The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-21

flee just across from 10 Downing
 street. where the new prime minister.
 Lloyd George, imparts his strenuous
 personality to all the branches of the
 new regime.
 Sir Albert's long life in America has
 given him the look of an American
 business man. He speaks like a man from the middle west-with constant
 strain of good nature and good humor. particularly when he recalls the hard knocks he received when he was gain
 ing his American experience.
 American experience is a great as-
 set to anyone" said Sir Albert. Travel and experience-those are the only means of getting an actual insight into the real character and methods
 of a country It can't be done by
 reading books. It is not a matter of theory, but of practice. You must go
 to country if you want to under
 stand it; live in it and grow up in it."
 And this led Sir Albert. in reply to inquiries as to how he had lived and grown up in America. to relate some of the ups and downs of starting on an American business career.
 Its a strange thing" said Sir AL bert how I nearly became a minis ter of the gospel instead of a cabinet minister. That was in the days when we were living in Detroit. over on the East Side. on Joseph Campan avenue, had already wanted to go into the street railway business. and had asked the minister at our church. Rev. John Munday. for a letter to Strathern Hen drie, secretary of the Detroit City rail- way. But the good minister and my family thought I was better suited for the church. and I've thought late ly how close I came to being a min ister at Detroit instead of at London. But I worked out the other way and finally got letter to Strathern Hendrie.
 q remember going to present that letter to Hendrie. I stopped on the way and sat down on a bench in the small park, Grand Circus park, >in the center of the city As I sat there the street cars went jolting and jing ling past, for those were the days of the old horse cars, before Pingree and Tom Johnson had come on the scene. And as I sat on the bench looking at the ramshackle cars going by, and felt in my pocket the letter to Hendrie, I said to myself right there. By love, I'm going to get on top of that con- cern.
 "Oh, yes. I've never lacked self-con- fdence and egotism," added Sir Albert. as he laughed at the audacity of his first project to "get on top of the big street railway plant at Detroit.
 When the letter was presented, Strathern Hendrie gave me my first job, but I really believe the idea was to make it so hard I would tire out within a month and 20 back to school. I was put out in the stables at the end of the branch line out Woodward avenue. Work? It was the hardest kind of work I had to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, travel clear across the city to the branch terminus, start work at 7:30 in the morning and keep at it until 10 o'clock at night.
 T was counting the money brought in by conductors one day while on that first job," Sir Albert went on, when one of the car horses ran amuc]< and dashed up to the window where l sat counting the cash. The first I knew the two big front hoofs of the horse era shed through the glass and were planted on the cash table. My first inn pulse was self-preserva rion and so I beat a nasty retreat until the frightened animal was brought under control But that didn't satisfy the superintendent of the line. He said never should have quit the cash even with a runaway horse after me. The superintendent was very positive and rather excited, and it looked as though I was going to be discharged there and then. If I'd been discharged 1t might have brought my American ex- perience to a rather sudden end But I wasn't discharged and that night the wife came and explained to me that her husbands strong language was due to excitement over the runaway.
 Later on Tom Johnson took hold of the street railway situation There was at that time a well known local agitator named Jim Grant, who had great influ- ence in stirring up the conductors and drivers. So Tom Johnson devised the plan of hiring Grant, giving him 8 good position, and thus keeping him under control. Grant was made superintendent of one of the main lines, and it fell to my lot to get up the time schedule for that line. I made up the schedule and presented it to Grant as superintendent, to go into effect next morning He glanced at it and there was an explo- sion.
 Not on your life, he said. The men wouldn't stand for such hours.
 Then the men. hearing the noise, came n the room. Of course they sided with Grant. There was an angry uproar, all directed against me. Gradually the men crowded up to me, menacing and threat