The Washington herald., 1911-03-05

money. The big corporations are always
looking for competent helpers who are
reliable and have ideas"
WHAT became of the cid FARM"
inquired.
Il bought it and it has been my home
for many years. Hay and grain are my
crops because / am specializing in high
stepDers-hackneys imported from Europe
and American trotters converted into
high-Steppers by heavy shoes and a sys-
tenn of early training. ! have exhibited
in New York and London and have been
awarded A great many prizes. Lord Bal
timOre and My Maryland. driven to-
gether. have won more first prizes than
any other team in the country. ] gave
the horses to Mrs Watson, whom l mar
ried in Maryland. and named them in her
honor. The fact that l have spent con-
siderable time in New York during the
past few years to obtain capital with
which to develop the mines of West Vir-
ginia, coupled with the names / gave two
of my horses. caused my political enemies
to say that ! was a nonresident candi-
date for the Senate. even though / was
born in West Virginla-as was my father
went to school there. and Fairmont
has always been my home. like a fight
ing man If he doesn't strike below the
belt"
Not n College Man.
You completed your education at the
university in Morgantown?" said.
That is another biographical error put
out by friendly and romantic writer's. l
stopped going to school when 1 was six
teen years old. At the age of twelve,
concluded that 1 had all the education
1 required or could use. Perhaps 1 was
right about it. After that. attended school
irregularly butI was picking up an edu-
cation at the mines. 1 learned to start
and stop freight locomotive. Possibly
drove mule occasionally, but not for
wages. My father was bNsy. my brothers
were pushing men, and | was the young
est child in the family. So ! escaped
close inspection and was given a good
deal of latitude. 1 was entered finally
as student at the State Normal School
at Fairmont. l remember quite distinctly
that 1t was against my judgment. An
education, l thought, was intended only
for teachers, lawyers, and preachers. I
meant to have a coal mine of my own
In little while 1 escaped to the
woods So ended my days at school i
clerked at the company store and worked
in and out of doors for $50 month. One
morning, while 1 was tacking shipping
cards on some loaded cars, a pleasant
faced man came down the track. He
told me that his name was Stephen B.
Elkins. We were expecting him. Mr.
Elkins was just getting into the coal
business with Henry G. Davis. his
father-in-law; Senator German. of Mary
land; Richard c. Kerens. now American
Ambassador to Austria Hungary: James
G. Blaine, and other notable men. He
had come to our mines for points and it
was my duty to show him around
Recently, my mind has gone back to
that morning. Mr.. Elkins was to be sent
to the Senate from West Virginia, and
vas to be his successor. 1t is possible
he had his own plans and ambitions for
the future. AS for myself. / only hoped
10 be a coal operator. Mr. Elkins be-
Eeved in details and showed him every
thing, the interior Of the mines, as well
as our methods of bookkeeping. Six or
seven years afterward, j saw him on a
railroad train. He spoke to me and
called me by my first name. which
pleased me. OF course. and made me
marvel at his memory"
When 1 asked. did you begin busi-
ness for yourself?"
After / came of age, I thought
ought to look about and find a mine.
went TO johnson N. Camden, one of our
Senators in Congress. and asked him to
sell me 130 acres of land on credit. He
could not know that Eikins would follow
him in the Senate, nor could guess that
bis Office would be mine some day in al
straight line OF descent. Camden had
been a lawyer at Parkeysburg and owned
small farm in the Burning Springs
district. some thirty miles distant. Traces
OF oil were found in the region Camden
bored two wells. The oil came UP with
a rush and was run into an old fiatboat