The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-03
DIRECTED FIGHT
 FROM BEDROOM
Greatest Manufacturing Interests in the World Directed from Hotel Bedroom in Mt. Clemens During Eord-Tribune Trial.

IlTSL udy 11eHIy T OTu lo GOWh
 to see his million dollar suit against
 the Chicago Tribune brought to trial.
 he had a headache.
 He had been "fussing'' as he ex-
 pressed it, around a motor that
 morning and the night before, and
 had inhaled some of the gasoline
 fumes. He stated the fact simply
 as if it were common for millionaires
 to put on overalls and work around
 greasy machinery.
 But 1t was that headache which
 made Mt. Clemens early aware of Mr.
 Ford's pedestrian accom- plishments.
 His headache powder is a brisk walk
 in the open air, but what he knows
 as a walk most men would call a
 hike.
 He made a bee-line to the town limits and struck out cross-country. Being a 1.-the man with not an ounce of superfluous flesh and very agile in
 his movements, little impediments like farm fences did not impede him at all. He scaled them easily, even the barbedwire ones, one hand on top of the fence post, and then a flying leap which allowed even the tstls of his spring overcoat to clear. He saw everything as he went along, noted the character of the soil, discussed the advantages of draining. told about the tilling machine he | used on his farm at home. He went aside to look at small patch of mandrake growing in the fcnce-cor-
 ners-the May-appIe of ordinary fame. He followe with his eye 2 bird that passed with a piece of string in her mouth, noting which tree she had selected as the site of her nest.
 Walks or Headache. There was no let-up in his speed. Ployed land and sandy soil retarded | him not at all. He seemed to neu-
 tralize the difficulties of the ground 1 yb putting more strength into his | stride. He spoke freely of his ideas 1 of life, of the happiness of making | things "go," of the satisfaction of giv- | ing people a good chance in life. | It may have been on that walk | that his plan was born, but be that l as it may, it was not long after that | Henry Ford had decided to make the | city of Mount Clemens the headquar- | ters of all the Ford worldwide in 1 terests for the duration of the libel | suit.
 He had struck into road and was | nearing the town when he saw an | elderly man hoeing in g. little garden / and the two held converse over the | fence. The gardener was wholly un- 1 aware of the identity of his friendly ! visitor But very soon after that | Henry Ford dropped a remark. It was a remark which carried 1 little meaning to the person unaccus- i toned to the Ford method of doing | things.
 This is as good a place to work ! as any; what is the matter with us ! erI,+ | mark.
 | Presently it began to appear what an apparently casual remark by | Henry Ford meant.
 Down in the hotels they began to 1 move furniture out of whole suites of rooms.
 1 over in a business block they be- l gan to clean out a whole floor. 1 Trucks and vans of furniture be- gan to appear as if by magic, all | coming overland from Detroit. | Desks, typewriters, chairs, dicto- graphs, filing cabinets, heaps of sta 1 tionery, large council tables, various | cases of all sizes and shapes bulging
 with papers came under the guard | of small army of men, 1 Linemen were soon busy putting | ip special telephone and telegraph | wires. The vast volume of Ford | business began to roll back and forth | across them. Swift motor cars kept | the road between Detroit and Mt. | Clemens hot with their traffic. Then a corps of personal represen-
 tatives, secretaries and clerks ar | rived.
 Move Offices in a Day. In less than a days time, the cen-
 tral office of a great s30O.0O0,O0O in 1 dustrial concern had been transport | ed bodily from Detroit to another | city, and was running as smoothly as 1 if it were in it's specially arranged of | fees a home.
 The Ford business has outposts in | every country in the world. Just now | new motor factories are being plan
 ned here and there in Europe to help | give employment and encourag cement
 to that distracted continent. But the
 decisions made, say, about a new fac tory at Cadiz, Spain. or about the new 1 factory at Copenhagen, are being l made in the hotel rooms at Mt. Cle- l mems, Mich.
 The Ford Motor Car Co.,, the Ford | son Tractor Plant, the Eagle Ship
 building Plant, the various banks
 which exist principa1ly to handle
 the Ford finances. the Dearborn | Realty and Construction Co.,, through l which homes are belng cOnStructeo
 for Fordson employees. the Dearborn | Independent, which Is Mir. Ford 3 | weekly magazine of opinion all | these were surprised to find their headquarters moved within one day | to a comparatively small city. This was Henry Ford's way of say ing, concerning his libel suit, wen | fight it out on this line if it takes all ! summer"
 So it was decided to give a news | service to every newspaper in the l country. In one day a whole floor in | a business block was occupied. Special | wires and other equipment were in
 stalled. Verbatim reports of the trial
 were ordered. Lists of thousands of
 newspapers, city dailies and country
 weeklies, were prepared, and pres
 ently the news of the trial was find ing its way by wire and mail to every
 corner of the United States. | Send them the unco1ored truth, H | was the order. It so happened the | first week that the major part of the