New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 18, 1919, Page 10

Ay By Jack Hughes 3 TONS sound nearly as common- " Dlace today as thousands sounded Bhty years ago. Perhaps this is a [l trite introduction to the story of a man whose immortal name will be mentioned a little later on. He lives in a modest, unfenced, unguarded bungalow down at Ormond Beach, Fla., and he is as unpretentious as he is truly democratic. His income for twelve hours sufficed the price of this property. John D. Rockefeller—the old man, for, in fact, he is old; he knows and looks it—retains that characteristic poise which distinguished him from early youth, and a serene manner which many studious observers have declared contributed more than any- thing else to his unhindered success through the years he has been lookea upon as the greatest financial wizard of the current age. He has read so many fakes of his personal affairs, 8o many speculations of his business transactions, that for the past twenty years it has been next to an imposst- bility for & magazine writer to ap- proach him. Many brilliantly written narratives of his personal, daily doings were ingenious frauds. He siiently re- volted at their reading, but dismissed the incident, as he would call it, with- out employing the great influence he might otherwise have wielded against his adversary. He is very human, re- ligious and fair. This {s John D. Rockefeiler, the richest man, in earthly wealth, in the world. Unpretentious Home With nothing but a narrow, neg- lected road between his property and the Halifax river on the west, and a stretch of paims, as they grow without the attention of even & gardener, a few spruce, pine trees and live oaks, wearing a semi-tropical coat of Span- ish moss, on the east for about a mile to the Atlantic ocean, Mr. Rockefeller's home iooks the same as any other property in Volusia county belonging to what might be safely styled a country gentleman. It cost him $75, 000, and the few additions now under way will bring the figure up to about $125,006, it indeed that much. This goes to show how modestly he con- @uots himself at the age of eighty. He will be eighty years old the 8th of next July. Mr. Rockefeller rises at a smart morning hour, and enjoys & breakfast the same as any other healthy man en- jJoys it, eating bacon and eggs, if that dish appeals to him. Or lamb chops, if, on the other hand, chops may “sound” better than something else. His secretary does not jump about in the “flunkey” fashion which one might imagine, but talks to his em- ployer as frankly and coolly as though he were a partner of the distinguished old gentleman. There is no uniformed footman when Mr. Rockefeller enters or leaves. his automobile; and he steps into his machine as glibly as a man of sixty, and leaves it likewise. He is methodical, however, and goes to the golf links of the Ormond Club at 10 o'clock each morning, rain or shine, except on a Sunday, when he goes to church. On the golf links he plays an ex- cellent game for a man of his age, sometimes with Albert D. Fell, a re- tired Philadelphia banker, and at others with Miss Ellen Kauffman, also of Philadelphia, and a very charming young lady in her early twenties. Miss Kauffman plays no mean golf herself, and Mr. Fell, who is five years Mr. Rockefeller’s junior, permits no grass to grow under his caddy’s feet. But what are they to a man who plays in par work. That is cha and that is what John plays. I was amazed par, or 100 per. fifth hol ; the same speed or a par fin the ball the links sent it should go. ' niagnate, and h ulated the same school boy, declar tha few more years’ practice, I will be some golfer.” When he goes to the links there are no such hoodlums as I have seen all but mob his €utomobile when the fact that he was in the streets or New York city became known there, or like the falkers and curiosity seekers who have been a source of long years of annoyance about his former home at Cleveland and his magnificent tate at Pocantico Hills, Tarrytown. At Ormond he is looked upon somewhat the of an idolized old mayor, or school teacher, or even min- ister. The little s the Rockefeller and dea hopkeeper on the me salute from John D of closest and he will boy as quickly as any his friends recelve. ke hands with a bell as he will with his golf partner, another grand old man, Albert D. Tell The morning recen mar} ok s when he made 300-yard drive it was good many of the golfers had left the Rockefeller kicked with his foot, in his momentary pride the feat, higher than his head, and with the agility of a man halt his year He wouldn’t’ leave the field until he walked home through literal torrents. His chauffeur had been ordered to get “out of the wet,” and he gladly obeyed orders. As Mr. Rockefeller turned the corner near his house an old citizen who does odd jobs about the resort recognized John D. and saluted him. The premier of finance returned the salute and shook hands with the humble old soul, re gardless of the downpour. E able raining, other greens, right over and a tourist Keep Young by Golfing Since Mr. Rockefeller has had his home at Ormond he very seldom visits the hotels, but occasionally he takes dinner “out,” sometimes as a guest and again as host, and it is touchingly interesting to notice his most extra- ordinary democratic mannerisms. He shakes hands with the employes of the hotel, sometimes giving them a testa- ment as a tip, and at others half a dollar. When he goes to his dinner he eats anything other healthy guest will eat, r it and looks th part of a man quite fit to digest it The myth of his living on crackers and milk is as big 2 fraud as it is ridicu- Jous and untrue. There was a time when John D. Rockefeller did suffer slightly with indigestion, but it has never been verified that he had gone on an eternal diet ackers and milk. If so, he quit it many years ago. He says that golfing has kept him young, and has contributed, in his be- lief, greatly to the vigor and youth he notwithstanding his four of ¢ possesses, score years. Albert D. Fell, who does not look greatly unlike Mr. Rockefeller, bulged with tribute while talking to me about the things which had gone to make the oil magnate the marvelous type of a man he made himself. “I guess John told you to get hold of me, didn’t he,” said Mr. Fell, with a gentlemanly &ir, receptive and humorous. He was assured that such was not the case, but knowing that Mr. Rocke- feller looks at himself as an ordinary, upright citizen, I realized the folly of attempting to engage him in a per- sonal discussion of his private life. Sharing the respect which Mr. Fell himself possesses for John D. Rocke- feller, I wanted a very personal im- Copyright, 1919, by Public Ledger Co. ‘nudge’ some one and point toward John D. Now and then some stranger will tell his wifc or companion in the dining room to take a look at John D. Rockefelier, but that is infrequent in- deed. He is very human, and is a man who might justly be styled as one loving the ‘human clement’ in life.” The Frugal Life This R el why the man of a billion dollars looked upon £ as no curio in Ormond. His vision appears ey that of a man of twenty-five, and he looks at you as keenly as he did in the days when his as “Don’t talk too much. It is by for- getting diplomacy and cutting strai out to the mark that we succeed. The poor man of today is able to enjoy the luxuries of the rich of yesterday. The man who has integrity, ability and good judgment should have no strug gle to get ahead.” He didn’t forget his golfing when drawing a further illustration of the high importance of doing things right, if success is to be attained in any- thing. “The caddy who attends strictly to business on the golf links and devotes all his energy to following the ball is have come to sound as common to the average man today sounded seventy-five count for the fact that he comes and goes his way the same as other respected resident of his Florida town It is a town, or it could be called a villa ny The place is about seven miles north of Daytona, and is situated on a sort of peninsula separating for about twenty miles the Halifax river from the Atlantic When you pass from Ormond Beacnh to Daytona or Seabreeze, the road which leads you s within a few feet of John D. ocean. Although he is eighty years pression, such as Mr. Fell was well fitted to impart, and did. “John D. is a remarkable man,” the retired Thiladelphia banker began, “and his noble purpose in anything he undertakes, his clean way of living and thinking, no doubt, are natural traits which have made it possible for Kim to acquire the vast fortune he has and enj the remarkable health he does at his age. He does not ap- parently think of years as measuring his life. That is very noticeable at his home here, where he is taking h time about having a good many ad- ditions and embellishments completed. No doubt he will have a pretty home here in a few years, and he is taking as much time in having improvements made as a man under fifty years of age. “When he is over here. occasionally, at dinner, it is very rare to find any one in particular stare at him, or old, John D. Rockefeller can smash the ball 300 yards on one drive, and declares that “with a few more years’ practice I will frank democracy in his man-to-man dealings back at Cleveland started the tongue of the financial world wagging, as he went on heaping millions upon millions and then billions upon billions to his credit, until today his private fortune is estimated at as high a fig- ure as $12,000,000,000, and his income above $60,000,000 a year. Like the silent, serious youth, rather pale of face and high forehead, tight shut lips that betray a master mind behind a somewhat grim exterior, John D. Rockefeller retains these characteris- tics today, but his face itself is not any too full. Here, coupled 'with a significant brotherly attitude toward his fellow man, his age is best detected He does not wear glasses all the time. John D. Rockefeller has always urged those appealing to him for ad- vice to and cn saving Here are some of his words of advice to would-be successful business men: save, keep be some golfer” more than mind work shop. apt to success of life the bookkeeper allows his to wander from his books to the of the superintendent out in the make a who “I have always lived a frugal life, first from necessity and now from choice. My table is practically the same as it always has been. When Rockefeller forsook Augusta some years ago to make Florida his inter home there had been great speculation as to whether he would purchase a home in that state, and he had been the target of many real es- tate promoters. For the fir: few sea- sons he spent the winters at a hotel. but in 1917 he purchased the modest ate at Ormond, a place which had greatly appealed to him. His name no longers startles those around the resorts, if ever it did nd it may be that his strictly modest mode of Iliv- ing, as well as the fact that billions Rockefeller’'s house, but the house is not distinguished from any other resi- dence in that section, except it is new. and, as would be expected, was con- structed of very substantial material. For a long stretch almost immediately south of the Rockefeller estate the road fis very rough as a result of heavy traffic during the winter and neglect of highway officials, or, prob- ably safer to say, a lack of proper ap- propriations to bring it up to the standard which would scem so becom- ing. For more than a year Mr, Rocke- feller had been half-homel True, he has one of the most palatial estates in America—his magnificent home at Pocantico Hills, near Tarrytown, N. Y.. overlooking the Hudson. But about eighteen months ago his other and cherished home at Forest Hill, land, burned to the ground. The fireridden estate in the city where he 'BALL AND DON'T TALK TOO MUCH,”—JOHN D. made his humble start in life probably was to his than any other spot on earth lisaster coming so of his wife, who com panion, where nearer heart and the close the had heen he turned to a quietude and serenity Joyed. to death great land were to be en- At Ormond he found it, and is highly pleased with his choice Another gr. which has shown throughout the Rockefeller is gleaned placid attitude he conditions; innate tice at element of p: hology its virtuous hand of John D. through the retains under all Whether the trait was or perfected by study and prac- of it, he tell himself. But a glance at his life is interesting. In 1839, on the 8th day of John Davison Rockefeller was at Richford, N. y. early days on a mother had taught in ler girlhood. career could not July, born where he spent his small farm. His country school She taught John D. his letters, and made of him a juvenile wonder in the way of a Bible student. At the age of eight he had read the Bible through from cover to cover, and he has never lost the deep religious interest inculcated at that time. Even one of the gasless Sundays did not keep the oil king from church. He made the long dusty trip on foot to the little church of his neighborhood and chatted pleasantly with his hum- bler neighbors the way. Thrift Origin of Wealth The soil of Rockefeller's birthplace yielded little but boulders and mort- gages. The youngster did odd jobs for the neighbors and earned small sums, but the environment was not suited to his destiny. He was a happy boy when his father decided to move out to Cleveland, where his great career was to begin. The age of twelve found him a public school boy in the Ohio city. and at sixteen he had gained sufficient education from that institution to permit him to take to the streets in search of a job. He found it in a commission house. In the space of two years he had saved enough to go into business for him- self. Thrift was thus the origin of his wealth and he has ailed to point to that policy when a young man might ask him about the road to suc- ong never cess. And John never stopped nineteen his D. Rockefeller himselt aving. At the age of commission house was making such s that long- established busine: tried to veigle him into some sort of co-opera- tion with them. The young man re- fused, and the channels of wealth ceemed to open up to him. Through each succeeding day of the life he has made history and money almost al suce men in- incalculable. In the early sixties the oll craze sup- planted the earlier gold craze in this country. Fortunes were oozing out of the ground daily. John D. joined s with an oil refiner, and within years his refinery, backed by capital, had been capitalized for a million dollars. By the year 1890 Jhon D. Rockefeller stood supreme in the ofl business, possessing a fortune greater than any other man in the world. His success from that time until he retired in 1911 is known to all intelligent readers, and the size of his fortune and the security of his great power in the financial world prove the wisdom of his notion of living and his square method of business dealings. His fortune Is Carnegle, Frick, Astor combined! for ten eastern double that of Ford and Vincent Framing Our Constitution in 1783-87 More Difficult Than Forming League of Nations in 1919 By Edgar Stanton Maclay Authar of a History of the United States Navy, a History of American Privateers, Remini cences of the Old Navy, Etc. F WE will stop for a moment tc con- sider, we will find that the difficul- ties of forming the proposed “league of nations” are no greater, If as great, than confronted framers of the constitution of the United States in its construction pe- riod of 1783-1787. It is a gratifying fllustration of the magnificent energy and spirit of present-day Americans to find that they are fretting and fuming because the league of nations is not formed before peace with the central powers of Europe is con- cluded, when the league of the orig- {nal thirteen states (then virtually a league of natlons) was not completed until several years after the treaty of peace with England was concluded in 1788. To the average American of today the greatest difficulty in forming a league of nations seems to be the di- versity of races, languages and tem- peraments of the peoples entering into the compact. We have the great Eng- lish-speaking race, the French, Japan- ese, Italian and possibly the Spanish to consider in forming the basis of a confederation to deal with the con- quered Teutons, besides the demoral- ized Russians, the impossible Turks and thoe many lesser subdivisions of neutral and smaller nations. those which the Many Nationalities in Our Origi- y o nal Thirteen States Bur were not tne races, ianzuages ané& temperaments cf the pzoples in- nabiting che original thirteen states ot our Union equally or more diversined at the perlcd when ihey were finally merged inte one under our constitution? At the close of the actually Revolution the population of the thir- teen colonies was about three millions, not counting the Indians. Of this xth, 500,000, negroes, most of whom were of Afri- number one- or were can descent, although a considerable and antagonizing element of the West Indian and Creole servitor was in evi- dence. A casual review of the 2,500,000 white people in the original thirteen states will show quite as great a di- versity of races, languages and tem- peraments as exist today among the leading nations seriously proposed for the league of nations. What is now the state of Maine in 1783 was occupied largely by Portuguese, who had settled along its shores from the earliest days of discovery. They ad- hered their mother tongue and traditions, and for years after the revolution many geographical points along the Maine coast bore Portu- guese names. Thickly scattered through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, northern and western New York and in west- ern Pennsylvania were KFrench set- tlers from Canada, who, although few in number, exerted a powerful influ- ence In the development of those vast tracts of wilderness, Throughout New England the fng- lish element dominated, although the Dutch had left their impress in the Cornecticut Valle New York and Na (Long) Tsland had heen occu- pied by the Dutch, who had extended their settlements up the Hudson to Albany and thence westward along the waterways of central New York. Jersey di s between nsite to au lre desigrated as New Sweden. Delaware 2nd points along edjoining waterways were largely set- Medley of Races, Languages and Temperaments Before Our Forefathers in Colonial Days Offered More Confus- ing Problem Than That Now Engaging Attention of Peace Delegates in Paris tled by Scandinavians, while colonists from Switzerland made permanent set tlements at points further south. Pennsylvania pretty even'y divided among the English, Scotch Irish and Germans (not Dutch), while the Southern States, where the bulk of the negro population was to be found, was dominated by the English. Highland Scotcl. and Scotch-Irish races; and on the termination of the Revolution several thousand German troops sent over by England made America their permanent homes. Bolshevism and Foreign Propa- ganda Rampant in 1783 In proportion to the relative popuia tions of the two periods we will find the Bolshevism and hostile forelgn propaganda quite as rampant in the United States in 1783 as it is today By the terms of the unamended con- stitution the suffrage limited to a comparatively smail nunber of prop- erty owners and rent payers. Not only were the blacks and ignorant whites disqualified for voting, but of the most intelligent and in- fluential were disfranchised on arbitrary specifications. Thousands o Tories had been exiled to Can RBer- muda nea Bng pos bitter toward the nd throv made every was totally many men ish sessions * their effort rinst the new xperiment” nd friends to stir up discontent governme! EDGAR Eminent Amcrican historian STANTON MACLAY v Thus we see that in a population of about 3,000.000 which the framers of the United States constitution had to deai with 1783-1787 there was quite as much “diversity of races, lan- guages and temperaments” (when con- sidered the ratio of present-day world growth) as we find today con- fronting the advocates of a league of nations. The the propose are the Anglo-S: nd Great Bri ian, in in races generally of xon considered in nations today (United States ain), the French, Ital- Scandinavian (Norway and Sweden), Iberian (Spain and Por- tugal) possibly, t in all sever nct ra that were d v ‘raming of the United States in Anglo-Saxon Japanese, Germanic— The races involved in the constitution of the 1783-1787 were the I'vench, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Swiss and African, in all eight. Add to these the hostile Spaniards in Florida, the un. friendly Louisiana, Canada and Indians and compli- that league of “diversity of temperament a ces, Swed French in an and along our western 1.000.000 borders than situation the more find a (proportionately) quite as cated as fronting the nations in 1919 con- advocates of a so far and as races, languages s concerne of 1 In we find that the th point popuiations our miilion peo- the problem of 1783-1i87 ple entering into framing our constitution in presented than difficulties more intricate the 500,000,000 or more millions of peoples involved in the league of nations in 1919. “Freedom of the Seas” Much More Complicated in 1783-1787 If “frecdom of the seas” is regarded as a diflicult problem for the states men of today, what must it have been at the close of the eighteenth century, when ocean commerce was hampered with innume Milan decrees able “orders in council, “embargoes provision- al” the “Edict of ete., ete? Frankly, there never been and never will be such a condition as “free- dom of the seas more than there has been of utilized terri- tories.” s of our constitu- 1t on the high y might—just firma—and they au merchantmen to arm and crew: Berlir has any “freedom The frame: tion recog seas must be | as it is on thorized their rotected te, £t and to enforce their vights by might—so far as they could. And when they discovered that this was not sufficient protection they began the task of building a real navy to enforce our 1 the high scas Our Thirteen Original Virtual the or union und league of for therefore inal thirtee the constitution rign nations. survival of this oldtime tween 1l of some of our st the courts nizations of of was a We find a rtipathy be. the or thirteen states In the judiciary es to. day, when refer to busi ness o other corporations. When went into effect, binder” for was regarded as ates as foreizn our March, the thirteen “rash ex- sand”: and it came in for a full measure of ridicule and undisguised contempt among the powers of the e That constitution 1789. as the states, it perimen “rope of “rope of sand,” however, has been welded into one of the strongest bonds of national unity in the record of mankind. It withstood the shock of the greatest civil war in modern history. It has survived the cruclal test of 130 years of rough-and-ready usage. The strength of this union was aw tonishingly revealed when President Wilson announced that we were at war with Germany. There have been instances in history when people, with one accord, have responded to the call to arms—but, usually, only when their territory was invaded by a foreign foe and their homes were imperiled. But in this instance there was no imme. diate danger to our domiciles. The call to arms was for the somewhat vague principle of “democracy,” a term nct calculated to unite the whole people as it had a tendency to antagonize & powerful opposition party. The peril to homeland in the indefinite future—lacking the stimulus of im- pending ravages in our own country. Yet, at the call of the President, men, women and children, North, East, South and West, regardless of color. creed, of country, of descent, irrespec- tive of politics, prejudice or pique, re- sponded with a zeal and determination never before equaled in the history of any nation. Truly, the much-ridiculed “leagu of our original thirteen states had been developed into one of the most powerful unions of the world. With the experience of 130 years back of u with the of the world vir tually at and with the assistance of the greatest statesmen in the record of man, it would be indeed, if a league of nations not be formed which woul plessing to humanity—just as ague” of the thirteen “foreign” formulated by our forefathers ig 1783.1787 was developed into a polit- cal power that rescued civilization in the hour of its greatest peril in 1918 was resources our disposal strange, could prove a the * state: