The Washington herald., 1911-03-05

the table. because James Otis Watson
| scarcely talked at all He would trave
half day with an old acquaintance and
| never say a word.
Clarence Wayland Watson friend
warned me. lis like his father. He is
sagaciousIy silent while other people are
| terviewing him, but you will find il
| mighty tedious work.
| The friend was wrong. Still, I have
| plowed in fields where the ground was
| not so hard. Until Watson came to the
Senate. as the successor of Stephen IS.
1 Elkins, his custom was TO say no or
| yes" Sometimes he said nothing for a
| week. In that event he kept the other
side guessing, which is part of the Wat
son practice, entailed from the elder to
| the younger man. Thus he bought coal
lands or sold the coal itself. Hetty Green
| counseled her son. Ned to sleep at
least one night before giving a binding
answer ]. P. Morgan bargains in two
dwarf sentences. II will take it," or, Il
do not want it, he says and the listen
\ ing man walks out.
! Watson mined 3OO,000 carloads of coal
| last year. The task was done without
! any waste of breath. Nevertheless, Wat
son would sooner talk than write or
telegraph, if the business in negotiation
| is large or delicate. He will travel
\ across the continent rather than jeop-
ardize a transaction with pen and ink
| or muddle il with doubt Adept in sew
eraI directions-vision for example, and
| also Nnerve-he excels in organization.
| The farm he bought on credit has ex-
panded into an empire OF 10000 acres,
situated in four States. He Is the king
of coal. though many blunt and brilliant
4 N 10 hllSinpSS
Now that he has turned his energies
toward politics, there is a suggestion that
the Democrats ask him to manage their
campaign next year against President
Taft.
Big Mouth of Greatness.
Serious of visage and almost coIorless,
Watson has brown hair, gray eyes, and
large mouth. An .auger hole of a
mouth ,subtracts from expression and
weakens the masculInity of any face.
Big men are big-mouthed. See the por-
traits of Washington. Franklin, Webster.
Clay, and Calhoun. not to mention Bryan,
Roosevelt, and Cannon. Watson's nose
is like Mark Misunderstanding at the ends,
with broad nostrils, or air pipes to the
lungs He dresses in the latest fashion,
except that he INDUCES himself in the
d
by his table, on which there are box of
cigars and two volumes of ephemeral
fiction, he swings one leg over the other
and slowly but cordially answers my
questions about rich men, corporations,
and himself. Now and then he puts his
elbows ON his knees and leans forward
as he talks. There is no paint on his
words. His sentences are short cuts to
the opinions he has formed and the facts
within his knowledge.
THE company of which I was president
until a month ago." he said, mined
II OO0, 900 tons of coal last year. My father
and my brother-in-law brought me to
Washington in 1876. was eleven years
old. They had contracts to supply the
gas companies here and IN Georgetown
with coal In those days gas was not
made OF water and oil. To the grief of
my brother-in-law, we lost the George
town contract II amounted TO ninety
tons a month. Never mind. my father
said: ''it'll not break US up. We shall
ship 10000 tons this year. / expect That
quantity OF COAL" Senator Watson OBJ
served, "can now be mined on our prop
erty inside Of two hours"
About that time" said. you were
Initiated into the mysteries and perplex-
tiles of driving mules?''
80 the newspapers have stated. /
grew UP around the mines. and did al
most everything under ground and above
ground, but 1 was never on the pay
roll as mule driver Senator Watson
replied. I'VE lived on q farm OF so
acres, just outside the village OF Fair
mont Our log house contained eight
or ten rooms. was born in that house.
It Is now occupied by my gardner. My
fve brothers. all older than myself.
worked the farm and shipped cattle. In