Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-17
KNEW BECKN lTA
oHERLlN, OHIO, BANKER De
cLARED TO HAVE BEEN
scRUPULousLY HONEST.
r. D. Bemis, Representative for Uni
versal Voting Machine Was Student
at oberlln CoIIege-Tells Of charao.
ter and Habits of Famous Banker.

'tThe class of men like Beokwith OF
the bank of Oberlin are the easiest
kind Of mortals to fool" Is the state
ment made by R. D. Memts to Bur
lington newspaper man. Continuing
Mr.. Bemis, VINO Is well known to OF
tumwans through his connection with
the Universal voting machine propo-
scion recently acted upon by the coun'
Gil in this city said:
I knew him when I was living at
Oberlin, twenty-five years ago. He has
been a banker there for thirty-fve
years. And he has always been spoken
of as most scrupulously honest.
talked of continuously as being so ex-
tremely honest. you need to look out
for him. He will bear watching II ne
is not honest. If he Is honest, it Will
not hurt him.
II was a student at Oberlin college.
That place has the reputation of being
the straightest-laced community on
earth. without g doubt Smoking
drinking, all the odds and ends o. i'm
morality have long been pointed at
with the finger Of scorn at Oberlin.
You see, they built that college in the
woods, and the town grew up around
it. The college spirit leads in every
thing. And the college authorities
would expel a man on very slight prov.
ocation. However, they are beginning
to have more Of the broader university
system there now. But under those
conditions, you can see how Beckwith
would have to confess that he had
been duped by woman, and would
continue to give her more, in order to
regain his footing quietly.
The Easiest Fooled.
"That class of men are the easiest
! fooled on earth He drives down to
his office at 10 o'clock in the morning
in his carriage. He locks himself up
I; in his private Office and sees nobody
until he goes out for bite to eat at
noon. Then. if you can get at him
you will find this man an easy mark
Take you and me, for instance, who
have had our corners barked and
knocked. off by rubbing up against the
/ world. and now and then losing almost
all we've had before we learned oul
lesson, and it would be different. But
those chaps like Beckwith are hard tt
| get at. as friend of mine who was II
the edition de luxe and first edition
and expensive volume business toll
me. He was accustomed to driv.
around in fine rig which looked like
private livery, and so managed Otter
to get into the private offices of thu
Biggest of the Big. Then the Bigges
of the Big would fall an easy prey
Once talking with them, my frient
said he was almost certain Of getting
them to make a purchase. And tina
was no swindle. either But 1t simpl,
illustrated the point.
$50 you see, when that other BAN
president, of whom Mrs. Chadwicl
!. borrowed five thousand and paid back
and then borrowed more money OF
such liberal terms to himself, toll
Beckwith of his good fortune tn
honest old man wanted some of tina
easy money himself. And when he ha
put himself in evidence. Cassie learne'
that he was easy, and took all he hac
I understand that it has gone prett
hard with lots of the students at Obel
lin, who have put their $500 or $40
in Beckwith's bank.
.But that is always the way. Th
Q recluse is an easy man to fool. VIII.
t take these gold brick schemes. The
;. always unload them onto Wall stree
4 Those big fellows are the easiest pc
4 pie to fool that way"