The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-01
ABOUT ROCKEFELLER

1 Cleveland O., Cor Philadelphia Record.
 Probably no mans name is more famil-
 far to the general public than that of
 John D. Rockefeller; few men are so
 little known personally. In Wall street
 he is a mighty force to be reckoned with,
 but few Wall street operators have seen him. One reads of his movements, his
 benefactions and the multiplicity of his
 ventures, but the man himself Is rarely l in evidence He is an interesting person
 this man who owns one-seventh of the l United States Steel Corporation, one
 third of the parent Standard Oil Com
 pany and more than half of its subsi-
 diaries He Is heavily interested in sev-
 enty of the great railway systems of the
 country whose steamship lines arc the
 best on the ocean and whose investments
 are proftably scattered everywhere
 One rarely has the opportunity of ex- l amining the millionaire in the shell, l primarily because multi-millionaires are
 very scarce; and. secondarily, because l the evidences of the shell period are
 rarely preserved.
 A little history of Cuyahoga county in which Cleveland is situated. was pub
 lished in 1868. It is an almost forgotten volume, and probably not over four or five copies of it are now eXtant. But 1t
 contains a brief biography of John D. Rockefeller which was written before the
 Standard oil Company had been con
 ceved, and at the time it was written
 Rockefeller was only 29 years old The
 write up" of John D. Rockefeller, as it ! appeared in 1868, was as follows:
 Although yet quite young man, John 1 D. Rockefeller occupies in our business 1 circles a position second to but few. He l began life with few advantages, save that l of honesty of purpose and unf'inching i morality, and determination to succeed, 1 if unremitting effort would secure that
 end. He, in connection with H. B. Clark, l commenced the produce and commission
 business on the dock, with a small capi- l tai saved from earnings. For time l their profits were exceedingly small, but 1 the firm soon gained the confidence of
 our citizens and bankers, and at the end of the first year they had done business to the amount of $450.000. Each successive year added to their business and in the fourth it amounted to something like
 $1. .S00,0 0O0 the average being, perhaps,
 about $7OOOOo.
 'In the spring of 1864 Mir. Rockefeller engaged in the oil-refining business, be- ginning with a capacity of 45 barrels of
 crude oil a day, and gradually increased it until 1865. when the capacity of his works was 150 barrels a day. At this time he sold his interest in the commts- sion business and devoted his whole at- tention to the oil refining. Every year witnessed an enlargement of his works. and for the last three years it is believed they have been the largest of their kind in the world, the present capacity being 2.500 barrels of crude oil a day. The growth of the business, dating to 1865. was such that it became necessary to es- tablish a house in New York for the disposition of their oil. where they now have warehouses of their own. and sell
 and take care of their property.
 "The effect of such works as those for Mir. Rockefeller In the city may be imag- ined when we say that there are about 100 men regularly employed in them, be- sides force of some fifteen or twenty teams and teamsters. To these must be added 700 to 500 men around the city em- ployed in making barrels for the oil. and | from $2000O to s25OO0 a year expended among plumbers and various other me
 chanics for repairs. The enlargement of
 their works this year will cost nearly | $40, 900.
 l MT. Rockefeller never retrogrades; he has always advanced from the beginning | Close application to one kind of hnsinAsa-