The Irish standard., 1905-02-04
Postmaster General Wynne, Who is to Go to
London as Consul Good Type of
the Celt in Politics.
Another Man Who Looms Large in the Public
Eye is Charles P. Neil, Who is to
Be Labor Commissioner.

offer from the New York Press. and
from that day his alert pen won
constantly widening set of readers.
knowledge is power anywhere.
This Wynne fully recognized Triumph
after triumph came to him. He knew
Wasliington-knew the city, its glanc-
ing surfaces, it kaleidoscope changes,
its eager restlessness, as we'll as any
man who sat in the press gallery Of
the Senate and watched the tumult Of
legilation that was to carry dismay
or cxultation to every Granny and
corner Of the country. The Republic
has the "inside story of one of
Wynne's most mastery attacks upon
the citadel Of the official-which
means ng!--Washington
1t was just before the war with Spain
was declared. Down the soft-carpeted
aisles of the War Department the
correspondents hurried in the uncertain
glory of those early April days. Grave
browed officials as voiceless as the
Sphinx, parried every attempt to
fathom the drift Of negotiations. Wild
r,mors ragged. The mind of the
country was growing impatient. Fin
ally. Fate spoke through little,
ruddy-cheeked messenger boy, VINO
tnmbled off his wheel in front of the
Glover Building, and darted into Mr..
Wynne's office. He smiled as he tore
open the yellow cover. Then, the
wire that connected him directly with
the ''homc Office" was flushed with a
piece of information that made news
callous editors sit up and take notice.
Within a quarter OF an hour news
boys were dashing through Herald
square ana over broadway, and up
stately Fifth avenue, and the papers
that they sold stated that President
Mcknley's war message was to be
sent to Congress the next morning!
No other paper announced it until
some hours later-aftcr official veri-
licaton had been made of the story.
That little anccdOtc shows how they
regarded Mr.. Wynne during the Nc
Kinlcy administration. His rapid rise
in the administrative service Of the
country is too recent and too brilliant
to need rcrapitulation here 1t speaks
trumpct-tongued of the value of the
Irish character. of the splendid efficacy
OF the Celtic qualities.
or a poetic race, of race nurtured
on idcalisms and dreams, the Celt has
always rendered an excellent account
of his stewardship in the arts and in
letters. The same day that the news
papers told Of Mr. Wynne's prefer
ment the news stands blossomed with
the latest issue of Harper Magazine
and Scribner's. In both of them were
this city. They were vital stories,
stories that glow with tile splendor Of
genius. Only Celt could have written
them, because only an Irish heart
could have evoked the tenderness, the
passion, the pathos and the poetry Of
humble life. In literature. the best
rises. like rich cream, quickly to the
surface. In fact, in literature, there
is room only for the best-for the most
revcrent thought, the most graphic
picture-painting brain, the most alert
imagination. quick to seize upon the
salient detail, the significant action.
Into this company of the elect, Mr..
Connelly's sea-tales have admitted
him. His stories are little master
pieces They deserve to be read and
re-read, if only for the impression that
one takes away from them of
supreme power creating supremely.
So much modern writing is over
smooth, over-elaborated. overdone on
the side of the technique, that the
vigorous. direct manner, the manner Ut
the man who does things and SETS
things with unclouded keenness Of
vision seems thing of an elder and
better day in the literary craft. Mr..
Connolly re-affirms our belief in the
future of American fiction. To turn
to his recent book, for instance, 'The