Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-09-07
C, Lee Cook of Louisville,
Has Power Only to Move
His Head and Slight Mo-
ton of Wrists
BY j. w. NORWOOD

BY j. w. NORWOOD
Copyright, 1929
! NEW YORK.-What could you
earn if you had nothing but your
brain to work with?
Most people consider their earn
ing capacity permanently impaired
if they lose a hand or foot.
But there is a man in Louisville,
KY, who owns and manages a large
factory which he built from the
ground up; who is an authority on
law, architecture, painting, inven-
ton, mechanical engineering and
several other branches of art and
science; who is noted orator, lee
turer and traveller, and who earns
| 500 an hour for his service as a con-
sulting engineer alone-and he has
never walked a step in his life
Charles Lee Cook is no ordinary
cripple. His life has been one of
romance and honor beyond the
dreams of the novelist. All his fifty
two years he has lived a life of the
| most strenuous activity, while his
body remained absolutely motionless
with the exception Of a slight move
ment Of wrists and hands and the
ability to move his head. A wheel
chair carries around Mr.. Cook S
! body, but it is the Cook brain that
carries the man itself.
And that brain contains the most
wonderful business mind in the Ken
! lucky metropolis in the estimation
! of his fellow citizens. They have
elected him to life membership in
! the Louisville Board of Trade and
in the Rotary club. They have
urged\him to accept nominations for
mayor of Louisville, for congressman
and for the United States senate,
none of which he has so far &C.
cepted.
Charles Lee Cook was born to that
condition ordinarily supposed to be
helpless" He has proved himself
a more capable man than thousands
of others with whole bodies and
trained business brains. The bare
facts connected with his leap from
poverty to wealth, from an earning
capacity Of SIS per week to $500 per
hour, are so astounding that COM
ment seems trivial.
Little Schooling
When a lad Of four he was taken
to little country school near Lafay-
cite, Ind, where he received the
only schooling from teachers and
school books he has ever had. When
seven years of age he had to stop
school. But books and men and
ideas have been his constant COM
panions ever since. He educated
himself with these and now institu-
tons of learning are proud to honor
him for his broad culture.
In 1907 he did take a partial law
course at the University OF Louis
ville-got start in the knowledge
of law that now brings him INVITA-
lions to lecture to bar associations
in various states.
Handicapped by inability to give
physical expression to his ideas, Mr..
Cook early began to think with deep
purpose. Thinking was all that he
could do.
And thought evolved some small
inventions which turned his keen
mind in the direction of mechanical
engineering. A little machine shop
in an old stable became his con-
slant thinking place" for twelve
years. A faithful negro servant who
had cared for him from infancy, to-
gether with some boy companions,
eagerly acted as arms and legs for
that remarkable mind they had come
to believe could solve any mystery
or puzzle.
The little shop in a stable has
since become a great factory, enl.
ploying hundreds Of men on a pay
roll of $4,000 a week. 1t is the c..
Lee Cook Manufacturing company,
producing metallic packing, which ;s
used throughout the world. 1t is
the Cook Improvements and the Cook
patents and the Cook inventions
that have made it famous. Mr..
Cook is president, treasurer and man.
ager of the plant.
Sometimes Mr.. Cook will smile
over his early struggles during
those twelve years when his pc
| cuniary compensation averaged
| about S. a week for the odd sug-
gestions he would make to solve
| the troubles of others. For now,
although all sorts of people still
| bring their troubles to him, his time
! is more valuable.
A few months ago one of the larg-
est manufacturers of a certain soft
drink fountain, which may be seen
in thousands of drug stores through
out the land today, came to consult
|
fountain seemed perfect except in
! one small particular-it wouldn t
work as intended.
Gentlemen, my time is too valu-
able to let you consume any of it
in talking" said Mr.. Cook. 81 charge
| 500 an hour and cannot promise
you that I will be able to rectify
the difficulty. can only do my
| best"
His caller eagerly accepted the
offer, for he know c.. Lee Cook 8
best was the court of last resort.
Solves Problem
In five hours Mr.. Cook solved the
difficulty by inventing a little addi-
ton to the fountain. He received his
check for $500.
A few weeks afterward the manu-
! facturer returned to have Mr.. Cook
sign a waiver of his rights on the
little invention.
THAT was the best $500 I ever
invested in my l:fe," he told the engi-
neer. "Your invention has already
meant a. cool 100000 to my fac
tory!'
This story is typical of the Grip
| pied engineers daily life. But Mr..
Cook has just certain hours for be-
ing an engineer. During those hours
he works at the profession. During
other hours he manages his huge
plant. During other hours he is a
constructor as we'll as engineer In
his youth he says he worked sixteen
hours a day developing his business.
Now he works seventeen hours
| conducting it. He has designed manv
! machines and has personally super
| intended large construction work. He
| has designed and erected big build
! ings and industrial plants.
! In 1914 he designed and sunerin-