|
|
 |
|
| 440 | BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT CYCLOPEDIA |
| proven himself to be a man who will prove a valuable acquisition to any community. We refer to Mr. N. F. Thompson, whose name heads this article. For ten years Mr. Thompson has been a live, active, enterprising citizen of Birmingham. During the last two years of the ten he has occupied the position of secretary of the Commercial club. Since entering upon the duties of that position he has devoted his entire time and talents to Birmingham, and that he has accomplished a great deal of good for the city is a fact known of all men in this community. Notwithstanding he went into the place long before the shadows of the panic of '93 had begun to pass away, he has succeeded in locating some industries here; but, best of all, he has taken care to see to it that outside interest in Birmingham was not allowed to languish. He has constantly kept the city, its advantages, resources and possibilities prominently advertised to the world. During his term as secretary Mr. Thompson has contributed freely to the press, both local and foreign, able articles on industrial matters, never failing to take care that those who read them might learn of the great advantages that Birmingham and this district offer to outside as well as home capital. Mr. Thompson has accepted the position of industrial agent of the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, at a salary something like double the amount the club here can afford to pay, and several days ago tendered his resignation to the directory of the club. He will leave for Johnstown to-night. For the present his family will remain in Birmingham. At a meeting of the directors of the Commercial club yesterday, strong resolutions endorsing Mr. Thompson were passed, as well as resolutions expressing the regrets of the directory that Mr. Thompson has seen proper to depart. | |
Mr. Thompson has many friends in Birmingham and throughout the country who wish him all the success possible in his new field. "While the State-Herald regrets that Mr. Thompson has determined to leave Birmingham, it cheerfully commends him to the Johnstown people, and heartily congratulates them on having secured him as a citizen and as their industrial agent, assuring them that they have gotten the right man in the right place. In his new field we wish Mr. Thompson much success, and hope ere long that Birmingham may claim him again as a citizen." And the following is from the Birmingham News: "Birmingham loses to-day an active, energetic and enthusiastic citizen, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, gains one in the person of Mr. N. F. Thompson, who has for nearly two years been secretary of the Commercial Club of Birmingham. Mr. Thompson received the offer of promotion--salary, if not in the field of work--directly through his labors for Birmingham. Johnstown saw how he kept Birmingham's interests to the front, and called him at figures he could not, with justice to himself, refuse. "The position of secretary to the Commercial Club is full of peril to the incumbent's popularity. It is a very difficult place to hold satisfactorily to one's self, to the membership, and to the public. No living man could fill it through such years as 1894 and 1895 and not enlarge the circle of his critics. "The News believes that few, very few, men possessing force of will and enthusiasm, full of a go-ahead spirit and constantly moving, could leave as many associates as Mr. Thompson does, who feel that the absence of his intense partisanship for Birmingham will be a serious loss, and that for snap, zeal and loy- |
 |
Title Page | Contents | Image | Index |  |
