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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1906)
r i 'i I i 1 I i l r Ti II i nil I Ti ii r -r niiiT i m LBANY, X. Y., March 5. (Spocinl Correspondcnoc of the Sunday Orogonlan.) Six foot tall, slon- tlor but muscular, alert with an on paging . .sillily, a bearing thaj. sug gests both the college, athlete and the soldier, a direct gaze, an impulsive vny of speaking, a voice hearty, .yet well under control that is Jamas W. Wadsworth, Jr., oC Gennosoo. .As he goes down. "Washington uvo bAie, tve'ry morning on his way to the crumbling State Capitol Mnen and womon turn and regard intently his erect, swinging figure. "Our 28-yoar-old college boy As sembly Speaker," says a grizzled vot cran in state politics to a visitor in town. He has more games to think j about than baseball and hunting foxes j on horseback this year, let mc tell j you!" . ... "Jimmie Wadsworth's making good," Fays a younger man. "I. don't envy him his job, though, "for it's no cinch. But if- he wins " It is not the Albany politicians only who are taking a keen interest in this young man. Outside New York state nobody cares much about the Assembly Speaker; or dinarily, he is of no more .consequence than the Speaker of any other State 1egislature. liven the late Speaker Nixon, strongest man to preside over the "lower House of tSie New York Legislature for many years, wasn't a national figure. But just now young Wpdsworth is. First of all, in the xyes of the peo ple, he represents in Albany "that man in Washington," and what he stands for in 'polities. His dramatic and unexpected rise as a, ainglc term Assemblyman to the Speakership, the most difficult place of the sort in the country, next to that held by Uncle Joe Cannon him self, this year at least, fixed the eyes qf the political world upon him Im mediately after Governor Higgin's re markable "uppointment" which left the Assembly nothing to do but to "confirm" him was issued. His youth, personality, antecedents, affiliations, the strained situation in his party in- this, the President's own state, and the fact that the Insurance investigating committee's report would be received by the Assembly witn him fbr presiding officer have added to the public Interest In him. So has his attitude with reference to tho proposed blanket legislative Inves tigations of the banking department and ojther divisions of the state gov ernment. Governor Higgins was not Jp favor of blanket investigation, neither was young "Wadsworth, thoug-h contrary reports have been printed. So has the talk of making his father, James W. "Wadsworth, Sr., chairman of the Tiepublican State Committee to succeed Benjamin B. Odell. Yo,ung "Wads worth may flash in the pan, but after watcning him several weeks many Albany statesmen agree that he stands a strong chance of making good. If he does make good In what he sometimes calls "this Job," lie should be able to cut a wide swath in future .National affairs. Young- Wadsworth distinctly "belongs to tlje Roosevelt set politically, social ly and in every other way. He has never' been poor, but he isn't of .the multi-millionaire class; the men of his family have been college grad uates for generations, yet always out door men.fo.nd of -shorts -and. .not too bookish; eacn generation for a century and a half has had its. fighting men in the "Army und . Navy. Wadsworths liave -token .a hand In every war-ln the cbutttr.y3, .history except the war with Mexico never without credit, and often with, distinction; several have yielded patriotism's highest possible tribute, life itself. The Roosevelts ahd the Wiidsworths have been Intimate for many years, perhaps from revolutionary times even, Each of the two families can show j lontr list of members who wore en iraRcd in the War of Independence, aud it would be strange if Roosevelts and Wadsworths fulled to come in personal contact during- the struggle.- Young AVadsworth's grandfather. General James S "Wadsworth. killed at the battle of the 'lldcrness- in the elder, and fifs ' brother. -JtolScrt Barn -veil Roosevelt, Had many common n Ml aim in life and the President has known the young Speaker since ho wsis a boy. For years Theodore Boose.velt the younger 'has been a frequent visitor at Gcnseo to attend the "meets" of the Genenee Hunt, carried on by the grace of- the Wadsworths, whono fa mous S.OOO-acrn estates, clustered about Genesoo. . sire so big tliMl "fV hounds and hfinters-might Jtuvs Jl really eitondod. rim " without .evr crossing the line to .other lunds.' The Celebrated Genesee SUimL The Genesee Hunt wax organized nearly 310 years ago, and the Wads worths Iirvc always been Its main up porters. It Is W. Austin Wadsworth, not the J. W.'s, who supports -it main ly, but there isn't a Gen osoo Wads worth alive who isn't intcrcstud. or one who doesn't take mor-'or- loss -of an active-part in -the meets." These are hold 11 e times a week on -the avoragc in the Fall when the woath'T is- good.' The present Speaker - .t . - .1 j ' t-r. coiuctipcu lilt: i-mur un wiui ire nu followed the hounds only once or twice in the "past year or two. But m that, he explained, was leoau.se he had " tw other jobs on Ws hands, politics and the running of his farm. The Austin Wadsworth estate Is to the north of Geneseo. The estates of the Janis W.'s.. father and aon. arc tp the south. The liome of James .. Jr., is near Groveland. four miles from the coun ty seat. There .are. perhaps a dozen families in i the Genesee Valley who co-operate with the Wadswortlis in keeping up the hunt the William Littauers. the W inthrop Chanlera and the'Carys and "the Ruinseys of Buffalo among them, but without the Wadsworth support it would certainly go ; down. W. Austin Wadsworth furnishes the , docs and nays such a large proportion of the expenses that the dues are merely ' nominal, $10 a year, to be exact. He rur- 1 nishes the horses, too. on occasion, and no Gen'seean. fond of the vport and pop- : ular with the members -of the hunt. ned forego the joys of following the hounds just because he doesn t own a suitable. mount of his own. Also Austin wads- : worth has extra mounts for visitors, and j his hospitality is famous among those , who ride to hounds In Amorlea. But the greatest service in behalf of 1 cross-country riding performed by Mr. Wadsworth is the protection and propaga- j Hon of foxes. He doesn t breed tamo foxes: they would be lacking in both cour age and stamina, a failure so far as real sport goes, as the Moadowbrook Hunt folk found out years ago. but he does better. Foxes were abundant in the early day.s of the Genesee Valley, as almost every where else in this country, but by the time the Genesee Hunt -was established there were few within its bounds. For some years the Hunt had to follow the anise rsced bag much oftoner than Rey nard. Mr. Wadsworth planned a "refoxlng" of the valley, however, and in order to bring It about he arranged with the farmers, both on and off the Wadsworth estates, not to kill the foxes. At first the farm ers, objected, but he assured them that he would refund all damages In .the way of missing chickens and the like, and proved his sincerity by settling promptly for the first case of mischief proved against the foxes. He also arranged to pay for whatever damages might be done tQ crops or fences by the hunters. fiver since then Rej-nard has been a protected character in all that region, and today there are plentj' of foxes In the Genesee Valley. Not only do the farmers Tefraln from killing oft the cupnlng creat ures; they actually protect them. The very dogs belonging to the Genesee. Val ley fanners seem to feel, by this time, that it is wickeder to kill foxes than it is to kill sheep. You might suppose that occaslonallj the farmers would take, unfair advantage of the "Wadesworth devotion to sport; possi bly they -do. but hat sort of graft Is practiced Infrequently. If at all. The man putting in a fraudulent claim, or known to collect more than he should, would be very unpopular around Genesee. Farmers Fond of the SporL. . "More than oae farmer,- otherwise never -mixing with -the society cross-country rid ers always to he found, at a Genesco Hunt meet, Is accustomed to following the hounds whenever ho finds It convenient and Is niade welcome by the master $f the Hunt. But enjoyment of the Genesee Hunt meets is by no mcAis confined, among the farmers of the,vllej to those who are qualified to follow.4.he hounds. In fact, the meets arc the classic free amusement In all that part of the valley. Whenever, the; weather Is tine .on a meet THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, 3IARCII- 11, 1906. day tharc Is a great gathering of farm ers, with tholr families, and sometimes many guests, in buggies, "democrat wag ons" and other rural vehicles, to sec the start. After the fox has got away the farmers follow the riders as well as they can f6r miles, .sometimes keeping to the roads, of court e. Often the farmers dis play surprising knowledge of Reynard s probable course, and are able, when losing ( sight of both hounds and riders, to make short cuts by road to the best places from which to watch the progress of the hunt. It has happened that fox. hound and rid ers have all been preceded to the point where the fox .has finally succumbed by some of the farmerspectators. who were thus enabled to vfrw the "death" from a point of vantage on the highway. The Genesee Valley Horse Show Is an other Wadsworth Institution that lends color and life to the valley such as hardly any other region in the country can boast. It is held overs' October, and has been for many years in a wide, level area near the river, known as the Big Tree Field, perhaps a mile from the village and be loging to the Austin -Wadsworth estate. No admittance Is charged, and the whole countryside is invited to come and sec the high jumping, the steeplechase riding, the fancy driving and all the other stunts in which the exhibitors display themselves and their horses. Special invitations are also sent to society .people In New York, Rochester. Buffalo. Philadelphia. Boston and elsewhere. These certainly furnish as much amusement to the farmers as do the four-footed creatures for whose exhibition the show Is really held. It goes without saying that the farmers furnish entertainment to the society peo ple as well; thus the Wadsworth horse show Is a real addition to the Joy of liv ing in the beautiful valley of the Genesee. The Younjs: Speaker's Training:. Though not a frequent cross-country rider of late, the young Speaker is as fond of the sport as he ahould be. being a Wadsworth. and riding to hounds as a boy and young man was a vital part of his training for the public career marked out for him in advance by his father. So were his preparatory studies at Southborough. Mass.. his subsequent col lage course at Yale a Yale course has been customary among the Gcncseo Wadsworths for four generations so was his baseball playing, of which so much has been written and printed since he be came Spealter. and so Indeed was his ex perience in Porto Rico as a soldier, and in the PhUlpplnes as a "civilian orderly" attached to Colonel Page's command. His military experience delayed his political career a Utile, however: it was planned that he should begin la politics the very year of his graduation from Yale, but the Spanish War came along, and, of course, he enlisted. He wouldn't have oeen following the Wadsworth traditions at all hod h failed to do so; Wadsworths go to the front whenever there is any real fighting, and It wasn't the fault of James TV.. Jr.. that he couldn't get Into the Rough Riders, or that there was no fighting to do In Porto Rico when he got there. Rooaevelt would have got him Into his command had he been able to. but the demand for places was too great: he got Craig Wadsworth In. and that was . all he could do for that family just then. Speaker Wadsworth's training as a. practical farmer and' In actual local poli tics as a proprietor farmer's son on a elg landed estate was undoubtedly as Impor tant to him as any training he received in scliooU at college, on the baseball field or in the Army. None of the many newspaper articles printed about him since his election to the Speakership has 'failed to refer to the fact that the Wadsworths are farmers "gen tlemen farmers" they have been tcratcd more than once. They object to the term. In the ordinary acceptance, a "gentlcmaa Yale Man, Practical Farmer, Sports man, Soldier, Politician and Pos sible Future Statesman. .A J? A v-- 4 ii - farmer" Is one .who goes Into .farming "for the, exercise to gSt relaxation from more strenuous occupation. He gener ally expects to spend more money on nts farm than he can possibly get oiit of It. "Look here old man." said tho young Speaker one day to a friend who pro tested that he wasn't giving enough at tention to -cross-country riding and otner gentlemanly amusements. "I've got' to make my farm pay. Tf I don't. I'll go broke. To make the farm pay, I've got to work Instead of play." That Is the way both the J- W. Wads worths look upon farming, and always have. The older man has always been a hustler at farm work when necessary, and "Jlramlo" " doesn't hesitate at any thing. Once, as the ncwi-napers have al ready told, when a lot of his cattlo were caught on the Genesee "flat" by the Spring high water, he led a band -of hi employe Into the Icy overflow and helped swim the cattle onto dry land. 'FP" aaH V I v IF ill 3 4. 7m m It took two hours, and some of the men might have balked If the young employer hadn't gone ftt It so emhuslastlcally: " Young Wadsworth had to learn how to do ordmury farm labor when he was early In his teenst He had to earn wages, too: by his father's direction he used to work by tho day for one and another of the Wadsworth tenant farmers, beginning I at 25 cents a cay. He noes corn, no roae ! the horse-rake; he "loaded" hay and grain a beastly Job. by the way; It an swers to the "trimming" of a ship's cargo h helped about the "separator" or on the straw-stack at "threi'hln time." and did all the other things a boy's strength was equal to in S,ummcr time and early Fall, though, of course, he was In school the greater part of every year. During his college career he did some farm work every vacation; his devotion to basebull Interfered somewhat, but there had never been a Summer since he was old enough that he liaai't done a share of the ferocious work of pitching hay, etc.. cither on one of his father's farms or hU own. All this doesn't mean that he works with his hands all the time, as a farmer with only a few acres would work, but It does mean that he wojks enough to keep his hand In, and enough to convince his men that he knows Just what their work le. how It ought to be done and whether they are earning their money. Since his marriage to Alice Hay, two or three .years ago, ho has lived on his .own farm of. 1103 acres, a wedding gift from his father, and has devoted more time to Its conduct than some of his friends think he should. Undoubtedly "Jlmmhi" Wadsworth got a good share of his training In politics while worklrfg ""'with the men." both when a boy and since; he is as demo cratic among them, as If he was drawing wages the same as they. His political training when a boy was not limited to mixing with the hands, though. He used to pay almost as much attention as his father ro whatever political doings were on when he was home. in. vacation time, and he knows a lot about that bulwark.of our liberties, the" local " caucus. He wouldn't .give- much attention to the Fall campaign at home, though, for in the Fall he was always at school. Running the Wadsworth 1-lstates. It has been Mid In print that the Gcn cseo Wadsworths are more like the big landed proprietors of England than any body else In this country. That Is truer James W. Wadsworth, Jr., Speaker, of the Assembly, Who Has Made Good. 5 &2& of the other Wadsworths perhaps than of the Speaker and his father, the Con gressman. There two carry on their own farms, the others leasing theirs on terms re sembling those commonly uccepted In England. They are evidently satisfactory to all concerned, since, while all the leases are yearly ones, a Wadsworth les see rarely throws up his holding unless compelled to by sickness or old age. The 35.000 acres making up the "Wadsworths' estates are held by W. Austin Wadsworth. Herbert Wads worth, Mrs. Charles Wadsworth, Mrs. Porter Chandler. J. S. Wadsworth. Craig Wadsworth and . the two James W.'s. For' convenience they arc divid ed into fa.rpi3 ranging from 90 acres to 2000 in size. A family lives on each farm. Those who work the J. W. Wads worth farms are paid monthly wages besides housing- and farm produce as needed for subsistence and so, per haps, are more responsible than the other tenants trf the proprietors, though all the various Wadsworth es- I tates are run strictly acordlng to busi ness principles.. Each rarm must De made to pay, and each Is made to pay; nobody ever heard of a Genesco Wads worth "going- broke." The estates sup port about 2000 Deople all toldl Save for the leasehold system all the Wadsworth estate's are run according to the" same" - general plan. For con venience the farms all have names, such as Sweet Briar Farm, Sugarbush Farm. Black Walnut Farm, etc Austin Wadsworth manages the es tates belonging- to the two or three of the family besides himself, and the j. w. Wadsworths also manage more estates than their own. Each Wads worth proprietor employ? expert book keepers, as would any business man. The archives In each Wadsworth office Include not only the financial returns' from each farm each separate field. In Tact but also records showing: what have bcn the crops planted for more than a hundred years on every part of the great acreage the family controls, the amount of money spent for building-, repairs, fencing, etc.. the kind of crops whieh have been most successful and a vast amount of Information that enables the owners to know pretty nearly what to do with and what to expect from every acre which they have under cultivation. Strictly speaking- the Wadsworths 4$ are "business" farmers, not 'scientific" farmers, as you might expect them to be; they have never yet gone in heax--ily for the chemical analysis or the new "Inoculation" of soils, the making; of elaborate scientific experiments or modern intensive farming. They be lieve that great advances are to he made alonp those lines, though, and this is especially true of J. TV. Wads worth. Jr. Talking with a friend the other 'day he said that he purposed always beinE a farmer; the business, in his opinion, being- as good in every way as any other business, considering the capital required and Its stability. Given a fair grude of soil, proper knowledge .of its qualities, plenty of hard work, strict attention to detail and the same ob servance of business principles prac ticed in other businesses, he said farm ing ought to pay 3 per cent on the capital Invested year in and year out. Some businesses yield more, but the risks are greater and bankruptcy comes oftener. Plenty of farmers fail, but the percentage is smaller than in some other ceilings. It has often been stated that 90 per cent of all the young men who go into mercantile manufac turing and financial enterprises drop out; nothing like this proportion of failures has been reported from the farmers. "Farmers on a medium scale, who own their own farms, sometimes com plain of the small amount of actual money they see In a year," said Mr. Wadsworth. "and compare themselves unfavorably with the merchant on a moderate scale, and, sometimes, with the man who earns a salary of $2000 or 33000. But these farmers forget that the farm furnishes the place for the family to live in. and so there is no house rent, no store rent, no shoprent to pay. "They also forget that most of the food for the family comes from the farm, without the passing .over of any money to the butcher, tho baker or the grocer, and that a large proportion of the money they do see every year Is over and above the cost of living. This is not true of the money of most people not farmers handle, by any means, whatever may be their business." .Wudsworths of Other Days. What sort of stock is it from which this young farmer, sportsman, soldier, present-day politician and possible future statesman comes? This is a question which has not been fully an swered in any of the recent Wads worth articles. James TV. Wadsworth. Jr., Is of the ninth generation from William, broth er of Christopher Wadsworth. These two were the first members of the family in America. They came from Yorkshire, England, and landed'- at Boston In 1632. only a dozen years after the Pilgrims stepped foot on Plymouth Rock- The Wadsworths were exceptionally prominent before and during the Revo lution, both serving- the colonists' cause. It was a Wadsworth of- Hart ford, where William Wadsworth set tled, who hid the charter of Connecticut In the famous hollow tree, later called the Charter Oak. when a royalist Gov ernor planned to take it away. General Peleg Wadsworth. of-the fourth or fifth generation from Chrtstopner. wno had settled in what Is now Maine and was prominent in the military operations there, was the hero of an adventure in. 1TS1 that would read well in any volume of revolutionary romance. He planned to pass one night, guarded by only six Colonial soldiers, at his own home at Thomaiiton with his family, miles away from the main body of his troops. Th British, learning of his rashness, sent a (Concluded on Fasc -It.) I