The Washington herald., 1914-02-11
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Rieh Mans cift !. . Pesr Ye.as
49, uan. - ~

=
twhttei Exprrsiy fu The washinstoa Hend-i
~ =. =. EDWARDS.
N the last two or three years of his
= life Coils p. Huntington. one Of the
sreatest OF American constructive forces.
permitted himself some social distrac-
tons which his earlier career. on account
Of imperative business calls occupied Ill
his time. did not permit him to enjoy.
He was very fond Of chatting with men
who were Of conseniai disposition Of the
earlier days Of his career as q cohstruc-
tive railroad man. and he would narrAte
anecdote after anecdote which descibed
the personalities of the great men with
whom he was associated Stan
ford, and crocker-who with him built
the railroad east Of San Francisco t0
the meeting point OF the Union Pacific.
Mr.. Huntington was fond of telling
some Of his earlier experiences In the
development Of what became the South
ern Pacific Railroad Company, OF which
he was the pre-eminent authority and
which is passing into tradition as his
great constructive work.
There was something about Mr.. Hunt
ington. his physical build. the magnifi-
cent proportions of his head. and the
manner In which 1t was firmly poised
upon his shoulders which sometimes re-
minded men OF James J. Hill.
I was chatting with Mr.. Huntington q
year or two before his death about some
Of his experiences. He said incidentally:
"one Of the chief trials Of a petty kind
which a man who has been successful
and who Is deemed to be rich cannot es-
cape Is the appeals made to him for
money or for aid. ! discovered that In
almost every case where somebody did
something for me there was expectation
that-I would make munificent repayment,
whether the favor which was done was
asked for by me or not.
''One incident stands out vividly in
my recollection. ! had given a presi-
dents pass for transportation to a young
man and his mother in recognition OF an
early friendship established between my
self and the young mans father.
THE pass was good fer transportation
to San Francisco. Some months after
the young man called upon me at my
Office at New York. He said he had come
to thank me for himself and his mother
for the courtesy. I told him that that
was a little unusual, for although i had
given many passes IL was very rare, that
the recipient tooktthe trouble to call upon
me after he had used the pass to make
his acknowledgment. The young man
took from his pocket a clipping which
he had carefully pasted upon three or
four sheets of paper. He showed II TO
me. saying that he had come across 1t
by accident and that he thought l might
like TO see Il.
Il was delighted to get that clipping.
I would have given a considerable sum
for IL. I had caused a hunt to be made
for IL far and near without avail. 1t
was nothing but a little article / wrote
when / was a young man. before j went
to California, and which was published
in a newspaper which has passed out Of
existence.
Il told the young man that ! was will
ing to pay him for bringing me this clip
ping. and he replied that II offered him
all of my fortune he would not accept II.
He was only too glad that IL had pleased
me TO receive il. I then said to him that
he was the rare exception among those
who had done something for me. for ne
expected nothing. But told him that
would give him something which /
thought would be of great value TO him.
MY gift was this advice. Always live
within your income. no matter how small
II is. Always save a little. At the same
time don't be afraid to go into debt. And
/ mean by that don't be afraid to put
some part of your savings into home
for yourself and your mother and then
give a purchase money mortgage for the
balance. That kind of Indebtedness Is
wisdom. But above all things live within
your income.
He thanked me as cordially as he
would have done IL j had made him
present Of thousands of dollars"
CotHricht leill