The Washington herald., 1907-08-04

alone in the forest and much Of the SEN
timent which is is German birthright has
taken the form of love for his leafy soli-
tudes Answering a question as 10 his
favoTite diversion one day. he said:
Likes TO Create.
I Ike TO drive-to be in the woods.
adding after a pause. Il like to create,
to construct"
This last remark is the key TO much OF
this mans life, He is one Of those push
ing pioneers who have become rich, but
who have taken as much delight in con-
struction work-though most Of his work
has been destruction of what nature was
ages in building up-as in accommodating
wealth.
Still, he has never lost sight of the main
chance, and charges have been made
against him, as against most rich men,
that he has not always kept within the
law in his eagerness 10 accumulate
profits.
With regard TO the charge that he ac-
quired certain California timber lands IL
legally, however, his friends deny that
he ever owned these lands; that what
grabbing there may have been done was
Weyerhaeuser to taRe the land off their
hands, but he declinAd because the title
was found imperfect Later the title was
perfected, it is said, but the deal never
went through
The negotiations date back TO 1888 and
the removal of the Indians from a part
of the reservation was involved in the
proposed transaction. This Grover Cleve-
land, then President refused to sanction.
The Weyerhaeuser of To-day.
Fourteen years ago, two years after he
made ST Paul his residence, Weyerhaeuser
bought a house on Summit avenue, the
NEST pretentious residence street IN the
city II stands between the milIion-dol-
lar home of James J. Hill and the much
less costly house Of his son. Louis W Hill,
to whose shoulders the burden of the
Great Northern Railroads presidency was
shifted recently. From the rear. the
Weyerhaeuser house, like the Hill
houses, commands a fine view Of the
Mississippi River winding its way at the
base of the high bluffs. The interior fur
nIshing is homelike and comfortable, but
not lavish. Mr.. and Mrs. WeYerhaeuser's s
family Of seven are all married and
away
The sudden national knowledge that
there is a Weyerhaeuser brought about
by the published statements concerning
his great wealth increased his daily mall
enormously at first. Letters from all over
the country-and from other countries
too, particularly his native Germany
arrived by the basketful-by the barrelful
In factor weeks and months. nearly all
asking help. He was almost distracted
by his big mail, as many another fabu-
lousy rich man before him has been.
Wanted Advance.
A fair sample of those not actually beg
ging for help was a special delivery let.
ter received at the dead Of night from
a Wisconsin widow, who wrote that she
had succeeded in saving a hundred dol
lars. and asked him TO advise her how
best TO invest it In timber land He had
made money in such investments, and
she wished to follow his example. Weyer-
haouser sometimes may be severe when
he thinks he has not been treated fairly
in business, although his friends say he
never shows anger, but he comes pretty
near TO it when the ''richer-than- Rookie
feler" story is mentioned in his pres
ence But it is only fair TO say that his
attitude at such times is more akin to
grief than wrath.
He was almost as much annoyed by the
story printed last March that he had been
kidnapped in California as by the story
that he is the richest man. It was sew
eral days before it was discovered that
the story was a fake and on the day
of its publication and the day following
the Summit avenue house was bombarded
with telegrans from far and from near.
They became such nuisance finally thar
at o'clock the house was closed and
the family went to bed, refusing to an
sWer the telephone.
Weyerhaeuser was safe at home in st.
Paul at the time and had been for days.
The story had a sort Of basis, however.
His son, who was In California visiting