Evening star., 1897-04-10

SMN%NSMM now retired from
MM\ = business and politics
ard Is leading a quie. life at his home
in Oshkosh. Senator Sawyer is now over
eighty years of age. He was born in New
York, and his father was in such circum-
stances that he thought his boy ought 10
work for him until he was twenty-one.
Young Sawyer bought mis- time of his father
at the age of seventeen, and until he was
thirty-one he worked by the day and
month. He told me this last night. and
also described how, when he went from
New York to Wisconsin, his sole capital
was just about 5000.
Millions I'm Lumber.
1 asked Senator Sawyer how he came to
make so much money from such a start
He replied:
The most of my money was made in
buying and selling lumber. While 1 lived in
New York state / could see that lumber
was worth a great deal. The forests there
had been rapidly cut, and the prices of
timber had risen. When 1 came 10 Wis
consin it was new state. 1t had vast
tracts of pine lands, and believed the Gay
would come when these lands would be
very valuable 1 invested what / had in
pine, and bought more as l could Later
On L borrowed a great deal of money and
bought pine. l made a number af good
Geais, turned my money over rapidly and
bought more and more. One time / got
hold of tract for $1,000. l had a part
lier with me in that purchase. and We eacn
made more than 100000 out of the deal
AT another time l bought for $l.5o0 some
plne lands which L afterward sold for SOL
ooo l made other investments which paid
me sin,oV and upward apiece, and in this
way fortune was gradually accumulated.
A1ter time l became interested in rail-
roads, and made some money In them. es-
pecially in the pine lands along the roads.
! ou see, all of my life has been spent in
dealing in lumber"
Ii You Want to Get Rich buy Pine
Suppose, SENATOR said i, you had to
go back TO business again. What would
you do, or what would you advise a young
man who has a little money to do in order
20 make a fortune?"
IF | had small capital and wanted to
get rich replied Senator Sawyer. Il
should go TO the great lumber regions of
Oregon, Washington and California and
buy all the land l could carry. There are
trees there which produce as much as
10000 feet of lumber, and some of the
western tracts L am told, there are from
1,0U,VOo to 2,0OO,HD feet of lu, iber to the
acre. In the fir woods of Oregon and
Washington l have seen it estimated that
the amount of timber on a single acre
would turn out 200 cords of wood, and
the forests there are of vast extent and
very valuable. They will be much more.
valuable in the future and the man who
can get hold of them will be rich
How about the south2' said l.
Il think the chances for making money
IN lumber IN the south are equally good.
In Georgia and the gulf states there are
large tracts of pine and cypress. You can
set them for almost nothing now in com-
parison with what they will be worth in
the future. We consume an enormous
amount of lumber, and we are using more
every year. There is nothing that runs in
to money SO fast as lumber, and it will
surprise you when | tell you how fast trees
grow in value. Why, the natural growth
of the pine tree is fair interest on the
investment
Plenty of Chances for Poor Men.
But senator, are not the most of these
forests already owned oy large capitalists?
Doesn't 1t take lots of money to operate IL
them? You could do things when you were
young which cannot be done now
THAT is true to some extent" replied the
senator. But there are plenty OF places
where small amounts can be invested and
a good, sharp fellow can make his pile
almost as well now as in the past The
good for the man who has the right eye to
see them. 1 am now eighty, but feel that
| if l were to go back into business L could
make money as easily and as rapidly as
ever"
do you think your success has been due
to any fixed principles did God make
you money maker?"
II don't know about that" said the ex-
senator with a laugh. Il think God has a
good deal to do with success in this life
by putting the right kind of a MIND in
the man who succeeds. As to principles, 1
have always been temperate and nave al
ways looked ahead and trusted myself.
Not Afraid of Anarchists.
But don't you think, senator, We nave
too many rich men in the United States? :?
Tc oil he anti oil
of a few? If this continues it may imperl
the republic"
Il think not, said the old senator. You
see, there is no law of entail in this coun-
try. You can leave your property to your
graEdchildren and See that they have
nothing but the income derived from it,
but you cannot keep it in the family and
carry 1t past them to unborn children. IL
is bound 10 be scattered very soon after
you ole. This seems to be the natural law
of the rise and decline Of fortunes. The
children begin where the fathers leave off
We would not have our children undergo the
h3rGShipS which We experienced, and they
naturally do not want them. Now, / have
given my two daughters the best half of q
! million dollars, about 500, 600 apiece and
l wish them to have all that 1 can give
them.
IF their children run through the money
l leave can't help it. If they DO so they
must go back to work as l did. Why
here the old senator grew very emphatic
''if they do it will be different than what
has been going on since the beginning of
the world. There have always been great
fortunes and the men who have inherited
them have lost them Every one knows of
Job, but who knows how Jobs fortune was
dissipated? Where will you find the great
est fortunes of the past? All are divided.
There is no great for tune that / know of
today that is not being dissipated 5yt the
grandchildren except that Of the Assors
The Astors are very thrifty and they seem
The Best Period for Fortune Making
How about your health, senator? You
are very lively man for eighty"
Yes, 1 feel very well,'' replied the old
senator. Il suppose I am SO because 1 was
made that way. ] had q good capital in
the shape of health when started life and
I have seen that that part of my capital
has been well cared for. l don't worry,
and after have once decided upon a thing
l let it take 'ts course"
What were your best working yearsr'
II believe / was strongest between forty
five and sixty-fve. My brain was quicker
then and had plenty of nerve. / did not
get to making big deals until was fcrty-
five. Yes, consider my years between for
ty-fiye and sixty-five as having been my