The Washington times., 1928-06-15

own service, it annually answers
millions of inquiries from American
business men, it is an almost I'M
believable repository for statistics OF
all kinds. it has taken the lead IN
ESTABLISHING standard trade prac-
tees If has rendered efficiency
exner+ service to American Industry
in ali lines. cut down waste in man.
ufacturing. and, in short, developed
a gigantic business.engineer oper-
ating in the name Of the govern
ment.
Born in Iowa
Hoover was born in West Branch,
Iowa. August 10. 1874. his motner'
q Quaker preacher. died when ne
was 4, and his father, a blacksnitn,
died three years later. The hoover
family thereupon split up and the
children were sent to live Win Varl'
GUS relatives. ,4,,
Young Herbert went to live with
an old friend of the family Whofa
tn children had always caiieo
grandfather"
"a the age of IS, however, he was
tired of the restrictions placed on
him and ran away to Oregon. he
first earned a living working IN
truck gardens outside OF Portland
later getting job as an offlce
how in Salem, and finally returning
to Portland to work in a real estate
office. -,
Ynond. world-famous engineer, az
that time were getting much pub.
lefty. and young Hoover established
the noted mining expert as his IDEAL
Studies Engineering
with a view to becoming q min
ing engineer. he saved UP 5000 AND
!, ouI to enroll at the newly es.
tablished stanford University, at
Palo Alto, Calf. in 1891, working
h., way through by missing two
school DAYS a week and making up
tn lost studies at night. It was
while al Stanford that he met his
sutuI bride, Lou Henry. She is
d student there.
From graduation on until 1913,
his life was Kaleidoscope of adven'
tur, which carried him through the
United States, Mexico, Canada, Aus
tralia. Italy. Great Britain, South
Africa. India, China, Russia, and
all of the out-of-the-way places OF
tn work. He engaged in work in
nlires. railways and metallic works
ami surroundings fraught with
danger and excitement.
Went to China
Hoover was in Tientsin, China,
when the Boxer uprising broke our
in 1900. When the foreign settle.
ment was attacked, he and his as
sistants modified force OF pro-
foreign and Christian Chinese and
set up a defense.
For over a month, the settlement
was under constant hombardment
and rifle fire and hundreds were
killed and wounded. Hoover per-
sonally manned q machille gun and
led the defense. It was here, in
cidentaIIy, that he undertook his
first food relief, distributing food
regularly to Chinese refugees.
Tt was about this time that
Hoover had become so well known
in mining circles that his services
were in wide demand, and in 1902
he became Junior partner In the
firm which, later staggered under
the defalcation OF a member and
resulted in the loss OF the Cali
fornian's first fortune.
Travelling extensively in the
course of the next decade. the
spring of 1914 found Hoover IN
London at the outbreak of the war.
It is estimated that he assisted
some $4,000 stranded Americans to
get out of the war zone. through
personal guarantees of himself and
wi q he 1zrS
many thousands of dollars for
passage home.
Hoover's road to the Republican
nomination this year was curious
combination OF ease and hardship.
Becomes Candidate
When President Coolidge elm
mated himself from considera ton,
Hoover automatically Jecame q,
candidate. He was ''Of" The Admin.
istration because he mad u consider.
able hand in shaping it's policies
throughout the Harding and Cool
idge regimes.
Naturally, then, he came to be
regarded AS the heir-apparent and
the crown prince" There was no
other Cabinet member, save DOS.
sibly Secretary Mellon. who even
appeared in the picture, and Mellon
was Is years old
President Coolidge might have
stopped Hoover's candidacy over
night in its early days. But he did
not do so. He rhraw no straws in
the pathway of his Cabinet col
league, and this fact was inter.
preted by the thousand of Federal
Officeholders as an indication that
the occupant OF the White House
looked with favor upon Hoover as
his successor.
Not Openly Endorsed
1t Is true, of course. that the
President did not specifica lily by
word or deed ind1rse the candidacy
Of his Secretary of Commerce, bur
the fact that he permitted him 10
remain In the Cabinet and con
duct his campaign from the Sc
curjty OF a Cabinet post was suf-
ficient for those who were looking.
for an Administration band-wagon
to climb abboard.
Hence. automatically and one by
one, Administration wheeEhorses
in Washington like Secretary Of
the Interior Work. Postma ster Gen.
ersl New. Secretary 1T Agriculture
Jardine. Administration supporters
in Congress and throughout the
country began falling int@ line be
hind Hoover. They had nowhere
else to go. The only outstanding
oan dfd2fo haofdau ,x,oo EN.o =, J.