Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-04-27
.FORDhEY JUMPED
FROM CH0RE BOY
RECORD HAS EXCLUSIVE STORY
ON RISE OF Joe" TO A CON-
GRESSIONAL POWER.

Glow wonderful it would be if,
after having passed the halfway
house, we could journey back to our
childhood days and once more travel
the path of life unused Hon.
Joseph Fordney, Chairman of the
Ways and Means Committee, when
caught by an interviewer recently in
reminiscent mood. Mr.. Fordney is
of the outstanding types of Ameri-
cansm who stood at the head Of his
class in the University of Hard
Knocks. At lG he was poverty
stricken chore boy in lumber camp.
At So he is Chairman of the most
powerful committee in Congress,
while his success in private life has
been marked Wealth and power
have not changed him.
Joseph w. Fordney was born Nov
3, 1858, the youngest of l3 children.
His birth place was log cabin 3
miles west of Hartford, Indiana, to
which his parents had removed from
Pennsylvania in lS4S. Ways Of COM
munication was exceedingly crude in
those days, Libraries were unknown
and school house few and far be-
tween. At the age of - young
Fordney's schooling was limited to 3
months, only sufficient to learn the
alphabet, but having learned it, like
Lincoln he read omnivorously before
the ftful blaze of the hearth, and the
Linconian purity of his diction is
proof that he read well.
In June, 1869, the family moved TO
Saginaw, Michigan, where his home
has since been. His mother died
the following year. Meanwhile
young Fordney had taken a job in a
logging camp as aid-de-camp to the
cook-peeling potatoes, washing
dishes, bringing wood and water, and
waiting on the Jacks. He kept his
his eye on his boss to such good adj
vantage that the following season,
and for the three successive seasons
he was a cook himself at from $50
TO $50 a month. During those early
days in the lamber woods, | saw the
value of the magnificent pine timber
then growing in the forests and !
had great desire to own some of it"
said Mr.. Rodney. "The very choicest
stands of pine timber were offered in
those days at a price as low as S1.25
an acre" In his fourth season,
knowing little Of mathematics or the
rudiments of surveying, he became
helper to a timber estimator, or land
locker" as they were called. He
made an intensive study of this work
and since his mind was unclogged
with impractical knowledge his
specialization in timber was accele-
rated so that he soon attracted the
attention Of the great timber men of
the Northwest and he was continuous
ly employed in estimating in various
parts of the country With few dol
lars saved, he induced group of
timber men to join him in purchas-
ing large tracts in Michigan. Opera
tons gradually extended to Missis-
sippi, Louisiana, California and
Washington. The Fordney interests
today DO not manufacture lumber,
but purchase lands mad sell logs to
surrounding mills. The annual out
put in Washington alone is estimated
at 200,000,000 board feet season.
81 look back to the days Of my boy
hood, when | used to visit the city
and envy the young men behind the
counter in the dry-goods or grocery
store" said Mr.. Fordney. IF the OPP.
portunity had presented itself, per-
haps ] would have followed the occu-
patton Of a merchant; as it was, |
was forced into such occupations as
could obtain and fill. Life in the
woods was a rough and tumble, hard
knock life, and became postgrad
uate in that school" If Fordney
had become a merchant ne would un
doubtedly have become a merchant
prince, since he had the driving
power and shrewdness and honesty
to succeed in any line of business.
Would he, like certain department
store magnates have now been work
ing for free trade Probably not.
: He is too essentially American. The
interviewer looked at Mr.. Fordney's
hat as he went out. Yes, it was
"made in America" Fordney used
to call the late Ebenezer Hill "Mr.
Danbury Hats" and Hill would retort
with "Mr. Canadian Logs" Two
great cronies, and both selfmade
men.
DEIICC, WHAT, MA MEAN