The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, January 28, 1916, Image 2
THE 8EMIAVEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH fLATTE. NEBRASKA. i n the jrpjairr c? CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF SWITZERLAND COPYRIGHT BY WESTERN '.NEWSPAPER UNION. HERE'S A KETCH OFF i WICKLIFFE WOOLL TOR OF THE MINT. B. CLARK, HIS OLD SIDE PARTNERNQW DEAN OF VWING10N CORRESPONDENTS. R( YADIREC- BY EDWARD JOURNALISTIC mm 3U n m IJ9JI U H nl I'm "niTTTT ,-. . . . .w. t v11 -tvm Ill 4 By EDWARD B. CLARK. N 10 of Washington's humorists do c7mr clarcd onco upon a tlmo that tho rea W w son so many nowspapor men arc ap f. pointed to positions in the United StatOB trouBiiry is that tho scribes heart dcslro Is for onco in tholr lives to get next to a lot monoy. Ono gets next to much money in tho building containing Undo Sam's strong box, but ho doesn't got hold of any great amount of it, although tho salaries paid aro in a general way more than fairly comfortable. Kobort Wlckllffo Woolloy is ono of tho latest of America's well-known nowspi.por men to bo appointed to a position In tho treasury dopnrt niont. As someono olso has put it, Woolloy makes moro monoy than any other man in tho United "States, but tho personal dlfllculty is that ho Ib not allowed to koop tho. procoods of his manu facture Ho is the director of tho mint, and every body knows that tho provinco of the mint is to turn out monoy for tho multitudinous uses of tho peoplo of thc.sb United States. Thoro aro not many nowspapor men in tho country who aro bdttor known than this prosont ofllclal , of Unclo Sam's government. Woolloy looks about thirty yenrB old, but ho can add qutto a number of years on to that and glvu no, lio to tho dato of his birth. IIo has been a roportor, a sporttng editor, a managing editor, an editor, and a writer of magazino articles, and today ho can pick up any ono of his old Jobs and do it justice, and if tho whirligig of politics in time shall thrust Mm forth from tho portals of tho treasury de partment, ho probably and very naturally will turn to tread in tho old accustomed ways. 'Tho writer of this has known Woolloy for a good many years, and worked with him sido by sldo for a considerable length of time on a great Chicago dally. Woolloy waB then a sporting edi tor. Ho Is an outdoor man, who loves tho things which all full-blooded Americans lovo, and, moro over, ho knows how to wrlto about them, whether it bo aa a closo finish on a Kentucky track or a 14 innings "so far" 0 to 0 at tho National leaguo jgrounds In Now York city. Woolloy lovos sport for sport's sako, but It must not bo supposed for n minute that sport over occupied tho major part of his tlmo. 1 From boyhood until this day the present direc tor of tho mint has boon a student of sociological conditions, of economics and of tho ways and means of legislation to got for tho people what noms to tho progrosslvo-mlndcd tho things which thoy ought to havo. Convictions that certain lines of procedure woro tho right ones to follow, and a determination to follow thorn, havo given Robert W. Woolloy many strenuous and exciting liours during his long newspaper career. 1 It is not necessary to explain to tho peoplo of tho United States 'what a political ring Is, nor Is It necessary to explain what an invisible govern ment is. Cortaln bravo spirits In nowspaperdom havo boon fighting rings and invisible government for years, and it has made no difference to tho courageous ones whothor tho ring was composed of men of tholr own party, or whether tho In visible government HkowlBo was tinged with a partisan color of a huo ordinarily doomed ad mirable by tho crusaders. Tho director of tho mint Is a Democrat, but ho has fought Democrats when thoy were trying to exploit tho peoplo for selfish ends. Not long after ho entered nowspaper work the director of tho mint had n "tlmo of It," which ' tcstod his courago and tho sincerity of his convic tions. 1 nm not golns to mention tho namo of tho placa whore a cortaln thing happened, but unquestionably tho sccno of It will bo recognized by many and tho details will bo romombored by men who havo not yet arrived on tho bordurs of mlddlo ago. Down in tho South, and not very far In tho South, cither, Robert W. Woolloy was onco managing editor of n newspaper of promlnonco In a city of tonslderablo size. Tho chief editor of his paper and tho mayor of tho town woro engaged Iti a row, for tho mayor, It was bolloved, xa conncctou with, a municipal political combi nation which, as tho editor vlowed It, was far from being an Institution Intended to benefit tho peoplo of the community. Finally tho Ho was passed, and tho Ho is, or was, anyway, a suro fighting word In cortaln communities. Ono morning Mr. Woolloy went down to tho ncwepapor office and found tho mayor of tho town and hl3 son, each with a gun in baud, holding tho &$K?V:.. S v&sjW vfjA "' ' :'W .At"' The Building la Uncle Sam's New Money tory, and Below Are Employees Counting Millions. Fac-Hls cntlro business offico forco of the newspaper prisoners behind tholr countors. Tho intruders wcro threatening to shoot anybody who attempted to leave. Woolloy had no gun. Ho entered the office nnd procoodod to address somo remarks mado up of words ordinarily considered of tho fighting kind to tho armed Intruders. Woolloy reached for a tolcphonc, took It off tho receiver and was laughed at by tho gunmen, who told him that thoy had cut tho wire. Woolloy stood thoro with tho receiver in his hand for a mlnuto whllo rod-hot verbiage was exchanged. Then Woolloy walked straight by tho two armed mon nnd went out of tho door, and neither ono cared or dared to interfere with him. Later It developed that whllo tho rocolvor was off, although tho wiro had boon cut, tho chief editor of tho paper at his homo had taken off hiB own rocolvor to call up tho office, and found ho could not got it. But as only ono wir.o whs sovcred ho heard a largo part of tho conversa tion in tho office by moans of tho uncut wiro connected with tho office telephone What ho heard afterwards was used in evidence, for court proceedings woro brought. Now, It Is Just here thnt an ordinary nowspaper man would havo become disgusted with the pro fession which he was trying to follow nnd wculd havo thought that tho wholo world was out of Joint. Tho mayor of the town and his son were editors of a rival newspaper. This rival stood, of courso, for tho municipal ring, and It was things which appeared In Its columns which had caused the other editor, Mr. Woolloy's chief, to put tho Ho In print. Whllo things seomlngly were still at white heat between tho two camps tho mayor and his rival editor, whom he was ready to shoot, or bo chot by, made up their differences, combined tho two papers, and thus Woolloy, who had dared everything for his chief, was forced out, and in tho parlance of the street, was "left to hold the bag." In other words, Hob Woolloy stood for right and principle and then lost his Job. There was a celebrated law case In Kentucky that attracted world-wide attention. After the municipal ring episode and Mr. Woolloy had lost his placo as managing editor, ho became a re porter and ho handled this case. There camo down from Chicago at this tlmo two newspaper mon who slnco have bocorco widely known Eu geno Hertrand, now of the New York Herald, and William E. Lowls, the editor of tho New York Telegraph. Thoy had been sent down from Chi cago to work on the mattor Woolloy had in hand, nnd thoy became acquainted with him. They found out n lot of things about him which ap pealed to their nowspaper sense. Thoy also dis covered thnt ho was fond of American sports. Thoy wont back to Chicago and a short tlmo thereafter Woolley, who knew nothing about their interest in him, rocelvod an offor from the Chi cago Tribune to become a reportor In tho sport ing department of that paper. Ho went to Chi cago, and it was not long boforo ho became the sporting editor of tho nowspaper whoso staff he joined. From Crucago tho present director of the mmt wont to New York, and for a long time was em ployed on tho Now York WorlJ. A little later, as somebody else has put It, "ho yielded to the toxnn tatlon of a beautiful fruit plantation in Texas." Tho fruit was not altogether golden, as far as the proceeds from tho sale of tho crops wore con corned, and Mr. Woolley went back Into the nows papor professions. Tho annual presidential election took placo recently at Borne, tho Swiss capital, quietly and systematic-1 ally ns usual. No speeches and no advanco campaigning preceded this important ovent, nnd yet, democratic Switzerland is unanimously confident that tho honor of tho presidency has been conferred upon a man worthy of this distinction. Tho president-elect, Cnmlllo Do coppot, a lawyor by profession and statesman nnd orator bf repute, Is at present vice president of tho republic and head of tho military department. Ho was born at Suscovaz, near Yver don, canton of Vaud, on Juno 4, 1862, nnd started his political career In 1809 when ho was elected member of tho national council. In 1900 ho becamo a member of the council of states and in 1906 ho ndvanced to tho presidency of that body for tho year 1907 With his election into the federal council in 1912 he attained the highest political degree which a Swiss statesman can look for, culminating, as it does, in the vice presidency and presidency of the confederation. The office of president of tho Swiss confederation provides by no means n lucrative Income, compared with the high-salaried government positions in this country. Up to three years ago the yearly income of tho chief magis trate of the republic amounted to $3,000 only, and it was then raised tc $4,000, which sum is now considered a very good salary. CLAUDE KITGHIN'S ROOMMATE tor six montus, wnicn ne nas uescrweu nn "six eventful months," ho was tho editor of a nowspaper in a southern town, whoso locality I shall not give here, because of certain circum stances connected with tho ense. There it was another crusade against a municipal ring and another case of being compelled to edit with a revolvor in tho hand nnd also to walk with a gun exceedingly handy. The ring eventually was broken into bits, but meanwhile Mr. Woolley had lost his nowspapor. For a short tlmo thereafter Mr. Woolley was the editor of tho San Antonio Light in Texas. Then ho went back to New York and entered upon a really notable career as a magazine writer. He was sent on many assignments throughout tho country for somo of the best magazines in the United States, and then ho becamo ono of tho Washington correspondents of tho New York World,, a position which he held for about two years. Then again Mr. Woolley turned to maga zine work, nnd in tho year 1911 ho becamo tho chief Investigator of tho congressional commit too appointed to look into the affairs of tho Unit ed States Steel corporation. This committee was known as the Stanley committee. ' Because of its wide-reaching effects, it is prob able that a magazino article entitled, "Tho Plun derers of Washington," was the most notable contribution to tho "news and Information of tho day," which Mr. Woolley over wroto. This artlclo was preceded by an Intimation that anyone men tioned and who choso so tcydo might know that ho had rocourso In tho courts. In other words, tho Information upon which the article was based was tested in advance. This artlclo was called by tho press of the time "fearless." It dealt with somo of Washington's big bankers and real es tate men and with a good many officials. Woolley was writing just ns ho wroto when ho was attacking municipal rings in smaller towns of tho country. It Is not too much to say, per haps, that tho artlclo largely was responsible for a complete change In tho manner of men ap pointed to positions of high trust in tho muni cipal government of tho city of Washington, for Washington In a way has municipal government, being under the rulo, of courso, of congress, but having a board of District commissioners as responsible heads. In the yenr 1912 Mr. Woolley was tho editor and compiler of tho "Democratic Text Hook," and wns chief of the campaign of publicity bureau of tho Democratic national commlttoo. Ho also com piled the text book of 1914. His political alTllla Hons at this time, howevor, nowspapor men be lieve, did not havo anything to do with his ap pointment to ofTlco. His efforts along liberal and progressive lines had attracted tho attention of Woodrow Wilson. Mr. Woolloy was 'appointed first as nudltor for tho Interior department, an office which, dcsplto Its name, Ih under tho control of tho treasury department. Then ho wnB given his present position nn director of tho mint. IIo is filling it. I am writing this artlclo with feelings of por sonal admiration and liking, porhnps oven of nf fectlon, for I havo known Wnolluy for years. Ho Is a tried man. Ho is ono of tho nowspnpor fra ternity, nnd after nearly a quarter of u century of close acquaintance I know that 1 can say that ho is an honor to It. Robert Wlckllffo Woolloy lives Just outside of Washington In Fairfax. Vn. It Is this llttlo town which has possession of tho wills of Georgo and Martha Washington, and some parts of the bill of rights of George Mason. It is a good place for a Democrat of Ht rough' lro- cresslvo tendencies to live. Mr Wnollov married Maricuurlto Treholm of Winchester. Virginia. Thoy havo four children nil Hri Tho family life Is of tho Kind ac counted ideal. In tho books Mr. Woolloy Is put down ns Robert Wlckllffo Woolley. hut nowspapor mon from coast to coast and from tho Canada line to the Gulf know him much hotter as "Hob. Once, during a national conven tion, Claude Kitchin. Democratic floor leader of the house, found the hotel3 overcrowded and was compelled to share -a room with a very nervous in dividual. "Ho was the most nervous man 1 ever knew," says Kitchin. "For ex ample, after wo had gone to bed, he called across the room, waking mo out of first few minutes' Bleep, and inquired: "Have you got a match in your clothes?" "I told him I hadn't, and he called my attention to the fact that the hotel was old fashioned and had gas Instead of electric light in the room. " 'One of us might get sick In the night,' he suggested, 'and what would we do without a light?' " 'Maybe there's a match In the box on the dresser,' I said. " 'That's Just the trouble, replied ray roommate. 'I looked before I turned the light out, and there waa Just ono match there. Supposing that one match wouldn't light?' " 'Why don't you get up and try it, and get It oft your mind I suggested. "'Ah,' ho exclaimed; 'that's a great ideal' And so he struck our only match, satisfied himself that it was a good match and went back to bed, whore ho slept like a log the rest of the night." r EFFICIENT MISS KERF00T SAFETY FIRST IN ALL THINGS. "Why do you always carry your umbrella, oven when it is not mining?' Rn Komoone else won't carry It when It Is raining." Pennsylvania Punch Howl. A MARINE JOY MDS. Motor Boater (to passenger) Wd you see me out down that fisherman In the skiff! Passenger Sure! Say, this la almost as much fun as autumoblllng. Twelve billion stamps! This is the size of last year's stamp business handled by tho bureau of engraving and printing in Washington. Yet the size of the order is not the most im portant thing about It. The amazing feature Is this: The entire work of drawing the stamps, balancing the separate orders and shipping them, was carried on under the supervision of a woman, and, thanks to this wom an's efficiency, without a single dis crepancy. Miss Margaret Kerfoot, chief of the division which fills and ships or ders to the C4.000 post offices through out this country, is the efficient wom an in the case. She has been working in the bu reau of engraving and printing for 32 years, and though the figures of last year's stamp output and her record breaking infallibility are startling enough to deserve especial mention, Bho may, nevertheless, be found any day in her huge basement office of the bureau's new building on tho Speedway, filling stamp orders with a remark ablo aversion to error. Her record for perfection is a matter of pride, not only to herself, but nlso to Director Ralph of the bureau. DILL TO PAY OLD DEBT Tho day Congressman C. C. Dill, from Washington state, rlBes up In congress and makes his maiden speech It's going to cost him 25 cent3, plus compound Interest thereon for 14 years. Tho congressman, this session's youngest, has owed that quarter ever slnco ho was sixteen. His creditor is Mrs. Fanny Hell, Mount Gilead, O., and she has his noto to prove it. Dill lived on a rented farm near Frcdoricktown, O. Mrs. Bell was the wlfo of the owner. On one corner of tho farm was tho Salem M. E. church, and ono dny a box social wan an nounced for Saturday night at the church. Mrs. Bell asked young Dill It ho was going. Nope, didn't have the necessary quartor, he explained cheer fully. "I'll lend It to you," she said. "Don't know when I can pay it back," ho demurred. "Pay it back when you make your first speech in congress," she suggested, ncd drew up the note. Five or six years later he fell Into the camp of Tom Johnson and becamo one of his secretaries during his gubernatorial campaign. After the cam paign Johnson asked him what he was going to do. "I'm going to congress, ' said Dill. "All right," said Johnson, "you go out West and piok out some gooS' growing town and stay there till they send you' Dill went to Spokane, Wash., and now he is in congress. The farm lad accepted the money )