THE NATIONAL SUNDAY MAGAZINE
H A KasiitvlWhl
L f C - fl
nor every
H There is nothing
I simpler to establish nj
There is nothing
simpler to establish
in a Home than a
Beauty Bath. It is
not a matter of
luxurious fittings or
costly appliances.
Pure water and
P2UfS
Soap
nothing more is re
quired. With these
you can accomplish
all that is possible in
the way of beautify
ing the skin. Pears
softens, purifies, and
sanitises the skin,
making it of a nat
ural pink and white
color. More than
all the cosmetics in
the world, Pears is
the special bcautifier
of the complexion.
Pears does the J
beautifying
Elbert Hubbard Interviews and Estimates John D. Rockefeller
an ability to select men, inspire them
with love and loyalty, ami thus se
cure from them a maximum of serv
ice unequaled by any other man in the
world. 10. He knows more of the min
utiae of living and lias a greater ca
pacity for detail, and yet is less sub
merged in detail than any other big
business man in the world.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER is no
J steam-roller; he is no tyrant, cither
in his domestic relations, in business,
In church affairs or anywhere else.
He never puts tilings through over
the heads of other people. He gives
everybody a run for his money.
Nothing is decided until all parties
are heard.
An executive has been described as
one who decides quickly and isisome
tlmes right. Mr. Rockefeller docs not
decide quickly. The habit of the man
is gracious, gentle, suave. His voice
is low, and while he does not talk
very much, yet his silence contains
no menace. Any one who meets him
is not abashed.
I have seen him talking to Italian
laborers, foremen, superintendents,
and also to men high in the financial
world, and seemingly his manner to
ward each and all was the same. He
is simple, frank and direct. He im
presses you as a man who has all the
time there Is. His feelings never run
riot. Ho has the well-ordered mind
that listens, considers, appreciates
and then decides. His success in the
business world has been no fluke.
Mr. Rockefeller said to me, "I have
been very fortunate in being associ
ated with able people." And his genius
is shown in his management of men.
In his book entitled, Handom Remi
niscences of Men and Events, Mr.
Rockefeller lays bare his heart on va
rious Interesting things. The book
has a distinct literary style, and this
style is simplicity In Itself. Mr. Rocke
feller never talks or writes Johnson
ese. He speaks gently and quietly. In
his book he tells of the men who have
helped htm most, and he pays them
great tribute.
Some of these were men of totally
different temperament from himself.
For instance, H. H. Rogers was what
is called "a good sport." Mr. Rocke
feller knew the worth of H. H.
Rogers, and managed him by leaving
him alone. Mr. Rockefeller gave
Rogers an opportunity to become
what ho was. Rogers was abrupt,
llery, profane, with very pronounced
Ideas on a great many subjects. Ho
took chances. Mr. Rockefeller is
mathematical. Mr. Rockefeller gave
Rogers his own way, and at the last
always had his.
Mr. Rockefeller has met the world
of society on a church basis. Hut in
religious affairs he is not dogmatic.
The Daptlst denomination In Amer
ica traces a pedigree to Roger Wil
liams of Rhode Island, and Roger
Williams stood for liberty when the
tiling Itself In America was a barren
ideality. The Baptist denomination
has neither pope nor bishops. Mr.
Rockefeller Is a primitive Rapt 1st by
prenatal tendency a semi-ascetic,
(lrst cousin to the Quakers, Menon
ltes and Uunkards.
Mr. Rockefeller likes to associate
with plain people. Tobacco, strong
drink and the wide social swath have
never been for him. All of his pleas
ures are of a very simple sort. He has
boon an expression of his times, ami
of the best in his times. Ho has played
the game of business according to the
rules laid down by the times, and as
the times have changed so has
i hanged John D. Rockefeller.
Cosmic ankylosis has never caught
him. His soul Is not of the vintage
of 1873. of 18S3, nor 1S93, nor 1903
ho has always been abreast of the
times, or in the vanguard. Just now
he is deeply interested In road-bulld-Ing,
tree-planting and farming. These
three things he is studying from
every possible point of view. He
Continual from Paac 3)
knows what is being done at Ames,
Iowa; Manhattan, Kansas, and at Cor
nell. He himself maintains dozens
of scholarships at various agricul
tural schools, lie docs not tell you
this you have to get it by cross
questioning. He never boasts of what he has
done or what he is going to do. In
his nature there is nothing sordid,
selfish, moan, contemptible. Ho is
not resentful. His patience under
criticism sets him apart as a marked
man. He docs not attribute wrong
motives to people ho looks for
the best In everybody and every
thing. In his personality there is
nothing of the parvenu. The man is
modest, deferential, gentle, discrim
inating. Ho has a sense of values. He
knows that the more possession of
wealth, of Itself, makes no man great.
And he, of all men, realizes that there
are some things which money can not
buy.
He has Infinite faith in the future
of America. He knows that co-operation
means the elimination of waste.
He knows that wealth must not be
hoarded. He Invests and reinvests,
and thus gives work directly and in
directly to millions.
Until recent times Mr. Rockefeller
has been a great borrower, and he has
kept his credit absolutely untainted.
He has never defaulted on his paper
or on a payroll. In his book he tells
of tho proud moment when ho was
able to borrow at a bank two thou
sand dollars on his own name this
before ho was twenty. When he wns
thirty years of age he was borrowing
money In a way that would have stag
gered his creditors If they had known
how much he was owing. However,
he was working out a definite plan,
and that was tho organization of tho
oil business so as to reduce tho cost
of pumping, refining, transporting,
distributing, selling and advertising.
Mr. Rockefeller is well, sinewy and
strong. He has cut down his food sup
ply to Edison's ten ounces a day. Ho
eats little meat, subsisting mostly on
fruit, salads and milk. I noticed that
Ills breakfast was usually Just a baked
apple, and nothing more. He goes to
bed between nine and ten and is al
ways up before seven. He sleeps
soundly, and no one can meet him and
not bo convinced that he enjoys life.
His brain is active and lie is hungry
to know. He often refers to his "lack
of education," not realizing that In
the broad sense lie is one of the best
educated men In the world.
I think It Is a source of great satis
faction to him that anyone who has
Invested money with him has made
money. If they lost money, they did
so by not "coming In" on his Invita
tion. Those who lost did so by stay
ing out and fighting.
IT will not do to say that Mr. Rocke
1 feller has the brain of Sir Isaac
Newton, Alexander Von Humboldt,
Herbert Spencer, or Thomas A. Edi
son. Nevertheless, lie has succeeded
In doing what he set out to do. And lie
lias kept his sanity, and moved In tho
line of evolution, without getting sub
merged In success. He has played the
game and played It according to the
rules.
To free himself from Importunity,
he has organized n bureau to take
care of his charities. Every applica
tion Is referred to this bureau and in
vestigated. Said Mr. Rockefeller, "I
used to give to tho plausible and the
persistent, until one day it came to
me that this was not only unwise but
silly. Just as if I would hire a fore
man because ho begged to be hired!
Now I delegate my giving to men
whose Judgment in these matters I
consider better than my own." And
thus does Mr. Rockefeller niako him
self free.
The Standard Oil Company has
stopped the leaks, taken up tho eco
nomic slack, reduced friction, and
rendered a service to tho world that
is the nearest approach to business
perfection of any example that can be
named.
I thought of this last summer when
1 visited Association Island, in Lake
Ontario, an island that happens to be
surrounded by water and is five miles
from tho mainland. This island Is the
tylng-up place for a goodly licet of
gasoline launches. To minister to the
requirements of these launches the
Standard Oil Company laid a pipe
line directly across from the main
land, and maintains a station on the
island, where with one whirl of the
handle of a "Bowser" you get your
gallon of gasoline and away you go
to the fishing grounds, care-free, with
never a thought but that when you
want more fuel you can put into port
there at the island and get tho perfect
service which makes you forget about
It.
When things are done smoothly,
rightly, properly, beautifully and
well, tho world knows nothing of
them. As a rule wo only print ac
counts of the unusual, the extraordi
nary, the abnormal, the terrible and
the tragic. The world accepts the serv
ice of the Standard Oil Company just
as we accept the sunshine, the dew,
the starlight, tho silver moon, and
the parcel post.
Gasoline cannot bo transported
safely in wooden barrels. It must be
held In metal. Mr. Rockefeller had to
build pipe lines, tank cars, tank
wagons, nnd storage tanks; and be
side he had to manufacture a most
volatile and dangerous article. The
Standard Oil Company has been the
biggest consumer of steel, next to the
automobile industry. And tho auto
mobile gave the Standard Oil Com
pany its proud position In the world;
but In tho evolution of the automo
bile, the Standard Oil Company has
no part. It simply mot tho demand
for gasoline. The users of gasoline
are an exacting clientele. To satisfy
them with a reliable product at a fair
price, has been the work of John D,
Rockefeller,
piIAT the Standard Oil Company
should thrive through this service
is exactly as It should bo. At the same
time let It be noted that the Standard
Oil Company does not hoard its
money. It Is eternnlly building, and
laying out new pipe-lines, arranging
new stations, building new steam
ships, and now it is exchanging Its
forty thousand horses for motor
trucks that will carry light, lubricant
and power to every farmhouse, vil
lage, town and city In the United
States of America and elsewhere. It
has been a Jest up to this time that
the Standard Oil Company has used
horses to deliver gasoline instead of
using gasoline to deliver gasoline.
The simple reason that horses have
been used is because our roads In
America have been of so impassable
a kind that gasoline trucks were only
for the fnvored few who lived on
faultless roadways.
Mr. Rockefeller said to me: "I will
never be satisfied until every Stand
ard Oil tank-wagon runs with oil or
gasoline for motive power, but this
cannot bo until we have good roads
leading from every farm to every
schoolhouse, and from every school
house to every postofilce.
"Build your country roadways four
teen feet wide of nine-pound brick on
a concrete base," said Mr. Rockefeller.
"Then leave eight feet of macadam on
tho side. A fourteen-foot road will
compel automobiles coming toward
each other to slow up. A driver when
ho gets off tho brick will Involuntarily
lessen his speed. This makes safety
doubly sure. Fourteen-foot brick road,
that's what you want not sixteen
feet. Save that two feet on the side
and put It on the end of your road."
Here wo get a straight example of
lucid logic. That is Just the way he
talks. His reasoning is never muddy,
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