The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-06
BOOKS BOUGHT BY BIG MEN.
Literature That Thinkers of the Coun'
try are Fond of Reading.
Washington Cor. Chicago inter ocean.


WASHINGTON Cor Chicago hter- ocean.
A number of statesmen devote their leis-
ure to French fiction. Robert Lincoln gets
a fresh load of French books every time he
comes to Washington. HelikeS the better
class of French stories, and does no affect the
tales of lola of other authors who deal in
questionable morality.
Another man who is fond of fine editions
is Col John Hay, Lincoln'Ssbiographer
HIT buys great many French and Ger
man books, and never buys anything which
is not in good binding. He thinks nothing
of paying $50 for finely illustrated volume,
and as he is millionaire he can afford to
indulge himself in fine-book hobby. John
Hays library is perhaps the most beautifully
finished one in Washington.
Secretary Whitney's dealer has learned to
know his pecuiarities in this respect and
the clerks have orders to let him browse
around for himself He will come into the
store, look at the books upon the counter
and pick them up one after another and
glance rapidly through them. The chances
are that every book he looks at contains
something to interest him, and if it does he
invariably tucks it under his arm and goes
on to look at Others
Senator Sherman only glances over the
newspapers and does not believe in reading
| a book until it is year or so old. IT its
| popularity does not last longer than this he
| saws it is not worth reading, and life is too
short to read everything that is published.
! Senat Sherman has very fine library,
| and it is not one of pure finance and politics
by any means. he has the inner edluons
| of the standard authors, and reads the
French language, though he does not speak
| it,
Justice Gray is another reader of French
novels, and he devours them at the rate of
from six to ten week. He has drawn
more than a thousand from the Congress
ional Library during the past five years, and
by the way, the reading of these Supreme
! Judges is full of interest. They are all liter
airy men and they all have fine Libraries.
Judge Stephen j. Field is man of broad
| culture He has been book collector all
his life and he is very fond of travels and
classics Justice Bradley has perhaps the
! largest private library i'll Washington, with
the exception of that of Bancroft, and bis
| library relates largely to the law, politics
ard history A secondhand book dealer
tells me he is always looking out for rare
| law books, but that his collection is so great
that he finds few things that are not now in
| IL. Bradley is q man of hobbies. lie VIII
| take up queer question in history and find
out ali about it, He has invented a number
of curious calendars for telling the days of
the week and month 200 years back and he
| is also fond of theology y
cal studies, and Stanley Matthews has just
been reading a book on the question OF
whether there is salvation after death for
those people who do not have the question
presented to them in this life. Judge Har-
Ian has been reading during the past sum-
mer Dr. William Taylor's ''Scriptural Char
acters,n such as Moses, the Lawgiver,
David the King,n and others. He has
given away two sets of those books, and he
says he learned more about Moses from Mr..
Taplor's book than he ever knew before,
and he added Il learned more law from
that book than l have from any other"
Justice Strong, who is now retired, is very
well posted upon the Scriptures. He has q
fine theological library, and he delights in
reading up doctrinal questions. Senator
Beck, of Kentucky, is fond of novels, and
he has wide knowledge of history as well.
Congressman Anderson, of Kansas, dotes
on sea stories, and Senator Voorhees, is very
| fond of biography.