The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-07-29
Amazing Story Of the Life Of American Who Placed German
Institutions Above the Traditions Of His Native LdDd
his mannerisms and told him whether
he was cut out for a cashier or auditor,
bla cksmith, a moulder or an artisan.

|
he was cut out for cashier or auditor,
blacksmith, moulder or an artisan.
| "As a result, it is said. not all the ap-
picants for jobs at the Rumely plant
were found to measure up. cranially
speaking, with the jobs they sought.
| They didn't get the jobs. There was
more or less annoyance felt by old hands
who wanted advancement.
"Salomon & Co., bankers, owned or
controlled a large amount of the COM
pany's stock. Hallgarten & Co. and the
Solomon house underworld the $1O,OO0.-
600 issue of two-year notes. These notes,
sold to smaller banks, soon had to be
met, and the New York Stock Exchange
heads cast speculative eyes on the notes,
it is said.
"Thereupon DR.. Rumely's efficiency
and 'progressiveness' methods began to
wane and reorganization plans proceeded
forthwith"
New Ideas and Projects.
Once out of the Nj. Rumely Company,
| DR.. Rumely concentrated his attention
and interests upon his Interlaken school
He also began to write articles for var;
| Gus magazines on education, on manu-
featuring, on agriculture and other eco
nomic and social topics. His active
brain was continually evolving new prof.
ects and ideas, some of which he put into
effect in his school, others of which he
attempted to promote. l was then llv-
ing in Chicago and saw DR.. Rumely at
more or less frequent intervals. Some
times 1 would visit, the school; at other
times he would call me up when he was
il. Chicago and we would lunch or dine
together. There was always something
stimulating in this sort of intellectual in
tercourse. He would spread his latest
new idea before ME and in rapid fire
sentences illuminate it with excursions
into the realms of philosophy and art.
science and fancy, history and romance,
until the ordinary mind grew weary in
trying to follow the myriad threads of
thought. Often after session of IN hour
or two with the doctor have found my
self month later still trying to trace to
it's ultimate conclusion some line of
thought suggested by some sparklingly
brilliant idea carelessly dropped into the
middle of a conversation on some en-
tirely different topic.
Brushed Aside Obstacles.
1t was always difficult to draw the line
between sound logic and fallacious reason
ing when listening to DR.. Rumely ex
pounding whichever one of his pet ideas
was uppermost in his mind at the mo-
ment. Difficulties and obstacles he
brushed aside as of no moment. Projects
and schemes that, emanating from a less
brilliant intellect. would have seemed
crude and half baked, under the spell of
his almost hypnotic enthusiasm and con
fidence took on the SeDb!ance of reality.
1t was not until the next day. or the next
week, after the magic had worn off, thar
the flaws in the reasoning became ap-
parent.
l remember one of DR.. Rumely's plans
in this period between the downfall Of
the Rumely Company and the beginning
of the European war was to establish a
great publishing house to provide i'm
proving literature for the working man
at low cost. They do that sort of thing
in Germany, he told me. Every village
has it's book shop. where the laborer CAL
buy his copy of Bernhard or Treitschke
or Also Sprach Zardthustra' for
pfennig or two. Books cost too much in
America, he thought. He would get out
little books to sell for a nickel, which the
working classes would eagerly devour
Having had a good many years of expe-
rience in various phases of the printing
and publishing business, I was able to
qualify in his eyes as an expert therefore
my assurance that, whatever they might
| 10 in Germany, this project would not
work in America for more than one rea-
son was sufficient to divert his attention
| from the scheme.
An Amazing Proposal
| Then in August, 1914. Germany tore
up the scrap of paper on which she had
uaranteed the neutrality of Belgium and
started out to conquer the world. l do
not need to recall to the memory of any
thinking American the shock that this
wanton act of nation with which Al
the world had been at peace sent through
the civilized portions of the earth. Many
of us--most of us in fact-did not sense it
at first as our quarrel or as anything that
concerned the destinies of America. As
| for our German-American friends and
neighbors, we did not blame them for
sympathizing and openly expressing sym
pathy with the land of their birth. We
were confident that whatever their senti-
mental attachment for the Fatherland
they were at heart Americans; they had
merely failed to grasp the essential diff
ferercns between what Germany was
| fighting for and what the Allies were
fighting for. That any real American.
however much he might admire the good
qualities of the German people or the
splendid achievements of Germans in art.
literature and science. could accept the