ly no dark or covered corner in it; they
knew it not only because all men in my walks of life know it, but
because they had investigated it with their unerring search-light. Most
men who have ever been on the inside of "Standard Oil" know that no man
with a bad record could do business, much less have an intimate
relation, with Rogers and Rockefeller for nine seconds; and my
connection extended over nine years.

The tone of my correspondence during the year was not by any means
altogether friendly. The writer of the following letter presented his
conclusions straight from the shoulder and I was equally direct in my
reply:

Personal.

GAINESVILLE, FLA., February 21, 1905.

MR. THOMAS W. LAWSON, Boston, Mass.

_Dear Sir_: Pardon my "buttin' in"--seems I must say
something.

If what Donohoe says about your Trinity Copper Company is
true, it would seem you ought to stop throwing mud at the
Standard Oil crowd, for you are no better than are they, and
they are known thieves and robbers. While you may be telling
the truth about the other fellow, yet the fact of your
telling it does not set well on the stomach of those who
read both sides of the story. Seems to me it's "dog eat dog"
until every one is disgusted.

Why don't you come down to business and give the readers of
_Everybody's_ something wholesome to digest and plenty of
it? The way it comes now, we are over our hunger before the
next issue shows up, and, in the meantime, your friend has
converted many to the thought that you are worse than the
Standard Oil crowd.

Won't you please answer, in the next issue of _Everybody's_,
if you made your money--your fortune, HONESTLY, or did you
"do others" for fear they would "do you"? I am inclined to
think you are as big a "grafter" as ever came down the pike,
even though you may be telling on the other fellow--turning
State's evidence.

Yours truly,
----

You ask why I do not get down to business. You won't mind my telling you
the principal reason is that it is _I_ who am writing "Frenzied
Finance," not you nor any of your kind, and that I propose to decide
when it is time to get down to business. If in the meantime there is any
one else who can do the job I have cut out better than I, why, none will
be better pleased than myself. Indeed, I will gladly contribute as a
reward