The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-14

Judge G.. C. Goodwin, former editor
of the Salt Lake Tribune. writes as foI-
lows about r. NJ. Daggett. former
Minister to Hawaii:
In San Francisco. week before last,
r. NJ. Daggett ceased to live. 1t is a
little late, but the Tribune ought tc
have mention of him, for he was a dis
tinct force on the West coast for many
years. He was editor of the Territorial
Enterprise, member of Congress from
Nevada and Minister to Hawaii. The
news of his death came as a personal
sorrow to me. In the long ago ar acct
dent brought US into close business re-
.~lations, and thereafter for some years
the currents of our lives ran side by
side, and SO closely that 1 earned to
know the full strength of the robust
tide of his life and to analyze :lIe
springs that fed it. A rare natur was
his. Within him was a fund Of hunor
inexhaustible and contagious; an au-
dacity as superb as it was b%oundless.
and given 70 manifestation that con-
vulsed friends and astounded enemies.
Filled with contradictions, he could
paralyze a tough and BLACKBOARD with
his own and yet Whcl h"
took the hand of a lady, especially an
elderly lady and looking into Ger eyes,
told her of his pleasure in meeting her
and expressed his warm wishes or her
welfare. it was in a way that made
that lady such a friend hat it was
useless thereafter to hint to her that,
after all, something more than wings
were needed to convert Daggett mo
an angel.
He had a scOrn u~nspeakable Cor all
Fa1ca ylrataVc3prG md oil a-z-an11as y nd
was utterly lacking in reverence for
things that the world Duws down
TO. He would have snubbed the heir
apparent. even in the momen when ne,
unable to lift up an unfortunate broth
er, was preparing to lie down beside
him.
To a wealthy candidate For office, who
desired him to pursue a certain course
the paper, he said: See here. old
man. The paper will have to carry your
reputation through this campaign, and
you ought TO know that there are places
n il which will require my utmost eff
'crts as an artist to keep them so paint
ID that the public will not see how dam !
1ably out of repair it is. You viii nave
% let me run this business my way ;
There was a streak of Indian L. his
nature if not in his blood. Met IN the I
N+NlN CIV fgAtL AhAE new ~ ne tuGlFI
massacre, he exclaimed: Those Sioux,
they are as straight as arrows. hey g,
noses like eagles and old Romans:
hey can ride and shoot: they are +,
americans. and I am proud Of them"
In MS enthusiasm for the Ted man, 7
he seemed to forget the white men that
died up on the Rosebud. :
DaSgett'S droll expressions. ~convuIs-
ne as he delivered them. would fill n
'ook; but if sometimes he seemed 90 S
orget his own self-respect, ne could be e.
2rdly enough when h essayed to be.
He had not much wit. but his ex-
humor and quaint forms Of
Expression often passed for f.. He Was 4,
erpetually laying himself open for n -
harp thrust at his own expense. and II
hen it came he would laugn until the :
sars ran down his cheeks. every mo- -
.ent hurting appalling imprerlaoas
pom the head Of the one who Il given =
I'M the thrust. -
He was short and stout. and when in
recumbent position was not, in form.
nike a hippopotamus.
When his children We're little il was n
: wont TO fall upon the floor and de- =
are that they had knocked him down. .
10 as they beat him with pillows and
.aped tides upon him. all the tine
roaming with laughter. he would as
IL them with threats n anathemas III
at would have caused an outside lis
10 believe that he was about 10
Irder his whole family.
But he had his serious side. He was
journalist by instinct as we'll as pro-
5sion. His journalistic Judgment was
perb. his taste faultIess. MS -aEacitr
-comprehending. He went down front II
e California placers 70 San Francisco
q started the Golden Era. II Wa Il
arm To the coast from the first. Illed
fresh literary jewels. -
But his best efforts were on the themes
al come TO a daily journal that deals
III the worldly affairs and politics Of
p day. The way he could lambaste a III
or n cause that needed il was some
awful. His pen was then tipped
IN fire, and words of invective follow
each other with increasing intensity 2
to the climax, which was a lava ella
T