j THE SUNDAY OREGOSIAN, PORTLAm JTJXE 6, 19Q9. '
Most of the Country's Great Financiers, In
cluding K H. HaiTiman,-Have Differed Widely,
in Their Intellectual Traits and Temperament
From All Their Family. Both Immediate and
Remote. The Country's Two Most Noted
Examples of Exotic Intellectuality.
William Gillette, a Lad With a Long Line of
Puritan Ancestry, Who as a Man Became a
Wbrld-Famous Actor. Louis C. Tiffany, a Noted
Artist, Who Is Descended From a Long Line of
Hard-Headed Business Men. The Strange Mil
itary Gift of the iJerb of Fort Fisher.
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HAS any one ever called you an in
tellectual exotic? Or have you ever
secretly suspected that you might
t) one? In either event, don't worry
about It and, above all, please to re
member that If you are a humun being
bo endowed by nature you are certainly
In very distinguished company a fact
that may compensate you. in part at
least, for having constantly to meet with
the stock remark of friends and relatives
anerit yourself: "He's so entirely differ
ent from all the rest of the family on
either his father's or his mother's side."
Take the case of that modern Colossus
of railroads Kdward H. Harriman. In
tha many character sketches and more or
less extended biographies narrating his
truly phenomenal career for the benefit of
his 80,000,000-odd fellow countrymen, the
fact has been emphasized that Mr. Harri
man Is the son of a modest clergyman,
that his ancestral family on cither side
was not conspicuous for Intellectual abil
ity, but inst'ead for cultivation and the
refinement which scholarship gives, so
that its only really distinguished mem
ber seems to be, in a sense, an intellectual
exotic. Indeed, It is exceedingly interest
ing to discover that almost all of the
great men conspicuous In American
finance, railway construction or develop
ment have been distinguished from other
members of their families by their pecu
liar and exceptional gifts. Tho only note
worthy exception to the general rule that
the great financiers of the United States
liave come from humble life and from
the plain people Is found In J. Plerpont
Morgan, whose father In his day was
also pre-eminent as a banker.
That remarkable quartet which created
and developed the Southern Pacific Hail
way C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins,
' Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford
; had In their early life no training, no
' family associations, no traditions with
business capacity or power which would
have justified fhe prediction that they,
' In their maturity, would gain conspicu
! out authority and great wealth in the
j development of rsilway systems and in
' finance. So, also. O'Brien, Mackay, Flood
i' and Fair, who gained vast fortunes by
reason of their extraordinary ability as
miners, their skill as financiers and a
j swift adaptation of their intellectual gifts
to the peculiar atmosphere of California
life in the years following the coming of
' the Argonauts, were, each of them, of
humble birth, not receiving anything by
' tradition or inheritance which would have
. explained in some measure the extraordi-
nary exotic mentality which made their
great successes possible.
1 Thus the full list of railway and flnan
. clal kings, right down to and Including
' those enthroned of today, might be run
through, and marked after almost every
name with the one phrase, "Intellectual
exotic."
Lincoln and Roosevelt Intellectual
Exotics.
But the most impressive and inexplica
ble of the phenomena associated with
what may be called exotic, or unexpected
development of high intellectual powers
and a temperament which enables one to
secure mastery over men and measures
the markedly exceptional case, so to
speak. In the family are those which
the career of Abraham Lincoln records.
In the recent centenary celebration of
Lincoln's birth, the one common thought
In all of the addresses or communications
then made was that this master Intel
lect, this pre-eminent moral and personal
authority, this man who compassed the
most momentous reform in all modern
history, came of a family In which there
never was a trace of more than average
Intellectual power, and lived his early
life In an environment which was calcu
lated to stultify or stagnate intellectual
capacity.
This exotic Intellectuality, possessed In
sucn startling degree by Lincoln, is per
haps best typified and Illustrated at this
time by the career of fhe man who has
lately gained the unusual record of being
the mightiest hunter and slayer of lions
in rruifn uim Atnca. .
Theodore Roosevelt bv Inheritance
by family association, by tradition, re-
; neets in nia personality his familv'a
i original T"ut-h ancestors of Manhattan.
They ware, for the most part, discreet
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and successful merchants. Their in
fluence in developing Manhattan as a
commercial metropolis and in creating
whatever of refinement or social cul
tivation prevailed, was as great as that
of any of the other Dutch families of
Manhattan. Colonel Roosevelt's fath
er wrr a man of simple life, charming
personality and a quiet dignity which
was remote from self-consciousness and
wa3 often spoken of as typifying or
suggesting- the true American gentle
man. And. indeed, all the Roosevelt
family were of that quality. They
wore diligent In business, having In
herited the fine Dutch art of reasonable
thrift, and it would have boon a fair
inference when Theodore ' Roosevelt
was a lad and before his career was
determined upon, that he. too. would
faithfully maintain the quiet and gen
tle traditions of his family. Increase his
inheritance by sound, but not brilliant,
business activity, and maintain the sta
tton In social and civil life In New
York which had characterized the
Roosevelt family for generations.
But is was discovered when Theo
dore Roosevelt was still a lad that in
temperament and in intellectual quali
ties lie differed so greatly from the
immediate Roosevelt family and from
his ancestors that the wonder was what
career was possible for him. He him
self early discovered that he had no
special gift for bustness: his inclina
tions were in the direction of litera
ture, and some of his friends have
reported that at one time he contem
plated investment and partnership in
a publishing house.
Wlwn Roosevelt Found Himself.
After Roosevelt was graduated from
Harvard University and had spent a
year In Europe he returned to New
York In some doubt as to what his
career was to be or what his capacities
best fitted him for. Almost by chance
he was elected a member of the New
York Legislature, being- then only 24
years of age. He was a member of
that body only a few weeks when he
discovered himself, as the term is. Then,
for the first time, he realized that he
bad a capacity for organizing and
marshaling public sentiment, and be
fore the session of the Legislature
ended he was aware that he possessed
in more than ordinary degree a gift for
measuring or understanding public
sentiment, especially upon great moral
questions. That, he knew well, was
an intuitive gift, one not to be acquired
or strengthened although It might be
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guided somewhat by experience in
public life.
Now these were qualities unlike any
possessed by the Immediate or remote
members of young Roosevelt's family
and they also unanimously lacked the
trait which attracted attention beyond
his years to the young man when he
was a delegate to the Republican State
Convention held in ftica, N. Y., In the
Winter of his first term as a member
of the new York Legislature.
The delegations from Albany and
from New York City were almost snow
bound, for a furious storm prevailed
on the evening before the convention
was organized. Late that evening the
train arrived in Utica and the dele
gates made their way hastily through
the snow to a neighboring hotel, form
ing in line for the purpose of register
ing at the hotel office. At the far end
of the line, near the door, there was a
persistent calling to attract the atten
tion of the hotel clerk. It was so loud
and long continued as to attract atten
tion, and these were the words of the
repeated call: "I'm Roosevelt tele
phoned ahead."
A veteran of political life who had
arrived at the hotel earlier in the day
had his attention centered upon the
young man who thus vehemently an
nounced himself, and he asked: "Is
that young Roosevelt, son of Theodore
Roosevelt, whom I know well? - You
never would have heard his father dem
onstrating himself In that way, but the
boy is so self-assertive that he may
succeed better than his father did. Y'ou
know, that when President Hayes nom
inated Roosevelt's father for Collector
of the Port of New York he was obliged
to withdraw the nomination since it
could not be confirmed, because Mr.
ooseveit simply would not make
effort to secure the confirmation."
any
The Exceptional Roosevelt.
Therefore, at 24 years of age. In the
first months of his service In public
life, Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated
to those who knew his family well how
exotic or exceptional, with respect to
temperament and intellectual qualities,
lie was. So, also, in that wild life of
romance, danger and excitement which
Roosevelt led upon his ranch in the far
West, he revealed how thoroughly he
was apart in temperament, disposition
and Ideals of life from all the other
members of his family, past and pres
ent. Then again in his tendency to
literature, an ambition which he never
has lost, notwithstanding his almost
unparalleled successes In public life
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certainly unparalleled when his age is
considered Colonel Roosevelt differs
wholly from any other member of his
family, although It has been the pop
ular understanding that by maternal
inheritance lie did possess an apprecia--tlon
of and a critical faculty for litera
ture, both pure and applied.
When Roosevelt was Civil Service Com
missioner he had occasion to call upon
President Cleveland, and after the busi
ness which brought them together was
ended Mr. Cleveland asked him If he
found politics attractive, or if he had any
disposition to remain in public life. Mr.
Roosevelt replied that if seemed to him
there was no more inspiring or stimu
lating ambition for a young man than
that which public life would gratify. For.
he said, there was opportunity to iead. to
council and to direct, to organize victory,
moral and political, and the very agita
tion, the aggressiveness, the self-assertion
necessary for success in public life
were.' in his opinion, admirable qualities
to cultivate. When Mr. Roosevelt had
finished, the President, much as a father
.would have done, warned his vonna-
friend not to permit himself to be carried
away too far by any political ambition.
There was no other member of the Roose.
velt family, of hie father's generation, or
of Colonel Roosevelt's or any anceetor. so
far as is known, to whom political activ
ity and leadership ever appealed, so that
in this respect Colonel Roosevelt is
markedly exceptional, an exotic of his
family.
William Gillette, Pnrltan Actor and
- Dramatist.
A few weeks ago the announcement was
made that William Gillette, who has
achieved international fame as an actor
and a playwright, was to retire from the
stage at least so far bsn acting Is con
cernedalthough he Is still to have pro
fessional associations as a manager or
producer of plays. Mr. Gillette is another
well-known living example of exotic Intel
lectuality, for there ts nothing in his fam
ily associations, his early life or the
conspicuous relations of some members of
his family to public affairs that might ex
plain the actor's possession of his peculiar
gifts talents which manifested them
selves in his early boyhood.
The traditions of William Gillette's im
mediate family were Puritanic. His home
was In Hartford, Conn., a home which
was the center of the religious and moral
Influences which have characterized the
capital of the Nutmeg State. A little
colony of men and women who . had
gained, tlistlnction la literature- or public
life centered around the home. Harriet
Beecher Stowe lived nearby. Across the
street, In a grove-sheltered cottage, was
the home of Charles Dudley Warner.
Mark Twain's house, representing his first
considerable profits ae a writer, was
within a stone's throw of the Gillette
front gate. Mr. Gillette's father had
served as United States Senator and the
moral influences that dominated Jhe fam
ily may be summed up in the statement
that Senator Gillette had National fame
as an Abolitionist and as an advocate
of total abstinence. -
Living In such an atmosphere, William
Gillette, the boy, first revealed his his
trionic talent by impromptu or amateur
entertainment of his friends by his power
of mimicry, his gift for expression by his
face, various motions and a peculiar com
mand of his voice imitative of the pas
sions of men as they are revealed
through vocal utterance. He had no
taste for that kind of amusement which
practically every boy sometimes delights
In. namely, the getting up of a "show."
But he would occupy himself for hours
with the building of a stage, or the plan
ning of scenery dwarf stage and dwarf
scenery of course, as it needs must be.
Thus It became early apparent to his
family that the boy's undoubted talent
for things histrionic was one which prob
ably would have its way when he became
a man. And so it happened. For, when
he had reached the years of discretion,
William Gillette, of perfectly correct de
portment, having absorbed the moral and
religious atmosphere of his family, never
theless felt that It was possible for him
to become an actor or a playwright and
yet maintain the highest moral standards
of conduct. And it was with an under
standing of this kind that he made his
first venture upon the stage, chiefly
through the friendly interest In him
which Mark Twain had.
Today every bit as much as when he
was a hoy it is a deep mystery to the
Gillette family and to his friends by what
Influence, inherited. Mr. Gillette was
gifted with his talent for the stage, both
as actor and playwright, a talent which
his career, both' here and abroad, has
fully exemplified. In no other way can
his possession of It be explained than by
saying that he. too. Is an exotic, a
strange and unexpected variation from
traditional family association and life.
Lanman World-Famous Orientalist.
Another Interesting example of exotic
Intellectuality as developed on Connecti
cut soil is found In the career of Charles
Rockwell Lanman, proressor of Sanskrit
at Harvard for almost three decades, and
one of the world's most famous living
Orientalists.
Professor Lanman Is "a descendant of
Jonathan Trumble, the great war gov
ernor of Connecticut at the time of the
Revolution Washington's "Brother Jon
athan." His ancestors from Colonial
times were prominent as public citizens
of Connecticut or the sister state of Mas
sachusetts. . The entire atmosphere of his
boyhood home was that occasioned by as
sociation of its members with publlo af
fairs. A near relative was a high of
ficer in the Navy of the United States
and the family was Identified with the
distinctive reiieious life of New England.
If there is anything In the theory of In
heritance or environment, certainly Pro
fessor Lanman should have entered pub
lic service, either In a civil or a military
capacity.
But this descendant of a long line of
public-spirited men when a little fellow
seemed to discover a weird, inexplicable
fascination In the meanings and the ety
mology of words. Language, and especial
ly the history of language, had for him
the charm which his boyhood associates
found In sports or In the reading of ad
venturous literature. He would wander
off by himself, searching mentally for
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behind words, attempting to grasp the
figurative meanings which are in so
many nouns.
This was a disposition and a talent re
mote from anything known in the Lan
man ancestry, and among his relatives,
near and remote, there never was com
prehension of the inherited or accidental
Impulse which, in this boy's case, was to
bring to him the reputation of being one
of the world's foremost Oriental scholars.
He was a master of Sanskrit, that most
difficult of ancient languages, when he
was only 23 years old. At 30 he had be
come so noted a Sanskrit scholar as to be
singled out for and offered the chair of
Sanskrit at Harvard. While still under
40 he traveled through India searching
for rare Sanskrit and Prakirlt manu
scripts, and in the course of years he has
become an associate member of all the
leading Oriental societies of the world.
Today Professor Lanman is unques
tionably America's leading Orientalist,
while Europe can boast of but few Orien
tal scholars who are his peers. And all
tms is the result of a boy's following an
inborn impulse, a talent which is so great
as to Justify the characterization of
genius; for besides receiving from his
blood no inspiration to the study of dead
languages, and especially the Oriental
tongues. Professor Lanman, as a boy,
was not influenced in this direction by
associations of any sort in his boyhood
home. ,
Loul Comfort Tiffany, Artist.
For many years Louis C. Tiffany has
been recognized as America's leading au
thority in the art of mosaic, which he
introduced Into this country. In art cir
cles throughout the world he is known as
the inventor of a decorative glass with
wonderfully delicate refracting powers
rivaling those in ancient glassware af
fected by decomposition. In the form of
windows, three of the country's great
universities Harvard, Yale- and Columbia
have specimens of his decorative handi
work. He has beautified numerous
churches, and his paintings, mostly Ori
ental scenes, are to be found in not a few
notable art collections of America and
Europe. An ardent and widely known
devotee of art, surely yet Mr. Tiffany's
ancestors were all merchants, with never
a bent for art, except the art of getting
along well in business.
Prominent among the young men who
were tempted from New England to New
York City after the opening of the Erie
Canal had determined New York's place
as the commercial metropolis of the
Western Hemisphere, was this artist's
father, Charles Louis Tiffany, who was
accompanied by his brother-in-law. John
T. Young. They came to New Y'ork for
business purposes only, and they were
destined to achieve not only National but
International reputation as great mer
chants, and to amass fortunes which
rank them among the earliest of the
multi-millionaires of the country.
But though the son of this Tiffany
pioneer In Now York r'lty is now as
famous In art circles the world over
as his father was famous In his day
in the world's business circles, there
was a time when it seemed that the
on was destined to he eminently suc
cessful not as an artist, but as a fol
lower of Mars. In the Summer of tho
first year of the Civil War, young Tif
fany, who was then a lad of about
14 years, fired by the same patriotic
spirit that caused his father to turn
over his store to the Government for a
depot, organized a military company
among the boys of his town. He trained
as an assistant a boy about his own
age of the name of Augustus C. Tyler,
and . made him first lieutenant of his
company of youngsters, and these boys
drilled their hundred "soldiers" so per
fectly as to command the admiration
of the officers of the Union Army who
were engaged in the town In recruiting
volunteers in response to the call made
by President Lincoln.
At that time these real soldiers were
unanimous in their predictions of a
brilliant career in the army for "Cap
tain Tiffany" If he should elect it for
his life's work. And had he become
an army, man and a brilliant soldier,
he still would have been an Intellectual
exotic. Just as much as today he is in
this interesting and brilliant class an
artist. Of course, in his later years,
when be had millions to indulge In the
hobby, Mr. Tiffany's father became a
patron of the arts, but before he had
reached this stage his son Louis had
fully developed his bent for that sort
of fame-giving artistic production
which la inspired by the imagination.
It is rather interesting to note the
grown-up career -of Louis Tiffany's
right hand "man" in the days when he
was absorbed in his duties as "captain."
Through his Summer's experience as
"lieutenant" young Tyler discovered
i hLs vocation and talent. He entered
West Point when the opportunity came
to him to do so. graduated high In his
class, and as Colonel Tyler was in com
mand of the defenses at the eastern end
of Long Island Sound at the time of the
outbreak of our war with Spain.
Strange Gift or Hero of Fort Fisher.
The first major-general in the Army
to succeed to its supreme command, un
der the President, who had not grad
uated from West Point, was a marked
type of the intellectual exotic. This
was General Alfred 1-T. Terry, who Is
known to all civil War veterans and
students of American history as the
hero of Fort Fisher, where, by the way.
another American hero was lamed for
life Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans.
Of a long line of ancestors who were
quiet, studious and peace-loving. Alfred
Terry, before the outbreak of the Civil
War, was a lawyer who was somewKiat
interested In politics, and who served
lor some years as clerk of a court. But
it was observed by his friends at the
time of the Crimean War, and later,
when Louis Napoleon was fighting the
battles of Solferino and Marengo, that
Terry was Incessantly occupied with
studying these campaigns. Then it be
came his habit with pencil and paper
to plan his own campaigns and work
out military problems and this despite
the fact that no member of the family
ever had evinced any interest whatever
In military matters.
With the outbreak of the CU'il War
came Terry's opportunity to make good
use of his exotic possession. He was
put In command of one of the first regi
ments enlisted for the war. was pro
moted rapidly, and his ability as a tac
tician and disciplinarian so impressed
General Halleck. then In command of
the Armies of the North, that the lat
ter was reported to have said of Gen
eral Terry that he was born with a
genius for the command of an army.
This gift was demonstrated when, after
several failures on the part of others.
General Terry planned and compassed
the capture of Fort Fisher, inflicting
thereby one of the most damaging of
the blows received by the Confederacy
up to that time.
It was an occasion for wonder, not
only to his friends, but also to General
Terry himself, by what inheritance, re
mote and untraceable, or by what
strange gift of fate, it happened that
he should have received a talent for
military command that was so widely
recognized as to cause him to be re
tained in an Important command In the
regular army after the1 country had no
further need for its volunteer legions.
(Copyright. 1909, by the Associated Lit
erary Press.1
Hat Protector for Emergencies.-
Here's a little advice that If commonly
adopted would save hundreds and even
thousands of dollars to the huBbands of
this country. It is simply a round piece
of waterproof silk, the edge of which is
hemmed to form a pocket for a gather
ing string. It ts so made that It could
be slipped over almost any hat and would
In case of sudden shower protect it from
the ruinous dampness. The protector
was devised by a Pennsylvania man who
has evidently known the exquisite pain
of having his wife caught In the rain
on the, very day he had sent a check big
enough to support a home missionary for
half a year to pay for the new Spring
bonnet she was wearing. Such experi
ences are not pleasant, so thought this
ingenious man. If every woman would
Just make ' one of these adjustable pro
tectors and carry it In her handbag
whenever she went out, think of the
money that would be saved to the hus
bands of the land! The drawstring un
derneath will enable the cover to be
drawn up to fit almost any hat.
Animals as Seismometers.
Dundee Advertiser.
Animals have again, in Sicily and Cala
bria, shown that they know more about
coming earthquakes than men know. An
official at Messina was worried by his
dog on the eve of the disaster. Tha ani
mal would not stay quiet for a moment,
and his barking was such a nuisance that
his master beat the wise brute. Their
night was so restless that the man gave
up all hope of sleep, and he and the dog
left home soon after 4:30 A. M. As soon
as the dog was out of doors he ran away,
and fhe master followed him. Thus both
were well outside the town when the
crash came, and the man acknowledged
that he owes his escape from (probable)
death to his good, unruly dog.
Opaleemt glass for um in thm manufac
ture of stained glam windows is mad In
thlM country In a manner which rannnt t
duplicated, and this material la shipped ail
ovr Europe.