The sun., 1918-10-27

nouncement would not excite any
such incredibly In the twentieth CEN
fury as 1t did then.
III.
Having diversified my devotion to
the Law. during a period which now
exceeds fifty years, by editorial and
other contributions to THE Sun, have
been asked TO supplement this notice
OF Mr.. O'Briens admirable book with
some personal "reminiscences of Mr..
Dana. II Is difficult to add anything
Of value 70 Mr.. Mitchell's estimate Of
his character and description OF his
characteristics in the magazine article
on mfr. Dana Of The Sum-" published
in November, 1894. Mr.. Dana was
prince among men. ! regard him as
beyond question the most accomplished
man have ever known. In any group
in which he happened to be every one
instinctively turned to him as the
master mind among all present. His
intellectual curiosity was boundless,
and 1t had given him the command OF
a store OF information as vast as II was
accessible at any moment when called
for. suppose the experience gained
In editing the first edition Of the Ameri-
can Cyclopadia and in revising the
second had something to do with this.
He knew at least four modern Ian
guages, In addition to English, and
knew them we'll. He learned to read
Russian after he was 70 years Of age.
and the last time I ever saw him at
THE sun Office one sunny afternoon
he translated a Russian poem to me
out of Russian book Of poems which
he was reading when / entered his
room. Reference has frequently been
made to the classes of young people
with whom he delighted to read Italian
and Icelandic. l enjoyed the privilege
Of being one of those who were thus
instructed by him in the Divina Com
media Of D1nte and the Morse Edda.
Mr.. Dana knew the text so well that
he seldom referred TO the book while
We were reading aloud to him, but
when necessary corrected us from
memory.
1 remember being told that when
Leo XIII. quoted passage from
Dante during the course Of Mr..
Dana's interview with him Mr.. Dana
took up the lines where the Pope left
off and continued the quotation to the
end, somewhat to the surprise and
much to the qualification OF the Su-
preme Pontiff.
Mr.. Dana continually surprised ex-
pert foresters and professional and
amateur gardeners by his knowledge
Of trees and plants. In 1879, when i
travelled with him through England.
Scotland and Ireland to visit all the
great British and Irish tree gardens.
l was asked again and aanin by nur-
serymen and others whether he was
not a forester or gardener by profess
sion In the ceramic arts and in ref
erence to books his information was
equally accurate and extensive. In
Paris he purchased pictures by artists
then hardly known whose works have
since become famous: and at Muller's
old bookstore In Amsterdam and
Quartch's in London he astonished
the proprietors by his familiar ac-
Quaintance with the comparative
values of the better editions of stand
ard books. He thought the best
edition of Heine. for example, was a
Dutch edition in ten volumes pub
lished in Amsterdam. Mr.. Muller
agreed with him in this. but said he
had met few book buyers who were
aware OF its superiority.
MIR. Dana declared the modern news
paper to be 1.-The highest form OF in
tellectual production that We are yet
acquainted with" AH-his varied at
tanments and complishments were
applied more or less directly in his
daily work as n journalist. Yet he
never talked shop and was absolutely
free from affectations OF any kind.
Such instruction as he gave In edito-
rial writing was by example rather
than by precept. The alterations which
he made in your articles were almost
the only lesson you received. These
spoke for themselves. They were
never numerous; for have heard him
say that an article which II was
necessary to rewrite was not worth
printing. He often emphasized the
willingness to take pains to get your
facts right as essential to journal
istic success.
He frequently regretted the inferi-
GRITTY OF law reporting in the American
newspaper as compared with that in
the London Times, but added: "A man
capable of doing the work as it ought
to be done here would have to be a
trained lawyer. combining with his
legal knowledge the instincts OF first
class reporter: and such a man could
earn from 5000 to $4,000 a year in
the law. That Is the difficulty in get
ting a competent man to report the
daily work Of the courts in the man
ner have in mind
My recollections of Mr.. Dana's de-
lghtful country home at Dosoris on
the North Shore of Long Island, near
Glen Cove, bring to mind meetings
with many able and distinguished
visitors who enjoyed his hospitality
| there. From the time when he was
managing editor Of the Tribune to the
| day of his death, interesting foreigners
from all parts OF the world were wont
to visit him. Among those l met at
Dosoris ! recall with the greatest
| satisfaction the late Laurence OIL
| plant, one of the most accomplished
Englishmen Of the Victorian period, a
diplomat, traveller. author, war cor
| respondent, journalist, man OF the
world and, ultimately. a religious en-
| thusiast. Sitting late at night in the
cheerful blaze OF wood fire in autumn
| he recounted to a. group OF eager
listeners his adventures by flood and
| field In Ceylon. where he was born, in
Japan, where he was nearly murdered
when secretary of the British Lega-
ton, and In China, which ne visited as
an attache of Lord Elgin'S famous