The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-02-21
PASSAGES IN THE LIFE
OF SENATOR NJ. A. HANNA

votes had been counted, and in the
course of the conversation asked;
What is your opinion Of my defeat7'
Mr., Hanna leaned forward In his chair
and shook his finger emphatioaly.
It's the forerunner Of your success,
William" he said. You'll be governor
Of Ohio yet and after that President of
the United States"
Mckinley was not the only president
with which Hanna was on intimate
terms. He and Garfield were great
friends almost chums, in fact, both be-
fore and after the latter's elevation 10
the presidential chair,
The friendship began early In Garfield's
career and continued unclouded to the
DAY of the Presidents death. Residents
Of Cleveland will tell the inquring
stranger that whenever Garfield came 10
Cleveland II was not an uncommon sight
to see him and Hanna walking arm in
arm along the streets and laughing and
Joking as heartily as two eare-free
school boys.
One of Senator Hannas marked chas-
acteristics was his way OF insisting upon
knowing everything about anything In
which he was interested and of finding 1t
out for himself.
In 1880 he bought for $4,000 the Euclid
Avenue opera house, in Cleveland. which
had cost $4,000 TO build. and had proved
a failure from the day OF It's opening. He
put nephew. L. c. Hanna, In charge
as manager, and through him let 1t be
known that the opera house would pre-
sent the best attractions and make every
effort to please the public.
For some roasop nnceiI,Ix- becauea he
times had at last caught up with the
enterprise, financial success attended the
new management from the start. That
was eminently satisfactory to Mr.. Han
ma, but he wanted to find out just how
the money was made. so night after
night found him on the stage talking
with the carpenter, the property man,
the stage manager and everybody else
employed thereon.
As result, he soon began making sug
gestions about t.is piece of scenery or
the method Of operating some particular
mechanism.
why don't you do It this way" he
would begin, then outline his idea, and
close with: would that be an improve
ment?"
If the carpenter, or whoever he might
be- thought the idea good one, he would
say so; II not, discussion was sure 10
follow until one or the other was con-
WINGED that he was wrong Sometimes
II would be the carpenter, sometimes Mr..
Hanna.
Nor was Mr.. Hanna long In forming
ideas of the kinds of attractions that he
wanted at the opera house. This was
shown in 1882, when his nephew thought
it would be a good thing to book a
wrestling match between Duncan Ross,
the Scotch athlete, who was then touring
the country. and a Detroit wrestler
named Mclaughlin.
Mr.. Hanna held a different view.
IT'S not the right sort of thing for the
opera hause he said. Don't book It,"
The nephew ignored Mr.. Hannas adj
vice. The match was booked and pulled
off. A few weeks later the opera house
had a new manager.
Senator Hanna's attitude toward his
employees was neither stand-offish or Off
hand. Many a coal miner or a street
railway conductor can testify to the fact
that Mr. Hanna has slapped him square
ly between the shoulders as he sang out
cheerily; Good morning, Bill" But
not one has ever had the senator crack
jokes with him
A joke was never looked for; but when
an employee met Hanna the former knew
by experience that he would be asked
such questions as these:
well Is everything satisfactory"
How is the family?''
See any way in which the service
might be improved?" -
mo kick coming, chr
AS a result of this show of good will
which also not infrequently made itself
evident In the shape of comforts and del
icacies. If the man answered that his
wife or child was ILL., the senator was
Familiarity known among his thousands
Of employees as "Uncle Mark"
When he gave succor to anyone, which
was pretty often. he did not let his left
hand know what the right doeth."
Some years ago, when Cleveland was
experiencing particularly severe winter.
one of the city's leading charitable or
CARNATIONS was kept so bountifully sup
piled with coal that the poor suffered
very little from lack of fuel For a long
time there was much mystery on the
part of many of the organizations Off
GERS as to who was furnishing the coal.
and when the secret did leak out 1t was
through the overexuberant charity
worker through whom Mr. Hanna was