The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-11-04

Trenton, Oct. Is, 1897.
Editor Sunday Advertiser:
DEAF Sir-The ~subjoined is from yester-
days issue OF you very interesting jour
nall
Please inform me IL Ex-Governor New
ell is laving. If SO, his address. l.. j.
'Ex-Governcr William A.. Newell IS liv-
ing and a letter may be addressed TO him
at olympia, Washington
Frffnlt me to make Il slight correction
and some addition To your answer, which
may interest others as Well as L. j.
Furmet Governor Newell Is now resident
State OF Washington. aud with his family,
consisting OF Mrs. Newell and an attend
ant, resides in the institution. which IS lc-
Gated al Orton, in that State.
The Governor is not only living" but
is hale aid hearty and carries his almost
eighty Wears as lightly as though they
We're far less i'll number. Photographs re-
Gently taken easily be regarded as
those of Il man not mere han sixty years
Of age, and his mental Vigor and charm of
manner have, i am told, suffered no per-
ceptible dimipution. Until lately he has
actively practicsd the arduous duties of
his profession. besides nllinS the position
of president of the Board of Health of the
city of olympia. which he relinGuiShed to
accept his present less exacting post. Just
now lie is. | understand, contemplating a
visit IL the East with IL view to a perma-
nent return to the ~neighborhood OF his old
home. Mrs. Newell, as stated, is also liv-
Ills > O-Ai l.lS luis OStiA q &Oi.Ll4 ktCt III ett.ti-
The Governors children are dead, except
Ellie, the wife of Lieut.. Jordan of the
United States Navy, who, with her family.
now resides in Brooklyn. Adolphus, the
oldest son, died while still q young man,
when his father lived at Allentown. Eliza
ND. who was her fathers private secre-
tarY while he Was Governor of Washing
ton, married d Justice of the Supreme
Court OF the Territory, and at her death
tho court house where he presided was
draped IN mourning touching and I'M
usual tribute of affection for herself and
respect for her husband and father. VIII
liam A.. Jr., a skillful and accomplished
physician, joined his father in the West
many years ago, but died soon after of
brain fever.
The brothers of the Governor, Azariah,
William D., at one time an army urgeon,
and Major John w, former Division Pay
master i'll the army OF the Union, and sta
toned at Washington city (where he paid
off such eminent soldiers as Garfield and
Mckinley, with whom he continued on
terms Of personal intimacy, are all sleep
hg in honored graves. Jerseymen to the
core all or them, they rest beneath the
patriotic soil of their native State, and it
is not to be wondered at that the heart Of
their distinguished relative is turned
thitherward, nor that he purposes TO re-
turn 10 the land of the rising sun ere yet
his own shall have set, to so no more out
forever, until his dust is born forth to
mingie with that Of his kindred"
The writer has a great store of interest
ing personal professional and political
"reminiscences of Governor Newell, but
does not feel justified in drawing upon
them at any special length in the present
communication. Few men of his time
haev more gracefully filled their places
day is probably not far distant when
suitable memorial shall be forthcoming
to attest his merits and fix his place more
approprlat ely in the annals of the State
he loved so well.
A beginning has been made in New
Jerseys handsome though tardy acknow-
ledgment of his claim to the authorship
of the life saving service, which, begin
ming here, has extended to all the import
ant countries of the globe; but more re-
mains to be done. He not only acquitted
himself creditably in his exceptionally
faithful discharge of the duties of Chief
Magistrate of this commonwealth, and in
his Congressional career, but he labored
~zedlously in wider spheres of action. In
fact, his life has been practically spent in
doing good to others. His later energies
have been largely given to upbuildiag our
interests on the Pacific border, and
whether standing by the grave of the I'M
attended poor, or pleading for the life of a
condemned soldier, he has always been
the self same clear headed. broad minded,
seeking age the world has but few. Gov
ernment of the people. for the people and
by the people" has been his shibboleth as
much as that of the distinguished formu-
lator of the sentiment, who was his close
and abiding friend.
1t IS said that the angel wrote the name
OF the good Abou Ben-Adhem as one who
loved his fellow-men," and when it came
again. 10! B~en-Adhem's name led all the
rest" So may it be with him of whom we
write, and of all who are prompt to reg
spond to 'humanity's call William A.
Newell made no parade of his ~kindnes
and set no undue price pom his labors.
He was always more than worthy of his
hire" His modest IS a day while serving
his earliest terms in Congress, and his
meagre 1880 u year while honoring his
State as Governor, could not we'll lave en-
riched him. and his 500, 600 in uncollected
accounts make small provision for his de-
Ginning years; blu it all matters little to
him. If satisfied that he even m~easurably
lives in the hearts of his countrymen."
The slow muse of local history may be
laggard in assigning him his rightful place
in the modest memoirs of New JERSEYS
public men, but meanwhile he need not
concern himself as to the immediate fu-
ture or the final verdict. His multiplied
deeds of kindness will not die out of faith
full memories. and when his political hon
ors shall nave been forgotten, the rescued
mariner, brought safely to shore through
the merciless seas. he %ardoned soldier,
who fed his post of duty to look his last
upon a dying mother, and he by whose
sick bed the ~tireless and faithful physi-
clan, bridging the distance and breasting
the storm. stood n ministered during
the long watches of the night, will rise up
and call him blessed, and, verify. he shall
have his reward
/ am saying more thar l intended. and I
close this tribute by remarking that as
a man and a magistrate William A. New
ell may have had his faults. Human ma
ture is imperfect at its best: but he a
merits of IN Enthusiastically high order. In
many respects he was "of uncommon
mold" Easily the peer of almost any
man in any gathering, he was never
puffed up with an undue sense OF his own
Importance; never forgot his own and
was. in short. a friend of whom any man
might be justifiabfy proud.
That he still lives is a source of salts
faction to others. and al occasion of CON
graduation to him.. 1t is an instance OF
worthy survival, and long may it con-
tinue. G. s.. i.
DOVER WORKS WITHOUT CHARTER
Attorney General Grcy Proceeds TO