Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1895-06-21


dent Of Columbia in 1890, and now, at As,
he has given 81, 900, 900 to be expended in
the erection Of a library for his college,
Some one has said of Seth Low that his
success is the result of combination of
luck, pluck and brains. Lucky he GER
tainly was in his birth, for his father
transmitted to the son not only money, but
a sound mental, moral and physical con-
stitution. Plucky he has been, for he has
never hesitated in the slightest to battle
with all his might against what he thinks
to be wrong and for what he thinks to be
right, and If he were not brainy man he
surely would not have been able, with all
his luck and pluck, to do what he has done
in business, in politics and in the field Of
education.
The selection of Mr.. Low as Columbia
president five years ago was somewhat of
a departure from the ordinary course in
making choice of the head of a great edu-
cational institution. He had always been
understood to be a man Of culture and Of
wide information, but he had never been
regarded as scholar or student in the
strict acceptance of these terms. He had
rather been looked upon chiefly as bust
ness man, man of affairs, who, in addi-
ton to his exceptional executive ability,
possessed political genius of no ordinary
sort, and when he was elected mayor OF
Brooklyn it was confidently predicted by
his friends and feared by his enemies that
he would be the next governor of the EN-
pire State. There is reason to believe that
he, too, thought that sequel not unlikely
one, but in 1888, when as is claimed by
his principal supporters, he might have
secured the Republican nomination for the
office of New York's chief magistrate, he
declared, on the ground that he did not
agree with the party's national platform,
that he could accept no such nomination.
For couple of years after that he was
comparatively lost sight of, but since his
election as president of Columbia he has
been very much in evidence, and his per-
Torrance of the duties he then assumed
has more than satisfied the Authorities of
the college that they chose wisely in call
ing thorough man of affairs to the place.
When President Low assumed the chair,
he announced that in future he should de-
vote himself heart and soul and without
reservation to the conduct of Columbia s
affairs. One does not need to be well in
formed to understand that perfect fulfill
ment Of the duties involved would require
most Of the time and energy of any man,
no matter how literally endowed with
mental ability or what is known as genius
for hard work. In the main President Low
has carried out his expressed intention.
Society has seen little of him. To the pub
lie at large he has not often been visible,
and he kept out of politics until the open
ing of last falls campaign for the purifica-
ton of New York's municipal government.
Then he was made a member of the COM
mittee of seventy, and as such did excellent
service. There was some talk about max
ing him the reform candidate for mayor,
but he frowned it down, although during
the campaign he devoted much time to the
furtherance of the election of Mayor
| Strong.
Personally Seth Low is pleasant man
to meet. He is of medium height, rather
stout, with sincere dark eyes and dark
thick hair and mustache. His features
are not regular, but rather inclined to
what may be termed the aggressive type
the contour of his face being such as at first
to suggest that he might be somewhat un
pleasantly so. He is, however, an excel
lently poised man, and while he can I'M
doubtedly make himself extremely un
pleasant to one who deserves unpleasant
treatment his aggressiveness is of the sor
that men generally applaud. His address
is winning. On the platform he speaks IL
foroible, convincing and earnest manner
He has not the torrentlike vocabulary o
Bourke Cochran, the cold and classic clio
quence that was Roscoe Conkling's, tn
fiery intensity that was James 6. Blaine
or the peculiar charm Of Colonel Bob In
gersoll, but he always knows what h
wishes to express when he speaks, and h
always expresses it in fashion that
simple, direct and extremely lucid withou
in any sense being dull or commonplace.
As an educator he Is an advocate of tn
methods of today. 1t is not his notion tina
young man may properly be fitted for
successful life by loading his mind up witt
certain kinds of information without refer
ence to any special bent the young mai
may possess. His plan is to discover, s
far as is possible for teacher to do Sc
what is the young mans bent, and thel
furnish him with the training and infor
nation that will best enable him to d
himself full justice in the battle of lif
after leaving the precincts Of the college.