14 



Till-: HARDWOOD RECORD. 



PKESIDENT OF THE INDIANA ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



Wi- itn-Sflit hcri-willi a liki'iicKS nt Mr. 

 J. V. Slimmiii. a ImnhviMiil Iniiilicr iiiiitiu- 

 fiicturt-r iiiitl (limlrr of HiiiiliiiKlnirK. Ind.. 

 tiiul |iri-siili>iit of llii- Iiiiliiiiiii lliinlwtHMl 

 LiiiiiIht .\ss<H-liitli>ii. wlili-li will liiivc 

 clinrp' of Ilic iiii'ctiiiK of tlio Niitlonal 

 llnrtlwoixl I.umiIht .\ss<irlatioii, to lii- licUl 

 ill Iniliiiiiapolis on Ma,v 'Jl ami 'J:-. 



\V«> art' tfl'Kl 'o prosciit a liltlc skoti'li of 

 Mr. Stlliisoirs rai-«MT at this time, for It Is 

 In illn-ct lliu- with the contiiuii'd story upon 

 the ■•rhllos<iph.v of Sueivss" now running; 



in the Hardwood Record, from the pen of 

 our eloipient and versatile Air. Strode 

 (whieh is niei. Ilis career proves the truth 

 of tlie contention that if a man be of the 

 right sort it does him good to tie ham- 

 mered. 



For Mr. Stim.son has been lianiiiiered 

 pretty severely in his time, and has had 

 to twist and turn and squirm and wriggle 

 to keep from being l)lotte<l out altogether. 

 Hut having the proper stuff in him the ex- 

 perience did him good, and while still 

 plenty young enough lie has "made the 

 riffle" and is in smooth water, where the 

 going is goo<l. 



To begin at the very l)eginning, he was 

 born on a farm near Martinsville, Ind., and 

 enacted the role of a farmer's boy until he 

 was sixteen years of age. At tuat time he 

 made his entry into the lumber business. 

 It is not of record that his entry into the 

 business was heralded in the lumber press 

 or createtl any great commotion. This is 

 probably accounted for by the fact tliat he 

 started in a very humble capacity, it being 

 his duty to load oak staves into a wheel- 

 barrow and then fvn-nish the motive jiower 

 to convey them to the place designati^l by 

 the boss. For this duty, well and faith- 

 fully performed, he received a small but 

 acceptable cash consideration. 



His employers were McGregor & Van- 

 sickle, at that time extensively engaged in 



the (ink stnvc buHliU'HN. lie wa8 promoted 

 from the wluvllmrrow Into the olllce and 

 lliiiilly to be snperliileiidi'iit of the com- 

 piiiiy. remaining with them. In all, about 

 eight years, or until the supply of staves 

 III their section bocanie exIiailKled and the 

 conip:iny dissolved. He then eiigagcnl In 

 the saw liilll business wllli .Mr. X'anslckle, 

 becoming a partner with a modest Interest 

 ill IS'.Mi under the firm name of \'aiislckle 

 iV Stimson, a eoniiectlon which continued 

 until ]!S'J5. 



Then Mr. .Stimson embarked in business 

 on his own account, locating at Iluntiiig- 

 bnrg, Ind., with a second-hand band mill. 

 Tliere was where the ival rub came. 

 When he got his mill In operation, in Feb- 

 ruary. l.S'.Mi. everything la- had was in the 

 mill, and tlien some. .\ui\ it wasn't very 

 milch of a mill, either. 



How he managed to linaiice the business 

 in those hard times and prosper as he has 

 prospered since is a (juestion loo deep for 

 a mere newspaper man to solve. You'll 

 have to ask some Indiana lumberman. 

 How he managwl to buy limber, meet his 

 l)ayroll and market his luniber without let- 

 ting someone else get most of the profit is 

 sometliing I don't know. That is a secret 

 between Stimson and the gatepost. 



I know Stimson will take it all right 

 when I say that I remember tlie time he 

 was going tlirough tliat sweat; that I know 

 he was as hard up as the old Harry; tliat 

 he was worked down until lie was as (liin 

 as a liouiul. and that he was worried until 

 he looked like a careworn ghost. Hut all 

 the time he had what a writer who uses 

 stronger language than I do, called "that 

 unconqueralile hell-fire" in his eyes, and I 

 knew he would pull tliroiii.'h. .\n<l he did. 



To-day, at Huiitiiigl)Ui'g. Ind.. .Mr. Stim- 

 son has as complete and iirolitable a hard- 

 wood manufacturing plant as any in In- 

 diana, where he carries a complete stock 

 of hardwood lumber, chiefly ciuartere<l 

 white oak of the best quality. I was down 

 there last winter when a good many hard- 

 wood mills were shut down for want of 

 log.s. and Stimsou's yard was full of logs 

 and his mill was running 22 hours a day 

 cutting (|uartered oak. from wliich I gci 

 an idea that he knows his business. 



At Owensboro, Ky., lie has another mill 

 and wholesale yard in charge of his 

 brother, under the title of J. V. Stimson »V 

 Co. At Earle, Ar^i., he has another mill 

 and a fine body of timberland. He is also 

 an extensive owner of tinibcrlands in In- 

 diana and Kentuck.v, upon which mills arc 

 cutting on contract. In short, he has come 

 to be one of the big factors in the hard- 

 wood industrj-. 



And his business is on a sound founda- 

 tion. There isn't any wind in it. It is 

 .''timson's timber. Stimson's mills .'ind Slim- 

 son's lumber, liought and paid for with 

 Stimson's money — until someljody comes 

 along who knows good lumber and what 

 it is worth. Then Stimson lets it go. 



In short, Mr. J. V. Stimson i-; ilninLr wi'Il 

 and is In shape to do better. 



lie liiiH iihviiyM taken liileroHt In iihho- 

 elation work. He Mlleiid<-<l the first iii<>t*t- 

 ing of the Indiana assmlatlon iind wiiK 

 eleciitl \'ii'e-preHldeiit, holding that poHlllon 

 iiiilll last ,laiiunry. when he was eleclinl 

 presUleiit. He has Ix-eii a stniiig and loyal 

 supporter of the National HanlwoiMl Kiiin- 

 ber .Vssoclation and has lii-<-n coiiiitnl mi In 

 the past, and Is i'oiinbHl on In the fuliir*- to 

 assist in dlre<'tliig Its course with his con- 

 servative, well-halani'i-d Juilgment. 



.\notlier side to Stimson's character Is 

 shown In the fact that he has found time, 

 in spite of Ills strenuous business life, to 

 licquire a broad and liberal education, ami 

 yon will find him well-posted on a wide 

 range of topics, from the philosophy of the 

 ani-lents to the latest development in the 

 political situation in Clilna. 



.Mr. Stimson is a strong man. loyal to Ills 

 friends and with a strong grip when he 

 gets his fingers on the windpipe of an 

 enemy. 



In short, Stimson is pretty much of a 

 man. with lots of growth in him still. 



THE FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT. 

 We |)resent herewith a |ihotograpli of 

 Mr. W. II. Russe. of Knsse & Hurge.ss, 

 Meniphis. Tenii. Mr. Itusse is at the pres- 

 ent time, we believe, in lOurope. where he 

 has been for several nionths looking after 



ir. msSK, .MK.MI'IIIS, TK.NN. 



till extensive foreign interests of his firm. 

 He is expected home in a short time, how- 

 ever, if he has not already arrived, and 

 we hope he will be in attendance at tlie 

 annual meeting of the National Hardwood 

 I-umber Association, where he will un- 

 doubtedly receive strong support for the 

 Iiresiilency of that organization. 



Mr. Russe attended the first meeting of 

 the National association and is a charter 

 member thereof. At the first meeting he 

 was elected second vice-president. When 

 two years ago F. II. Smith, the first vice- 

 liiesideut, was promoted to bo president, 



