The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-03-04
SENATOR JOHN SHERMAN, SECRE-
TARY OE STATE

days. what education he got was such
as could be had in the country schools
of that time. 1t was not of an extensive
sort When he was IA years old, he Sc
cured employment in a surveying party
as rodman. Afterward he got a clerkship
in one of the county Offices. At the age
of II he went to Mansfield, o., and be-
gan to read law in the Office of his
brother. 1t took him four years to per-
feet himself in Blackstone and Kent and
other worthless of the reading schedule
of that date and pass the examination
that secured him admission to the bar.
This eventful period was reached on
Sherman's twenty-frst birthday, and the
celebration of that occasion made the
anniversary more than usually pleasant
and memorable.
His career as lawyer and statesman
is familiar to the merest schoolboy of
the land. Beginning with his election
to the national house of presentatives
in 1854, his record has been one of sue
cessive honors and promotions After
having served as representative he was
made senator, and such was the esteem
in which he was held by his Constitu-
ents that his Te-elections to the Office
were as regular as the expirations OF his
terms. Indeed, since 1854 there has been
only one day whereon John Sherman
was out of Office. That was March 3,
1881, the day after he had rendered his
resignation as secretary of the treasury
under the Hayes administration and the
day before he took the oath of Office as q
reelected senator.
Not only has Mr. Sherman been thus
continuously honored in connection with
the legislative branch of the govern
1,o ~ II
friends very hard for the presidency
time and time again. There is no doubt
that Sherman has nourished a warm
and strong ambition for this high place,
and at one time it seemed almost a GER
tainty that he would be the candidate
of his party for the coveted post This
was in 1880, when James A. Garfield,
Sherman S advocate in the convention,
builded so much better than he knew
that he himself secured what he sought
for his chief
Four years later, too, there was
strong Sherman sentiment working in
the national convention, and again it
seemed possible that the Ohio solon
would be put in the first place on the
ticket, but Harrison was selected. It is
generally believed that this was the bit
terest disappointment Sherman ever ex-
perienced.
Senator Sherman is now nearly "a
years Of age. He is white haired, and
his tall, slender form bends somewhat
under the weight of these many years,
but there is grim tenacity in his make
up, and his vitality is many times
stronger than it appears to be. Mentally
he is as keen as a scimiter, though his
words are far less acrid now than they
were in his younger days. His accept
ance OF a cabinet position is generally
regarded as his political capitulation-a
compromise with his higher aspirations.
LYMAN J. GAGE, SECRETARY OF THE
TREASURY.
Lyman J. Gage, the man who is to
succeed John G. Carlisle as secretary of
the treasury, is a we'll known and pic
turesque character in the middle west
He is man of energy as we'll as ideas,
and, though he has lived 60 years, he
can hardly be called old.
Mr.. Gage was born at Deruyter, N.
Y, June %, 1886. His parents were
also New Workers, and their ancestors
were among the first settlers of New
England. The father of Lyman Gage
was farmer and afterward a merchant
in a small way.
In 1916 the elder Gage moved with
his family to Rome, n. Y, and there
Lyman attended school until he was 10
years old. At that time the Gage family
was so large that Lyman thought it
would be best for him to begin to make
his own way, SO he secured a clerkship
in country postoffice. Within year
he was promoted to the position of mail
agent on the Rome and Watertown rail
road. In 1856 he withdrew from the
railroad and took a position in the
Oneida Central bank at Rome. Here he
acted as junior clerk, Office boy and gen
eral factotum at a salary of 500 year.
After serving his employers in this ca
pacity for a year or more young Gage
asked for an advance of salary. This
being refused, he threw up his position,
and, acting on an idea which he had
long entertained, started west.
Chicago was the objective point which
young Gage had in his mind. Thither
he made his way, arriving Oct. 3, 1855.
His efforts to get employment in a
bank were fruitless, and so he applied at
Nathan Coles lumber yard and obtained
work there It was hard labor. He load
ed wagons, steered his logs against cir
cular saws and now and then took his
turn at driving team of balky mules.
The pay was small, and the hours were
long. After awhile he was promoted to
the position of night Waterman and put
in the long hours between sunset and
sunrise patrolling the yard to prevent
fires and thefts. A year later he became
bookkeeper of the concern.
His first step in the remarkable ascent
he made to fame and prosperity was
taken Aug. 8, 1858. He had been quiet
ly looking out for employment in which
his special talents could have chance
to develop. On the day named he walk
ed into the Merchants Savings, Loan