HARDWOOD RECORD 



15 



'Builders of Lumber History. 



William H. Kusse. 

 (t<iv I'urtrait tiupifUiatnt.) 

 Carlyle truly says : ' ' The race 



of life 

 has become intense; the runners are treading 

 upon each other 's heels ; woe be to him who 

 stops to tie his shoestrings. ' ' The men who 

 force their way to the front in the hard- 

 wood industry have to be quite as strenuous 

 in their endeavor as in any other walk of 

 life. Some, however, have had the advantage 

 of being born in Indiana, the heart of the 

 greatest hardwood belt this world has ever 

 iinown. One of these fortunate men is so 

 well known that merely mentioning his 

 name to the majority of the hardwood lum- 

 bermen in the United States brings forth an 

 enthusiastic, ' ' Oh, yes, we know Bill Kusse. ' ' 



ilr. Eusse was born in Indianapolis Deo. 

 17, 1855. He attended the public schools at 

 that place and North "Western Christian Uni- 

 versity until he was fifteen years old. Then, 

 like most of the successful men of today, 

 he decided to learn a business, and went to 

 work for an Indianapolis hardware firm. His 

 enthusiasm and energy early brought returns, 

 and in eighteen months he graduated from the 

 store and became a fuU-fledged drummer. Un- 

 til he was twenty-two he sold hardware on the 

 road, and then Cupid took a hand in his 

 aft'airs. In 1877 Mr. Eusse married Miss 

 Clara Northway of Indianapolis. He real- 

 ized that a traveling man would make a rather 

 indifferent husband, and decided to learn the 

 lumber business. He entered the employ of 

 N. C. Long, remaining in this position ten 

 years. At the age of thirty-three he formed 

 a partnership with Henry Latham and George 

 D. Burgess, under the firm name of Eusse, 

 Latham & Burgess. Three years later Messrs. 

 Eusse and Burgess bought out Mr. Latham's 

 interest, and the firm of Eusse & Burgess has 

 continued ever since. Soon after purchasing 

 Mr. Latham's interest, Kusse & Burgess 

 opened a branch yard in Cairo, 111., and in 

 1881 moved the main oiBce to that point. 

 About six years later a branch yard was 

 opened in Memphis, and in 1888 the main 

 ofiice was moved to that great hardwood lum- 

 ber town. 



Mr. Basse has four children and to arouse 

 his greatest enthusiasm one need only men- 

 tion to him his grandchild." One son, George 

 C. Eusse, is with the K. Sondheimer Company, 

 Memphis; another, F. W. Eusse, Ph. D., is 

 with the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works of St. 

 Louis. His daughters, Miss Lillian and Miss 

 Evelyn, are still at home. 



Mr. Eusse is always cheerful and optimis- 

 tic, making his acquaintances glad they know 

 him. His enthusiasm is contagious, and he 

 doubtless impresses the foreigners with whom 

 he mingles for about four months in the 

 year while closing his sales abroad, as a 

 typical American — always ready to talk busi- 



MUMBEB XXVI. 



ness, always overflowing with energy. Mr. 

 Kus.se is one of the largest hardwood export- 

 ers in this country. His friends are legion 

 and he always has a good story or an enter- 

 taining speech at hand, which makes him in 



I'UINT (IF 



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 SIZK. 



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demand wherever hardwood lumbermen meet. 

 Mr. Eusse has always taken a great inter- 

 est in lumber associations and is a thorough 



believer in the work done by them. He was 

 a charter member and secretary of the Cairo 

 Lumber Exchange. He has served as presi- 

 dent of the Lumbermen 's Club of Memphis, 

 and is a member of the board of managers 

 of the National "Wholesale Lumber Dealers' 

 Association. 



Honors are crowding thick and fast on 

 W. ir. Kusse. In January of this year he 

 was re-elected president of the National Lum- 

 ber Exporters' Association, and last week at 

 .Memphis by a very large majority he was 

 made president of the largest hardwood or- 

 ganization in the world — the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association. As i.s known, he 

 was originally nominated for this distinction 

 by the Hardwood Lumber Exchange of Chi- 

 cago at its annual meeting a month ago. One 

 by one other great hardwood centers of the 

 country endorsed his candidacy, and the re- 

 sult of the election at the Memphis meeting 

 demonsti-ated most thoroughly his popularity 

 and the belief of his constituents that he 

 was the right man for the right place. Mr. 

 Kusse 's abilities as a presiding officer, as a 

 logician, and as a diplomat surely will secure 

 for him much added distinction in the office 

 that has come to him with so much enthu- 

 siasm. He well knows the work that is 

 marked out for him, and that it means a 

 great personal sacrifice to do it well. He is 

 no shirker of responsibility and it goes with- 

 out saying that he will do his best. 



It is with pleasure that the Hardwood 

 Record prints as the supplement of this 

 issue the portrait of the most popular lum- 

 berman not only of the Memphis district, 

 but of the hardwood industry of the United 

 States — the new president of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association, William H. 

 Kusse. 



A Lumberman's Letters to His Son. 



Chicago, May 8. 



My dear Son : 1 am just back from the 

 Memphis meeting, and I am going to say to 

 you right here that your old dad is going to 

 resign all lumber conventions to you after 

 this. I 'm all to the bad, and your mother 

 thinks I have been hitting them up again, 

 though I explained matters carefully. It 

 was a fierce proposition. Hot doesn 't express 

 it! The weather was hot; the election was 

 hotter; and the Memphis bunch the hottest 

 that ever happened ! We were packed in the 

 hotel like sardines in a box, and if it hadn't 

 been for Max Sondheimer 's lunch house we'd 

 have gone hungry. They tell me this food 

 factory he 's running is costing him a lot of 

 money, but he 's a charitable cu.ss and can 

 stand it. But no more conventions for the 

 old man — the simple life for mine. 



I don't know what will happen at Atlantic 

 City next year. There were enough tempta- 

 tions at Memphis to lead even the best of us 

 astray — but Atlantic City ! Whew ! ! ! 



Am glad to know you are getting on so 

 well with the work of building the mill. Hope 

 to see you running it very soon. We cer- 

 tainly need the stock. Lumber is actually 

 higher in Memphis than it is in Chicago to- 

 day. That bunch has got too wise for me, 

 and I 've given up hopes of making any more 

 money off that spot on the map. 



Where in the name of common sense did 

 you pick up your stenographer? For Heaven's 

 sake teach liim to distinguish between firsts 

 and seconds and one and two inch, and give 

 him a few kindergarten lessons in spelling. 

 Tell him he's working too hard — one "1" is 

 enough to put in elm — the price won't stand 

 for any more. 



Let me hear from you often. Keep busy. 

 Your affectionate Father. 



p. S. — Wish you would write a letter to 

 your mother inquiring after my health, and 

 tell her you understand I was threatened with 

 pneumonia while at Memphis. 



