The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-29

| He made a study of the horses for
weeks before the trial on the Brunot
| Islands private track below Pittsburg.
| He marked all their peculiarities OF
temper and motion. In these practice
| spins, ''Wert' was the pole horse. One
day in June, 1900, apparently without
reason and against the vigorous protest
of drivers and trainers, Mr.. Knox put
Vert" on the other side of the pole.
| lie knew Just what he was doing, how
ever, and the record breaking whirl
| began. He gave the team loose rein,
never the touch of the whip, but nov
and then encouraging them with a
worlds record.
The Attorney General is a man of
generous impulse who never permits
any record of his benefactions to be
come public. A chara ctertsttc instance
| is related by a prominent and wealthy
woman who called on him in behalf of
a charity organization Immediately fol-
lowing the great blizzard of 1898 in
Western Pennsylvania. She solicited
a contribution for coal and food, and
| the response was a check for a very
| considerable sum, so large in fact that
it led the startled woman to inquire:
How do wish this money applied
Mr.. Knox?"
"They Are All Cold and Hungry"
"As your organization thinks best.
There are worthy and unworthy poor 1
know, but they are all cold and hum
gry," was the answer.
One of the most striking character
istics of the Attorney General is his
remarkably retentive memory. He new
er forgets a name or face. A gentlemen
who had business with the department
relates this incident: The Attorney
General had written to him months
| before on a matter in which the visit
or was greatly interested. The letter
was one of thousand similar ones,
perhaps. dictated by Gen. Knox. In
the course of conversation the visitor
quoted a sentence from his letter.
"I never wrote such a sentence" said
General Knox.
But you certainly did, 1 remember
| it very distinctly"
IF I wrote those words then / con-
TESS am losing my memory" insisted
the Attorney General. The letter copy
| ing book was sent for, and General
| Knox pointed out the sentence, but
not as the visitor had quoted it.
Philander c. Knox has always been
| a Republican. The only office he ever
held, prior to his call to washington,
was that of Assistant United States
District Attorney for the Western
District of Pennsylvania for one
year in 1875 adm rs. He
has never made political
speech. He has neither state, city or
precinct at his back or under his
| control. In giving reasons for his ap-
pointment President Mckinley said:
His intimate knowledge of corpo-
rate law and his standing in his pro-
fession alone have led me to decide
upon Mr.. Knox as Attorney General
Grigg's successor"
CIuhnIaVa
Although he is verging on fifty years
of age he looks five years younger. He
is of medium hight, full faced and
smooth shaver. Psychologists would
say that his eyes indicate unusual
command of language; they are full
| ewes, dark and expressive. The mouth
and jaw indicate firmness, the fore
head is high and hair brown. changing
| into gray. Whether in court or in
private conversation General Knox
speaks with great elaboration. care
fully choosing his words, though when
reused he expresses himself with all
the vigor necessary to emphasize an
| opinion.
He is not society man; rather the
Attorney General is a "clubalble man."
He has been president of the Pennsyl-
vania Bar Association, and the
Duquesne Club of Pittsburg. He is
a member of the Union League and
Lawyers Club of New York, be-
sides other clubs in Philadelphia and
| Pittsburg.
His Washington home is on K street,
| two short squares from the department
of justice. 1t is the former George
w. Childs residence, and was pur-
| chased recently by Gen. Knox for the
sum of $4,000. The Pittsburg home
of the Knoxes is on Ellsworth avenue,
a large, magnificently furnished stone
house, standing on a slight eminence
surrounded by sloping lawns and old
shade trees. The striking feature Of
this home is the library whose walls
are entirely concealed by paintings Of
Indian and frontier life executed on
the pelts of wild animals by A. F.
Harmer. of California, painter, whom
Mr.. Knox specially engaged for this
work.
The family of Gen. Knox consists OF
his wife, who was formerly Miss
Smith, daughter of one of the pioneer
iron manufacturers of Pittsburg, three
sons and a daughter, the latter just
reaching womanhood. The Knoxes are
Protestant EpiscopaIians, Mr.. Knox
being a vestryman in the Church Of
the Ascension, Pittsburg. Discussing
religious creeds one day with some of
friends, the Attorney General is reply
to a question as to his belief. said:
my creed is to live for those love
and to do all the good 1 cam