The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-03-17
Most Glorious
of Professions
50
By FANNIE HURST
(9 by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.)
(WNU Seryicel


at least, he turned his face,
at the age of seventeen, toward his
states university, graduated there at
twenty-one, and without any particular
intent or purpose drifted into teach
ing. At twenty-five he was holding
down the chair of English history in
the university from which he had
graduated.
His three brothers, thrown on their
own resources at early age as he had
been, drifted, the two younger ones,
and the third his twin, into business
pursuits that were ultimately to cast
them all into the destiny of big affairs.
Harold and Steve, the younger boys,
struck it well in the radio industry
while the vast industry was still in its
infancy. Bartlett, Myron's twin, was
reputed at twenty-five to be worth
three-quarters of a million dollars
from fortunate investments in copper.
The three brothers, successful all at
an early age, were none the less pride
full of Myron. He represented the in
tellectual status of the family. He
lent eclat and distinction. Had he per-
mitted 1t, the three brothers would
willingly and generously have aided
and abetted his modest earnings as
professor.
That, however, was not necessary.
Myron's scale Of life fitted and pleased
him well. A pleasant suite in a boys
dormitory, where he incidentally held
the position of dean. Varied if mod
est summer vacations, going tourist
fashion to Europe, or camping in the
north of Canada with two or three Of
the members of the faculty. Books.
Good music from the second galleries
of the concert halls. Pleasant leisure.
Campus quiet Mild intellectual diver
tisement among the members of the
teaching staff. All in all, there was
little, in Myron's opinion, that his
brothers could contribute to his we'll
being.
Then, too, there was this difference.
The business boys had all married.
There were three attractive and per-
Sonable sisters-in-law, and five or six
neices and nephews in whom Myron
felt a sort of benign impersonal pride.
But the domestic aspect of the lives
of his successful brothers helped to
further estrange him from the walks
they had chosen for themselves
Christmas, New Years and birthdays,
$hnwy oof An
for the sake of quieting their impor-
tunings than anything else, Myron had
accompanied, as guest, two of his
brothers and their families to Europe.
There acting as guide and interpreter
to the cultural pursuits of the wives
and children.
But in the main. Myron remained
not necessarily aloof. for he was a
gregariously inclined fellow, but more
or less secluded among his own kind
and the books that as the years
marched on he was accumulating
about himself in a modest library.
Then, one New Year which he was
spending in New York where the an
nual gathering Of his clan took place,
Myron. stimulated by all the Wall
Street gossip which he heard among
his brothers, but which never was
even intended for his ears, took what
he called a flyer in a stock which he
selected for the euphonious quality Of
its name.
He bought one thousand shares of
Green Agate Copper stock for seven
hundred and fifty dollars, took it home
without even revealing the purchase
to his brothers, who would have joked
him, locked it in desk drawer, prac-
tically forgot it until the next annual
visit with his brothers, when once
more, his interest stimulated for the
moment by their bear and bull talk,
he remembered his flyer in Green
Agate.
Two days later, before his return to
college, he sold his Green Agate, one
thousand shares for twenty thousand
dollars, creating among his brothers a
furore of hilarity at his acumen. The
shrewdness, they called 1t, Of a babe
in the wood.
1t turned out to be more than that.
With that twenty thousand dollars as
his cornerstone, Myron was destined
for a career in high finance that was
far more spectacular than the career
of any one Of his brothers. even of his
twin, who already was reputed to be
twice a millionaire.
By the time Myron was thirty-five,
his teaching career lay behind him as
dim as a dream, and the library which
he had accumulated In his home in
Briarcliff-on-Hudson was estimated by
itself to be worth as much as his
brother Steve's or his brother Har-
ODDS entire holdings.
1t was one Of those spectacular, ev-
erything-he touched tuning to gold
successes. MyrOn simply made money
hand over fist. In copper. In steam
ship stock. In General Motors. In
hotel stock. In coffee. In real es-
tate. Even in books, frequently
achieving a first edition at high price,
and turning it over at fabulous profit.
Strange, too, apparently tempera-
mentally untitled for the Upholstered,
competitive race of the business world,
he took to it as the prOverbial duck
takes to water. Business men, finan-
ciers, bankers, magnates, industrial