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.