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THE MAN OF THE MONTH
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"It's rather a coincidence," says Spencer, "but I was born in Cherokee County. When I was nine, we moved to Pittsburg. I had no thought of going back there to estabUsh a plant, but now the Jayhawk works is back in Cherokee County where I started! There must be something in the saying about people returning to the land where they were born!"
Kenneths father, Charles Spencer, grew up in the mining company and developed it into big business. Today, the coal company is big, but com' pletely dwarfed by the step-child ereated by Kenneth Spencer, who is still president of the coal company.
Kenneth's father was effective without fuss, a tolerant and patient man with a rare capacity for absorbing other people's troubles. His mother was the intellectual stimulus, with a gay, quick mind and an interest in everything.
Today, Spencer recalls how his father provided him with the will to work. His father invited him to throw some bricks into a neighbor's yard without troubling to explain that the neighbor wanted them there anyway. Thus he was painlessly introduced to toil in the first decade of his life.
After high school in Pittsburg, Spencer went to Culver Military Academy and then on to the University of Kansas. During his sophomore year the president of his fraternity. Beta Theta Pi, called a meeting. The chapter was building a new addition to the house, and he wanted every member to write his life ambition on a piece of paper, which would be placed in the cornerstone for posterity. Young Spencer knew what his ambi'
tion was, and wrote: "I expect to run an integrated coal and chemical business."
At the university he divided his extracurricular activities between Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Gamma Upsilon and boxing, the latter under the professional Tommy Dixon.
Boxing stood him in good stead after his graduation. He went to work in the coal pits. Naturally, he was looked on as the "boss's son," one who was pampered and petted. Having heard of his boxing prowess in college, the miners taunted him to bring out his "gloves" sometime and take one of them on. Spencer figured that he would have to do it some day, and it would be best if he did it while he was still in condition. One day in February, he brought his gloves to the pits, the men made a ring by having four men stand holding a rope, and used as a gong an iron pot. It was agreed to have four rounds of two minutes each. A big, muscle-bound miner was selected to box Spencer. They stepped into the ring, the bell rang and they fought. Two minutes went by, the bell rang, but the miner didn't stop! He just kept on wading in. Spencer waited until the miner's feet were mixed up and knocked him down and out. "That was the last of boxing for me," said Spencer, "and it was the last I had to do."
KENNETH SPENCER is first of all an engineer, second a business man. An impressive man of 6 feet 2 inches and about 200 pounds, he is alert, aggressive and full of energy. And like most big men, he has a wonderful sense of humor. He is proud of what he calls his "one-track mind."