Speaking of Self Made Lumbermen, Meet C. D. Johnson of Portland, Oregon

Somesage philosopher, long ago, who had been dig' ging deep into the lives and thoughts of men, handed to future generations the now much quoted axiom that "some men are born great, s om e achieve greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them." And the old philosopher stopped right there. He neither contrasted nor compared the three.

It has remained for this age to place its stamp of unqualified approval upon just one of the lot-the SECOND. Of little interest to the practical world of today is either the man who is born great, or him rvho has greatness thrust upon him. In bygone days men who rvere born great, or those who had greatness thrust upon them, ruled the world. The day of the self-made man didnot dawn until a few short gen- ttsl",?a:;, in tne eyes of all the thinking world, the only man genuinely worth while, is that man who with his own head and hands, creates for himself his place on this earth.

"'What have you done ? What can ygu do ?" are the two questions that the practical world now asks the man who applies for classification. The world owes all its progress from Adam until now, to self-made man. The other two classes have been obstructionistq always.

The other night I sat in a great gathering of lumbermen in the city of Tacoma. About two hundred of the leaders of the lumber industry were there. I heard it remarked frequently that there were more of the high executives of the Northwestern lumber industry than had ever gathered in one room before. They had gathered there to discuss rnatters of vital interest to the lumber industry. It was a thoughtful meeting of forceful men.

The Chairman of that meeting is the subject proper of this story. No one challenged his right to act as leader in that fine gathering. In his face, his voice, his whole demeanor, there was strength, self-confidence, rugged determination, high intelligence, splendid courage. His was the aspect ofa man who has met many obstacles, and overcome them.

Encircled by scores of the great men of the Northwestern lumber industry,.his was one of the outstanding characters in the room. They told me that they have come to look gpon him with great admiration and respect, theie in the Pacific Northwest. In no sense a diplomlt, but a straight thinker and a square shooter who speaks his mind foie- fully and without equivocation at all times, he has come n_aturally to a place of leadership among the men who cut, the great trees of the Northwesl

And as I sat there and watched him preside over that strong assemblage of men great in lumber affairs, I salv another picture. The scene of that other picture dated forty years back. The place was the little sawmill town of Carmona, in East Texas. The exact location was the Joggtttg "front" at the sawmill of the late Sam Allen, ond of the Texas pioneer millmen.

There are two powerful young men in the picture. And they are engaged in an occupation that tries the muscles, and makes the sweat fairly flow. They are sawing long leaf Yellow Pine timber, and for their labor they are getting fifty cents per thousand feet.

One of the pair is short in stature, but powerfully built. He has a strong body, and a clear, determined grey eye. Heis just twenty years old. He has gong in for timber cutting in place of a soft job in the city of Nerv Orleans, because he can make more monev that lvav. and he wants to get somewhere.

There is much about the young man in this forty year old picture that reminds me of the chairman of that recent great meeting in Tacoma.

In fact, the only difierence is forty years. Forty years of time, of experiente, of wonderful education in ihe school of hard knocks, of uphill business battles, and of ripened philosophy founded on well remembered facts.

For the 20 year old boy who started in the lumbe.r business sawing Yellow Pine logs for fifty cents a thousand at Carmona, Texas, is the same man who rrresided over that lumber meeting.

Both were C. D. Johnso; o.f e;rttand, Oregon.

The lumber industry is filled with men who, by their own effort and ability and intelligence and courage and sticktoitiveness, have made a succeis of their businJss and of their lives..

But no one that we have heard of more thoroughly exemplifies self-made success, than does C. D. Johnsoi. From sawing logs in the Texas woods at fiftv ceits a thousand to the presidency of a great lumber manufacturing corporation with properties valued at more than ten m-illions of dollars, without any help except that of his own good h.ead and hands, is a splendid retuin on forty years of-continuous lumbering activity.

This he has already accomplished, and with a mental and physical condition that the strongesi man in the very prime oflife would be delighted to possess, it would seim that his real life work is stitl before him. It is the first steps up the ladder that come slow. After you "arrive" things -comi much easier.

Mr. Johnson did not stay long at log cutting. There was too much in him for that. He became a sawhill foreman in another Texas mill and yard, started learning the lumber business to better advantage.

He stayed about three years-in Texas, and then in turn worked_in lumber yards in Kansas City, in Chicago and in Iowa. Then he went to Arkansas, and it was in Ihis state that he served the greater part of his business career, and established the foundations for his large lumber successes. He became superintendent of a mill at New Lewisville. Arkansas. In 1894, eight years after he started sawing logs

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