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THE ; OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL PORTLAND, SUNDAY HORNING. JULY 2U : 1907
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'OHN W. GATES, multi-millionaire,
Wire Trust magnate and picturesque
"plunger," has been credited xvith
many ambitions. Of the great hobby
of his later years, however, comparatively lit
tle has been said or written.
It is a hobby in brick and mortar and
finely paved streets, xvith great piers and deep
water channels, with terminals for oil pipe
lines, big rice mills and every indication of
sturdy, hustling growth.
In short, it is a town the flourishing
young city of Port Arthur, Texas which Mr.
Gates has made important, which he practi
cally owns, and for which he plans an ambi
tious future.
To this financier of remarkable achieve
ments Port Arthur is to some extent a play
thing; to plan new expansions and to watch it
grow with magic strides is to him a diversion.
He intends, if possible, to make it one of the
most prosperous cities and best-known ports
along thi American seaboard.
Only a few weeks ago the statement went
,cut broadcast that Mr. Gates, although just
x$2 and in prime health, had decided to with
draw from Wall street for a season and to
lead the simple life "for a year or so."
No one, however, expects him to with
draw entirely from a business career. His
"simple life" will probably be full enough of
activity to make real advocates of a placid ex
istence dizzy.
And if Wall street would miss him for a
season, Port Arthur will doubtless feel the im
petus of his genius and force, and will take
longer strides toward that metropolitan great
ness which is Mr. Gates' aim.
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PORT ARTHUR Is not quite 12 year old, but la one
of the sturdiest youngsters for that age one can
imagine
Situated on the Texas gulf coast, twenty miles
south of Beaumont, It has an estimated population of 8000
or 10,000. To say that Mr. Gates Is proprietor of the town
lacks but little of being absolutely true.
There is hardly a business or industrial enterprise In
the place in which he is not Interested financially, but in
king these numerous investments, it is said, he was
nNMctuated with the idea that he would reap proms
from them, at least not for the present.
Possibly there is one exception to this general policy,
and that is found in his oil Interests. He is said to be
the largest stockholder in the Texas Company, one of the
greatest oil producers and refiners In the Texas oil fields.
The big refinery of that company is located at Port Ar
thur, and, of course, it brings a tremendous net revenue
to Mr. Gates and his associates.
To Mr. Gates Is due the credit for locating the refinery
at Port Arthur and In building up other branches of the
enormous business which have added So much to the
growth and importance of the ton. Port Arthur is lila
pet hobby, and not alone because of the fact that he is
czar there.
Mr. Gates' attention was attracted to the town
Hoveral years ago, when he first became financially inter
ested in the Kansas City Southern Railroad.. That was
about the time that Arthur K. Stillweli, of Kansas City,
lost control of the road. Mr. Stillweli located the new
Texas town about ten years ago and named it for hlm
self.
It was Mr. Gates' love for hunting and other kinds of
sport which that section of the country affords that led
him first to become Interested in the town. He had made
a few trips to the section along the Neches and Sabine
rivers where bear abound, and had always met with
splendid success in these hunting expeditions.
FORESAW FUTURE FOR PORT
After he became a stockholder in the Kansas City
Southern he realised that Port Arthur was most advan
tageously situated to be the deep-water terminus of a
great railroad, and at once set about in his usual ener
getic way to carry out his ideas for a greater town.
Ho has been the guiding spirit of the place ever since.
So great are his Investments and personal activity in
promoting its growth that the place has become known
far and-wide as ''John W. Gates' town." '
So devoted is he to his hobby that be spends several
weeks there each year. During these visits heJs a plain
citizen of the town and Is ever ready to give his aid in
udvanclng its material welfare.
A few years ago he built a beautiful home there, and
It is kept in readiness for his coming at all times.
His visits are usually made aurmg the winter, when
bunting a good, but it is not unusual for him to make
tHef vis ts at otner. time, upon nia latest flvlnff visit.
onla few weeks ago.'he arranged for extensive lm-
ements wnicn win aaa to tne Business aavancement
the cltv.
gOXlgeniBI lllUHUfl IIVUI HIP unci ,ivilll BIUII mm
him, and they are given a tip-top tlme He is a lavish
spender of money, and his coming is always welcomed
by the citlaens .
No ono keeps, in closer touch with the needs of the
town than her aiKT'when ha' sees that anything hould
be done to improve or advance existing conditions he
Uu the matter over with tie business roe and plana
are set on foot to accomplish the desired end.
There is no attempt to dominate the affairs of the
town in the sense that he dictates the policy of the mu
nicipal government, but he Is looked upon as the chief
builder of Port Arthur, and as his views upon municipal
questions are well known, the poller adopted generally
conforms to his ideas.
When Mr. Gates first became Interested In Port Ar
thur it ran a place of a few hundred Inhabitants. Its
prospects were not encouraging. He studied the physi
cal assets of the place, and came to the conclusion that It
should become a deep-water port and that the building
of a city upon model lines should be undertaken.
Good streets and sidewalks and complete systems of
sewers and water works were the things which were first
needed, he decided. He set about to have these publlo
works accomplished.
His initiative resulted In the construction of a sewer
system at a cost of 175,000. A water works system was
also put in. He beaded a movement which resulted in
the construction of more than ten miles of shelled streets
and roads in and around the town.
Another notable Improvement made at the suggestion
of Mr. Gates was the construction of more than five
miles of granitoid sidewalks and many miles of plank
walks. It Is claimed that no othrir town of 10,000 popu
lation in the country has better municipal Improvements.
The town Is kept clean, and nothing Is overlooked that
would add to its sanitation and healthfulness.
FREE FROM GRAFT
As well as In the establishment of her publlo works,
Port Arthur has been fortunate in the selection of her
publlo officials. They have all been men of business
abijlty and honeaty. MV. Gates Is not a believer In mu
nicipal ownership of public utilities. For this reason
the city dnes not own the sewer, water works or elecfrlo
light plants. Each of these public utility concerns Is
owned and operated by private corporations.
In each of these companies Mr. Gates Is the largest
stockholder and the dominating Influence. It is stated
that he does not operate the concerns with the view of
making profits. The sewer, water works and electrio
light rates are lower than in any other town of cor
responding size in the state. It Is asserted.
Mr. Gates owns a large amount of town property,
both vacant and Improved. He Is the principal stock
holder In the big rice mill located there, as well as In a
wholesale grocery company recently organized. This
company has Just let the contract for the construction
of a new building to coat $150,000.
It was when Port Arthur was striving to be made a
port of entry that Mr. Gates showed his friendliness for
the place. In fact, he was the chief promoter of the
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movement that Anally led to the enactment of a law by
Congress making It a port of entry.
The proposition was strongly opposed by Sabine,
Texas, which was seeking to be made the port Of entry
Instead of Port Arthur. Mr. Gates spent some time in
Washington, where he worked unremittingly In support
of the Port Arthur proposition. As a result of his efforts
his town captured the plum.
Shipments of oil through the port are enormous.
Their value during 1901 was $1,890,689. There baa been a
steady Increase year by year since, until the value of the
shipments last year exceeded $16,000,000, and for the cur
rent year will exceed $18,000,000, It Is expected;
MT. Gates and associates are building an oil pipe line
from Tulsa, I. T., to Port Arthur. The line will be over
500 miles long and will cost more than $6,000,000, Inoludlng
the construction of pumping stations and other necessary
equipment.
This line will vastly Increase the volume of oil poured
through the place. The Guffey Petroleum Company is
also building un oil pipe line from Tulso to Port Arthur.
Records show that more than 200,000 gallons of oil, re
fined and crude, were shipped out of Port Arthur during
1306.
In addition to the large oil refinery of Mr. Gates and
his associates, there are two other refineries there. The
oil fields of Sour Lake, Saratoga, Splndletop, Humblft,
Batson and Dayton are all connected with Port Arthur
by means of pipe lines.
The docks at Port Arthur are connected with the
Gulf of Mexico by a 25-foot channel. It Is claimed
that the ship canal there is the deepest artificial
waterway in the United States. It la a sea-level
canal, without locks. 7H miles long. 183 feet wide and
20 feet deep at mean low tide.
The federal government Is now excavating a chan
nel 150 feet wide, 9 feet deep and 12 miles long along
the lake shore. In front of Port Arthur, for the pur
pose of connecting the ship canal with the Neches and
Sabine rivers, thus making the water traffic of those
two great streams tributary to tho new seaport.
It is claimed by Mr. Gates that morally and social
ly Port Arthur is the peer of any city in this country.
That Is why he likes to visit the place so much, he
says. He Is a liberal contributor to the various
church organizations. There are eight churches, and
each has a large membership. An army of laborers
is employed In the oil refinery and other business en
terprises operated by Mr. Gates and his associates. He
takes a personal interest In the welfare of these men.
He has seen that they are provided with comfortable
homes, and that they are in all respects well trained.
He has done much In the matter of providing good
schools for the children.
It is stated that Mr. Gates is a strong believer In
organization among laborers. Port Arthur has the
reputation of being the strongest labor union town
of its size in the country.
It has been the custom of Mr. Gates to take life
asy when on his visits to the southern town. He
knows the choice bear-hunting grounds of that re
gion, and he frequently spends days at a time during
the winter in the Jangles along the rivers haatla
big game. His home is profusely decorated with trop blast
Two or three years ago, while on one of hU pa
rlodlcal visits, he went into the "Big Thicket oa
hunting expedition, accompanied by several New TwH
friends. At that time he came near losing Ms ltM
through art attack made upon him by a bear.
Mr. Gates came suddenly upon the bear In a natx
row trail in the canebrake. He was within a few fert
of the animal. Retreat was out of the question. Th
lear raised Itself upon its hind legs and mad fog
Mr Gates. Without a moment's hesitation, he ralswd
his gun and fired. The bullet went true to its aim a&4
the animal fell dead at Mr. Gates' feet Had nil ta
missed fire or his aim been bad he would doubtless
have been killed.
The adventurous spirit of Mr. Gates is seen at tt
et while he Is enjoying the freedom of a visit to Mai
. nuthern home. He has his own private yacht, an4
cruises along the coast and fishing in the waters oC
the gulf and bays are favorite pastimes. If the careaj
of Wall street ever worried him while on these out
Ings he never showed any signs of It.
Aiijscii vi 11 iiv icii ilia ui uuouiVM uoftiiU um m
hind, and seemed to get genuine pleasure out of dlaW'
cussing and planning for the advancement of Port
Arthur and the development of his oil Interests) id
Texas. His abiding faith In the future of the oil lzM
dustry was shown recently when he Invested $1,000,004
in i no purvuacv vi BauniviiBi v 11 prvpvi uw j
VAST OPPORTUNITIES IN RICE
1
Several years ago It was stated that Mr. Gates)
cherished an ambition to become the rice klnr o4
America. At that time he owned 20,000 acres of rlosj
land In Texas, and the report doubtless had its orlgta
when he began bulldlnar at Port Arthur th large!
and finest rloe mills In the country.
What the possibilities of American rlc cultural
are maye told in the figures of Government Bxpcrf
Talmage. who estimates that In eight of th southRf
states there are 70,000,000 to 90,000,000 aeres of waat
land suitable for rice cultivation.
Louisiana contains more land particularly aultatM
for rice cultivation than any other state except Txs
Were all of this waste land brought under ttllag UM
United States could rival the Orient and produce front
70.000,000,000 to 90.000,000,000 pound of rlo annual)?
Here, then, is a field almost as Inviting; a that fj
the magic oil wells that spout mighty column fj
dollars. If, In addition to being csar of Port Arthax,
Mr. Gates becomes the American rice king, hi ae
cumulation of titles will be following hard upon th
heels of his growing million. ,
Vice President 'terfatAs m Speaker Cdrmxr OerAaura trntior 3everr&e ta3 dJt
&ejrtarZsreffe &
C
AN you conceive of "Uncle Joe" Cannon,
speaker of the House of Representatives,
Btanding behind the counter of a country
Btore dispensing: drygoods and groceries!
Or Senator Albert J. Beveridgc, the fiery
young orator from Indiana, astride a log, coming
d6wh a mountain stream with a gang of drivers I
' Or Senator George 0. Perkins, of California,
in blue blouse and trouBrs and round cap, climb
ing the mast of a vessel, swabbing the deck or at
tending to any of the other dutie of a Bailor!
, Perhaps you may imagine Senator La Follette,
of .Wisconsin, on the stage as an actor!
Yet these thinas-jou might see, if these men
had continued the vocations of their early years.
What some other men of prominence in public life
might have been is fully as surprising.
o
F all things, would Senator Beveridge, of Indiana.
matte one ining or a lumoerjacfc?
He la essentially a man ...fit. .tha-c'tle; he
llkeBTobtok"Defore"CTt ntharlnm In tK
crowded oenters of population; to-- bombard tho city
reader of newspaper and magaainea, -1
Wouldn't he seem out of place bossing a longing
crew, or himself wielding an axe or eanthookT Ye at
th age of 14, h had Utile idea, perhaps, of ever lelng
anything else.
He started to earn wages when very young, k a
farm laborer. At the age of 14, on a railroad construc
tion Job, he was driving an old-fashioned scraper. . At
IS h waa placed la charg of a lagging oamn. j
Young Beveridge was a practical, expert logger. H
could chip a tree so as to make it fall in any desired
location; could spud the bark off; could construct or" J
break a landing, and knew how to drive the logs down r
a stream.
In this business he underwent perils, displaying Jn ;
Kenultv of no mean order. Sometimes, when an ava---'' ,
lanche ;of tossing, rearing logs is crashing down,
mountain stream, there Is an unaccountable Impedi
mentone log becomes stuck; then others pile on top of.
It. and in a few minutes there is a Jam, which constantly
becomes mors perilous. . ,.
To break a log Jam, one must climb over the moun
tain of logs releasing one here and there, and . when,
the avalanche starts on Its way again the driver must
do some remarkable skipping from log to log to escape.
Many Uvea are lost In this way every year la th
"iSutJ'and und iudgmant did Bevaridg flj-.
.-
play that he never cam to any harm la th loggtnf
operations.
Strongly evident during his lumberjack day war th
ability for hard work, trie close application to duty
the earnestness that have characterised his triumphal
since.
out of bis day wage he saved some money, and on
day the impulse aelsed him to get an education. &4
lie went to college; later studied law; became ranked
ua one of the leading lawyer in Indiana; was a stumpj
speaker, and developed such strength that, although
never before a candidate for any offlce, he was eleot4
In 1899, at the age of 36, United States senator from In
diana.
Vi President Charles W. Fairbanks is an Inter
lng example of a man who has changed his life work.
Born on an Ohio farm, he went to college at the cost
of some sacrifices. Had his college work failed, he could
at that time have made a living as a carpenter, for h ;
possessed great adeptness with tools, and, indeed, did odd
jobs of carpentering to help earn his way through)
college. , ,
But another vocation was cut out for Mm. He b
came eoitor of the college paper, ana, owing to tn
training which he received In this work, was able ta '
act as an expert newspaper reporter afterward, whCsi
pursuing th study of law.
He was an attache of the Associated Press at Pitt
burg and Cleveland, and was very fond of th work.
Had he determined at any time to turn aside from th
law, he could have made his mark in th newspap
business.
On of the big men who have changed their pYo
fesslons at least looks the part of the discarded re ,
cation. That Is Robert Marlon La Follette. United f
State senator from Wisconsin, and formerly governor
of that state, who, in bis youth, desired to shjn hefor
th footlights. ., .
A section boss of a railroad construction ganV,
. John A. Johnson, governor of Minnesota, might b a
'only th fates ruled otherwise. ,
H started in life at 10 a month clerk In
store. In cold winter weather h wore an alpaca coat,
and It was much against his protest that hi em
iployr once gave him an overcoat out Of th atom.
as ne was suppv"
There are plenty of examples, Almost as intertlnif
a these, to show how on may change hi Uf work,
and suoceed. There Is the tact that Jo Cannon ono rail
-, country srore. - ..v . ' " e s .
Senator Charles Curtl. of Kansas, was a Jockey, i
' Senator Perkins, of California, wa a practical 4.'W
"for year.' --In time he saved enough money to inf
the mercantile business,, and alnco then hi rise iiMl
Foraier Senator Patterson, of Colorado, was a frint
-,r'a devil, and afterward, for flv years, an r.ji t :;U;
in a watchmaker1 shop.
Senator Teller, of Colorado, .was country .ho;
v Senator Weldon B. Heyburn, of low, ws a Qua j
farm boy la Oalawar county, Pa, : , f
And o o,