The age-herald., 1899-07-25
THE CAREER
 OF ELIIU ROOT
From the New York Times.

OTen Root was professor of mathematics in Hamilton college for period of thirty-six years from 1849 to 1SS5. Elihu was born February Ia. 1s45, and was 19 years old when he was graduated from Hamilton col lese. For three years he applied himself diligently to the study of law, part of tile time at Hamilton college and began prae- tiee in this city in 1887. He was successful from the start, favorably impressing tho older members of the bar by his eanest- ness, hts keen power Of analysis and his industry. To a certain esOtent he made a specially of corporation law, and within few years he had acquired large corpor- atiu1 practice
 MT. Root has been connected as counsel with many important and famous cases. and he was successful in large proportion of them. He was the leading counsd for eK-Judge Henry Hilton in the A. T. Stew art will case, and in that capacity he de- tended the suit of Branagh vs, Smith, dis posing of the claim of ure alleged Irish heirs against the Stewart estate In the Hoyt will case, and also in the Payer weather will contest, MT. Root apeared as the leading counsel He was actively gagged in the Broadway Street Railroad L..- gation. the Sugar Trust contest and in the protracted legal warfare over acque- duet contracts In the last mentioned liti- sation (o'Brien vs. the Mayor of the City of New York; Mir. Root appeared as coun- sel for the city, and was successful in saw ing several millions of doiqars to the mu- nicipal treasury. He also defended Dock {. ,T,,ic sif, Aaft nd Iost in proceedings instituted before Mayor Grant for their removal Another case in which success enhanced the rising lawyers repu- tation was the effective resistance of the attempts, made under forms of law, to re- move Charles A. Dana from New York to Washington, Mr Dana having been in- dicted in the District of Columbia for the publication of an alleged libel in the New York Sun.
 While meeting the requirements of a steadily growing legal practice, MT. Root found time to take an intelligent and earn est interest in political matters. He has a conscientious sense of the duties of citizen ship, and tho welfare of the nation, the state, and the municipality command his active personal interest. Early in his reer he affiliated with the republican party, and in recent years he has been conspicuous as leader of the reform element of that party. In 1879 he was republican candi- date in this city for tho office of judge of the court of common pleas, and he poaied a large republican vote. President Arthur appointed him United States dis trict attorney for the southern district of New York in 1883, and he served in that capacity until the middle of 1885, He ducted the prosecution which resulted in the conviction of James D. Fish. president of the Marine bank, for acts connected with the Grant & Ward failure.
 With the advent of a democratic admin istration in Washington, MT. Root resigned the office of United States district attor- ney. For a number of years he held an infl"antial position in the republican organ ization of New York county. He repre- sented the Twenty-frst assembly district on the executive committee of the republi- can county committee for several terms, and in 1886 he was chairman of the county committee. When, in his Judgment, the political methods of his republican asso- ciates became objectionable, he was frank and severe critic of those methods He was an active member of the "Committee
 
 volt against the republican machine" in New York county.
 Elihu Root acted as one of the delegates at large to the constitutional convention of 1894, and, while Joseph H. Choate was the president of that body Mir. Root was the chairman of the judiciary committee and the leader on the floor of tho republican majority. He is a ready and. on occasions. o11
 ys1s and argument are of an uncommon order In the practice of his profession he enjoys the reputation of being very thor ough in the preparation of cases and ex- ceedingly keen to see and turn to advantage vital points. During the presidential cam paign in 1892 he made notable public ad- dress in Cooper Union, analysing and ex- posing municipal corruption. His speech in the republican state convention at Sara toga last fall, showing the legal eligibility of Colonel Roosevelt for the governorship, was regarded as masterful mastering of fact and logic.
 For long period of years MT. Root has been one of the foremost members of the New York Bar association, Of which body he served as president. He was also ut 5ane time president Of the New England Society. Tn january l6So, he was elected president of the Republican club of the City of New York, and still later he was made president of the Union League club, succeeding Ger eral Horace Porter, which office he stils holds. Mir. Root is also a member # @ great number of social, political and scien- titic organizations including the Metropoli- tan, Century, University, Players and City clubs, Sons of the American Revolution American Museum of Natural History, the Sigma Chi and the Society of Colonial Wars.
 After the retirement of Colonel John Hay from the post of ambassador to the court of St. James, MT. Root was prominently mentioned possible successor Without any open encoura cement on his part, some of his friends heartily recommended his ap- poiRtment by the president to the office which .TOSaph ta wa sr,l,,