The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-10
VIM. F. VANDIVER
fcentiaaea from Pase ope.l

| line, as succesSfui merchant, ye ! when he was engaged in any of th, | public movements which demanded hi | attention. no man could frame mor' | direct or more striking appeal to tn, l public than he.
 His Knowledge of Men. l But over and above ali this was hi | thorough Knowledge of men, a knowl I edge which more than any other at | tribute, equipped him for the achieve ment of hIs remarkable success.
 Mir. Vandiver, in his large business affairs, In the conduct of several i'm
 portant financial enterprises he man aged, was a frequent visitor to New York and an associate of a number oi the country's leading financiers H, stood among them, too, in way to re. fleet credit upon his own people. Mont. gUmery and Alabama could well fee proud of him, appearing before a Con. gressionai Committee at Washington or addressing a cold and calculating committee of financiers in Now York The best of them recognized him al
 their equal in ability, in readiness. in
 resourcefulness and in energy. Hls
 address on these occasions as oii all
 others, was polished and forceful, his
 thoughts were clear and his expression
 Of them was direct and telling.
 Mr. Vandtver never held public office.
 He never sought public office. For
 many years he yas probably the most
 influential private citizen in Montgom-
 cry. Until his death 1t might be said
 that no citizen of Montgomery yielded
 more potent personal influence than
 he and yet he never cared to turn 1t
 into political preferment.
 There were many men in Muntron-
 cry and out of Montgomery who had hoped to see him Governor of Alabama.
 Among some of the most thoughtful
 men of the State his ability, his
 broadness, his capacity for business, hlB strength and ability were discussed as forming a splendid equipment for
 the executive office. Had disease not attacked him, he would in all proba-
 bility have been brought before the people of Alabama as one splendidly equipped to serve the State as Cover. nor. There Is a pathos about the year of disease and death. in that 1t came just as he was relaxing from the stren- uous life he had led since boyhood; 1t came just as he was broadening his life's interests and his philanthfoplc
 work. It came just as he was ioosen- ing hold now and then on his many business affairs that he might devote hls capacity and ability to still broad CT fields. And 1t came when higher honors and richer rewards awaited him.
 MT. vandlver was born at ogIethorpe. Ga, the son of minister As q boy he came with his mother to Mldway ifl Bullock County. and there as boy he spent the earliest years of his life. In 1871 he came to Montgomery to start life without money and without friends in the city He took a subordinate position with the wholesale firm Of Le- Grand and Company, one of the big business concerns in Montgomery In the years following the war From the first he made his personality felt. The element of luck never entered into the making of his success, like working fourteen and sixteen hours a day dld and like determined and thoughtful study of every question that arose did He put both brains and energy into his labor and the two combined have never yet failed to achieve success. Mir vandlver in quick time began to reap his reward from that labor Into which he put more energy and more brains than he was paid for.
 Moving Forward.
 Tn flow years the head of the firm desired to retire after a long and use. full buslneRa life, the old sign or Le- Grand and Company was painted out and new sign of Vandiver and Hob. bic was painted on, Mir. vandiver had associated with him Henry M. Hobble another of the noted wholesale ner- chants who had helped build up Mont. gomery.
 At this stage of his career MT. Van diver began the display of the fore- sight, study and understanding that his business career. He believed that Montgomery should be a great Jobbing and wholesale center. There were problems of rates and transportation to-be overcome. MT. Vandiver met and mastered them. He enjoyed among railroad men Inc repu- tation of knowing more about rates and transportation than any other mer- chant of Alabama. It has been said of him that had he entered q railroad of- have by sheer will, capacity and in- dustfy, risen to be President of the road.
 It is but simple and just tribute to say of Mir. Vandiver that he more than any other man was responsible for the excellent rates which Montgomery en- joyed. The study of rates as they re- lated to Montgomery was his special care. He considered the question ale ways in it's practical and business re- lation and not in it's political aspect. He realized early the importance of the Alabama River and as an infiu- ence on freight rates, and he labored energetically to keep the river open always for transportation and thus have Montgomery ready at all time to demand and receive the benefits of the river rates.
 Work for the City.
 As new conditions arose in the rate issue he foresaw them and was ready. Largely as a result of his labors Mont gomery has enjoyed the exceptional rates and shipping facilities within which Montgomery's great wholesale business has been built up.
 Mir. VandJver was the most energetic of all the workers for. governmental aid to Alabama river navigation. He was president until last July of the Peoples Line of Steamers. an enter prise, which was in financial import ance, subsidiary to most of his other interests. but which had an important bearing in retaining for Montgomery Its fostering rates. He was also chairman of the Alabama Rivers and Harbors Improvement Association and he was Vice President for Alabama of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress. Mir. Vandiver was also chairman and founder of the Mont gomery Freight Bureau, an institution which has applied and Is applying prac- tfcal methods to the solving of freight questions.
 On the first of January, 1883, Mir. Robbie retired from the firm of Van diver and Robbie and the firm of W. F. Vandiver and Company was organ ized and succeeded to the business. Associated with Mr. Vandiver was his ha