Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-16


New Workers who are prominent. He
is New Yorker in everything except
accent. He talks little better English
than the average born New Yorker, but
otherwise he Is as thoroughly New
Yorkish as any one could wish.
Il love this CITY," he said yesterday.
Il love the dirt on the streets"
!, Now that is saying a good deal.
| When Colonel Clowry first went to
New York to take charge Of the West
ern Telegraph company. Mr.. Ridder
entertained him at little dinner.
There were twenty-five prominent men
at the dinner-trust company presi-
dents, public officials and that sort.
They took a poll about the time the
dessert was served, just for the fun
Of the thing. Mr.. Ridder was the only
New Yorker at the table
| Started Career Early.
The precocity Of Mr.. Ridder has been
displayed in other ways than in his
political activities. He was eleven
years old when he started out to make
his own living. He began at the top,
taking a job in hat store. Then he
became a messenger for a Wall street
firm, and in that position he obtained
a knowledge Of that essentially New
Yorkish institution Wall street." that
has stood him in very good stead. 1t
may be that even then Fate had chos-
en- him for his present position, al
though there must be something wrong
about that, for everybody says that
Wall street is supporting Mr.. Taft in
this campaign.
| After he had found out lot about
Wall street he went into the insurance
business. He worked fourteen years
for the Tradesmen's Fire Insurance
company and knew all about risks and
that sort Of thing at the end of the
newspaper business. What attracted
him to the newspaper business he
doesn't quite know. He didn't want
to work for anybody, but Herman Rid
| reporter, or just an editor. He just
| wanted to run the whole paper. At
that time he couldn't find anybody with
newspaper who was particularly anx-
| ious to have him run his property, so
he started a new paper. 1t was called
the Katholisches Volksblatt, but even
the name didn't scare the new editor,
because his parents were German, and
he was used to such things. When he
had worked the circulation Of his pa
per up to the top notch, and realized
that he had gone as far as he could he
started another paper, and began all
over again. His first newspaper VEN
ture had been the first German Cath
Ollie newspaper in the city. His second
was the Catholic News, which he soon
made the foremost English Catholic
paper in the country.
Succeeded Ottendorfer.
| Somehow or other Mr.. Ridder just
couldn't satisfy himself. He encoun-
tered a lot of obstacles and overcame
them and then forgot about them, and
went around looking for new hurdles
to jump over. He heard that Mr.. OF
tendorfer was i'll and it struck him
that perhaps he would be doing Mr..
Ottendorfer a favor by running his
paper for him. It took him about a
month to convince Mr.. Ottendorfer that
his plan was just about the best thing
that was ever thought Of. But Mr..
Ridder wouldn't work on a simple SAL
ary. He wanted part Of the paper he
worked for for his very own, and he
got it. 1t was in 1890 that he became a
stockholder in the Stats. Now he
owns 496 of the 500 shares in the prop
erty.
But to get back to the simile Of the
lightning rod. 1t would seem that Mr..
Ridder is the sort Of human lightning
rod that heat lightning, If there is such
thing in politics, affects, but which
real lightning passes through into the
earth or water below" The heat
lightning Of honorary membership,
trusteeship, craftsmanship and treasur-
ership has hit Mr. Ridder very hard,
but he has always successfully lodged
the real lightning OF political Office with
a stipend attached.
II don't believe that man can hold
public Office and be an unprejudiced
journalist" says Mr.. Ridder IF a
hn 10 IN a
feeling Of gratitude toward those who
put him in the position he occupies.
That Is human nature. I wanted to
stay In the newspaper business. I like
it. So 1 didn't take office. But II the
occasion had arisen where I was the
one man that could beat the other fell
low might have acted otherwise. But
I would have given up the newspaper
business"
Everybody's Friend.
Out in Denver this summer they sur
prised all the delegates to the Demo-
cratic national convention by stopping
the trolley cars whenever the lightning
played. They didn't stop the cars,
however, when the vice presidential
lightning came so near hitting Mr.. Rid
der. Brilliant flashes played about that
straw colored hair Of his only a few
weeks since, when there was a lot Of
speculation as to who the Democrats
were going to name for governor. La
ter the electric storm must have re-
turned for he was talked Of for the
lieutenant governorship. Storm warn
ings are already on display for next
fall, when the Democrats will have to
name a candidate for mayor Of New
York city. Will Mr.. Ridder be men
toned? Yes, prominently men,
toned" And If, after being mention
ed, he suddenly gives up the newspa-
per business, look out for a German
American administration in the city
hall.
There isn't a more popular man In
the Democratic national headquarters
than Herman Ridder He is every
body's friend and, what counts for a
great deal more in politics, everybody
Il