The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-03-25
Advent OF Fzagler

grown man that ever lived. becaus
ne proposed, as a magician, to brin,
out OF dreams experienced as tn
deeps of sleep a commonwealth o
beauty.
People could not resist the impress
sion when they saw him that diyin,
realities are still around us and arc
related to us; that they await us;
that they beckon us to come up tc
them and sit in high places with
them He seemed to say to those
who had lost their bearings. "You
are all lost princes, herding obscure
~ on levels of life beneath you." He
said to them: "The romance Of your
spirits are the most marvellous stor.
les He made the impression that
the possible wanderings Of every soul
were greater than any ever made by
ulysses Of classic fame. He seemed
to say that every man is a bird Of
paradise and should not live as a
Wingless outcast, huddled under the
rocks, without hope and without in.
spiration
He had come to the fountain of
youth, seemingly, to teach the people
that the land of immortal youth ev.
eryone might find for himself in the
depths of his own life. He seemed
10 feel that earth can become magical
and sweet to all who are willing To
thrown sweetness and light into It..
He believed in the eternity of the
spirit, because it was only in the
light of such belief that he could in.
terpret himself to himself and under.
stand how he could take the myriad
images and dreams, pouring from the
depths of his soul, and use them as
SO much raw material out of which
10 make grounds for Wall street to
come every winter to play golf on.
His Early Struggles
The first thing Mr.. Flagler did to
excite worldwide attention to himself
as dreamer and visionary was to
convert the history of Spain into
three Of the most remarkable hotels
ever built ON earth.
Mr. Flagler was the son of Pres
byterian preacher whose salary was
about $500 a year. There is not a
better place On earth in which to de-
velop a dreamer than inside the home
of a Presbyterian preacher, All the
training he ever had at school was
obtained before he was Ia years old
so he left home at that age and walk
ed ten miles to the town of Medina,
in Ohio, carrying a carpet bag. At
Medina he got aboard a freight boat
on the Erie Canal and went to Buffa-
To- He arrived at the little village of
Republic, in Ohio, and got position
at IS a month and his board in a !
country store, but he worked hard
and he saved his money
When he accumulated a little mon
ey he moved to Belleville, small
place in the next county, and went
into the grain business. John d. !
was then commission
merchant In Cleveland and Flagler
sent him good many carloads of
wheat, which he sold as his agent. He
afterwards went to Saginaw and tried |
to manufacture salt. There he lost
The little fortune he had accumulated |
and owed about $4,000 to about 500
Irishmen who had been working In
his salt factory. He borrowed enough |
money to pay his debts, and then
went to Cleveland and engaged in the
corn and produce commission bust.
ness. John D. Rockefeller and Will
lam Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews
had started a small oil refinery in
Cleveland on the side of hill When
he second regnery was built, in 1867,
Stephen Hardness loaned him $780,.
100 to enter into partnership with
Mr.. Rockefeller and his associates.
As other refineries sprung up they
bought them, and in 1870 they organ.
zed the Standard Oil Company.
Worked Transformation
In 1885 Mr.. Flagler paid his first
risit to Florida and became impressed
With the business possibilities pre-.
jented there by the railroad field in
connection with the development Of