Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-15

longer in this country had the scholar
ships been in Harvard. Yale, or some
other American institution.
4 -
THE MEN THAT COUNT.
Americans are proud of America for
many reasons and for none more than
that 1T is nation of self-made men
Ihough 1t is often denied in these
days OF "frenz!ed finance and million
dollar projects that there is an oppor
tunity for a boy to start in life poor
and reach a point which all the world
can call success, some one will now
and then rise into public notice to dis
pute this pessimistic theory. No flu.
ture ever looked darker than that OF
the boy Lincoln when he started to.
ward the White House by way of the
Mississippi fiat boat route. Garfield's
path along the canal was not in direct
line to the nations capital James ]
Hills boyhood friends never prophe-
sled that he would be leader in the
financial world. And even now there
are boys whose names are unknown
to us but who will, no doubt, emerge
in few years into the lime light and
/ go on to greatness of which they can
now only dream.
/ 1t cannot but encourage the boy of
today to know that Lincoln, Garfield
and many another overcame the boy
hood disadvantages of poverty and
lack OF educational facilities, and when
they know that there are many others
who have won success in the same
4 way but whose names are not so
widely known as these Others, there is
more encouragement for them The
ability to carve out a future has not
dwindled as the country has grown
4 older.
Recent developments in Indiana in
connection with the choice Of a man
to succeed Vice President-elect Fair
banks in the United States senate have
brought out another self-made man
story and have brought the man him
self into prominence. The withdrawal
from the race of Representative Crum-
packer leaves James A. Hemenway
practically the only one in the field
for the senatorship. Mr.. Hemenway is
a good man for the Office and has al
ready done splendid work for his
state and nation, being chairman Of the
appropriations committee Of the ma
tional house Of representatives.
The Washington Post tells story
that is interesting about Mr.. Hemen-
way, a story of the trials of boy who
finally has achieved success. The
Posts story follows:
MIR. Hemenway's record Is not
eclipsed by that of Lincoln or Gar.
field. Back In the '70s he thought
there was little chance for Hemen-
way on a Warrick county farm. Young
Hemenway, at the age of IT, set out
for Kansas with just about enough
money to put him down in Harper
county. He was a farmers boy, and
much Of the way was made in a prairie
schooner. He filed on a claim of 100
acres. He was not old enough to COM
ply with the homestead laws in his
own right, and accordingly entered
the land as the head of family. He
broke the virgin soil and planted as
many acres In corn as one man could
4 cultivate. But covetous eyes were on
4 his holding, and contest was insti-
tuted against him on the ground that
he was under age and not the head of
a family. Before the contest was de-
termined the drought came. and In a
day the corn had shriveled from the
hot winds.
Hemenway, with a contest en- his
hands, did not have . dollar nor q
friend who would stake him. There
was but one thing to be done and that
was to gather the buffalo bones on the
plains and haul them to Wichita, a
i distance of fifty miles. Wichita was at
that time the center Of the buffalo
bones industry. The price on the
market was IS a ton. Two round
trips a week was the limit, but
through one entire summer and fall
young Hemenway loaded his wagon
and hauled the buffalo bones to mar
ket. He realized in this way between
Sc and $40 week, which barely sup
ported him and provided hard feed for
his horses.
1 But however hard he might strug-
gle, Hemenway discovered that he
must lose. The contest went against
him. He sold his wagon and team and
left Kansas in 1878 to seek the folks
back home. His money gave out
when he got as far as Vermillion, H.
Then he became a sewing machine
agent. Now when he talks about his
career he insists that this experience
was the most profitable of his life and
in his presence the sewing machine
4 agents cannot be abused
Finally Jim Hemenway made his
way to the Warrick county home place
at Bonneville. In the brief sketch he
wrote for publication in the Congress
sional directory this sentence is found:
James A. Hemenway was born March
s. 1850, at Bonneville, Ind and with
the exception Of few years has con-
tinued to reside at Bonneville. There
wasn't space for Mr.. Hemenway to
tell the Kansas story or he would
have done SO, for he is as proud of 1t
as was Garfield of his employment as
canal boy, or Lincoln that he had split
rails
A SUBSTANTIAL MARKET.
The fact that the recent furry in
stocks has caused no apprehension on
the part of the financial leaders and
observers of financial conditions is a