The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-11-15

Ierintendent Or mot1Ve power Oh lhe
entire Chicago, Burlington and
Quincy railroad.
The building, repair and designing
lof locomotives, managing a half dozen
big shops hundreds Of miles apart,
being the leader of several thousand
very skilled workmen of brains and
ldexterity-that was part OF the
work of ]. F. Deems in his new execu-
tive position. His training made 1t
easy for him to fill it, and it fitted
him for still higher and greater
executive work.
THE TOP ROUND
OF THE LADDER
/ At Schenectady, New York, is the
home of one of the largest locomo-
tive factories in the world, giant
in it's class 1t builds locomotives
and sells them to railroad companies
In New Jersey, Argentine, Colorado
New Zealand. Chile, Malta. Man.
churia and Labrador. From billets OF
steel to delivery of locomotive in
Tokyo is a good deal of work. Ihat
company employed ]. F. Deems 70
be its general manager, and he made
good as an executive otiicer OF tnat
great organization.
SO good in fact, that the New YORK
Central railroad simply bought MN
away from the locomotive works to
be it's superintendent OF motive
nower. at first. But this was only
preliminary, for soon after, J. f.
Deems was appointed general super
intendent Of motive power, rolling
stock and machinery Of the New forH
Central lines.
The Job was as big as the title
was long. The New York Central
lines included several railroads ana
about 1900 miles of main line track
extending from Boston and New
York to St. Louis and Montreal. RAN
road men consider Deems position as
the largest and most important rail-
road mechanical position in the
world. He held it for eleven years
and resigned to quit railroadlns.
In all his railroad career, J. +.
Deems stuck to the mechanical de-
'partment and never was outside he
mechanical phase of railroading.
STRAIGHT AS A
STEEL RULER
i Probably. he always had knack
of selecting, inspiring and leading
men.
4 The man who knows mankind best
is the most charitable of men. He
can understand the viewpoint OF the
other fellow. Such understanding
causes currents of fair dealing and
prevents trouble, misunderstanding
and wars.
!. In all the years that ]. F. Deems
was the executive over thousands OF
men. skilled mechanics, wizards with
steel cutting Iathes and drill presses
with the power of giant and the
delicacy of action of watch, and
also the humber workmen who tap
the car wheels while you wait Tor
change of engines, the men who DE.
sign and construct locomotives and
the men who keep them running,
every conceivable type of men VINO
work-as the executive of all those
men for all those years OF unrest
and development of new era OF
new ideas in and about labor. TINS
man Deems never had real labor
trouble on his hands.
1t was his reputation for good
faith that always won with his men,
Throughout his years as executive OF
very big things in railroad operation
the men under and the men over
him. always said that Deems was as
straight as steel ruler.
HOOKING DOWN
FROM THE WALL
Executives attain success in direct
ratio to how well they know people
and the manner in which men and
minds work and function. To learn
, this thoroughly, one must first OF all
he interested in people-not in some
persons, but in people as people.
Knowing this, it is not surprising
to find the present day WORKSHOP OF
7. F. Deems portrait gallery 1t Is
the library Of his home at Forestdale
farm. few miles west OF Burlington
n Is not the kind of library room a
retired merchant has in his house to
talk about 1t is the work room and
ONCE OF busy man. The desk IN
one corner spells work with its big
. bIotter and its pigeonholes SO does
, the whole ensemble there. The book
| cases are filed with books that the
owner studies. But the outstanding
thing in that room is the wall above
; the bookcases.
There is no wall space there, al
though the tops Of the cases are sew