Evening star., 1918-01-27
Interviews With Business Men Who Are Helping Win the War

to hear of those sixty orders that
couldn't be filed
"a number Of the employees in our
have become wealthy men. They were
given chance to buy stock. They pur-
chased 1t cheaply and it increased in
value. Had they found employment in
stock was for sale, they would still
be poor. There is only one secret of
success and that is the opportunity to
be successful. The civil war turned a
from my old home into a military hero
and made him President Of the United
States"
A TELEGRAM, sent last summer by
~ telephone from a little station
and a water tank to a log cabin in Gla-
cier National Park, stopped the horse
back wandering and camping trip of
Robert Somers Brookings and his
brother.
viii you call on the President" the
message read in effect, "at your earliest
convenience"
The railroad was sixty miles distant.
Inside of four days, however, Mr..
Brookings arrived in Washington. Go
ing to the White House, he learned that
he had been drafted for service on, the
ated to cooperate with the Council of
National Defense. Since then Mr..
Brookings has been fighting the Prus-
slams. The labor of the war industries
materials. finished products and the dis
trtbution of the latter to the places
where they are most needed. Mr.
Brookings' work is with guns, ammuni-
fnnt 30 oI~ IT,
the Army.
Fifty-six years before the telegram
ended his vacation in northern Montana
and puzzled his thoughts as he hurried
across the continent, Robert s. Brook
lngs was pupil at an academy in Bal
timore. On historic morning in
April, the boys in their seats and their
arms folded, the teacher, gloomy of face
and solemn of voice. addressed them.
THE Yankees" he said, ..are soon
to enter and make an attempt to pass
through the city. Oostructions have
already been placed on the railroad
near the bridge that crosses the canal.
want each of you to go home and to
remain there until the trouble is over"
Dismissed. the boys ran straight to
the bridge, where they saw and heard
the 9Th Massachusetts, and-Tth Penn
syivania regiments of infantry open
fire on the Inhabitants Such was the
introduction of Robert S. Brookings,
whose age was eleven, to war and it's
sensations y
All of the Brookingses in those days
were Quakers. They lived and -four
ished in the RICH regions that are edged
by the blue waters of the Chesapeake
bay. When Robert S. was seventeen
he followed an elder brother to st.
Louis. Cupples & Marston, merchants,
gave him employment.
My wages" he told the writer. were
$50 q month
1t was $40 o'clock in the morning
when Mr.. Brookings and the inter-
viewer met by appointment. Mr.. Brook
ings had already begun his days work.
A tall and .staiwart man. white-haired,
brown-eyed. his beard shorn close to
his face. he is the picture of physical
and mental well-being, although he is
sixty-seven and bachelor.
A clerk at seventeen. he was a part
ner in the firm at the age of twenty.
In all ne was associated with the orig
inal company and the corporation that
succeeded it for a quarter of a CEN
tury. Banking, railroad building and
manufacturing were among his inter-
ests during his career asa merchant
Woodenware-tubs. buckets. bowls and
SO forth-sold at wholesale, was al
ways. however. his principal business
With Mr.. CuppIes. his partner. he
erected q group of station buildings in
st. Louis, to be occupied by large deal
ers In groceries. hardware and other
lines of merchandise and with railroad
tracks in the basement, SO that ship
ments could be made and received
without delay or any cost for drayage.
Also he devoted a good share Of his
time to Washington University. OF
which he later became president and to
which he has given large sums Of
money. The terminal buildings. once
owned by himself and Mr. Cupples. are
now the property, through gift, of the
university and constitute its main
source Of endowment.
n,aa e.e pe:.e@. sn.s.t r how e. prs.ce
exceDt at the bridge at Baltimore. he is