Three-State Man

". . . Georgia is proud of Governor Osborn, not merely because he is a citizen but because he is such a loyal and devoted one. His description of a sunset in south Georgia is one of the most beautiful pieces of word-painting that ever flowed from the pen of any writer. His new book--the last of a long series of serious discussions --will find a hearty welcome in this state and throughout the south."

So rhapsodized the aged but active Atlanta Constitution last week, not in a book review but right spang on the editorial page. The "spot" news was that the Waverly Press, Inc. (Baltimore) had published a re-edition of The Earth Upsets by Chase Salmon Osborn, LL.D.--a geology book for laymen.-

Chase Salmon Osborn used to be not Georgia's but Michigan's Governor, in 1911 and 1912. He rose to that office from the comparatively humble positions of postmaster at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. (1889-93), then Michigan game & fish warden, then commissioner of railroads, then regent of the University of Michigan. What made Michiganders admire him much was his great feat as a mining engineer--the discovery of the Moose Mountain iron range in Canada. Brawny, brainy, he made a good public servant-Georgia's claim to Chase Salmon Osborn is that he usually winters near Albany, Ga., where his estate is known as " 'Possum Poke on 'Possum Lane." Had any Michigan newspaper desired to reclaim "one of the most prolific writers in this country" as a Michigander, it would only have had to point to Dr. Osborn's permanent home at Sault Ste. Marie. But then, had argument arisen, still a third state could have stepped in and carried off the prize. Michigan's Governor, Georgia's citizen, who started out in the world as a cub reporter, was born, like so many other famed writers, in the once-great but latterly self-belittled state of Indiana. Dr. Osborn evinced his faith in Indiana when, in 1926, he asked President Coolidge to let him occupy a cell in Atlanta Penitentiary as substitute for Indiana's Governor, Warren T. McCray (see CORRUPTION), who had been jailed for mail fraud. Said generous Dr. Osborn: "I have nothing to do, I have no dependents and I am used to more hardships than a prison entails."

* First published in 1924. Dr. Chase Salmon Osborn is not to be confused with Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn of the American Museum of Natural History.