The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-19

all who know him. His working day
begins at his house at $3.50 in the morn
ing, as q rule and lasts till 6, unless an
address is to be delivered in the even
ing, the latter part of the day being
divided between his Office in the Grand
Central station and down town. When
there is an address in prospect, which
there is on an average four times a
week. he cuts his afternoon work by an
hour, but even then his daily service is
much longer than that of many men
active in affairs both great and small
And, besides, nearly every one of his
after dinner speeches is hammered into
shape between the time he leaves the
Office and the time of delivery
1t is his general custom, when a
speech is delivered, to walk home, go to
his room, undresS and go to bed. In five
minutes he falls aleep. For >, 10 or
sometimes Is minutes he Slumbers as
Soundly as il he never had a public ad-
dress to deliver. Then he gets up, gets
inside his evening suit and goes down.
stairs TO his library, which is composed
entirely OF books of reference, histOri-
cal, economic, scientific and the like,
and gives up whatever time is neceS-
sary to the getting together of such
data as the occasion demands. Some
times, but not always, he dictates the
address as he formulates it; he never
writes it.
DEPEw AND VANDERBILT.
Mr. Deoew does not remem-
Der when he first met Commo-
dore Vanderbilt. II must have
been early in the SOS. and the
meeting must have been a casual one
Just such q meeting as any rising young
public man might have with a rising
railroad manager. The two were only
speaking acquaintance until 1866, and,
so far as Mr.. Depew knew, the COM
modore had never taken any special
interest in him. But this was mis-
take. One day William H Vanderbilt,
the cOmmOdOre's son, and father OF
William X, went to Peekskill, where
the young lawyer was still practicinS
his profession, and said. without much
preface:
THE commodore wants to see you.
He has an idea that it would be q good
thing for you to enter the service OF
the railroad as counsel He wants
some one he can trust
So DepeW jOurneyed to New York,
and called on the commodore. The lat
ter explained that ne had plenty Of
legal counsel. such as it was, and that
much OF it was plenty good enough
But most of the lawyers in New York.
and scattered here and there along the
line of the road, We're getting old. No
one of them seemed prepared or spe-
cially fitted TO step in and look after
all the legal complications then exist
ing and likely to arise. The commodore
thought Depew could become Just the
man that was wanted The young
lawyer hesitated The offer was a fat
tering one, but its acceptance meant a
more or less complete giving up Of his
political aspirations. He told the COM
modore frankly all about the situation
The old railroad magnate listened
Then he made a response that was
.'cOmmordOrish-
Damn politics." he said II tell you
young man who wants to be somebody
TO go into. and you'd better think
twice before you let this opportunity
slip"
Depew thought it all over. more than
twice, no doubt, and concluded 10 ac-
cent the commOdore's offer. He is not
sorry today that ne did
Aside from his services as counsel
and general adviser, and later CHIEF
Ar. Depew's high stand
ing with the commodore and with all
his successors has been in a great
measure due to the fact that he has
never betrayed their trust In the
early days of Vanderbilt consolidation,
as in the latter ones, Depew knew in
every move that was 10 be
made. With the knowledge in his pos
SCSSlOu lie 4lAASl4[ ulAC 1pCC04eiNNL III
Vanderbilt stocks in such a way on
several different occasions as to win
d larger fortune in a very few days
than ne has amassed in Il lifetime. But
he never made use of his inside infOr-
nation for his own personal benefit.
When the consolidation Of the New
York & Harlem with the New York
Central railroad took place he did not
hold a dollar of stock He was then
approached. and frequently has been
since, by men we'll known in financial
circles. who offered to speculate in the
market on whatever information he
could give them, agreeing to take all
the risk and to divide the profits BY
accepting any of these offers he might
have cleared great deal OF money
With a scarcely d chance of discovery.
But he accepted none Of them, thus
his self-respect, though
at the expense Of his
pocketbOOk.
DEPEW AND PUBLIC OFFICE
In 1866 President johnson named Mr..
Depew as minister to Japan. The SEN
ate confirmed the nomination before the
nominee heard anything about it. For
a brief space he was inclined to accept
and the temptation must have been
strong for a young man of only 81.
But reflection convinced him that 10
enter the diplomatic service would be
to go at cross roads with his career,
and he resigned without serving. De-
pew was an unsuccessful candidate for
the office of lieutenant governor in 1872.
IN 1881 he was a candidate for the
United States senate. In 1885, when
Evarts was chosen senator, Depew was
offered the unanimous nomination, but
declined on the ground that he had
promised to support Evarts, who there
upon went in with flying cOlOrs. In
1883 ninety-nine votes were cast for De-
pew for the presidential nomination.
but he withdrew, though some of his
friends thought and still think he might
have won had he remained in the race.
In 1892, when Blaine resigned the state
portfolio, President Harrison offered il
TO Depew, who did not want it for a
short term, and had about made up his
mind that he preferred a Senatorship
after a while to anything else, anyway
Thus, in 1894 when a. conference OF
leaders met at Whitelaw
Reds house and assured him that a
governor seemed certain to
be elected that year and offered him the
he declined, saying he
didn't wish to be governor and urging
strongly the nomination OF Mr. Morton,
then abroad, who was duly named and
elected to the place.
GREAT AMBITION TO BE SENATOR
In fact, a place in the senate seems
to have been Mr.. Depews only ambi-
ton ever since 1881. as it was Plaut's
after his resignation and failure to BE-
reelected.
Mr.. Depew is now in his 65th year,
but his complexion is as rudy, his
handclasp as firm, his voice as round
and his eye as bright as most mems at