The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-06-04

of high finance look like a cub re- porter on space.
 All the while Young Hoover had
 his eyes wide open and his ears to the
 ground. He organized a mining com
 pany to develop the rich coal fields of the Oriental Empire and he float ed it in London. He was. retainad as it's general manager at a ppincely
 salary and sold out his interest in it | before leaving England for $250, 900. l At 28 he was a millionaire. He had a varied and interesting ex- 1 perience in that country. He was en- gagged in mining operations far in the | interior when the Boxers began to
 make things lively. He hurried to |
 Pekin when he heard the news and | l took his wife to T1entsin, just as the | Boxers had began to play havoc with | that city. For more than six weeks the Hoo | vers and a few other Americans. who l happened to be in the locality, lived | beneath a barricade of rice and su- l gar. It was not a bright prospect. l l Death in it's most horrible form was
 likely to take them at any moment l
 Everybody had to do his or her bit
 in defending the place. MT. Hoover
 more than once helped serve a ma
 chine gun, while Mrs. Hoover served
 tea in their irnprovised fort to the i little colony of imprisoned Americans. I MT. Hoover lost all he had, prac-
 tically, in the Boxer uprising. Being an adventurous individual, he trailed
 in with the newspaper correspondents
 and trudged along with them to Pc 1 kin.
 There he found plenty to do in re-
 constructing the destroyed railways. When things were settled he managed 1, to get valuable coal concession-the i one he financed in London and sub l seQuent1y managed It was not long
 before he recouped his fortune and added more to it..
 For some years he has resided in
 London, directing affairs from the headquarters of his mining interests scattered over the world, including China, India, Russia, Mexico and California.
 +, When the European war broke out the mining business went to smash. An active, restive spirit like Hoover I couldn't sit still in London twifling I his thumbs.
 Most men with the vast interests
 MT. Hoover had in his keeping would 'l have considered that quite sufficient
 to look after, but he willingly, took
 on new and additional burdens and
 went through with them in a way
 
 and won their admiration. There were over 10000 Americans
 on the other side who wanted to get home. The war broke so suddenly : that they were taken unawares, and most of them flocked tosEnglish ports : to procure passage home.
 Many Of them landed in England without sufficient funds to defray their expenses. A lot of them had to be assisted financially. Congress made a liberal appropriation for them. inadequate to care for the homeward rush to> America
 z It was Hoover's job to care for them and get them started back to !, the United States. He and his asso- l ciates served as the clearing house for 2 the Germans in England and the ex- change of the English who were driv- l en out of Germany.
 When Antwerp and Ostend fell i'm to German hands Belgians began to : pour into London. Hoover and his assistants mostly Americans, were on - the docks to receive them. The cry of the rung in Belgium
 went up and 1t was answered by the . charitably disposed in England and = America Hoover was made head Of the Belgian Relief Commission. The way he handled that big problem is
 known to every reader of the globe. He fed and clothed millions of n people through the charity of the l world. His home in London, "Red z l House. is the mecca of world wan = derers. He has handled millions of . money, and his administration of the z trust imposed in him has been won- . derfulIy efficient and honest. He gave up his business to devote . his time to humanity and charity to d strangers. It Is a tremendous finan- cfa1 and personal sacrifice. More e than 50 different corporations are de- q prived of his services. He has made
 flying visits to this country on busi- d ness in connection with his relief Il work.
 There is talk of making MT. Hoov- - CT temporary cabinet officer during
 the war. He is probably the most : widely known American among Euro 't pean statesmen because of his prom - thence in relief work, MT. Hoover Y says that if he undertakes the work !. of food director of the United States q it will be with the understanding that - neither he nor his assistants will re- ? fceiye any compensation.
 t MT. Hoover is one of the trustees r of Stanford University and before the war never missed a meeting, travelling
 from London to California and back F with the carefreeness of commuter. ., Now that the United States has Q thrown in its lot with the Allies, MT. a Hoover has returned to his native
 land to offer his services during the 8 lwar.
 t His friends Know him as a good d mixer, a better listener than he is a e talker. but when occasion requires he B can set forth his views in clear and F. concise manner. MT. Hoover is in his d 43rd year. e Joseph H. O'Neill, treasurer of the Q New England Belgian Relief Commit q tee, who spent several hours in the F company of Mir Hoover while he was
 in Boston last February, says that he 70 Is one of the most remarkable men Q he haS ever met
 T regard MT. Hoover as one of the e biggest men this country has pro- '- duced in the last 25 years,'' said Mr. st O'Neil. 'He is wonderful adminis- q trator, thoroughly American in every sr fiber of his being, and President will r son is to be congratulated on his ap-
 pointment as food administrator n There is nothing bombastic or Irt.<x .I~~ TT