am sorry but I don't feel that I can
let you have the money." "Very well," replied the young man, "I thought
perhaps you might; hence I came. Good day, sir." "Hold on," said
Claflin. "You don't drink?" "No." "Nor smoke?" "No sir." "Nor gamble?"
"No sir; I am superintendent of a Sunday-school, in ---- street." "Well,"
said Claflin, "you shall have it." This was characteristic of the man.
This anecdote well illustrates his character. He was an everyday
Christian.

On November 14, 1885, he passed away, leaving one more gap in the
commercial world, and in the membership of Plymouth Church, of which he
had been a member many years. Probably no one man missed him more at the
time of his death than did Henry Ward Beecher, of whom he had long been
a devoted admirer.

WILLIAM E. DODGE.

When one finishes the perusal of the life of William E. Dodge, he feels
a thrill of unbounded admiration. A man who would resign his membership
in the Union League Club, because it sold wine to its members; who
disposed of valuable investments in three different railroads, when a
majority of the stockholders voted to run Sunday trains; who, while
carrying on a large mercantile business, and managing an extensive stock
and real estate business, yet found time to preside at the Chamber of
Commerce and serve on numerous committees, and held a directorship in
various banking institutions, is surely to be admired.

His religious life was never weakened by his prosperity, and the more
money God blessed him with, the more religious societies he became
connected with.

William E. Dodge was born in the year 1805, near Hartford, Connecticut.
He began at the foot of the ladder, taking down shutters and sweeping
out the store in which he was employed. When twenty-one, he went into
business in a small way, doing a retail business, which prospered, and
at the end of three years Mr. Dodge felt able to support a wife.

In 1834 he was invited to become a partner in the firm with his
father-in-law, Mr. Anson Phelps, and a brother-in-law, under the
firm-style of Phelps, Dodge and Company. This connection proved a most
profitable business venture, and at the end of twenty years Mr. Dodge
was accounted a wealthy man. Looking about for investments, his keen
perception espied a vast fortune in lumber, and then followed those vast
accumulations of timber lands, by buying thousands of acres in West
Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Canada.

He a