Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-09-25

lIiS po"A "Ao AiShl Dy the company.
| The concern is an extensive one and
| is, year by year, charging its hold
ings, and its business is enormous
| and growing rapidly. It is now
known as the Wisconsin Valley Elec-
| trio company.
Mr.. Brown was largely instrumental
in organizing other large and i'm
portant concerns in the Wisconsin
| river valley and elsewhere among
them the Marathon Paper Mills com
pany, Rothschild; the Wausau Sui
plate & Fiber company, Mosinee. the
Nekoosa Street Railway company;
Chrisholm Electric company, in Min
nesota; interurban rights for an cleo
trio road from Stevens Point to Mer-
rill; the great Northern Life Insur-
ance company, and Employers Mu-
tual Liability Insurance company, and
| in all Of these he has held the chief
official positions and his counsel, his
! guidance, his enthusiasm and his OPP
timism, under the most trying circum-
| stances, was an asset to those insti-
buttons beyond computation. He was
also connected with many smaller in
stitutions in which he advised and
| counseled
Mr.. Brown was a great factor in
| satisfactorily adjusting the water
power question of this state, which
for several years was before the leg
islature, and later the supreme court,
and his brief on this question attract
ed widespread attention. He made
this fight as he fought for every
thing, which he thought was right,
with all the force which he possessed,
giving it his undivided attention for
months at time. 1t was his domi-
mant characteristic that when he en-
listed in any cause, it was because he
thought 1t was right and just, and
whether followed by the few of the
many. he gave to that question all
the ability, all the energy and time
which in his judgment was neces-
sary. At such times he became so
absorbed that even the regular hours
for food and sleep were forgotten.
This was true when at work ON i'm
portant litigation; when engaged in
establishing large enterprises; in his
| nd -, IL
tiles and in his pursuits of pleasure,
which, in the main, consisted Of
hunting and fishing, boating and get
ting in touch with nature. He had
his own views on religious ques-
lions; they were not so materially diff
ferent from the rest of mankind. but
the essentials were to be honest and
above board in all Of ones transac-
tons; to be true to ones self; to re-
spect the laws of God and man, and to
render all the assistance possible for
the welfare and happiness of his fell
low man, and in this, as the writer sees
it, he hewed to the line. He was a
good fighter and had the courage of
his convictions. In speaking of these
things, nothing is overstated. The
truth is enough, any fulsomeness
would not be in keeping with one of
his nature. 1t cannot be gainsaid
that his cardinal virtue was in the
assistance extended to his fellow man !;
suffice it to say that if those he en-
couraged and befriended were to write
a statement of what he did for them,
it would make a moss interesting vol
ume; it would be a tribute worth
while and one that would throw a re-
vealing light upon his character. 1t
would include some of the brightest
names before the public in our state.
Those whom one thus helps along the
way certainly constitute for him a
roll of honor.
Neal Brown delighted all who knew
him with his writings. He was en-
tirely at home with the old and the
new classics, had published himself
essays on literary topics, and his
book, Critical Confessions" gained
for him a place among literary men.
He was a man of original thought
and profound reasoning, and collec-
, ton of his writings, essays and ora
tions would fill many volumes. He
was especially impatient with shams
and shallow pretentions which in
these days are attempted to be passed
off as craftsmanship,
One writer said of him: 'Do you
know Neal Brown? A great many
, | Wisconsin people do. To those who
{ do not, | will say that he is a para
dox. He is at will an optimist, and a
pessimist, as clever a litterateur as
ever dipped pen in gall and worm
wood or honey and hoarhound. He
never does anything like anybody
else; he don't want to; don't try to-
He does not delight in being odd;
just does it because he is built that
| way. he wrote DOCK recently; IL Is
, profound; it is more than that, it is
full of bitter irony and bright sun
shine; of cutting sarcasm and mate
rial epigrams. 1t deals with littera-
| tours from Balzac, Andrew Lang and
other authors of the day. Without
gloves and with brass knuckles, Mr..
Brown skaters some of America S
idols, then he proceeds to tell how
majestic and noble are others. He
has traversed fields in his book, Crit
cal Confessions" that are so, at a
glance, original that no one will ever
accuse him of plagiarism. What a
world of fun and feast of n-glow
this country missed when Neal Brown