The Washington herald., 1916-03-09
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER
sPeeisi oerrespond.pt o. Th, wash
tngfon Herald.
Copyright ls6. b. The Mcclure Ne~stau<r
Syndicate


states prominent man who was not
more or less Of an accident Most people
occupying prominent positions dN not
set out In early life 70 attain that psrti-
cular prominent position. Some oombinA-
ton Of circumstances OF freak or fate
directed them into II. Roosevelt started
with the idea Of shining at the bar. Bryan
had his heart set on being an actor and
Carnegie longed 70 be a school teacher
And so / might 90 on indefinftely, I
doubt II there are more than a score Of
men OF more than local fame WHO are
what they set out 70 be-
Mr.. A. Barton Hepburn, the head Of
the Chase National Bank Is a conspicoous
exception to this rule. He started out
TO be Just what he la
All his life he has hewed riFht 10 the
line Of the career he mapped out for him
self.
Thirty-fiye years ago be wss setttns q
salary Of so a week. Corutns down on
train from Albany 10 New York with
him was young man who bad been
his college chum and 70 the friend M
Hepburn confided the scheme be had
planned for his life. His college fr1snd
told It to me the other day.
Bound 90 Get In.
II Am going to get my foot fnfo surbe
20 40" YIN uudLIAdl concern. II p0f
sible a bank" said young Hepburn s1and
once ! get my foot In, I'm Foing 20 wig
gle all In somehow and stay thers untn
m at the top and sitting OF II Meth
Ing Is going 20 stop me or divert ne.
I'm not going to take up any onw or
follow any opening no matter how rood
u looks, that does not lead 20 ths end
Watch and see II I don't"
That's just what he aid. Fro-n n,s
lob 10 another he al
school for a while TO keep the pot boil
ing; filling q place in the State financial
department; then TO washington a.
Comptroller OF Currency, and finally
landing at the head Of the Chase bank
one Of the biggest In the country. Mean
while he accumulated a fortune and Ia
now worth millions.
He came from upper New York Stzta
and was not born with any silver spoon
in his mouth. On the contrary, he had
almost TO work his way through q lit
tie fresh-water colleEe-Anddlebury, I
think IL was. His brother was an Adtrun-
dack guide, and II ! am not mistaken.
remained IN that rather humble occups-
ton all his life Not 60 Barton Rep-
burn. He aimed at q star and hit G.
Now, the singular part Of the whole
thing is that he had no inherent lnrfnE
or adaptation for finance He did not
follow his natural bent or inclination
He simply picked out q banking and rfnsn-
cisl career because he believed II was the
surest and quickest road to fame and
fortune. He had never studied fnsnce
or had any experience IN II He tust
went at II as a hard task be vssr bound
20 do
His real inclinations run % the pocdz
He's huntsnan IN spirit and IN BODY
whenever he can get q ohKnoa. He would
rather have been guide Ike his brother
but he forced himself into being a
banker. He would rather hroil a moose
steak over a campfire any day than 70
handle bonds in a bank.
All OF which goes 20 show that itfs fs
not all chance. Determination shApes
our ends just as much a. fate.
Failures Only Repent.
I expressed this sentiment 10 Judrs
Richard Smith and he said: Does any
man who pursues wealth ever repent IL
unless he fails? doubt IL II he does
fail then he sets about mo-sIizinE.
"A failure Is a failure snywhere.- he
continued Lots Of men who come &c
the city and fan. would have failed 3ust
the same II they had followed the lure
Of back 70 the land Look around among
your scouaintsnces and you viii find
Just as many dead brokes' and dead,
bests' In the country as IN the city. II
Is not the city that makes = man fail
It's the man himself.
Very few people who are hard Up OF
broke have the courage or wisdom "a
hide il. We all judge by Appearances
and TO keep your credit good it's neces.
sary 70 keep your clothes good. I met
an old acquaintance this morning whom
I had not seen before for years. but who
used to be an impressive figure in q
club l formerly belonged TO. He had or
a suit OF clothes that was pretty shiny
and I found when left him that I Wa
mUtterinE. Well, he's broke
Hotel detectives are asked 70 find al
sorts OF things in the way OF lost articles
One Of the oldest requests I have hea I'd
Of Was made to Detective Dennison. head
house officer OF the NcAlpin 4 CUES
Of the hotel asked him 70 find two pots.
toes he had lost Dcnnison thought h.
was being "kidded'" and offered n 60
10 the steward and find two bushels Of
potatoes at the market price in five min.
utes and without a reward Il was ex.
planned that the potatoes weighed five
pounds each and were special seed tubers
he had obtained in the Northwest TO i'm
prove the crop on a Long Island expert
mental farm. As they were not recover
-k,-h =