The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-02-05
WANTS A THOUSAND CHILDREN.
Oklahoma Millionaire Has Built Or
phans' and Widows Home.


Charles Page, multi-millionaire oil
man of Tulsa, OKLA, has 70 adopted
children and wants to adopt 1000.
In addition to 1000 poor boys and
girls he is preparing to care for 100
poor widows.
For the care of the 70 children he
has built a large home on wooded
hill. 1t is crowded to it's capacity with
boys and girls. He is getting ready to
build this winter another home that
will house 200 children, and when
that is finished he will begin to
build more homes until he has ac-
commodations for 1000.
He has already built eight houses
for poor widows, has four more under
construction and will have 100 built
this winter.
The 70 boys and girls have an So
acre park for a playground, lake of
IA acres for swimming and boating, a
wading pool for the smaller ones, a
hospital, a geological garden, a
kindergarten and a graded school
and $4,000 high school.
Mr.. Page will build this winter 3
hospital that will be in charge of
great surgeons and specialists. He
plans this hospital to be as good in
every way and as famous as that OF
the Mayo brothers in Rochester,
Mfnn.
And who is this man Page who
has more adopted children than any
other man in the world?
Forty-fve years ago, when Charles
Page was a boy of 10, his father
died, leaving widow and seven chill
dren. His father had been in the
tanning business in Stevens Point,
Wis. 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 had stopped minute to rest, the
boy who is now a millionaire, stood
before her and watched the tears
running. down her cheeks.
"You Just wait, mamma, till l get
to be a big man, and rich, and you
won't have to wash any more, nor
any other woman won't either. I'll
take care of all the poor widows
and orphans" the little fellow said.
Edward Page, brother of Charles,
says he remembers we'll that incident,
and of how his mother grabbed
Charles in her arms and hugged him
to her and wept all the more.
When he had grown big enough
Charles became messenger boy for
the Wisconsin Central railway, and
then he became brakeman and
later railroad fireman. Every dol
lar he earned above living expenses
in those days went to his widowed
mother and her fatherless children.
Charles drifted west to the Pacific
coast, worked in the gold mines in
Idaho, was hungry many time, and
penniless for weeks. He drifted east
ward to the oil fields of Colorado and
seven years ago, came to Chandler,
Okla, with $4,000 in cash, which he
soon lost in the oil fields near Chand-
ler.
Then oil was discovered in the ia
nous eileen Pool field, south. OF
Tulsa, and Page went to the spot
near there with $4,000 he raised by
mortgaging a piece of property in
Colorado. He got an oil lease on
small tract of Indian land in what
is known now as the Taneba field,
and put down well. When he
struck oil he spent the next few
weeks in getting oil leases on the
land surrounding his we'll in all
directions. The first was wonder
full well. 1t flowed 1000 barrels of oil
day and every barrel of it was
worth 35 cents in cash at the we'll,
an income of 500 day for Page,
minus one-eighth of the product,
which went to the owner of the land
as his share.
He drilled other wells on the land
he had leased and they were good
producers too and one day a syndi-
cate of fnanciers of New York, led
by Commodore Benedict, James King
Duffy and Clifford B. Harmon, Of
fered him s1,OOO,OoO in cash for his
leases. Page asked s500,000 more
and the sale was finally made for ST.
100000 cash, which vas paid to
Page.