Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1901-11-01
SUCCESS OF LITTLE MEN
VALUABLE GOODS PUT UP IN
SMALL PACKAGES"

| lie life, SAID secretary OF lHe AledS-
ury Lyman ]. Gage to one of his as
sistants, who claimed that short stat
ure was a handicap in the race of life.
There is a glamour or romance about
the little fellow who succeeds" con-
tinued the secretary, that attracts at
tention and gives him reputation.
On the whole l believe the man OF
diminutive size is more effective than
the physically perfect man of tmpos-
ing presence. The little fellow is more
aggressive and self assertive because
he has not the adventurous aid of bod
lily beauty and favor There are lots
of big little men in pubic life end bis
tory abounds in small celebrities"
This statement was made psItly to
encourage Assistant Secretary Allies.
who is disposed to regard an Imposing
presence as necessary to fuli success
and who sometimes regrets fiat lis
five feet cannot be stretched half a
cubit. But the secretary's f)Ag eXpe-
rience convinces him thfi bodily
height, breadth and depth 10 not in
sure success in life. He has observed
that spirit and ability bring the man
of small physical size into promi-
nence.
1t may be that Secretary Gage, in
eulogizing the small man, h%i in mind,
as an illustration of what the little
fellows can do the record Of NJ. James
II. Eckels. who was a fei,ow-towns-
man of Mr.. Gage and comptroller Of
the currency under President Clsve-
land. Shortly after Mr.. EcHels as
sumed Office in the treasury he was
invited TO deliver lecture before one
of the law classes in Columbia univer
sity. He was not recognized when
he repaired to the hall and modestly
took a back seat, where he was the
object of some curious scrutiny on the
part of the students, who supposed
him to be a young interloper-a
stranger who had simply wandered
into the classroom.
The professor in charge that even
ing expressed regret that the speaker
had not put in an appearance. The
stranger in the back row arose and an
nounced that he was Mr.. Eckels. All
eyes were then riveted upon the slight,
boyish figure and youthful face, inno-
cent of beard. Disappointment was
written on every face, including that
Of the professor, but when the boy"
as he appeared reached the platform
and began his mastery address, dis
appointment gave way to enthusiasm,
and one of the biggest brains in Pres
ident Cleveland's administration re-
ceived public introduction.
The physical giant is not met with
very frequently in national affairs,
now that Thomas B. Reed of Maine
has retired from public life. Outside
of the supreme court. where master
minds are carried in giant bodies by
such men of Justices Gray, Harlan
and White, few of the controlling spir-
its who are leaving an impress on
history are above medium height or
weight, and many of the most prom
inent are far below the average sized
man. Even the supreme court is pre-
sided over by man small in stature
and slight of figure, Melville w. Full,
Ter, chief justice of the United State:
supreme court, is pygmy compared
with Associate Justice Gray who sits
at his immediate left on the bench
Justice McKenna, the latest appointe,
to the bench, is small in stature.
Measured by ordinary standards tn,
president of the United States is 4;
small man physically, but there is NJ
doubt of his having achieved grea
success and having won high plac
in the history of the country and o
the world.
He is hardly up to what is callet
medium height He has associated
with him a number of big little men,
Hon. John Hay, secretary of state
eX-ambassador to England and know
all the world over as poet and au
thor, started in life with the suppose
handicap of a slight body and under
sized figure. Secretary of the Nav
Long is below the standard height
and Postmaster-Gene Smith is hard
ly up to the medium line. The presen
attorney-gen Mr.. Philander {
Knox, cannot boast of many inches
but his success where mentality /
potent was long ago achieved.
President McKinley's last Republ
can predecessor, the late General Hal
rison, was Familiarity known as "'Lit
tie Ben" He had large men in hi
cabinet, but never showed to disat
vantage, even alongside the talente
Blaine, who was above the averae
size and of very graceful and impol
ing presence.
In congress the little men often a
tract the most attention. Within tn
past quarter of a century many state
men Of insignificant bodily statul
have made their names known fro
one end of the land to the other Les
than a decade ago few men were moi
prominent than the doughty lit
Democratic leader, William L. Wi
son, afterward postmaster-genera
| 4. - r. l. IL