Evening star., 1906-06-16

letters a foot high. plastered on the front;
nor, as builder of municipal bridge. vote
for a bronze tablet on which his fame
would be handed down to posterity In bold.
raised characters
Mr.. Kelsey's recognized ability to keep
his personality in the background Is
eQualed only by his capacity for work. In
this respect he does not jibe with the pop
ular idea of the off1ceholder
Regularly. since he has been controller.
he reaches his office in the morning prior
to the unlocking OF the doors. He takes
very little time off for lunch. and while the
closing hour for the day Is O'Clock, Mr..
Kelsey's hour for leaving is usually some
time after 6. 1t is standing joke among
Albany officeholders that. were they or
ganized in union. Mr.. Kelsey would speed
lily fall into disgrace because of his utter
disregard of the rule relating to the num-
Der of.working hours.
Loaded With Work.
1t was Mr.. Kelseys patient diligence that
attracted the attention of the legislative
leaders after he had been in the assembly
term or two. From then on until the
end of his legislative career he was In
creasingiy loaded with work. and republi-
can and democrat alike will tell you that
he wasn't the man to shirk any task placed
on him. Yet so quietly did he work that
the men who labored with him on commit
tees and on the floor of the assembly can
d
Of his life. Indeed. anecdote which has
Mr.. Kelsey for the theme has not yet been
discovered going the rounds Of the capital.
HE does nothing but work--it's his rec
| reatlon." said a man who has been very
close officially, to Mr. Kelsey for a number
of years. The speaker should have taken
into account Mr.. Kelsey's well-known reti-
cence before making the statement His
recreation. during which he stores up a
lot of vim for work. is early morning Pc
destrianism.
While the legislature of this year was In
session Mr.. Kelsey shared a house with the
lieutenant governor. the attorney general,
Senator Tully and Superintendent of Insur-
ance Hendricks. They called it Saints
Rest" and from it's portals Mr.. Kelsey
would slip around o'clock every morning
for a brisk walk about town or into the
country. His usual time for returning was
around 8. when he would sit down to break
fast with his fellow saints, fresh from their
beds of ease. Walking has been the ia
vored recreation OF Mr.. Kelsey since first
he appeared In Albany. Few Albanians are
| aware of this fact. Like most state cap
itals, Albany rises late.
Good Physical Condition.
Mr. Kelsey's habit of walking is largely
responsible for his ability to keep at his
desk all day long and leave 1t comparatively
fresh. Then. too, he takes excellent care ol
himself. He neither drinks nor smokes
to club then book, and to bed. Hes 8
bachelor said an assemblyman who Iivee
with him in 1.-The House OF Commons ir
90, but he's as far removed from the gay
old boy type as day Is from night. So he
reaches his Office Of morning fresh as 9
| daisy, and has cleared up his desk before
! the average clerk under him has pulled him
| self together for the days task"
| Thus Mr.. Kelsey, according to all reports.
| possesses at least one very necessary quail
| ication for satisfactory superintendent OF
| insurance New York chartered life insur-
| ance companies are many, and the superin
tendent's force Is small.
Has he also an experts intimacy witt
| financial statistics and statements: can hs
| detect the weak spots and the false In books
and other business records?
| His friends submit that from 1895 until
| he left the assembly he was a member oi
| the ways and means committee. and as suct
| drafted a majority of the bills presented
| by that committee to the legislature during
| these seven years. 1t was In February o,
| 1903 that he was appointed deputy con-
| troller. Since then. besides directing ths
| very important work of the controllers Of
| fee he has been adviser of the canal ant
| land boards. before whom weighty problems
| of finance and policy continually crop UP
| Therefore, say his friends he has had 6
| rather extensive training of the sort thai