Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06
MR. WH|TnErS TRAITS
He Was a Great Admirer of
the Irish.
HE LIKED THEIR WIT
BoURKE COCHRAN MAY HAVE
SPECTACULAR CAMPAIGN.
Republicans Talk of Putting Up the
"Black Demosthenes" to Run
Against Him.
HE LIKED THEIR WIT

| NEW YORK, FEBRUARY D, loof-
| An astute phrase making politician once
| said of the late William c. Whitney that
| he was a republican by conviction and a
democrat through association. The truth
| fulness in this is somewhat neutralized by
the fact that Mr.. whitney was a democrat
by inheritance, his father, General Whit
ney, having been one of the most vigorous
| and vehement democrats Of the common
| wealth of Massachusetts. A more accu-
| rate summing up of Mr.. Whitney's ad-
| hesion to the democracy might have been
| that he liked the Irish. OF distinguished
Puritan ancestry. Mr.. Whitney was HIM
| self almost anything else in the world but
| a Puritan. Beyond most men of his emil
! nence wealth and talents, he knew how
| compatible a correct life ia with cheerful
| spirit. He needed to wear mask Of
pious gloom to furnish evidence of the up
| rightness of his life. He liked to have
| jovial and accomplished men about him.
And for this reason he used to laughingiy
plead guilty when accused Of being ad-
| dicted" to the Irish.
A man accustomed to seeking, IN his
| hours of diversion. his own intellectual
| level in other men. his home was noted
! for the hospitality which 1t extended TO
| seasoned men of brains and character. 1t
| made no difference to Mr.. Whitney whether
such men were recognized or unrecognlZed
| IN the WOTlQ OF tnOuSnI ana dctOn, IOT Ho
was no lion hunter or exploiter of other
| mems abilities for his own aggrandiZe-
| ment He merely enjoyed the companion
| ship of the best types of men of whatever
| nativity or degree of worldly prosperity,
! and nobody was ever shrewder judge OF
| men.
| Great Admirer Of the Irish.
! All of which being the MISUNDERSTOOD
| case, the fact that the majority of his
veritable chums and companions, the re-
| positories Of his intimate confidence were
| Irishmen, is thing that cannot but be
| viewed by Irishmen everywhere as a stir
ring compliment to their race. man
| whose religious convictions were only man.
| ifested in his liberal unsectarian charities,
| Mr.. Whitney had a peculiar fondness for
| Irishmen of the cloth, whether Protestant
| or Catholic. He loved the brogue. There
| used to be some brave old battles of wit
| between Irishmen of conflicting or diverg-
! ing views in Mr.. Whitney's smoking room,
| with, however, never an acrimonious or
dissonant note to destroy the enjoyment
| which privileged listeners extracted in
| marking these clashes of steel on steel.
| He enjoyed, too, the personal compan-
| ionship of Intellectually accomplished Jews,
of whom there are more in New York, per-
haps, than In any other city in the world.
This writer, sent in haste one evening
| few years ago to interview Mr.. Whitney
| about so ordinary a matter as street rail-
| way franchise, found him, more less
| doubled up with laughter, in the smoking
| room of his 9Th avenue palace. With him,
| all in the enjoyment of huge black cigars,
| We're Archbishop Corrigan, DR. John Hall,
the eminent Protestant clergyman. and DR..
Felix Adler, in private life one of the wit
| test Jews in this country. They had mere
| ly dropped in, severally, to enjoy cigar
with Mr. Whitney. They had all rallyingly
| joined issue in attacking Mr.. Whitney for
| his interest in horse racing. The whimsical
view that they took turns In expressing
and celebrating was that since any child
1 han NOT nr
horse running-that is to say, If he could
| get over the ground fast enough-why,
horse racing was necessarily just foolish
and a waste of time.
Mr.. Whitney was combating their united
assertion that 1t was a proven fact that
one horse could run faster than another
horse. He was telling them that he would
| give good deal to know so much about
| all that as they protested to know. Then
he proceeded to pull the ground from be-
meath them by turns. He told Archbishop
Corrigan that he could, if necessary, fur
nish the names and addresses of certain
distinguished Irish Catholic priests who
| owned and raced steeplechase horses in
| their own colOrs the ould dart. He
called DIR. Adler's attention to the fact
| that the great majority of the bookmakers
were Hebrews. He annihilated Dr. Hall
upon some whimsical biblical ground.
There was a mighty joyous atmosphere in
| that ROOM
His Closest Business Friend.
One of Mr. Whitney's closest companions
during recent years, and a member of his
| household has been an accomplished Irish
man, a veritable Admirable Crichton. who
acted as a sort of general steward and SUI
pervisor of Mr.. Whitney's business affairs.
This gentleman has been known to Mr..
Whtney's friends as "Whitney's splendid
Irishman." He is man of forty-five or
So and as finished and polished specimen
of clever and jovial Irishman as ever
came to this country. He is master OF
most of the modern languages, and yet has
a brogue that was source of never-ceas-
ing delight to his patron He had been
leader writer for Dublin and London news
papers before coming to this country, had
practiced as a barrister, too, in both of
those capitals, had served as agent in the
antipodes of great English banking
house, and had been up and down the world
in more head-requiring capacities than
could be easily detailed. He was sent to
New York a few years agu to confer with
Mr.. Whitney upon a business matter for
some British principals and that settled
that freshman. Mr.. Whitney politely but
firmly refused to permit him to return to
Europe Mr.. Whitney simply adopted him
on the spot, and, bit later on, made him
a member of his household. He devoted
his talent, his diplomacy, his smoothing
geniality and his effective industry to MIR.
Whitney's interests to the last. and was
present at his patrons bedside when he died.
Mr. Whitney took the gentleman from the
old sod into his service because he was that
extraordinarily rare combination, a ollie
a man of business ability. This fine type
of an Irishman has been well taken care of
in Whitneys WILL 1t Is said. &c. also, has
been Thomas Regain. another freshman. ana
Mr.. Whitney's private secretary for many
years. So, indeed, have all of the personal
servitors, men and women. in Mr.. Whit
ney's employ, and all of these, first and
last, men and women, have been people OF
Irish birth or extraction.
Job Put Up on Bourke Cochran.
Mention of the Irish in a New York let
ter naturally leads to mention of the job
which the basely humorous republicans of
this town are talking of putting up on the
gifted but infiammatory Bourke Cochran.
who is going to take the seat in Congress
vacated by young Mr. Mcclellan.
Baurke is, of course, going to have a
walkover for the district is "hopelessly
democratic one, giving Mr.. Mcclellan at his
last election majority of more than 140O0
But the republicans want, at any rate. to
have little fun out of the thing, even If
thew see no chance for a run for their
money So they are contemplating the put
ting up of a black candidate In opposition
~ the rhatarically testy RQurke The black