The evening world. Newspaper, June 10, 1922, Page 9

Y & “Thriller’’ Life By Marguerite a Goprright, 1922 (New York Evening World) by Press Publishing Co. SOLDIER of fortune in real life! A regular Richard Harding Davis hero, whose career is a best- selling mixture of em) wars, love affairs frenzied finance and conflict with constituted authority, about whose personality hangs the glamor of great daring, undoubted good looks, success with women and reckless money epending. That is Charles Glenn Collins, the brilliant British adventurer, who mar- ried two American heiresses, who has been a prominent figure in American social circles and American court circles, and to whose remarkable career the United States Supreme Court has just put a period No, no—in view of Charles's resill- ent past—we would be safer in saying a "pause," not a “period."” It's quite too much to expect that Charles has come to a full stop, even now, when the highest court in the land has ended his four years’ fight against extradi- tion and has ruled that he must re- turn to British India for trial at Bom- bay on the charge of cheating a big Jewelry firm. There never was any- thing small about Charles's doings, and one reads without surprise the firm's charges that he obtained from them pearls and diamonds valued at 15,000 rupees and that his drafts have been dishonored. This little deal, according to the Jewelry firm, took place away back in February, 1917, and an index of the quality of Charles Glenn Collins may be obtained from the fact that, until now, he has managed to keep out of the clutches of the irate deal- ers in pearls and diamonds. He has been technically in charge of the United States Marshal at New Or- leans, but actually free under $10,- 000 bail. But here are some of the chapter- headings in the “thriller” that is the true life-story of Collins: Fought with oonspiousus bravery in three wars, Wounded, gassed, mentioned in despatches, decorated. Married ilree times in seventeen yeare—two of his wives American hetresses. Divorced. by Nathalie Schenck, New York society girl. Hloped with Amelia Wheeler, daughter of millionaire manufacturer of sewing machines, dodging father’s letectives after three unsuccessful ttempts, » Defendant in many suits over money, one brought by New York young woman who saki he made love to her and then stole $122. Named in divorce suit by third wife's husband, Charged by India merchants with defrauding them of pearls and dia- monds worth §100,000. British Government has tried for four years to extradite him. Nearly escaped from United States om British steamship, and was then ebarged with conspiracy by United States Government. Supreme Court has just ruled that he must be sent back to Bombay, India, to stand trial. Now, really, I ask you—could the late Dick Davis, or George Barr Mc- Cutoheon, the ving chronicler of Graustark, do any better by one of his heroes? ‘New York first heard of Collins—he was then Caps. Collins—when, in 1904, FOUGHT WITH CONSPICUOUS BRAVERY IN THREE WARY Three Wives, Three Wars, Frenzied Finance Deals, Mere Incidents in of Charles Glenn Collins WhoseLatest ‘Flyer’--inDia- monds and Pearls--Has ‘Crashed’ Him in the U. S. Supreme Court Mooers Marshall. ® favorite in New York and Newport society, he married one of the sea- son's most charming debutantes, Miss Nathalie Schenck, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Spotswood D. Schenck, He met the young woman at Georgian Court, the George Gould home at Lakewood, while travelling in this country. Previous to coming to America, Col- lins had been educated at Eton and Sandhurst, had held a commission tn the Queen's Own Highlanders, had served In the Egyptian campaign of ‘98 and '99, had served in the South African War and had been cited in Lord Kitchener's despatches. Like every true soldier of fortune, his mill- tary record seems to be unimpeach- able. "I left the army for two reasons," he himself testified in a Baltimore court room. “One was on account of my health, and the other because I had backed notes amounting to £4,900. The man 1 had backed fatled ana I had to make good, That naturally cut down my allowance, and I did not have the money ‘to keep up the ex- pense of being an officer in the regi- ment “TL travelle in this country," he continued, r my health, and met my first wife, Miss Nathalie Schenck at Lakewood, later again on the Med- iterranean and finally married her ip California. “I then went to Egypt, because 1 know many people there, and became interested In some land deals. I lost @ great deal of money at cards and the land deals did not turn out well. My wife left me.” He said she had tried to persuade Collector of Farm- ers’ Paper Became President of Inter- national Harvester Company. Laborer and Two Of- fice Boys Rise to Directorate of the Standard Oil Com- pany. , Covrteh Sepik Brine Woes SM) N the West (not to mention the East), it's a rare office boy who can hope to play tricks on his boss and get away with it, be- Bil cause the boss himself in all probability, ether has been an soffice boy or else counts among his friends men who have come up the ladder from that lowly Job and know all there 1s to know about the game, Chicago prides herself on the oppor- tunities she gives to boys who grow up there, and she points to a galaxy of top-hatted personalities that used to sweep out or sell papers or shine shoes for a living—men who know more than the ayerage college grad- uate, and learned It all by themselves. From the inconspicuous position of collector in a remote branch office to the President's chair in one of the far-flung industries of the country, that is the story of Alexander Legge, who was elected head of the Interna- him to give up gambling and stop speculating. Sho finally obtained a divorce and later married William Laimbeer. Thus ended the first recorded ro- mance of the soldier of fortune. The gallant Captain's next matri- monfal adventure was with Miss Amelia Wheeler, daughter of Samuel H. Wheeler, millionaire manufac- turer of sewing machines, who lived in a suburb near Chicago. This romance had all the best- seller trimmings, The Captain was still young—in his early thirtis; he was good to look at, debonnair, charming, courageous. What if Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler did oppose the match—as they did? Would not Miss Amelia follow the call of her heart? She would. She and the captain became en- gaged. He himself has admitted that she advanced him money ‘'to get him on his financial feet."" She was watch- ed, day and night, by her father's detectives, But she and her forbid- den lover continued to correspond through that convenient go-between of fiction, a hairdresser, who received and mailed the letters of the devoted pair so that they would not be inter- cepted at Mias Wheeler's home. It 1s said that Papa Wheeler spent thousands of dollars so that the mar riage might not take place. But love laughs at private detectives, as we as at locksmiths. There were three unsuccessful attempts at elopement. Finally, the soldier of fortune pulled {t off. He and his runaway bride were married in August, 1914—note the date—at Glen Arm, Md., after several ministers had refused to per- form the ceremony. How did they succeed in finding a complaisant clergyman? His wife ex- plained, tater. It was the beginning of the great war. The *-legroom, ac- cording to the minister's wife, said thet he was under orders to reson his regiment, the Scotch Highlanders, at once, and wanted to take his wife back to Scotland with hi Give every soldier of fortune his due. Collins, 1t seems clear, Ike 0 many other wandering sons of Old England, would go back to fight for her. But when he reached New York, after his marriage to Miss Wheeler, he found that he could not get a re- newal of bail, with permission to go abroad, from Judge Crain in General Sessions. With his fatal faoility for getting into difficulties about money, he had been arraigned before Judge Crain two months earlier on charges WN ZS i T J THOMPSON tional Harvester Company to suo- ceed Harold F. McCormick. Mr. McCormick declined re-election to the Presidency of the Harvester Company and nominated Mr, Legge to succeed him. And Mr. Legge was at once unanimously elected. Alexander Legge’s career has been one of hard work, the story of which would make pithy material for a busi- ness novel. It 1s said of him that his advance has been as steady as the passing of time. His kindly, brusque manner, say his associates, and his rugged*stature—he is 6 feet 2 inches tall and built proportionately—are known to thousands of Harvester company workers, During the war he was recognized as « leader in the War Industries of stealing $122 from Hilzabeth Lau- terbach, a young school teacher. She asserted that sho had met Collins in the home of Miss Theodora Wheeler, sister of the Miss Amelia he married, and that he had made love to her (Miss Lauterbach) And just before this case Collins had been acquitted tn Baltimore on a fraud charge involving $25 However, he got abroad somehow before the month of August, 1914, was over. His record for the next few years makes one of the most splend'd and stirring chapters in his story. Ac- cording to Edward Wilcox, the lawyer who has been defending him in the long strugele to extradite him, he served In Belgium, Pgypt, Gallipoli, Franca. y According to the lawyer's story, Col Ins was wounded seriously, gassed, mentioned in despatches, decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor and other medals. In F ruary, 1917, he was pronounced unfit for service and was sent to Canada and made Chief *Military Instructor at Valcar tier Camp. He appeared again In New York the next year, The former Miss Wheeler had divorced him, and this time he bronght with him a third wife, for merly a Mrs. Munza. Both had been in India, Collins was named tn the divorce suit brought by Capt. Munza It was at about this time, in 1918, that the British Government began what was to prove its four years’ struggle to extradite him on the charge of cheating the Bombay jewellers Collins we nt as a Federal pris- oner to the- House of Detention in s, the town where he had ed. He was well supplied with funds and enjoyed many privi- leges, including a key to the, prison, As a consequence, he nearly es- caped to a British steamship in June, 1919. He ‘was recaptured by ngents of the Department of Justice and was charged with conspiracy against the United States. Something over a year ago tho United States District Court decided against hm in his fight against ex tradition, ,His counsel took the case to the Supreme Court. Now this highest authority has re-affirmed the decree of the lower tribunal. Charles Glenn Collins has Joat thic latest fight, therefore, and must re and stand trial, But he Is only forty-two, and he {s a soldier of fortune. Has “finis'’ been written to his history? One doubts it One instinctively supplies, as a last line, “continued In our next." Board—at first the Counctl for Na- tional Defense. Bernard Baruch of New York was Chairman of this board; Mr, Legge was Vice (! man, Immediately after the war h¢ went to Europe and spent a thine France, Germany and Russia, where he assisted in reorganizing their in dustries for them, This work ts said to have saved those countries vast amounts of n: and misdirected energy; his repor conditions and recommendations are considered documents of econom portance. Later he went to the | Conference as an industrial and here again compiled reports Value. Mr. Legge has been connected with the harvester industry, for more thas CAP TA CHARLES GLENN COLLINS thirty years. He made his start an collector of farmers’ paper, selling sgricultural {implements on the side, in 1891, in the Omaha branch of the then McCormick Harvester Company machine shops of the mick Company ore for m time learning this e Counell Bluffs office leetions and salesma vabager in charge of farmers’ here he met Alexus 2 the Council Bluffs office of the Mc- mick Company, 1898 he was mick returned t years before this Harold in 1898, about a yea yrmick, then @ youth just ¢ ollege, set out to learn the business. McCormick went first into the ager at Counc! Butte [n 1599 he waa called to Chicago and made manager > en 4 x CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING INDIAN MERCHANTS © 100.000. IN PEARLS AND DIAMONDS . , Ys WY Via" th, We" wt, Wh, BP th ha W)} Vs Urvbalh | Bd") ] the oollection department of the time to time under the new arrange old McCormick Harvester Company From this time on Mr, Lemge’s ad vancemenht was rapid. In 1902, when the International Harvester Company waa formed throuwsh the consolidation of th ‘ormick Company, the Deering Company, and a number smaller concerns, Mr. Leggo was ap pointed assistant manager of domestic sales, In 1995 came his appointment as Assistant General Manager of the In- ternational Harvester Company, and in 1918 he becama General Manager. Ho wns appointed Vice President and General Manager in 1919, the position he had occupied up until his election as President a fow days ago. Mr. Leggo is self-educated; his schooling amounted to a few years in the elementary grammar grades, Yet his associates say of him that there ts finer economic brain in America to-day than his, probably not : Harold MeCormick sald: ‘The com pany Is singularly fortunate in haying such @ man for Its President, His great ability, faithful service and un bounded loyalty and zeal make it a to serve with him in admin istering the business of the company. We have been working together since 1896, and I have for him a deep per ronal friendship."* And anent his restgnation to take the Chairmanship of an “Executive Committee" created by the Board of Directors, also recently—a committee invested with the wers of the hoard {teelf when the board is not in ses sion—Mr, McCormick continued "The change In the Prestdenoy of the company and the creation of an Fixecutive Committee hae been in ntemplation for more than a year I feit that I c give more time to the policies of the company and the larger questions which arise from “ ment than was possible when wa President of the company. I do get nplate any diminution of in or service to the > cont inter pany.” ? Other officers elected by the board of the company were announced a» follows: H. F. Perkins, A. EB, Me- Kinstry and H, B. Utley, Vice Pres} dents; Willlam D. McHugh, general counsel; George A. Ranney, Secre- tary and Treasurer; W. M, Reay, Controller, and John P. Wilson, con- sulting counsel Just the other day the Standard Oil Company of Indiana announodd the appointment of three new dire¢- tors, and one of them ts the sort called ‘‘self-made.”" One is Thomas J, Thompson. Thir- ty-flve years ago the company gave him a job as a common laborer, Now ho Is not only a director but algo keneral manager of the sales depaft- ment. Another {s Edward J. Bullock. He worked six years as an office boy and then got @ better job im the Milway- keo division ofMfce. Now he te two kinds of @ director—member of the regular board of directors and direg- tor of purchases, The third is Robert H. Moliroy, He has been with the company only Atteen years, and yet in that time he has worked up from offloe bey to traMec manager and member of the board. Office boys In the dayw when ghese men started used to get $8 a wea— with a warning to ‘see that you it." Now each of them gets $80, year for telling other people what to do and for voting on company poltaies and projects. As Thompson puts it: ‘When 1 started with the company there were 28,000 names on the payroll, whigh meant that I had opportumity multi. plied by $8,000,"