Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-07
By MARTIN GREEN.
written exclusively for The Star and
North American Newspaper Alliance.

written exclusively for The Star and the
North American Newspaper Alliance.
NEW YORK, May 1.-THE 32-story
Sinclair Building in this city is tower
of sorrow.
Nearly everybody in that building,
which is almost exclusively devoted to
the executive activities of the $500, o00,-
600 Sinclair oil interests and some 49,
900 employees besides, scattered all over
the United States, Mexico and Euro
pean and Central American countries,
is dependent for his or her living on
Harry F. Sinclair.
Sinclair began q three-month term
yesterday as a penalty for having treat
ed a committee of the United states
Senate with contempt.
It is hard for the scores OF executives
in the Sinclair Building-drawing sala-
ries from $4,000 to 100000 a year
to realize that the big Boss" as they
call him, really is in prison. It Is in
COMPREHENSIVE to the great mass OF
minor employees that III. F." has, hg-
uratively at least, donned the stripes
of felon.
Took Aides From Ranks.
All these people look upon III. F."
as a man who could do no wrong. He
picked most of his high-priced as
sistants out Of obscurity in the South
west, trained them in the oil develop
ment business and bound them to him
by ties Of regard, even affection, which,
when revealed, constitute an astonish-
ing display of the prevalence OF human
nature.
"There isn't one of us, an executive
told the writer, "who wouldn't willingly
go to jail to serve H. F. SIS term"
Not that any of these executives be-
lieyes that the material interests Of the
Sinclair Oil properties are going to
suffer by the imprisonment OF their
creator and developer. All the reSpon-
sible duties have been turned over to
Harry F.. Sinclair's elder brother, E. w.
Sinclair, who is president Of the Sin
clair interests.
Nearly all the men who have gone
into the millionaire class with Harry
Sinclair have been working in his har-
ness for many years. According to his
associates, he seldom went outside his
and few of his selections have left him
voluntarily.
Associates Say He's Fit for Work.
Sinclair is So. stocky, square-faced
man who. in his prime, weighed about
200 pounds. He Is not so robust today
after six years of battling against
charges of crookedneSs and bribery,
but his associates say his health is good
and that he Is willing to take what Is
coming to him in the way of employ
ment in jail.
IF they turn the institution over to
him and let him run it for three
months" said one of his associates.
he'll take 1t out of the red ink. He'll
accomplish the task of putting Federal
prison on a paying basis. And he'll
have most of the inmates feeling that
their time there hasn't been wasted"
If his associates are to be believed,
the qualities Of Sinclair next to fore
sight and courage, which have operated
to the accomplishment Of his financial
success, are clean living, plenty Of sleep
and hard work
They tell how he is at the ONCE when
in New York, with the earliest arrivals:
how he cleans of many times day the
Accommodations of matters on his desk
and leaves the desk clean every night,
sometimes as late as midnight; how he
holds few conferences with groups of
executives, and reaches each OCCASION
ally as an individual.
Tells What He Wants Done.
HE tells what he wants done and
forgetS it until the time arrives for
report" explained one of his active
men. Generally the report Is satiSfac-
tory. If 1t isn't, there Is never q holler
from H. F. He lust turns 1t back with