The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-07-27
DeverY's Picturesque
Primary Fight
New York Letter
BY JOHN MARTIAL

aef eeing to the proposals Of the Washing
lngton administration as presented by
Judge Taft The question is not one Of
religion They all admit that. It is pure
" enc Of business. and Catholic lay men,
eminent in the business world, regret
that the Papal advisors were too obtruse
to see it In that light. Some Democratic
politicians are congratulating themselves
that the disagreement will rebound to the
interest Of their party in the near and
more remote elections. and to that end
are endeaVoring to arouse feeling of
antagonism to the Republican party.
This is the basest kind of political tur-
pitude nd is certain to react upon those I
who have recourse to 1t. Fair minded
Catholics have no complaint to maze and
VIII not be led into the trap set for them.
The aid of John D. Crimmins has been
invoked by the President to smooth over
the difficulty with the Vatican Grim
minis is one of the richest Catholic lay
men in the Country This is the milk in
the diplomatic cocoanut which brought
about the recent visit of Crimmins and
his whole family to the President at |
Oyster Bay crimmns who made most |
II not ali of his money in municipal con-
tracts under Tammary Hall and the sur
face railroad companies, is one of the |
four OF five trustees of the Roman Cath |
olic Cathedral, high in Catholic Church |
councils. because of his ostentatious |
piety and generosity, and to him is as
signed the task of pouring oil on the |
troubled waters between Washington and |
Rome. Theodore Roosevelt is a first
class politician, smooth silk, and his |
opponents within the Republican party
and outside of it will do well to bear the |
fact In mind that if they cherish any
animosties toward him and have ambi- |
ton with which he in any way interferes. |
Senator Thomas C. Platt celebrated
with friends his sixty ninth birthday last
week, and the weight of his three-score |
and ten years, but one, sits lightly upon
him He is unquestionably the ablest
political leader the State of New York |
has ever had, and the wonder is how he |
manages to hold and exercise the vast /
influence that he Yields. Old men and
young men in the Republican party all
bow to him and do implicitly what he
commands Commands is not the
word to characterize his methods. He
never commands, he merely suggests,
and the thing, whatever it may be. is
done. Mr.. Platt is boss because he does
not assume the airs of boss There Is
nothing of the dictator about him, but
STILL in quiet way, he dictates all the |
same. AS a political leader his strength
lies in the management of the young men
of his party. They all look to him as
their political father and best friend in
time oil need. That is the secret of his
power.
The booksellers of the metropolis are
IN bad way, and thirty of them have
just formed an organization in the hope
CT making things better 1t is a sort of
trust to keep up prices and fight the
department stores which have made aw-
full inroads into their trade, with their
! low prices and extensive advertising.
The publishers are no better oft than the
booksellers. One of them tells me that
there is no longer any money in the bus
mess, except for standard works, and
they are few end far between.
Another instance of those who love not
wisely but too well is afforded by the
much heralded affair of the heart In
| which Captain Bradlee Strong and Lady
Hope. nee May Yone, figures as chief ac-
| tors. What can be said of it? Can it not
| all be said in these words, - 'Tis true, tbs
| pity; and pity tbs tbs true" All the
world will bitterly denounce the woman
for having wrecked the young mans life.
| Is it not the way of the world? All the
world will feel sorry for the young man
| who has subscribed so mucn for so little.
| But few will feel sorry for the woman
1t Is the same old story 1t is as old as
the world. Antony laid down almost i'm
] perial rank, honors and power at Cleo
| patras feet and thousands before and
after for the love of woman have given
all. Such as the women were. the women
| are, and will be also the men. But why
does the world always rise to damn the
woman and excuse the man?
May Yohe's career has been as an open
book. From the back row of a chorus
to the position of a peers bride it has
been full of variety and romance. Since
| the days she was the girl with a fog
horn voice" who sang kiss Me Goodby
| and Go" in Natural Cas-" her record
| has been one Of publicity. She was never
| mercenary cruel or wicked hearted. She
! was mel ely natural, bouyant, foolish
| girl, VINO came upon the stage of life sur
rounded by little to make 1t endurable.
Her faults, grie vous though they may be,
were well known to Captain Strong. He
may be excused for falling in love with
Ter The why's and wherefores of affec-
| tion are always mysterious and inexpica-
bic. That such loves burn themselves
! cut is foregone conclusion They al
ways do. But If it .e true that the neg
lected object of his affection found the
time had come when she should sing
Kiss Me Goodby and Co." it was not
right OF the late warrior to cause her to
! bewail the loss of her jewels, the glitter
ing prizes of former conquests. If 1t be
| true that Captsin Strong filehed the jew
/ elS-which I much distrust-he has lost
his claim to regard his romance as a wild
| young mans wild oats.
No man was better known by name
than the late John w. Mackay, and
+! few were so little known by sight. Mr..
| Mackay was man who disliked public
| ity. public places and public amusements.
He was singularly modest and retiring
He was plain, frank and outspoken. His
death will be felt in the world of finance
! where up to his last moments he exerted
a masters influence. Mackay belonged
| to a group of men whose names will grow
as time passes on. He was a builder
Romance will connect his name with that
hardy band who developed the great
mines of Nevada, and reaped for them
selves enormous fortunes; but practical
records will demonstrate that they were |
builders of states developers of territory |
and the founders of great enterprises |
Even during his last hours, he was
while in London, engaged in extending |
his cable service, making arrangements |
for the connection of California with the |
Sandwich Islands, the Philippines and
China. Mr.. Mackay took no active part |
IN the various peasurabe enterprises In |
which so many men are engaged, not for |
the purpose of acquisition but for the |
pleasure derived from sport: consequently |
his loss will not be keenly felt by private
individuals, but by the public at large
which is affected by the enterprises that |
will now pass into the control of other |
hands Like Cecil Rhodes, Mackay has |
passed away and his life work will be a |
| theme for novelists and historians; and |
! like Cecil Rhodes, he will leave an enor- |
nous fortune behind him and few to |