The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-01-15
One MAN WANTS
1000 CHILDREN

be Is preparing 10 care LOT iVO poor
widows.
For the care of the 20 children he
has built large home on wooded
hill. il is crowded to its capacity with
boys and girls. He is getting ready Ia
build this winter. another home that
will house 200 children, and when that
is finished be will begin building more
homes until he has accommodations
| for 1000.
He has already built eight houses for
poor widows, has four more under con-
struetion and will have 100 built this
winter. Each house will have two
rooms. furnished. with free gas for
heating and cooking, free water, free
electric light and garden plot.
The 10 boys and girls have an 80
acre park for a playground, lake OF
IL acres for swimming and boating,
wading pool for the smaller ones,
| lawn swings and all sorts of contriv-
ances for their amusement, a hospital,
geological garden, a kindergarten and
a grade school, and $40, 900 high
school, in which they will finish their
education when they are old enough to
attend it.
In addition to this Mr.. Page has the
plans drawn and will build this winter
a hospital that will be in charge Of
some of the greatest surgeons and
specialists in this country. He plans
this hospital to be as gsod in every
way, and as famous, as that of the
Mayo brothers in Rochester. MINI.
those who are able to pay will do so
but any person in America who is toe
poor to pay may come to this hospital
and be operated upon by the greatest
surgeons in the world, and nursed back
to health free of any cost whatever.
To maintain these institutions and
keep them going forever MIR. Page has
created great endowment fund, the
foundation of which is nearly all of his
vast holdings Of real estate, gas lands,
oil wells, railroad and other properties
aggregating several million dollars In
| value.
And who is this man Page who has
moro adopted children than any other
man in the world?
Forty-five years ago, when Charles
Page was a boy of 10, his father died,
leaving a widow and seven children.
His father had been in the teaming
business in Stevens Point, Wis. He
was sick for year before he died ano
in that year his teams were sold to pay
doctors and buy medicine.
| The widow, with the house full OF
small children. had hard time of it.
One day while she was doing the
washing for neighboring family and
/ knA Oh 10
boy who is now a millionaire stood be-
fore her and watched the tears running
down her cheeks.
"You just wait. mamma, till get
to be big man, and rich, and you
won't have to wash any more, nor any
other woman won't either. III take
care of all the poor widows and or
phans, the little fellow said.
Edward Page, brother of Charles,
says he remembers well that incident,
and of how his mother grabbed Charles
in her arms and hugged him to her anc
wePt all the more.
When he had grown big enough
Charles became a messenger boy fol
the Wisconsin Central Railway, anC
then he became a brakeman, and later
on a railroad fireman. Every dollar h,
earned. above living expenses, in thos'
days went to his widowed mother anC
her fatherless children.
Charles drifted west to the Pacifit
coast, worked in the gold mines in Ida
ho, was hungry many time, and pen
niless for weeks He drifted eastward
to the oil fields of Colorado and, sever
years ago. came to Chandler, Ok, will
II SIS, 900 in cash, which he soon lost il
the oil fields near Chandler.
Then oil was discovered in the ia
nous Glenn Pool field, south of Tulsa
and Page went to spot near thert
with SO, 600 he raised by mortgaging
piece of property in Colorado. lie go
an oil lease on small tract Of lndal
land in what is known now as the la
neha field, and put down well. Th'
drill sank day after day through th
different layers of rock and shae ant
sand, and almost every chug of th
drill meant dolaJ of Pages small
hoard gone. If his well should turi
out to be a 'dry hole" he would b.
broke again. But one day. when h,
had about made up his mind that ther,
was no oil there, he struck the OF
sand. He knew that few feet NOR
of drilling would reach oil, and h
stopped the work, told his Workmel
| that it was undoubtedly dry hole
, and paid them off and let them go.
The next day Page went alone to tn,
derrick, set the machinery going, AM
drilled down through few feet of oi
sand, when, suddenly the rich oil cam
gushing out. He pulled out his drill
plugged" the we'll so the oil woulu
not flow, and apparently abandoned it
The next few weeks he spent in get
ting oil leases on the land surrounding
his we'll in all directions, and when h
had secured these he went back to hi
/ we'll, unplugged it, and invited every
one to come and see it,
1t was wonderful well. 1t flowe,
2000 barrels of oil day ana every bar
rel of it worth 35 cents in cash at tn
Il well, ,arf income of $500 a day for Page
II minus one-eight of the product, whicl
went to the owner of the land as hi
share.
Il He drilled other wells on the land h
/ had leased and they were good produc
Il ers too, and one day a syndicate o
tinsnciers of New York, led by Com
moore Benedict, James King Duffy AM
/ Clifford B. Harmon, offered him mil
\ lion dollars in cash for hls leases
Page asked half million more an
the sale was finally made for Il millio
dollars cash, which was paid to Page
Pages mother was dead years befor
this wealth came but in all the tim
that he had been wandering over tn,
west, working at first one thing an
then another. he had never forgotte
the promise he had made her tha
some day, when he grew big and rich
he would tighten the burdens OF poo
widows who had to wash to put brea
in the mouths of their hungry children
and that he would take care of the or
phans, too. Now he was rich. an,
that plan began to take definite shap
in his mind.
The Arkansas river flows over it
sandy bed just south of Tulsa. aud it
north bank is low, level tlat spread
ing back to line of sandhills. Pag
baliayad thara Uuas oil bopaotb tho