The San Francisco call., 1913-07-20

My companion asked SeVerdl questions
which the engineer, offhand, could not
answer, but assured US that before he
went he would find out about 1T in the
office records.
WHY HE WAS MADE WELCOME
= AS the time for leaving came we
were escorted up a flight of stairs into
| a roomy, we'll furnished general office
| occupied by an official of the company
and his stenographer. Introductions
were in order, but the engineer had not
even thought of asking our names, and
| as my new acquaintance supplied them
| to the engineer the official in friend
| liest terms introduced the engineer by
name, seated the three of US, and pro-
duced box of cigars as prelude to
another pleasant half hours talk. In
| our final leavetaking nothing in pro-
verbal southern graciousness could
have exceeded the bearing of these two
men fortified behind that omnipresent
| Absolutely No Admittance"
What was it in this old southern
AOA
| which had allowed one of its big cor
| porations to tolerate our invasion Of
| its forbidden premises and given US an
| hour of the time of two Of its officials?
Before 1 left my new friend In that
old city-still recuperating, and, as l
learned incidentally, at the expense OF
his willing employers felt that 1
knew / had discovered great mixer
who was unbranded of the term, and
who would have resented any ones
applying the word to him.
He was an electrical engineer, spe-
cializing in construction work. His
home was 1900 or 1900 miles away
from the southern city. He had used
only visiting card in identifying him.
self, and his name was that almost un-
meaning name of Smith. He was seek
| ing nothing new to his selfish ends In
visiting the plant for the reason that
his own manufacturing establishment
| had equipped it several years before.
He was idIing. under almost the COM
mand Of his employers, and as an en-
| interest for him.
Back of all this. however, he had that
solid, enduring equipment as a true
/ mixer-education, culture, knowledge
of men and things-the prime essentials
| of the gentleman.
A MAN WHO KNEW HIMSELF
| Before we parted I saw the man and
| his mixing qualities in quite another
| test. He never had been duck shooting.
| 1t has been my favorite sport, and at
| my invitation we made the trip down
| the river, to sleep in a boat in the salt
| marshes ready for the morning flight of
the birds inland again.
! We were disappointed in the promised
equipment. The two pushers had sup
| piled the sleeping boat with the scant-
lest Of bedding and under an oilskin
blanket we dozed occasionally while a
night rain pattered overhead until
dawn. Yet throughout the hard trip,
such as he never had experienced, he
returned the next day the cheerfulest
man in the party, of whom the boat
men spoke to me as "a fine feller!
Taking this man as illustrating the
qualities of the true mixer, and consid-
ering these two extremes of testing him
out, will any one dispute his most ap-
parent qualifications?
| He would have been at home in an
Eskimo hut under an arctic sun or
moon In quiet inconspicuousness he
would have graced a banquet table any
where in civilization. He knew himself
knew his limitations no less than his
qualifications. He reserved to himself
the benefits of all doubts. A calm cour-
age was evident in him to any one hav-
| ing knowledge of human nature.
| One of these days when the shyster
term of mixer" has passed out of vul-
gar usage as in obsolete bad taste
and when all the virtues that appertain
to those qualifications in the man which
at present the word mixer" attempts
! to define. we shall discover that this
real mixer approaches the poets defi-
niticn:
| And thus he wore without abuse.
The grand old name of gentleman
Detained by every charlatan,
l And soiled by all ignoble use.