Bisbee daily review., 1906-02-18


 rledgs of mining affairs is bu
 {, and gained at second. .haad, th,
 Int prominence given Mr. Cols
 q press and by men of large sf
 must come as something of [
 2. but to those who have knowr
 p and watched his steady riss
 decades past. there Is no as
 snt. II merely happens thai
 Id st large Is becoming nc
 suddenly with big man
 done big things. and is capa
 ioing even bigger.
 facts are always better than
 ives. and the facts will enable
 eader to judge for himself. q
 summary of the salient features
 Q life and progress of Tbamas Y
 will throw light upon the charac.
 Of the man. Born forty-four years
 fin kewoenaw county. Michigan.
 English parents, at time when
 per mining was more active in that Strict than is now the case. young Cole was left fatherless at inc tender l age of six years by an accident in the Phoenix mine which cost his fathers life. Though but a small child in years, there already existed in his breast the courage and persistence so often shown in later years. He was the eldest Of an orphan family of . small children and as snch it became necessary for him to take up life's bat. tie in deadly earnest, at an age when children of the present generation are just leaving the Kindergarten. He did not shrink, and at eight years of age was working on the rock piles and about the mills of the Phoenix and Cliff mines-hard labor for a small boy. but necessary to be done, to help keep the wolf from the door of the little cottage where bis mother and the younger children kept home "a real nome, despite the harsh fate that had deprived the household of its head and natural protector.
 From washDoy fin the Cliff mill, at eight years of age, young Cole a6- vanced gradually to positions of great CT responsibility and better pay. Forced to leave school at an age when he had but mastered the alphabet, the boy never faitered in the deter mjHation to gain an education. and kneyer neglected an opportunity to )5earn from books as well as from con-, |tact with the world into which he was thrown so young. Odd hours were Improved ~xith zeal, and -with a per- ssstence that never flagged. As a 'ccnsequence, youg Cole entered man hood with what was fully the equiva- Lent of common school education, &nd. what was of far greater import. ance, he had, in securing this educa- Fton. by his owE efforts, without the <id of teachers, laid the foundation of tndious habits, and learned, cary m life. that all obstacles can be sur. 'mcunred by those who strive with un- Idiyided effort, for any goal that is within reason
 While securing an education, in the ense that the word is commonly Fed. by his own unaided efforts, at Id hours. after days of exhausrIng Jabor, young Cole was gaining a wider land deeper education by actual con- tact with the world. Nothing so con- duces to early maturity of mind as placing mans burdens upon a boys shoulders, provided the shoulders do not break beneath he load While still in his teens the lad attracted the favorable attention of his superiors y two qualities which have been re- ned undiminished to the present y. The two things that marked n out as separate from the common m Of boys about the mine and mill kere his unflagging zeal as a worker, kt whatever tasks were set him, and Shls determination to learn all that here was to be learned about his Fork and everything connected with
 At fifteen the boy left the mill Extracted by higher wages, always eeded in home where there were b many small mouths to fill, and be- eame brakeman on the Hecla & yforch Lake railroad-'a big contract flor a mere boy. but one that he filled satisfactorily. On the railroad. which yas owned by the Calumet & Hecia knining company. the boys zeal as a yorker. and his unsuitable thirst for nowIcdge attracted the attention of those above. him, just as had been me case before, at the Phoenix and l(lin mines. and 1t was decided that De was fitted for better things. Given place as office boy. within two years Pe was valued clerk, forging to the ront because he never tired of work pd courted rather than summed the hrdest tasks to be found. The Cha D. then. as now was the largest iron he of the Menoimee range. and hen a good man was needed for chief erk aud cashier. at a property em- pying upwards of a thousand men. ung Cole was selected for the place. l the strength of his work at the lumet & Hecia, despite the fact that
 was not yet legally of age. kt the Chapin his experience was Sch tho same as before. Each posi- D secured was better than the one Tore. but each was made the step k< stone for something higher. As office boy at tho Calumet & Hecla, se Of his duties were neglected I
 he also was preparing himself as
 exprert accountant. At the Chapin. l
 -n- II