Arizona republican., 1901-12-09
MOSTLY ~
< ~ V PERSONAL

Among all the men now prominent in puo: ic life. perhaps the personality of none is more generally misunderstood than that of Lyman J. Gage, secretary of the treasury. Possibly it would be more accurate to say that his person. ality Is mot understood" than to say it is misunderstood" At any rate, Mfr. Gage is a man whose most distinctinve characteristics of mind and heart are not usiiaiiy seen or appreciated by those who meet him casually in the routine of business transactions at the treasury.
 Possessed of a kind of humor-quali- ties that appear on the surface in so many mems lives--the chance acquaint- ance of Mir. Gage would perhaps ascribe none of these attributes 10 him. To a man who calls for the first time to transact business Secretary Gage us- ually seems to be of somewhat heavy" and deliberate methods of conversation. short spoken but not quick-spoken, and possibly lacking in sympathy and cor- dial appreciation. He asks questions unsmilingly, and with an appearance of opposition to the subject presented to him. which quite bellies his real dispo- sition. Like all men prominently con- nected with the public service, he has been criticised-and perhaps some of this>criticism Is due to a dislike of his supposed personality on the part of his critics. or course. this does not prove that Mir. Gage has a disagreeable per sonality, hut 1t does indicate to those who know him we'll that his real nature it not carried in plain view before all men. IF the heart of lover is "worn on his sleeve"
 haS nf "a that he is only a banker and the word has. been used by critics as if 1t were a term of reproach. But he is really much more. He is one of the wittiest men in the cabinet. None of his col leagues is more kind hearted than he is. He is a good judge of men. and his kind heartedness does not extend to rascals or to frauds, either within or without the federal service. He Is man of rather unusual literary attain ments and can quote history and litera- ture apropos of almost any subject that comes up in the meetings of the cab inet. He has often done this to the delight of the president and his fellow members.
 MT. Gage is a great friend of boys and young men who show n disposition to get ahead in the world. One boy
  nents as a musical prodigy received the greater part of his expensive European e1.lcation as a result of Mir. Cages beneficence. Boys and girls take to- him instinctively. It would be a be- trayal of confidence to tell the whole story about one girl of 10 or 12 years who writes to him occasionally from her home on the eastern shore of Mary land. showing in each letter a very mature gratitude for his kindness and that of,the late Mrs. Gage to her ors one occasion two ord three years ago.
 The casual acquaintance of MT. Gage would never suspect him of possessing unusual humor. but he is one of the best of story tellers.
 MT. Cages gestures are very charac- teristic. He nearly always uses hia hands freely while engaged in conver- sation of a discursive or argumentative character The most familiar gesture is a moving of the hands up and down alternately, as if weighing a proposi- ton in a scale or balance. Frequently he makes a gesture after the statement of & fact instead of simultaneously with the statement. and the effect is very funny. Some time ago he began to illustrate a financial proposition which he was about to make, as fol- lows:
 You can hire a man." he said, ito saw wood'-ta pause and then a ges- ture descriptive of saving wood with both hands)-"or you can employ man to shovel snow"-(another pause and a gesture descriptive of slow and measured shoveling)-and then he pro- ceeded with many more gestures and an inclination of the head from one side to the other to expound a somewhat technical proposition concerning the national finances.