The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-07-21

Shows What a Man OF Brains. Grit
and Energy Can Make of Himself

The election Of Mr.. D. A. Tompkin3
as a member of the board of directors
of the Equitable Life Assurance Socie-
ty we account 4 matter in which not
only this city, but the south in general
will take pride, for it is not mercy 4
tribute to the city of his adoption, but
to the and of his birth. Those WAC
know Mr.. Tompkins, or those who have
had business relations with him. know
that in his selection to this responsible
position, the trustees of the Equitable
lave made a wise choice. and have Sc
cured a man whose counsel will always
be wise, practical and safe. 1t is proper
to state here that Mr.. Tompkins is as
well posted on insurance as he is in 4
number of other things. He is presi-
dent of the Southern Underwriters
Fire Insurance Company of Greensboro
Mr.. Tompkins belongs to the class Of
quiet workers. and ever since he began
life in Charlotte as a m%achinist, in 1882,
he has been doing things. He came
here then to sell machinery and to
set it up. He worked with his own
hands. AS a side line he did Odd
jobs of surveying and was the first city
engineer Charlotte ever had, serving
under the administration Of Mr.. w. =.
Maxwell. He IL a man of practical
ideas, and if he ever made a mistake
no one knows Of it. From his modest
start as a m~achiaist, he accomplished
one success after another and in the
succeeding years he has lone a great
work for Charlotte and the south. AS
engineer or contractor, he has bullt
one hundred cotton mills n two nun
dred oil ills. No one can drive o
Charlotte without seeing evidences OF
what he has dOEo for the town. In the
heart Of the city is the towering ma
chine shop, the most perfect piece OF
architecture Of ito kind in the south,
and in the suburbs he has just COM
pleted a foundry and machine shops for
the manufacture OF textile milling AMI
cotton oil machinery. He built
cotton oil machinery. He built the
Anterior Mills and was engineer of he
big oil and fertilizer works.
Mr. Tompkins has taken great inter-
est III educational and historical mat
tiers. He is a trustee of the state agri-
cultural and mechanical college at Ia
leigh, and he is the author of a number
of practical BOOKS, comprising a COM
pilaticn of all the knowledge he had
found of value IN industrial life in the
south. Among his books are: Cotton
Mill Processes and Calculations, first
and second editions; Cotton Mill, Com
mercial Features, American Commerce,
1t Expansion; Cotton Values in Textile
Fabrics; Cotton and Cotton Oil, in w
volumes. Mr.. Tompkins, after months
of research, published a History OF
Mecllenburg County, in two volumes.
This history is finely illustrated and is
a work Of great historical value.
In 1900 President Mckinley appoint
ed Mr.. TOmpkinS a membe OF the i'll
dustrial Commission, of which Senator
James II. Kyle was chairman and
lgasann which he served during the life OF
eths commission, which terminated TWO
years after his appointment. He was
appointed to his position to fill the un-
expired term of Captain E. A. Smythe,
of Pelzer, S. G.
But for all these accomplishments
wrought by his own hands, Mr.. Iomp-
kins is still a machinist and is prou'i
of it. He can d0n a suit OF oVeralis
and the best maj. in the shop will IND
it hard to keep up with him. He can
NIT ON a dress suit and no n in the
reception hall, in salon, or at the BAN
table is more at ease than he IS.
We might search the country over anu
we would fail to find a more typl:al
fspe of the SELF made man than mis-
charlotte machinist, who is a mach1n-
list still, although he has built FAC
tories, written books, served in a re-
sponsible government position and Is
now a director il the greatest lnsur-
ance institution in the world.
He is a practical man and ali MS
work is founded upon a practical OASIS.
In it's management the Equitable neels
men of this character, and IN MT.
Tomnkins it has secured i
lotte Chronicle.
Hives are a terrible torment to me
little folks. and to some Older ones.