greenhouses, a marble-fitted and refrig-
erated dairy, a bowling alley and boathouse. In the interior
662 LEADERS OF MEN.
arrangement, the highest degree of sanitation and comfort is
secured. Here he has collected, from all parts of the world,
the best breeds of horses and cattle, whose feeding, training,
and marketing he personalty oversees to the minutest detail.
He has a strong love for horses, and seldom sells any of those
he has raised. Upon an island in the largest lake he is pre-
serving a herd of elk. In another pasture he has a large herd
of buffalo — among the last of their vanishing race.
Near Crookston, Minn., he has a grain-farm of 35,000
acres. This is carried on in the same manner as the large
farms in Dakota, with all externals of the plainest, but with
the latest labor-saving machinery.
In his farming, as in his home life, Mr. Hill's aim is to be a
helpful neighbor ; the result of all his experiments he shares
with those about him. The value of his agricultural and
stock-raising knowledge to the settlers along the line of his
road is, in consequence, incalculable. He is constantly giv-
ing talks and addresses at state and county fairs, stock-
grower's conventions, and before legislatures. It is largely
through his influence that the Red River Valley settlers have
been induced to take up diversified farming instead of
depending, as formerly, upon wheat alone ; and, in conse-
quence, having to face starvation with every crop failure. In
this, as in all his advocated reforms, he does not stop with
" talk." Following his instruction, he has scattered along the
line of his road, for free use of the farmers, 500 blooded bulls
and 3,500 boars. The result of this foresight has been a com-
plete transformation of the "scrub" stock of the Northwest.
One of Mr. Hill's most notable philanthropies is the St.
Paul Theological Seminary, a school of preparation for the
priesthood, dedicated in 1895. Unlike most philanthropists,
and with characteristic modesty, Mr. Hill refuses to allow this
institution to bear his name, but gives that honor to the city
of his residence. The buildings, erected through the gift of
$500,000, are six severely handsome structures of pressed brick
built in the English university form of a quadrangle. The
site, upon the high, wooded bluff of the Mississippi river,
offers a quiet retreat, perfectly fitted for study and thought.
No expense was spared in internal equipment, affording an
opportunity for comfort, health, and the highest culture.
Each student is provided with a study and sleeping room.
JAMES JEROME HILL. 663
with access to the bath. A gymnasium gives opportunity for
physical development, so often overlooked in such institu-
tions. The seminary offers unrivaled opportunities for theo-
logical research, as well as a broad culture in science and
literature, not usually joined to a theological course. While
the seminary is intended principally for the ecclesiastical
province of St. Paul, and draws its students from the dioceses
comprised in this province, still it is open to students of all
sections of the country, and from the first its fullest capacity
has been tested. The Right Reverend Monsignor Caillet, a
pioneer in Minnesota religious life, was its first rector. On
his death the Very Reverend Patrick R. Heffron, a young
man of unusual attainments and brilliancy, became its rector.
Two Protestant colleges in the environs of St. Paul owe,
in a large measure, their prolonged activity to Mr. Hill's gen-
erosity — Macalester, a Presbyterian institution, and Ham-
line, of the Methodist denomination. Indeed, scarcely a
church of St. Paul has appealed to Mr. Hill in vain in its
financial crises ; and many towns along the lines of his road
show with pride some church, educational, or philanthropic
institution which he has built or helped to build.
In Mr. Hill we have the seer, with all the nineteenth cen-
tury improvements. In him the highest imagination is yoked
to the lowliest common sense ; the vision is followed by the
deed. Mountains, seas, continents, wars, and empires are
pawns in his game ; but each spike which holds his rails is
considered as carefully as though it were to serve for the axis
of the universe.
His imagination is not of the lawless order which runs riot
to no purpose ; it is the masterful architect, which directs his
nimble intellect as it builds. His mind's eye is telescopic,
looking far beyond the range of ordinary human vision, and
seeing things not so much as they are, but rather as they may
be. He saw the great Northwest, lying imprisoned like the
prince in the Arabian Nights, half man and half marble, and
has set it free in its own proper shape, with all its possibilities
restored. His faith, moving mountains, both literally and
figuratively, has led the world's superfluous population into
the wilderness, to behold and to work miracles. They have
felled the forests, tilled the soil, dug mines, built houses,
banks, churches, and colleges, under the delusion that these
664 LEADERS OF MEN.
enterprises were of their own suggestion • but, like Alice and
the red chessman in " Wonderland," they are merely acting
a part in the White King's dream.
THE VICTORY IN DEFEAT.
EARLY a hundred thousand Romans are assembled in
the Colosseum to see the hated Christians struggle for
their lives with the wild beasts of the amphitheater.
The grand spectacle is preceded by a duel between two rival
gladiators, trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace.
When a gladiator hit his adversary in such contests, he would
say "Hoc habet" (He has it), and look up to see whether he
should kill or spare. If the people held their thumbs up, the
victim would be left to recover ; if down, he was to die. If he
showed the least reluctance in presenting his throat for the
death blow, there would rise a scornful shout : "Recipe fer-
ritin " ( Receive the steel). Prominent persons would sometimes
go into the arena and watch the death agonies of the van-
quished, or taste the warm blood of some brave hero.
The two rival gladiators, as they entered, had shouted to
the emperor : " Ave, Ccesar, morituri te salutant " ( Hail, Csesar,
those about to die salute thee). Then in mortal strife they
fought long and desperately, their faces wet with perspiration
and dark with the dust of the arena. Suddenly an aged stran-
ger in the audience leaps over the railing, and, standing bare-
headed and barefoot between the contestants, bids them stay
their hands. A hissing sound comes from the vast audience,
like steam issuing from a geyser, followed by calls of "Back,
back, old man." But the gray-haired hermit stands like a
statue. "Cut him down, cut him down," roar the spectators,
and the gladiators strike the would-be peacemaker to earth,
and fight over his dead body.
But what of it ? What is the life of a poor old hermit com-
pared with the thousands who have met their deaths in that
vast arena ? The unknown man died, indeed, but his death
brought Rome to her senses, and no more gladiatorial contests
disgraced the Colosseum, while in every province of the
empire the custom was utterly abolished, to be revived no
more. The vast rum stands to-day a monument to the victory
in the hermit's defeat.
JAMES J. HILL,
THE VICTORY IN DEFEAT. 667
No man fails who does his best, for, if the critical world
ignore him, his labor is weighed in the scales of Omniscient
Justice. As there is no effect without cause, no loss of energy
in the world, so conscientious persistence cannot fail of its
ultimate reward.
One of the first lessons of life is to learn how to get victory
out of defeat. It takes courage and stamina, when mortified
and embarrassed by humiliating disaster, to seek in the wreck
or ruins the elements of future conquest. Yet this measures
the difference between those who succeed and those who fail.
You cannot measure a man by his failures. You must know
what use he makes of them. What did they mean to him ?
What did he get out of them ?
I always watch with great interest a young man's first
failure. It is the index of his life, the measure of his success-
power. The mere fact of his failure does not interest me
much ; but how did he take his defeat ? What did he do
next ? Was he discouraged ? Did he slink out of sight ?
Did he conclude that he had made a mistake in his calling,
and dabble in something else ? Or did he up and at it again
with a determination that knows no defeat ?
" I thank God I was not made a dexterous manipulator,'"
said Humphry Davy, " for the most important of my dis-
coveries have been suggested to me by failures."
" God forbid that I should do this thing, and flee away
from them," said Judas Maccabaeus, when, with only eight
hundred faithful men, he was urged to retire before the
Syrian army of twenty thousand. " If our time be come, let
us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our
honor."
" Sore was the battle," says Miss Yonge ; "as sore as that
waged by the three hundred at Thermopylae, and the end was
the same. Judas and his eight hundred were not driven from
the field, but lay dead upon it. But their work was done.
The moral effect of such a defeat goes farther than many a
victory. These lives, sold so clearly, were the price of free-
dom for Judea. Judas's brothers, Jonathan and Simon, laid
him in his father's tomb, and then ended the work that he
had begun ; and when Simon died, the Jews, once so trodden
on, were the most prosperous race in the East. The temple
was raised from its ruins, and the exploits of the Maccabees
668 LEADERS OF MEN.
had nerved the whole people to do or die in defense of the
holy faith of their fathers."
After a long and desperate but vain struggle to free his
country from the iron rule of Rome, Vercingetorix surrendered
himself to Caesar on condition that his army should be allowed
to return home without molestation. He was held a prisoner
for six years, then dragged in chains over the cold stones of
Rome to grace an imperial triumph, and killed in his dungeon
the following night. Yet no one would think of naming any
one else if asked who was the bravest and noblest among the
Gallic leaders.
"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man,"
said Latimer, as he stood with his friend at the stake ; "we
shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England
as I trust shall never be put out ; *' and every word had more
influence than would the preaching of a hundred sermons
against the intolerance of the age. So incensed did the people
become that, besides Cranmer, burned two years later, very
few others were sacrificed ; and of these it is said that they
were secretly tried and burned at night, surrounded by sol-
diers, for fear of riots by the populace enraged at such injus-
tice and cruelty.
There is something grand and inspiring in a young man
who fails squarely after doing his level best, and then enters
the contest again and again with undaunted courage and
redoubled energy. I have no fears for the youth who is not
disheartened at failure.
"It is defeat," says Henry Ward Beecher, " that turns
bone to flint, and gristle to muscle, and makes men invincible,
and formed those heroic natures that are now in ascendency
in the world. Do not, then, be afraid of defeat. You are
never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause."
Failure becomes the final test of persistence and of an iron
will. It either crushes a life, or solidifies it. The wounded
oyster mends his shell with pearl.
"Failure is, in a sense," says Keats, "the highway to
success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us
to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experi-
ence points out some form of error which we shall afterward
carefully avoid."
"We mount to heaven," says A. B. Alcott, "mostly on
THE VICTORY IN DEFEAT. 660
the ruins of our cherished schemes, finding our failures were
successes."
No man is a failure who is upright and true. No cause is
a failure which is in the right. There is but one failure, and
that is not to be true to the best that in us.
Of what avail would it be for a man without a kingdom,
without an army, to oppose the most powerful monarch of
Europe ? William the Silent was a learned philosopher, an
accomplished linguist, of good family and great wealth, and
a lover of peace. Yet, as a mere citizen of little Holland, on
what could he rely should he attempt to wage war against
overwhelming odds, except the justice of his cause and the
weight of his character ?
Philip II. was a nephew of the emperor of Germany, hus-
band of the queen of England, and ruler in his own right of
Spain, Holland. Belgium, and most of Italy, Oran. Tunis, the
CapeYerde, Canary, and Philippine Islands, the Antilles, Mex-
ico, and Peru. While his neighbors were weakened by quar-
rels, his resources were unrivaled. His cause was supported
by the arms, wealth, glory, genius, and religion of Europe.
Philip determined to establish the Inquisition in the Neth-
erlands, and William resolved to consecrate himself to the
defense of the liberties of his country.
The struggle was prodigious. At last William died, but
Philip was not a victor. Holland, indeed, was without a
leader, but the vast Spanish monarchy was tottering to its
fall. From the beginning of the contest, "the figure of the
king becomes smaller and smaller until it finally disappears,
while that of the Prince of Orange grows and grows, until it
becomes the most glorious figure of the century." Proscribed,
impoverished, calumniated, surrounded by assassins, often a
fugitive, and finally a lifeless lump of clay, William had
maintained throughout a solidity of character against which
beat in vain the waves of corrupt wealth and injustice. Char-
acter is power.
Raleigh failed, but he left a name ever to be linked with
brave effort and noble character. Kossuth did not succeed,
but his lofty career, his burning words, and his ideal fidelity
will move men for good as long as time shall last. O'Connell
did not win his. cause, but he did achieve enduring fame as an
orator, patriot, and apostle of liberty.
670 LEADERS OF MEN.
Viewed in this light, the retreat of Xenophon's Ten Thou-
sand outshines the conquests of Alexander ; and the retreat of
Sir John Moore to Corunna was as great as the victories of
Wellington.
" Gentlemen, apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney, he
can make anything," said the widow of General Greene, when
some officers who had served under her husband in the Revo-
lution said it was impossible to extend the culture of cotton,
on account of the trouble and expense of separating the seed
from the fiber. Eli Whitney had gone from his Massachu-
setts home, in 1792, to teach in Georgia.
Mrs. Greene, at whose house he was visiting, introduced
Mr. Whitney to the officers and some planter guests, and
recommended him as a young man of great integrity and
ingenuity. The young teacher said that he had never seen
cotton or cotton seed, but promised to see what he could do.
He found a little in Savannah, and shut himself up in a base-
ment to experiment. He had to make his own tools, and even
draw his wire, as none could then be bought in Savannah.
He hammered and tinkered all winter, but at last his machine
was successful.
Mr. Miller, who had recently married Mrs. Greene, offered
to become an equal partner with Mr. Whitney, furnishing
funds for perfecting, patenting, and making the machines.
People came to see the wonderful device, but Mr. Miller
refused to show it, as it was not yet patented.
Some of the visitors broke open the building by night and
carried off the gin. Soon the partners found that machines
that infringed upon theirs were upon the market. Mr. Whit-
ney established a manufactory in New Haven, but was ham-
pered greatly by a long sickness, while suits to defend the
patent swallowed all the money of the partners. Again Whit-
ney was sick, and had but just recovered when his manufac.
tory burned, with all his machines and papers, leaving him
bankrupt. Just then came the news that British manufac-
turers rejected cotton cleaned by his machine, saying that the
process was injurious. He went to England and at last over-
came this prejudice, when his cotton gin was again in demand.
A suit against an infringer was decided against him by a
Georgia jury, although the judge charged in his favor. The
market was flooded with infringements. Not until 1807, the
THE VICTORY IX DEFEAT. 671
last year of his patent, was a suit decided in his favor, Judge
Johnson saying : —
"The whole interior of the Southern states was languish-
ing and its inhabitants 'emigrating for want of some object to
engage their attention and employ their industry, when the
invention of this machine at once opened views to them which
set the whole country in active motion. From childhood to
age, it has presented to us a lucrative employment. Individ-
uals who were depressed with poverty and sunk in idleness
have suddenly risen to wealth and respectability. Our debts
have been paid off. Our capitals have increased, and our lands
have trebled themselves in value. "
Whitney was obliged to engage in another kind of busi-
ness to gain a livelihood, on account of the injustice of his
fellow countrymen, yet one of the world's greatest victories
grew out of his apparent defeat. Instead of a pound of
cleaned cotton as the result of a day's work of an able-bodied
man, he had made it possible for him to clean hundreds of
pounds. His invention increased the production of cotton in
the South more than a thousandfold, and was worth, accord-
ing to conservative men, more than a thousand millions of
dollars to the United States. What an inspiration there is in
this career for discouraged souls in life's great battle !
" No language," says E. P. Whipple, " can fitly express the
meanness, the baseness, the brutality, with which the world
has ever treated its victims of one age and boasts of them in
the next. Dante is worshiped at that grave to which he was
hurried by persecution. Milton in his own day was ' Mr.
Milton, the blind adder, that spit his venom on the king's per-
son ' ; and soon after, ' the mighty orb of song.' These absurd
transitions from hatred to apotheosis, this recognition just at
the moment when it becomes a mockery, sadden all intellec-
tual history.'"
"Even in this world," says Mrs. Stowe, "they will have
their judgment day : and their names, which went down in the
dust like a gallant banner trodden in the mire, shall rise again
all glorious in the sight of nations."
What cared Garrison or Phillips for the rotten eggs, the
jeers and hisses in Faneuil Hall ? What did Demosthenes,
Curran, or Disraeli care for the taunts and hisses that drove
them from the rostrum ? They felt within the power of great-
072 LEADERS OF MEN.
ness, and knew that the time would come when they would
be heard. Mortified by humiliation and roused by defeat,
they were spurred into a grander eloquence. Those apparent
defeats which would have silenced forever men of ordinary
mould, only excited in these men a determination which, like
the waters of the Hellespont, " ne'er felt retiring ebb." Who
can estimate the world's debt to weak, deformed, and appar-
ently defeated men, whose desperate struggles to redeem
themselves from perpetual scorn have made them immortal ?
It was Byron's clubfoot and shyness which caused him to
pour forth his soul in song. It was to Bedford jail that we
owe the finest allegory in the world. Bunyan wrote nothing
of note before or after his twelve years' imprisonment.
Death wins no victory over such men. Regulus might be
destroyed bodily by cruel torture, but his spirit animated
Rome to blot Carthage from the face of the earth. Win-
kelried did indeed fall beneath the Austrian spears, but
Switzerland is free. Wallace was quartered : Scotland never.
Lincoln became the victim of an assassin, but none the less
his work went forward. Never was martyr yet whose death
did not advance the cause he advocated tenfold more than
could possibly have been accomplished by his voice or pen.
He who never failed has never half succeeded. The defeat
at Bull Run was really the greatest victory of the Civil War,
for it sent the cowards to the rear and the politicians home.
It was the lightning flash in the dark night of our nation's
peril which gave us glimpses of the weak places in our army.
It was the mirror which showed us the faces of the political
aspirants.
" The angel of martyrdom is brother to the angel of vic-
tory.*' What cared Savonarola though the pope excommuni-
cated him because he could not bribe him ? What cared he
for the live coals on his feet ? He would still tell the Italian
people of their terrible sins, and he knew that though they
should burn him at the stake, his ashes would plead for him
and speak louder than his tongue had ever done. He shrank
not from telling the dying Lorenzo to restore liberty to Flor-
ence and return what he had stolen from the people, before
he would grant him absolution. Though the prince turned
his face to the wall, rather than purchase forgiveness on such
terms, Savonarola was inflexible, and the monarch died
THE VICTORY IN DEFEAT. 673
unabsolved. On the way to the scaffold the bishop said, "I
separate thee from the Church militant and triumphant."
Savonarola corrected him, saying, " Not triumphant, that is
not yours to do."
"Heaven is probably a place for those who have failed on
earth. The world will be blind indeed, if it does not reckon
among its great ones such martyrs as miss the palms but not
the pains of martyrdom, heroes without laurels and conquer-
ors without the jubilations of triumph."
Uninterrupted successes at the beginning of a career are
dangerous. Beware of the first great triumph. It may prove
a failure. Man} r a man has been ruined by overconfidence,
born of his first victory. The mountain oak, tossed and
swayed in the tempest until its proud top sweeps the earth, is
all the stronger for its hundred battles with the elements if it
only straighten up again. The danger is not in a fall, but in
failing to rise. All the great work of the world has been accom-
plished by courage, and the world's greatest victories have
been born of defeat. Every blessing that we enjoy — personal
security, individual liberty, and constitutional freedom — has
been obtained through long apprenticeships of evil. The right
of existing as a nation has only been accomplished through
ages of wars and horrors. It required four centuries of mar-
tyrdom to establish Christianity, and a century of civil wars
to introduce the Reformation.
" There are some whom the lightning of fortune blasts,
only to render holy," says Bulwer. " Amidst all that humbles
and scathes — amidst all that shatters from their life its ver-
dure, smites to the dust the pomp and summit of their pride,
and in the very heart of existence writeth a sudden and
strange defeature, they stand erect — riven, not uprooted, a
monument less of pity than of awe ! There are some who
pass through the lazar house of misery with a step more august
than a Caesar's in his hall. The very things which, seen alone,
are despicable and vile, associated with them become almost
venerable and divine ; and one ray, however dim and feeble,
of that intense holiness which, in the infant God, shed maj-
esty over the manger and the straw, not denied to those who,
in the depth of affliction, cherished his patient image, flings
over the meanest localities of earth an emanation from the
glory of Heaven!"
674 LEADERS OF MEN.
Even from the dreary waste and desolation of his bereave-
ment at Fordham, the stricken soul of Edgar A. Poe blos-
somed in those matchless flowers of funeral song, the delicately
ethereal dirges, "Ulalume" and "Annabel Lee," which alone
would immortalize their author.
To know how to wring victory from defeat, and make step-
ping stones of our stumbling-blocks, is the secret of success.
What matters it —
" If what shone afar so grand
Turned to ashes in the hand ?
On again, the virtue lies
In the struggle, not the prize."
Raphael died at thirty -seven, in the very flush of young
manhood, before he had finished his "Transfiguration." Yet
he had produced the finest picture in the world, and it was
carried in his funeral procession, while all Rome mourned
their great loss.
Even the defeat of death found victorious voice in the
unequaled requiem of Mozart.
There is something sublime in the resolute, fixed purpose
of suffering without complaining, which makes disappoint-
ment often better than success. Constant success shows us
only one side of the world ; for as it surrounds us with friends
who tell us only of our merits, so it silences those enemies
from whom only can we learn our defects.
Columbus was carried home in chains, on his third voyage,
from the world he had discovered. Although the indignant
people remonstrated, and his friend the queen had him set
free, persecution followed him when he again crossed the
Atlantic westward. At the age of seventy, after the "long
wandering woe " of this fourth and final voyage, he was glad
to reach Spain at last. He hoped for some reward — at least,
enough to keep soul and body together. But his appeals were
fruitless. He lived for a few months after his return, poor,
lonely, and stricken with a mortal disease. Even towards
his death he was a scarcely tolerated beggar. He had to com-
plain that his frock had been taken and sold, that he had not
a roof of his own, and lacked wherewithal to pay his tavern
bill. It was then that, with failing breath, he uttered the
words, sublime in their touching simplicity, "I, a native of
THE VICTORY IX DEFEAT. 675
Genoa, discovered in the distant West, the continent and isles
of India.*' He expired at Valladolid, May 20, 1506, his last
words being, " Lord, I deliver my soul into thy hands." Thus
Columbus died a neglected beggar, while a pickle-dealer of
Seville, whose highest position was that of second mate of a
vessel, gave his name to the greatest continent on the globe.
But was the Genoese mariner a failure ? Ask more than a
hundred millions of people who inhabit the world he found a
wilderness. Ask the grandest republic the sun ever shone
upon if Columbus was a failure.
Joan of Arc was burned alive at Rouen, without even a
remonstrance from Charles VII., who owed her his crown.
Was the life of Joan of Arc a failure ? Ask a nation besprin-
kled with her bronze and marble statues if the memory of the
Maid of Orleans is not enshrined in every Frenchman's heart.
" A heroic Wallace, quartered upon the scaffold,*' said
Carlyle, " cannot hinder that his Scotland become, one day, a
part of England ; but he does hinder that it become, on
tyrannous, unfair terms, a part of it ; commands still, as with
a god's voice, from his old Valhalla and Temple of the brave,
that there be just, real union as of brother and brother, not a
false and merely semblant one as of slave and master."
Leonidas and his three hundred may perish after defend-
ing a little mountain pass against a vast Persian army for
three days in hand to hand conflict ; but their defeat shall
prove a nation's victory, and they shall live in song and
story when Xerxes and his vast horde will be remembered
only because they were repulsed at Thermopylae and van-
quished at Salamis and Plataea.
When it was ascertained that the troop-laden English ship
Birkenhead was foundering in stress of weather, the officer in
charge of the battalion ordered his men to stand at "parade
rest " while the boats rowed away with the women and chil-
dren. They kept their places as the water swashed higher
and higher around their feet, and, when it reached their waists,
unstrapped their belts and held aloft their cartridge-boxes
until with a wild lurch the wreck went down. Think you
there was no victory in this apparent defeat ? Character is
power and triumphs over physical weakness.
" A man, true to man's grave religion," says Bulwer, " can
no more despise a life wrecked in all else, while a hallowing
676 LEADERS OF MEN.
affection stands out sublime through the rents and chinks of
fortune, than he can profane with rude mockery a temple in
ruins — if still left there the altar."
The exertion of all your strength of mind or body may
result in nothing but failure in the eyes of a critical world,
but what you have done is already weighed in the scales of
Omniscient Justice, and can in no way avoid its legitimate
reward. Your deed is registered —
" In the rolls of Heaven, where it will live,
A theme for angels when they celebrate
The high-souled virtues which forgetful earth has witnessed."
CHAPTER XXXII.
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB.
ON THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS HIGHEST SALARIED
MAN IN THE WORLD — IN THE PRIME OF LIFE BIRTHPLACE BOYHOOD
— HOW EDUCATED BEGINS LIFE AS A CLERK IN A GROCERY STORE ■
STAKE-DRIVER EARLY PROMOTIONS HEAD OF STEEL WORKS AN ILLUS-
TRATIVE ANECDOTE HOW HE WORKS SECRET OF HIS POWER INTER-
ESTED IN YOUNG MEN HOW HE REGARDS ORGANIZED LABOR NOT A
TYRANT. MANNERS AND DRESS.
My success is due to the fact that in the first place I stood
on my own feet — always relied on myself. It is really a det-
riment to have anyone behind you. When
you depend on yourself you know that it is
only on your own merit that you succeed.
Then you discover your latent powers, awake
to your manhood, and are on your mettle to
do your uttermost. It is a very good motto
to depend on yourself. I am a great believer
in self-reliant manliness, which is manhood
in its noblest form.
No man ever made a success of his life by
luck, or chance, or accident. When you
come across one of that vast majority who have failed because
they " never had a chance," you '11 take notice that he lacks
that indefinable, subtle something that stands for success ;
and sometimes I 'm inclined to believe the mysterious some-
thing is simply a capacity and a disposition for hard work.
The rich man's son enters life's race with a handicap. Not
only the handicap which a fortune is, because it deprives him
of the necessity to progress and expand, but the handicap of
never being able to appreciate what he 's got. For everything
in life that 's worth while is ton times more worth while when
we yearn and work and climb for it.
The first great blessing in my life was being born poor.
The fundamental principles that founded my character were
678 LEADERS OF MEN.
the lessons wrung out of early hardships, and privations, and
self-denials. I would not give up the experience of a boyhood
barren of luxuries and paved with obstacles for any amount
of money. It would be like pulling the foundation out of a
building.
At an age when boys of to-day are petted and pampered, I
learned the size and value of a dollar. I learned all that it
stood for in comforts and in working principle, and I learned
all the labor it stood for. And incidentally I realized that
every one of those dollars that figured in my life would mean
just so much honest labor on my part.
Fortunately I realized, too, that the plan worked both
ways ; that every dollar's worth of work I executed would be
paid for in coin of the realm, whether it was overtime, whether
it was bargained for, whether it came out of this employer's
pocket or the next one, or, indeed, whether the present
employer knew of it at all.
Some employer, I knew, would pay me full value for every
hour's work I put in, for I was stowing away, as a stock in
trade, every moment's work, and its subsequent knowledge
and experience. I am a hearty believer in the law of compen-
sation. I don't believe an honest effort ever goes unrewarded,
though sometimes the reward is a long time coming.
There are many reasons why men are always working and
not always succeeding. Sometimes they belong to the class
who cultivate the appearance of working, doing anything.
Sometimes they spend their lives working, bemoaning the
fact that it 's all effort and no reward, and lay down the scythe
just before the harvest ripens.
Hope and faith and courage are just as essential to success
as the necessary effort. Many a man has lain down just this
side of his laurels and neither he nor the world ever knew
how near he came to accomplishment.
Then there are men who work conscientiously, persever-
ingly, hopefully ; but they 're working on the wrong tack. I
believe that such men realize they 're out of place and out of
tune, and will never strike the harmonious chord which
accomplishment is. But they resolve they 've got a little
start and don't want to lose it. These men form part of the
army that fails.
I do not believe there is a normal man living who has not
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB. 679
a capacity for some one line, who could not excel in that line
if he pursued it. The first essential, in a boy's career is to
find out what he 's fitted for, what he 's most capable of doing
and doing with a relish.
The second essential is to go to work and do it, no matter
the cost, no matter the obstacles, no matter the sacrifices.
And if he 's going to stand out among men he 's got to resolve
to do the particular thing he 's fastened on better than any-
one else.
Every one's got it in him. if he'll only make up his mind
and stick at it. None of us is born with a stop-valve on his
powers or with a set limit to his capacities. There 's no limit
possible to the expansion of each one of us.
It all depends upon our will and the power of our resolu-
tion. Our capacities expand and enlarge with exercise, just
as the muscles of our bodies enlarge and grow strong.
That's the way character is formed — doing calisthenic
feats with obstacles and adversities. I tell you the hard
knocks are the nest eggs of our fortunes. The men that are
not made of the right stuff go under with them and are never
heard of again.
And there are the others who are soured and embittered
by them, and they 're heard from eternal^. They have n't
a good word to say for the world's plan, because when it got
a trifle complicated it baffled them.
Those are the men who do more harm to the youth of civ-
ilization than its vices. Then there are those who start out,
sometimes with bare feet and holes in their trousers, bravely
resolving never to let circumstances crush them, never to
harbor bitterness over defeat, but to save their energies for
the next encounter.
These are the men hard knocks don't hurt. They toughen
them ; they help them get ready for the next encounter. To
these men, it 's only a question of sufficient hardship, and
sacrifice, and battle, to make them proof against any on-
slaught. These are the soldiers, the victors.
Did you ever find a successful soldier who hadn't seen a
fight ? That 's why I say the rich man's son is born with a
handicap, and it 's why I think the man with a million and a
son should keep the two a long way apart.
Heaven forbid that money should be the only thing to
680 LEADERS OF MEN.
strive for. Beyond a certain point of requirement, money is
useless to the individual. A vast fortune cannot do its full
duty in the life of one man who inherits or makes it ; it is
destined to better the lives of hundreds.
What satisfaction can there be in piling up vast wealth for
the sake of wealth itself ? The only part that money plays in
success is as a reward. Money is the standard of value. It
is the equivalent of merit. Money is the only coin in which
we can pay for hard work or for genius, and so it is the equiv-
alent of accomplishment.
But the men who reap success are not the men who aim to
accumulate millions ; they are the men who aim to do one
thing ; to do it better than anyone else can do it ; to take it
up from the very beginning and push it through to the end.
That is what makes success, and success means money.
For my own part I am more interested in my work than
its mere money value. Millidns of money can never give me
the pleasure I found in learning the intricate workings of a
steel plant. Hitting upon a new device which, when applied
to a machine with my own fingers, had a desired effect upon
its workings, gave me the keenest possible satisfaction.
O the great majority of his admiring countrymen, Mr.
Charles M. Schwab is known, chiefly, by the unimpor-
^ tant circumstance that he draws the largest salary in
the world. The public has a way of seizing upon trivi-
alities like this and ignoring the solid merits that are a man's
real title to fame.
Suppose Mr. Schwab does receive the highest salary in the
world — what of it ? The essential questions are, does he earn
it ? and if so, how ? Mr. Schwab does earn it, and, moreover,
he was earning it for a good many years before the public
heard anything about him. When he became president of the
Carnegie Steel Company, in February, 1897, his salary was
fixed at fifty thousand dollars a year, with an interest in the
business. When the company was absorbed by the United
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB. 681
States Steel Corporation four years later, the value of that
interest was estimated at over twenty-eight million dollars.
That is equivalent to a salary of seven million dollars a year
for the four years. Compared with that, the largest estimates
of the figures opposite Mr. Schwab's name on the pay roll of
the steel trust seem modest. This amiable, smooth-faced
young man has done much, and is likely to do more. He is
forty years old now — just the age of President Butler, of Co-
lumbia, and a little younger than President Roosevelt and the
Emperor William. He had what he himself calls the indis-
pensable inheritance of poverty.
Back in the mid-seventies, on almost any day when there
was mail or a stray passenger to go, a rickety old stage might
have been heard creaking down from the little town of
Loretto, Penn., to the railroad station at Cresson and back,
with a freckle-faced boy of about twelve on the driver's seat,
— a newcomer to the quaint little mountain town. The
freckled boy — could he jump the quarter century — would
scarcely know the multi-millionaire, unless he could drive
him over those four hilly miles and some one should whisper
him into awe of his passenger. But the man remembers the
boy, and is proud of him. After all, does it matter much to
either of them whether it is a stagecoach at Loretto or an
octopus in the great world that they are controlling, so long-
as they hold the reins of power ?
But to go back to the boy. Loretto, as every one knows,
was the place where Demetrius Gallitzen, the prince-priest,
kin to the present ruling house in Russia, brought, over a
hundred years ago, the Catholic faith, to what was then an
unknown country, and the friars of St. Francis's College still
carry on the work he began. To them the boy went for his
education, and learned something of engineering, which he
liked better than anything else they taught. At eighteen he
had finished his course, and must earn a living. He could
find no task exactly to his liking. His people were poor, and
he took the first thing at hand,— a clerkship in a country
grocery at Braddock. A few months had passed, when one
clay Mr. Jones, of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, happened
into the store and the boy behind the counter surprised him
by asking for a place. Mr. Jones thought a moment and
then asked : —
082 LEADERS OF MEN.
" Can you drive spikes ? "*
"I can drive anything,'" said the boy. Perhaps he was
thinking of the weather-beaten stage at Loretto.
'' At a dollar a day ?"
" At any price,"
And so he began. Six dollars a week was better than two
and a half, his grocery store stipend, and it was an opportu-
nity. In six months he was chief of the engineering corps with
which he had begun work. Then it was that he ceased being
"Charlie " and became Mr. Schwab. From that time his story
is an exceedingly simple one, — as all great things are simple.
There were blast furnaces to be constructed, and he super-
intended the work. The rail mill department must be
enlarged ; he enlarged it until it had the largest output in the
world. Competition was close, there must be economy in
production, and he made improvements which sent the Pitts-
burg product all over the world, and, with the late Captain
W. R. Jones, developed the famous "•metal mixer," which
reduced costs to a minimum. In 1887 the Homestead Steel
works needed a new superintendent, and Mr. Schwab took
the place. Reconstruction was needed, and he made the plant
the largest of its sort in the world. The United States wanted
armor plate, and after long experiment and over many obsta-
cles, he gave it to them. Captain Jones died in 1889, and Mr.
Schwab went back to the Edgar Thomson Works as superin-
tendent, only to take control of both the Homestead and
Thomson works in -1892.
The following anecdote illustrates his character : After, he
had risen to be general manager of the Carnegie Steel Com-
pany, an English manufacturer offered him more than fifty
thousand dollars a year to be manager of his factory. Mr.
Schwab refused, but did not tell Mr. Carnegie. Some months
later Mr. Carnegie heard of it, and took pains to say to Mr.
Schwab "that he must not think of it."
" It is not what I want," he replied.
" What is it you do want ?" asked Mr. Carnegie.
" To be a partner in your company," said Mr. Schwab.
He became one, and in 1896 was elected president.
The young man had worked and learned and bided his
time. In 1896 he became its president, being preferred by Mr.
Carnegie to an older official, when it became a matter of
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB. 683
choice ; and now that Mr. Carnegie has stepped out and the
greater steel company has been consummated, Mr. Schwab is
its president and active head. And so the boy became the
man merely because he had something to do and did it.
No man at the immense works is as busy as its head.
Every morning early, some portion of the works is inspected,
and at ten he is in his office. Then the day moves on like
clock work. The mail which needs his personal attention is
read and comprehended quickly — for quickness to see and
decide is part of his secret. With his secretary he answers
every communication that can expect reply. Every appli-
cation for place is scrupulously attended to. Then there
are conferences with heads of departments, and visits to
various parts of the great plant during the remainder of the
day. He personally inspects the entire works during each
week.
On Saturday the heads of the departments, most of them
young men like himself, lunch with him socially. Absolutely
no business conversation is allowed at the table. The meal
over, conference begins, and suggestions and plans are dis-
cussed carefully. Every important word spoken is taken by
stenographers present, to be referred to at will afterward.
On Monday each of his superintendents lunches with his
associates in the same way, and the results are likewise noted.
Thus Mr. Schwab becomes the very center of the pulsing
body of men and machines. He knows both thoroughly and
controls them — even while he is planning such stupendous
things as billion-dollar combinations. And all the men asso-
ciated with him — for Mr. Schwab has no one under him —
respect and love him. He is their master, not by chance but
by superior knowledge and capacity — } r et he is their fellow,
for he has done all their tasks, realizes all their difficulties.
He knows the mechanic's smallest tool as well as the com-
pany's bank account. And he gives each man his chance.
A bit of system will illustrate.
A new product is planned for. Expense is figured most
accurately and closely by the heads in conference. The exact
cost of production is settled upon. Then the matter is placed
in the hands of the department which must make the article.
It must produce at the figure decided upon. If the man in
charge can cheapen its productive cost, he can pocket the
684 LEADERS OF MEN.
difference. All that the company exacts of him is the speci-
fied article at the specified cost price.
Mr. Schwab believes in work, just enough work, but no
more. At night he tries to free himself from the day's cares.
He enjoys his home ; he has a fine library of books — not a
library of fine books ; the theater attracts him ; he loves
music. From these he gets his rest and change. Often he
will spend spare moments with his violin, and he still plays
the piano, just as he used to for the friars at Loretto. His
handsome home is hung with chef-d'ceuvres which he has
chosen, not because they are well known, but because he likes
them. He is sincere here as at his desk.
He is just the common man among men, keen, practical
man of business, careful though daring man in the game of
finance, but socially considering himself distinctly one of the
people, — and this, too, is part of his secret. The man appears
on the surface : a stocky figure dressed like the clean-cut,
sensible man that he is ; a full, young-looking face, with a
pair of keen brown eyes that take in everything at a glance ;
quick, tense walk, and frank, quiet speech, gentle and courte-
ous in manner, but with a distinct impression of decision and
firmness in reserve.
Mr. Schwab is interested in the young men. He is a young
man himself, — and he understands them. He is very demo-
cratic — a thorough good fellow when business is out of the
way. He is a clean man. He uses neither tobacco nor liquors
to any extent. In fact, he does n't have time. That is another
of his secrets — that he has time only for the necessary
things. He perhaps cannot be called an actively religious
man, and yet he is building two churches, one for his mother
at Loretto, and one for his wife's mother at Braddock ; has
given largely to the convent at Cresson, and has built a
monument at Loretto to Prince Gallitzen. The amount of
money he has donated to charities it would be difficult to esti-
mate. He has given very widely and largely, but he does it
quietly, just as he does everything else, with no ostentation.
And his feelings regarding his gifts were voiced in a remark
he made in a speech at the laying of the Braddock Church
corner stone.
"It is a small thing," he said, "for a man to sign his
name to a check while there is money in the bank."
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB. 685
He represents the highest development of the salaried
employee. Other men comparable with him as generals of
industry have soon graduated from the pay roll to work for
themselves. Rockefeller. Hill. Spreckles, Mills, Stanford.
Huntington, Hopkins, and Carnegie all began poor, but all
turned their energies to putting themselves into a position in
which everything amassed by their brains would go into their
own bank deposits. Schwab alone has been content to remain
a glorified wage earner, cheerfully putting ten millions into
the pockets of his employers for ever}' million retained by
himself.
It is as such a wage earner that he is of such peculiar sig-
nificance. Technologists may grow enthusiastic over his
work in connection with Captain Jones in perfecting the
"metal mixer,*' by which melted iron instead of cold pig is
used in steel making, and the whole industry is transformed.
They may admire the bold ingenuity of the devices by which
a boy enabled his emplo} r ers to undertake the manufacture of
armor plate in competition with rivals who had spent years
and millions in constructing "the gigantic special plant then
considered necessary. But the real value of Mr. Schwab's
career is in the light it throws upon the possibilities open to
those vast wage-earning masses, of which he has chosen to
remain a member.
It is generally understood that Mr. Schwab does not believe
in trades unions, as usually managed. Plenty of men who
have worked their way from poverty to wealth hold similar
views. Their standpoint is purely selfish. When they were
making two dollars and fifty cents a week, they would have
been glad of a union to help them to make more. When they
are pocketing hundreds of thousands a year, they see no need
for a union to help anybody else. They oppose the union for
its merits. Just in so far as it helps the workers, they object
to it.
If this were Mr. Schwab's position, it would not be worth
notice. But his idea is something very different. His objec-
tion to the union policy is that it discourages ability. He
wishes to leave the way open for every worker to win, if he
can, a success like his own. He sees that possibility in the
new organization of industry.
To his mind, the trades union of the future is the trust. He
G86 LEADERS OF MEN.
sees in that the solution of the whole problem of capital and
labor, and of the problem of national prosperity as well. His
theory was explained by himself some time ago in these
words : —
" The larger the output, the smaller, relatively, is the cost
of production. This is a trade axiom. It holds good whether
the output consists of pins or of locomotives. It is much
more economical, proportionately, to run three machines
under one roof than it is to run one. It is cheaper to run a
dozen than it is to run three, and cheaper still to run a hun-
dred. Therefore, the larger plant has an undoubted supe-
riority over the small plant, and this advantage increases
almost indefinitely as the process of enlargement continues.
. . . The well managed combination is a direct gain to the
state. Anyone who doubts this need only consult the foreign
newspapers. Everywhere, he will find a cry of industrial
alarm leveled, not at the individual American manufacturer,
but at the American nation. This is because the combination
has done for the American state what the individual was
never able to do — put it in industrial control of the world.
. . . The capitalist and the laborer are equal sharers in
the advantages the new scheme offers. Capital finds itself
more amply protected, and labor finds an easier route to a
partnership witli capital. To the workingman, the combina-
tion offers the most feasible scheme of industrial cooperation
ever presented."
Mr. Schwab is a socialist in disguise. He recalls the diffi-
culty a worker found under the old individualistic system in
securing a foothold in business for himself. His savings
would not buy a factory, or a partnership in one. The excep-
tional man could save enough to start a little workshop,
and he could add to his business from day to day, until with
good luck he had built up a great industry, but the average
wage earner could never hope to be his own employer. Now,
a man with any thrift at all can buy a share of stock. A little
later he can buy another share. Before he knows it, he is
perceptibly a partner in the business that employs him. This
Mr. Schwab believes to be the direction in which evolution is
going to carry our industrial system. He has given his views
a dazzling ' ustration in his own person. In his case it has
been, not n. .rely the purchase of one share at a time out of
CHARLES MICHAEL SCHWAB. • ;*;
weekly savings, but the acquisition of blocks of stock as a
reward for conspicuous ability. The Carnegie idea has been
to give an interest in the business to the ablest brains in the
service of the company. That has been also one of the ideas
through which young Mr. Harmsworth, of England, has been
enabled to pile up a million for every year of his life. If we
ever come to the Cooperative Commonwealth, perhaps a statue
of Schwab may be found along with the effigies of Rockefeller,
Morgan, and Carnegie in its Westminster Abbey. These
nationalizes and internationalizers of industry are wiping
out the competitive system, not only in the United States, but
in the whole world. For the present, their work has its ugly,
selfish side, but they are toiling, some of them perhaps un-
consciously, but some with undoubted appreciation of the
meaning of their efforts, toward the creation of a gigantic
industrial organism, in which every human atom will be har-
moniously related with every other.
Bellamy's ideal was a community, the products of whose
industry should be equally divided among all its members.
Schwab's is a community in which every man can get what he
earns, and in which earning possibilities are unlimited. Like
Napoleon, he would open a career to talent. He would have
a basis of well-paid, comfortable labor, but he would have no
laboring class. He would have every position in the indus-
trial world open to any man with the capacity to reach it, and
he would put no brakes on any man's progress. There would
be no speed limit for automobiles on his industrial highway.
Thus he would reconcile the aspirations of ambitious workers
with the need for the intelligent direction of industry. Instead
of having a business policy directed by unsympathetic labor
delegates from outside, he would promote the ablest of those
laborers, and have them direct the business sympathetic-
ally from the inside. It would be an interesting plan, even
in the head of an impecunious professor. It is especially inter-
esting as the program of a man that controls a business with
a capital of one billion five hundred million dollars, and a
yearly income of over one hundred million.
Charles M. Schwab is a living refutation of the theory that
a driver of workmen must be a hard, unfeeling tyrant. He is
bubbling over with sympathy and good humr but he keeps
a huge industrial army on edge by the force of infectious
G88 LEADERS OF MEN.
energy and of perfect organization. A hard overseer may
make his men afraid to shirk — Mr. Schwab has learned the
nobler and more profitable art of encouraging every man to
do his best.
MANNERS AND DRESS.
T is well for young men to obtain, at the very start of their
career, some idea of the value of politeness. Some can-
not be otherwise than urbane. They are born so. One
can kick them roundly and soundly, and they will not
refuse to smile, if it be clone good-naturedly. They escape all
corners by a necessity of their nature. If their souls had only
corporeal volume, we could see them making their way
through a crowd, like little spaniels, scaring nobody, running
between nobody's legs, but winding along shrinkingly and
gracefully, seeing a master in every man, and thus flattering
every man's vanity into good nature ; but really spoiling their
reputation as reliable dogs, by their undiscriminating and uni-
versal complaisance. There is a self -f orgetf ulness which is so
deep as to be below self-respect, and such instances as we meet
with should be treated compassionately.
Puppyism is not politeness. The genuine article is as nec-
essary to success, and particularly to any enjoyable success,
as integrity, or industry, or any other indispensable quality.
All machinery ruins itself by friction, without the presence of
a lubricating fluid. Politeness, or civility, or urbanity, or
whatever we choose to call it, is the oil which preserves the
machinery of society from destruction. We are obliged to
bend to one another — to step aside and let another pass, to
ignore this and that peculiarity, to speak pleasantly when irri-
tated, and to do a great many things to avoid abrasion and
collision. In other words, in a world of selfish interests and
pursuits, where every man is pursuing his own special good,
we must mask our real designs in studied politeness, or mingle
them with real kindness, in order to elevate the society of
men above the society of wolves. Young men generally
would doubtless be thoroughly astonished if they could com-
prehend at a single glance how greatly their personal happi-
ness, popularity, prosperity, and usefulness depend on their
manners.
I know young men who, in the discharge of their duties,
CHARLES M. SCllw \|:
MANNERS AND DRESS. 691
imagine that if they go through with a literal performance
. they are doing all that they undertake to do. You will never
see a smile upon their faces, nor hear a genial word of good-
ellowship from their lips ; and, from the manner in which
their labor is performed, you would never learn that they
were engaged in intercourse with human beings. They carry
the same manner and the same spirit into the countingroom
that they do into the dog kennel or the stable. Everyone
hates such men as these, and recoils from all contact with
them If he has business with them, he closes it as soon as
possible, and gets out of their presence. A man who hav-
ing got his vessel under headway on the vovage of life/takes
a straight course, caring or minding nothing for the' huge
man-of-war which lies in his path, or the sloop which crosses
his bow, or the fishing smacks that find work where he seeks
nothing but a passage, or interposing shoals, rocks, or islands
will be very sure to get terribly rubbed before he gets through'
if he even happens to get through at all.
Servility is to be despised, but true and uniform politeness
is the glory of any young man. It should be a politeness full
or frankness and good nature, unobtrusive and constant, and
uniform in its exhibition to all classes of men. The young
man who is overwhelmingly polite to a celebrity or a nabob
and rude to a poor man, because he is a poor man, deserves to
be. despised. That style of manners which combines self-
respect with respect for the rights and feelings of others
especially if it be warmed up by the fires of a genial heart is
a thing to be coveted and cultivated ; and it is a thin*- that
produces a good return, alike in cash and comfort.
The talk of manners introduces us naturally to dress and
personal appearance. It is the duty of all men, voting and
old, to make their persons, as far as practicable or possible
agreeable to those with whom they are thrown into associa-
tion. By this is meant that they shall not offend by singu-
larity, nor by slovenliness. Let no man know by your dress
what your business is ; you dress your person, not your trade.
\ ou are — if you know enough to mould the fashion of the time
to your own personal peculiarities —to make it your servant
and not allow it to be your master. Never dress in extremes'
Let there always be a hint in your dress that you know the
prevailing style, but, for the best of reasons, disregard its
602 LEADERS OF MEN.
more extreme demands. The best possible impression that
you can make by your dress is to make no separate impres-
sion at all ; but so to harmonize its material and shape with
your personality, that it becomes tributary to the general
effect ; and so exclusively tributary, that people cannot tell
after seeing you what kind or color of clothes you wear.
They will only remember that you look well and dress
becomingly.
We may like it or not, but we are judged in this world first
for what we are, but also as we look ; and a young man's
common sense should teach him that it is always wise to
create a good impression. It does much for him and he can-
not afford to ignore it. Good clothes cannot make a young
man, but they are a help ; and when carving out a career it is
only pure justice to himself that he should.take advantage of
every point offered him. In other words, it is a duty which
every young man owes himself to be well dressed. But to be
well dressed does not necessarily imply the highest priced
clothes, cut according to the latest patterns. It is just as pos-
sible to be well attired in clothes of moderate cost, so long as
they are not " loud " or " showy," but quiet and neat.
The average young fellow undoubtedly errs in this matter
of dress. With his tastes unfixed, in the majority of cases,
he goes to either one of two extremes : he either dresses
shabbily because he claims he cannot afford to do otherwise,
or he goes to the other extreme and tries to imitate the styles
affected by the extremists in dress, and necessarily makes
himself an object of ridicule.
Clothes are moderate enough in price nowadays to make it
possible for every young man, no matter how humble his
income, to be neatly attired. The secret of a neat appear-
ance in dress does not depend upon the number of suits he
may have, but upon the manner in which even a single suit is
taken care of and how it is worn. Many a young man with a
wardrobe of but two suits of clothes looks neater than
another who has five or six suits with which to alternate.
The art of looking well depends, first, upon the choice of a
suit ; and, second, upon how it is taken care of. If a young man
has a moderate income he should make it a point to select
only the quiet patterns of dark colors. Not only is this more
economical, but it is in better taste than are the lighter and
MANNERS AND DRESS. 603
more conspicuous clothes. If a young man will look around
him a bit, he will find that the successful men of the day are
always the most quiet dressers. Their clothes are never con-
spicuous ; they detract rather than attract attention. It is
only the fop of shallow mind who invites attention by his
dress. There is a certain class of pictures that requires
elaborate gilt frames in order to set off the little merit they
possess ; and likewise are there scores of men who must dress
conspicuously in order to gain even the most meager atten-
tion. Men who are least certain of their position always dress
the showiest. Hence if a young man dresses quietly and
neatly he pursues not only the best but the only wise course.
His dress is a pretty accurate reflection of his character, and
very often he is judged, to a certain extent, by the taste which
he shows in his clothes.
But while a young man injures himself by showy dressing,
he has no business to dress shabbily. Shabby clothes are no
longer an eccentricity of genius. There are men of genius
who have achieved deserved fame and substantial success
who are absolutely indifferent to their appearance. And the
world overlooks and forgives it. But this is only possible
with men of commanding genius who are established ; and
the young man who takes these men as models so far as attire
goes makes a sorry mistake. It is given to men of high
position and of established success to follow a great many
little eccentricities which are not overlooked in a young man
struggling for a career.
Aside from the aspect of mere appearance, neatness in
dress is undoubtedly a great inner and outer factor in a young
man's success. A well-fitted suit of clothes communicates
a sense of neatness to the body, and, in turn, this sense of
neatness of the person is extended to the work in hand. As
we feel, so unquestionably do we work. Our clothes unmis-
takably affect our feelings, as any man knows who has
experienced the different sensation that comes to him when
attired in a new suit from the feeling when wearing old
clothes. No employer expects his clerks of moderate incomes
to dress in the immediate fashion ; but he likes to see them
neat in appearance. It commends them to his attention. We
all have an inner consciousness that a young man who keeps
himself looking neat and clean is more worthy of our con-
694 LEADERS OF MEN.
fidence than he who is regardless of his appearance and
looks soiled and shabby. Neatness always attracts, just as
shabbiness invariably repulses.
The value of clean linen to a young man should be partic-
ularly emphasized. There is no earthly excuse why any
young fellow should wear soiled collars or cuffs. Soap and
water are within the reach of the smallest purse, and the
home or the outer laundry is accessible to all. No single ele-
ment of his dress cuts more of a figure in a young man's
success than his linen. However worn may be his clothes,
his appearance always invites closer proximity when his linen
is clean.
We do not wish to be understood as making too much of
dress as a factor in a young man's life. But it is sufficiently
important to justify the statement that no young fellow
anxious for his self-betterment can afford to slight his appear-
ance. No fair computation can be offered as to what percent-
age of his income he should expend on his dress. That
depends altogether too much on circumstances. But he
should be strongly counseled to dress as well as his means
allow ; no better, but no worse. Money spent on a neat
appearance is never wasted with a man. be he young or old.
The chief danger which the young man has to battle with is
dressing beyond his means. A tendency towards extravagance
is never justifiable, no matter what may be his income. Extrav-
agance is always wasteful. But neither must he economize
too closely. In a word, he should strive always to look neat ;
to present the best appearance he can.
The extreme styles presented in men's clothes are like the
extreme styles fashioned for women : they should be left for
those who have large wardrobes. The young man of limited
wardrobe cannot afford to have anything in it which is in the
immediate style one year and out of fashion the next year.
Quiet patterns in clothes, in cravats, in shoes, and in linen
are always in style. The marvelous combinations we see in
young men's clothes, of extreme long coats, of light cloths,
and large patterns in suitings, of pink shirts, white collars,
and blue cravats, are generally worn by extremists in dress,
or by those of mediocre tastes whose exhibition of those tastes
always keeps them in the lower stations of life. These styles
should never be affected by the young man who wishes to
MANNERS AND DRESS. 695
gain the confidence of his superiors in business, or the respect
of the people in social life whose friendship will be of value
and benefit to him. A young man, so far as this matter of
dress is concerned, cannot do better than always to remember
this one inflexible rule : that the best dressers among men
follow the same method as do the best dressers among women
— they dress well, but quietly. And quiet dressing is always
in good taste.
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