The evening world., 1920-12-28

sehene whioh they had inspired.
Island. My new plans Of insurance
that had been adopted by the COM
pany were a great success and no
man Of twenty-eight had a brighter
future. with ample salary and a
large royalty on tho Coupon Annuity
policy, which the company had adopt
cd. almost any young man would have
been satisfied, and would no doubt
have remained with the company to
this day butfor the most remarkable
messages which were nightly given
me.
They were always OF one import. I
was to resign my position, go 10
Kansas City and organize trust
company to carry out building plan
which they had given me, and whfie
there 1 would be directed TO build
a railroad. These messages filled ms
with Amusement. could not see why
It was my duty to give up such an
extraordinary start and undertake
work that had never done and was
not equipped 70 do, but the messages
were 30 insistent and filled my wax
ing hours 10 such a remarkable de-
gree that / could hardly keep my
mind on my daily tasks.
At last, l was forced TO do as d.
rected. 1 have no doubt that among
my readers there will be many who
have been impressed to make as rad
| ical moves as / was. but I doubt IL
| few have had the courage to obey
and have often wondered how
dared close the door on such a sue
cessflh career and open one into a
new and untried field. The only ex-
/ planatiOn Is that l was compelled to
do SO. In a few months after re-
signed my position had secured the
necessary capital for the trust COM
| many. the securing of which was
made possible only by the advice OF
my Brownies
The company started a remarkably
successful career, with strong
BOARD of Directors, and within one
wear was able TO start the payment OF
dividends, but I could not see any
railroad 70 build and l wondered
where II was.
The plan given to me for the prin-
cipal business OF the new trust COM
pany was 10 build homes and sell
them on the instalment plan OF
monthly payments covering period
Of ten years. In case the owner died
all of the remainder of his debt was
cancelled and the heirs received the
release Of the mortgage. II was, In
fact. as we advertised, Live IN your
own endowment policy and raise
chickens in the back yard"
We were flooded with buF'"eSs
from a dozen Western cities and IN
six months were forced TO double our
capital and in less than eighteen
months double It again. We carried
on this building plan for three years
until the company was so occupied
by other business that we discon-
tinued II. But since then, this same
plan has been carried out all over
the United States and also to some
extent in England. Lake all the
Brownies plans, It proved to be
highly practical.
Among my directors was Mt 10.
L. Martin Of Kansas City, one Of the
most constructive men OF that city in
its early history and one Of the most
capable men have met Shortly
after he became interested In tho
company he Joined the Board OF
Directors and one day called me into
the directors room for a private con-
ference. He said, ''Mr. Stllwer, see
no reason why you should not be In
terested in a new railroad. l have a
franchise to build a belt line around
Kansas City, and / should like very
| 10 uhNb you JUN lllt Al Nhp uAl-
dertaking." II Is impossible for me to
, convey to the reader the thrill that
filled my mind when Mr.. Martin
mentioned the name railroad" Ny
vision in Hartford came TO my mind
} in a most vivid manner, and I Won
dered how It was possible that those
who had directed me then had been
able to arrange matters and put me
in touch with Mr.. Martin.
- Ia 49, -
Il, was convinced that this was The
railroad I was to build. Mr.. Martin
told me in detail regarding the fran
chise which he had for building a
belt railroad partially around the
city, with an entrance on Second
street For three years he had
failed In securing the money and
. feared he would lose the franchise,
which expired in less than a week
and could not be renewed. He said,
, do you think IL is possible for you
to secure the capital and start build
ing the road before the franchise eX-
piresT I went over the line which
! the franchise covered and at once
saw its great possibilities. As had
a large number of stockholders In
! Philadelphia told Mr.. Martin we
, would leave that night for that city,
[, and in the sleeper on the way to
. Philadelphia in my dreams the
1 Brownies gave me a most coniplete
: plan by which the money could De
raised and the work started before
the time elapsed. As soon as
reached Philadelphia dictated the
subscription agreement, according to
this plan, and bv O'Clock NJ that
! day Rll the capital necessary 70 start
!, this railroad had been 5ubscribed 4
without the slishtest alteration OF
the plan.
Among this list Of subscribers was
Mr.. A. ]. Drexel, also the presidents
OF five national banks. the presidents :
;, OF two Of the largest trust COM
panies and the presidents OF two of
1 Philadelphia's leading fire insurance
/ companies-as fine a list OF names
as could possibly be secured In the
j city OF Philadelphia.