The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-05-23


overwhelming calamities and disturb
ances. the man at the helm remained
calm, complacent and serene; he
never for a moment lost faith, and
resolutely stuck to the beiief that III
lie end the undertaking would be
successful, and that he would be able
to exclaim, with Caesar: Il came,
saw, conquered" or with st. Paul:
Il fought good fight"
The world will now acknowledge
that he not only fought good fight,
but that he won the race"
We cannot refrain from quoting
here the accrostic dedicated to him
by Mr.. J. B. Killegrew on his compile
ton of his wonderful work on Janu-
airy -, 1912:
Far down the sunlit golden sands
Lie cleaning rails-the twin steel
bands
OF cOmmerce-spa spanning verdant isles,
Running Ger the sea miles on miles;
In Old Key Vest their mission ends
Dreadnaughts TO her each nation
sends
And wealth and fame { this por-
tends
Each year was wrought through storm
and strife
Another link in the railways life
g. 10 and crVOpo voc Doah 1,oI,
That bore the rails from grade to
grade.
Cities. hamlets, like magic grew
Out OF iungles the road went through,
And fertile farms now meet the eye,
Seen as the train goes roaring by,
To old Key West, meath trOpic Sky.
Rearing an empire-man OF might.
A toast give. You've won the
fight"
In spite of odds, and they were great;
Long may you live, high be your state,
Wealth, health, honor may you enjoy
All through life. without alloy.
Yours to the end may God defend.
In personal appearance Mr.. Flagler
was tall, stately and commanding,
and, as will be seen from his picture,
printed on our first page today,
possessed a mild. amiable and most
benevolent expression.
He was physically strong and mus
cular which was no doubt attributa-
Bile to his plain and abstemious man
ner Of living. Except in rare in
stances he made it a rule of his life
TO retire precisely at 10 O'Clock p. m.
We remember asking him on one oc-
casion if he did not wake up during
the night. He said he woke up reg
ularly between the hours of one and
TWO o'clock, and remained awake for
one or two hours. Asked if that was
not somewhat annoying; on the con-
trary he said that it was the happi-
est period of his life, for it was then
that he did his thinking and planning.
After he had reached his SIND year
he was given an opportunity to test
his muscular strength and endurance.
On going to his office at 26 Broadway,
he found that the elevator was out of
commission and he performed the
herculean task of walking up fifteen
flights of steps to the top floor, where
the officials and employees enjoyed
their midday meal. Mr.. Flagler sat
at the head of the table and did not
want his chair to be vacant, as to
break bread" with his employees was
one of his chief enjoyments
Mr. Flagler, like so many of our
captains of industry, came up from
the ranks and was a type of the think
ing, planning, pushing, risking, pro
gressiye. constructive. successful
Americans He was instinctively bus
mess and never forsook his business
obligations to visit Europe or other
foreign countries He was never
abroad. He said that the United
States was big enough and good
enough for him
Henry Morrison Flagler was born
in the village of Canandaigua, New
York, in 1880. His father was Pres
byterian clergyman, and he was COM
PEELED to support a large and growing
family on a salary of $500 a year
Young Flagler attended the village
school until he had reached his four
teenth year. Thus early realizing the
stress Of his father, and the straits to
which his mother and sister were re-
duced, like so many others had done
before him. decided to strike out in
the big world for himself and become
the architect of his own fortune. With
a carpet bag in hand containing all
his belongings, except a few dollars in
his pockets. and with a fathers bless
ines and a mothers prayer and sis
ter's faith and affection. he walked
nine miles to Madina, where he OBJ