The times., 1897-04-11

when winter came on we decided 10 make
a camp
went back to Detroit and got Mrs. Alsef
and our oldest child. who was only three,
and We went by sled nearly hundrcdmnl
to camp. We lived in a little house, not SO
big as this room, with low roof. Mrs.
AIger cooked my breakfast for me, and
went out with the laborers, taking "A hand
at all kinds of work Weliv ed n that wilder
ness all winter, and with twenty-five TO
thirty men working for me, L got out
about ,250. 900 feet of logs, board meas
ure In the Summer l went out and lo-
Gated more timber land, and the following
winter, Mrs Alger not being well enough
TO be with me, was alone in the camp
We got out 100000 feet that winter
and 10000, 900 the next winter; the husi-
ness increased every year Very soon
it was so big that had TO have several
camps, with foreman at each, and L
went from one TO the other, supervising
the work Since thattimeI have notlooheu
after the details Of any business. At first,
in the camps, l even Kept my own accounts,
After five years | remained in Detroit
| have never lived in a logging camp since,
| but know all about the life there, and am
in all respects a practical lumberinan
II think 1 was fortunate TO be poor
boy and obliged TO work my way up. L
said to a rich young man one day, You
will always live in the shadow of your
| fathers name And he answered, 1t is
true though no one ever expressed II TO
me before. Whatever / do L find l am
| ALWAYS my fathers son. | have no iden-
| tiry of my own He had the misfortune
| to be born rich There ire Two mlsfortunes
| in a young mans life for which / have a
great deal of sympathy that his father
| is rich, and the other that he has done
| something wrong. / always say to the
| bows at the Reform Schoolil Lansing, You
| must be little better than other boys; be
| cause what would not be fault in them
| NAV be considered a great offense in you.
You must be little better than other boys
because you have been worse. But think
| il is as great a misfortune for boy TO
have rich father who does not teach him
to work We never care so much for what
is easily attained we do for the things
we must strive for
/ asked Gen. Alger If he was raising
his children in practical way, and lquoted
the case of a young man whose father had
grown wealthy in brewing, who was com
pelled to work in the brewery with the
lahorers, so that he might gain practical
knowledge of the business.
''I don't believe in that" said Gen.
Alger, because while the young mans
knuckles were being swollen by labor his
brain wouldn't have chance TO grow.
/ am trying to bring my boys up prac-
ticaIly. ] am teaching them TO be eco
no1nical and industrious. and TO keep their
obligations am teaching them my buSl-
ness so that they can take my place init.
At the same time l am giving them
better education than L could get when
was of their age"
One of Gen. Alger's sons is in business
with him. He will look after his fathers in
terests in conjunction with Mr.. Smith, W bo
has been Gen. Alger's partner for nearly a
ouarter Of a century The details of tine
business, of course, are in the hands Of
men whom Gen. Alger and his partner
can trust. Gen. Alger has great faith in
| his Judgment of men.
81 have been deceived only twice in my
whole business career" he said, in answer
| to a question lone case was when L
sent a man to Tennessee to report on some
| lands You may have seen the report
I OF the sui Ill WHICH, llSuiVu. LIN
made false report. The owners painted
q coal mine which was on the property,
and paid him $4,000 to misrepresent it
| to me. We have a photograph of his
receipt for the $4,000. We paid $1o3,-
| 600 for the land on the strength Of his
report, and it is worth only $4,000. By
| the way, that is the second time / have
been in a court in my lifetime"
Gen. Alger has lost very little through
| fraud; but he has lost great deal through
| the misfortunes of Others. Not so long ago
| he let a man have S45, 900 to invest in a
'.sure thing and lost every cent of it.
| But he has no fault to find so long as
| the money was lost legitimately.
az try to deal with honest men, ;" he said
to me. I'm my business 1 don't care so
much about a mans capital as do about
| his Integrity. If we sold only TO rich men
| there would be no chance for poor young
| men. such as was when came to De-
| troit."