Senator Clark of Montana
(Copyright, 1!, by T. C. MeClure.)
O HAVE an Income of $1,000,000 a
month, to manage gigantic busi
ness corporations, to be a senator
of the United States and to oon
trol the politics of a sovereign
Btate of the union this In the lot of Wil
liam A. Clark of Montana.
Senator Clark Is In every way an In
teresting personage. He has put the stamp
Of his Individuality upon a great portion
f this country. He has developed ami
till In developing a larKe par t of the Roc ky
mountain and l'aclfie coast legion. "I Marie
of Montatut" is a name to conjure with li
the wept and draw forth the golden hoards
f Wall street. He Is not only one of the
richest men In America, hut one of tho
moi't successful. Other men have made
fortunes and lost them and made them
Rain. Clark of Montana has never made
a f.illurc. Kverythlng that he touches
turns to Kohl. Out west they are almost
superstitious about Ids luck. He seems to
be Inspired to avoid tho schemes which
aro faulty, and when Clark rocs Into a
project men rush to Join their fortunes
with It, believing that It will be sure to
win.
Ills life Is a lonely one. He Is of the
world, but apart from his fellow-men.
This Is duo In a measure to tho Isolation
of nonius, for CMark of Montana, Is un
doubtedly a business genius and there aro
few like him. Ho has been compelled by
force of circumstances to withdraw him
self from companionship. Imagine how a
man of his power must be sought, almost
hounded, by every one who has a schemo
to promote or an axe to grind. It Is more
difficult to roach him In his own home
than to see the president of tho United
States ut the White House. j
Iiuilng the sessions of congress he lives
alone In a great mansion in the national
capital. A housekeeper nnd a corps of '
Bllcnt, watchful servants minister to his
material wants. Since his wife died his
children have grown and gone their ways.
At dinner this lonely, frail specimen of
physical man Hits at the head of his table,
with the lights of the candelabra reflected
from costly plate and rare cut glass, nnd
eats his rftcal In silence. He elects that It
should bo so, and It Is his pleasure.
He takes keen Interest In the homely,
things of the household. He noses around
the stables and examines a horse's fet
locks, or notes a frayed bit of harness
or a missing bucklo. Ho knows the price
of oats nnd the different kinds of hay.
He will stop nt the market and select him
self a choice porterhouse or a bit of game,
and he keeps tab upon tho state of his
wine bins. He will thumb a turkey with
tho most critical of housekeepers, and is
aware every mouth what his establishment
lias cost. He pays tho current rate of
wage for the most competent assistance,
but tho butler and the housemaids
and the cook get their contract wages and
no more.
Hu Is fond of pictures i.nd a judge of
them. He will smoke tho best of Havanas
and bo ubsoibed for an hour in bis library,
and then turn to the dally report on the
price of copper or the drop In the cost of
teel rails fur his railroads. He is fond of
society, as society goes at the capital, al
though domestic atlllctlon has put limita
tions tiHn participation in tho social whirl.
The most striking characteristic of h's
nature Is Infinite attention to detail. The
next most conspicuous Is caution, amount
ing almost to suspicion and distrust of his
fellow man. No man has ever fooled Clark
of Montana but once, and few have done
that. It will be remembered that ho
started life on a farm, worked In the
mines, fought Indians on the frontier, suf
fered hardships In the mountains and con
tested for supremacy with the bold and
active spirits who have made the west.
That meant hard work, and he has not lost
, th habit.
Benator Clark leaves his home about 10
o'clock In the morning and speeds In his
automobile to his offices in the annex of
the capltol building. As he comes In
every lineament and movement denotes the
bard, practical, alert man of business. He
moves with a quick and springy step. He
talks rapidly and decisively, rarely smil
ing. In his office at Washington he has
two secretaries, one to attend to his con
gressional and departmental affairs and
one to handle his business correspondence.
They, of course, have a corps of ste
nographers and typewriters.
Ills dally mall U enormous, one of the
' largest budgets, If not the largest, that
Comes to any man in public life save the
president Yet he reads every letter, and
reads It carefully, not skimming through
it In a perfunctory manner. Then he
atarts In to dictate replies. He keeps the
stenographers on the rush for two hours
tnd disposes of an Immense amount of cor
respondence. He possesses the faculty of
(mowing what he wants to say and how to
Ifcxy It concisely and definitely. A letter
from the humblest constituent or business
' Jnan, If It ts a genuine communication, re
ceives prompt and courteous reply.
At U o'clock, when the senate convents,
' ie ts In his seat, and remains there during
pb .transaction of rouUn business until
4
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1
BENATOR CLARK OP MONTANA.
the senate settles down to the order of the
day. He Is a member of nine committees,
three of them very Important, and he never
misses a meeting. He takes much Interest
in the deliberations of the senate and In
the work of the committees. He gives to
nil legislative business the same pains
taking care that he bestows upon his own
uffairs.
When subjects of great national Im
portance are being debated in the senate
he Is an attentive listener, though rarely
entering Into the discussions. Up to the
time that he came to congress he was not
familiar with national affairs, either po
litical or legislative, but he Is speedily try
ing to familiarize himself with them.
In the hour and a half spent In the early
part of the afternoon In the senate he Is
not approachable to callers. No cards are
taken to htm before 2 o'clock. Pay after
day he can bo seen In his seat, noting care
fully everything said and done nnd scan
ning the bills under consideration. He is
not altogether sociable with his fellow sen
ators and does not mingle freely In the
cloak rooms, as some of them do, tmnklnj
and talking. Tho reason for this apparent
isolation Is easily understood. He Is natu
rally reserved, that suspicion of mankind
at large, which his life and experience have
Inculcated, giving him a rather repellant
manner. His colleagues feel It and do not
wish to give the appearance of seeking
htm, for fear It may seem Intrusion.
At heart he doubtless would like to be
closer to them, and they would find In hlrri
once the reserve was broken down, it
cheery and kind-hearted companion. BuJ
when a man has a million dollars a montt
Income, some men would feci disinclined i6
place themselves In the attitude of so-
llcitlng his attention or favor lest their mo
tlves would be misunderstood. He canno
unbend, through sheer force of habit ani
characteristics, and they won't.
Of course, he has friends, and at the;
luncheon hour usually goes down to tht
restaurant with a guest or ns a guest. lit
lunches well, but not lavishly, and, Indeed,
ts far from extravagant In any of his hab
its. He is stylLsh in dress and ufcs onl;
the finest fabrics, but there Is nothing o'
display that would reflect upon the gentle
man and man of .good taste.
He returns to the senate at 2 o'clock nnd
receives the cards of his visitors, meeting
them In the Marblo room, the long apart
ment utilized for the reception at people
having business with the senators. lie has
a throng of callers every day, for the mosi
part Montana people and westerners at
large. Kvery man from any part of the
west, from Butte to the Spanish Teaks,
and from the riatte to the Golden Gate,
knows Clark of Montana, and if he lias
business In Washington, seeks his aid in
its transaction. The visitor may catch him
at the senate; he will not find him at home.
If the watchful butler sees him first.
It Is Interesting to watch these westerners
transacting their business with Clark of
Montana. Most of them are typical men,
The Value Of Smiling
W
RK Is what a woman has to say
of the value of smiling:
"Smiles are the h.nguage of
love," the poet has said. IYrhaps,
however, it would be more cor
rect to say that "L.ove is the reward of
beautiful smiles;" for what attracts and
wins the confidence of man, woman or child
more than a genuine smile, which reflects
sunshine In the heartT
There are smiles, however, which neither
wtn love nor In any way enhance the
beauty of a face. In fact, they more often
than not detract from a girl's comeliness.
One of these Is the smile which has no
meaning or expression In It. It Is what
might be termed the "polite, or courteus"
smile, demanded by circumstances. One
readily sees through such a smile, for It
plainly says, "I suppose I must be polite
and appear Interested, but I am awfully
bored."
What a difference to the surny smile of
welcome, which lights up the whole face,
and makes one feel that your coming is a
real pleasure which has been looked for
ward to!
Tho plain-featured girl, with a happy,
genuine smile. Is far more attractive and
fascinating than the doll-faced girl, on
whose pretty face la never reflected a
happy spirit and pleasing disposition. Real
beauty Is something deeper than color and
regularity of features. One often meets
with comparatively plain women whose
genuine, heart-warm smiles and sweetly
modulated voices become perfectly beauti
ful to people who understand them, and
even more so to those who live with and
lovo them.
Many girls possess the idea that the
mirthful laugh and smile are unbecoming,
and should be restrained except when at
home. Why they Bhould think so is rather
hard to understand, for the mirthful smile
Is one of the prettiest. It betokens cheer
fulness and animation, characteristics
which are far too rare among girls of
today. What girls should guard against,
however. Is the boisterous laugh, which Is
apt to distort the features and grate on
the nerves. It generally creates the im
pression that It is too loud and long to
bo genuine.
And then there is the quiet, dignified
smile, which girls would do well to culti
vate. It has a charm nil its own. One al
ways feels drawn toward a girl who pos
sesses such a smile. Its attractiveness lies
In Its refinement and kindliness. The whole
face seems to light up at once In a sin
cere, womanly manner, which, while quiet,
is distinctly encouraging, and therefore
pl.-a&ing to the eye and mind.
f the mountains and the plains big,
brawny, open-faced, cheery-mannered, bluff
and hearty fellows. They come bustling In,
with their breezy way, grasping their soft
felt hats In one hand and the other mighty,
paw extended to greet the senator. There
Is Clark, slight, almost dainty in appear
ance, reserved In manner, looking the vis
itor through and through with his hard.
Inscrutable glance, listening Intently and
saying little. The temperature seems to
lower at once and the breeziness dies down.
The statement Is heard, the senator says
a few words, perhaps to deny the request
offhand or to make an appointment for
another day, or to refer the caller to his)
secretary; then on to the next one, who is
greeted in like manner.
It Is a wonder how a man of his tem
perament nnd habit of manner ever got
Into western politics. He Is nnything but
the "mixer" that a successful politician In
the west Is supposed to be. His method
of business, when dollars are at stake, is
not to hold out false hopes, not to be obse
quious, not to solicit, and he is the sama
where votes are at stake. He does not
give the "glad hanfl" to any politician.
They say In Montana that he will not
continue In politics. They also say that he
runs politics as he does his buslnessglv
Ing attention to every detail and leaving
nothing to the Judgment or work of Ids
assistants. He wants results in voting pre
cincts to be figured on as close a margin as
the output of a copper mine or a factory,
nnd he cannot understand why that cannot
be done.
No man with a business scheme to pre
sent could go to Senator Clark's house at
night und talk to him about it in his
library; and the most influential political
manager In Montana would find It equally
as Impossible to get at him in the same
way on a matter of politics. They don't
understand that in Montana. The district
leader would expect a confidential chat, an
Invitation to the sideboard, and the butler
handing around the perfectos. Clark of
Montana would want him to put the matter
In writing and let It come through the mall.
After the reception of callers In the Mar
ble room the senator returns to his offices
In the annex, where, by this time, the
mail has been typewritten and is on his
desk. He reads every letter and signs it
himself. Nearly all senators depute to
their secretaries the duty of signing unim
portant mail, either with a stamp or in
their own hand, but Senator Clark has
never been able to accustom himself to
that practice. He laboriously goes through
the whole batch of letters, affixing hU sig
nature aa carefully as If he were signing
a check.
Perhaps, in the meantime, he has been to
the long distance telephone half a dozen
tlmea to talk with some captain of Indus
try or finance In New York, or Philadel
phia, or Pittsburg. He has received dozens
of telegrams, some of which he has an
swered in the senate, and others brought
over to the office to be answered. After
the last bit of correspondence for the day
Is dispatched he enters his automobile and
takes a spin into the country if there is
daylight, or home to don his evening?
clothes, and so to dinner and the functions
to follow. He Is fond of dining out, and
Is an acceptable guest at a dinner party,
having a fund of anecdote and incident of
his western life.
No one knows the full extent of the bus
iness operations of Clark of Montana.
There is his copper mine in Arizona, said
to be the greatest mine in the world. He
knows the possibilities of that mine and
probably could estimate Its output from
Veins of copper yet unexplored. He owns
smelters in Arizona and gold mines and
copper smelters in Butte, Mont.
He is building a railroad from Salt Lake
City, Utah, to Los Angeles, Cal. When he
started there was some question about
financing the scheme; that Is, thero was
question In the minds of other men. Ha
settled It by drawing his personal check
every month for $900,000 to carry on tho
work. Then some people concluded that
they would like to have some bonds, and
he floated the immense project without
difficulty.
He owns electric lighting and street rail
way plants without number, and almost
the entire telephone system of the Rocky
mountain region. In California he has the
largest beet sugar factory In the world.
He has coffee plantations in Mexico and in
terests In every quarter of the Pacific
coast, north of the isthmus.
When congress is in session It Is usual
for the senate to adjourn every Thursday
until the following Monday. Then Senator
Clark takes the 4 o'clock train for New
York. The next morning, bright and early,
he goes to his offices, which occupy an en
tire floor at 49 Wall street, and plunges
Into his business affairs. He has a ttaff of
assistants and clerks and goes through the
reports made to him of the operations of
all his plants. He makes contracts, reads
the conditions of every paper himself and
leaves nothing to the Judgment of any man.
Monday morning he is back in Washing
ton again, the statesman and politician.
And all of this Is said to net him about a
million dollars a month.
AUGUSTUS C. ALLEN.
