Evening star., 1897-05-29

then upon the other of those nimble feet
with which he has SO many scores of times
danced Shiftly away from the ferociOuS
onslaughts Of his antagonists The set. de-
terTnined vindlctiveness of his ring coun-
tenance displaced by sheepish leer.
And yet the man of brains endeavoced to
place the man of Drawn quite at his ease.
A Great Man.
Your recent contest was a severe one, I
believe. Mr.. Fitzsimmons?' inquired the
man with a head of the man with hands.
aniabiy.
Mr. f!tzSimmorS muttered couple OF in
audible words and srinned
1t seemed to have pretty thoroughly
aroused the country, the contest. did it
not?' from the siiver-haired man TO the
brcll-haired man.
Mr.. Fitzsimmons scrutnized the rim of
his ha. attentively. bIushed, grinned, and
said:
"Th' United Sites is a gime country.
y'r honor and backed out of the office.
| responding with short, sharp ducks of the
| head to the Secretary OF States farewell
| bows When the door had closed upon the
| worlds present-day gladiator, the wrinkles
| at the sides of Mr.. Sherman'S eyes con-
| tracted into a smile:
| "A great man. Babcock," he said, drily,
| to his private secretary, and went on with
his work.
! Mr.. Sherman receives every day stranger
| visitors than the Australian horseshoe tur-
| Eer, but he has never been in juxtaposition
| with one in stronger contrast to himself
| This is the first time Mr.. Sherman has been
| Secretary of State, although it is not the
| first time he has been cabinet officer, and
| as the premier of the American executives
| privy council. he has an interesting fashion
| Of passing his days
| Briefly, he works at his desk from 0
| O'Clock in the morning until o'clock in
| the afternoon; then he goes home and
reads novels. He is an omniverous con-
sumer of novels of all degrees of merit. of
| all colors of Dinding-yeilow preferred.
| He says they rest his mind. He considers
| that at the ege of Seventy-four he has
| earned a rest from the heavy literature of
| finance, of economies cf craftsmanship.
| and Mr.. Babcock, his secretary, says that
he follows the woes of the latter-day
heroine. the truly good stiltinss of the
| modern hero, and the sulphurous ejacula-
| tions Of the fiji de steele villain with a
| really remarkable interest, even if he does
| smile a good deal through his spectacles
| over what he reads. But all this happens
| after o'clock in the afternoon, when Mr..
! Sherman is Mr.. Sherman, and not the Sec
| retary of State and it is with his manner
| of putting in his time Secretary of
| State that this article is concerned.
Knows How to Work.
When Mr.. Sherman became the Secre-
tary of the Treasury a matter of twenty
| odd years ago he was confronted by one of
the most herculean tasks that'ever loomed
I'D before an American statesman-the re-
| SUMPTION Oh Speclc pay SLutLlS-duo
Sherman worked away at that job, and
ACCOMPLISHED it, from o'clock in the
morning until 4 o'clock in the afternoon
no more, no less.
| 'I first became connected with Mr.. Sher-
man at that time" said Mr.. Babcock, his
| secretary 'and never knew him to work
krger than the office hours of his clerks:
Yet he contrived to refund S1OOoOoOOO OF
the national debt. The thing was, he knew
| how to work. Mr.. Folger permitted the
secretaryship of the treasury to kill him
| probably MIR. Manning did also Neither OF
these gentlemen was generous to himself.
| A whole generation OF political experience
taught Mr.. Sherman that lesson before he
| assumed the reins of the treasury, and, ac-
, | compisbing more work In that capacity
{ than did Hamilton, ne emerged from u, .ne
( ordeal with his health and strength. The
secret of it? He trusted his assistant Sec
> 'retaries; he allowed his subordinates to dc
the work they were appointed to do. He
never permitted a paper to lie on his desk
| for ten minutes, and made disposition OF
his affairs as they came up. His desk was
, clean down to the blotting pad when he
put on his hat and quit his Office at
, of the Treasury who allowed the position
to give them nerve us prostration attempt
/ ed to do the whole thing themselves; and
no Secretary of any government depart
rent can do that and live through his
| term.
"As was his rule wnen Secretary Of th'
l Treasury, SO IS MT. SnermahS rule as sec
retary Of State. When he came here h,
found, as he expected he would, that tn,
, State Department Is filed with men whit
3 have been hero a long time. and who hav,
every detail of the departments routin,
! at their fingers' ends. Mr.. Sherman per
3 fectly appreciates the fact that these mel
Z know more about the practical workings o
q their respective branches Ct the department
than he himself could hope to acquire in {
period Of service here twice as long a.
that for which he was appointed. and he 4
a strong believer in the value of routine
| So he let's them go ahead. kcering an ey,
: on their work. but In no wise interfering
with it without good occasion. And gues
| this Is the reason that he has all the hal
} | he had when he was twenty years old. tha