TTTTT STTVnAV OttTCttOXIAX. PORTLAND. JAXTTART 29.
1911.
. r
THE HORACE
0
,KE hundred years ago next Fri
day Horace Greeley wu Born.
FortT-one rears later' In the early
autumn. I saw a little notice In a local
newspaper of Hamilton. X. T- announc
ing that Horace Greeley would address
til cltliens of Hamilton In support of
the nomination of General Wlnfleld
Scott for President. That announce
ment appeared In the town1 Whir
newspaper. I was connected with Its
Democrstlo newspaper, but I venture to
say that no Whig lo Hamilton or round
about was more greatly excited over
the announcement that Horace Greeley,
the editor of the New Tor Tribune,
was to deliver a campaign speech at
Hamilton than I. And the excitement
waa general: I remember seeing groups
gathered dally around the billboard up
on which had been pasted a notice to
the effect that Oreeley would address
tta cltlxena of Hamilton en a certain
wealnr.
AS the eventful evening drew near,
the excitement became mora and more
lively, and all that day farmers were
com In sT In not only to hear but to see
Horace Greeley: the- Weekly Tribune
had a bis; circulation anions; them. We
had beaa told queer stories of bis per.
soaal appearance. I remember seeing
one picture of him In which he waa
represented as going about In trousers
tucked la his boot tops and with badly
crested hat upon his head: but his eyes
appeared to be gleaming through his
spectacles. That waa the kind of man
we expected to see.
The night of the meeting the hall was
packed. I think there were as many
Democrats as Whigs la' the halL A few
minutes after eight o'clock Oreeley
came from a rear door upon the plat
form. For a minute or tvs the hall
was perfectly silent. . Everybody was se
absorbed In at last beholding It great
Horace that no one thought of applaud
ing. But Oreeley did not appear to mind
that. He walked across the stage to a
chair, which. I remember, was some
what rickety, and having seated him
self, awaited Introduction.
We looked at his boots and dis
covered that the trousers r In their
proper place, and that the boots them
selves hsd been well blacked. He wore
aa old fashioned black coat and he had
on a somewhat rumpled ' collar. We
couldn't see whether there was a tie or
not, because that beard of peculiar cut
covered the place where the tie ought
to be. But I did observe that bis linen
was snow-while and well cared for.
He passed bis hand over his head,
lookej over the aoidlenes prfeetrV un
concerned, threw his coat not the
ureal white coat he was accustomed to
wear, but a lighter coat, for It was
rarly Fall across the back of a chair,
and after the Introduction walked to
wards the front of the platform and
emitted a greeting: "Fellow Cltlxens."
in what. J thought waa the most
peculiar kind of fasetto vffloe I had
ever heard: It. however, waa very clear.
We could catch erery word and Oreeley
hadn't spoken five minutes before he
had that entire audience at his com
mand. I remember thinking what
beautiful English he used. I think he
had a little memorandum In his left
hand, but I didn't see him looking at
it- The entire address seemed to be
extemporaneous. He spoke, I should
say, for about an. hour. But his speech
didn't do acy good, for that county
went strongly Democratic at the Pres
idential election.
After the speech Oreeley shook hands
with a tew persons, and then he entered
Into conversation with the local Whig
leader: he was. apparently, very anxious
to learn what the relative strength of
the two parties waa in the ctfunty. That
conference over he hurried away to
catch a late train for Utlca. and his
speech speedily became a tradlUon In
Hamilton. Several members of the Col
gate Callege faculty heard him. and
I remember seeing Jamea W. Nye, who
was afterward United States Senator
from Nevada, but waa then a practic
ing lawyer In Hamilton, very attentive
ly listening to Greeley, and appar
ently cloeely studying the famous
Whig editor.
Greeley at the BirUi of Party.
I did not see Horace Greeley again
until the Fall of 115. The Whig party
was ended with the defeat of General
Scott for the Presidency. Oreeley had
gained great additional reputation In
Central New Tork by hla early recog
nition of tbo fact that tha Whig party
waa moribund: we had heard much
about him as one of tha organizers in
New Tork Btate of tha Republican
party, of which his newspaper, tha
Tribune, waa the recognised organ.
I bad myself quitted tha Democratic
party on tha slavery Issue, andbecoms
on of a number of young Democrats
of Hamilton who wera glad to shara
la tha first Republican campaign. Fre
snont bad been nominated for Presi
dent. Already the popular campaign
cr7 et Fremont and Jessie.'' la recog
nition of tha Intellectual power of Mrs.
Fremont, who, when the Oeaeral mar
Had bar. waa Jessie Benton, waa oa
very young Republican's Hps.
Tha young Republican party waa to
hold a slate convention at Syracuse,
and we learned that Horace Greeley
waa to be a delegate to ta conven
tion, and would take aa active part In
tt. I remember seeing a statement la
a Syracuse newspaper that undoubtedly
Horace Greeley would bo made chair
man of .the committee oa resolutions,
so that he would draft the first resolu
tions for tha Republican party of New
Tork Btate.
Of course, wo were all very anxious
to visit Syracuse and take part aa
spectators or as delegatea in the con
vention. It bad been exactly four
yeara since I had seea Greeley, but I
had no sooner entered the ball at Sy
racuse than X recognised him, sitting
with tha New Tork delegation. And I
may say that Horace Greeley always
looked the same to me. so far as figure
and face and general appearance were
concerned, as be did npoa the first oc
casion when I saw him In 1883. I
took an affidavit from Mm 10 years
later, and he did not look a day older
than he did in 1881.
At Syracuse I speedily saw that Ores
7 waa the oentral figure of the con
vention. It was understood that tha
Antlon would Dominate John ' A.
King for Governor, aa It did. But what 4
tha delegatss were particularly anxloua
to know was" bow Horace Greeley
would write tha principles of the new
Republican party into tho platform of
tie first JJUpubllean (tats convention
f Mew Tork. I remember distinctly
xhat after tha committee oa resolutions
had been announced, with Horace
Oreeley aa chairman, he rose from his
place with the New Tork delegatea
and stood In tha center aisle looking
about hlro ao that he might summon
the members of the committee on res
olutions. He seemed to be unconscious
of the fact that every eye was upon
him. Ht was neatly dressed, wore a
frock coat, with long tails, and. If I
remember correctly, carried a alouch
white felt hat. I recall how bright hla
eyes were, bow they gleamed behind
hla gold-bowed spectacles. His face had
a sort of benign, kindly, paternal ex
pression of good nature, but I don't re
member 'to have seen him actually
smile. However, hla face auggested
smiles, and he smiled with his eyes
rather than with his lips.
After some delay, the caua for whch
I have forgotten probably It was soma
organisation proceedings the commit
tee upon resolutions waa called upoa..t
report. "Greeley rose and mounted the
platform. I can't think ,of any mora
appropriate description ' of the scens
than that which is expressed by tho
saying "Too could hear a pin drop."
Greeley advanced to the very end of
the platform, unfolded his manuscript,
and read the resolution. No one could
have doubted that bo wrote them. There
was the same vigorous, sinewy English
for which he was famous, and there waa
tha same ringing note of sincerity and
triumph in the resolution that char
acterised the editorial page of the Tri
bune. Greeley'e reading of the com
mittee's report was with his peculiar
falsetto voice. I call It falsetto because
there is no other term which could
adequately describe that voice. And he
made all hla gestures by his modula
tions of tones.
Ws sat enthralled. But when ha had
finished, the convention became up
roariously demonstrative. We knew that
the principles of the Republican party
had been ao perfectly expressed and ex
pounded by thla master hand that in
all probability they would bo used aa
the keynote for Republican organisa
tion in every Btate as. in fact, was
the case.
(irecley as lecturer.
Some time after I had moved to Nw
Tork City I learned that Oreeley was
to deliver ajecture on Franklin. Thur
low Weed had told me that Franklin
waa Greeley's Ideal American. Frank
lin bad been a printer, and Greeley be
gan his career as Thurlow Weed him
self did. and as I did also at tha
printer s case. Mr. Weed also told me
that Oreeley was always pleased when
he saw references to himself as "Our
Later Franklin." But it had never oc
curred to me that there waa something
about his personal arpearance which
suggested the familiar picturea of
Franklin, until I saw him on the night
of his lecture on Franklin. My present
Impression Is that the lecture was de
livered In Dr. Edwin H. Chapln'a
church. Oreeley attended that church,
and between that great Unlversallst
pulpit orator and the editor of the
Tribune a warm friendship had been
established.
I was vry snxious to hear Oreeley
deliver hla lecture on Franklin, so I
got a good seat, and was in my place
perhaps 10 minutes before the lecture
began. Greeley entered so quietly that
I presume more than half the audience;
was unaware of his appearance before
the little desk upon which he laid his
manuscript. But was this the Horace
Oreeley whom I had seen delivering a
stump speech for Wlnfleld Scott, and
reading the now traditional resolutions
adopted by the first Republican state
convention or New Tork? He was In
evening dress; his linen was superbly
starched, for it glistened; well fitting
garments set off a muscular figure of
a man a little above medium height
and for the first time I observed tha
Greeley was very graceful In every
movement that he made. If hs did
sometimes wear coarse boots, it was
apparent that that night, he possessed
a slender, small foot, and that his
shoemaker had perfectly fitted him. He
wora a blaci ribbon for a watch chain.
As bo laid the manuscript of tha lec
ture upon the table and paused for a
moment to adjust his glasses. I ob
served a remarkable likeness In the
contour of his bead. In tha peculiar
wavy appearance of such acant hair
aa ha had. and even in that character
Istle tuft of whiskers which bo per
mltted to grow Just underneath his
chin, to tho familiar pictures of Ban
Franklin.
Ha began the address very quietly,
speaking In that very clear, penetrat
ing, but almost falsetto voice. The
first sentence of the lecture impressed
mo greatly. It waa so rhythmto in its
construction, and tha English was so
perfectly adapted to the thought, that
I remember it occurred to ms that I
now knew ons of the reasons why
Horace Greeley had obtained and main
tained his great leadership as an edi
tor. The lecture. I should say, lasted
for about aa hour. It was a beautiful
tribute to tha character and achieve
ments of Benjamin Franklin.
It waa easy to sea that Oreeley h l
written that lecture out of his heart,
that ha sincerely admired Franklin,
and. I thought, had modeled himself I
somewhat upon that groat and practi
cal American philosopher. I remember
how gracefully Oreeley. when ho had
finished, gathered up hla manuscript,
with what charm he acknowledged the
applause of tha audience, and then
how quietly. Inconspicuously, ha with
drew. Greeley's Eccentricities.
After X moved to Ntw Tork I heard
leea about tha eccentricities of personal
dress and conduct of Oreeley than ws
had beea ' accustomed to bear la tho
towns of Central New Tork. I do re
call seeing him crossing Broadway
when the descriptions widely circulated
perfectly fitted him, except that hla
trousers were not tucked Into his boots.
It was cold weather: ha wore the fa
mous whits bat and the equally famous
great white overcoat, and Its pockets
were bulging with newspapers. I ob
served that ho was very alert la dodg
ing in and out among the omnibuses,
of which there were great numbers up
on lower Broadway at that time. I
caught Just a glimpse of him. but X
saw that familiar, cheery, kindly ex
pression upon his face, and 1 under
stood then better than I had when I saw
him at Hamilton or Syracuse, how ho
became a notable figure by reason of
bis eccentricities of , person. '
But some Incidents which I have as
sociated with my various meetings with
Horses Grstlty sometlmti eaie ms to
doubt whether he was quite as eccen
tric as. according to common repute.
GREELEY THAT I KNEW
ha appeared to be, or Whether there was
a little method, aomethlng of studied
eccentricity, a little artificial posing,
in his manner. For Instance, I happened
to be at Albany, N. T. I should say
It waa about the mid-year of the Civil
war and I ran across Greeley In the
old Delavan House. Ha was plainly
waiting for . some one. for. he snugly
fitted himself Into ona or tha great
armchairs which used to fringe the
corridors of ths hotel and apparently
went Instantly to sleep.
Boms of hla friends who saw htm
thus slumbering negotiated with the
bootblack. The boy put his box in
front of Mr. Oreeley. carefully lifted
one leg and balanced It across bis
knee and then deftly polished one of
ths traditional Oreeley boots I think
Mr. Oreeley always wora boots. Hav
ing finished with ths right boot ths
boy, with the same care, applied him
self to polishing the left boot. Then
hs placed Mr. Greeley's foot carefully
upon the floor and started to back
away, when, with hla eyes still seem
ingly olosed In slumber, Mr. Greeley
thrust a band into a vest pocket. An
gered there for a moment, drew forth
a piece of fractional currency at that
time ws had no silver coin and all
ths small currency was In paper and
thrust out the money towards the
greatly surprised boy. who gasped,
seised ths money and fled.
I have heard others say that whan
Mr. Oreeley appeared to slumber It
used to be said of him that hs bad a
peoullar habit of going to sleep at
every opportunity he waa really only
drowsing, and that even when his eye
lids wsre two-thirds' closed, he could
sea almost everything that was going
on about him.
Upon the first occsslon that I at
tended services at Dr. Chapln'a church
I saw Horace Greeley pass down the
aisle with reverent step and quiet, and
take hla place In his pew, which waa
a llttls beyond the center of the
church en the main aisle.
No one could have- beea mora' devo-
-Trap' fpflHM I
1
tional in attitude than Mr. Greeley ap
peared to be. He displayed no eccen
tricities of dress; ho followed the con
ventional custom of that time, wear
ing a black frock coat. He took part In
tho preliminary exercises, but after
the sermon was .begun I happened to
look In tho direction of his pew and
I saw blm gradually, sinking. . as.. It.
were. Into" that kind of physical ool
lapse which indicates preparation for
slumber. In a moment or two he waa
apparently sound asleep. Nobody ap
peared to heed him; It seemed to me
that this was the customary thing for
Mr. Greeley to do. But I observed that
aa soon as the sermon waa ended, Mr.
Greeley waa very wide awake, and
after the services were over many per
sons stopped in the aisle to greet .him.
among them the Cary sisters. Alice
snd Phoebs, then In the height of their
renown ss poets. It was under Oree.
ley's friendship and patronage that ths
sisters attained their literary fame.
It waa very evident to me the next
day that Mr. Oreeley had not slept so
soundly In church aa to be deaf to every
thing about him. for upon the editorial
page of the Tribune I read a concise
and yet very complete aummary of Dr.
Chapln's sermon. Oreeley having used
It as the text for an editorial.
Why Oreeley Left Home.
Upon ana occasion I was returning
to New York upon the Harte" Rat
road. At Chappsqua, Mr. Greetey-got
on. I was iiltte surprlstu. uacauae
X knew that It waa his custom to rn to
his farm at Chappaqua every Saturday
and stay untu Monday mornm.
though sometimes he returned to the
city Sunday night. It waa at Chappa
qua that he had the ewp-rlence wMcn
he embodied In the book be published,
entitled: "What i hmiw vi nu,..,.'
And here let me digress a little to tell
a story which was eurrept St the time
the book waa published. Ons of bis
friends said to him:
"Greeley. I have been reading your
book through, and I have made up my
mind that what you know about farm
ing is d d little."
"Tou haven't got It right," Greeley
drawled. "It Isn't d d little: it's
nothing- But It take a man about six
years to learn that he doesn't know
anvthtng about farming."
well, at Chappaqua, there boarded
the train with Mr. Greeley a hotel
keeper of that place, and he took a
seat with him. Said he:
" "Why. Mr. Greeley. It's only two
hours ago that you got off the train,
and told me that you had coma up to
have a mighty good time on yoar farm.
Tou were going to chop down a tree
and. do . a lot of .otiier . things, .- Now
hero you are on the train going back
to New Tork, and I don't think you
have unpacked your carpet bag. What's
the matter?"
Oreeley turned round and looked quls
sicslly at ma. and then leaning over to
ward hie friend, the hotel keeper, said:
"Well, I found things d d unpleasant
on the farm, and I thought I would go
back to New Tork and run out there
when the skies were a little clearer."
Then be yanked that's Just the word
for It. yanked a newspaper out of bis
pocket, and apparently never took his
eyeo from it until he got to New Tork,
I then learned, and later was con
firmed In the knowledge, that Mr. Oree
ley got almost all of his Information
from observation and from the reading
of periodicals and newspapers. I have
seen him go through a newspaper so
rapidly that it seemed aa though he
could hardly have read a paragraph
when in reality he had absorbed
by a single glance of ths eye the con
tents of an entire page.
I had a striking example of thlei
ability at a time when at Mr. Greeley's
request I called upon him at the old
Tribune office. I was then Deputy Col
lector of Customs at New Tork. The
Custom-House was always particularly
anxjous to serve Mr. Greeley 1n sny
way that he aaksd, and he never asked
anything unreasonable. Hs was profuse
In his thanks when ws expedited the
foreign mails, snd if he was at the
Tribune of flee when a steamer came In
he would grab the foreign newspapers
and disappear in his private office un
til he had absorbed all of them.
He sent one day to tbo Custom-House
to knowJf an officer authorised to
take a deposition or affidavit could bo
spared to come to the Tribune office,
since he waa anxious to make out the
necessary papers In order to facilitate
some Custom-House transaction I
bavs forgotten now what It was.
Within an hour aftar receiving this
request I went to the office of the Trib
une. X knew Mr. Sinclair, the publisher.
Postmaster-General
very well, and when I told him what
my business was he took me to air.
Greeley's room. I was in hopes that I
would see Greeley standing at the fa
mous desk upon which It was known
that he wrote almost all of hla edito
rials: he wrote standing. I saw the
desk when I entered the room, but
Greeley waa not before it. He was sit
ting at a table, and was. I think, look
ing over a letter.
. I never shall forget hie charm of
manner as he greeted me. Instead of
being uncouth, he had the grace and
simplicity of a real gentleman. As he
chatted with me 1 saw for the first
time- the remarkably Intelligent look
that was In his eyes. They were blue
eyes, and I could. see that when he was
at all excited, they must have had the
brilliant quality which so often dis
tinguishes men who are of quick as
well as of great intellect.
X then saw the man Greeley as he
really was, civil and unaffected In man
ner, apparently not fastidious in dress,
bat "very fastidious as to linen, which
was of immaculate purity. And when
I had .taken bis affidavit and was about
to depart,- with utmost courtesy he ex
tended his hand and thanked me with
sincere cordiality .for the trouble I had
taken In calling upon blm to do blm a
service. -
A Glimpse at Greeley, trie Politician.
Wnr different that exDertence was
from a later one, when I awln alto
gether different Greeley. My long-time
friend, the late Colonel George Bliss,
who was afterwards United States Dis
trict Attorney In New York, and who,
while serving upon the staff of B. Dy
Morgan. New York's great war Governor,
had been brought Into Intimate rela
tions with Horace Greeley, called with
me one election night upon Greeley at
the Tribune office. Colonel Bliss was a
cousin of Samuel Bowles, the proprietor
of the Springfield Republican. It waa
his habit upon election night to call at
the Tribune office, get there a summary
of the election results, and then send a
brief dispatch about them to Mr. Bowles
In Springfield.
That year there was an intensely ex
citing contest for the State Senatorship
between Harry Genet, then a famous
Tammany leader In Harlem, and a typi
cal Tammany man. and Frank Maurice,
who bad been nominated by the opposi
tion. For some reason that none of
Greeley's friends understood, he always
had a peculiar fondness for Harry Genet
and supported him so far as he could.
The Genet-Maurice contest was the
feature of that election. As we were
going up the stairs of the old Tribune
building, we met Greeley coming down.
He showed instantly that he had been
In the thick of an election night excite
ment in a newspaper office. I do not re
member any special details, but 1 re
call that his appearance was that of a
man who was all mussed op.
Colonel Bliss stopped him. asked a few
questions about election, and then added:
"Who has won, Genet or Maurice?
Thereupon Greoley piped out in his
high-pitched voice to some one inside.
"Have you got any news about Genet
and Maurice?" ,
"Yes, Mr. Greeley," was the. reply.
"We have Just got news that Maurice
has beaten Genet." ,
"Harry Beaten!" exclaimed Greeley
somewhat mournfully. "I didn't UPP088
they could do it. I don't feel very happy
0V"Greeley." said Colonel Bliss, "you
know how stanch your friends are in
their loyalty to you; but there s one
thing that tries their, loyalty once in a
while, for It seems to them that if any
man Is a particularly bad character in
politics, and especially to be con
demned, that man always turns out to
be a particular friend of yours."
Greeley did not seem offended. He
poked away for a minute at his throat
whiskers, looked quizzically at Bliss
and then beyond him, and then leaning
over, as though to speak confiden
tially, said: "Well, George. It does look
a little that way, don't it?" And with
that solo explanation, he went on down
stairs.
How Greeley Wrote His nistory of
the ClTil War.
I think it was in the early Summer
of1865, certainly within a few months
after the close of the Civil War. that
I saw a statement In a newspaper that
Horace Greeley was to begin Immedi
ately the writing of a history of the
war. How he could find time to do
that was a question that Instantly oc
curred to me. I knew that he was In
tensely Interested In the work of re
construction then about to begin. It
was about that time, too, that he re
vealed hia superb quality of moral
courage and no man possessed that
quality to a higher degree than Greeley
aid when he offered to become one of
'the bondsmen for Jefferson Davis, ac
cused of treason. I remember, too, that
the Tribune never appeared to me more
vigorously conducted than at that time,
and I heard of Mr. Greeley upon tho
lecture platform here and there. How,
then, was he to find time to write
a history of the war, especially as it
waa announced that the work would
be completed within tho course of a few
months?
At that time I was living on the up
per east side of Now York, and while
on my way down town at about noon
one day, Mr. Greeley entered the horse
car at Cooper Union. He was complete
ly absorbed.- He had one of those fits
of abaent-mlndness, as they called It,
but which was abstratlon of thought.
He plainly had been hard at work, and
for some hours before the regular meet
ing time of the editorial ataff of tho
Tribune, which was held a. little after
the noon hour. I don't think he was
conscious of anything but his thoughts
from the time the horsecar left Cooper
Union until It arrived in front of ths
Tribune office.
I made some Inquiries and speedily
had an explanation of Mr. Greeley's ap
pearance that morning. He had re
ceived and accepted a proposition from
a publishing firm to write a history of
the war. In order that this firm might
outdistance several rival publishers
who were anxious to put out histories
of the great conflict, one clause of the
contract with Greeley required that his
history be written as speedily as pos-
! slbla. The contract closed, Greeley, on
the spot, perfected the plan Dy wnicn
he could rush the history to comple
tion a circumstance showing how
swiftly his mind worked. He said that
he would take a room in Cooper Union.
The publishers were to employ assist
ants who were to provide, blm with
maps, documents and other necessary
material arranged in eonvenient form.
Then he would go to this room at about
10 o'clock in the morning, take up the
material which had been prepared for
the day. assimilate It, and dictate to an
amanuensis for two hours.
The amount of work Greeley did fn
this way was Incredible. I was told
that ha never hesitated in dictating
Indeed, bis copy was turned out ahead
Of time. And after he had finished each
day's task, he went to the Tribune of
fice, and, I presume, stayed there un
til after midnight.
This circumstance, as well as some
others, later on strongly confirmed me
in the opinion that Mr. Greeley's com
plete prostration which preceded by
three or four weeks his death after the
Presidential election of 1872. was not
due, aa many presumed to be the case,
to the great mental and physical strain
which the Presidential eampalga bad
brought upon him.
I occasionally saw Mr. Greeley after
be was nominated for the Presidency In
1872. Ones I saw blm upon, lower Broad
BY THOMAS L. JAMES. Former
of the United States
way I think he was on his way to the
custom house. Many persons stopped
to look at him. Two excited Individuals
pointed with their thumbs toward him.
evidently saying: "That is Horace Gree
ley, the liberal Republican candidate
for President." But Greeley was whol
ly Indifferent to the attention which he
attracted. And in every aspect of him
which J was permitted to have I never
saw blm when he appeared to be dom
inated by . self-consciousness or by
vanity, and he never possessed, at least
when I saw him, the slightest evidence
that he knew how to maintain a certain
heavy and sham dignity.
About the time I saw Greeley in
Broadway he was preparing for that
wonderful campaign trip which h
made. I remember how eagerly his
addresses were read. Nothing like
them had ever been heard in a Presi
dential canvass, and there were many
conjectures as to whether Mr. Greeley
spoke extemporaneously or whether he
prepared those brief speeches. My own
opinion Is that, he carefully thought
them out, so that while they were not
Impromptu that Is, spoken on the spur
of tho moment they were extempor
aneous In the sense that they had not
been written out or committed to mem
ory. It is my recollection that I saw
Mr. Greeley from a distance after his
return from his campaign trip. I cannot
fix the time or place, but I remember
that he .seemed to me then to be In as
vigorous physical and mental condition
as he ' was upon the evening 20 years
earlier when I beard him deliver his
campaign speech In support of General
Scott far the Presidency.
.
The election was over, Greeley was de
feated, anJ I recall that all of bis friends
were rejoiced that he was again to as
sume the chair which he had ocoupled
from the time, the Tribune was founded
until he was nominated for the Presi
dency. I recall, too. the appalling sus
pense over the mysterious and porten
tous disappearance of Horace Greeley.
Where was he. what had become of him?
It was a question that all who had
known him. or who knew of him. were
asking. Suddenly, he had passed Into
personal oblivion, and no man could tell
how or where he had gone.
There- began to be whispers that lie
sorrowed grievously over his defeat for
tho Presidency. I did not believe that to
be possible, and I think none of those
who knew Mr. Greeley well was of the
opinion that his campaign and his de
feat had broken him down. Then, one,
day, there came the authentlo report
that he hod broken down completely
that e was practically unconscious, that
his mind was gone, that in his semi
colierent moments he muttered some
thing about the Tribune. A few days
later we learned that he had passed
away.
With some others I made diligent In
quiry as to the cause of his death. And
the truth waa told us. It was as I had
surmised. He had been too long an ac
tive force one of the greatest forces
in the political life of the Nation not to
understand fully how uncertain are the
chances of political life. It was not
political defeat that killed him. It was
his discovery that his candidacy of the
Liberal Republicans for the Presidency
had 'Cost him the loss of many thousand
readers of the weekly and of the dally
Tribune and he was persuaded that at
the call of a party he had wrecked his
newspaper, which was the very apple of
his eye and the center of his life.
(Copyright, 1911, by the Associated Liter
ary Press.)
American Voice
1 3 Jarring
Scientist Clauses It Amongst Worst
City Noises.
Interstate Medical Journal.
The American voice la not what It
ought to be. The distinctive American
voice has such irritating qualities that
the combined effect of all other noises
(on the nerves) dwindles Into compara
tive insignificance.
We are now speaking of tho American
voice, which has a chromatic Bcale no
other voices possesses, and so many Irri
tating qualities that, were a nerve re
moved from the healthiest body and sub
jected to tho pricking of ita many strl
dencies, we are quite sure it would wrig
gle at once with an activity that could
not bo Interpreted as aught but a mild
protest. Now, can It be said that an
occasional noise such as emanates from
a motor car, a stretcar or from a factory
whistle play the same havoc with our
powers of resistance that is effected by
the uninterrupted iteration a noise that
follows ua even Into the sanctity of our
homes? Surely the American voice as it
falls upon our ears must make for so
tight a clutch on our nerves that the
combined effect of all other noises dwin
dles into comparative Insignificance.
We have been told by those who seem
to have the clairvoyance not only to see
what Is lacking In our dally existence,
but what cure should be applied to our
social ills, that recreation is but poorly
understood by us. Now, while the writer
of these lines knows only too well that
recreation may mean one of many di
versionsmay mean, in fact, such dia
metrically opposite pastimes as athletlo
sport, travel, reading or theater going
let us for convenience's sake imagine an,
amiable American who prefers the com
plete relaxation which should come to.
blm In the lecture roorjj or the theater to
efforts incident to the athletic field or to
globe-trotting.
Let us allow him to go to his favorite
haunts in search of the cure his tor-
. . .. ..... n thnna nrVM thai
Uroa iici ULiu."- --
unwittingly subjected themselves through
out the day to an ine city uo, "rauu
Ing the ubiquitous and omnipresent vocal
harshness In street and business houses
and what alleviation of his perturbed
condition is effected? Again he hears
tones that soothe not, sounds that seem
to Issue from the top of the head after
circuitous Journeys through the narrow
est of passage, and a vocalism that 1s
so high pitched that all Its nasalities aot
upon his sensitiveness as wouia pm
pricks. Bull Ignorant oi iob rcneuu wuy
hts spirits continue to be ruffled, he
- J - - V..n,.car Anri the DMCA that
wnimQi. :
comrs to his tired brain during sleep is
again rudely Jarred the following day.
A picturesque overstatement these
- - A .nr. mav V,A hut. AVAII ITTIi Tl f III?
this. Is not a slight exaggeration of a
condition Better man an piuicuu iu
tude that takes but small notice of what
i u . r nfTATiHInfr catiKA in the mat-
IHigui fcro ' r
ter of our much-dlscuesed nervousness?
The scientific -mind is only too onen bo
thoroughly engaged with what this sort
of mind should look for that the sup
posedly Infinitesimal In the causation of
dlsea.se Is completely disregarded.
This has been repeaieaiy liiuBiraiea -n
.i r, . marUfiriA And much ta our
later discomfort; a case In point being
the SClenUnC, Siuoourn uum mm
a A fan, i-.,r. n t-n vrhpn m . n I a
Anumm j " :-t -
healing was first propounded. And yet
today we nave aammea i i mw
the ante-room of that precious house of
science, whose drawn curtains are some
times too tightly drwn to adm't the
light Of day. Hence the question arises,
how can mental healing be beneficent In
... h onmnllcated disturbances of
nerves of which we read so much nowa
days If the mind is not in a eraie ot
placidity?
a 4 ...whArmA,- .an it ht An'mltta.il In
all fairness that so obtrusive an element
in our dally existence as is me American
voice has the (pslsnlflsBnce that one
ihinif w had as a contributor to
wvvtw . !i ... -
our mental unrest, from the fact that
our smiling toierauon oi n o ion is
outside the pale of adverse criticism I