Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-28
WHO WILL GET
CHOATE'S TITLE?
Can Metropolis Supply An
other "Grand Old Man of
American"

SidlHleu Illll AulSTlca Gfand Ola
Man." His was just the combination
of ripe and picturesque old age,
warm human nature and distinguish
ed national service to win the title
by unanimous consent. Wit is per-
haps the quality of his which ap-
pealed most to the public. They
loved him for its gentle phase which
made him reply when asked who he
would most like to be If he were not
himself had rather be Mrs.
Choate's second husband" They ad-
mired him keenly for it's caustic side,
for Choate's wit was two-edged
weapon, the power of sarcasm which
he vented so unspairingly in the IA
nous damage suit against Russell
Sage, and which enabled him on
one occasion as a trial lawyer most
effectively to reprimand the Judge
on the bench for inattention, and
get away with it.
He loved at times to Jest at his
own advanced age. On one occasion
recently he was waiting in a lobby
after a public meeting for a medical
friend who was a little older than
he. Where is that old doctor?" he
exclaimed with mock petulence.
That mans getting so old he wastes
a lot of my time" This reminds one
of the almost boyish delight of John
Bigelow on his cath birthday. An
drew Carnegie called to pay his re-
spects and was greeted by M. Bige-
low with, Hello, my young friend"
Indeed. it was not till the death
of Mr.. Bigelow, a week after that
birthday party in 1911 that Mr..
Choate succeeded to the national
title of Grand Old Man" Mr.. Bige-
lows title was based not only on
distinguished diplomatic service like
Mr. Choate's, but on an even longer
period in the public eye as journalist
and author extending over seventy
years. He completed a book during
his 92nd year. Shortly before his
death he spoke at the dedication of
the New York Public Library and
apologiZed for being late by saying
he had just come from his dentist
after a three hour session. Imagine
having anything for dentist to
work on at "a! Also imagine coming
from a three-hour session of dental
torture and making n public speech!
Thus, like her buildings, New
York's human landmarks pass. In
deed, in this city of change the hu-
man is often more durable than the
inanimate. Who now walking her
streets can succeed to Mr.. Choate's
title? Neither Andrew Carnegie nor
Elihu Root, nor Chauncey Depew
can hope to make such an appeal to
the popular imagination, thought in
the element of age and activity they
might qualify Mark Twain, had he
survived, would have been the ideal
title holder.
"a -. - .1.o4 81, - -, o4ronn1;s NM a
wait a score of years-or will 1t be
fifty-until Col. Roosevelt has attain
ed to fullness of age before it
can claim another internationally
acknowledged Grand Old Man."
Time. so cherished and so abused
by New Workers, has just lost two
of it's ancient abiding places in the
passing of two historic clocks from
City Hall Square. The clock in the
old tower of st. Paurs Church,
which had licked off a century. of
time when war was declared against
Spain in 1898, struck twelve ponder
Gus strokes at noon the other day
and then for the first time in 119
years its time-worn ratchets were
still and it's wheels ceased to whir.
Persons hurrying down Broadway,
glancing at the large dial just as
their great-great-gr -grandfathers had
done before them, were startled to
see that the gilded hands were gone.
Workmen were busily engaged in in
stalling new works to replace the old
ones which bear the name of Clerk
enwell, London, 1888"
A few days later, while the City
Hall was being decorated for the re-
ception of the British War Commis-
sion, the tower caught fire and an
other century-old timepiece was de-
stroyed.
There is something personal about
an old clock that makes its loss more
felt even than the demolishing of an
ancient building.
The Liberty Loan is one of the war
themes most talked of in New York
at present. The new slogan of its
promoters, "A Liberty Bond in Every
Home" bids fair to be taken literally
here.
A sentimentally practical form of
the f1otation being practiced here is
the inducing of parents to subscribe
in the name of their young children.
Many fathers in moderate circum-
stances report that their small sons
have savings banks or postal savings
accounts, outgrowths of their tin.
bankage, which are being converted
into these bonds. There can be no
more practical way of instilling ideas
of patriotism in the minds of the
young.
CONSUMPTION census is in the air
now. To some people a census is
particularly annoying.
A lady of spinster-like appearance
evidently from out of town, was on
her way to the office of one of the
volunteer patriotic organizations in
a downtown sky scraper. the other
day. AS the express elevator started,
the occupants began calling their
floors.
"Ten!" Squeaked q messenger boy.
"Nineteen!" said young man.
"Sixteen," simpered a still pretty
stenographer who was absorbed in
powdering some incipient wrinkles.
The elevator man looked inquiring
at the out-of-town spinster, the only
one who had not declared.
"I1l give my age to the proper per-
son at the proper time" she snapped
"and when ] do I'll give it right" ="
she added with a vicious glance at
the stenographer.
The decadence of the drama, as
displayed in Broadway theaters this