Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-13
READING THE PAPERS,
PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS DIS
PLAYED BY GREAT MEN.
"Reminiscences Of Greeley. Grant. Lincoln,
Mcclellan. Mccullough and Charles
Dickens Hotel Clerk Tells
About What He Has Noticed
TCor. Chicago Journal !

About what He Has NntiCrd
ICor. Chicago Journal
"Do YOU know there Is good deal OF
character shown IN the way read the
papers" said Il well-known hotel clerk Ia
the reporter ''Of course. you don't ste it.
anv NOR. than an ordinary observer sees
character in the wav men Eat: but there is
nevertheless | have seen all the prominent
men in the country read the papers time
and asAin. and not two in thousand
read alike My attention was first called
tn the subject several Years ago by
Horace Greeley who was an oslniv
Oruu> reader Of the papers | have
been a constant observer ever since.
Horace was tine queerest reader YOU ever
saw He would hegin At the first column
and read every line down To the advertise
ments According he read he would
crumple the paper up in his hands. When
he got through. the paper would be rolled
up in a ball After he left the hotel in the
morning to 90 down to his office, all the
papers would be Strewn around the door
like 50 many paper balls 1t used to amIlse
the guests of the house. and was the ocCa-
sion II many bottles of wine. Some folks
said il WAS affectatinn. like Mr.. Greeley ;
great white coat: but never thought 50 To
me II Indicated an unconscious, sturdy char
artcr which lrnk,ri straight ahead for re
suits, while paving very little attention -
details ~ circumstances,
GEN. GRANTS PECULIARTTIES.
ooh, YES. Gen Grant also had his peCul-
iarities He usually read one paper through
and through. He would stop in the middle
Of an editorial and reflect. Grant was a
slow reader hIt when he put down paper
he could tell You all the news and discuss
a question with great discrimination He
used 10 say that one paper all he had
time to read i'll day. He said this praC
tice of reading several papers was responSi
hle for Il good deal of the super
fetal thinking III vogue nova
DAYS Whatever was worth reading
in his estimation. was worth digeSting and
remembering. People who knew Grant will
TeColleCt what an exhaustive memory he
had for detail He could relate every cir
CumStance connected with any important
event that occurred long before the war He
used Ia Say he didn't remember ali about the
war. but he knew morr than any one else
about the great events i'll which he had per
sUnally figured. There il no doubt whatever
that Gen. Grants predominant character
lStic displayed itself in his manner of read
ing He wa slow, patient and painstakIng
in everything, but when he once arrived at
II conclusion there was no diSlodging him
LINCOLN AND MCCLELLAN
"Lincoln never cared for the news of the
dav-that is he never cared to read 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 would read the edi-
torials in every paper the first thing in the
morning He used TO say that mems views
were all he cared about II made no differ
ence about the details of how thing
happened. II he knew the causes Of it, and
the bearing il would have upon matters i'll
general, that was all he wanted to know.
Gen. Mcclellan was just the opposite.
He cared more about the circumstances of
goud story than about the result If he
knew that certain bill was passed or de
feated in congress he would read all about
its career, and then form his own judg-
ment Mcclellan. Of course. respected the
opinions of Others. but he ALWAYS made 1t
rule TO be self reliant IN thought as well a.
III action On certain occasion, a few
years before the war. Mcclellan and
Greeley We're both staVIng at the hotel
They were fast friends. One even
ing the conversation turned upon
the slavery question. and Mr.. Greeley. who
was an ardent amirer of Wendell Phillips,
celled Gen. McClellan's attention to an at
tack made against his character in a lead
ing New York paper Ii had .;rieved Hor
ace ~ that he almost shed tears Mcclellan
burst into hearty laugh, and, turning to
Mr. Greeley, rather pOintedly asked him If
he hadn't had experience enough 70 know
that il mattered little what any newspaper
said about a man Horace was shOcked at
such an unexpected remark. and couldn't
be made to believe that the general meant it
STEW OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
"A. 7. Stewart was another man who
paid very little attention to the general
news OF the day He would read the market
reports eagerly, and that's about all 1t
used To surprise his friends that Mr. Stewart
could 80 successfully carry on his mammoth
establishment without keeping informed of
how the world was moving Mr. Stewart
told NE one day that the reading of news
papers proved Il distraction to him If he
had no business. he said. nothing would
please him more than to read but his mind
was 80 full of dry goods that there was no
room left for murders. suicides and con
gressional debates. Even to read book
which tO the average man Is relaxation.
would be TO him, lie said, positively
dangerous
THE friends of the lamented John Nc
Cullough used to wonder how he could read
SO much. He was in the habit Of spending
from three to five hours daily pouring over
the papers. Once | heard him say that he
felt lonesome when he hadn't read daily
paper from every large city iii the Union.
he WAS a random reader, though or couTrS,
he read everything that the leading critics
had to say, but for the general news he
would glance over it, selecting what hap
pened TO strike his fancy at the time,
''Charles Dickens, when he was in this
country, was a constant reader Of the papers.
He was a great admirer of the American
press. Our style of describing things WAS
decidedly original and refreshing. There
WIS more good writing in the better class OF
American journals than in many an ad-
mired English novel What particularly
pleased Dickens was the terse graphic de
SCriptions for which American newspapers
are noted
Senators Who Are Socially Popular.
OF the senators perhaps the most popular in
society is Wade Hampton, of South Caro-
lima He Is the typical southern gentleman
deferential and ChivalrOus His .
manner toward women is the quinte~sence OF
chivalry. He bows to any one of them, no
matter what her rank, with all the profound
Difference with which a mouarchcal subject
lowers his head before the throne. In fact
Senator Hampton Is one Of those men who
hotor women simply because they are women,
ami would fight and die for them for the sam.
reason. This, at least, is his reputation among
tbUse vino know him well.-W aShington Let
Ter.