Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/506

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PENNSYLVANIAN

feared for Elkin. A few weeks later he sent word to Elkin to come to St. Lucie, and there told him he could not be the nominee for governor.

“I have often seen him drink. I never saw him so under the influence of liquor that it affected either his head or his walk. He had a peculiar way of drinking. During a campaign—perhaps for a year—he would not touch a drop. He had absolute self-control. He would pour out the liquor for his guests, and sit among them, his own glass empty. After the campaign was over he would go away and drink, I always thought to get rid of the nervous anxiety.”




Wu Ting Fang

This bright Chinaman, when minister from his country to the United States, made a very agreeable impression upon Americans. He had much of the American trend of thought and was keen as a briar. When the University of Pennsylvania dedicated its law building, he was present. A baronet named Rowe had been sent to represent the University of Oxford and he made an address at the Academy of Music. A poorer speaker never appeared in public. He had no voice and no manner. He read from a manuscript and his sight was defective. He turned his back to the audience and rapidly emptied the hall. Wu leaned over to me and whispered:

“I wish he would shut up.”

Again with an air of relief from weariness, he said:

“I did see your wife today. I did make a joke at her. I told her she could pack pennies.”




General Samuel Pearson

I had an interview today, February 17, 1911, with General Samuel Pearson of the Boer Army, a short, thick-set man, rugged and brown in complexion, with an earnest

486