The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-15
Platt, Won His Way
By Indomit0ble viii
Special to The Globe

Special to The Globe.
WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. IA
There is so much heard of the pass
ing of Plat" at the moment that an
off-hand and naturally cursory study
of his life must be of general interest.
Here Is what one Of his friends has
to say about him:
Among the figures which stand out
strongly in the foreground of national
politics is that of Thomas Collier Plat
if the efforts of the cartoonists are any
evidence of the cOnspicuousness of a
personality.
"a politician from the crown of his
head to the sole of his feet, if not a
statesman, Senator Plat has proved
himself one of the most remarkable
men of his generation.
Although both the pen of the party
writer and the brush of the cartoonist
have We'd in attempts to besmirch and
ridicule the character of the grand old
man of the New York Republican party
no one has yet been able to say that
Plat ever forgot a kindness or did
mean action in his life.
THE most remarkable thing about
Mr.. Platt's entire career is the tenacity
with which he has held to his purposes
Today Notwithstanding the belief that
his sceptre was passing in the ranks
OIL MS own party ana remembering
that he is a veteran of some seventy
years in the political arena, he says:
I shall stay in the state Republican
party-I shall remain in the senate if
1 feel Inclined and that he will do both
these things there seems to be no
ground for reasonable doubt.
Few know the natural obstacles
against which this stalwart of stall
warts in his party. Thomas Collier
Platt, has had to fight his way. To-
day he may be described as a slim,
frail figure with a thin scanned, sombre,
almost Sorrowful face, a pair of keen,
kindly eyes, that have a trick of sud-
denly Transforming the melancholy
countenance into a passive laughter;
a strong mouth and formidable chin,
softened by gray beard and mustache;
long and slender fingers-the marks Of
a subtle personality; a, broad, full head
with the jutting of penetrating brain
and the f1attened crown that bespeakS
practical qualities dominating mag
nation; a low, pleasant voice, a man
ner alert but shy almost to femininity
"And from what beginnings did this
dominating personality come? What
advantages did the upstate New York
boy possess to qualify him for the
leadership of men he has assumed?
Let us look back fifty or sixty years
and see the embryo Platt as he ap-
peared then in the little town of Owe
go. 1t is too long for ourselves to bark
back, so we must trust to another BIZ
ographer for a description of Thomas
Collier Platt IN his early stages.
In youth he was a lean nervous bow
with very little blood and a weakish voice
His personal appearance was anything but
attractive. He enjoyed the advantage,
however, Of careful rearing in a refined
home.
Having received a good preliminary
education in his native town Platt was
sent to Yale, where he made good prog
reSs, but was compelled to leave in his
junior year on account of lack of vitality
Returning to Owego young Plat for his
own amusement started a publication,
which he called the ST. Nicholas Maga.
zine For this periodical he wrote Jokes
and poetry. The latter proved a danger
Gus experiment, as it led to a love for
music which incidentally carried the
young aspirant for literary honors into
the political field, for in the Campaign Of
56, which was an emotional canpajen
the abolitionists induced Mr. Platt to Or
ganiZe the OWego G1ee club, which c1id
excellent service for the party
the emu was that PIatt became tba
organizer Of the Republican party in Tioga
county. But though he merged into poi-
ttics he never forgot his music Until he
was nifty years OF age MIR. Platt always
sang In the choir.
I'm 1859 he became clerk Of Tioga conn
ty and in the early sixties we find him in