Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-03-05
LORD COWDRAY, BRITISH OIL king,
THE MAN Behind MEXICAN CRISIS

Reticent. inaccessible. 81 years old,
Weetman Dickinson Pearson. who be-
came Lord Ccwdray but a few years
ago, is the only man who ever beat
the Standard Oil Company. He achiev-,
ed the feat in Mexico by undersell-
ing the American concern until they
retired with losses said to reach many
millions. A man less dcgged than
Lord cCwdray, less tenacious by in
stinct, might have hesitated to part
with the $4,000. 900 he put into the
greatest industrial duel Of modern
times. He happened. to be born in
Yorkshire of Yorkshire parents, and
bred to a business founded by his
grandfather. Even his wife is York
shire woman, and his sons have been
reared under the iron discipline with
which Yorkshire fathers and German
sovereigns form the characters CT their
children.
British journalists, exploiting their
talents in character sketches Of Lord
Cowdray for London journals, insist
that in a certain select coterie the oil
king unbends. relaxes, even talks. No
body knows him intimately enough to
declare the truth en- this point with
authority. He spent 10 years in the
house of commons as total stranger
to the hundreds Of men in that as.
semblage. He knows so little of life
in some of it's aspects that when
London newspaper refused to print
list of the wedding presents received
by his daughter, he offered a large
sum of money to plaeate the editors.
So, at any rate, runs the story. IT is
vouched for as characteristic, Lord
Cowdrays only way Of getting what
! he wants being to pay for it. His
living expenses are said to be $4,000
600 a year. ..
I Yorkshire has stamped itself so def
nitely upon the mind and manners OF
Lord Cowdray that he makes no con-
cealment of his contempt for the un-
outstanding Of all who do not hail from
the most Roman part CT Britain.
A Yorkshireman is to the rest of Eng
land what the Connecticut Yankee was
once to the United States in general.
Lord Cowdray. therefore. has the
swapping instinct" He exploits. we
read, the loud. angry manner of York
shire in effecting a deal. not minding
in the least-regarding it even as part
CT the game-if he be browbeaten In
return. He has, when excited. the
menacing gesture of the Yorkshire.
man. his broadness Of accent, even his
unccuthness of dialect His career is
that of the typical Yorkshireman who
has succeeded. First comes the raw
boned lad. stocky. silent. heavy The
next stage is that of the manufacture
ing lord in Manchester o. the factor
. on a gigantic scale. Finally the cabi-
net minister energies as does but
terfly from the cocoon. At each stage
the manner grows. additionally say.
age, the scowl fiereer, the look heav-
Ter. It is all part, eff game, the ex-
preston of temperament. Nobody
in Yorkshire would hesitate to shake
a fist in Lord CoWdray's face while
selling MIN a horse or motor car;
hut to the rest of the world these
conventions are a mystery.
Being physically and morally bull
dog, Lord Cowdray, one is glad to
read in the London Llcyd's, has the
naturally affecti0nate disposition CT
that animal. His .savagery. his per-
sistence and his capacity to take a
beating go with delight in being pat
ted on the back that few but bull.
dog could take. :, He loves to be loved
even as he shows his teeth. No Eng.
lishman ever spent his money so free
ly upon others or contributed with
such barbarcus prodigality to party
funds, hospital funds, pension funds.
He manifests the oldest aptitude for
drowning those he likes in golden
floods. He will buy decaying news
paper at fancy price to please a
poor Journalist who has made him
laugh. 1t amazed him greatly to learn
once that he was sole owner of Lon.
den illustrated paper which he had
bought by telegraph while in New
York. The fantastic editorial policy
of the Westminster Gazette is attrib-
uted to its freedom from pecuniary
. concern in consequence CT Lord Cow
dray's readiness to help in times Of
deficit. His Indifference to the cost of
anything upon which his fancy lights
explains, too, the fabulous sums he
will pay for portrait of his wife or
for the rescue of a landmark in York
shire from the operations CT land
agent He seems net to know what to
do with all his money.
When NJ appeal is made to MS pc-
culiar instincts as Yorkshireman.
Lord Cowdray relapses into mourn
tul silence. Impassive heavy, his
conversational resources are exhaust
ed by repetition OF the word "Ay!"
varied with CALCULATIONS like We'll,
now!" or "Ya-a-s!" The English Ian
guage is beyond him ordinarily. Only
when excited is he articulate lie
never reads anything much and is SO
little of dissembler as to yawn over
lectures and states, of which, we
read in the London Mail. he has
yards and tons His big hands,
thTnStinq f1nmCoIvcC rally tbrouoh