Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-09-13

: Copyright 1907 by Henry G. Pasahi''
A face enough like Bismarck,s 10
make the resemblance startling
slender, wiry, boyish figure topped by
,i,a head a manner self-assureds
vet never coarsely aggressive ihefe' |
in a nutshell, is the personality Oh one
y, the most picturesque, interesting
aeures in all New England-that Oh W.
= Dous,as Ex-Governor of Massachu-
sets.
R,t II IL not chiefly as Ex-Governor
or indeed as statesman at ALL 'ha' 'ne
world at large knows Mr.. Douglas a
ouortar.mile of factories, yearly out
mt Of something over three miiiioh
nairs of shoes, and face that iooAS
out from the advertising columns Oh
eight thousand newspapers-these arc
tina outward attributes that have maze
the name of w. L. Douglas so familiar
from Maine to California.
The story of the man who could MAKE
himself so we'll known; his secret Oh
achievement, his life history ana MS
hints on business success Will not ohiy
be OF interest, but of profit to every
class Of reader.
For the description of hard climb
of winning fight against circum-
stances and the climbers" rules Tor
victory are always worth hearing. the
world loves a fighter and takes an In
serest in his battles.
And w. L. Douglas Is a hghter' as
EVAN the most casual student Of human
nature could CLEAN from one glance at
the strong, prominent jaw, the Level
brows, the firm set of the lips.
That cast of features set Bismarck
to topping European thrones. The same
physiognomy with gentler mould OF
eve and MOUTH has caused Douglas 10
reyolutionize business, to wiring wealth
from poverty and political power from
a State peopled by majority that dli-
fers from him in politics.
Bismarck tore down. Douglas mas
built up. That is where the milder eye
and mouth come in.
There is a keyword to Douglass sue
cess. of course Several Of them, In
fact The foremost is advertising
His Life Motto.
Newspaper advertising" is his life
motto in business. First, be cure you
have something worthy to advertise
Something Just as good as you say 1t
is. Struggle to keep it as good, ana
then advertise it constantly. The
newspaper is the field in which my ad-
yertising has brought me the only per-
fectly satisfactory returns And have
tried many lines before settling down
exclusively to that theory.
The same cradle" served for New
England and for the man who was one
day to be Governor of its Oldest State.
For It was in ancient Plymouth, scene
of the Pilgrims landing, that Douglas
was born, in 1S45. His was as pathetic
and hopeless childhood as ever DICK
ems pictured for David Copperfield or
other of his luckless boy heroes. That
Douglas rose from it to any later posi-
ton whatever speaks volumes for the
stuff he was made Of.
In 1850 news came to Plymouth
woman that her husband, the bread
winner of their large family. had been
drowned at sea. All the children were
young. The mother was almost with
out means. So two years later she
verbally "bound OUT one of the brood
"a precocious boy of SEVENTH his
uncle, a shoemaker. The child's life
from then on became one long era Of
drudgery and hardship. His uncle set
him at once to pegging shoes by hand.
This was a task for grown workers,
but the baby fingers were kept at the
incessant toll of it from dawn to dark.
No holiday, no let-up Of any sort, and,
worst Of all, no wages.
The seven-year-old boy was carrying
unduly heavy weapons in his life-bat-
tie. He has been carrying them ever
since His ability to do so explains
why he became Governor William l..
Douglas, instead of merely Journeyman
Bill Douglas.
His uncle was a stern task-master.
Apart from the shoe-pegging. the child
was called upon to perform score Of
equally severe duties. Among them
was the twice-a-day journey into the
woods, in bitterest New England
winter weather, to cut and drag In
wood for the shops fires.
Only at rare intervals was he allowed
to leave his workbench for the school
room. But at such periods he proved
so apt a scholar as to make up for the
long lapses. He was greedy for educa
tion and seemed to absorb his scantJ
portion of II without effort. 1t was
only by this strange proficiency that ne
CLEANED any learning at all.
For four years the slavery went on
Then Douglas returned to his mother
But so valuable had he become in thu
shop that his uncle induced him t.
come back to him at the nunificen
wage Of IS a month. Until he was fiji
teen he continued to work thus, all the
time busy with new ideas along his
own line. These ideas were one day Il
bear fruit
Once, seeking to better himself, M
went to work in a Plymouth cottor
mill at 80 cents day. This meant fully
IS a month, and the 50 raise seemed
not unlike dream Of wealth. But fat'
e.