The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-08-20
been pat OF three different trains.


then speaker of the house. He heard
the boys story and gave him the de-
sired appointment, and VIM. Alden,
when he refers to that incident of
his life, says that it is doubtful IL
any of his many later successes ever
tasted 80 sweet.
AS a legislative page young Smith
acquired the political taste, and 1t
appears to have fingered with him
ever since.
BY singular coincidence, John T.
Rich was a member of the legisla-
ture which elected VIM. Alden Smith
to the United States senate. Mr..
Rich Is at present collector of the
port at Port Huron.
FuIfiIls Promise to Become Lawyer.
Upon returning to Grand Rapids
after the legislature adjourned, the
youthful Smith felt the call of the
law again asserting itself. He ap.
piled to a prominent legal firm for a
place in their Office. They were not
In the habit of paying salaries to
Office students, and he could not get
along without it. He went to an
uncle in Chicago who was a lawyer,
only to find him gone away for an
indefinite period He returned to
Grand Rapids and found the office
OF the legal firm to whom he had
first applied locked. He knew the
owner of the building and, borrowing
the key, entered and took possession
of the office. He cleaned the win
dows, mopped the floors, busted the
books, received the mail and visitors.
In short, he had forcibly broken
into the legal profession. Upon the
return of the partners, they were at
first surprised and somewhat indig-
nant until he explained the advant-
ages of having the Office kept open
during their absence. He was re-
tanned at a small salary, and four
years later admitted to the bar at
the age of "a. The prominence he
attained is we'll known history.
The recital of his ambitions,
struggles and successes might be
strung out to cover many columns.
Many Of his critics would attribute
his success in life to what they term
his "proverbial good luck; to the
hypnotic influence which goes with
jollying nature; to his remarkable
memory for names and faces; in fact,
to almost anything and everything
except the real reasons.
His good-natured traits have been
substituted for the real Smith, as one
of his friends has said.
AS a matter of fact Senator VIM.
Alden Smith is an aggressive, hard
headed, ambitious man, sagacious in
business and In politics.
His astuteneSs as a clever player
or the great game of life must be con-
coded. He knows how to handle men.
Perhaps this is the foundation stone
upon which he builds. Senator Smith
never suppresses his personality. It
has been said of him that, 'In his
heart there seems to be a perpetual
springtime OF hopes" and that, "His
buoyant imagination paints rainbow
in darkest skies"
He is not easily convinced, and
avoids traps through his native sa-
gacity. He Is bold-it is one of his
axioms-and not afraid to ask for
what he wants, and admits it. Asked
how he came to be appointed on the
Ways and Means committee when he
first entered congress, he will tell you
frankly that he went directly to
Speaker Reed and asked for the place
and got it.
The touching human side of Sena-
tor Smiths character was sweetly re-
vealed in the tender remembrance of
his father and mother, for whom he
has provided comfortable home in
their old age among the flower
gardens Of California, when he said,
in the closing words or his speech
Of acceptance and at the moment OF
achieving the glory of his life:
Looking into the faces of my wife
and child and over your heads, I see
in the window of an humble cottage,
5000 miles away, the sweet faces of
my father and mother, made happier
by this triumph of mine"
That Senator Smith should have
found time in his busy political ca
reer to wrest success in the business
world is a matter of small wonder.
Aside from the earnings from BIS
legal profession, his first big busir oss
venture was in the nature of railroad
building as a speculation. In 1897 he
began the work of constructing short
stretches Of railroads connecting
Grand Rapids and Kalkaska; in 1899
he built the Grand Rapids G. Saginaw,
which later consolidated with the
Lowell & Hastings. His profits were
represented in bonds, which, with ex-
traordinary confidence and bold judg-
ment, he labeled 100000 1t was only
a few years later that the Pere Mar
quette was glad to give him real,
good money for the full face value of
his bonds.
Since then he has gone on prosper
ing. He is a shrewd investor and
makes his money work for him.
In his boyhood he had sold the
Grand Rapids Herald on the streets.
It was from sentimental reasons, per-
haps, that he first became a stock
holder, then president, and is now
principal owner of one of the best
paying and influential papers in Mich
igan or the Middle West.
In his home life William Alden
Smith is again exceptionally FORUM
ate. He married, in 1886, Miss Mana
Osterhout, of Grand Rapids, whose
similar tastes and brilliant compan-
ionship is the fulfillment Of his cup of
happiness.
Mrs. Smith takes a deep interest in
his political career and is credited
with having given him valuable sup
port in his election as senator. 1t Is
said that at the time a state sena-