To rise, in a few short years, by sheer force of character—by pluck and brains—from a humble beginning as a clerk in a small retail business in a country town to an eminence where one becomes the cynosure of all eyes in business, is a rare experience, indeed. And yet that has happened in the life of a citizen of New Orleans—William Perry Brown, the Cotton King. [Illustration: WILLIAM PERRY BROWN] He was born on a farm, and lived there until well advanced in his teens. When not at school, in his early years, the lad did chores about his home, the Civil War having left his father, who was a Confederate soldier of unblemished record, in reduced circumstances, as were all the people of his section. Under such circumstances, young Brown’s training and habits were on lines that tend to build character. They taught him, in his youth, the obligations of duty, the essentiality of self-denial and self-control, of faith in himself, and of hope for success. The lessons were not unheeded. In meeting difficulties and overcoming obstacles in business which would paralyze an operator of less heroic mold, he is cool, collected, resourceful. Neither by change of countenance, speech nor manner does he ever betray any fear he may feel as to the outcome of the situation in which he is placed. He is practical, and does things in a common-sense way, avoiding the spectacular as much as possible—his self-reliance and self-assertion being less conspicuous in speech than action. Mr. Brown’s faith in the idea that cotton has been selling too low is not a thing of a day’s growth. He is an observer of men and a student of events, noting causes and the effects produced. Therein lies the secret of his success. He realizes that supply and demand regulate prices, when market conditions are normal—free from manipulation to produce, by artful management, deceptive situations.