The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1913-03-13
SOMETHING ABOUT OUR
REPRESENTATIVE
The Portland Press Says Some Good
Things About Prof. Roy l.. harston
of Sk0whegan

ness OF Representative Roy l.. Mars
ton of Skowhegan and hattering
notice of this member OF the Maine
Legislative body. Prof Marston's
life is we'll known to his many local
admirers and the following account so
admirably written will doubtless be
very gratifying TO them.
The Press says in part:
If there is any man in the 10th
Legislature who ought to be tried and
isn't that man is Roy L. Marston of
Skowhegan.
Figures are the worst thing in the
world to try a mans patience and to
wear down his disposition Roy Mars
ton has been living in family of fig
ures so complicated and SO numerous
that he must have felt like CULVER
in the land of the Lilliputians. He
has had more sheets of figures, more
columns of oughts and noughts and
even the most ardent statistician us
ually wrestles with.
Marston is a statistician on his own
hook and he takes more delight in
forcing a column of figures to give up
their secrets than the average legisla-
tor does in going to one Of Hanks
boxing carnivals. All during the SEES
sion, the young man from Skowhegan
who is secretary of the committee on
appropriations and financial affairs
has been going through the books of
the State in company with Senator
George Emery and has been finding
out things. He has issued state
ment that even the State auditor of
the last administration could not con-
trovert for all he was anxious to do
so. In his work with the figures,
Representative NIarston has always
had the good of the State in mind.
Along with his figuring as secretary
of the appropriations committee, Roy
Marston has been putting in few
ticks upon the workmens compensa-
ton act He has used figures to
show that this act would be good
thing for the State and that if it were
passed the corporations would be saw
the sums that manufacturers and
others have had to pay out under the
workmens compensation act and has
found that the corporations would be
better off if they had the compensation
act. When the big hearing on this
measure takes place on March he
will have something to say and he
will also say something that will be
of interest when the question comes
into the House for consideration.
1t is no wonder that Roy l.. Marston
has had hand for juggling figures.
He comes naturally by it and he has
lived so long with figures as his COM
panions that il has been like second
nature to him to put them through
their PAGES.
You see, Roy l.. Marston is fores
ter by trade. After graduating from
Bowdoin college in 1899, he went to
the Yale School of Forestry and for
six years was a teacher there. OF
course he continued acquiring know
ledge about figures and trees so that
he had it on about any one else
around the university. After finish
ing at Yale, he entered the service of
the United States about the time that
Clifford Pnchot was coming into prom
inence.
Mr.. Marston's connection with the
United States government was extern
siye. He travelled all over the coun-
try and there were only two of the
states into which his labors did not
call him. He got first hand informa-
ton about fir and pine, hickory and
red wood and every other kind OF
wood indigenous to American soil and
brought here.
When the talk about tariff revision
was made four years ago, the commit
tee in charge of that called upon Mr..
Marston as an expert on wood. He
made an entire investigation of the
pulp wood industry in the United
States and Canada and had started an
investigation in Norway and Sweden.
For two years he was connected with
the tariff board. He was also identi-
fed with the Standard Oil Co., and in
looking up timber supplies made trips
to Asia and Central America 10 say
nothing about the states in the United
States that he again Travelled. Down
into the swamps of Yucatan he jour
neyed and looked into the mahogany
and ebony supply there.
In his business trips to all parts of
the world, Mr.. Marston has hob
nobbed with princes and governors Of
every race. The "reminiscences oil
famous men | have met" that he
might write would fill several interest
ing volumes.