The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-20
Mr. Frederick B. Shiremdn, Too Days-Od Rotdridn'
 Chats About the Club and Other Interesting Topics
By DOLLY DALRYMprE

= From office boy to manager" It's old refrain; one that a library
 Of Boys Books" have been written upon and one that every sef-made man has told to his ''not-self- made son As matter of fact, it is not a. very
 unusual story in modern American lit- erature.
 A good many successful managers nave
 been successful office boys there's noth- ing so very remarkable about their rise: it is only when they get to be unusual
 managers-managers of some sort of modern time Colussus-- that their stories
 stand out from the mass
 For instance, there's MT. Frederick B. shireman, the popular and affable man.
 ager of the Tutwiler hotel
 If you suggested this to him he would
 probably object: if you called him a
 living dynamo he would also object; if
 you termed him a Thigh speed energizer
 of human ambition he would object; if
 you called him magnetic, clever, sue
 cessful man with big job and the abil-
 ty to get away with it, he would object:
 in fact he would object no matter what
 you said about him, so much does he
 dislike any notoriety of the personal
 kind.
 , Go to him and ask him what he means to accomplish and you will get no defn-
 ite answer; when it is all done and the
 results are there he will tell you about it probably, but not before then; go to him and ask him anything about him self and you will so0n discover that his
 modesty and real dislike of self-exalta- tion rings so true that you rather hes- tate to pursue the subject.
 Briefly, this is the attitude of the man who came to Birmingham less than three months ago, with an undertaking which
 was tremendous and which he has han
 dled with the skill and the tact of dip
 lomat, and while MT. Shireman will not
 tell you these things of himself, for the
 theory he works on is that an ounce of accomplishment is worth a thousand
 pounds of the telling about it, there are
 certain channels through which have
 trickled bits of information about him
 and one of these is the appreciation that
 the Rotary club has shown by making him a member of that organization re-
 gently.
 It may be truthfully recorded that no
 man has ever come to Birmingham who
 has made more genuinely good friends
 than MT. Shireman.
 Not only in a business way, but by his
 unfailing urbanity, his kindly considera-
 ton and his pleasing personality he has
 gathered about him a circle of friends
 who may be labeled genuine.
 MT. Shireman not only possesses all the
 attributes generally associated with the
 successful hotel man, but aside from
 this his big heart and love of people, his motto closely followed of mans human- ity to man." would be assets that would
 win friends for him, no matter where he happened to be.
 Since coming to Birmingham MT. Shire man has been very busy man, and while he has his hobbies, like all the rest of us, he hasn't ever indulged them for a moment-and his favorite pastime of hunting and fishing has gone by default awaiting the time, as he laughingly ex- presses it, when things are going to please him..
 When you ask me about the com pliment that has been paid me by the Ro- tary club" Mr. Shireman said in answer to my question as to his attitude toward Rotary and it's doctrines, 'T can only say that l am most pleased. Now, as to my knowledge of the why's and where fores of Rotary. you must remember I am the youngest member in the club, youngest in membership, I mean, being only two days old. I'm really an infant a Rotary infant, you might say. What know of the Rotary club pleases me very much. I looked up the word in the dictionary when l was first introduced to, Rotary and found out what 1t meant. l also found out the Rotary motto, and when I attended the first meeting of the club I was impressed with two things ( .,f a1, good fellowship of its members, and the educational advantages it offers" ''The idea of Rotary is a splendid one" | Mr. Shireman continued, flor 1t is bring l ing religion into business, and that is something that is well worth while. The l history ,of Rotary and it's international 1 influence shows better than anything else | how it is regarded. It takes a man out | of himself in a way. makes him broader and bigger than his own mere personal | interests, and 1t makes him a big asset in | civic measures and all public enterprises,
 in his home town. The spirit of Rotary, | when all is told, is merely a modern ap- pication of the Golden Rule-'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'--in business circles. feel that the Rotary club Is one of Birmingham's most powerful and influential organizations
 and I am very proud to be numbered
 among its members"
 (Which brings me to ask for a bit of
 data regarding something's in qualifying 1 for membership I suggested, "and that
 is something about your career as a hotel man"
 q am great believer in the fact
 that man does not shape his own des- tiny said MT. Shireman, flor twice in my life I have tried very hard to get | away from the hotel business but it wasn't so decreed 1t seems. I started out
 to be farmer; in fact, I was one, and
 many blistering June day has found
 me behind a plough working like Trojan i in the sunny fields of Indiana. Martins