The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-07-26
&c tin G Chesa-
peake and Ohio
Gives Them 5, 500
Miles of Railroad
and They re Still
in Early Forties

T. VERY now ana Ihen you penOIu
r. genius whose looks belle
So him. 1t is q trife early to in
sist that the brothers Van Sweringen
of Cleveland are geniuscs, even
though they now control $500 miles
of our railroads. A genius is never
sure of his laurels until he is dead.
The Van Sweringens are young men.
But the point at issue is that, whereas
these two brothers have gone far upon
the road that all men seek, they look
like men who have done it.
Big men, both of chem, quiet of
speech and manner and appearance.
Powerful of physique and calm, bal
anced, clear and penetrating of mind,
they have the brains that can be
worked hard and often by strong, dur
able bodies, and they have the bodies
that can stand up under many years
of desperately hard work. 1t is hard
to beat such combinations, and that is
one reason why it seems that the Van
SWeringens were not due for defeat.
In the relatively short space of time
that the public has known or heard
of these brothers-Oris Paxton and
Mantis James-very little that is not
second hand or Tearsay has been writ
ten about them. They avoid news
papermen, cameramen, society func-
tons and public gatherings. They are
seen seldom in New York, and then
avoid notice. The man in the street
who reads his newspaper closely would
probably say, THE Van Sweringens?
Oh, yes they started as neWsboys!
Now they own the Chesapeake and
Ohio Railroad. Don't see much
printed about them"
How and Where They
Live and Their Hobbies
And so it is Aside from their bust
ness manifestations, the two are mo-
nastic in their retirement. Neither is
married, nor has ever been. Those
who profess to know them with any
degree of intimacy profess the opinion
that neither will ever marry. They
make their residence with two unmar-
ried sisters, Carrie B. and Edith e.,
in a mansion in Shaker Heights Vii
lage near Cleveland, which has been
their FL Dorado.
Together they maintain gentle
mans farm of some fifteen acres or
so, close to their town residence. This
farm, with it's blooded stock, is their
sole known hobby; that is to say, Oris
spends considerable time there in re-
taxation Mantis is an enthusiastic
horseman; his elder brothers interest
Is rather vicarious and speculative.
Oris will not travel on a boat and both
have no interest in water sports.
They are in four of Clevelands most
exclusive clubs-the Athletic, the
Shaker Heights Country the Hermit
and the Union. But they are not of
them. they take little or no part IN
club activities. In the Cleveland news
papers you'll find. the name of Van
Sweringen in the real estate liners
in the financial pages: recently 1nlpage
one and the editorial page, but never
in the society section or the sport
page, That's the way they are.
They express it this way; eve
can't very we'll keep our business life
from the public notice, but our private
life-that is our own" So much their
own do they make it that men who
have been associated with them
closely--in business-for many years
can truthful1y say they have never
seen the inside of the Van SweringenS
home.
The writer got his opportunity OF
studying the Van Sweringens at close
range at hearing held by the Inter
state Commerce Commission in Wash
ington on January %, when the BROTH
ers came before it to show cause why
they should be permitted to sit in the
directorate of the Chesapeake and
Ohio. the. newest strand then in the
neat financial loop they are weaving.
A large crowd struggled into the
hearing roonl-not to get absorbing
facts about the purchase of the Chesa-
peake and Ohio but to observe ana
listen to the Van Sweringens.
Oris p. Van Sweringen takes the
stand. He is a heavy man, a solid
man. He is quite oblivious of the
crowd or seems to be. After all what
is the crowd to him? He is there to
convince the commission that the
Transportation act need fear nothing
from him. Oris is the leader in the
business affairs of the brothers. At
least he is the brother who appears in
public oftenest. Mantis is even quteter
than Oris. No, that isn't impossible!
1t might be to ordinary folk but these
are not ordinary folks
How the Two Brothers
Looked as Witnesses
Appraising him as football coach
would the recently arrived freshman,
you'd say he weighed about 10 pounds
and was FIVE feet ten. Plenty Of room
for air in that chest, and it is going
to be hard to twist head that is set
upon a neck like that. Moreover, there
is staying breadth to the shoulders
and courage and conviction in those
level eyes and straight lips. A hard
set to the jaw too. and the high cheek
bones of the fighter. Mantis j. is like
that, too. The fact is that to all
intents and purposes these brothers
ARE twins. 1t would be just a waste
of time and space to picture them
separately; nobody likes repetition,
anyway.
Watching Oris Van Sweringen on
the stand that day you got the idea
that you could depend upon him in a
crisis, especially if his own best in
terests were involved in such crisis.
He impressed you as a person who.
knowing nothing at all about naYlga-