Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-07-31
GUFfEY A FRIEND
OF OPPORTUNITY
PENNSYLVANIA, WHOM BRYAN
DOWNED, A MAN OF RARE
CAPABILITIES.
ON THE JUMP ALL THE TIME.
Never Lets a Chance Slip by That Will
Rebound to Fame or Fortune
of Col. Guffey.
A GAME FIGHTER AND A sTICKER.

shivering spears, it is dollars to dough-
nuts, his friends insist, that he would
have earned the unqualified approval
of Sir Thomas Mallory, one of the lead
ing war correspondents of the time,
says Thomas NJ. Jones in the New York
Post. Gutfey would have been no
clumsy swashbuckler. He would have
been as handy with suave II faith,
gentll sir" or the psychologically timed
'Gramercy" as with his sword. But
he would have been there with the
goods when the scrap was on" to Dor
row favorite expression of the Shar-
key Athletic club.
Out at Denver recently, the henchmen
Of William Jennings Bryan boosted, be
tcre the Democratic convention was
cpened, that they would put the indian
sign on Jim Guffey." All of whica the y
d!d. Guffey went back to P;ttsuurg
TIL own out of his place on the national
CT mmittee, by order Of the Nebr;tSi<am
cello date who has long oeen sharpen
'llS his knife against the Gay whom t
N"un! be time to maze a telling slash
at the man who was once his hacker.
And Guffey's niche has been filled by
James kerr-also a Pennsylvania colo
nef'-once the petroleum producers
friend and associate in state strife, but
his Implacable enemy at Denver.
An Via lime democrat.
Guffey is a Pennsylvania product. He
was born on farm in the heart of the
soft coal district of Westmoreland coun-
ty, once the banner Democratic county
of western Pennsylvania-when Guffey,
as young man, and his like ran it and
believed i'll the principles of Andrew
jackson, including that cardinal one OF
seeing no good at any time i'll any Re-
publican.
After Col. Guffey moved out of the
county, the wicked Republicans took pos
session of it, and ever since have been
having things pretty much their own
way. He went south to take position
under the superintendent of the Louis
vile & Nashville Railroad company, get
ting a practical business training which
developed his shrewdness and keen eye
for bargain. He has been making
good bargains ever since.
Opportunities in Oil.
He was quick to see opportunities of
fered to u young man in the oil regions.
He located at st. Petersburg, Clarion
we'll machinery as an agent for manu-
featuring firm, which brought him into
close relations with oil men and their
operations in that new territory. 1t was
not long before he was leasing lands, Sc
curing interests in promising farms,
drilling wells, ana DruuculllS lOEtu DIS dh
oil producer of the first rank.
He soon became owner OF Oil lands,
pipe lines, and all the accessories there
unto appertaining, so that he was re-
garded as having arrived '-incidental-
ly as having arrived with both teet-
which was going some' for a newcomer
in the oil fields. To use the words of
friend, He invested in pipe lines and
local enterprises, helped every deserving
L., l. fv; dc nd &c
victions, believed in progress, and acted
strictly on the square, and he did not
get his money at the expense of his con-
science, of his self-respect, or of his
fellow men,"
Early in Panhandle.
When oil was discovered in Texas, Col.
Guffey was on hand, shaking hands with
old Opportunity, and when the ram
pageous territory of Oklahoma saw the
drill drop through to the third sand
and oil gush forth, who but Guffey
was to the front, helping the wild and
woolly ones to develop-and always get
ting his share? In fact, wherever in
this country oil has been discovered,
there will be found traces of Col. Jim
as its handmaiden, ready to help along
in the good work.
But it is not entirely in oil and gas
that Guffey has been successful. He
owns vast tracts of soft coal lands in
his native county of Westmoreland, in
West Virginia, and other states, and
has extensive holdings of realty in Pitts
burg. where he resides in a beautiful
home in the East Liberty district, die
tating the moves on the battered Demo
cratic chessboard of the keystone state.
There need be no apprehension that the
wolf will ever claw at the door-sill of the
Guffey mansion.
His Neighbors Like Him.
Among his neighbors and those who
know him best, ne is regarded as a
good citizen, frank, honest, and manly,
and a generous giver to charity, or any
cause for the common good. But he
doesn't stand on the street corner and
display his wares-nobody knows what
he gives; but every one knows that he
does.
Such are the Surface indications" of
the man whom William Jennings Bryan
had indicted at the Denver convention.
To tell the truth, Col. Guffey has not
made much of a success as a political
leader He began politics early, and
was when young the friend of the late
William A. Wallace, one of the great
est leaders of the Democratic party
Pennsylvania ever knew. Guffey was
sub-lieutenant to Wallace, and assisted
him when he was elected United States
senator a good many years ago.
He followed the fortunes of Wallace
along with James Kerr of Clearfeld, an
able and brainy man, and Guffey's prin-
cipal and most courageous opponent at
The Denver convention. When Wallace
and the late Samuel j. Randall fought
for the leadership, Guffey remained with
Wallace, and when the old chief retired
II was Guffey and Kerr who warred,
side by side, in fractional contests. In
nublic life Col. Guffey was not promi-
nent until the late Gov. Pattison placed
him on the Pennsylvania commission to
the Chicago exposition. where he rem
dered splendid service in securing coal
and oil exhibits, decidedly the finest at
that wonderful show.
On National Committee.
This brought him into prominence, and
once more he decided to enter politics
1t was not until 1896. however, that he
saw the chance. William F. Harrity,
who had been Grover Cleveland's politi-
cal manager in the campaign of 1892
was disguised with the running of the