New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-23
As TO NOAH.

Proofs. knowledge about the character ana
habits OF Noah IL not floating around III news
uaDer offices We do not refer 10 Major MoTue
on, N Noah who was ut one time conuectch WIN
IN. nress Of this city and who also held at Nari-
ous times the Offices Of Surveyor Of the iOf''
Judc. Of the Court Of Sessions and County Shrr-
,N I'M, - the Patriarch OF that name. who,
though his occupations were various. ,nciunihg
nre,cbinp shipbuIldlng scafaring and culuVa-
,ion ~ the vine was never. far as can DE
iearned from the Pentateuch and the cuncform
,nscrintions Of recent discovery, connected WIN
any Press except the wine press II h" hid
heau he never would have sent out again IN"
dove that few into his window bearing ID"
,Iiv branch of peace He would have uilllz'h
Tho branch as klndling wood. had the bird
eorved ON toast. and Immediately issued an
e,ira announcing that everything had turned
ont exactly as he had advised and forr'o'd.
II. vas a good man in many respects though
not a Journalist. One OF the few fairly good
mo, outside the profession. His not being
journalist excuses rs well ~ explains the lach
-, rrecisa information about linn In modern
uewspapcr offices Traditions lngcr there ~
we'll rs everywhere else concerning The man
who in a spirit Of bravado hardly exceeded 10y
remarked 70 Noah AZ the beginning Of the long
smell Of weather. with which the Patriarch
name * commonly associated. that lit wouldn't
he much Of II shower. anyway: ana during Inc
season Of public dinners. compOsiiorS and PROOF
readers renew acquaintance with many OF me
anecdotes with which the Patriarch was acc'ls
TONED 10 while away the hours. and relieve III"
strain upon the spirits Of Shcm. Ham and
AZ.
,h.r. was nothing precise In all this about
Noalis private life
Whom however. on the nth Of the present
month our learned contemporary The New
york Sun" which is 10 less III home In the do
main Of theology than IN that OF politics, began
+, discourse upon the character and habits and
private life OF the Patriarch, we fell that we
J wore an ,be verge Of great enlightenment
! For the Editor Of 'rhc Sun need not take
,ronslo,ions even Of cuncform characters or u
the Moabtc Stone al second hand. lie reads
,he Sanscrit. Aramaic. Phocnican and chal'laic
AS easily as between the lines OF the story OF
Presidential duckhunt. Moreover. within me
last year he has visited the lands where Tor
600 years the Patriarch pursued his varied "r-
cnpations and though !, Is hardly possible that
he had The supreme delight experienced by WISH
ors 10 the Back Bay in Boston or meeting a
dozen times a day men who remembered when
this whole section was covered with water. the
! influence OF the associations and surroundings
no doubt brought him a. near 10 Noah as The
atmosphere Of the White House brings Grover
Cleveland to Thomas jefferson We consequence
| ly had great hopes that certain m0oted questions
concerning Noah's private life and personal
habits would be definitely settled and put 1T
It,,i., IL. f..t tl,ut
we read In relation 10 the story told In Genesis
how Noah began to be an hnsbandmai ana
! he PLANTED vineyard and drank or The VINE
and was drunken" and in that condition was
shamefully exposed. 10 his great Indignation
when he got sob 'r. The deliberate Judgment of
our contemporary that 'inasmtch as he hveh
J 800 years thereafter and was blessed OF God,
"it Is obvious that he did not repeat the in
"dulgencc habitually." And the question was
asked whether any one would call Noah IA
"dr,nkard because the wicked daughters OF Lot
induced him TO drink wine 10 so great excess
that he became drunk on Two successive
.nightsY' In our own minds We said NO at
once And we were glad TO say 80. because we
like 10 think we'll Of Noah. And we have always
had doubts about the gcnuincncss Of The decoc-
ton sold in some Of the clubs OF this town as
"Anledluvan Whisky
But no sooner had we rested IN tie belief
that Noah was. Notwithstanding all that had been
said about him. man Of sobriety and temper
auce than THE Sun In later article, 10 wit,
ON December - saws. in relation To Il different
topic. by way Of illustration:
Take the OF Noah. for example. At the time
| Of the food Noah had reached the comparatively
ripe age OF 600 years though he seems to have been
liable not addicted. TO excessive indulgence U ~