Evening star., 1938-11-22
An American
You Should
Know
William c. Costello
Of R. F. G. Hos Hobby
In His Work
BY DELLA PYNCHON.

ny DLL1A fxNCdONs
Right-hand man Of Jesse Jones,
head Of the Reconstruction Finance
Corp. is william c. Costello. He
came to Washington with Mr.. Jones
back in the dark days Of 1882, when
the r. r. c. was first organized dur
ing the Hoover administration. Mr..
Costello, who was then secretary to
Mr.. Jones, has grown with this
amazing agency Of the Government.
He Is now assistant to the chair
man.
That is no empty title, 70 far as
Mr.. Costello is concerned. A great
many things Of importance cross his
desk, matters dealing particularly
with administrative work Of this
greatest lending institution OF the
Federal Government. He has charge
In the main Of personnel matters and
Of public relations also.
Mr.. Costello was born in Colum-
bus, Ohio, A years ago. Since that
time he has wandered far-from
Canada to Texas, with many inter-
vening stopping places. His ances-
tors came out Of Spain and set.
tied in ireland q long time ago.
and from Ireland his people came
to the United States. His father
was In the railroad business, and
that business carried the family
hlther and yon. Mr.. Costello went
to grade schools in Stratford and
London, Ontario, and New London.
Conn. where he had his high school
education, and then to Texas, where
he began his own training in rail.
reading. He worked in the me-
chanical, transportation and trafio
departments Of the Southern Pacific.
He specialized in statistical data
and came under the eyes of tho
packers, Swift and Armour.
The packers took him over from
the railroad and he worked with
them until 1925. Jesse Jones dis
covered" him and made him his sec.
retary. He has been with Mr.,
Jones ever since. Mr.. Costello
speaks OF his chief with enthusi-
asm. Mr.. Jones has, he says, "the
quickest mind you can imagine"
And when Mr.. Costello talks Of the
accomplishments of the R. F.. C. It
always to give Mr.. Jones the
fullest credit Of the remarkable sue
cess OF that agency. An agency
which has had total authorizations
OF $l2,813, ,802 ,92367, q staggering
sum to be handled. OF this vast
sum $9.869, ,879, 1853. 10 have been dis.
bursed.
The r. F. c., as Mr.. Costello ex-
plains, has been the reservoir from
which billions Of dollars have gone
to aid banks and their depositors,
farms and farmers, insurance COM
pan1es, railroads, businesses Of all
kinds and the men and women who
have been destitute. A great deal
OF money handled by the r. F. G.
inttially has been allocated by Con.
gress to other agencies, some Of them
newly set up. More than 73 per
cent Of the money actually dis
bursed by the r. F. c. has been re-
paid. That in itself Is a tribute to
the efficiency Of the R. F. c. and
also an indication that business and
industry has made great recovery
strides.
Mr.. Costello is a big, black haired
man, with a soft approach and an
underlying firmness that makes it.
self felt in all his dealings. His main
hobby, he admits, is work-and espe-
cially work for Mr.. Jones. He has
keen mind and fair for going to
the source of supply for data and
information. When he wanted to
learn about tariffs he went to the
freight offices. 1t is that faculty Of
persistence, that determination to
get to the bottom of things that has
stood him in good stead.