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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1908)
4E JISXIHHW3K! ;1 BY JOHN S. HAH WOOD. COUNTING from the prodigal son, the lt of runaway boya is a long one, but, fortunately for the boyi them selves, not o long as the list of young sters who. at some time or other In their career, have seriously contemplated the subject of running away. Obversely, the list of runaways who have failed lament ably to realixe the ambitious dreams that ied them to up stakes and pull away from the parental roof-tree is very much long er than the list of runaways who have be come famous. Btlll. not to go Into the ca reers of the prodigal son, Dick Whlttmg ton and other famous runaways of olden time who could not now defend them selves against any statements that might he made about them here, there remains quite an imposing list of modern run aways who have become famous in one way or another. There Is the Marquis Ito. one of the elder statesmen of Japan and Governor- General of the despairing dependency of Corea. Mark Twain, the world's most fa mous living humorist, ran away. Joaquin Miller, "the port of the Sierras," did the same. The New York Yacht Club has successfully defended the America's Cup three times against the aseaults of tilled Englishman who first sailed past Bandy Hook as a runaway. John Weaver Is a Philadelphia Dick Whlttlnifton; the late W. R. Grace was a metropolitan lick. The late Tony Pastor ran away with a circus: John Wallace Crawford, "the poet scout," ran away to war. National Lawmakers Who Kan Away Considering the relatively small number of boys who run away from home, the United States Senate at the present time has more than Us share of former run aways in Anselm Joseph McLaurln, Junior toga wearer from Mississippi, and George Clement Perkins. California's senior rep resentative in "the most august legisla tive body of the world." The National House of Representatives is far weaker In runaways: It can boast of but one. George Washington Cook, who represents the late of Colorado at large. Anselm Joseph McLaurln. of Mississip pi, ran away from home when he was IS years old. not to go to sea. as did Senator Perkins, but to go to war. The latter part of the year ists. when their son and heir was a few months old. the parents of the future Senator removed from Bran don. MJas.. where he was born, to a farm In Smith County. Miss. On this farm the roy grew up. attending occasionally the neighborhood schools until he was IS. When he had reached this age the great struggle at arms between the North and the c-outh came on. Young Anselm. like t'ie rest of the youth of the country, was f iled at once with a martial fire. His parents wanted him to continue on with his studies he ww too young to go to war. anyway. But the boy took matters Into his own hands, slipped out the first nod chance he got. and enlisted as a pri vate soldier. All through the war he car ried a musket. At the close of the struggle he made up his mind that he had had enough experi ence for the present ar.d wanted educa tion more than anything else. His career as a soldier had made him hardy, it had nhown htm the seamy side of life. It had strengthened his character and caused Mm to look from a new point of view tpon the actualities of life, He went at once to a then well-known Mississippi academy and studied for two years. Also, he studied law and was licensed to prac tice in 13. Three years later, when he was elected district attorney, be was auspiciously launched on a political ca reer that put him In the Senate when the present century opened. When McLaurln she runaway sol dier hoy found out exactly what he wanted to do In life he did not let the grass grow under his feet: he made pood because he carefully considered each step of his career after he had made his first imrulslve step of Join ing the Confederate Army. Also, he worked hard. To educate oneself in general branches in two years, and at the same time to acquire a knowl edge of law sufficient to be admitted to the bar is no small thing. And ever since he did this mental task McLaurln has beea a worker. The father of ten children, seven of whom are still liv ing, a Presidential elector, a delegate to the constitutional convention of his 4& state, and now with a seat In the Sen ate of the United States, prosperous and respected, Anselm Joseph Mc laurin. once a runaway boy, accounts his success in life to the fact that he not only worked,- but worked with a definite end and purpose in view all the time. While McLaurin was running; away from home to enlist in the cause of the Confederacy, George Washington Cook, Represcntatlve-at-Large from Colorado, was bidding his paternal mansion a surreptitious farewell in or der to link his fate with the cause of the Union. Cook was born in Indiana, and his family has such a fighting history that it was natural he should insist upon going to the war with or without the consent of his parents. i His father, who was an officer on the Union side, died from the effects of disease contracted in the Civil War. and his mother was a daughter of an officer who served with distinction in the war of 1812. His brother, a bugler In his father's regiment at the age of la, died for his country at Montgom ery, Ala. Of course George Washing ton Cook could not be kept at home under these circumstances. And then too, there is his name, that of the country's first great patriot and father. Representative Cook was 12 years old when he took matters in his own hand and enlisted under the flag as a drummer boy and went to the front with an Indiana regiment. At the age of 14 he was company clerk, the youngest, according to the records of the War Department, who ever held that position in the history of the great army that Lincoln called into being. When the war was over young; Cook reallxod, as did so many other boys who had run away from home to en list, that what he most needed was an education. Therefore, the first move he made after he had returned to the family roof and doffed his uniform was to take up his school books again. The tasks therein finished, he went into business, first railroading in Chi cago and Colorado respectively, and then mining. It was while he was sta tioned at Leadvllle, Colo., holding down two responsible railroad positions at the same time, that he was elected Mayor of that famous mining camp. Re-elected, the town nominated him for a third term by acclamation, but he declined the honor because of his business Interests, they demanding his full time. Until he was made Colo rado's Representative-at-Large In the 60th Congress this was the only po litical office he had been called upon to fill. Naturally, this former 11-year-old runaway takes a great interest in Civil War organisations. He has been department commander of the G. A K. for Wyoming; in 1905 he was unani mously elected senior vlce-commander-ln-chlef of the G. A. R.; he is a member of the Loyal Legion, and at one time was president of Colorado's Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, Wherever veterans of the Civil War congregate to talk over old times, and the talk drifts around to. the "babies" who went to the war willy-nilly, as far as their parents were concerned, some one is pretty apt to spin the story of George Washington Cook, who today Is 56. but was only 9 years old when Fort Sum ter was fired upon. His career as a runaway, tad in many other respects, has been much like the career of Sena tor McLaurln, and to the fact that af ter the war he. like Senator McLaurin, worked hard and for a definite pur pose, not stopping to loiter on the way, his success is attributable. When George Clement Perkins, United States Senator from California, at the mature age of 1SH years took fortune by the forelock and ran away to sea. his family were naturally distressed. Born on a farm near Kennebunkport, Me., the boy heard the sea calling him. Go to sea he must. The "deestrict" school did not appeal to George Clem ent. He dreamed of the sea at night and talked of it by day. Then one day be snipped nimseir on board a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans. The lot of a youth who leaves home for the first time to ship as a sailor open the boundng deep is not all beer and skit tles. It Is highly probable that the future Senator from the great state of California felt now and then during the career which he chose for himself the correcting and soothing Influence of a rope's end or a belaying pin. It seemed for a time as if Perkins was not going to turn out one of the run aways who made good. For four years THE SUM) AT OREGOIA, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 11, 190S. U TWO AMERICAN in Tfis RSRKIIS OF fvlcL.AURIfi OF and over, until he had become a big boy of 17. the lad knocked about in the fore castles of Western ocean packets. In the year 1855 young Perkins shipped before the mast in the sailing ship Galatea, bound for San Francisco. It was the Au tumn of that year when he arrived within the Golden Gate, which was destined to be golden, indeed, for him. "The days of old. the days of gold, the days of "Forty nine" had not entirely vanished from Cal ifornia when Perkins arrived here. The state swarmed with opportunities If only a young man had the sand and the level headedness to take advantage of them. Young Perkins saw these opportunities looming around him. He severed his con nection with the good ship Galatea and took his trunk ashore for a full due. The runaway sailor boy had not taken life very seriously before, but now. like Grace in New York and Peru, he thought the matter out with himself and decided that If he was ever going to amount to any thing it was about time to set about it. He got a Job in a store, he saved money, he went into the shopkeeplng business himself: he started a bank; he went in for farming and for mining. In fact. wherever he saw an opportunity Perkins seized upon It. He gradually became well off. Today he is a millionaire. Then be took a prominent part in the affairs of his adopted state and city, finally land ing in the United States Senate. As he grew in years ana weaitn ana Importance Perkins began to educate himself. He felt the want which had not been supplied by his few years at the Maine district school or by the educa tion afforded by the forecastle. He is an example of what can be done by a boy who really means to do It. Director of the San Francisco Art Association and the California Academy of Sciences. Senator Perkins is distinctly a runaway who has made good. Two Modern Dick Whittlngtons. The Dick Whittmgton of New York City was the late William R. Grace, twice elected Mayor of the old city; and in John Weaver, Its executive head for four years, Philadelphia has Its counterpart of London's famous Lord Mayor. Grace was bom in Dublin, and was attending one of that city's schools when he up stakes from the auld sod; Weaver comes from Whlttington's own native land. Young Grace s family was in fairly prosperous circumstances, and he un doubtedly would have been wen started In life by it had he cared to remain at home, but the city of Dublin and the j A uwrreiQ r neighborhood thereof did not appeal to the adventurous spirit of young William. He used to wander along the waterfront and watch the ships go out, longing to go with them. This he did for several years. Then, one day, when he had ar rived at the age of 14. the boy boldly went on board a vessel bound for Amer ica and asked for a position as cabin boy. He was a stocky, sturdy lad, well spoken and polite. It happened that a cabin boy was needed and young Grace was shipped. His only stipulation was that he should be allowed to leave the ship when she arrived In New York. To him, as to so many of his country men. America was the land of gold, the promised country, and It was here that he expected to find his fortune. But the streets of New ork were not paved with gold, even in the days of the "idle and splendid forties." Young William regret ted exceedingly the comforts of his father's house when he found himself alone and penniless in New York. But he had a great amount of stlck-to-lt-lve-ness; he would not go home until he had made good had shown that he could sup port himself and make his way in the world. For a while he boarded with a shoe maker, helping the cobbler out in his work to pay partially for his board. He worked for a printing-house. He turned his hand to anything that came his way. Finally, he got a Job in a shopping-house. Then his career was shaped. Four years after he had landed a penniless boy in New York he had so mastered the ship ping business and had been so saving that he was able, at the age of 18. to re turn back across the water and to estab lish himself in Liverpool under the firm name of W. R. Grace & Co. It was a shipping firm, and though It promised well, the business did not come up to the ambitious expectations of young Grace. The runaway boy, of course, could now visit his relatives in Dublin. He had made no great fortune, but to be the head of a business house at 18 was no small thing. While he had been away from home Grace's father had lost a considerable part of his fortune In South American ventures. Young Grace had a longing to try to retrieve some of those losses. He broached the matter to his sister, wno was a woman of considerable means. The runaway had already made good and had Droved that he could do things, and his sister agreed to back him in his South American venture. He went to Peru and opened in the city of Callao the mercan- i etw utas"" - r y f a" 1 JW 1 4 " f 4 mi i ii insiii iiriiin tile business which became so widely known as Grace Brothers. The runaway boy, who had dreamed of greatness In New York, saw now the rapid fruition of his hopes. It was not long thereafter that William R. Grace came again to the Island of Manhattan. The shores which a few years before he had trod as a runaway sailor boy he now stepped upon as a man of business prepared to make the city the center of a great South American trade. He was still young and still ambitious, and what he accomplished is a matter of the romance of trade. His fleets pene trated Into the forests of the Amazon and brought out the rubber; they sailed from Valparaiso and Callao laden with the many-scented products of the west coast. They carried back to South Amer ica the products of the New ling-land fac tories and the canneries of New York and the West. Grace became a veritable monarch of the trade of South America In time, and In time also he twice became the mayor of the city which he, a poor and helpless boy of 14. had first seen from the decks of an Immigrant ship. Somebody once asked Mayor Grace how he did it. He replied that at first, when he had just landed upon these shores upon the occasion of his runaway, the burdens and problems of life weighed very little with him. Everything was new. everything was interesting. He had confidence in himself, and In his own future. But one night, while lying In his humble bed in the shop of the shoe maker, he suddenly realized that In order to make his dreams realities he must be gin at once to pay more attention to detail. He must not let his dreams out run U19 wtltn. liio Biuiu mas iu uu wuaiy ever his hand found to do, and to do it with his whole heart and soul. It was not long after that that he got his first Job in a shipping house. He got it by applying for it. The man he saw liked his manner and gave him a triaL Then he made good by buckling down hard on whatever he could do. It was the same way with young Grace in Peru. A few rflays after he had arrived in Callao, some English and American sailors got Into an argument in a drinking place, and the argument ended In a fight. Young Grace pitched In and fought on the side of the Ameri cans and the Americans won. But that night, as he lay in His bed, he thought, "Never again will I mix up in brawls. I came to Peru to do business and not to waste my time, as so many Europeans and Americans are doing here." Oppor tunities were numerous in Peru In those v.' i'-TIT.s,-' v. . 3 f .,-1 t days, the Mayor used to say, and if any person from the North or from Europe had made the same resolution which he made and had stuck to It he, too, could not help but have succeeded. John Weaver, who, several months ago. became the latest ex-mayor of Phila delphia, took French leave of his parental roof because his father did not agree with his boy's belief that this country held better opportunities for an ambi tious young fellow than does old England. Young Weaver was extremely short of cash when he finally set foot in Amer ica, and on his chest he bore a tattooed design, put there by some of the sailors with whom ne was thrown in contact on his way to the New World. Weaver's. first experiences in this coun try were heart-breaking, and a less stout-hearted youngster would have thrown up the sponge so to speak. placed himself in the hands of the near est policeman, and, with tears in his eyes, begged the authorities to notify his parents to prepare the fatted calf, and, incidentally, to forward sufficient money to pay the cost of passage home Weaver, however, took all sorts of humiliating kicks and cuffs 'for some weeks; then he landed a Job as errand bov. and things began to look up with him. LateV on, his industry secured for him a clerkship. All the while he clerked he studied stenography by himself: then, one day, blossomed forth as a law stenog rapher. This work naturally Interested him in law, which he studied while his cronies slept or played, and, in due course he found himself a member of the Phila delphia bar. He was a lawyer in good standing and comfortable circumstances when the Quaker City "machine" made him its candidate for district attorney, and, of course, elected him. He was still filling this Important post when the "machine" made him its candidate for mayor; and it was as mayor that this former English runaway broke with the "machine," and fought with it so strenuously and pic turesquely that the newspapers some months back were mentioning Weaver almost dally. Today he is following his TrofsBion. which has honored him with numerous important positions in various legal associations. A third famous son of Britannia who started out for himself by running away to America, is that Jolly yachtsman who is hoping that the next time he sends it a challenge for another race off Sandy Hook the New York Yacht Club will not turn that cnaiienge aown. As you may or may not have read -S S before. Sir Thomas was 15 when he landed in this country by way of the steerage. He got the toughest sort of experience in the Carolina rice fields, where he was a common laborer, and as a stowaway-stoker on the trip up -the coast from Charleston to New York. In the latter city he got still further "experience," and, as a result, when he had managed to scrape together a few dollars he dug out straight for home, where he got a royal welcome and an offer to be set up in business, which he embraced and developed Into Its present proportions. Sir Thomas was a runaway for three years. Speaking of this period of hl career, he once said: "My experience in America sharpened me. and I have always felt that it was during my years spent there that I got my business training." Samuel L. Clemens has been a great traveler In his life, and he began hi peregrinations early.. It was rather a dull and unlnterestlrg life which the boy who was to become famous aa Mark Twain lived In the little town ot Hannibal, Mo. His father was dead, his schooling had ceased, and he tolled1 along as boy of all work In the village printing office, which was run by his big brother, Orion S. Maybe it was liv ing In a place named Hannibal and working for a brother named Orion that made Sam restless. At any rate, he often looked at the horizon with a wild longing to pass out of the prosalo Western town into the great field of the world, and, like every other boy, Sam thought many a time that ha would "run away." It was not until he was 18 years old, however, when he had been working; in his brother's shop for six years, that he took the decisive step. Then one night he packed his humble carpet bag and struck the trail for the land of the rlBing sun, which seemed to him to lie Just beyond the rolling waters of the Mississippi. Due east he walked as nearly as he could Judge, and at the first considerable town he struck ap plied for and was given a Job as print er in the office of the local newspaper, thus becoming fairly launched upon hl career of adventure. The little town where he stopped flret soon palled upon him. Forth went young; Samuel into the East again. From town to town he wandered as a tramp printer, working a little here and a little there, until the wander, lust In him began to die out and Orion and Hannibal began to look good to him. Then the prodigal wended his weary way homeward and ate the fatted calf with a great relish. It was now supposed by the family that Sam would settle down again as an employe In the office of Brother Orion. But not so. Having failed to find his fortune as a wanderer upon the face of the earth, he decided that he would try the waters of the earth. To become a river pilot seemed to him to be the most desirable thing which life afforded, and, again leaving home, the boy began his apprenticeship on the river, and stayed on the job until the war put a temporary end to steam boating on the Mississippi. Clemens was rather old and big now to be classed as a runaway boy. but he made Just one more attempt at the business. He enlisted as a Confeder ate soldier. After a few weeks Orion, who was a Unionist and had been ap pointed Secretary of the Territory of Nevada, got hold of the youth and carried him off to the territory with him Thus ended Samuel L. Clemens' experience as a runaway. At first glance it would seem that he had "not made good" in his runnings. But he had. It was the experience of all sorts and phases of life which Samuel L. Clemens, the runaway boy, obtained in his travels as a tramp printer ana dur ing his apprenticeship as a river pilot which made out of him "Mark Twain," the great humorist. Two Poets Who Were Runaways. John Wallace Crawford, known in lit erary and Army circles as "the poet scout," ran away, so that his name might appear on the list of his coun try's defenders. He was but 14 years old when the Civil War broke out; nevertheless, he ran away from home straight to the nearest enlisting sta tion. There he was refused enlistment becauee of his youth. Several times thereafter he ran away from homo, al ways turning up before the desk of some enrollment officer. Finally, he Concluded on Page 5.