Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1891-05-26
MlscELLANgoUs.
WHY He HoNoRs HIM.
Col Avirett Explains His In-
tended Action.
HIS Ne,0 Nouel not an Argument Jor InRdelity.
Remarkable History Of 0has, B. Rouss, l.s
Man to Whom ne Story is Inscribed.
San Francisco not to be Slandered
by the Book.
Especial Correspondence of tho Examlnor,l ]

4
In the language of she irate aud unforgeta-
| bic s'mAn with mouth" the legislatively de-
ceased SIR. Cannon, of Congressional notoriety,
rise this week to question OF personal priv;
have written for these columns, obtrude my
own personality upon the G1d'nine1's myriod
of readers.
The statement of the Chronicle of last Sum
day that u former editor of the Examiner has
written slander upon the people of San Fran
cisco, which he proposes 10 publish and which
| he has inscribed to ChDs. b. Roues-cau only
be intended to apply to myself, should not
even now notice this premature and preposter-
GUS assault II it did not involve an injusticc to
another than myself, and that other is q man
whom have sought to honor by iuscribipg to
hin the labor of my hands and the fruits of
my observation, and in order that his claim TO
this, and indeed to greater distinction II 1t
were In my power to bestow 1t upon him, NAV
be understood, will briefly relate his history
Chas. B. Rouss was born In the little hamlet
| of Woodsboro, in Maryland, on Feb. IL, 1896.
This family moved to a farm named in honor
tof the scene of the first struggle between the
| people and their oppressors--the scene of the
wringing of Magma Charter from King John at
Runny Meade. In England. This modern Rum
ny Meade was located in Berkeley couty, Vir-
| gtnin, now West Virginia. In 1876 the former
aud his family removed to Winchester, in the
far-famed Valley of the Shenandoah. There
| the lad who is father to tue man j honor was
| educated partly at an old d-fashioned Virginia
academy, partly at All old-fashioned dominic
| worthy to be ombGlmed in the fiction OF Sir
! w alter ScOtG. IN 1894 lie began Du6lueGS for
himself in an humble way. He was amassine
O competency hero when the war drums rolled.
the trunlpets called, Virginia's rights as SOW
ereign State were nssailed and our embryonic.
lWhittington forsook nll and followed the for.
tunes of the Southern cross. fighting her bat.
| ties to the bitter end at Apponattox Court
| House. Not alone with rifle aud bayonet did
| he battle, hut his sagacious foresight, having
enabled him to accumulate d large stock of
the necessities OF life, such 40 salt, -four, cof-
fec and corn; lie supplied tue wants of his suf-
fering fellow-townsmcu, rejecting the enor-
nous profits they were willing to pay to him
| aud selling ut cost to those who could afford
\ to pay only in order to be eenRbied to give to
| those who would buy but had not the where.
withal. Hurled back from the high place hiS
fancies had erected for the people OF the strng-
Cling South, the young spldierof fortune spent
one short year on his fathers farm at q bread
and meat salary TO heal his wounds of body
and mind, and then on to New York he came
practically pennilees, friendless, and clad only
\ in the ragged regimcntals of his fallen South.
ern Confederacy. Tramping up and down the
streets of the great Metropolis, alone in all its
crowds, he grimly resolved to win fortune and
| fame, and began his battle as merchant at a
rent of so cents q day, allowing himself only
presidential year of 1876 he failed for half an
hundred thousand dollars, though a quarter of
million looked from his iedgers. Rising from
the ashes of this defeat he began again his
/ grim battle with the world whose only parai-
lei in apparent hopelcssness is Victor Hugoe
/ fancy of the fellow who fought the cannon. In
twelve years he had struck the million line,
paid his old and outlawed debts dollar for
dollar, and to-day there stands at $40 to
554 Broadway the granite and iron building
known by his name as a monument to his en-
ergy. Five million Is his fortune now, and not
a stain or spot npon q dollar in !it. Sitting at
the head of an army Of clerks and stenogfaph-
ers, he answers thousands of letters daily and
! sends his mandates TO nnderbuy and undeFseli
/ for cash and cash alone N cveryquGrter OF the
civilized globe, and so widens each day the
mighty circle of Influence exerted upon the
material prosperity OF the world by the COM
mercial kings OF our metropolis. Quiet nnos-
| Itentatious, simple of dress-simpler stilIin his
/ habits-he is one of the Unrecorded ones who
90 about their business, pouring into life the
great undertone OF harmony snd power that
alone makes 1t worth the living TO the most of
/ us. A man who never lends; q man who never
| borrows; man who tolls sixteen hours out Of
twenty-fotlr. sometimes more; cold man
some say hard man. What is there about
this man. you say. 10 caro- him the aDpeIlatfon
/ have given him in "A Wise Young FoOl,p
that Just man, Charles B. ROnss7- viii tell
you. When the wnr-scaTFed Shenandoah VAL
| lev of Virginia sent ler sons to the praat Me-
\ tropOlis to begin anew the battles of life after
| the surrender of Gen. Lee had rendered their
existence at home useless and unbsarabie, they
found in this man their guiding rtar and friend.
He became the Just but .gencfona employer of
| many of them; for others he fonHd employ
ment He taught them the Valne ofready
money! thing few or none of them knew
| he became the Rchoolmaster from whom they
learned the great lesson of commercial caution
and mercantile success. He was the living OBJ
Ject lesson of their lives. In old times South
ern geutleman's word was always fedeemabIe
before his written bond Chns B. Rouss has
taught them that q commercial promise 70 pay
Is As mnch o debt or honor as verbal ae-
/ acknowledgement given over the card table At
i night to be redeemed next day. He has illus
/ trated to the people Of the secti0n he loves
where he lived that in order 70 and be able to
help others they most first help themselves
Duty to their neighbors they cannot do he
IsayE. unless they have first done thofr dnty TO
themselves. An Rbsten1ious man himself iMr
4 Rouss has reformed many a druniSard by gi y-
/ Ing him not words, but work; man of action
/ he has helped many = man of Wofds. When
the great JohnstoWn food came and the cry of
/ the people of the stricken Conemaugh came TO
touch the people of the great city OF New York
/ one OF the very drEt to answer W6s Charles b.
4 Rouss, and hundreds of hiA hard earned dol.
lars poured into the tide then ON It's first floor
/ towards those in the valley Of despair. Again.
/ he cent special messenger with money 10 the
| Hood sufferers of historic HaTper's Ferry and
hold to-day acknowledgements from suffer
/ ing mothers whose waIits / yzaa, eEabIed ia
| then relieve by his bounty acting as his aImca-
er. When l think Of him who said .And the
greatest of these is charity, feel as If could
| trIly say this man was 3 Christian Of the high
est and nobleat type. II is this broad human
iCathoiicity that has caused me to lay at his
feet the hrst wreath of laurel won by my pen
have ever cared to acknowledge as my Owl,
and my only regret Is that 1t Is not more worthy
of It's shrine
| When ! wrote q Wise Young Fool" did Il
not 70 answer Robert Elsmere, nor 70 palliate
Robert IngersoIl. Il was in obediepee % Walt
/ WhitmRuS sonpToug injuetlon 70
.nE. n