On Fri, 22 Apr 1994, Eric Paige wrote:
 
> ADENDUM:  The Conference runs from June 19 - 23, 1994, at Russell Sage
>  College in Troy, New York.  The Keynote Address will be delivered by
 
Ah, Russell Sage.  What a character!  I was reading some stories about him
recently in George Oslin's book "The Story of Telecommunications"  (Oslin
is a 93-year-old former PR man for Western Union).  Jay Gould was about to
be forced into bankruptcy when Russell Sage stepped in with a million
dollars.  I don't know why, seems like Jay Gould cheated his partners as
much as he did his competitors and the public.  Russell Sage got a seat on
the Western Union board of directors.  He was well known for both his great
wealth and for his penny pinching.  He would dress in clothes that looked
like they came from a thrift store, and would chide the other directors
about their expensive suits.  After a meeting he would gather up the leftover
pencils and paper and stuff them in his pockets, and would also take the
palmetto fan that each director was supplied with in those days before
air conditioning or even electric fans.
 
One day the other directors decided to have some fun at Sage's expense.
As he was leaving the meeting one of them collared him and said "you can't
take Western Union property away from here", indicating the fan.  To which
Russell Sage replied, "I _am_ Western Union."  The other man continued
scuffling with him and eventually got the fan away from him and brought
it back to the other directors, who were howling with laughter in the
board room.
 
A few months ago I saw a posting on Usenet by a fellow signing himself as
Russell Sage.  So I emailed back and asked if he is related to THE Russell
Sage; and he said, well, he had some ancestor back East who made a lot of
money in railroads.  So I told him all the Russell Sage stories I had been
reading.