cares, and the panic only caused me to postpone taking the long
holiday to which I had been looking forward. I was fortunate in making
the acquaintance of Mr. Frederick T. Gates, who was then engaged in
some work in connection with the American Baptist Education Society,
which required him to travel extensively over the country, north,
south, east, and west.

It occurred to me that Mr. Gates, who had a great store of common
sense, though no especial technical information about factories and
mills, might aid me in securing some first-hand information as to how
these concerns were actually prospering. Once, as he was going South,
I suggested that he look over an iron mill in which I had some
interest which happened to be on his route.

His report was a model of what such a report should be. It stated the
facts, and in this case they were almost all unfavourable. A little
later he happened to be going West, and I gave him the name and
address of property in that region in which I held a minority
interest. I felt quite sure that this particular property was doing
well, and it was somewhat of a shock to me to learn through his clear
and definite account that it was only a question of time before this
enterprise, too, which had been represented as rolling in money, would
get into trouble if things kept on as they were going.

NURSING THE COMMERCIALLY ILL

I then arranged with Mr. Gates to accept a position whereby he could
help me unravel these tangled affairs, and become, like myself, a man
of business, but it was agreed between us that he should not abandon
his larger and more important plans for working out some philanthropic
aspirations that he had.

Right here I may stop to give credit to Mr. Gates for possessing a
combination of rare business ability, very highly developed and very
honourably exercised, overshadowed by a passion to accomplish some
great and far-reaching benefits to mankind, the influence of which
will last. He is the chairman of the General Education Board and
active in many other boards, and for years he has helped in the
various plans that we have been interested in where money was given in
the hope that it would do something more than temporary service.

Mr. Gates has for many years been closely associated with my personal
affairs. He has been through strenuous times with me, and has taken
cares of many kinds off my shoulders, leaving me more time to play
golf, plan roads, move trees, and