The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-19

money ana hlS copper mines and ms
STANDARD Oil stock, and then sprinkle
that Tidewatcr railroad of his on top.
and swallow that. too, saws the New
ork Globe. Since then the very names
OF the bears have been forgotten, and
Henry lluddlestOu Rogers. broad shoul.
dered and erect under n burden Of
sixty nine years. his white hair stand
ing up as briskly as ever, and his white
mustache as military ~ it used TO be-
IS now in Norfolk with a party Of
friends 20 formally take tho lid of his
pet enterprise. 1t cost $4,000 900, and
he paid more than half of this out of
hls own pocket before he asked the
public TO participate IN the financing
Even in In" darkest days OF the panic
hc stood pat, and the railroad got what
IT needed for building purposes. Now
n rs said TO be about the ncatest little
thing in the way Of railroad that the
south has seen. and Mr.. Rogers is
flushed with iustifablc pride
In the Tidcwatcr episode n glance
Mt Mr Rogers s character may be had.
IL is full Of soft spots-aud Of other
spots so hard that carborundum would
crumblc with q squeak if rubbed
against them. In n matter of business
he is iullcxiblc, mcrciless He tells
with appreciation the story Of the man
who ran store in the desert. and sold
two-cent cigars for half dollar each.
To those who protested the salesman
declared grimly that che was not in
business for his health He fought
that Tidcwater project through TO com
plction against all sorts Of Obstacles
and yesterday he loaded steamer with
his good friends. and took them down
10 help him enjoy the formal opening.
One of them is Mark Twain, of whom
Rogers once told with thorough enjoy
mcnt that:
''Wc had a great religious revival
IN Hartford. IL WAS perhaps the most
thoroughly successful the city had ever
experienced. All the preachers in town
sang and preached apd prayed for
three straight weeks. in the end they
took account Of stock, and found they
had lost seventeen church mcmbcrs-
but they had gained Mark Twain
Mark Twain. the humorist, is Rog
crs S closest friend. Years ago. when
Twain was but a comparatively un-
known writer and Rogers had become
u great power in finance, he read
" Roughiug IT. lie hadn't been very
well. and as he laughed and chucl<led
his way through that inimitable yarn
he regained his health. OF / ever
get chance To do something for that
man, II do it, said he And when
Samuel Clemens S publishing house
failed, and every dollar of Twain s was
swallowed up in the wreck, Rogers ar
ranged TO meet him at a hotel one
night. He liked the man when he saw
him as we'll rs he had liked tho book,
and from that day took personal charge
Of his affairs. Rogers's time was
worth thousands of dollars a day-but
he gave 1t freely. And Clemens S
is due TO the devotion of this senti-'
mental man of busincss-this scnti-
mental man who has crushed competi-
ton as ruthcssly as though be were n
iuggcrnaut rolling over the nccks Of
deyotces. OF you were running lit
tie tailor shop there and | was running
little tailor shop here, don't you
think / d Try 10 crush out competl,
tion7' he flashed once, when qucriod
ms to his tactics. 81 don want com
petition. / want il all
That was the plan on which he or
ganiZed the Standard OIL company, for
those familiar with that great corpora
tion believe II was Rogers = keen brain
that first saw the giant possibilities of
the oil business when he entered it in
1861. 1t was he who suggested to his
associates, among them the Rockcfel-
lers. that they attempt TO gain control
of oil in the ground, of oil refining, and
OF oil transportation. And they did.
Nowadays he docsn { deny that they
fought the competitive devil with the
fire of secret rebates. but he declares
they had TO in order to win. And to
win was his passion. He gave his great
strength and his wonderful mentality
to it, and nc did win lie doesn I
spend as much time at his Office now
as nc used to, but that is because he
has so systematizcd his business that
subordinatcs can handle much of it for
him. Why, his private secretary, a
woman. is paid II salary that would
dwarf the stipend of many bank prcsi-
dents. Rogers has the name of always
being willing to pay when the goods
are delivered.
There IS nothing hypocritical or Snug
about him. He dcesn t bow TO public
opinion. although he is keenly sensitive
TO it. In private conversation he is
ant TO defend the course of the Stand
ard Oils management. The structures
upou it seem TO hurt him keenly. But
he has made no effort 90 win the public
10 a better opinion. He has gone grim
w on in his own way. Even his charI-
ties are anonymous, and few men give
more freely 20 charity. But his private
secretary signs the checks. His name
doesu t appear His only charitable
enterprise known to the public is that
by which he has transformed the vii
laoc of Fairhaven, Mass. from A rude
fishing town to a hand.carved, oil-dnish
ornament to the coast. He has spent
millions upon it-all because he was
horn there. Just why he should be
grateful doesn't appear, but he is. IL
Was while he was working at his first
lob. delivering the village newspaper,
that his inboru capacity became evi-
dent. He brought in the name of a
new subscriber, Isaiah West. Mr..
Anthony. the publisher, wrote down the
nnnc. Then he turned TO the boy:
How do YOU spell Isaiah, uenryl'' -
he asked,
..Youll do. - said Mr.. Anthony,
with chuckIe. He told the story TO a
skeptic neighbor, But how did You
know how TO spell it, Hcnry?' asked
II saw him write IT down, - said
Henry,
One of the rights of King Peter Kar,
agcorgcvitch of Scrvia is to be popped
out Of trap like a pigeon. says the
L.