The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-12-31
How Prominens sren Read.

s.Do you know there is good deal Of |
character shown in the way men read /
the papersP'' said well-known hotel |
clerk to the reporter. ''Of course, you /
don't see it, any more than an ordinary |
observer sees character in the way men |
eat; but there is, nevertheless. have |
seen all the prominent men in the coun-
try read the papers time and again, and |
not two In q thousand read alike. My |
attention was first called to the subject
some years ago by Horace Greeley. who
was an omnivorous reader of the papers.
have been constant observer ever
since. Horace was the queerest reader
you ever saw. He would begin at the
first column and read every line down
to the advertisements. According as he
read he would crumple the paper up in
his hands. When he got through, the
paper would be rolled up in ball. Aft
er he left the hotel in the morning TO go
down town to his Office all the papers
| would be strewn around the floor like
so many paper balls. 1t used to amuse
| the guests of the house, and was the oc-
| casion of many bottles of wine. Some
| folks said it was affectation, like Gree
ley's great white coat; but 1 never
| thought SO, To me it indicated an un-
| conscious, sturdy character which looked
straight ahead for results, while paying
very little attention to details or circum-
stances.
'4Oh, yes; General Grant also had his
peculiarities. He usually read one pa
per through and through. He would
| stop in the middle of an editorial and
reflect. Grant was slow reader, but
when he put down a paper he could tell
you all the news and discuss a question
with great discrimination. He used to
say that one paper was all he had time
to read a day. Whatever was worth
reading in his estimation, was worth
digesting and remembering. People
who knew Grant will recollect what an
exhaustive memory he had for detail.
He could relate every circumstance con-
nected with any important event that
occurred long before the war. He used
to say he didn't remember all about the
war, but he knew more than any one
else about the great events in which he
had personally figured. There is no
doubt whatever that General Grants
predominant characteristic displayed it
self in his manner of reading. He was
slow, patient and painstaking in every
thing, but when he once arrived at q
conclusion there was no dislodging
him.
.Lincoln never cared for the news of
: |
it. He usually had his private secretary
tell him what was in the papers. He
would read editorials, though, by the
hour When he stopped at the hotel he
5 would read the editorials in every paper
2 the first thing in the morning. He used
to say that mems views were al
; he cared about. 1t made no differ
! ence about the details of how a thing
happened. If he knew the causes of it
3 and the bearing it would have upoI
matters in general, that was all ht
wanted to know.
{ General Mcclellan was just the OPP
posite. He cared more about the cir
cumstances of good story than abou
!, the result. If he knew that n certain
bill was passed or defeated in congress
he would read all about its career, ant
/ | then form his own Judgment McClel
I Ian, of course, respected the opinions 0
e others, but he always made it rule +
! be self ~aliant in thought as well as il
Y action. On certain occasion, a fey
wears before the war, Mcclellan an
Greeley were both staying at the hotel
They were fast friends. One evenin
8 the conversation turned upon the slay
IS ery question, and Mr.. Greeley who wa
, an ardent admirer of Wendell Phillip.
4 called General McClellan's attention t
;, an attack made against his character i
a leading New York paper. 1t ha
81 grieved Horace so that he almost she
e tears. Mcclellan burst into a heart
'e laugh, and, turning to MIR. Creole.
;: rather pointedly, asked him if he hadn
Il had experience enough to know that
!, mattered little what any newspaper sal
u about man. Horace was shocked 1
10 such an unexpected remark, an
couldn't be made to believe that Il
general meant it