NEWSBOY TO MAGNATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14103, 3 July 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

NEWSBOY TO MAGNATE.

• MILLIONAIRE TWELVE TIMES OVER "Business is war. We are not in busi- ! ness for our health; we are out for the dollars." This was the motto of Mr. : Henry H. Rodgers, the head of the Stan- ; dard Oil Company, the Amalgamated Copper Company, and other important industrial combinations, and one of the.most influential men in America, who has just died from apoplexy. And how well he had acted" on this guiding principle I i proved Vby: the fact that he died worth £12,000,000. ' His death removes orte of the giants of American finance, with an . influence probably unexcelled . by any of the great men who arc behind the financial 'enterprises of the time. Bom in 1837, at Fail-haven, : Massachusetts, of very poor people, he started life as a, newsboy,, • but by a' combination of grit, ability, :; and close : application he rapidly strode ■• to the front. He Went ml .as a young- :; man to the oilfields in Pennsylvania, where ' : he picked up the first-hand knowledge, op. the oil industry that afterwards enabled him to play a prominent part in tho Standard Oil Company, of which he was one of the largest, stock-holders. He I passed from one successful operation % to* another, each enterprise serving as the basis of another more daring, until : he ( '■■ : directly controlled or exercised a "dominating influence over one hundred com:., i panies. In fact, - there was scarcely. an aspect of commercial life in the States in which the name of Henry Rodgers was I not a power. He , was associated for years with Mr. John 1). Rockefeller in the organisation and management of the . gigantic Standard Oil Trust; and after ; Mr. Rockefeller's retirement from active participation in the business a Tew years ; ago he assumed sole charge. . The association of Mr. John D. Rockefeller and Mr. 11. H. Rodgers in the Standard Oil Company has left an indelible mark on mod- ( ern commerce, not alone on account of the '■' colossal operations of this company in particular, but because of The sequel in the creation of the Amalgamated Copper Company and other dominating influences in the * American market. A cording to con- . temporary critics, M Rodgers.. provided•• The actual brains -in. operations which : established monopolies extending .the world ; over. In the early days of his/ career he ■ ■was the owner of oil-producing concerns, - : and, as Mr. Rockefeller has stated: in.;his recently-published memoirs, he, recognised that Mr. Rodgers was too dangerous a competitor to be left out of account, and Mr. Rodgers accordingly was induced to. join the Standard Oil King. ' The creation of the Amalgamated Copper Company was i the conception of Mr. Rodgers alone, al- ! though lie had the support of Mr. Rocke- .:. feller in carrying it out. The two bought . - copper properties from their owners for: : • £7,800,000, but not- a penny if this needed to be paid. Banks controlled by. Mr. ■: Rockefeller lent the money at a low'rate : , of. .interests and then cam*', creation of the company, with A DECLARED CAPITAL OI 1 £15,000,000. Mr. Rodgers, as .■, citizen of his native' - town, proved himself to be a heiiovolent ' genius. In his municipal capacity as Sup-erintendent''.-'of Streets he Hid -out, at his own cost, several miles of macadamised ■ roads, and he also presented to the town : the: waterworks "of which he was the. proprietor. The- income from this: -source, is devoted to the maintenance of a' library," which, at a cost of £20,000, he presented \ in,memory of his daughter Millicent. The fine town hall was also his gift. Mr. Thomas W. Lawson. of "Frenzied Finance" fame, formerly a business associate of Mr. Rodgers, gave the: following pen picture of him a few years ago:— Away from the intoxicating spelt of dollar-:, ': making this remarkable man is one of the .most: charming and lovable beings I have , ever-encountered. ■ But once he passes under the, baleful influences of " The Sfichine">ha:" becomes a/ relentless,■', ravenous creature, pitir V less a-, a shark, knowing no law jot " God or < man; in the execution of his purpose. Between him,and coveted dollars may come ' no kjnrlly human influences — ire thrust i aßiihs their clTints disrosiirtieii, r.i minister-' i in-: to this strange, cannibalistic money-Iran- , ger, which in truth, grows by what it feeds i on. -. .;.: ; :. ,: . ■■/ - /-.' .-/,: v-:' :'■■'■ Mr.■;.■.Rodgers * was" an incessant worker, : and although/enormously wealthy, he took ' run active interest in all his business pro- < jects until the clay ; of 'his death, ■ , * \ ( i ' i