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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1908)
III R D MAN .THE R CASHIER J-. "" , , .t r,. , Vhjr John Hays; Ham mond Draws Ten Time President Roosevelt's Salary "W OVLD $500,000 a yar be enough, Mr Hammond?' "Half a million?. Well, what with my other mining investments" " .'At they stand now, you know. Of course, this, offer is for your services exclu lively in the future ; with no further extension of your private interests," " understood that, I was going to say jhatfxvith my other investments, I think the wages will be satisfactory . "We are very glad, very glad. The con tract, will he in hand, almost immediately!' ; Paraphrased, this was the substance of the' arrangement under which John Hays Hammond, mining expert, soldier of fortune, modern financier r contracted recently to go on working for the next five, years as the highest priced hired marithe wide world holds The Guggenheims, mine owners, financiers, great er soldiery of fortune,' are the firm- and the family who can a ford to pay those highest wages. ' f 1 1 . , And when both parties to the contract started out in life neither was rich enough to . hire the other at the rate of $15 week, let alone such an Aladdin dream as $500,000 a year. :'C. ,:'.; ' What, mettle can there be in a man like John Hays, Hammond which, by some won drous alchemy, can transform his cash value, within the period of a middle-aged engineer's career, from nil ) nearly $io,oooyi weekf. TIlAT dream of sanguine Idleness, of riches drop ptng Into the lap c restfuUy waiting merit.' v never cam true. - If evef tler wu man . ,..; whose career proved, that the told minee come to hlmwho hustle for thm the man's name U ' Hammond ' - . .i i-.,:t 'V V'W't s He would a cheerfully wield pick a lay a level; and cheerfully upsst a, continent for the sake of aft employer aa dig out it Heart for the take of It void. He ha don both. . ! -V !': He began with studytmply long, hard study. Born ia San Francisco In 1S5S and going Eaet a a . child, his boyish lesion weft learned la New Haven, Conn at th Hopkins Grammar School v After that he went t Tale, and as waa Just of age ' when he received hi degree of bachelor of philosophy In the Bheflieid Sclentifla School A generation or so sjter. when he had. accomplished some things in the way of disarranging the bowel of the earth which h . had made hi specialty, Yals concluded he was brovlng himself worthy; of her, and presented him with aiw. honorary degree tif master of art, to encourage him. , He didn't need that encouragement thert, or -before, or after.: He came of the class of hustler Who do bet-. . ter with somebody In front of them, wielding A club In theln direction. But the club he wart go up against was along, way In the future, ; 1 , . " - ,V -; .TRAINED HIMSELF WELL " " For the time being, he gave himself ftver t mora . preliminary training, doing thre year of tr hard brain work at vth Koyal School of Mines at Freiberg, , In Kaxony. That mad a a pretty good mining engineer of Mm, so far as theory could go. - -Such students are sure of the outstretched hand if , s tney cars for a government position. Governments get out ot them the most profitable work that le to be. extracted from any publle servants, for the enthusi ' asm they bring is a well-spring of energy, while to them the meager government salary is trivial In com' pariton witn the broad . experience, the opportunities Hammond was oirerea at once trie-poet or special expert., on the United- States' geological survey- and rnl.1t-ral census, to examine the gold fields of California. That was in 1880, when be was only 36 years old. He learned his trade there, at the crucial period ot modern gold mining, - . A dose n year, later, full-fledged mining engineer, he was ready fogr the real achievements of his career. In Mexico he became superintendent of the big silver mines at Sonora. But his fame wu growing now. - Sonora could bot bid against Callfonla, and he re tcrned, as consulting engineer of mines, to Grass Val ley. - lie beoame consulting engineer, asawelL of th Union Iron Works and tn Central PaclAo and Southern railroads. Just to use up his spare tlme. . .. wiihin vr Knnth Africa was calling rot" nim. across the continents and ocean. South Africa, filled with" vast Vlctes, was nvftheles a morgue for rich men's hopes. - The English engineer who tackled th ' baffling problem of it mines could only .ink capital - and report rallur, tr::':y:'- : . Ko more emphatlo tribute to th American engineer, now typified by John Hays Hammond, could be voiced - than that written by Alfred Mosaly, after hi famous tour ef American workshop at th head of a repre sentative body of British workmen and manufacturers. J am a colonial, BngliSh born," he observed, "but I have spent th greater part ot my life tn th British eolonie, principally South Africa.'" He told how th British mined there (or year, with a number of Kng- llsh mining engineer, yet made no progress. ; ; - pigger cam and want and, while some few gained living wages, th large number failed. Company attar ' company, .organised with the highest prospeots, had to dissolve, until the Bret American engineer, Oardl ner Will Him s, cama. into the desperate field, and waa speedily followed by more Americana .- ."It Is to th American engineer." sir. Mosely de ' dare, "that we owe th suocess all th uccea of South Africa, Th mining propositions hav been put on a sound basie in South Africa, not by th English englrver, la the first place ha may hav learned aft erward but primarily by th American,' X waa aston ished by their method, and X mad up my mind It was necessary to visit th country that produced such men, who had been able' to show us th way whan w thought w led th world." ' .s , , Bamato Brother secured Hammond. He was their consulting engineer when he-met Cecil Rhode in Cap "Mr. Hammond," said Rhodes, abruptly, 1 should , Ilk to hav. proposition from you," i' Nobody had to ask Hammond that question twlee. "My proposition would t 15000 a month! 80,000 a yar." v-.- fe; v" "'a "Tour wage begin now, responded th. empire" builder. . J- . -,' , : . GOT GOLD FOR RHODES Hammond mapped out all th gold In South Africa for Rhodes, and found hi true field ther, for th mines, Instead of being very rich In metal, were auch a to damand engineering of th highest skill and ma chinsrr of th meat scUntiflo construction, to snake th extraction profitable. Th Jamison raid occurred while Hammond was a leading cltlxen" of Johannesburg, and a leading agita tor ia th demand for reform of government, which th Boera not only denied, but derldad. Sir own acoount of his arrest and condemnation to death la th story ot a man who, while he was prepared to be insistent upon the right guaranteed to American eltlsen by treaty with th Trahsvaal, abstained mora than scrupulously from any -action menacing th supremacy of th exist-; ing government. - Bending th trial 'la Pretoria, Hammond, who health at the time waa none too atronf, waa released upon hi word of honor to return. - H went to Cape Town. Classio legend vaunts th story of Damon and Pythias, th tale of friendship's devotion la th shadow ot death. But th Hammond word ot Jionor was simply honor, and nothing mora, And history will never have anything finer to recount than th heroic silence of his Wife, who. a Miss Na ta:i Harris, daughter et Judge Harris, of Mississippi, Joined her life to hi In Mil, end has been his comrade and fond ally, in Pullman coach and bullock wagon, ver alnc. . , HI friend In Cap Town, while his old mining M'3 " Ccmrrfs; mm Ing regiments to go to South - Africa for reacu, pleaded with hie wife to dissuade him from returning to certain exeoutlon. "To allow my husband' to return to Pretoria," ah wrote, la her diary ot thos tragi days, -was tor Wm to meet certaia death. It h were not , lynched by the xcited Boers, fa was sur to get a death sentence. I went to Mr. Rose Innea, a dear friend. - 'Dear Mr. Innes,' I began, 1 am la need of a friend. My distress Is se great I eaa no longer distinguish right from wrong. What is my dutyT I can appeal to my husband for my sake to save the life of my child and perhaps dissuade him. . My God, It la a tempta tion.'" ; , ' Mr. Innes sat In deep thought. "If you think,' I continued, 'his going back Is a needless throwing away of a valuable Ufa, X will chlo roform him and hav him taken to sea.' " 'Mrs. Hammond,' aald Mr. Innes, 'your husband Is doing th right thing la going back; don't try to dis suade htm. If h were , my brother I would, do th am.' '' "I accepted hi decision," add Mrs. Hammond, Her husband returned, and he was sentenced to death, In company with Colonel Frank Rhodes, a brother of .Cecil Rbodes; Uonel Phillips and George Farrer. He refused British protection, hot Only because of his disapproval ot th British policies and methods in th Boer territory, but because of th fallur ot Qraat Britain to do her duty by her own subject. 'My owa government Is good enough tor me," he declared, Til depend on th United States. His dependence was justified. Washington, having t first underrated the gravity of th danger, and left it cltlxens In th car of Greet Britain, speedily real ised how badly stained England's own hands were. Th United States made its own vigorous representa- Vi il. 1J. Irs days, he had his sons sell out th elegant embroider! trade, and nut the whole seven Into the new enter- L' prises. Today the Guggenheims are the greatest mina owners in the world, with a strangle hold on the i Smelting Trust, and the nerve and the cash to buy any" mln that covers any territory, from, a county to a kingdom. ' Ia ' wealth, they are th. Rothschilds ot 'America, . ' -. v' - -'i 4 : i ' .. While Hammond, i after his experience as consulb ing engineer for the Consolidated Goldfleld of South Africa, had grown to be ths'mlnlng engineer par ex cellence ot th world, th Guggenheims had grown to t be the miner, par excellence of the same locality. One wabviouly; fitted for the errice of th other; and th Guggenheim were more the busi- ; ness men to allow such aa expert to escape them than' . Hammond waa th expert to decllh thir, munificent : terms , " i'"' He began with th-lnstlnet of th mineralogist, a boyish lov fop "specimens" that Induced his father to 'fllseera la him th born? miner and determined the spe cial eourse ef his education. 2I has developed Into the upram organiser, who actually tour his mines only one a year, and tor bis enormous salary, and the rest ot hi working tlm receive th reports ot hi suborn dlnates. Infallibly chosen axparta. v Th man who la worth 1500.000 a' year, is the man who combines. vry highest quality required In an Intensely competitive Industrial and commercial age, with a special genlua tor sensing th metal of the earth unequalad by any other miner who ever lived, a technical kIU unsurpassed by any modern engineer. A, j r 1 -VT : , i silW'iev.e'ii il . i. i iMlja)sLsaMMMasSassasasl H I i' jl S. tions to Kruger on Hammond's behalf. In th end, b and hi tellow-prlsoner wer released on payment of fines of tm.0M each, and with banishment ef fifteen yar from th Transvaal. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, and soon lewhere throughout th world, a number ot things were hap pening because of the Indefatigabl activity at the even son of old Meyer Guggenheim, a Swiss, who cam here to make hi fortune, and started the Job peddling stov pollsh.v;.r'.;''::,-;s j About th tlm Hammond was marrying' Ml Har ris on his prospects, th elder Guggenheim was turn ing over to four ot his sons an Immens importing trade In Swiss embroideries. He himself took to mine investment: then, because-he thought th fellow who did his smelting earned exorbitant profits, to smelting. Then, because this mining and smelting business tbe best thing; he'd handled sine th stove polish SVOFj jmTjri- :- ;'vhv A 1 " 7 aad th advsaturous, daring spirit that has mad tu sreat capUlns of wax as wall as the grat captain ot Industry. ' ... , .. i Ths are th qualities which, eking th hlghe market a invariably as th compass needle seeks th pol. hav at lsst guaranteed to John Hays Hammon a hired man's wag a great la a year a the Preslder. of the United State receive in ten years; as much 1 vary hour, waking and sleeping, a th 957 the aver age mechanic ia glad to get a month, taking the yea around; five times th $100,000 annual salary of th hugely paid functionary, th Xord Lieutenant of Ire land; a much la a singl minute aa many a poe many a scientist, and many a laborer has been able t average a day as. much Ia that minute as the origin Guggenheim earned many a day. la Philadelphia, pel dling through the streets. . .. fmervcr Drpomrcy HEN" you go to see Wu Tin-f ang, at th a a a nineso embassy in Washington CO ure, tery gufe, yoti taven't made io - . ' . many cam previotisly that your card case id empty. Better bo broka it Monto Carlo or nioustacneleg in Berlin than cardies within tha marble vestibule of the ornate and 'up-to-date Chinese eVnbassy in Washington. v And caU earlyby aU nienns, cal tftyly. lou can even call early enough, to get along without tha card; for,"If you will lurk in .he vicinage of the embassy between 7 and 8 o'clock in the morn lug, youare aa likely as not to run Across the matutinal Wu doing an early morning health stunt, la robes characteristically flowing, and in mot I occupied with nothing more serious than the chirp , ing birdies on the tree-dotted hilL l , you are what Wu deems, on first sight, a decent Sort of fellow, and, on first hearing, one hoM business can be attended to then and there, he yrul talk as promptly as a surgeon, would cut off your: leg in street, emergencyand pretty warly aa keenly. ' v He will, talk on toy topic it pleases you to broach--even on diplomacy, on Oriental diplomacy. AnL while he( is talking, he will afford as pretty an object Jesson in his own specialty as was ever supplied. . .: . "" . . Tor Wu 'declares that diplomacy is simply plain, .old-fashioned tru.thj and, barring the reti- . cences any one but fool ought to display in his position, he is as open and frank a diplomat as ever dropped into the White House for a friendly .little cup of tea. . "i.r!,v- If TOTI happen to land at th embassy between I and 10 o'clock and that won't be a bit too early ;,for Wu you will find an American doorman who' ; - la as tender ot hi master's Oriental susceptibili ties as though Washington wer Pekin and Wu, with a nod. could hav him neatly decapitated for an over sight. - . No cardT Great pity you've run ont of them. His V excellency always IneUts on a card. But write your name on the other side of this old one on thi tray sod. th ham et your paper. That'll do if 'onl a . form, you know, anyway. Is itr Perhaps; and perhaps his ceremonious ex cellency ha been so often interviewed by visitors who are more facile than they ax accurate that he prefer to know he ha a reerd ot them, and that they shall know he keeps tha record. "An Interview? 'Waitingr la th reception roomr a big voice is booming above, on tha second floor. "Tell hlin I shall eee him dlreotly." And presently Into the midst ot th Incongruities of th French gilt furniture and the peacock draperies, a living incongruity eweepa, bloused, robed, ruby-Jeled a to th cap, learaedly apeetacled. It should be a venerable figure, and solemn; but its owner will have ; bone of your reverence. He stands prepared to meet youth or middle age on its own ground of energy, quickness, nlmbleness of thought, yes, and gayetr, un til you are saying to yourself; "Tbu Is a very yeung old man." "My opinion of 'Oriental dlplomaeyr The eyes ar penetrating and th vole rolls out with no evidence ot effort or strain. I am ao Authority on Oriental diplo macy. Chinese diplomacy, then? Suppose you make It diplomacy in general. -1 will tell you what diplomacy Is or should be. It should be th truth, That 1 mod ern diplomacy the plain truth. "The world has ao place, thes days, for mysteries and double-dealing, for th diplomacy of the kind that used to say one thing and mesa another. The na tions are too close, in their alma and in their common dependence.:. "Dlplomaeyr There waa fine soora In the eaergetl tonea "The world has need- for diplomacy. All that It requires now Isplain dealing and fair dealing between the nations. Where is the neoessity tor any? diplomacy except that which Is based upon the candor. : th openness, that should prevail among indivldualsT" It wae one of the questions for which the inquisitive r Wu is noted, one of his tricks In the turning of the . tables on his interviewers, s Tet there was in hi Question something more than the query of triumphant argument and something more than any quest for po- lite Information. 1 - ' Somehow, in the bold, 'strong' tones, somehow, ia the clear, directly frain eyes, there was the anxiety of the man who belongs to that one ration to whlott such a plain and lmple brand of diplomacy en the part of other nationa.iat least is of a vital Importance. -A question like that, from a wan ilk that, does not call for coscnt argument;. It calls tor the simple fact, almost apologetically stated. ' "The necessity, your excellency," was the anv "lies with the nations that do not seek to deal fa and plainly with their neighbors. " - - "A-ahi" It waa quit a triumphant exclamat this time. "But that is not Chinese diplomacy modern diplomacy." "It la the diplomacy of the nations that sf k overreach others, that are prepared to aggrau." themselves." ' v "Then it should have no place in th world to A very positive diplomat was speaking now. "Let i nations rest satisfied; let them abstain from ag:. diieinent. Let us hav peace." - , "Unfortunately, excellency, there are some want war. It seem te be necessary for their v. being." .-. "; "War war necessary!" There was an eecent mingled pala and horror In the rejoinder. "When -war ever necessary; when wa there a time or a r when it could not nave been avoided with honor. ed by the diplomacy ot frankness, abstained from v advantage?" - "The tlm was- few years ago: tha rhc v Manchuria; th nation was Japan, which had r grown Its confines and needed room to feed Its pec. Deed silence. y ROOM FOR EVERY ONE "6 that there comes a time, with -all natlon,f to tlv. Which is to grow, they mutt make war or ha happened In vast China, slay their own people jlgaia silenoe; then, vehemently "Oh,' you very young thinkers, who see only when national growth coram to its apparent ! Io not imag-tne that this earth cf ours is ao smith it cannot hold us. It can hold all of us now. very fortably. without war, with only Jut .dealm ourselves, fair dealing and plain deaiin win oi "It is simply that every one demaoila ttr inort i hs Is entitled to by nature. Why ahouM yoa et and drink UP. and smoke ur. In reflneiuents f ; uries, that which Should support many otner 1: belntrst With war abolished, with humanity y... to the eontroi Ot Ite appetitwi, lnstr4 t voted solely to their pr.tltU-stlon. we r . i I world amply able to support ita r-ple. a y-or- i . mltted to the principles ot )-J e. 1 " Salvation and Its bappin In .Tk.i la what the !tpl-fry ' t--"''' !. when th conditions of tte f '. that ia what shall rn-ke o..-" : - . ' mlsapprebeoalona neei!!s. "lan't it a Utopian d.'piornao', 7" "lan't tt good dSpiomacr. i, y i, Isn't ltf
