The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-04-28

work of getting through the morning pa.
pers Half-past finds him in his law
office, at No. 45 Wall street. mapping out
the days work with Mr.. Baker, his pri-
vate secretary.
Mr.. Baker deserves more than passing
mention, as his respon sbility in the years
to come will be heavy one. He is a
small, dark man, with black mustache,
and looking more French thanAmerican.
He is not only the private secretary of
the colonel, but his trusted friend s
well. Mr.. Baker has been with the COL
onel great many years and there is n
agreement between them that he will re-
main until one or the other of them dies.
Colonel Ingersoll holds the belief that
no mans life should be written while he
is alive. 1t will be Mr.. Bakers task to
write Ingersolls biography when the col
onel is dead and gone. A record of the
mans daily life is kept by his priva tie
secretary, as well as his important utter
ances and writings upon notable subjects.
One of the curious features of this COM
pact is that when the end is nearing Mr..
Baker is to be constantly on hand to re-
cord the events up to the cross ing OF the
dark river. The secretary has particular
instructions about what he is to do upon
the death of the colonel, and in every
possible way arrangements have been
made to make his real life clear to poster
ity.
There is no egotism in this. Ingersoll
appreciates to the full the responsibility
of his life. and what he has done towards
causing thousands of people to punctu-
n to +bn; al; 90;
cation mark. 1t is simply desire to per-
petuate an honest record of what he was
at all times.
Mr.. Baker lifts many burdens from the
shoulders of the colonel in his business
affairs The daily mail in the law Office
is a stupendous affair, and the number of
cranks who call is not small. The mail
is carefully sifted before the colonel sees
it, and cranks are politely disposed of.
Scarcely day goes by without bring
ing to the surface some one who desires
to convert the colonel. If the caller is
gentleman or lady, the colonel is al
ways ready to be seen, and he listens po-
litely. He is a difficult man to argue
with, though, and his acquaintance with
the Bible is SO minute that few people
stand any chance with him.
Many clients call during the day, out
side of court hours. The colonel has the
faculty of extracting What they want to
say in very short period. He has a
horror of wasting any time, and people
who are inclined to tread upon this pre-.
serve run the danger of curt treatment
Frequently the colonei's business calls
him to cities all over the Union but he
81, ., 49,. = ALL L.:
away from his home. His home is his
heaven and any one who has experienced
its kindly hospitality, the gentle culture
of its women folk, can easily appreciate
the coonel's Discrimination to be any
where else.
1t is usually o'clock in the afternoon
when the Colonel starts for home. The
diner hour is at g, and the two daughters
are invariably attired in white for this
meal. OF Mrs. Brown, it is said that she
has only worn two colors all of her life
white in the house and gray on the street.
Two or three times in the week the col
onel and some of the family go to the
theater. During the opera season they
are both regular attendants, both of the
girls being musicians of exceptional abil-
ty. The colonel is great music lover,
although he is no musician himself
When spoken to once about his lack of
musical ability, he said tersely That
is silly Because you like cake it is no
reason why you should be a cook.
If the evening is spent at home, there
is always music by the daughters and
visitors to be entertained.
The colonel's only fad is Shakespeare.
his bible. He has a collection OF various
editions of Shakespeare works which
rival any private one in the country.
Hugo and Dickens are his favorite novel
lists.
Les Mserables he regards the great
est novel ever written, and A Tale of Two
Cities is second in his affections. Wagner
is his favorte composer.
Ingersol has been generally referred to
as a scoffer. AS thinker he is too seri-
Gus to treat anything lightly, and the
handling of any thing sacred
oftends him deeply. No better example
of this trait in tn most peculiar man
can be given than little happening at
a banquet to which he had been invited.
1t was during the discussion of the SUBJ
iect, Is Marriage Failure? and this was
the main subject to be talked about Sew
cla men made speeches in which they
treated the raster Hlppantly ana tried to
| witty at the expense of womankind
iigersoll listened with growing impa-
thence. and finally his turn to speak
came. He WIS terribly in earnest u,
what he said caused more than one N \
to weep. He struck tender chord
many bosoms when nc said: The mai
who says that marriage is failure has
never stood with his hand locked in the
oval grasp OF a wife and mother at the
side of Il child's grave
Whatever bis faults may be, Ingersoll
cannot be called "A sc0ffer