Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-17
LEVI P. MORTON THE OLDEST
Among Uncle Sans Retired Foreign
Representatives.
ONE is A PRESIDENTS SON
Three Were Civil War Soldiers, One
Lawyer, Another an Educator,
Another a Multi-Millionaire.
Written for The Star.

Written for The Star.
OF eight men now making the city OF
New York their headquarters who nave
served the country as diplomatic represeh-
tatives abroad, two served in Spain, two III
France, one in Austria, one in England, one
in Turkey and one in both Germany and
Russia.
The two who served in Spain-Gen Stew
art L. Woodford. just before the Spanish
war, and Gen. Daniel. f. Sickles. whose
service was twenty-five years eariier-were
both born in New York city itself
Gen. Fred Grant, who was minister TO
Austria during Harrison 5 administration, Is
a native of St. Louis.
Andrew D. White. who has represented
the republic at two courts, first the kaiser S
and then the czar's, was born at Homer
y. y.
Joseph H. Choate, who followed Hay IN
England. was born at Salem, Mass
oscar s Stratus, who was minister u
Turkey from 1897 to 1900, comes from
Georgia. Co..
conservatives In France, Levi Z. Morton
was born at Shoreham, Vt; Gen. Horace
Porter is a native of Huntington, Pa
Morton is the oldest of them all elshtS
two. Porter fs comparatively a young man.
vel how time flies! Porter, who was oily
twenty-eight that historic DAY ON Wiz
Gen. Robert r. Lee surrendered 10 Gen,
ulysses s. Grant is sixty nlhe-ohe yea
,uore and he will have reached the three
score and ten year marx. .,e, &C.
Tho distinction of being most youtnful IL
divided between Gen. Grant anu MI 0N'"N-
both are ffty-siX. -,
~, some who will read this It may be
almost as hard to realize That Gen fioI "Ie
Porter lacks only year or seventy as II
,Yas for the White House negro, jerry VINO
seeing the general In Washington rev
Gears ago wnen the Rochambeau Statue
was unveiled, recalled the day tnat Porte
went into the White House as the gen
araI.s hoy" which was Jerry's way or re
,,errbering, that when he first SAW Porter
the latter was private secretary 10 'ne SUI
T,,,,i1a cen. Porter's hair shows him to be
a,,rs man no longer, he certainly does
rot look TO be almost septuagenaran' nor
has his voice the quaver OF OLD age as yet;
lie Is stfl erect in carriage. his eye IS stu
lively and bright. and he st'li tells as luhhy
.tories on occasion, as he ever dld
Porter's Interesting Yarns.
vet though he hasn't reached the stage
81 Inne-drawn-out Renaissance. his anec-
do,es and illustrations often deal with nap
nepinss that are old enough to be appre-
.fatsd much better by the passing genera
ton than the one now most active upon
the stage.
To- Instance at recent Union League
dinner he told OF one VI SHet H 49,
-, =, Who with the rest OF that general s
great body OF raiders. had to swim a Seor-
- ,,ia river. II was the better part OF mile
,,Ide and flowed through swanpy terri
tory three or four miles in extent on eacn
side so that 1t was seven or elsht ihlies
from really firm land on one SIDE OF the
stream TO the other. :.
rad had about two miles of struggle
through the swamp, much OF the time In
,ystor mn TO his neck. II think were eros
sin this here river endways:
Tho general said that judging from the
big delegation OF his old friends out 10 near
him sneak he should Judge he was meeting
the club endways. The old ana inluuie-
aged boys cheered him to the echo. and I'M
dcrstoOd him perfectly. of course But you
couldn't use such an illustration before an
ordinary crowd OF diners and be sure that
more than about a third OF those present
would understand you.
In the nature Of things Gen. Porter's ca
reer IS now approaching Its close, but there
is no Indication that he means to abandon
active life in the years that are left 10 him.
lie IS stu interested In many enterprises
10 which he is giving Il good deal of his
personal attention. Indeed. II was because
he wanted 20 be able to look after his bust
ness affairs and put them into good shape
that he decided to give up ms post IN Paris
task OF finding John Paul Jones BODY ana
bringing Il home.
Things Porter is Proudest Of.
Affairs move so rapidly these latter days
that the average man and woman some
times forget. what the important services
rendered by the public men OF the country
are almost before they have finished per-
forming them.
OF Gen. Horace Porter. for instance how
many people nowadays connect his name
I'm any way with the Grant monument!
Yet when only sixty days remained to raise
the 500 GOO still unsubscribed to erect the
great tomb II was Porter who, with tireless
energy and matchless devotion to the men,
DRY OF his dead commander. got the money
together on time. He can never look upon
the granite pile under which the hero