Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-30

tary Ballinger, a native Of Iowa,
comes from the far Pacific coast, his
home city being Seattle.
Six of the nine cabinet members are
lawyers-Secretaries Knox, Dickinson,
Ballinger and Nagel, Attorney Cen
eral Wickersham and Postmaster Gem
eral Hitchcock. Two are, or nave
been, notwithstanding Mac
Veagh and Meyer. Secretary Wilson
calls himself a farmer and knows farm
life practically as well as theoretically.
In personal appearance and traits the
cabinet offers some contrast. Secre-
tary Knox, who holds the highly inn
portant portfolio of state, is the small
est man physically; he stands about
five feet four inches and has a mead OF
exceptional size. He has been de-
scribed as being "as sensational as
volume of Blackstone, as witty as
copy of the revised statutes and as
communicative as supreme court JUS
tice." Calm, serene, cool, calculating,
methodical, precise. analytical, he is
not known ever to have displayed emo
ton or to have uttered nasty, Ill
tempered word. His humorously in
clined friends assert that his recreation
is reading the constitution. Yet among
his friends he is said to be a delight
full conversationalist and genial host.
In Washington he has fine home and
an exceptional library.
Attorney General Wickersham Is an
other short man, perhaps an inch taller
than Mr.. Knox. He is law partner or
Henry w. Taft, the presidents broth
err, and has something of Mr.. Knox s
GOODNESS and precision. In recent years
he has been counsel for August Bel
mont in many of the undertakings of
that financier, and has never been ac-
tive in politics. 1t is an intellectual
treat to hear Mr.. Wickersham make an
argument; his fluent language is pre-
else, his manner is simple but earnest,
and his logic can seldom be contro-
verted. His large black mustache is
tinged with gray, and he wears large
spectacles.
Secretary Dickinson is big man, six
feet three inches tall and weighing 210
pounds. AS a boy. he was a soldier in
the Confederate army, and he is an
old-line Democrat. Between him and
Mr. Taft there is intimate friendship.
In speech he has something of the soft
ness of voice and the slurring of con-
conants that mark the typical south
erners utterance. He was born in Mis-
ssslppi, but has lived in Tennessee and
Chicago many years.
Secretary MacVeagh is a man of
medium size and aristocratic appear
ance. His speech is notable for its
mellow tones ana MS use Oh the DTOdu
English a. Educated for the law. he
went into the wholesale grocery BUSH
ness early in life. In Chicago he has
been social leader as we'll as helper
of reform movements, and has taken
much interest in municipal art affairs.
He, too, is an old-line Democrat, but
supported Mr.. Taft in the last cam
paign.
Secretary Nagel is an extremely tall,
slender man, with thin face and
brown hair tinged with gray. He has
practiced law in St. Louis since 1873
His tastes are aesthetic and scholarly
and he is a member of the board OF
directors of the st. Louis Museum OF
Fine Arts.
Postmaster General Hitchcock is the
one bachelor OF the cabinet. At Har-
ward he was noted boxer and he is
athletic generally A big man, six feet
tall, and blonde with yellow hair, he
is full of vim and energy and possesses
a faculty for hard work.
Secretary Ballinger was brought up
on a Kansas ranch and for time was
a cowboy. He is said to be a hard
student and at Williams college was a
close friend of James r. Garfield,
whom he succeeds as secretary of the
interior. Through Garfield he went to
Washington as commissioner of the
land office and won the favor of Presi-