Evening star., 1936-06-19
The Story of Aft M. Landon
Chapter VA Man in Boots.
BY RICARD b. FOWLER.

sas, had passed the boom and
settled into prosperity. Trimmed
i lawns surrounded compile e d
homes. The paint was dry on busi-
ness signs along the main street. Men
and women in busters gingerly manip-
ulated motor cars on paved streets.
ALI Landon, home from college with
cracking new sheepskin and a
membership in the Kansas bar, looked
around on opportunities and chose. OF
all things, to be bookkeeper in a
bank. The day he told his father
about it, John Landon chewed his
cigar and looked out the window. He
disapproved, but he wouldn't interfere.
From Uncle Jimmy" Green came q
letter of protest. Why throw away
law career? And ALI Landon was
not able to answer.
Three years he worked with figures
behind cages in the State Bank Of
Commerce and the First National
Bank, rising little at a time to .
salary of $75 month.
Saw Behind Business Scenes.
In a country bank he discovered
what many older men could have told
him, that such work was more than
a college education in business. He
saw behind the scenes in the business
community. He saw who was sue
ceeding, who was failing. and why.
The penalty for mismanagement was
written in the records and stamped
on the faces of men who came into
the bank pleading for more time on
their notes.
BY the end Of the three years he
had taken q share in several drilling
projects, all from his savings, and
had accumulated more than $4,000.
The fact that his first 5000 investment
turned out to be a dry hole had no
weight with him. He hated the con-
finement of q desk and the bank job
had already served its purpose. So
he stepped out to make his fortune
in the open spaces Of Kansas and
Oklahoma.
His principal partner was A. H.
Black, q man with such big, rugged
frame that he looked thin at 200
pounds. Black had built up large
business in the gas and oil fields, q
qualified teacher in the school of hard
knocks.
ALT Landon stepped into the oil
business with his feet already on the
ground, an unimposing looking young
man with a nice smile. Within .
few months he had plotted out good
lease in the Cherokee country of Ok
lahoma, q barren undeveloped land,
the last frontier of America, Indian
and outlaw country. Landon, In his
early twenties, took hold of a respon-
sive business, responsive to good judg-
ment or the lack of 1t. In oil, a man
had to be right or pauper.
Third Well Struck Oil.
The first large venture looked either
very good or very bad. The first well
struck a powerful vein of water, use
full, but not oil; the second struck gas;
also useful, but still not oil. The
outcome meant so much to that part
of the country it was natural the
third drilling attracted a crowd,
mostly farmers, plunging around in
the slush like demented men.
Young ALI Landon that day, as one
Of his partners remembered it, simply
went around greasy handed, half
smiling and watching the results.
When the oil came roaring up and
sprayed down from somewhere above
the derrick, older men yelled and
threw their hats away. Landon
stepped back out of the oil rain,
smiled and said it looked good.
In Kansas and Oklahoma, young
Alfred Landon made a reputation for
being q careful trader, fair but in
sistent on his rights to the last nickel.
One man who drilled with him de-
scribed it, He never left any part Of
a deal unfigured. If there was dol
lar coming to him, he insisted on 1t.
If there was q dollar going to you, he
saw that you got it." He paid high
contract prices, but drilled for half
the cost of the large companies. There
was no waste. He figured closely,
shopped around. He had learned his
banking lesson well.
Indifferent to Society.
As young bachelor in Independ-
ence he was q disappointment to peo-
pie who had known him at the Univer-
sity of Kansas. He was Indifferent to
social life. He built up good IL
brary in his fathers home and usually
stayed there in the evenings. With
few friends his association was en-
tirely easy and informal. But many
people in Independence considered
him high hat. He was intent on his
business and often walked along the