Evening star., 1900-01-15
The Career of Senator William A,
Clark of Montana.
THE ARCHITECT OF HIS own FORTUNE
His Acquisitions in Art and Litera-
ture Of Superior Order.
ACCOMPLISHED LIN GUIST

William a. Clark, whose right to a seat
in the United States Senate is being con-
tested, and is now under investiga ton by the
committee OF privileges and elections OF
that body. has had {; somewhat remarkable
career. ii is the belief of his friends, who
are, of course. confident of his ultimate
success III the present controversy, that 40
member of the upper house will attract
more attention that will he, not by reason
OF the proceedings in which he now figures,
nor Of his great wealth but for his :nteli-
gent grasp OF public questions and the abil
ity with which he will discharge his du-
ties. Senator Clark has the reputation of
being enormously wealthy, and he was the
sole architect Of his own fortune. At fair
estimate his wealth may be stated at about
s2o,ooo,00o and his daily income in the
ncigborhood of 5000. Its accumulation be-
gan when he was mere boy at labor.
Now his operations reach from one tide
water to the other. In old Mexico is The
impulse of his resources felt. In Europe
painters and sculptors know his name and
gold and silver; he extracts sugar from
beets; he operates coal mines and rail-
roads: he owns a factory for the manu-
facture Of copper wire: he is beginning to
grow coffee, sugar cane and rubber, and
may become a grower of tea; he is u broker
and stock grower.
The scale on which each of these enter
prises is conducted Is large and We. Mr.
Clark finds time to keep abreast of the
latest in literature, in science and in art,
and he has knowledge of public affairs
and men that many with far more leisure
lack. This is truly marvelousy large
stride from the days when he taught school
in a country district In Missouri in lSa9-Go.
Pennsy1vanian by Birth.
Mr.. Clark was born January 8. 1899, near
Connellsville, Pa. From Pennsylvania his
parents moved to Van Ruren county, Iowa
The elder Clark was a farmer, and the son
had three menths Of winter school and
nine months of farm work. Later he at
tenGed Laurel Hill Academy, and afterwarl
an academy at Mount Pleasant where he
studied law for two years. In 1859 he went
to Missouri, taught a country school for a
year and then went further westward. In
1852 he crossed the pains to Colorado
locating at Central City, where he engaged
in quartz mining. There he gained the
practical experience that has been of such
value to him since.
The next year the news of the gold finds
in Montana reached him, and he started
Tor the new Eldorado. The first season he
made $3.50 net. He realized that there
was more money in merchandising than in
placer mining, and with his $500 he went
to Salt Lake City, bought all the goods he
could and returned with them to Virginia
City, where they were disposed of at enor-
nous profits. For several years he followed
up this business and in 1868 the original
cash capital of 81, 800 had grown to as many
thousands. Then he formed a partnership
with r. w. Donnell of New York for the
purpose of carrying on a mercantile and
banking business. Deer Lodge was select
ed, and the bank was located there until
1894. Then Mr.. Donnelrs Interest was pur-
chased by Mr.. Clark who moved ,he bank
to Butte, and today it is one of the leading
private banks of the northwest.
His Mining Interests.
In 1872 Mr.. Clark purchased group OF
mines near Butte and they proved to be
fabu,ously rich. To equip hiy,self to man
age his own business he toe a course in
the mining department at Columbia Col
lege, New York. He has kept his mining
studies up, ard while he employs mining
experts he is personally the final judge of
value when purchase is to be made He
has acquired mine after mine in the Butte
district and now owns score of the rich
est and most famous His luckiest invest
ment, though, was in the Verde copper
mine at Jerome. Ariz. Other capitalists had
experts reported it to be valueless Mr.
Clark examined it personally, conducted
his own tests, bought the property and
owns it today. The mine is the greatest
producer of copper in the world not ex-
cepting the great Anaconda mine at Butte,
and Mr.. Clark has a standing offer of
$50, 100000 for it.
For number of years Mr.. Clark has
Travelled for part of each year in Europe
A few years ago, while in Germany, he
became interested in the beet sugar in
dustry. He studied it from the standpoint
of a chemist and a business man. and as a
result he has made some experiments in the
culture of the beet in southern California
80 satisfactory was the result that he
purchased 10000 acres of land in the vi
cinity of Las Alimitos, built a factory.
with md hact