The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-11-29
SUCCESS OF LITTLE MEN
VALUABLE GOODS PUT UP m
SMALL PACKAGES"

Secretary Gage Thinks the Physically
Small Man Has an Advantage In Pub
lie Life - There Are Very lew Giants
Among Those ia National Affairs.
Il sometimes think the physically
small man has an advantage In pub
lie life" said Secretary Of the Treas
ury Lyman j. Gage to one Of his as
sigtants, 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 q reputation.
On the whole / believe the man OF
diminutive size Is more effective than |
the physically perfect man of impos-
ing presence. The little fellow Is more
aggressive and self assertlve because
he has not the adventurous aid OF bod
lily beauty and favor There are lots
OF big little men in pubic life and his
tory abounds In small celebrities
This statement was made partly TO
encourage Assistant Secretary Allies,
who is disposed to regard an imposing
presence as necessary to full success
and who sometimes regrets that his
/ FIVE feet cannot be stretched half
cubit. But the secretarys long expe-
rience convinces him that bodily
height, breadth and depth do not in
sure success in life. He has observed
that spirit and ability bring the man
Of small physical size into promi-
nence.
It may be that Secretary Gage, In
eulogizing the small man, had in mind,
as an illustration of what the little
fellows can do the record OF Mr. James
H. Eckels, who was a fellow-towns-
man of Mr. Gage and comptroller or
the currency under President Cleve-
land. Shortly after Mr.. Eckels as
sumed Office in the treasury he was
invited to deliver a 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 young interloper-a
stranger who had simply wandered
into the classroom.
The professor in charge that even
ing expressed regret that the speaker
for the occasion, Comptroller Eckels
had not put in an appearance. The
stranger in the back row arose and an
nounced that he was Mr. Eckels. AL
l eyes were then riveted upon the slight
boyish figure and youthful face, limo
cent of beard. Disappointment wa
= written on every face, including tina
: of the professor, but when the boy
= as he appeared reached the platform
= and began his mastery address, dis
a appointment gave way to enthusiasm
y and one of the biggest brains in Pres
&C ident Cleveland's administration re
II ceived a public introduction.
- The physical giant is not met wit
- very frequently in national affairs
IL now that Thomas B. Reed Of Main
has retired from public life. Outsid
- of the supreme court where maste
70 minds are carried in giant bodies b
10 such men of Justices Gray, Harla
u and White, few Of the controlling spil
d it's who are leaving an impress G
"a history are above medium height {
g weight, and many of the most prom
II inent are far below the average size
10 man. Even the supreme court is pr
d sided over by a man small in statu
ls and slight Of figure Melville W. Flu
ST. Ter, chief justice of the United Stat
ISL supreme court, is pygmy compar
nc with Associate Justice Gray, who 81
50, at his immediate left on the benc
gu Justice McKenna, the latest appoint
lto to the bench, is small in stature.
as Measured by ordinary standards t
OF president Of the United States is
small man physically, but there is
ne doubt Of his having achieved gre
OF success and having won high pla
ms in the history OF the country and
ID the world.
~ ~ He is hardly up to what is cal
t'1 medium height He has associat
~ with him a number of big little men
lo 10 Hon. John Hay, secretary Of sta
% ex-ambassador to England and kno
ou1 all the world over as poet and
20" thor. started in life with the suppo
handicap Of a slight body and und
sized figure. Secretary of the N;
-. Long is below the standard heig
~ and Postmaster General Smith is ha
VI,