The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-08
TWO STURDY OLD MEN.
Different Methods of Life Have
Brought Similar Results.

Brought Similar Results.
New York Letter in Philadelphia Press.
Russell Sage's affairs are so thoroughly
well in hand and he has been so prudent in
conserving all his interests that were he
compelled by illness to withdraw from
business or were there to come news Of his
death the effect upon the market would,
the best judges say, be slight. One of the
most convenient Of lenders of money, con-
venient in the sense that he always has
money and plenty of il. which he is glad
TO lend IL he can get a good note or good
security. he would if he were to be taken
away. be missed. Though one of the most
prudent OF men in the sense that his hab-
its are regular and very simple, neverthe-
less. he received the other day a warning
and then a second one which his physi-
clans say he must heed IL he desires to re-
main in active business. He probably
caught a cold which developed into mild
attack of grip while attending the funeral
of his lifelong friend, Edward H. Perkins.
who was president of the bank of which
Mr.. Sage is a director and in which he is
the largest depositor. Mr.. Sage exposed
himself carelessly on that day which was
of such queer character with it's alterna-
many persons found themselves suffer-
ing day two after from Influenza.
There is no organic trouble with Mr..
Sage. Although in his eighty-sixth year the
physicians detect no signs of organic
changes in the structure of the brain, not
even any of those slight ones which are de-
tected by loss of memory. forgetfulness as
to names, and certainly none or MT.
Sages customers have discovered any de-
terioratiOn Of that kind.
Mr.. Sage is spoken of as perhaps the
most striking example of well-preserVed
and vigorous and mental and physical Vi
tality that we have to-day in New York.
But that is probably because he is more
conspicuously in the public eye than two
or three others This afternoon, for in
stance there departed for his summer
| home at Bar Harbor another citizen whose
| or and in the impressive suggestion OF
youthful old age, to speak. than is Mr..
| Sage himself. He is Parke Goodwin, who,
! though year younger than Mr.. Sage, has
| had a far greater experience in the sense
| that it has been wider and in closer touch
| with all of those who were influential In
making this country what 1t was from 1870
| until 1890. Mr.. Sage is pointed to as a mod
| el, as an example for those who would
reach old age in good health. his regularity
and simplicity of life. his perfect domes-
| of the theater, his observance of the rule
| that sends men to bed early followed as
/ the Germans say. by standing up early
| in the morning, whereas, Mr.. Goodwin has
been utterly indifferent to all of these reg
ulations. In the winter he is seen at the
! opera sitting enthusiastically through the
| longest of the Wagner operas. He reverses
the rule by going to bed late and getting
| up late, he eats as he used to do and he
| has a good time all the time. Yet the span
| of his life has been so long that he can
/ remember when a child Lafayette taking
| him upon his lap and petting him. He re-
| calls James Monroe when he lived In New
! York in a little brick house still standing
upon Prince street. He not only saw Aaron
! Burr, but twice in his boyhood was en-
| tertained by Burr being one of the three
or four men now living in New York to
whom Burr spoke and who remembered
| the singular charm and fascination which
| that unhappy but brilliant man eXerted
upon all who came in personal contact
! 1t was due to certain articles which Mr..
| Goodwin wrote for Putnams Magazine,
when he and George William Curtis were
editors of it, which suggested TO William
| II. Seward the higher law and '1rrepres-
sible conflict doctrines, the expounding of
which gave Seward his pre-eminent place
| in the young Republican party, and OF that
debt Mr.. Seward made full acknowledge
ment to Mr.. Goodwin several years after
| the speeches were delivered. To Goodwin
! Abraham Lincoln, when he passed through
| New York on his way to Washington, Of
! fered the consul generalship at Paris, but
at William Cullen Bryants suggestion,
! Mr.. Godwin's father-in-law, the offer was
declined, but with the suggestion that John
Bigelow then of the Evening Post staff,
| be appointed, a suggestion which Mr.. Lin
! coin needed. From that post Mr.. Bigelow
| was promoted to be American minister at
! France Mr.. Goodwin was intimate with
! Thackeray, on most cordial terms with
| Dickens, and knew personally every dis
tinguished American writer from 1910 until
| 1890, Poe and Washington Irving being on
! special terms OF friendship with him.
| Rich in recollections that go back for
| two generations, Mr.. Goodwin is intensely
| interested in all the greater questions i'm
| all the men of influence of this day, and he
| departs to-day for his summer home on
| the coast of Maine in full vigor Of health
| and mental activity. leaving instructions
that all of the leading newspapers and
! periodicals OF New York be sent to him,
| so that he could, as he expressed II, keep
up with the times" while away upon his
/ summer vacation.