El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-29
Intelligence and courtesy
Not aLpGys are combined ;
Often N q DOoden house
4 oolden roon1 ne find.


Often N Dooden house
4 golden room ne find.
UNDOUBTEDLY the champion com
moner Of president Woodrow VIII
sons cabinet is William B. VIII
son. secretary Of labor. He was never
in school except a few days when
he was a child. He began helplng ms
father dig coal when ne was o y car ,
old His father had a lame PACK anu
,9o-15 not Ifff a heavy piece OF coal,
but ne could lie on his back on Lhe DOL
tom Of the shaft and undercut tne COeA
seam. and be used 10 90 lndL anu -
tie Billy Wilson loaded II INTO Ile
He dug coal until ne was nearly 40
years old and then he got posluon
with the United Mine workers OF
America and later was elected 10 con
c-ress William ,. Wilson went lntO
5he new presidents cabinet carrying
his 77niOn card and still an active Worh-
er in behalf of the unionlsm ne mas 81
long promulgated and SuppOIltu-
a nev-sDaper of washington writing
about william B. Wilson when tne
president appointed him secretary OF
s.'Tbe wilson's have a beautiful cOun-
try estate at BlOssburg, Pa
And another paper said wilson
home is at BlOSSbuTS, Pa, WAeFe ~
me coal miners Of this country, all
OF whom know and love Billy W lls On,
viii laugh ati that And so VIII Billy
HIS beautiful country estate" con
sists of a few acres OF rough LoCh4
land. with a little frame house OF IlFs
rooms on it. and that IS the nome "a
S-i1eo7 and his wife and nine children
And that is all he has IN me WoLlo-
He is so poor that he cOuluH IVY q
needed new set Of harness Tor MS AetL III
team last spring. He wears Dlut CFS
ans on mis- farm. and up TO the time ne
first went to congress. in 1897, ne never
paid more than SIS for a suit Of cIotn-
Tvuso, Is an Intellectual Wonder.
T31It make no mistake about the ann
itv of this first secretary OF lapoL- ne
is an intellectual wonder, cOnSlueIlLlS
the chances he has mad
And he is absolutely honest NO sCs $500
daI has ever touched his name DuTlhS
the great miners strike OF 1SV-- " ~ -
he was secretary SureI OL N
United Mine Workers Of America, ne
received and paid out as beneIltS, 70
the striking coal miners $-,VUU;uuu :.
month s54 600 GEO q year, ana Wneh IL
was all over every last cent was ~
When Billy Wilson was II years
old he was a half member OF lne
Miners and LabOrers' BeneFOleht assC
cfa+ion. and in 1876. when ne was =
y
the miners union. and he was a yOuHS
fellow OF such force and influence win
the miners that ne was dismissed from
employment in the mines
In 1855. when ne was only - LeaIS
old. ne was elected a member OF the
district executive board OF the miners
union in Pennsylvania, ana i've year
later he helped to organize lne CHLLSu
Mine Workers OF America. ana WIS
elected a member of the nau0nal eAecu-
tive board, and president OF s 49, ~
Of RituminouS, "a allC IN L' $3.50, y -
appointed 10 fiji the vacancy cIeaIeu
I'M the office Of secretary treasurer, 10
which he was elected IN lSul ana re-
elected in 1902 -
in the mines, but his fame as coal
digger still follows him
Few persons aside IRON ~ llsoh
most intimate friends are aware tIel
he is verse writer. having the faculty
Of expressing himself well in gracetul
English. Several years ago ne had
printed a little book Of his verses un-
der the title Of Memories IN the
preface he says
a-Tbis little volume has been printed
mot published) for circulation among
those intimate friends Of mine VINO can
bury its pOetical, grammatical ana
structural defects beneath their per
sonal respect for the author
Upon the title page are these lines;
10 great refined. poetic powers I claim
No college learning smOOths my
humble muse.
Unknown to fortune, hidden far from /
I simply sing because to sing I /
choose.
But as I tune my rude uncullured Tyre /
III sing the praises Of the multitude !
Whose toiling Drawn, and brain, and /
hearts desire
Move. ever for their fellow beings /
good
To a friend who spoke Of him as |
a poet Wilson replied with a smile-
In a small way. writing verses. Such |
as they are, is one of my methods Of I
obtaining recreation. When the spirit I
moves me find pleasure in putting /
my fancies on paper. had no intention I!
OF letting the public know this, but a 4
friend to whom 7 gave q copy of my /
book talked to the newspapers about Z
it and so I was discovered.
Those who know Billy" Wilson in /
say that his family life is an I
ideal one, and il is sweet TO be in his 1
humble home and see the love that lives !
there He is very much in love with his \
wife, who was Agnes Wilkinson Of Ar