Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-03-10
THURLOW WEED AT HOME.

Concerning Thurlow Weed, the
Warwick of American politics, the
world has long had intimate knowl-
edge, but Thurlow Weed, the practi-
cal philanthropist, was comparatively
unknown even to his most intimate
associates. Whatever may have been
true of his earlier and more active
days, when he was the power behind
the throne. and one of the most
potent of all agencies in public affairs,
1T is certain that the last two decades
Of his life were crowded wiz kindly
deeds. His home on West Twelfth
Street, New York city, was the resort
of the stricken in purse and spirit, no
less than the Mecca of aspiring poll
tlcians. Years ago-and for years
there was sight to be witnessed
every Saturday afternoon in front of
that Twelfth Street home not to be
seen anywhere else in New York. 1t
was score or SO of little girls, all of
cleanly appearance, but all giving
evidence of poverty in their dress,
who were weekly applicants for his
bounty, and no one of whom ever
went away from his door empty
handed. Once when a committee of
one called at his house on Saturday
afternoon with carriage, to request
his attendance at the first reception
OF the New York Press Club, a throng
of these little ones were before his
door. MIR. Weed expressed the pleas
ure it would give him to meet the
working journalists of this city, or, as
he expressedit, "the boys in the har-
ness;' but he added, ''you must wait
until l feed my chickens After the
children had been loaded with gifts,
he proceeded to the rooms of the
Press Club, where, by the-way, he
gave some good advice to those who
We're only entering upon the road he
had traversed to its end. He frankly
admitted that day, as he. always did
III his >decliping years, the great
changes which has been wrought in
journalism since he was an active
member of the profession. No man
knew better than he in his latter
years that the newspaper had become
the vehicle of information rather
than of opinions. As he once tersely
put it, ''the world don't care what an
editor thinks about a fact, but it does
care a great deal for the fact itself"
Yet there was never Il more omniv
orous reader of newspapers, although
latterly he.used the eyes of another
instead of his own, and usually those
OF the daughter who devoted her life
to him. 1t was not only political
news that claimed and obtained his
attention, but all the record of events,
great and small, that combine to
make mp the daily journal. The
knowledge of this fact and of the be-
neyolenee of his character came to
the knowledge of reporter for a
daily paper i'll peculiar way some
years ago. The reporter had been de-.
tailed to case of distress which had
been reported to the office In the
performance of this duty he encoun-
tered one OF those pictures of misery
which can only be seen in great city
of startling contrasts like New York
1t was bitterly cold night in the lat
ter part of November, and in q room
on the top floor of an East side tene-
ment house, in which there was
neither fire nor food and no furniture
save two remnants of chairs, wom-.
an was found with two little children.
The next morning a description Of
the scene was given in a newspaper,
together with a short statement of the
cause Of her misfortunes That after
noon second call was made for the
purpose of giving her small amount
whic 4, some charitable person had
sent to the office for her relief, and
she was then found in comparative
comfort A stove had made its APP
pearance, there was supply Of coal,
the closet had been filled with pro-.
visions. and mother and children had
been provided with 4tout shoes and
warm stockings. The woman gave a
description of her benefactor SO full
and correct that the reporter had no
difficulty in recognizing Mr. Weed.
When that afternoon inquiry was
made of him as to the fact, MIR. Weed
admitted that he had ''helped the.
woman little" but exacted a prom.
ise that no mention should be made
in the newspapers of the circum-
stance; nor mas the incident ever been
published until now. This case has
not been mentioned in such detail be-
cause it was not at all an anomaly in
the life of the veteran journalist, but
rather as typical of the man in that
aspect of which the world knows so
little Harper's. I.ao' EfH7