The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1912-07-19

own Flournoy and nothing too good
can be said of him. The article un-
der the caption of THE Men Behind
the Guns" follows: ssZ:
Ibid you ever attend 4 function,
social, business or political. where
everything dragged, where animation
was conspicuous by its absence,
where all in attendance were bored?
OF course you have. Having attend
ed such functions you have seen their
dreariness dispelled. You have seen
one man come into the room and
start things. The first thing he starts
is the boredom of the meeting. It
moves SO quickly that you forget it
ever was numbered among those
present. s:s&@%.
Everybody admirea tho man who
can start things, copssque ently every
body who knows Al. g., Eournoy ad-
mires him. One Of the reasons is that
he is known as ZAP to majority Of
his acquaintances.: II that loving ab-
breviation were to be elaborated and
the gentleman introduced as Mr.. AL
bert G. Flournoy, half of his friends
would not recognize the name. The
other half, after pondering for a mo-
ment would say: ,:Oh, you mean AL.
Flournoy,' or Handsome AL
"Mr. Flournoy was born in Phila-
delphia, Pa, near the close of the
civil war. The cessation oi nostil,tics
awoke his parents and they immedi-
ately moved to Chicago. AL has been
awake ever since. He spent his boy
hood days in Chicago and formed Lis
first business association with a Chi
cago firm, serving Henry Barker &
Co., one of the largest lumber dealers
in Chicago as Office boy. Filling ink
wells and emptying waste paper bas-
kets did not satisfy him.
He has the ability to make friends
and keep them, he is an excellent en-
tertainer, has the gift of remember
ing faces and names he probably
would explain the gift was acquired,
not inherited-and has other qualifi-
cations of the salesman. So early in
life he decided to become a salesman.
His experience on the road began
with the C. N Nelson Lumber Com
pany. of Cloquet, afterwards succeed
ed by the Northern Lumber Company
1T was continued with the Hersey
& Bean Lumber Company and Chip
pewa Lumber & Boom Company, Lat
er he was the Flournoy of Carpenter
& Flournoy, afterwards he establish
ed commission and wholesale busi-
ness of his own in Chicago.
His versatility is illustrated by
his next business connection. He join
ed the editorial staff of the American
Lumberman and for several years
served that publication faithfully and
with profit and honor. He was an ex-
tremely popular writer, not because
what he penned was written BY AL,
but because of the excellence OF his
work. He also was successful In So
liciting business for the paper. ~
He left the lumber newspaper
field in 1900 and again embarked In
business on his own account, opening
a Wholesale ONCE in Minneapolis,
then in 1909 he secured the Mime
apolis territory for the Virginia &
Rainy Lake Company. He was the
first salaried salesman to be employ
ed by that great producer and dis
tributer Of white pine.
His work In the Minneapolis ter
ritory spoke for itself in commanding
tones. January41. 1910. he was made
assistant sales manager, with omcea
at virginia, MINI, and 81 April, 1911,
was made general sales manager 81
the largest, most modern and most
|complete white pine manufacturing
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