The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-09-07
~ FRANK G. CARPENTER.
WA si,inCto, II 4

hasiiuS ION, II. y.
WANT to make you acquainted with
your Secretary of the Navy.
do not mean President Wilson'S
secretary. nor tho Democratic party's
secretary. but the man who represents
YOU and me as the head of our Navy
Department lie is your servant and
my servant. the servant of all the peo-
pie, and we ought to know what kind
Of man we have in our employ
You have all read that his name is
iosephus Daniels. that he comes from
North Carolina, that he has been bred
ani born n newspaper man. and that
his career has been that OF Jeffer-
sonian Democrat. All that was pub
lishcd when he came into office. l want
tc take you behind the appointment
papers and give YOU glimpse or SO at
Iosephus Daniels. the man. How does
he look? How does he talk? What
kind OF soul is that which animates his
six feet OF human clay?
say six feet have not measured
tho Secretary of the Navy with tape
line. bu, as he stood before me to-day
IL his Office in the Department Build
Ing he seemed a big man. He has
broad shoulders and a wellset head
Ne stands straight on his pins. and un-
like the typical tar. he does not roll
or wobble as he walks Your secre-
tary i a good looking man. ! do not
mean handsome. he is rather the re-
verse OF mat lluctu, ne !nlCnl De
called plain. But he is good looking
Just as Abraham Lincoln was good
looking. He looks clean. and his
closest friends tell me he is clean. body
and soul His blue eyes are bright. his
dark complexion clear. and his lam
cuase is pure and free from slang. He
is n man OF simple tastes ana healthy
tastes He is a family man. and pic
;ure OF his wife and four boys stands
before him on his desk as he grinds
away az his government job. He is
devoted to his mother His father died
when he was three years old. and his
mother, who is now fast approaching
eighty. has been both father and mother
Il him all these years. The relations
between the two are tho closest He
writes TO her almost daily, and the let
tiers she gets are the only ones he pens
with his own hand He is a lover OF
his wife. and feel safe in saying she
is tho better half OF his soul. He is a
man Of many friends When his news
paper plant burned down at Raleigh Il
month or so ago. men came in by the
hundreds and paid subscriptions in adj
vance for ten years to come TO help
him out. He is not rich man and has
never been a lover of money. But at
that time he said he felt like the rich
est man Of all tho world, for he was "a
millionaire in friends"
II ia this human side of your Score
despair OF his clerks When he came
into the department he slashcd the red
tape at one fell blow. and now news
paper men, Congressmen or plain. ordi-
nary everyday citizens can get at the
secretary and have all the time needed
for their business. All that MIR. Daniels
asks is that he be closeted with his
bureau chiefs from to o'clock in the
afternoon. The most of mis- time be-
fore then is spent in receiving callers.
and il IS only after that time that he
gives his personal mail any attention.
Nevertheless, he does enormous
amount OF business. IT is said that
Napoleon could dictate TO four stenog
raphers on four different subjects al
the same time and keep them AL busy.
The secretary seems able 10 carry on
two trains of thought in the same way.
He is often talking while signing his
mail. He is a swift reader, and his eye
grabs page Al a glance. Neverth cless.
he knows just what he is signing, and
lie will often stop and order correc-
tons or have the letter changed or laid
away for some future time. He is an
evem-minded man. He does not worry.
and he sleeps we'll OF nights.
Ny talk with Secretary Daniels COW
cred wide range. He told me much
about the navy and his plans for ele
waiting the men and bringing the ser
vice closed 10 the people. In response
10 my questions. he talked also Of him
self, and wll write Of that first.
asked him TO tell something about
the Daniels family, and where II came
from He replied:
The name Daniels is Welsh. ana the
most OF my family came from Wales.
They emiErated TO this country at an
carly date and settled in North caro-
lima. where my father was farmer.
Aly father began his life on a farm.
Tnen ne took notion he would like TO
%. shipbuildcI, and he went into a
shipyard and learned the trade. II Is
rather strange that. :. also should be
connected With s.!ipS..attcr these many
years
y have been told that your father