The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-06-14
CRAWFORD'S LETTER.
He Describes a Brief Interview With
President Harrison.
mr.. BIaine's Favcrite Story-His Powers
of Narration and Absorption-How
Gold Cure Keeley Rose from OBJ
security to Fame and Fortune.

COPYRIGHT, 1892. BY BACHELLER JoHNsoN)
President Harrison, as he approaches
the close of his four years. term, has be-
come much better known to the country,
although he is SO reserved and says SO
little about himself that it is more from
his friends and associates that one OBJ
tains . complete knowledge Of his char
acter. I saw him the other day in
Washington, and am sure both his
friends and his enemies would have re-
spected his attitude regarding the Min
occupy very dispassionate position.
He said that he had no mortgage him
self upon the place. He was thankful
for the confidence of the people, and was
willing to abide by their decision.
I will simply give a picture Of the
President as he sat at his desk, going
through his morning mail. He bears
lightly his ffty-nine years. He will
have reached the limit of three score
with the close of his four years. term.
He is Of medium height and quite stout.
His weight is in the neighborhood of 1870
pounds; the shortness of his neck gives
him the appearance of not being as tall
as he really is. His actual height is five
feet, seven. His head is large; his fore
head is very full, especially over the
eyes; his hair is a silver gray just be-
ginning to thin, and is combed smoothly
and fatty over the full brow; his eyes
are gray-blue, intensely keen, and
some of the politicians say at times in
tensely cold; his voice is deep
and rapid; he talks with the rush
of the rapid thinker. Even Mr.. Blaine
himself does not talk as rapidly as the
President in private conversation. In
this conversation he showed no reserve.
He either talks freely or does not talk
at all. He is not man of half conf
dences; he is at his best when he is with
his friends and the element of business
is eliminated. When surrounded by his
children and family no one would think
of calling him cold man.
A study of the Presidents character, of
the work he has done, forces one to the
point of esteem, high respect and admi-
ration. 1t will count for nothing in the
history of the various administrations
wheth er the President shook hands we'll
or whether he was able to impress
strangers pleasantly during first inter-
view. think that the first impression
produced by the President upon q
stranger is not an agreeable one. He
belongs to the type of reserved charac-
tiers who apparently have made it the
rule of their life to conceal their feel
ings.
The ready utterance of President Har-
rison and his easy flow of language
comes from his great reading and his
great powers of observation. His equip
ment is unusually good. Few Presidents
have been SO we'll prepared to administer
any part of the government. His mill
tary experience was very thorough
one, SO that he has the technical knowl-
edge required for the administration OF
the army and the navy. In his six
years in the Senate he made such a
special study of the financial question
that he soon mastered the details of the
Treasury department following Mr..
WINDOWS sudden death. Mr.. Foster,
when he was appointed Secretary, went
to the President for his instructions and
for his preliminary training. Mr.. Har-
rison has the legal requirements for fill
ing any OF the other cabinet Offices, and
this same legal knowledge, combined
with his powers Of observation, his log
ical mind and his enormous industry,
would make him good Chief Justice.
These requirements of the President are
plain and patent to everyone who knows
him in Washington.
know that it is fatiguing in these
latter days to talk about anybody's war
record. 1t is universally conceded that
physical courage is common quality
and to speak merely Of q mans bravery
who served during the war is to pay him
no special compliment. I have heard
just two points of view concerning the
Presidents military service which were
enough out of the common to merit a
passing notice. asked an officer who
served with him in the 10th Indiana
Regiment to give me an idea of Mr..
Harrison as soldier. His reply was at
first what I did, not expect; he said
shat he was perhaps the most I'm.
popular Colonel who ever went out of
Indiana. He knew nothing about mill
tary affairs, but devoted his entire time
to studying them so at the end of two
months he was as competent to drill the
regiment as any officer in it. He was
too strict disciplinarian to be popular.
There was Lieutenant Colonel in the
regiment who had the love of the men.
He was good politician and was fond
of sitting down with his soldier BOYS as
one of them. He was very careless in
his observation of military etiquette
and so for time he was the most popu-
lar officer in the regiment. The SOL
diers, to affirm his popularity and en-
phasize their dislike for their Colonel.
presented beautiful sword to the Lieu
tenant-C Colonel and asked the Colonel to
make the speech of presentation. This
he did with great cheerfulness and
showed no sign of feeling injured on
account of the intentional reflection
upon his unpopularity. When the regi-
ment entered into actual service all this
was speedily changed. The regiment