The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-04-22
A CARRIERS STORY
Doctor Anderson Tells Experience With Mis-.
soulian's Present Plan.

state and surrounding states and many
Of them have gained special pre-cmi-
hence in their various vocations wher-
ever they are scattered throughout the
world. For the carriers as a class
were the very best students in the uni
! versity and labor omnia vincit. met
and had as customers and friends
many men Of prominence, some Of
| them known only locally, others ma
tionally and still some whose names
are almost household words through
out the world. plstrict Judges Fred
erick Hooker. Charles NJ. Pond, Aus.
tin II. Young, David f. Simpson, Rob-
ert d. Russell. w. II. Harrison and
United States District Judges Arthur
H. Noyes and Charles L. Elliott. Sen
atOr w. D. Washburn, Sol Smith Rus
SELL, the great actor two of the Wash
burns, three of the Pillsburys. and
some of the Crosbys were patrons and
friends. Mr.. J. r. McDermott is the
only AIissou!a man so far as know or
| remember who was customer of mine
and l carried the Journal to him for
several years. one day several years
ago when ! saw him on the street and
did net even remember his NAME I in
troduced myself to him as his former
newspaper carrier. / remember that
had carried paper to him some
where. but could not remember who
he was or where he had lived.
A Few Experiences.
! will relate rev experiences with
big men and then close. When l was
quite small youngster and quite
awhile before l was large enough to
carry a route. l carried messages
nights for the Western Union. I fire.
Washburn's palatial home OF Fair
Oaks. He always gave me quarter
and instructed his butler to load my
pockets with choice fruits which was
indeed a great luxury to me. One
night about 3 Il. m, a message came
to him saying that his great lumber
mills at Anoka had been totally de-
stroyed by fire and he was heavy
loser. l carried the message, but be-
fore starting out, the night clerk told
me that could not expect his usual
generosity on such message as that
but he gave, me the quarter with the
usual abundant supply Of choice fruits.
One morning as l was making my
rounds on my route, very slender,
kindly and sympathetic man called me,
subscribed for the Tribune and paid
me $2.55 for three months in advance.
Upon asking him for the name he said
that his name with SOL Smith Rus
SELF and l handed the subscription
In in that way. was greatly joshed
at the office for being such an easy
mark as to believe that he could be
the great actor and was told that he
did not live in Minneapolis and never
had and that someone was playing
joke on me. But l was firm in my be-
lief for I had seen pictures on the
! billboards which looked very much
like him and then too he paid three
months in advance which was good
evidence that he was a great man.
| Well my new patron proved to be the
genuine Sol Smith Russell and he
| spent his summers in that city for
several years. 1t is possible for q
great man to come to any town to live
without any special display. Mr.. Rus
sell was an early riser and was al
most always up at o'clock to get his
] paper and always had a pleasant, kind
~ and encouraging word. The first
play that l ever saw except from a
high altitude was Mr.. Russell in Be
witched."
A Hard Case.
One time district Judge got 1t into
his head that he would not pay the
Tribune bill for 1926 which his de-
ceased cousin owed me. There was a
very large estate and the judge was
administering it, but he was peeved at
the paper over politics and would al
ways turn a deaf ear to my repeated
explanations that it was a direct loss
to me and that the Tribune had been
paid by me for every one Of the pa
pers long ago. He put me off for over
WV JS~AS always NhoS ShSAS
was no money on hand. One day
member Of one of the largest law firms
in the city was questioning me re-
garding my experiences In collecting
and l told him about my experience
with this particular judge and this par
ticular case He was very much worked
UP over the matter and said that
while they never took collections at all,
he would gladly volunteer to make
this collection post haste or know the
reason why. A notice from this firm
Of impending suit brought this judge
to his senses and his check was forth
coming In less than "a hours. 1t would
have been impossible for me to have
had The benefits Of a high school and
, collegiate course had 1t not been for
:! the newspaper routes. made every
dollar of my long way before I was
ready for high school and then through
the high school and. university.
never have been ashamed of my be-
ginnipgs, but have always felt pro.