The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-12


 Thomas was an electrician, went into the mines to arrange for some electrical work for the mining com pany, when he was caught between
 two cars which had broken loose from the hoistinG cable.
 The remains are being held by Lige
 Loy Unuertaking company, awaiting
 word from his wife m Canton, i'll.
 su- called Ford boom is the extent
 and variety of the publicity that he
 is getting. he heads the list in the
 clipping bureaus, and is d hcauliller
 iu the stanuaru magazines. Five
 years ago nt was Jone to the N,rIl-
 ing ira ,ornlty. Thea several writers psgaA u tu.s lN.d seriously, and lho
 rcs4t has Dctl very decided
 caange in his I;A5r. Now he is Dc- ihS written up nom every contelV- aole auSIc, and his views sought on q wide range of subjects. Newspaper men and Llagazine writers make the pilgrimage to Mir. Ford's otIices Ill Strcams to get material for orticle.s about the man himself. MT. Forus personality and his unconventional
 and orlSInal way of looking at 1 things are always. interesting. The controversy over Muscle Shoals has
 done much to keep Mr. Fords name Defore tine public. The people who arc in a state or revolt and protest, leel that Air. Ford has been mis- treated by the politicians over the Muscle shoals project and they are fesentful. The merits of the case people feel, right or wrong, that counts, and popular feeling is pow ertul vote getter.
 No Press Agent But-
 Unlike most prominent men Ford ,1 AS Tn the case of Roosevelt, almos |
 anything he says or does makes good reading. Comparatively little of the matter that is printed has any po- litical slant. Most of the articles 1 ueal with the operations ot the Ford Motor company, Mir. .k'ords doings, or what he thinks on some popular subject. A man in public lite with out press agent to manipulate his publicity is O curiosity, but here is la man who gets more publicity than all or them, and has to light to keep the writers rom mobbing him TOT more material. Roosevelt was in Ford's class ill that respect, but he | owed mucn to his new spaper cabl- net, from Whom he often obtaine d valuable publicity suggestions. An other feature Of this publicity about Ford is that it is hlshry getting without being politlcal. IL goes t, and will win where argument ana | statistics would tail.
 While 1t may not have any sig nlhcance 1t appears that Ford has been looseninS up in the matter ol givlng out material for publication within the last year. Four books 1 have been written about him, with 1 others in preparation, numerous syndicate articles printed, and fea- ture articles galore have appeared in the magazines. There is d popular curiosity about the man and q turn 1 ing toward him that puts him ln q | class very much by himself.
 Ii Ford is doing anything at all to help along his "poom" it is limited to this matter of making it easier for the writers. This inference may be wrong, but it is quite possible for him to encourage such activities without committing himself. If he IS actually assisting in this way, he IS to be commended for hls political | sagacity.
 | There are no indications that he is secretly encouraging the "Ford-tor- President clubs" These organiza- tions seem to be springing up as in dependent affairs under the leader ship of semi-radicals, personal ad mirers, or men who hope for d front seat in the Ford band wagon. IT | he is using the Ford Motor company i sales agencies for political pur- | poses his men are Very clever in con- cealing the fact. Not line about 1 him appears in the Dearborn Inde- pendent, with its half d million cir culation.
 An interprising young man who has charge of the film laboratories of the Ford Motor company, con ! ceived the praiseworthy idea Of
 making movinng picture film en- titled The Life Of Henry Ford" He
 used d boy from the Ford school at Highland park to impersonate Henry when he was lad. Then he got pictures showing Henry in an engine cab and cutting down a tree. For nearly a year nohing has been done
 to complete this film. Why? It would
 make ffrst-class publicity. Maybe
 Henry is afraid that if that film should be released just now his mo- tives would be misunderstood? How
 ever, it is evident that the young
 man who planned the film thinks we'll of his boss. That same feeling may explain the activities of cer- tain other men in the Ford organiza-
 tion.
 An Exponent Of Intelligence. While Fords education may be de- ficient in some respects, he has a virgin mind and a very unusual in- telli iSenCe. once ne fOCuSSeS ms
 mental powers on a new subject he grasps it quickly and thoroughly. Degree of intelligence is the out standing difference between Henry Ford and other men. By intelligence I do not mean schooling, or the ac- Quisition of facts, but the inherent ability to see and grasp ideas, prin- ciples and information quickly and accurately. This power is q giIt and enables one to learn rapidly but il is impossible for any amount of edu- cation to impart 1T telligence to a person who lacks 1t.
 How will this do for an explana- tion of Henry Ford: He Was born with singular intelligence equal | to that of several ordinary men, and also inherited a moral slant on life
 that has caused him to make serV- l ice profitable in industry. Such a mental endowment would account | for his amazing grasp of affairs, and I a sweep of vision that sometimes l carries him hundreds uf years in ad- vance of the present. Tsis definition l is further attested by the fact that | Ford is unconscious that he Is q Ge- nius, and is therefore unable to un- | dcrstand why people should be SC
 deeply interested in him and his do- | ings.
 | Copyright, 1923, in United States l and Great Britain, by North Amer ican Newspaper Alliance for The | Age Herald. All rights reserved) | =.