Evening star., 1933-11-05
BY JAMES WALDO FAwCErr.

r1ISlCIy IltIdUlCIS Tile uOLIOIl tIldt
"a man is through at 40" The list OF
eminent men and women who have
| earned fame or fortune after tie close
| of the first tWO-Score years of their
lives is endless.
| For example. the youngest man ever
| to attain the presidency was Theodore
Roosevelt, and he was AZ when he sue
| ceeded to the Office by the accident of
! the assassination of William Mckinley.
George Washington was 81 at the time
of his first Inauguration, John Adams
! 61 Thomas Jefferson 81, Andrew Jack
| son 61 William Henry Harrison 68,
Abraham Lincoln So. Woodrow Wilson
| S. Calvin Coolidge 81, Herbert Hoover
! 81 and Franklin D. Roosevelt So The
average age of a Chief Executive on
assuming office has been approximately
81 years and three months.
Again, of the 10 men who have served
as Chief justice. the youngest. John
Jay, was 4: at the time of appoint
ment. John Marshall was 46 when he
was named. All the others were more
than SO. Edward D. White was IS,
age has been about Sc years and six
months.
| OF the signers of the Declaration OF
independence, 1776, Benjamin Franklin
was 70, Philip Livingstone 60, Samuel
Adams 54, John Witherspoon 54. Rob-
ert Morris AZ and John Adams Al. The
average age of the subscribers was A
years and months.
Washington As When War Began.
At the opening of the Revolution.
Washington was 43. Israel Putnam 81,
Francis Marion 43. John Stark Al,
Benjamin Lincoln. AZ. Baron Won Steu-
ben. As. Count RoChambeau so and
Count de Grasse 50. Close to the 40
year line were Thomas Jefferson,
Thomas Paine, Silas Deane, John Han
cock, Daniel Morgan. Ethan Allen
Richard Montgomery and John sullivan
". A. Newman Dorland, in his "Tri-
umph of Maturity notes that the
leading actors in the next great ma
tional drama-the War Between the
States-were not ''younf' men. In
1861" he says, Grant was 80. Sher-
man Al, Sheridan 80. Mcclellan 80,
Rosecrans AZ, Thomas As. Buell. 43,
Hancock 81, Meade as, Mcdowell 43
and Pope So. Among the Confederates.
Lee was 55 Bragg 46. Jackson 81. HOOD
80, Early 43, LongStreet 40, Beauregard
As. Stuart %, Hill Sc and Buckner 37'-
an average of approximately SO years
for all concerned.
The same writer finds: In the
Franco-P -Prussian War, Won Molke was
70 and Won Steinmetz IS. The trlumpns
of the Russo-Japanese conflict were
those of old men, Marquis Oyama was
81. Nodzu 63, Kuroki 60. Oku So. Nogl
55, Nishi So. Kodama So and Fushlml
46. The same is true OF the Leaders
in the great World War. Hindenburg;
Won Kluck, Cadorna. Won BeuloW ana
Mackensen were all near three score ana
10 years of age; Joffre was 81 when ne
commanded the French army, French
was the same age when ne was ap-
pointed commander-in-ch OF tne
British EXpeditionary Forces Foch was
81 when appointed generallSSlmo OF tne
Allied armies in France, Haig was "a
when he commanded the British forces,
while Pershing was Sc years OF age.
The Field of Business.
In the field of business, DR.. Dorland
cites the elder j. P. Morgan the ola
doctor of Wall Street and "the great
est reorganzer OF raliroadS oria ana ae 1nono nro
duCed.' Mr. Morgan, IN lSVL az w.
broke the financial panic by raising
$40. 900 900 in 40 hours" no &c Gommod11e M 5ne
creased the mileage of his road from
l2O to 10000, and added about Sloo'-
600 900 to his fortune" Ebert H. Gary
and George F. Baker were powers IN
Wall Street and leaders in the industrial
world long after their eightleth BIRTH
days. Marvin Hughltt ''presldeo almo3' mo;
daily as chairman of the great Chl-
caeo & Northwestern Railway" at 90.
The Library of Congress furnishes au-
thority for the following statements re-
garding other celebrities in the same
and additional departments OF human
enterprise: John Adams was delegate
to the Massachusetts Constitutional
Convention at 85 William Cullen Bry-
ant began his Translation OF Homer
at 72. John Burroughs produced Time
and Change" at IS and The Summit
of the Years" at 76. Ralph Waldo Emer-
son was nominated for the lord rector
ship of Glasgow University at II, VIII
liam Dean Howells completed many I'M
portant works between SO and 83. Wash
ington Irving wrote some OF ms great
est books after his siXty-fifth birthday,
Henry James achieved his best produc-
tions after go. Daniel Webster was ap-
pointed Secretary of State at 68. serv-
ing in that position until his death:
John Greenleaf Whittier composed untll
within a few months of his demise at
IS, oliver Wendell Holmes wrote over
the Teacups" when 10. Henry WadS-
worth LongfeIlow penned The Bells
of San Elias" at IS, BENJAMIN West
painted admirably until 80. George
Bancroft published the final volume OF
his History at 81, Charles Wilson
Peale, the painter, worked without spec
tacleS at 80; John BigeloW, at "a. was
engaged in completing his "Retrospec-
11n
Quincy Adams was power in the House
of Representatives at 81, and Joseph
Jefferson. the comedian was "aS eftec-
tive in all his roles when rs as when
at the height of his physical power
Among the ancients the same prln-
ciple of age and worth appears to nave
applied. Simonides (557-469 B.CD won
the prize for lyric verse at 80; Aeschylus
(525-456) was 81 when he wrote his
"Oresteia";; SophoCles (495-406) was
over so when he produced "Oedipus Co.
lonus': Euripides t480-406) composed
his "Troades' at 65. "Phoenissae" at
SO. and "Orestes" at Y, and Thucydides
-4OD was 60 when he began his
History" and worked on the manu-
(55-l2o ADJ was more than 60 when
he completed his chronicles.
Figures of the Renaissance.
The outstanding notabilities of the
Renaissance in Italy were true to the
tradition. MichaelangelO Buonarrotl
was doing magnificent work" at 80;
Tiziano Vecellio, called Titan, at 81
painted the "Martyrdom of ST. Law
renee" and at SO The Battle OF Le-
panto"; Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. the
sculptor, was granted royal recognition
by Louis XIV of France for laborS ac-
complished in his old age; Calico dis
covered the moons diurnal and month
ly librations after 70. and Leonardo da
Vinci, the universal genius, was active
until the end at Ct.
In France Prosper Joljot de Crebillon
wrote lie Triumvirat" at 81; Voltaire
wrote "Csndide" at 65 and remained
energetic and alert, 'the best loved and
the most hated man in Europe" until
his death at "a; Jean Baptiste Pierre