The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-05-05
man MUST HAVE
TIME To PLAY,
He SAYS
Recreation Needed to Do Best
Work, Asserts President Of
U. S. Steel Corp.
By J. e. CROWN,
Cosmopolitan News Service.

Cosmopolitan News Service.
NEW ORLEANS, May g." "a
man must have some sort Of rec
reation il he is to do his best
work. Mine is. sailing boat.
Keen blue eyes lighted at the
thought of the swift sailing craft
at his summer home in South Nor
walk, Conn. as James A. Farrell
spoke. The president of the United
States Steel Corporation-one OF
the highest salaried executives In
the world-was standing by the
window of his suite in the Grune-
wald Hotel. He is here to attend
the sessions of the National Foreign
Trade Council of which he Is chair
man. He didn't lounge at ease in
chair. His tall, broad-shouldered
heavily-buiIt frame, clad in dark
gray business suit, was topped by
massive head crowned with
thinning white hair. His white
n1oustache is close cropped. His
face is weather-ta but the
structural steel jaw and the aqui-
line nose of the man, with those
keen blue eyes, mark it anywhere
as the face of a leader. And an
American. You'd never mistake
James Farrell for any other nation
atty.
Sailing His Forte.
Yes. I've got steam yacht"
he admitted. And it's a pretty
good yacht. But did you ever
handle sail boat in a stiff wind?
Or storm? Doesn't it beat any
steam yacht that was ever
launched? When you've got your
L. -
ropes in reach and Long Island
Sound stretching out ahead of you
and you're fighting it out for your.
self, isn't that about the best sport
in the world?''
James A. Farrell comes legiti-
nately by his love for the sea. His
father was captain of an American
sailing ship in the o1d-time clipper
days of the American merchant
marine. He took his young son
with him on several voyages And
when Captain FarrelHs ship was
wrecked-he went down with his
ship.
That was when the present presi-
dent Of the steel trust was a boy Of
seventeen. He quit school and went
to work in the steel rolling mills Of
Connecticut. And that starts the
story of his other great recreation,
reading. He's an omnivorous read.
er. Not alone of lighter books. but
of every known work published in
economics.
Regrets Lack of Schooling.
Always he has regretted the loss
OF his schooling, and always he has
worked to make it up. He has
made it up, too. Not a university
or college professor Of economics
he has met on his worldwide
travels, but he has been able to
face level-eyed and go into that
intricate subject with him az an
equal.
He smiled when asked if he had
any prescription to give the young
men Of today, from his pinnacle of
success in the business world
Work and study and sweat over
BOTH" he smiled. You can't fuse
steel with a pipe light. It takes
higher temperature than that. /
don't regret day I spent in the
rolling mills, from one point OF
view. 1t was hard smuggling, but
It was the best training ever got.
That same doorway is open or
should be open to any youngster
in America today-and not only in
steel, but in any other business.
1T may sound like copy book
stuff. 1t is copy book stuff. But
the copy books of our youth were
based on the eternal verities. There
is too much stress laid on luck and
circumstances and environment. The
The fate Of every man, for the
greater part. he carries in his hands
and his brain. It's up to him how
he uses them.
"The time is coming when the
Government itself will see that
children, both boys and girls, have
time to study and learn things.
When every child is given an op-
portunity to master books, not only
for education but for recreation,
then we will see many of our pres
ent-day industrial and business
problems become simpler.
II have just as much respect for
man who works hard at reading
as I have for a man who works
hard with his hands. 1 spoke a
while ago of recreation. Every one
should have time to keep his body
and mind in a healthy condition.
He should follow the sports or exer-
cises that afford him the greatest
pleasure.