The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1922-11-26

protected by Copyright in other coun-
tries of the world. All rights reserved.)
CHAPTER VIII
Behind u Chinese Wall
once you get to Mr.. Ford you will
find him, Of all men. most affable
and democratic. He Is apt to leave
upon you the impression that he
stands ready to do anything for
you, give you anything, even to the
half of his kingdom. He makes
promises which he sometimes keeps.
sometimes forgets, and sometimes
fulfills in his own peculiar way, He
hates to say No" He has a way Of
leaving you with the idea that he is
in entire sympathy with your propo-
sition, and of delegating the unpleas-
ant task of turning you down to
someone else.
To turn down a request made of
us is embarrassing. To grant favor
is a pleasure. Henry Ford is a man
of generous impulses, / think he
would prefer on all occasions to do
what he is asked to do. This, of
course, is impossible. And so, when it
is necessary to turn man down, he
seeks to relieve himself of the en-
barrassment of doing so by referring
the man to someone else, at the same
time Indicating just how he would
have the man and his request handled.
He has sometimes given a man a note
to an executive, which was in reality
a code letter understood by the Of
fetal receiving it. That note was al
ways the same with slight variations
in the spelling of one word. The fate
of the Individual. joyfully and unsus-
pectingly bearing that note, hung on
the spelling of that word. If the note
read: please s-e-e this man." it
meant he was to be favorably handled.
Tic il read Please sea this man." *
meant that he was to be let down as
easy as possible-dropped overheard
into a sea of uncertainty, SO far as
obtaining what he wanted was con-
cerned there to wait and founder
about until utterly discouraged. he
gave up hope of attaining his end 1t
always seemed to me that a blunt
NO would have been a much more
considerate way of dealing with cases
OF this kind.
Genial. generous and democratic
will be found the manner OF Henry
Ford. once you get to him, but the
problem is to get to him. The APP
proach to him is, l believe, the most
guarded and most difficult Of that of
any man alive. He would have il so.
People who do not understand. blame
the people so inaccessible. But his
secretary Is to he praised for the
thoroughness with which he does the
work assigned him. A Chesterfield
might suggest that which here and
there would add grace and charm to
the manner in which the job is
handled, but he certainly could do
nothing TO rase the present standard
of efficiency.
ASK for Interviews
Hardly a week passes that some
one does not come to me from a
distance with the request that ] be
kind enough to assist him in obtain
ing an interview with Mr.. Ford.
The answer is There is but one APP
proach to Mr. Ford. and that is
through his secretary And then the
question. How do ! get to his sec
retary?" And the answer is, Make
an appointment with him. and take
your knitting along. You may have
to wait"
Socially. Henry Ford has preferred
to remain in the class in which he
was horn. He goes occasionally into
the drawing rooms Of those who have
attained social distinction, but he is
not at ease there, and remains no
longer than is necessary.
Detroit has three aristocracies Of
tue KIND tnal pears uptH Us SiiitAu
the rampant dollar sign. A landed
amsocracy, decended from the early
French settler. whose farm fronted
on the river and extended in mar
row strip inland two or three miles;
the aristocracy based on the wealth
drawn from Michigan's forests and
minerals. and in these latter days. an
automobile artistocracy product
of the automobile industry. Henry
Ford has stormed The doors of none
Of them
Cannot he Blamed
People in all walks of life and of
all ranks come from near and far
to see him. But the vast majCrit.
fan to attain the object of their
visit. due to the Chinese wall about
him. erected and guarded by his sec
retary Those who do see him have,
as a rule, paid for the privilege ii
hours and sometimes in days OF
aiting If all the hours men nave
spent in waiting to see Henry Ford
were added together il would he in
teresting 10 know just how many
thousands OF years the grand total
would represent. No king was ever
SO hedged about, none put the Grand
Llama Of Tibet was ever So inacccs-
sible.
Henry Ford would he a greater
and wiser man il he were better
mixer ana listener. IN insulated
mind ia this world that is really
worth knowing.
But 7 cannot say that 7 altogether
blame him Chr hIs aloortuess from
~ trnvH T-tss-,. r,ay, ,,++tY, ,,.t--ts