Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-02-16
Susan B. Anthony Eighty
Years Old Thursday.


Washington, Feb 12. (speclal.)-As
a rule the fate Of the reformers Is
praise when the ear has grown too
duh to hear. fame when the heart 1t
should thrill is numb" But there
VIII be no post-mortem compliments
for Susan B. Anthony. The doctrine
of equal rights may not be universally
accepted by enlightened minds, but
there are few who do not recognize
and honor the character of the woman
and the service she has rendered.
All beautiful things said of her are
full OF meaning, Living. vigorous,
still tolling, she receives her need of
appreciation and the honors she has
earned.
Miss Anthony's self-imposed task
to secure equal rights for women. So
cial, civil and polltical-made her the
leader of the most unpopular reform
of the age. Other leaders there were,
but she is the only woman who has
given her whole time and effort to the
one end, with no division of interest in
behalf of husband and children, no dl-
version Of other public questions.
On the threshold of her eightieth
birthday, after half century of the
hardest, most persistent labor, she is
active of step, alert and ready of
speech, retaining the forceful charac-
terlstlcs of her strong individuality
and looks not day above sixty
There is no sign of the doubts, dis
couragements and disappolntments
above which she lifted the cause of
equal rights. With no trace of bitter
ness, no remembrance of the "sllngs
and arrows" in the past, she turns her
face to the future, bright and hopeful
and serenely confident, as if life were
all before her and the attainment CT
the end fulfilled
This is Susan B. Anthony, the rec
ognized leader, who voluntarily lays
down the sceptre, with the conviction
that in other directions she will bet
ter serve the cause than to remain
president of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association
What is the secret of Miss An
thongs success?" a woman was asked
the other day who is closely associated
with the veteran leaders public work
and home life.
"a marvellous mixture of optimism
and persistence" she replied, quickly
and emphaticaly.
When the rest of us-all younger
women. too-feel discouraged and
ready to so under, Miss Anthony rises
10 the top, buoyant and more hopeful
than ever. she comes up from disas
-er with the elasticity of a rubber ball
and on the ruins of defeat immediate
ly proceeds to build another campaign
The defeat in New York was a terrible
blow. 1t was the famous campaign
with the petition of six hundred thous-
and names, and cost a years hard
work, with the expenditure of thous-
ands CT dollars Miss Anthony's home
in Rochester was put at the service of
the commhtteeJ The parlors became
public offices, the guests chamber was
turned into a mailing department, her
study became an Office by day and
bed room by night-even the dining
rccm and kitchen were invaded by a
force of clerks working early and late,
sending out documents. Letter boxes
war inadequate, and the postofIice
daily sent mailsacks to the house,
which were set out on the front porch
to be collected. Into this busy hive
Miss Anthony rushed every Saturday
night from the lecture field, to get re-
ports of the work. She was then sew
enty-four, and during three months
she spoke in every one OF the sixty
counties of the state. Miss Anthony
had believed from the first that the
would pass. The defeat
was the bitterest disappointment, she
says, OF her life. However, when she
came down the steps Of the Albany
Capitol at midnight, after the vote had
been taken, she began planning anoth
er campaign. This came off in Cali
fornia two years later, at the cost of
more hard work and a lot OF money.
Miss Anthony made speeches all over
the state and Mrs. Phoebe Hearst
headed the campaign fund with $1,000.
The defeat in California was another
blow and keen disappointment for
Miss Anthony. But when she came
down stairs the morning after the
election and heard the news, she said;
II don't care for myself. ! am used to
defeat. But these California women
who have worked so hard-how can
they bear it?'
she will just go on to the end peg
ging away, with the same never let up
and the some optimistic
vision. There is not an example in
all history, either of man or woman,
who, like Miss Anthony, has given
half a century OF solid work for one
and now she is going to resign
and start in again.
In the Capitol where she met the
awful defate six years ago, above the
very stairway she passed down that