Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-01-30
The End.
WANTS A THOUSAND CHILDREN
Oklahoma Millionaire Has Built Or
phans' and Widows Home.

Charles Page, 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 large home on a wooded
hill. 1t is crowded to its capacity with
obys 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 accommodations
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 80
acre park for a playground, lake of
IA acres for swimming and boating, a
wading pool for the smaller ones, hos
pital a geological garden, a kinder
garten and a graded school and $4O,-
900 high school.
Mr.. Page will build this winter a
hospital that viii 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, Mimi.
And who is this man Page who has
more adopted children than any other
man in the world?
Forty-five years ago, when Charles
Page was boy of 10, his father died,
leaving a widow and seven children.
His father had been in the tanning
business in Stevens Point, Wis. The
widow, with the house full Of small
children, had a hard time Of 1t.
One day while she was doing the
washing for a neighboring family, and
had stopped a 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 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 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
and wept all the more.
When he had grown big enough
Charles became a messenger boy for
the Wisconsin Central railway, and
then he became a brakeman and later
a railroad fireman. Every dollar 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
piece Of property in Colorado. He got
an oil lease on a small tract Of Indian
land in what is known now as the Ia
neba 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.
That first was a wonderful 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 s7OO
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 pro-
ducers, too, and one day syndicate of
financiers Of New York, led by Com
modore Benedict, James King Duffy
and Clifford B. Harmon. offered him
81, 900, 900 in cash for his leases. Page
asked $500,000 more and the sale was
finally made for s1,25O,OOO cash, which
was paid to Page.