The Cairo bulletin., 1911-05-23
THE SECRET or
HIS SUCCESS
How a Farmer Boy Eeo1me
Head of 4 Great Trust.

was the main man in all that region
He had risen from farmers boy to
president Of the lunber t!1lSt. and any
pe who could d0 thu certainly must
IN worth listening to. ne guest asked
biz 70 tell the story OF how he &ot his
stat.
How did | get my 'tart?'' he said
Il must first give yonrnt preface, Few
OF US realize when some ordinary thiae
happens what an inline ice il may have
on our lives. But this Is not remark
able since perhaps but one event IN u
million Is Of any especial Importance
10 us. That one IN Il million in nly
case was missing train. II had
caught that train, as should lslye
done instead of dawdlis & through the
town looking at everything | passed.
would have been today IA farmer
But | missed the train. had come
to town to buy horse. ! was the
greenest kind Of country gawk. No
cabbage patch was greener, though
was strong as an OK and good at 4 bar
gnin. The only amusement had ever
known was wrestling with the boys
after the days work was over and the
stock was fed But didn't enjoy that
very long. for was SO strong that aft
err awhile they gave up trying to throw
me, and | desenerated into an umpire,
We'll, when | found | had missed
the train started to walk back to the
farm; but. passing along the street.
stopped TO cape at handbill of
show that was to take place that night,
The admission was quarter, but that
didn't stagger me, and / resolved TO
see the performance. / went to the
hall. paid my money and waited an
hour before the fun began. When ii
did, | furnished more merriment to the
audience than the performers. haw
hawed at everything funny and gasp
ed for breath at everything remarka.
BILE. 1t wasn't long before every one
was looking at me. Finally some ath.
letes came out on the stage, and one
fellow gave performances involving
feats Of strength. When he had Rnish-
ed he invited any one in the audience
to come up and wrestle with him,
PROMISING that he would pay $50 if he
" as dowaed. The challenge Was more
than could stand. jumped up from
my seat and, pulling off my coat, said,
III so you
There was roar of laughter from
the audience. Some of them tried to
stop me, telling me TO sit down and
not make fool of myself; that the man
on the stage would wipe the floor with
me But there was one old gentleman
beside whom l had been sitting who
told me to go ahead. l couldn't have
been stopped, for had got my mind
dead set on throwing the athlete and
making the $25, which was more mon.
ey than I had ever seen in my life. So
UP went, and In q few minutes we
were locked. arms and legs.
1--WE furnished amusement for the
crowd for ten or fifteen minutes before
we came to a crisis. The fellow had
more science than |, who pretty nearly
equaled him In strength. But I had
the advantage of him In never having
drunk drop in my life and not hav-
Ing pound Of superhuous flesh on me.
He got winded at last, and, getting a
hold on his hip, threw him. He came
down with a thud, and wild cheer
followed my victory.
Il suppose you'll think all this can
have very little to do with start In
life, but 1t has all to do with 1t. Where
is the connecting llnk2 The old gentle
man who egged me on. When the
show was over he asked me to come
with him and, taking me to his hotel,
told me he was in the lumber busi-
ness and that he had a great many
men under him who were very hard
to control. He said that IL he could
insubordlnate Of them he might main
tain discipline. He offered me good
salary to try it. and l accepted.
The men laughed when they saw
country lOut put over them. and within
a couple of days they mutinied. / said
to them that | would like to have them
put up their best man against me and
If he whipped me would resign; if |
whipped him they were TO obey my
orders. They accepted the challenge,
put up their strongest man, and we
set to. / was pretty strong, but the
champion was stronger. He had no
skill at wrestling, while had fair
knowledge of 1t, besides slight knowl-
edge Of how TO use my fists. ! landed
blow that staggered him, then rush
ed in and, catching him by one leg and
his waist, threw him so hard that he
couldn't get up.
THAT settled the matter Of my au-
thority, and not a man disputed It
! had good deal of bulldog energy
and made myself valuable In various
ways where energy was required On
one occasion when we were behind
with a contract | saved the day by
standing over the men and getting
double work out OF them. That
brought me in closer connection with
the firm, and when one OF the part
ners died was taken In in his place
Gradually the other members of the
.irm. who were older than l., died off.
n