The San Francisco call., 1909-09-05
The San Francisco Sunday Gail
LITTLE FIRST JOBS otr FINALLY BIG MEN

70 1obns Honk;ns university and years later
in 1892 he was called to the presidency OF knox cor
1ege Later he left Knox take the chair OF 20 -
which had been created for him, at Pnnceto~
selection for the presidency of the College OF the SS
of New York quickly followed
WONDER AT RYANs CAREER
Fortune is the middle name of Thomas r. Ryan
and it has served him we'll Orphaned at the age OF .
brought I'D bv grandmother, with little chance tor
schooling he left his meager inheritance an unpro-
ductive farm on the eastern slope of the Blue noun
tans in Virginia and wellngh penniess Sougnt en-
poyment in Baltimore From door to door ne went
rebuffed everywhere but still persistent until John .
Barry, dry goods commissioner, heard the boy
story and gave him work. Modest beginnings were
these indeed modest that they may be ealleu non"
at all
The business training gained under Barry and the
knowledge attaching to it were invaluable to young
Ryan He assimilated it quickly, all the more that
his employer recognizing his clerks capacity oe-
lighted in guiding his development. He did not urge
him to remain in Baltimore when foreseeing larger
opportunity in New York city, Ryan removed there IN
1870
Four years later saw him a member of the stock
exchange, and the older members were bind lnoeed
who did see in him vigorous newcomer Inc
operation on change offered few features with wnich
he was not familiar. Such others turned up trors
time to time he mastered without effort, for "
their details came to him as if he had been through
similar crises before
In the first year on change Ryan showed no
characteristic more marked than this of personal
readiness, almost impossible to be surprised and 1t
had foundation in the hrmness, the unswerving
courage, with which he prepared to grapple and
overcome the perils and emergencies of the street
For 10 years he continued in the brokerage busi-
ness, until meeting between him and w. C. Whitney
widened his field. This in 1886, when both
gentlemen were engaged in consolidating the various
street railways of New York city. From this asso-
citation came Whitney's celebrated dictum which may
biography of T. F. Ryan
"He's the most adrot the surest and most noise
less man I've known
Very few New Workers outside of those who pay
particular attention to corporation interests and Sc
curities know anything about Ryan Society knows
him not at ALL quietly-"noiselessly to adopt Whit
ney's word-he has built himself gigantic fortune in
the metropolis and there he lives freer from social
cares than when he is visiting Oak Ridge the place
he built on the site of his birthplace in Virginia That
is what he likes-to be let alone 1t character
istic in his early modest days Baltimore, and his
habits have changed.
LoREES BIRTH AND RISE
Following recent rumor of the retirement of
Z. H. Hartman from the active control of his great
railroad interests the wiseacres of Wall street gen
orally agreed that his mantle would fall upon the
shoulders of Leonor F. Loree. The two are clOse
friends and have been intimately associated in many
great undertakings Outside of the world of finance
and railroads Loree is we'll known. His position
as president of the Delaware and Hudson railroad
and his influence in trusts and corporations
Gus to mention here make him, however, one of the
powerful figures in the street
Lorees first work in the railroad business was as
chairman in civil engineer corps. when he strug-
gled over the mountains of Pennsylvania. He was
advanced however, until he became foreman of a
gang
When the of the Johnstown food was
flashed to the railroad authorities Loree, by lucky
chance, but few miles from the He was
put in charge of the work of establishing communca-
tion with the stricken valley. Bridges had to be
built, roadbeds formed and track laid with the
relief trains waiting impatiently behind him and the
world counting the hours. Loree has ever since
been known "the who made good at Johns
town."
In incredibly short time trains running
into the city 1t is said that throughout this period
he spent every hour of daylight the work, every
hour of the night in planning the work. while on
Sunday he attended to his correspondence. Still com