The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1915-10-22

height. About that time somebody
told him that the state of Iowa wa:
a land overlooking with opportunity
for young men of pluck and energy
So Cummins went to Iowa. He Dor
rowed 5000 from his father. Cum.
Minis took the first $500 he could savs
from his earnings to pay back that
lean. For two years he worked part
OF his time at the carpenter trade
and the rest as clerk in the express
office at McGregor. Then he spent
short time as express messenger
After that he got an appointment as
deputy county surveyor at Fort
/ Wayne, Ind. Three months later he
became railroad builder. 1t was as
chief engineer of the Northern Cen.
trail Michigan Road that he met his
wife, Miss Ida l.. Gallery of Eaton
Rapids, Mich.
Cummins caught on in Des Moines
dluOSI IIOiu IHO LII oI. OOpiO iihOu
him and respected him even though
for the purpose of hiding his COM
parative youthfulness, he had grown
really atrocious outfit of whiskers
The key to his success as a young
lawyer was, of course, the simple but
often overlooked expedient of work
He worked all the time. Yet he did
not neglect his social duties. To
oblige his wife he went to receptions,
balls, and dinners. He would go in
full dress, meet everybody, see every
body, and be seen by everybody
and then he would disappear. He
would slip away and drive to the of
flee. There, in evening dress, he
would crowd in two or three hours
of hard work. When he thought it
was about time for the party to break
up, he dropped in again. Few ever
found out that he had been to his
office.
And, no matter how late the party
kept him up, he was always astir by
seven the next morning. BY $3.50 he
was at his office. During the years
he has been in Washington it has
been a rare thing for him to reach
his office later than nine in the morn
ing.
For the last year Cummins has
been less active in senate legislation
than Heretofore. The reason is that
his health has been below normal.
He has kept steadily on the job
no senator is more punctual in at
tendance than Cummins-but he has
not been his real self. This led him
to look about for some form of ex-
ercise. Years ago he was tennis
enthusiast, but now at IS he turned
to golf. He had devoted himself al
most exclusively to work for so many
years that he seemed to approach a
gold links almost with sense Of
shame. He dislikes to be photograph
ed on the links.
Just the same, Cummins has made
golf his hobby. He plays golf rain or
shine. He Is the first man on the
course in the afternoon and usually
the last to leave Once on the links,
Cummins is big boy. He casts aside
dignity; he laughs and shouts.
Cummins is genial person once
he removes himself from the atmos-
phere of work. On a trip he is an
excellent companion. He always
wants to do the ordering and to pay
for everything. Persons travelling
with Cummins on speaking trip
have to resort to strategy to pay their
share of the bills.
Like many other men who enter
politics without the backing of wealth
Cummins has sacrificed much to re-
main in public life. His intimate
friends say that aside from his home
he has little or nothing laid aside
as a competence for old age. AS q
leading lawyer of Iowa he could have
amassed comfortable fortune. But
whatever he had when he was first
drawn into politics has gradually dis
appeared during the Is years COM
prising the active part Of his political
career. For Cummins is a free spend
er.
After his arrival in Washington,
Cummins almost Immediately became
one of the most prominent Of the In
surgent senators. Probably the most
important thing he has done in the
senate was his work on the committee
on interstate commerce in the winter