The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-02-07
MOST WEALTHY Man
IN State TAKES JOB
PAYING ONLY $4,000
Romantic Figure Rode Into Of
flee After Beating Ma
and Pa Ferguson
MADE MILLIONS IN OIL GAME
Became Sailor at ID; With Only
$65 in Pocket, He Married
When Only 20
MILLIONS IN OIL GAME

When Only 20
Austin, Texas, Feb. 7.-(NEA)-The
state of Texas, having had some odd
and bizarre governors at various
times during the past decade, faces
the next two years with q governor
who Is both a matter-of- fact business
man and a picturesque and romantic
figure in his own right Ross s.
Sterling, who beat Ma" and PA
Ferguson last summer and won the
office in a campaign that upset all
prediction predictions.
The states new governor. who took
office Jan. 20. has a number Of
claims to distinction. To begin with.
he is said to be the richest man in
Texas, being 40 times q millionaire
and nov he Is taking q job that pays
only $4,000 a year. In the second
place, he made 1t all himself, starting
as q poor boy without backing or in
fluence. And In the third place even
his friends admit that he is neither
q good orator 10 q good politician
and Texas is supposed to be a place
where q man has to be both in order
to get elected governor.
Beat Ma Ferguson
Last summer Sterling based his
campaign on q pledge for a business
like administration. Opposing him
was the redoubtable ma" Ferguson.
and her even more redoubtable hus-
band, x-Governor Jim Ferguson who
is said to have 5000 votes lin his
pocket" any time he cares to run for
anything in Texas.
The politicians doubted that Ster-
ling could win. He "a q command
ing figure. and he had the support
OF Governor Dan Moody. which
meant a good, deal: but he couldn't
make inspiring speeches. and the
FerRusons were off on n of their
old : time spell binding tours cam
paigning in typical Ferguson style.
But Sterling showed that he was
a fighter. His six-foot frame and
225 pounds indicated as much. He
proceeded to cite the records Of the
Fergusons in the governors office to
prove his contention that the state
had had enough Of F~ergusonism.
"Pa" Ferguson retorted that Sterling
had AZ bathrooms IN his house, and
asserted that Sterling was "the can
didate Of gold and gall" And Ster-
ling won q sweeping victory.
Now the state Is wondering what
kind of administration 1t is going tn
get. Sterling does not talk a great
deal. He told an interviewer re-
Gently:
Just q Business Man
I'm just a plain business man. I
plan to give Texas a business admin
istration. I'm going to put into 1t
everything I've got-everything I EVER
put into a business Of my own"
That sounds trite. but If Sterling
lives up to it it is a good augury: for
he has been as successful a business
man as any state a produce.
He was born IS years ago on a farm
near Anahuac, Texas. His ancestors
had settled in Texas when it was a
part of Mexico and had taken part in
the rebellion that took Texas away
from Mexico. and his father had
served with distinction as a captain
in the Confederate army in the Civil
War. But the family was poor; and
a few years OF studying in a little
one room rural school was all the
schooling he ever got.
As his first Job he became a sailor
at Il. after working for several years
In his fathers cotton field. He and
his brother bought q small schooner
and used it to transport farm pro-
duce across the bay to the markets
in Galveston. The venture prospered,
but an injury suffered afloat made
young Sterling return to the land.
He once said. III it hadn't been for
that mishap I might still be freight
Ing on the bay-I loved It,"
$65 When He Wed
Coming ashore. he established 2
little store on Double Bayou. near
Anahuac. At times he went out on
the road with a brother. buying anc
selling produce. At q he ~ mar
ried to Miss Maude Abbie Gage. The
bride and groom had just $65 be-
tween them. and they spent It all or
house furnishings. But the bride
apparently, was able to stand strait.
ened circumstances for Sterling call'
that wedding 1.-THE most importan'
step I e took" and insists that thu
credit for all Of his success belong!
to Mrs. Sterling who only smiles
when he says 1t.
At all events. the little business
prospered. Sometime later-in 1910
oil was discovered in the Humble dis
trict in southern Texas. Sterling
went there and opened q store: AMI
With the money It brought In he be-
q buying oil wells. To be exact
he bought two: and at first 1t lookes
as II this venture were going to prov
e misfortune. for one Of the we'll
soon played out.
But Sterling studied the geology o
the region and believed that Their
was more oil there. and he risked al
he had to sink the well deeper. H
struck q gusher, and money begantt
flow in as the oil flowed out.
on Brings Wealth
With this well as = starter h
founded the Humble OIL compan!
His gusher continued to pour out
flood Of oil, and Sterling began {
ret rich. His company expanded, an
be built ! railroad. ~ miles long, t
connect his oil refinery with tn
aouthern Pacific railway.
This railway wns built Of second
hard rails and ties cut from tree
along the nght-of-way, With lab<