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Show The Man Who Saved Belgium Herbert C. Hoover, being nineteen years of age, depending on his resources, re-sources, quiet, self-confident and sparing spar-ing of speech, presented himself in 1891 in the new Stanford university as the first student to be registered, the first occupant of Encina hall, and as the nucleus of the department of geology and mining. As nearly everybody every-body else among the 465 students was a freshman likewise, lack of experience experi-ence was no bar to anything. So, as a freshman, he organized the finances of the student body on a sound system which remains to this day when the student group spends many thousand dollars a year in its varied activities. DulV graduated In 1S95 as a mining engineer, Hoover accepted the first position po-sition offered, a place on the staff of a mining corporation in Nevada county coun-ty California. The pay was $2 per day the assignment to push ore-laden cars from the mouth of the mine to the reducing works. The cars all reached their destination, and a .more specialized job followed. Next he p-peared p-peared in the most desolate spot in he civilized world, Broken IHU, in the desert of New South Wales. In this desolate, forsaken wallow of sand, zinc and gold. Hoover and his term-mate. D. P. Mitchell, of '9,, spent a red-hot summer night discussing the chances of a return to the world ShouW they Po on as wage-work,,, minin- experts in the countries w Tot or should they throw ,t ..II rsyed by, and th,U came a series of events which led Hoover to China and Mitchell as a general manager to Melbourne. He was thirty-four years old by this time, we are told by David Starr Jordan Jor-dan in Sunset Magazine. He had gone to the limit as a mining engineer. He could do nothing more with it as a profession pro-fession except to pile up more money. He had all the money he needed and he wanted to do something else. There was Agricola, whom he would like to translate. There was a lot of ancient record stones from his mine on Mount Sinai. Hoover considered entering American politics. When the war began there were more than 200,000 Americans scattered over Europe. These met with all sorts of troubles and grievances, great and small. Some were rich and temporarily stranded, some permanently poor, some eking out petty incomes or alimonies ali-monies in the cheapest villages of Bavaria, Saxony or France. The Hoovers Hoov-ers took charge of the commission for their relief. The operations of the committee at the Savoy hotel, wholly American and wholly unpaid, showed the marvelous tact and skill with which American folks can handle a new situation. situ-ation. About C.000 Americans wen sent homo, and several times that number num-ber gained temporary relief. The relief re-lief of 6.000.000 of Belgians against Tlemocratic famine "working day and night" was a problem of infinite dimensions, dimen-sions, but Hoover tackled it as part of the day's work. If "Belgium saved Europe," as my good friend Sarolea says it did. then America saved Belgium, Bel-gium, and Hoover was her agent. |