Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-13

best takers in
E,,,,r,.s n ry,-n,, ua,b- Washington, is an
Gngton House. eloquent speaker,
and his business sense is such that at 80 he is
prospectiyely one of the richest men in the
United States.
He owns hundreds of thousands of acres
of valuable land in New Mexico and else
where. He is interested in mines, railroads
and other things in the far West, and the
estate which he and his father-in-law, ex-
Senator Henry G. Davis, own in West Vir-
ginia is principality in itself They have
in that State hundreds of thousands of acres
of fine timber land thousands upon thou
sands of acres of great beds of coal, and thev
build their own railroads and ship their
coal and coke over these by the hundreds of
thousands of tons every year to the markets
of the world.
Employ Men by the Thousand.
They have in constant employ on their
West Virginia property nearly 5000 men
and the number of their employees is in
creasing every year. They are adding to
their estate here right along by the pur-
chase of new land, ard within the past few
weeks they have bought more than 1900
acres 1t is almost impossible to calculate
the value of these lands. The 80 miles of
coal land along their railroad which thev
own is fortune in itself, and parts of these
coal beds are II feet deep. 1t is estimated
that one foot of coal will produce thou
sand tons to the acre and IA foot vein will
produce $4,000 tons for every acre.
Only one of the West Virginia veins
measures as much as IA feet, but the 50
e,oEa n,1 L., ~. ~
and Senator Davis own, contain MANY
millions of tons and they have 1t so To-
Gated that it can be made easily available
by their railroads. This coal is noted for
its fine coking qualities and they now have
many hundreds of great ovens for the making
of coke along the lines of their railroads
Secretary Elkins tells rue that at no distant
day they expect to have thousands of these
eoling ovens in operation, and he is enthu-
siastic as to the possibilities and the pros
poets of West Virginia.
known Best as Blaine's Friend.
Secretary Elkins' home in West vir-
ginia is one of the finest in the United
States. 1t contains over 90 rooms and is
one of the wonders of modern architecture
He has also house in New York, and he
lives here at Washington in Senator Pal
mer's big brown-stone mansion within a
stones throw of the White House and not
far from Secretary Blaine. Mr.. Elkins has
been so closely associated with Blaine that
he has gotten to be known more as Blaine's
friend than as Stephen b. Elkins He is
great personality in himself, however,
apart from Blaine, and during several long
chats which have recently had with him
have been surprised st his breadth of
thought and originality Of idea and express
sion.
Let me tell you how he looks. He is one
Of the biggest men 1 have ever known.
Standing over feet in his stockings, his
broad shoulders are well padded with mus
cular flesh and his big arms make you
think Of those of Samson, and his legs are
firm and strong. He is not fat, but his
massive frame has no angles, and he is the
personifcation OF energetic health. He has
a great, big round head, which is fastened
10 his stout shoulders by a strong we'll
made neck, and his face shines with the
rosy iron of pure blood and his clear, blue
eyes look out from under broad, open brows.
strong but Pleasant Facial Lines.
He has strong jaw, but there are pleas |
ant lines about his mouth, and his short, |
strong, white teeth are often shown in way
of laugh His hair is now white. 1t is cut |
short and you can see the rosy scalp show |
ing through its frosted silver strands Sec |
Tetary Elkins' face is smooth-shaven and its |
mobility is shown in the changes of express
sion which pass over it as his thought turns |
from grave to gay as he talks. His face |
impresses you with its cleanliness and his |
words are as clean as his skin.
He never uses slang or profanity, and he |
once told me that he had never in al his |
life uttered a word which he would be |
ashamed to repeat in the presence of the
purest woman he knew. There is nothing
snobbish or sanctimonious however in his
talk. He is perfectly frank and open. He
is as outspcken as boy, and he makes me
think more than anything else of a good
boy grown up. He is a man of wide read
ing and classical training. He entered the
University OF Missouri at IA and graduated
at is, and he has been a student all his life.
A College Boys Notions Upset.
He had for time the college boys idea
of mans mission in the world, and thought
that study and reading was the chief end of |
man. He got over this, however when he |
Jumped into active life in his law practice
in New Mexico, and found that brains and
force were exerted with great effect without
the aid of Greek or Latin, and where he
his education by fighting
legal and business battles in the most
stirring parts of the West.
Secretary Elkins was born in Ohio within
a short distance of where General Sheridan
was born, and not far from the birthplace of
Rusk. There are now four mem
bers of the Cabinet and the President in
this administration who were born in Ohio. |
secretary Noble was born in Columbus, |
Foster came from Fostoria, Harrison was
born in North Bend, and Jeremiah Rusk
came from Morgan county, o. When Sec
retarv Elkins was quite young his parents
to Missouri
'You were in the army during the war,
Mr.. Elkins?" said /.
"Yes," said the Secretary of War, 'T was
only a boy and had just gotten through
school, but L was made the captain Of
militia company and served under Gen.
eral Tom Ewing. My father and mother
svnpathized with the South, and my father
and some of my brothers were in the South
ern army. don't know why 1 went with
the North, but I had an intuition that the
Union ought not to be destroyed.
The Meeting With Schofield.
"An incident occurred during my serv-