The San Francisco call. [volume], March 26, 1899, Page 18, Image 18

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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18
MRS HEJjy QFEEN, the Richest Wom&rx ii\ America.
From her latest photograph. Copyrighted 1899 by Vander Weyde. New York.
HETTY GREEN'S latest freak is
to have a body guard.
For some time past she has,
been living" in fear of abduction,
murder, robbery, arson and
taxes. And the greatest fear of
all is taxes, for X is to ' avoid paying
theso that she exposes herself to- other
dangers by moving from place to place.
With nearly $60 ,000 .000 to her credit, this
strange woman has never paid a cent of
taxes into tho national treasury. •
For many years sho found It an eßsy
matter to avoid the tax collector by fail
ing to have "a place of habitation." She
kept constantly on the go, and for a
time came near to sleeping in a differ
ent bed every night. She used up nearly
all the towns in tho vicinity of New
York, because there is a paragraph in
the law that says something about "a
second residence." This has mado it nec
essary for her to hustle, and avoid giving
the collector time to locate her.
It is this constant moving about in the
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE WILSON'S ADVICE TO THE AMERICAN FARMERS.
„ • «im.« nnri Declares That the Old-Fashioi)ed Farmer Must Go. His Golden Prophecy of the Conning Farmer.
He Says That Agricultural Colleges flre Just as Necessary as Universities, ana ueciar«»
Like the Indian, the old-fashioned farmer is doomed. James W. Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture, says his methods are worn out. They must give way
to the wisdom of science. The farmer youth of to-day is the scientific agricul
turist of to-morrow.
Mr. Wilson told me this when I called on him the other day. He said it
was useless to try to hide the fact that something else was needed to make the
farm pay Besides the apprenticeship of following the plow. People, he said
might call these new fangled ideas if they wanted to, but they were sustained
by facts. The farmer must learn how to make his ground yield the most.
This knowledge he would never gain unless he familiarized himself with the sci
ence of the soil. ' „
Science is doing a good deal in the farmer's interest. Mr. Wilson says. It
has learned a secret that has given a new Impetus to the beet sugar industry.
This is a fact that will make Germany pout and Denmark frown. It is that
by feeding dairy cattle the waste of the sugar beet factories, tho milk they yield
provides nutter and cheese that will hold Its own In any tropical climate. Den
mark's dairy products have almost driven ours out of the Orient and elsewhere,
because they would remain good while ours would spoil. Now it will be dif
ferent.
All this means that we are going to make a great deal more beet sugar. It
means also that the United States Government is quietly adopting a new and
more vigorous policy in agricultural science. It is; the same policy that has
sent a man to South Africa to study tho date palm, preliminary to cultivating
It In Arizona and New Mexico.
Secretary Wilson says there's a new era in store for the farmers of the
United Stateß, and those of New York and the Mississippi Valley in particu
lar. It will be the new-fashioned farmer who will briny it about. He is the
Moses of modern agriculture.
THE farmer of the future must be
a practical scientist. The man
who does not understand the
science of the 601 l has no business
en the farm. If tho boy wants to
be a farmer. It Is Just as neces
sary that he tako a. course at an agricul
tural college as it la to the boy who wants
to be a lawyer, a doctor, a preacher, to
have a university education.
"The great need of the agricultural col
lego has been instructors who could In
struct. Why, out in lowa we could send
to Chicago and get a carload of chemists,
ir w<_ wanted to pay the money for them,
but v.c could not Una a man who could
teach the student the science of making
butter and cheese. The Government can
er.dow agricultural colleges all it wants
to. The more that Is done the better.
But it cannot furnish instructors, because
there have not been any. We are going
to giv^ a few young men a chance at the
department to learn the scientific features
of instruction In agriculture, but we can
only heip a few.
"Tho only way that these instructors
can be maclo is through the agricultural
colleges. Wo don't want the students
taught the theory, but we want the prac
tical facts put before their eyes. At one
college I know of they are making exten
sive experiments with livestock to show
what pirticular breed it is that will pro
duce the best basis for butter and cheese.
Tho students aro being taught that, not
by hearsay, buj by what they can see.
lit sny that every student puts oh
overalls, takes a milking stool and goes
out and milks, though I myself think
that is a pretty pood way to do. Tho
po-r.t is that <ach boy is taught by the
facts that ;:ro laid before him— living
facts— the essen.ee r.f certain truths, and
why they are truths.
"There la no lesson as good as an ob
ject lesson. Tha boy who sees expcrl
l In dairying carried on from clay to
day knows when he .sees the rc-smlts how
it ail came about— and it is not because
some one elso told him that !t was thus
and so. He knows tho science of dairy
ing ond has been taurrht it in the most
practical way. The dairy farmer of the
United States Is goir.g to bo a great fac
tor in the future. He is a factor at pres
ent to be sure, but nothing to what he
will be, and I will tell you why— because
•we have lcarr.ed the secret of Denmark's
butter and cheese keeping so well in
tropical climates.
•"The farmers of New York State and
tr-nao of the Mississippi Valley make a3
lood butter as la produced anywhere
Denmark makes ifOOd batter. We send
out butter to China; and it cannot com
l)'l vith the butter of Dean*
-o it won't keep. There Is a splen-
J ' uau ' , . ,_ tV iA nrient but we are shut
(li ,l market in the Orient u^
vtcinity of New York that has caused all
her fears. There was a time when no
body knew Hetty Green, as her appear
ance never conveyed the Impression of
the possession of millions. But now peo
ple point her out and look upon her as
they would a freak. This notoriety has
greatly disturbed the wealthy woman.
At present Hetty Green Is living in a
cheap boarding house in Hoboken, pay
ing for her accommodation about ?5 a
w r eck. She has Just moved frr>m Brook
lyn, and. It is said, does not like the
change.
But she never refuses to see members
of the press and is always ready to talk
about her lawsuits, several of which sho
always has on hand. That is what she
thought I came for and was all ready
with her long tale of oppression.
In Hetty Green's interminable lawsuits
the attorney for the other side is usually
Joseph Choate. To-night Hetty Green
chuckled.
"Joseph's gone to England," she said.
of our beet sugar factories— nltrogenous
produds. Now then, all we have to do in
this country to make our butter just as
good in the tropics as that of Denmark
Is to raise the sugar beet and feed the
waste of the factories to the dairy cows.
There Is no healthier fodder than thl?.
and it will make the sugar beet a mighty
valuable product in a groat many ways.
Congress has made an appropriation to
help along the cultivation of the sugar
beet. In this way not only is our sugar
production given a great Impetus, but w
are strengthening our dairy products in
the only way In which they were weak.
Now we will not have to tako Becond
place anywhere.
"This shows how necessary it is thai
the farmer should understand the ocienci '
of agriculture. It shows what sr-ionti'ii <
Investigation brings about. If I had not <
wanted to find out why Denmark's butt-- (l
would keep whore ours wouldn't, if I hail i
net sent a man to Denmark to learn th«
scientific reasons, we would not have beei.^
in the position we are to-day— able to <
enter into competition with Denmark <
without feeling that nhe has any advan- ,
tage over us In her butter and cheese. It <
Is in everything the farmer has to cul- (
tivate and grow that the reason for his '
being an agricultural scientist Is found <
If he knows the reason why things don't -
grow or do grow, or his crops are largo-,
or small, he gains a wisdom that will,
help him the next year to increase his "
crops and so make his Income greater.
The scientific farmer has a better chance
of making a big Income than any farmer'
ever had. But the man who insists on
following tho old-fashioned methods of,
never learning anything that his father
did not know Is going to have trouble to
make both ends meet.
"There is no placa that the farmer
needs to apply scientific methods raorr
than out where they irrigate th^ir land.
I am going to have that matter thorough
ly looked Into. Hundreds of acres of fine
lafld are being ruinod because the in' n
who irrigate them do not understand the
scientific facts about It. They let ton
much water run on the land; this brings,
the alkali to the surface and tho result
Is that there is no use trying to grow
anything. Now what should bo done is
to study the science of the soil so as to
know how to apply tho water and in what
quantity. If scientific reasoning had been
employed in tho beginning, this Land
would not have been comparatively
worthless to-day.
"The new-fashioned farmer, the scien
tific farmer, must study the feeding of
cattle. Not a pound of cotton r,?ed was
fed to the four hundred thousand cattle
we exported last year, although tho South
raised 000,000 tons of It. That cotton seed
was mostly wasted, or made fertilizer of.
Think what it mi.qht have amounted to if
It had been fed to beef cattle. The
trouble with the farmer is that he don't
know how to make tho best of what he
lms got. and he has got to learn the sci
ence of agriculture to know how.
'Ther? is only one way to find out those
things w«» are ignorant of. I hoard that
out In Japan they were growing better
ricr> than we did, a rice that was more
marketable and cheaper to grow. I sent
a man out there to find out about it. He
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 1899.
"I always call him Joseph to his face, "
she. said. "It makes him squirm."
Then this richest woman in America
stepped into the tiny back parlor and
carefully lowered tho gas in the houso
where she lives. Mrs. Green is known
as Mrs. Pewoy. She admits, however,
that sho is a resident of Hellows Falls,
Vt., where she has a pretty cummer
place.
When she returned to the front parlor
Bhe spoke of th.> time rnnre than 30 years
ceo when, as Mips Robinson, she was one
of the belles of New York society. When
the Prince of Wales was here she danced
With him. Later, Bhe lived in England
and was presented at court. When Van
Buren, then ex-President, summered at
Saratoga, Mrs. Green, then Miss Robin
son was his honored guest. Then her
father dif^l, leaving $7,000,000.
Since then she has devoted her life to
business, has Increased her fortune to
niore than half a hundred millions. Trie
day Judge Hilton would have failed sho.
handed him her check for $1,000,000 and
esaved him. Her best friend now, next to
her flaughti r Silvia, who lives with her,
is Russell Sage. Her husband is an in-
did find out. came back with a lot of the
rice, and I am having ten tons of it sent
out through the country now to experi
ment with.
"I sent a man to the steppes of Russia
because I heard there was a grass there
that many months of winter would not
kill I got it. experimented with it here,
and found that what I heard was right.
It will stand all sorts of winter weather
and yet be in such a condition that as
quick as moisture strikes it will grow like
a weed. That is not a particularly sclen
ALMOST KILLED BY WOLVES
Desperaee Adventure of Two California Miners Driven^
Into a Tunnel by the Ravenous Beasts.
HUNTERS, miners and ranchers
generally agree that wild anl
mala have been bolder th£ last
winter than ever before in the
history of California. The long
dry spell and the consequent
scarcity of small game are ac
'ountable for this, but the extremes to
which some Ot the beasts have gone are
dimply incredible.
' Ip in El Dorado County a few days ago
two miners, George Nelson and Henry
• Young, were driven into a tunnel by a
jack'of eight wolves, and had to fight
,'or their lives with pickaxes and shovels.
The wolves were vanquished, hut both
n< n are confined to their beds with
t wounds.'-"' '•-'-:.- ■•■.,.»•,■,
j . According to the story told by Nelson
».t was a terrible fight. • ' :->"-;;
i The camp of the two miners Is about
L 'nur miles from Pleasant Valley. On the
I -illislde several hundred feet ■ above the
T nmp Is the entrance, to the. tunnel In
t-rhich the two miners work. It was on
f the way from the cabin to the ; tunnel
v bat the wolves made the attack.
0 "I had no Idea, that there . were any
Ivolves close to camp." said Nelson. "Of
i ourse I know there are lots of them up
J n the high mountains, but I never ex
t <-cted to see anything down our way any
f iirger than a- polecat. .
V "It was early Monday morning when
«• Henry and I started for the mine. There
« wa g some snow on the ground. Just
I after leaving the cabin our trail starts
Xrißht up the mountain side. Then it
inins over a sort of lower spot right to
the mouth of the tunnel that is at the
: bottom of another hill.
7 "Henry and I had climbed up the steep
Nascent and stopped a moment to get our
breaths. Just then I heard a queer bark
<*>back on the trail over which we had Just.
ipasscd.
T •■ 'Whoso dog is that?' I asked Henry.
f " 'Wolf,' said Henry- 'Listen.'
7 "The bark came again and then several
Sharks all at once. There was no doubt
♦ now but what .we were being chased by
! wolves and we hadn't a splinter to make
v fight against them.
k "Suddenly we saw tho wolves emerge
f from a little clump of timber and take to
.▼our trail as if they were sure we were
<s> their moat. They bounded up the hill. I
i stood spellbound. If It hadn't been for
'Henry I would have been eaten right
there; but he is an old hunter and knows
fa thing or two about wolves.
<S> ""Run for the tunnel,' he shouted.
♦ grabbing my arm and almost dragging
Imo along. 'It's our only chance. " Grab
Tthe picks and crowbars there. Run!' •
f "By this time'the wolves were not more
4>than a hundred feet away and coming up
itlie hill in long Jumps. We ran a race
Ithat would have broken any track record.
I When we had covered about half the dls
ftance to the tunnel the wolves were not
<*>more than fifty feet behind us and gain
ling. ;
<*, "'lf they catch us we are gone, said
i Jlenry. 'Run for. all you're worth.'
' "The tunnel was only a short- distance
Tahead. A big fellow was Just behind me,'
f snapping hla Jaws as if he . was sure . of
♦ills game^ : ' ' ""•*"" "~"~"V"--\.
*■ ■■'■■''*'" '*■ • ■ ' i .ii.i.
HETTY GREEN, THE RICHEST- WOMAN IN AMERICA
She Is Particufarfu Happy Just Now Because Joseph Cfioate Has Gone to
■ England and She Has Made a Strike in Her California Gold Mine,
«_ J CVin at.
valid.
Mrs. Green told me that she dresses
shabbily for a purpose. She declared
positively that she believes there is a
conspiracy among the lawyers of New
York to take her life.
"They are my arch enemies," she said,
"and not one of them would heßitate to
kill me if he thought he could do so with
out being found out. 1 make them toe
the chalk'.ine, and that's the reason they
don't like me."
Mrs. Green has a desk at the Chemical
Bank in New York, and has to be there
every day to look alter her vast inter
ests. The traveling back and forth be
tween the back and her home is what
caueed her to get a bodyguard.
"My bodyguard is a nephew of a form
er New York Police Inspect 01 ", and a sfal
wart young fellow at that. Of course,
I wouldn't have his name published, be
cause that would establish his identity,
and some day when it chanced that he
was not with me I might be attacked.
"When we are traveling ho does not
stay beside me. as you might suspect,
and we never have any conversation. lie
keeps a lookout for mo every morning
and then follows me as if he did not
knuw who I was. He changes his ap
pearance every day or so in order to keep
people from petting to know him. If we
traveled together my enemies would sim
ply wait for a chance to catch us un
awares.
"As It is, my guard keeps his eye on
me, and I am sure he would be on hand
■when .wanted."
As she prows older Hetty Green does
not improve in manners. She is careless
!n her speech, drops her final g's and
uses slang freely. Money making and
talking are her chief pleasures, and her
main object in life is to leave to her son,
Edward, who lives in a princely stylo on
his ranch in Texas, a great fortune. She
has proved that, in finance, woman can
be the equal of man. Her energy and
endurance at CO years of age surprise all
who have dealings vrlth her. She is a
woman such as only American soil could
produce.
The accompanying photograph was
taken by flashlight in the back parlor of
the Hohoken boarding house. It is an ex
act likeness and gives a better idea of the
character of the woman than any picture
made heretofore. With all her fear of
assassination, she had no hesitation about
Bitting in front of the camera, even
though the photographer was a stranger
to her. But that is Mrs. Green's dispo
sition; when she trusts people, she does
so implicitly.
Mrs. Green is now in a most happy
frame of mind on account of a big strike
said to have Just been made In one of her
mines in California. "It may amount to
a. million dollars," she said. "And if It
doesn't reach that sum, why, well and
gorxi. Whatever it does realize is that
much gain. A dollar is a dollar."
In the number ot years she has been
around the money markets of America
Hetty Green has changed very little. She
looks* and acts now Just the same as she
did five years ago. when she attracted
the attention of the financial world by
the boldness of her investmemts and her
tiflo ff.ct, but it Ktinws the beneficial re
sults of Investigation for the farmer in
almost any direction.
"Over in South Africa now there is a
man whom T sent there, who is study
ing nnd growing the date palm. This is
being done with the. idea of introducing
it into New Mexico and Arizona. You see.
I believe in expansion in agriculture, and
why not? I reckon if we had stuck to the
little old thirteen States we wmild not
have been able to supply ourselves with
the things we need to eat. Where do we
"That sight sparred me on and wo<
dashed right into th« tunnel. At this mo
ment I am sure the wolf In the lead made
a bite at mv leg. But he didn't follow me
in on the instant. The darkness scared
him a little, and that gave us the chance
to get a few feet in the lead and grab
the picks and shovels.
"We wore about forty feet back to the
turn, and as the tunnel is largo there was
considerable light.
" 'Crack tho first one that comes along,"
gasped Henry. 'If you show fear we are
gone. They'Jl be here in a second If they
are coming at all.'
"And in a second' we were right in the
track of a fight. The big fellow that wa3
right behind me only waited for the rest
of the pack to catch up and then dashed
right after us. Our running away seemed
to give the beasts courage.
"The big follow seemed to have singled
me out, for he Jumped Btralght for my
throat. I was ready for him and floored
him with the pick between the eyes. He
went down like a log.
"Then I warmed up to the fight and
went for the wolves without giving them
a chance to come at me. Henry did the
same and we laid about us on all sides,
and wherever we saw a wolf one of us
hit it. But we didn't get in another blow
like my firnt one. Every wolf had to be
struck several tlmep. I hit one fellow on
tho head and rolled him over, but In a
couple of seconds he was on top of my
back with his teeth in my shoulder.
Henry caught him one over the loins with
hiH shovel ,and laid him out. but my left
arm was useless for fighting after that
and things began to look mighty serious.
"Part of the time the wolves would
crowd us, and part of tho time we would
crowd the wolves. Our arms . and legs
were bitten and our faces and hands
scarred, but fortunately we managed to
beat the beasts off.
"After we had killed three wolves and
had all the others pretty badly battered
up a big fellow got up behind me and
knocked me down. For a moment I
thought all was up and expected to feel
the sharp teeth In my neck. But Henry
was on hand. With a swinging blow
from his shovel he caught the wolf under
the Jaw and put it out of the fight.
Another blow on the back of the head
stretched him out good.
"Then I got up and went at it again.
I was badly used up, but so were the re
maining wolves. In a few moments there
was only one wolf left. He lost courage
and started to get out, but Henry cor
nered him and spilt his head with his
shovel. Then we sat down to rest and
cool off.
"We killed eight wolves, and all of them
big fellows. We were badly used up, but
with no serious wounds. We managed
to get back to our cabin, where we found
neighbors. They went up and skinned our
game after seeing us safely in bed. Tho
eight skins are beauties and I guess we
can sell them for enough to pay U3 for
the time we have to spend in bed. I am
feeling all right now, except my shoul
der. It hurts occasionally. Both of U3
will bo out in a week. Pass me the ar
nica."
close manner of living.
Old Wall street men tell innumerable
stories about the woman's closeness and
about her wonderful success on the
street. She was In Philadelphia one day
when the market suddenly changed, and
she found that unless she reached New
York before the close of the Stock Ex
change she would miss a chance to make
several thousand dollars. No train would
bring her here in time, and she opened
negotiations for a special engine. A price
was named for an engine and one car,
and, after Haggling some few minutes,
Mrs. Green made this final proposition:
"Take off the *:<.r and make it $5 less.
I'll ride in the locomotive cab." She had
a dusty but a speedy ride to this city,
and she reached Wall street in time to
make a successful turn.
At another time she had a large amount
of Reading securities which she had
ordered aei brokers to transfer to Phila
delphia for her. When she Learned that
they would have to pay the express com
pany a rate in proportion to the value of
the securities j-h« was horrified.
"What, pay $100 for taking that bundle
to Philadelphia! I can gq there and back
myself for $4 and save ?Sfi." Sho gath
ered up the securities In her black bag
and carried thorn over to Philadelphia
herself.
Once when John J. Cisco was her bank
er she came into the establishment with
seyeral hundred thousand dollars' worth
of securities In the black bag. She said
she had walked all the way down town
and was tired. The banker expostulated
with her for her recklessness in taking
such a risk of attack and robbery on the
street.
"Why didn't you come down in a car
riage?" he demanded.
"You may be able to ride In cabs, Cis
co," said the richest woman in America,
sharply, "but I can't afford it."
Mrs. Green used to keep all her plate
and diamonds, as well as her securities.
In the strong hoxes of the Clscos, and
once a month she would go down, there
and polish up the articles and cut her
awn coupons. She keeps up the practice
to-day at the Chemical Bank.
One clay a report floated around Wall
street that Cisco was in trouble. The re
port was not verified, but it reached Mrs.
Greens ears, and she went at once to
the bank and demanded every cent of
her account. She had $750,000 on deposit
there. Cisco protested that the with
drawal of such a large single amount In
one day would ruin him, but this mado
no difference to Mrs. Grrcn. She de
manded her money and got it. It re
quired two cabs to carry away all her
strong boxes. The bank failed the next
day.
A few years ago it was discovered in
Chicago that forged deeds to property
owned by Mrs. Hetty Green to the
amount of (1,000,000 were in circulation.
When the attempt of the schemers to
raise money on the forged deeds brought
the plot to light Mrs. Green's attorney.
Mr. Bisbee, set to work to protect her
interests and bag the crooks. A trap was
set for the forgers, and the assistance of
the Chief of Police and his Detective Bu
get our cotton from mostly? The Louisi
ana purchase. You see, that is why I am
for expansion."
I asked Mr. Wilson if he believed the
statement that we could starve Europe
out if we wanted to; that we really had
control of the food markets of the world.
"There is no doubt about the truth of
the last half of your question." he said.
"As things stand to-day we have what
the speculator calls the bulge on the rest
of the world in breadstuffs. We could
certainly supply the markets of the world
if it was necessary, if they would make
kit worth our while. We are not growing
"a tithe of the wheat we might Take my
own State of lowa. Why. the farmers
'" there could raise any amount of wheat
► if you would give them a dollar a bushel
»for :t. But at the present price it don't
pay them, so they don't raise it.
•'lf we should stop shipping food prod
>ucts to Europe, although such a thing
► Is not possible, we might not starve them
out. but we would make them mighty
reau and of a big trust company was
secured. It was necessary to consum
mate some transfer or deal on the for
geries to obtain the forged document it
pelf. Secrecy was the only hope of gain-
Ing proof of guilt, as the law does not
touch the holders, but only the makers
of forged deeds.
Attorney Bisbee was to delay filing a
bill in chancery to quiet the titles to the
property until the thieves were caught.
But the minute Mrs. Green, who was at
Far ftockaway, heard of the arrange
ment she hurried to Chicago and hired
another lawyer to file the necessary bill.
SI i- had a storm\- interview with Mr.
Bisbee, in which she declared that she
hn'\ not the slightest interest in bringing
the forgers to justice, and that he should
have known better than to take any
chances.
"You look after my interests. P.isbe.e,"
she said sharply, "and keep tne titles to
my property clear. That's what I pay
you for. I^et the police catch their own
thieves."
The son, Edward H. R. Green., has de
veloped into a gooii business man, and
while not what might be called extrava
gantly liberal, is not especially noted for
closeness. He has an r>rt' n - ; --i! Ipst. His
knee was injured while coasting when he
was 7 years old and it was never prop
erly attended to. Years afterward, when
It was too late, Mrs. Green secured treat
ment for the lad from a prominent sur
geon of Philadelphia, but he could not
save the limb, nnri after young Green
had attained his majority the amputation
was performed. The operation took place
in a boarding house ;it No. 2f> West
Eighteenth street. The Greens have not
stopped at that house for some years
now.
Once, when Ned was a tall, lanky
youth, he lived with his mother some
where in the neighborhood of Fourth
avenue and Thirteenth street. He spent
most of his leisure time around the Fire
Department house on Thirteenth street,
and Captain Breslin and porno of his men
remember him very well. At that time
his mother allowed him 50 cents a day
for his meals, and he used to eat in a
cheap restaurant on Fourth avenue, just
below Union Square. Up to the time he
was 20 years old Ned Green was accus
tomed to take the newspaper which his
mother bad purchased early in the morn
ing and sell it on the street corner
after she had finished studying the finan
cial page.
The general public learned with aston
ishment that Hetty Green had a husband
and a daughter. Mr. Green has dropped
so completely out of sight during the
last decade that even the financial world
and the brokers who used to know him
In Wall street had forgotten him. He is
a very tall man. very quiet and polite
and a confirmed "club bachelor."
He was a member of the Union Club
for years. He sleep? in a room on West
Nineteenth street and eats and reads and
look? out of the window at the Union
Club. One of his days is very much like
another. He sees his wife occasionally.
It 19 years since they have lived togeth
hungry. Any such action as that on our
).;trt would stimulate the rnising of wheat
in the valleys of the Nile and would give
the Russian farmer a chance that • has
never come to him. I do not say that
they could all do these things In a mo
ment, over in Europe, but if they had to
get along without us that is what they
would do.
"Europe never will get along without
up, however. She will never want to. She
thinks too much of us. And there are no
set (if circumstances that could entirely
stop the shipping of meat and breadstuff s
to Europe. There can be no laws passed
in this country that will do it, and if any
country tries to have an international law
so construed a3 to shut us out anywhere
we will have the law changed. You can
not keep the American farmer down."
"Do you believe," I said, "that there
there is as good a chance for the farmer
boy on the farm as there was fifty years
ago? Do you think the boys ought to be
urged to stay on the farm Instead of go
"We SWung Our Weapons as They Sprang at Us."
er, though they never quarreled. She al
lows him a sort of pension from her enor
mous fortune. It suffices ior his modest
wants.
Yet. in his time, this tall, quiet
old man was known as "Spendthrift
Green." He was a high roller before the
war and the gayest of a very gay set.
He came from Bellows Falls, Vt.. and
made a fortune at Manila, the capital of
the Philippine Islands. He lived on the
islands pever.tce-n years, and he had a
million when he met and married Harriet
Robinson. Tlv'ir married life was happy
enough, but after he lost his money spec
ulating in Wall street Mrs. Qreen did not
feel that she could accord him that re
spect and honor due from wife to hus
band. He was too poor r; man of busi
ness, she said; so they agreed to live un
der different roofs.
Miss Sylvia Green, who Is about 30
years old, has led a rather uneventful
life. For several years she has traveled
around with her mother from boarding
bouse to boarding-house, but she tired
of this two years ago. and it was decided
to launch her into society. Miss Annie
Leary, who had always taken a deep In
terest in Sylvia, agreed to Introduce her,
and Sylvia went to some parties and to
Newport for two or three seasons. She
doesn't like society, and she has so de
clared herself several times. She would
like a home of her own with her mother,
but Mrs. Green knows that a permanent
residence means regular visits from the
tax collector, and so she clings to her
boarding-house life. Br&
These are the four people most directly
interested in a fortune of $60.000.000— .the
largest fortune ever owned by an Ameri
can woman. It is a fortune that pays
no taxes, develops no new industries,
supports no charities. Its enormous pow
er and influence are wielded solely for Its
own increment. It is as useful to human
ity and civilization as a miser's hoard or
a' buried treasure.
A bookseller's opinion of a book may
be as instructive afl a critic's, thoupb the
point of view is different; and a letter
which Literature has received from a
correspondent throws a certain amount
of light upon this branch of the subject:
"For reasons which concern no one but
myself," writes the correspondent, "I re
cently decided to get rid of a certain
number of modern books, and a book
seller duly arrived to look at them and
make an offer.
" 'What I particularly want,' he said,
as he turned them over, 'is rrd books.'
" 'What port Of books?' I asked.
" 'Red books— that is to say, books In
red covers,' was his reply.
"And he proceeded to explain: 'Of
course, there are a few people who know
about books, and insist on having tha
book they wart without reference to the
color of the binding; but the great mass
of our customers .nidge by appearances.
Drab books and gray books and brown
books they won't have anything to do
with; green books will pass: blue books
sell a shade better; but red books always
find a market. You can have no idea,
unless you're in the trade, what a differ
ence it makes to a book to be bound In
red.' "
Ing to the city?"
"There never was a time," said Mr. "Wil
son slowly, "when the boy who wanted to
be a farmer, and was willing to go about
It the right way, had a better chance
than he has tn-day, nor as good. He has
got scientific facts to aid him now where
before he had nothing but example.
"So far as making the boy stay on the
farm is concerned, I think it Is a great
mistake to try ' to influence him. Ha
should bo allowed to follow his own in
clinations or he never will get to tha
front. There is just one thing to remem
ber always, and that is that a boy doesn't
make a good anything unless he wants to.
I>et him stay on the farm if he feels sr>
inclined and let him go to the city if ha
ciocfn't."
"Where do you think the best opportu
nity lies for the young man who wishes
to be a farmer?" I asked. The answer
came with the speed of a Mauser bullet:
"In the United States of America."