Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-11-02
4 sRILLiAMI CAREER.
How a Bright nlaias Boz Made His Way 10
the Front.

1t says:
C. n. Parker, traffic manager of the
Missouri Pacific, who was unanimously
chosen last week as a member of the
board of administration of the reor-
ganized Western Freight association,
is probably the only traffic man living
who was ever made the subject OF a
poets song. And the minstrel who
courted the muse in Mr.. Parker's be-
half was no less parsonage than Cy
Warman, the gifted Poet of the
Rockies"
In 1891, when Mr.. Parker. then only
Sc years old. was appointed to the posi-
ton he has since so ably filled, Cy.
Warman got off the following:
AS the dawn that marks the morning
Woke the world from its repose
And the sun slipped through the tree tops
Drinking dew drops from the rose,
Stood lad beside the ladder.
Lies long journey Just begun.
And they called him Freight Clerk Parker
Then in 1881.
Sometimes tottering meath the burden
Ever faithful still was he,
Till they called him Chief Clerk Parker
This was 1883.
Like lark let loose at morning.
k tpMdIu sun ne seeaheu " 'oai'
Ana ne sls Sas hiihsei Noi"i''ei''
Made by nature calm and constant
,i ne H ii 'uanS l IT, ~ .iia''1 y y cont
In 1856.
Even then. his proud position
He was told he must resign:
They made him General Freight
Agent in 1889.
coo hos holt va.. m tho ladder
And his proud initials run
Thus: +. I. NJ. {. A Parker
III 1871
There are only a few more rungs on
the ladder of promotion for Mr.. Parker
10 climb. and no one who has ever
come in contact with his impressive
personality entertains a doubt that C.
A. Parker will. if he lives to be 80, he at
the head of some important railway
system. where his keen intellect. ripe
experience and thorough mastery of
railroad affairs will find full play.
1t is because Mr.. Parker is a self
made man. because he has risen from
modest beginnings to a height that few
men in his calling have reached at his
age. and in the hope that his career
6dence in the unlimited possibilities
that await merit and faithful devotion
TO duty that this sketch of his life is
written.
Mr.. Parker is native of Maine. and
was born in 1855. He left school at the
age of u. but thanks to the aid in
spiration and guidance of a cultured
mother, was ena bled to supplement his
common school education by diIigent
study at home after his DAVIS labor
was done While still in his teens he
organized and operated an express line
from Boston. Mass. to Wayland in
that state. and soon built ND a profit-
able connection.
In 1881. fired by a spirit of adventure
the young expressman sold out his
business and came West. and early in
that year we find him in Topeka Kas
employed as clerk at $50 a month in
the office of j. f. Goddard. then gen
eral freight agent of the Atchison
Topeka and Santa Fe. One day the
new clerk was assigned to a desk form
erly occupied by an older clerk. who
had been promoted. The desk was
piled high with papers that were thick
with dust, and was a marvel of dis
order and confusion. The Young fellow
rolled up his sleeves. pitched the papers
into a waste basket. brushed away the
dust and then got a bucket of water
and began scrubbing away the accu
mutations that would only Weld to
vigorous rubbing. While the new man
was thus employed Mr.. Goddard came
along. His eye lit up and a smile of
encouragement spread over his features
as he said
Il am glad to see you do this. That
desk has long been an eye-sore to me.
The same day Clerk Parker received