The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1902-05-01
CHARACTER Of RHO D Is.
Personal Traits and Foible5 oil
the Great South African,
READING WAS HIS GREAT HOBBY

HEADLINE VAS Ills ehhAI AOLa J
story About his Aversion to Women
Hie Hunaor and Cyniei sra an i T-s5F-
ror Of Old AEGEAN instance o9 Eis
Auaacisy--A Rat1afng Fneiaent-rtas
with Earna1o.
The character Of the late Cecil Rhodes
I'd Interestingly depicSed III tho follow
ing article, which IS an extract from
Mr.. Howard Hensman' s Cecil Rhodes.
published by Harper IS Bros.
Mr.. Rhodes second sister. 2liss
Edith Rhodes, has for many years past
performed the part Of hostess. at Groof
Schuur, South Africa, and among the
visitors at the house she is every whit
as popular as her brother AS most
people are aware. Mr.. Rhodes has new
er married. Popular ruInor has cred
tied him with being a woman hater."
which, however, is rather wide of the
mark, as the following anecdote will
show: Rhodes was once staying at a
country house in England when a lady
Of the party made 1t in her way to
question him on his reputed dislike for
the opposite sex. ''Will you tell me
why you dislike women, Mr.. Rhodes'
she asked. HAS any member Of the
sex ever played you nasty trick r
indeed, no." was Rhodes smiling re-
ply. 1T is all mistake. assure you
I cannot think where the idea came
from that dislike women. On the
contrary, | like and admire then, very
much, and assure you that realize
the vurle of their help Despite this
denial, however, there is no doubt that
Mr.. Rhodes fights very shy OF the fair
sex.
With regard to his indoor recreations,
his great hobby is reading, in which
his taste is very catholic. His favorite
subject is history, especially the his.
tory of his own country. He is great
admirer Of Froude and Carlyle and is
credited with knowing Gibbon almost
by heart. Biography is another favor
lite subject. and reference has been
made already to his delight in classical
story In fiction his favorite book is
vanity Fair" which he enjoys more
than any other book he has ever read.
With regard to his fondness for read
Ing. he has often lamented that the
vast amount of work he has to get
through daily prevents him from de-
voting more time to his books.
He is undoubtedly an opportunist-
there are few great men who are not
He has been headstrong at times. very
notably Immediately after the unfor-
tunate raid, when he fatty refused to
the Transvaalin spite of the entreaties
and demands of the high commission
er and the Cape. government On the
other hand, he can be extremely pol
tic and diplomatic on occasions. In
conversation he can be smooth and
gentle, as again he can be abrupt and
curt almost to the point of brutality.
By nature kindly and easeful. once he
Is offended or thwarted in his desires
he is obstinate and implacable. Slow
to anger. he is slower still to forgive
There is a certain cynicism in his ma
ture which displays itself rather prom
inently at times, but this quality has
been much oyerrated by many writer's.
The oft quoted phrase to the effect that
he never met a man whom he could
not buy was, it may be authoritatively
stated, never used by him. The germ
Of this fiction is to be found in the fact
that one day many years ago, when
discussing his proposed telegraph wire
from one end of Africa to the other
somebody asked him how he proposed
to carry it across the Sudan, which was
then under the domino ton of the kha-
lifa. .Oh, leave it to me-" Rhodes an
swered II never met the man yet that
] could not come to an agreement with,
and shall be able to fix things up
with the khalifa right enough when the
times comes"
The KEYNOTE of Rhodes whole life is
unconventionality, and unconventional
ity, it must be confessed, he carries at
times to extreme limits. In illustra-
ton of his original methods of conduct
ing business it may be mentioned that
a great part Of his work is transacted
in all sorts of out Of the way places
He has been seen standing in the
streets Of Kimberley TRANQUILITY writing
checks with as much disregard for his
surroundings as though he Wass ~ the
privacy of his own office
One of the many instances of the
sublime audacity by which the late
Cecil Rhodes. the diamond king OF
South Africa. reached his power is
that Of a visit he once paid the Roths-
childs, says the New York World. He
was then young man and in the first
frenzy of success in his diamond min
ing. TO carry out his consolidation
schemes he needed rich allies. The
Rothschilds deliberated. After all,
they knew nothing of this ambitious
young man..
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