davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

got them at favorable figures by reason of her relation to the head of the great concern. Whatever price she paid she got the shares at bargain The Stand ard Oil plays few favorites, but 1t takes care of it's own.
 At intervals of year or two the pri- vate secretary got an increase in pay. She had to apply for it just as does every other employe of Standard Oil Once year any and every meploye who thinks he is entitled to an increase is priv
 iliged to send his application to the com mittee on salaries. The applicant tells of his or her services, and the reasons why the advance should be made. Every raise in salary to the little private sec retary to John D. meant just so much more investment in Standard oil stock.
 For 25 years Matte Skinner was pri vate secretary to John D. Rockefeller. He had another secretary, about whom the world has heard a good deal. That is Frederick T. Gates a man who to- day is the almoner of the great million aire. But although the outside world never heard of Matte Skinner, the details of her work brought her into even closer touch with the famous mans affairs. Col umns upon columns have been written about Katherine Harrison, private secre- | tary to H. Fl. Rogers. She was pie tured in 100 publications, and her home was set forth and described at length in
 many more Throughout the civilized world it was told the tremendous salary she received-S12,000 a year the largest salary ever known to be paid to any woman secretary. If Matte Skinner re- ceived a penny less than Katherine Har- risor IL was not because she was less able. Certainly she was greater power In Standard Oil; certainly she knew more of the ramifications of the great corpora l ton; certainly she knew more of the 3f- l fairs of the richest man in the world. l Any ore who thinks woman cannot
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

firm was Joking with eagerness for an answer to any particular message, the girl was on the qui vive to get it the instant the operator at the other end opened his key She was alert, bright, clever, keen and ever willing.
 The business of the concern grew rapid ly The private line to the factories spread out to the oil fields. More oper- ators had to be employed. The girl in the Cleveland office practically became chief operator. Every recruit had to pass her scrutiny None but good teiegra- phers were employed. Some excellent ones were obtained, but none was her equal in ability. She tested each applicant just as they test them in the Western Union or the Postal today.
 MT. Rockefeller and MT. Flagler were close students of character. The girl tel egrapher had not been with the firm many months before they knew they had an unusual young woman on their hands. They paid her good salary, and by all ordinary rules she should have been content But she wasn't. She wanted to broaden her sphere of opera tion, so she took up the study of sten- ography. Within a year she was almost as good a s5enographer as she was a telegraph operator. She had a genius for telegraphy and a genius for pothooks
 One day MT. Rockefeller brought a tel egram to her to transmit and saw some stenographic characters in a notebook she had before her. He asked her how many words a minute she could take from dictation. She told him. Apparently his question was an idle one, but a few months later, when his regular stenogra- pher failer to report for duty, he called Matte Skinner into his office and asked if she could spare enough time from her telegraph desk to take his letters from dictation, and if she could remain after
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03
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 of the Telegraph and Telephone Age. 1 MT. Andrews had taken a great fancy to Taltavan and wanted him to give up teleg-
 raphy and learn the business of oil re Ihnng. Young Taltavall was eager enough to follow Mr. Andrews, advice, but Tal- tavall.s father opposed it. The refining end of the oil business was a more dan gerous thing in those days than it is now. There were many explosions. and the elder Taltavall feared his son would be injured in one of these accidents. Talta- wall unable to become a retiner, got an attack of wanderlust, and gave up his position. His departure left a vacancy for the girl from Minnesota.
 It was an innovation for a girl to te employed in the oil business in any ca pacity. and the appearance of this young woman telegrapher, scarcely past child hood. in the office of Rockefeller Andrews Ss Flagler caused a mild sensation. In fact. there were few feminine telegraph CTS in all the country. At that time about 1872 or 1S73-the girl telegraphers numbered a few dozens, where today many thousands are scattered over the country.
 This Is year old girl did not seem to consider there was anything unusual in her employment She sat down quietly at her telegraph table in the main office of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler just as if she were an old timer. The oper- ators out at the various factories dis covered in a short time that she was a better telegrapher than they. They could not rush" her, and there were few of them who could take stuff as fast as she could send it. She could send like a blue streak, and every character was as clear and distinct as it is possible for a human touch on a key to make it. She wrote a big clean. swinging hand-a char acteristic telegraphers fist. There was no nonsense about her. and she paid at tenton to business every minute she was on duty
 The Standard oil company was in it's formative stages in those days. In the op- erations of the firm of Rockefeller, An drews &, Flasler, John D. Rockefeller managed affairs at headquarters and looked after the finances. MT. Andrews supervised everything at the factories, Henry NJ F7agler was treasurer and man of detail. Each of these men soon got to have a higher respect for the ability of the girl at the key She made no mistakes.
 She hadn't been in the office a month before she knew the business so far as it was within any outsiders power to know it. She was alert, always willing and always dependable Every morning she was at her desk not on time but a lit- tie ahead of time Every evening she left the office not when the clock struck ,, but usually 15 or 20 minutes later. If there was a rush of business she never willing to leave until everything was cleared up. She never was obtrusiVe. but the business of the firm was her busi- ness and she gave 1t her earnest atten- ton. When one of the members of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03


 keep a secret need only read of Rather inc Harrison and Hattie Skinner No one eyer has accused either of talking of Standard Oil But there Is nothing more wonderful about Standard Oil than the fidelity It develops among its em- ployes. from highest to lowest
 Among teegraphers there is a free mas onry. yet no one outside Standard Oil knows tho extent and the intricacies of its independent telegraph system. It's wires stretch Ver thousands of miles, tapping most of the cities east of the Mississippi and good many west of 1t. Hundrlds of telegraphers are em- ployed, yet there is not a fragment Of information obtainable even as to just what points the s.stem covers. There are not statistics regarding the line. All the outer world knows is that the tele- gGlph company is bLrled under the style of the National Transt company, and that tho wires .f the StanGarG Oil follow most Of the pine lines. Telegraph statis- ticians have tried to get reports just as matter of record, and, failing to get them at headquarters, have gone to the em- ployes Bat there S no information forth- coming
 1 When John D Rockefeller retired his | private secretary retired too. She never lost interest in the telegraph. There is a. story that in .lle telegraph 1eom iS~eS | 3j r-oAtssy ete Used tn apEear reg ulariy. si' down 2 a tlfic and send | and receive and delight in it. She n-ver los. her wonderful skill. Neither has she lost he' iasc f ? the sound of tho l Nnrse characters. ever Dr to this time. Sire is gray of Lair oGay and no longer what the world eaiis young, but she is said 10 have a telegraph outfit in her l handsome Cleveland Eo.ne.
 l The Standard Oil always will know her as Ma-lie Skinner. but ,.sT eland knows her by her married name Mrs. Futile. l Copyright 1911, by Richard Spillane)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

hours and get the correspondence off. She
 said she could
 MT. Rockefeller knows how to dictate.
 He enunciates clearly, has full command of the subject before he starts to talk,
 and goes ahead at an even speed. But he talks faster than it seems, and it re- qures a good stenographer to keep up with him and not get illustrated His own stenographer had difficulty in following him, but Matte Skinner didn't. She got the letters out that night, and when MT.
 Rockefeller came to sign them, he found
 no mistakes. They didn't have typewrit- CTS in those days, but they had better penmen than they have today, as a gen. 1 eral rule. The letters that girl wrote were fine specimens of chirography. | There was no extra remuneration in the pay envelope of Matte Skinner at the end of that week for the extra work. l Within two or three months, however, MT Rockefeller asked her if she would like to be his stenographer. She got good pay as a teegrapher She would get a fair increase as stenographer, so she ac- cepted 1t.
 Any person who has read the history of Standard oil knows something of the
 activity. the picturesqueness the des- perateness of the fight waged for many years between the Standard Oil in it's youth and it's rivals. The girl who at
 the key had handled the messages be-
 came, as stenographer to John D.
 Rockefeller, one of the best informed
 persons in all the country as to the af-
 fairs of the Standard Oil. Every letter
 from the master of that freat corpora
 ton passed through her hands, and she
 came to know each and all of the men
 who now are known as the Standard
 Oil millionaires When Standard Oil
 came to New York Matte Skinner came
 with it.
 As the corporation spread out the vol
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

A s ru1o. V omen do not become
 A great teiegTaphers. There Is 4 A something in the feminine make up that seems to be against the highest canacitv necessary in the telegraph art. 5 A6attie Skinner is a great teiegrapheT She is the greatest woman telegrapher America has known. Those who are capable of judging say she can send as fast as Patsy" Ayres ever could: that she Is equal 10 +. c. Me Clfntic at his best; that she has the delicacy of touch that made Billy Cur tis famous, and that as a receiver she is fully as good as, if she does not ex- eel Johnny McCloskey or Ed Sprong
 She was and she Is a wonder. She is the queen of telegraphers And yet Ayres. McClockey, McChntic, Strong Kihm and even Walter P. Phillips, oracle of the teleghaph, never heard of her.
 Matte Skinner lives in palace out on Euclid avenue in Cleveland. In the splitting of the Standard Oil into many particles she is much concerned, for she holds fair amount of Standard Oil stock She is one of the rich women of America whose lives have been closed to the public. Hundreds of mil lionaires know her and have for many years But her name never before has appeared in print. She has been one of the silent forces in the Standard Oil one of it's most valuable employees and yet no one outside the Standard oil knew her. She took a part--a small part, perha ps-in the making of the greatest business organization the world ever has known, and she did her part we'll
 It is not generally supposed that the telegraph business offers wide oppor- tunity for business development, espe- cially for girl. The young woman who goes into an office and has to sit at an instrument all day long Is looked upon as being little more than an automaton. But there is no department in life where good sense, ambition and tact will not bring reward The telegraph field has its blossoms even for women. If you have any doubt of it read the story of Matte Skinner
 She was only Is when she and another girl went to Cleveland. The two friends had worked in a town in Minnesota as operators, and had gone to Cleveland on a promise of higher pay. The other girl got work with the Western Union. but Miss Skinner did not. and 1t was fortunate for her that she didn't. She heard there was a vacancy with a pri- vate concern, and she made application for the job. She got 1t. The private concern was the firm of Rockefeller, An drews X Flagler These men had a lot of oil works in the neighborhood of Cleveland, and their various refineries were connected by a private telegraph line In addition. they had a special wire to New York, which they leased from the Western Union. Half dozen or more operators were in their employ The first telegrapher they ever employed was John B. Taltaval now the editor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

things we are now making a directory CT the names of business houses which handle imported merchandise in all foreign countries. The material for this has already been gathered and the book will be published some time this year.
 "As to what our foreign trade is the bureau of statistics will give yol fig ures. Last year our exports were just about $l,74o, COG, 600 or almost s6- 00o,0oo day for every working day of the year. Our imports were about the highest they have ever been in the history of the country and they amount ed all told to almost s50O0.0Oo for every such working days. These figures are so great as to be beyond comprehension, but they give one some idea of our for egn commerce, which is still at its be- ginning and which is bound to increas s from year to year."
 The Marine Bureaus
 Your department has much to do wit. navigation, has 1t not?"
 Yes. indeed, we are the friend of the mariner, and of all these who travel by sea. We have a number of marine bureaus, which have come to us from other departments. We have a bureau of navigation, one of steamboat inspection one of lighthouses, and also the coast and geodetic survey. You might not call the latter creative but still it gives informa tion as to the exact nature of our coasts for ships all over the world The waters of the United States are much more carefully surveyed even than the land. We know the depth and char acter of every bit of sea which washes our shores, and have made surveys of the rivers 10 the head of the water for ship naviga ion We furnish such maps to sailors. We also give information as to the tides, and, by recent invention, the coast survey can tell you just what the tide is at any port of the world and at any hour of the day. For instance, if you want to know just how high the tide will rise this afternoon in the Bay
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

of Chemulpo, on the west coast of Ko- req, this machine will tell you'
 How about your lighthouses, are you putting up new ones?'
 Yes" replied the secretary. We are adding hundreds of lights and lighthouses
 to the service every year. The main | lights along the Atlantic and Pacific were erected long ago, but we are establishing new lights and signals between them.
 We have put up about fifty new lights, sixteen fog signals and 75l buoys We are greatly extending the lighthouse ser l vice of Alaska. and are building light houses there. We are also putting lights
 upon the Yukon and other rivers. We are improving the lighthouses of Porto l Rico and Hawaii. and we have officers l of the engineer corps of the army who
 are inspecting the lights on the Missls-
 sippi river and it's tributaries.
 Our Merchant Marine
 | And then as to the bureau of nav l igation." continued the Secretary We are doing what we can to make our
 merchant vessels better and to take
 care of the sailors. We are inspect
 ing the steamboats and insisting that
 they be properly equipped With life-
 saving appliances
 | T should like to see measures under
 taken to increase our merchant marine. | As it is we have something like 25,000 1 vessels with gross tonnage of more | than 7,500. 900, but nearly all this is de . voted to our domestic trade, large
 part of our shipping being on the Grea 1 Lakes.
 | i1he most of our imports and ex-
 ports now come and go in European 1 bottoms Last year We carried less | than 9 per cent of them. and we paid many millions of dollars in freight to other nations. Our great European competitors for the commerce of the world find that if pays them to aid their merchant shipping, and l believe | that we should do the same. There is
 2. good deal of sentiment in commerce 1 standing all the proverbs to the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

Copyright, 1911, by Frank C. Carpenter )
 Washington, D. c. " describing the new schemes of Uncle Sa1n, patriarch. 1t is well to know X something of the men at their head. President Taft. of course bosses every job, but the. detailed work is under the cabinet ministers. Take. for instance. Secretary Charles Nagel, the chief of the department of commerce and labor. with whom I have been talking today He Is aft manager of a great undertaking. Six feet in height. as straight as an ar row and muscularly well formed, at the age of 62 he is one of the most energetic and efficient of all those who are man aging Uncle Sam's business. He is a broad guage man, fitted by wide train- ing and experience for his place in the federal machine. Born in Texas, which we customers look upon as 9 part of the wild and woody west, he was edu- cated first in St. Louis and then in Der lin. the progressive and aggressive cap ttal of Germany. After graduating at -he university there. he came back 10 St. Louis, where he made a great reputa- ton as lawyer, and where he was prac- ticing when he was made Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor by President Taft
 How Nagel Came to Texas
 Tn my talk with the secretary asked him how he happened to select Texas as his birthplace. He replied that his father was an immigrant, and that he came from cermany to this country in 1s4s, settling in Colorado county, Texas. The old gen tleman was 2 member of enc of a num- hcr of colonies Yhieh were established ir oar great south west at that tinla by cer- tain weeltnx citizens of the Gerr1an no hi'fy. The iinniie9ants belonging to these colonies were men of fine education. Man, of them were university graduates. anf they had a civilization far aboTe that ol the hordes which Secretary Nc gel is nov allowing to enter this country For in. stance the secretarY's father had beer a physician in Cermo1v and he was z graduate of the University of Berlin Tn' secrctary's echool teacher in Texas wa q graduate of the same university, ant MT Nage rcceutiy found a printed speecl of the grent Prisce Bismarck which WI. made in reply to 9 paper written by hi! Texas scheomaster.
 Upon my spealIinc of thn German revo ]ution Of 1sis, during whdich so many
 
 asked MT ,<agel if it Was not then tha Car Schurz and Joseph Pulitzer came tC this country.
 The secretary replied that Schurz camt several years later, and that Joseph Pu Iitzer must have landed along abont tn, ~close Of the ciyil war. Said he:
 T knew MT. Pulitzer during my earll days ir St Louis and while he was stil a reporter on the Westiche Post, Late m he bought the Post and united it Ntl tl,e Dispatch. making the St. Louis Post Dispatch, which he still owns. It wa from the money that he made from iE' Dispatch tlsat he came to New York ant bought the World
 Creative Features of Uncle Sans
 Work
 The conversation here turned 70 the de ~elopment of Uncle Sam, patriarch. ant Secretary Nagel referred to some of th'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03
Creative Features of Uncle Sam's
 Work

The conversation here turned 70 the de- veIupment of Uncle Sam, patriarch and Secretary Nagel referred to some of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-03

Tn the same way we have inherited
 the bureau of statistics from the de- partment of the treasury. This has also to do with our foreign commerce and, together with the bureau of man. ufactures, 1t gives a vast amount of valuable information as to Uncle Sam K business and how 1t may be spread to every part of the globe With other
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18
WILLIAM LEE, SERIOUSLY INJURED.

William Lee, met with a ser ious accident last Monday while
 gathering wild grapes in the river canon above Woodruff. MT. Lee, was climbing up the side of the cliffs to get some of the vines loose and throw them down to the other members of the party when he suddenly lost his hold and footing and fell nearly thirty feet breaking two ribs and his collar bone. He was brought home the same evening and Dr. BazeIl, was called to put the fractured members together. Last reports were that Mir. Lee was resting and comfortable as could be expected under the circum- stances. It seems almost miracle that Mir. Lee was not killed as within a very few feet either way from where he struck. the ground was literally covered with boUlders.
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18

Department of the Interior United States Indian Service
 Moqui Indian Agency.
 Keams Canon, Arizona.
 August II, 1911. W. H. Clark, Esq,
 Commissioner of Immigration.
 Holbrook, Arizona. Dear Sir:
 1 have your letter of the Eth, asking about date of Moqui Snake Dance.
 The best information have is to the effect that the dance will be held on either the Fist or the 22nd of this month, at First Mesa. village of Walpi. It will be safer to assume the earlier date.
 Visitors will be issued permits to remain on the Reservation and may call at this Agency for them. may be secured there. It is understood of course that ALL Regulations of the Indian Service are to be strictly observed by visitors, and that these rules will be enforced. This applies parti- cularly to the liquor laws. I mention this with no idea or suspicion that any of the rules will be broken. It is merely reference to the condition on the ground.
 There are no accommodations at First Mesa. Camping outfits should be brought. It is also likely that fees will be charged for cameras.
 Very respectfully,
 Leo. Crane,
 Superintendent.
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18
United States Senate, Committee on Territories, Washington, D. c.
 August 12. 1911.

MT. Sidney Sapp.
 Holbrook, Arizona, My dear Sir:
 Your telegram of recent date regarding Ihe Statehood matter, has been received. and I desire you to know that nothing will be left undone to perfect the state hood status at the present session of Congress, Although our time is limited, and the course which l suggested a few days ago would have resulted in immediate statehood. yet. from one motive or another, it failed, and I shall now renew my efforts to meet the wishes of both the people of New Mexico and Arizona.
 Assuring you of my hearty cooperation. and with great respect, l am.
 Yours very truly.
 w. A Smith,
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18
Thirty Years Together.

Thirty years of association. think of it. How the merit of a good thing stands out in that time-or the worthlessness of a bad one. So there's no guesswork in this evidence of Thos. Ariss, Con cord, Mich, who writes: T have used Dr. Kings New Discovery for 30 years, and it's the best cough and cold cure I ever used" Once it frds entrance in a home you can't pry it out. Many families have used it forty years. It's the most infalhble throat and lung medicine on earth. Unequaled for Iagrippe. asthma, hay-fever, croup, quinsy or sore lungs. Prices Soc. $1.O0. Trial bottle free. Guaranteed by For Sale By Holbrook Drug Co.
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18

Born to-Mr. and Mrs. R. C.. Smith a girl last Friday. The little miss is getting along very nicely and has decided to make Holbrook her home. Mrs. Smith is not so well but IS reported as getting some better at this writ ing and we hope to be able to announce her complete recovery soon.
The Holbrook news., 1911-08-18
w. B. Woods Clerk of said District Court. First publication Aug. 4. 1911.

Attorneys E. s. Clark of Pres colt, and Sidney Sapp of Hol- brook. were in St. Johns the first of the week in the interest of client before the Probate Court. They represent M. B. Barrett in the case or a number of cases entitled Maud R. Barrett -vs. M. B. Barrett. The case was sent to Yavapai County where it will be tried some time in Novem- Der.