Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-06-04
was one man on this side who knew what
-. s..-o-+ wonld he TO the bouoholders,


that man being the young clerk. -
"Anv one can guess what followed. Inc
| Encouraged bondholders began to put tnelf
/ securities on the market. and finding no
! purchasers dropped the prices oown anu
| down. When they had fallen 10 al silna1
| ingly low figure few purchasers "ere
| found in New York, and then more pur-
chasers, and ultimately controlling lneer.
| est in the road was worked OFT at hgures
| lowering about the lowest, which l tnlnK
was eight cents on the dollar. Then 1t was
| discovered that the bonds had been pur-
chased by little syndicate of men organ
| lied bv the sharp young clerk. The other
fellows put in the capital and he put IN
the information. Now this young man IS
railway king. He controls 10000 miles
| of road, and is building new line. his
wealth is estimated at ten millions or DOL
lars"
At this iuncture clerk from the depart
ment of Justice, having finished munchlng
a cheese sandwich, which he had washed
down with the only luxury he could afford
"a glass of half milk and half cream-con-
tributed his portion to the symposium OF
stories about wealth getting. 81 want to
said he, "when he thought he was in the
hardest luck he had ever met with. he
used to be clerk in the navy department,
but was fired out very suddenly one day,
and thrown on his beam ends without a
dollar in the world. He tried to find an
other place here, but failed, and went over
to New York to see if he could pick up
anything there He was about out of
money, and was reduced almost to the
necessity of living by his wits. One after
noon he was standing in drinking saloon
on Broadway hoping some one in the in
discriminate generosity of inebrety would
ask him up to take drink. Sure enough,
a tipsy individual came in, and seeing the
lone stranger standing by invited him to
imbibe. The usual conversation followed,
and my friend soon learned from the To-
quacity of his new acquaintance that the
latter was an inventor of a new gun, and
had just returned from Washington, where
he had been unsuccessful in an effort to en-
list the interest of the authorities.
81 wish had some good man who knew
the ropes to go in with me and market my
gun," said he, "for have a big thing. All
it needs is Il chance" 'Im your man."
said my friend, who would have said the
same thing under the circumstances, had
the inventor proposed a trip to Egypt to
sell salve warranted to cure dromedary
itch, or journey to Greenland to cut ice
for the New York market. The upshot of
the chance meeting and gin conversation
was another trip to Washington by the in
ventor, accompanied by my friend us man
ager and promoter. A company was Or
gained, capitalized at a large sum. The
government was induced to give the inven-
ton trial, orders followed the test, and
my friend is now worth at least $3.50 00O
If all goes well with the gun during the
next five years he will be a millionaire"
"All these stories go to show" said a
newspaper man who was one of the party,
that while there is life there is hope,
Any one of us may yet be rich or famous.
For examples of the ease with which men
travel the upward road when once they
begin to rise, we have only to look at some
of the successes among statesmen. There's
jim Mcmillan, the ten millionaire senator
from Michigan. A man who knew him as
boy told me Mcmillan was a clerk in
hardware store at fifteen dollars a month
when he first landed in Detroit, a green
boy from over in Canada. His first strike
was in getting appointed purchasing agent
OF railroad, where he was quick to see
the money making opportunities offered
by the railway supply business When
young man he organized the company
which built the Michigan Car works, and
from that on his rise in wealth was rand
enough to suit the most ambitious.
Senator Plumb, of Kansas, who is 4
much more wealthy man than he is gen.
orally credited with being, and who is
making money faster than ever, used to be
Journeyman printer out on the prairies
happy it he could make String of 7OO0
ems day, at thirty cents the thousand
senator Stockbridge, of Michigan, who is
easily a millionaire, was the poorest kind
OF boy down in Bath, Me. He drifted nm
to Boston, where he was thirty -dollar-a,
month clerk in wholesale house. He oot
chance to 60 to Chicago and get a mart.
nership in lumber firm, and knew how to
improve his opportunities. Leland Stan,
ford, the richest man in the senate ,nd
one of the five richest men in the ITnitaJ
States, was also poor boy. Senator
Hearst told me before he died that when
ne was prospecting out in the mining
country he went without his dinner more
chan once because the grub had run ont
and he hadn't any money with which ~,
buy more. He welded the pick and shovel
many day, and died worth $4,000, 600 -
senator Jones, of Nevada, who has mad.
Two or three fortunes, and now promises IN
pie up bigger one than ever also used IN
handle the pick and shovel. Ex-senator
Joe Brown, of Atlanta, one of the richest
men IN the south, started out in life as ths
teacher OF a country school at tbirtv-fivo
dollars a month and "board around d ~
Senator Farwell, of Chicago, told me last
winter that when he left the farm an%
went up to the city to seek his fortune i hs
walked part of the way and begged ride s
from teamsters the remainder becansa he
nadn.t money to pay coach fare. The f;rst
year ne worked in Chicago was as clert IN
bank at salary of 500. Farwell,s preat
chum, Senator Davis, of Minnesota .a;S
one day last winter in the sonata o,aa, u
room that when he landed in St. pan1
after the war he had just six dollars in I h;a
pocket. In ten years he was earning e, l noo
agar as lawyer and was elected poverno"
The fact is" continued the newsnana.
man, among all the successful men n.y.,
or recently in public life there are onlv INV
or three who were born with silver .na S"o
" tneir mouths. Senator Dixon, of Rbods
Island; Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts sn ans
lew others were born rich, but for an aau
sucn case there are q score or fiftv ins+o 10y
OF pulnng ones self up by force Of ch..oa.Ne9s