Philip Dru: Administrator; A Story of Tomorrow, 1920-1935

edy of t

e, the young Kentuckian felt his departure from Texas and the Army as a portentous turning point in his career. In spite of Gloria's philosophy, and in spite of Jack's reassurance

"You can take my word for it that you have the wrong idea in wanting to quit

e only thing I could do, under the circumstances, it's a hard wrench to leave the Army,

sts. Once convinced that an Army career was impossible, he resigned, and began to reconstruct his life with new hope and with a new enthusiasm. While he was ordered to give his eyes c

wn's insistent invitation to visit him for a time, at least. Through the long days an

and he, the oldest of three children, was the only support of the family. He got up at five and prepared their simple meal, and did what he could towards making his mother comfortable for the day. By six he left the one room that sheltered them, and walked more than two miles to where he now was. Midday meal he had none, and in the late afternoon he walked home and arranged th

. Philip asked if they might go home with hi

changed there and went east. Midway between the Bowery and the river, they got out and walked south for a few b

the city. Here the heat was almost unbearable, and the ste

together with unsanitary surroundings, had set its mark upon them. The deathly pa

n a long, dark, narrow hall reeking with disagreeable odo

ly woman. She was barely thirty, yet poverty, disease and the city had drawn their cruel lines across her face. Gloria went to her bedside and gently pressed the fragile hand. She dar

days of her life. The promise of help for the children lifted a heavy load from her heart. Poor stricken soul, Zelda Turner deserved a better fate. When she married Len

their produce. Some place where the children could get fresh air, wholesome food and a place in which to grow up. Two thousand dollars saved, would, they thought, be enough to make the star

e. The dreary days and nights that followed need not be recited here. The cost of the funeral and other expenses incident thereto bit deep into their savings, therefore as soon as she could pull herself together, Mrs. Turner sought employment and got it in a large dressmaking establishment at the inadequate wage of seven dollars a week. She was skillful with her needle but had no aptitude for design, therefore she was ever to be among the plodders. One night in the busy season of overwork before the Christmas holidays, she started to walk the ten block

oon went, and Peter with his blacking b

r, but there are those who do. This experience has been my lesson, and from now it is my purpose to consecrate my life towards the betterment of such as

me help you, Phi

te, call it what you will, should have stepped in and thrown its protecting arms around her. It was never intended that she should lie there day after day

come to them, and they condemn their less fortunate brother as one deserving his fate. The poor, the weak and the impractical did not themselves bring about their condition. Who knows how large a part the mystery of birth and heredity play in one's life and what environment and opportunity, or lack of it, means to us? Health, ability, energy, favorable

by the gleam of gold, and to what end? The so-called fortunate few that succeed in obtaining it, use it in divers ways. To some, lavish expenditure and display pleases their swollen vanity. Others, more serious minded, gratify their selfishness by giving largess to schools of learning and research, and to the advancement of the sciences and arts. But here and there was found a man gifted beyond his fellows, one with vision clear enough to distinguish things worth while. And these, scorning to acquire either wealth or power, labored diligently in the