'rtVfci'
DECEMBER 13, 1912
The Commoner.
eNT Topics
IRfCu rr
fSS
-aMHNaM' i "ST MBBiMBirffc.
THE general discussion concerning tho pension
ing of ex-presidents leads a writer in tho
Washington (D.C.) Post to say that prior to the
administration of Mr. Taft 25 persons have
held the offlce of president of the United States.
Of these William Henry Harrison and Zachary
Taylor died in offlce. Lincoln, Garfield, and
McKinley were assassinated. Of the remaining
twenty men who held the Offlce, not counting Mr.
Roosevelt, of course, nine lived less than ten
years after their retirement, seven lived between
ten and twenty years, and only three survived
longer than twenty. In 1826 there were four
former presidents alive. Only two men who had
served in the offlce of the chief executive re
turned to public life in some other capacity.
John Quincy Adams was one of the presidents
chosen by the house of representatives when
no candidate received a'majority of the electoral
college. He retired from the White House
March 4, 1829, and was elected to congress
from Massachusetts, taking his seat when tho
Twenty-second congress convened, in Decem
ber, 1831, being successively re-elected, and was
serving when, in the Thirtieth congress, Febru
ary 23, 1848, he fell on the floor of the house,
stricken with apoplexy, and was carried to the
speaker's room, where he died. Andrew John
son, after serving as president following the
assassination of Lincoln, returned to Tennessee
and engaged actively in politics. He was de
feated for the senate before the legislature in
1870; again he was defeated as an independent
candidate at large for the Forty-third congress.
In 1875 he waB elected a United States senator,
but died July 31 that same year. Of all these
men, honored by their countrymen with tho
presidency, the only one for whom the gov
ernment did anything in a pecuniary way was
Grant. That, however, came to him because of
his military career. He was placed on the re
tired list of army officers as a general, and
received pay as such to tho day of his death.
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THE average length of life of nineteen former
presidents, not including Col. Roosevelt,
after they retired from offlce, was according to
the same writer, twelve years. The list of presi
dents and the length of time they lived after
retiring from offlce follows: George Washing
ton served two terms; retired from offlce March
4, 179'7; died December 14, 1799 two years
and three months. John Adams, retired March
4, 1801; died 'July 4, 1826 twenty-five years
and three months. Thomas Jefferson served
two terms; retire'd March 4, 1809; died July
4, 1826 seventeen years and three months.
James Madison served two terms; retired March
r4, 1817; died June 28, 1836 nineteen years
and three months. James Monroe, two terms;
retired March 4, ,1,825; died July 4, 1831 six
years and four months. John Quincy Adams re
tired March 4, 1829; died February 23, 1848
nineteen years. Andrew Jackson, two terms;
retired March 4, 1837; died June 8, 1845
eight years and three months. Martin Van
Buren, retired March 4, 1841; died July 24,
1862 twenty-one years -and four months.
William Henry Harrison, inaugurated March 4,
1841; died April , 1841. John Tyler, retired
March 4, 1845;''died January 17, 1862 seven
teen years. James K. Polk; retired March 4,
1849; died June 15, 1849 three months.
Zachary Taylor, inaugurated March 4, 1849;
died July 9, ,1850. Millard Fillmore, retired
March 4, 1853; died March 8, 1874 21 years.
Franklin Pierce, -retired March' 4, 1857; died
October 8, 186a twelve years and seven
months. James "Buchanan, Tetired -March 4,
1861; died June 1, 1868 seven years and three
months. Abraham Lincoln, two terms; assassi
nated April 14, 1865. Andrew Johnson, retired
March 4, 1869 ; died July 31, 1875 six years
and four months.'1 Ulysses S. Grant, two terms,
retired March '4,. 1877; died July 23, 1885
eight years and four months. Rutherford B.
Hayes, retired March 4, 1881; died January 17,
1893 eleven' years and eleven months. James
'A. Garfield, inaugurated March 4r, 1881; assas
sinated July 2, 1881,' and died September 19
following. Chester A. Arthur, retired March 4,
1885; died November 18, 1886 one year and
eight months. Grover Cleveland, retired March
1889, first term; retired March 4, 1897,
second term; died June 24, 1908-oleven years
and four months. Benjamin Harrison, retired
March 4, 1S93; diul March 13, 1901 eight
years William McKinley, two terms; assassi
nated September (I, and died September 14,
in 21" Tlie(,doro Koosovelt, retired March 4,
1909; still living.
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INCLUDED in the offerings of an auction salo
1 ot some of the effects of Arthur P. Helnso
were many of the treasures of tho lato Robert
G. Ingersoll. Tho house where these treasures
were sold was once occupied by Ingersoll. Tho
New York Herald in an advanco notice of this
sale, said: "Among these treasures are tho
furnishings of Mr. Ingersoll's Moorish den. It
was in this small room on tho second floor, sit
ting before the specially designed mahogany
fireplace and mantle, that tho great free thought
exponent did most of his writing and thinking.
Old friends of Mr. Ingersoll will have an oppor
tunity to bid for mementoes when the auctioneer
sells 150 camp chairs which were used in tho
aisles and on the stage when the audiences at
Mr. Ingersoll's lectures were so largo they could
not bo accommodated in the regular seats. The
little theatre in still equipped with the two sots
of scenery, one a garden scene and the other an
exterior, that Mr. Ingersoll provided and which
were used by members of the Ingersoll family
in giving private theatricals. Tho stage is 15
feet wido by 22 feet deep. Among the art
objects that belonged in tho Ingersoll house
are two pieces of statuary occupying niches In
the main reception hall. One is a life size
marble called 'Undine,' with veiled face and
beautiful inline and drapery. It Is signed 'J.
Mozier, Rome, 1862.' Another is a marble
and bronze bust of Augustus Caesar by Lulgi
Belli. Other objects that servo as reminders of
Mr. Ingersoll are two Benares brass vases out of
reach on either sldo of tho great fireplace in tho
entrance hall. The nock of one Is askew, either
broken or naturally so, and such was Mr.
Heinze's reverenco for what Mr. Ingersoll had
possessed that he never would allow anyone to
ascend and find out. Among tho paintings in
the Heinze collection is Sir Anthony Van Dyck's
'Portrait of Anna Carr, Countess of Bedford,'
which Mr. Heinze acquired from tho Rothschild
collection. There is a 'Landscape with CatMe,'
by Gainsborough, dated 1760, bought five years
ago by Mr. Heinze from a niece of Lady Wald
grave, in London, and there are canvases by
George luness, Mr. Henry W. Ranger, Mr. Ridg
way Knight, Mr. J. Francis Murphy, Ralph A.
BlakPlock and by Vibert, Troyon, Plot, Dupro,
Grolleron and Detti."
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THE latest and best woman suffrage story Is
given by tho Kansas City Star in this way:
A Kansas grocer who had wasted his presiden
tial vote for twenty years was so overjoyed at
tho result of the election that ho attempted to
paint a mammoth rooster on his show-window.
But art being entirely out of his line of busi
ness the chanticleer did not have tho trium
phant pose deBired by the painter. "That's no
rooster," sneered a small boy; "that's a bloomin
hen'" A shout of derisive laughter from a
group of citizens greeted this sally, but the
amateur artist came right back at them: "Well,
didn't woman suffrage carry in this state?
What's the matter with you all?"
&
MVYOR GAYNOR of New York created some-
thing of a sensation recently when he used
the word "spissitude." Referring to this word
Now York World says: This is the very
latest Gaynorlsm. The man who rehabilitated
Fnfctetus as a popular character shot these
Shfnnt syllables of dispraise at the newspapers,
choosing : the banquet of the Fifth Avenue
c n TfL at the Waldorf-Astoria as the spot
fScnHnf spissitude. Afterward there was a
,t0 8Sfn can for dictionaries, with this result:
Sard d c Uonary definition-Spissltude-
?, r Jt. viRco-ity. Ninety-five per cent of
Thickness visco icy. turn to
the vocabulan gulti Viscosity-Stlcki-viscostty,
wI,lnu ' solitude got laughter and
SiuIeTo'm tho fottners.'Un a .ot of
thorn didn't understand It. But, then, ns an
English guest remarked, "Tlioy ' now it waa
Hometh.ng nasty, and that's enough." Mr. Gay
nor put splssltudo into tho bright lexicon of
New York when ho was dealing with tho sub
way tanglo last your. Ho told how honestly
and conscientiously and splendidly ho and tho
department wrostlod with the problem, and how
mistaken the newspapers woro In thinking that
the wisdom of Solomon and -ho roctltudo of tho
Chevalier Hayard were not at nil times evident.
"Wo were fumbling around reading the World
and other newspapers for guidance," said tho
mayor, with sarcastic inflection. "And perhaps
wo wore also wondering at the mental and moral
spissitude with which somo persons who run tho
newspapers are aflllcted." That brought a
howl. "Spissitude! SpiBsltudo!" ran from Up
to lip. After describing how unkind the news
papers had been to him and Borough President
McAneny and others over tho subways, Mr. Gny
nor declared that "For myself I don't caro, as
I have boon pictured as a bad man so long that
I don't care any more."
& Jt jt
TfIE death rate among the. members of tho
United States senate during tho last twelve
years has been very largo. The Washington cor
respondent for tho Baltimore Sun says: Tho
passing away of Senator Rayner runB tho deah
list up to thirty-four In that period, which shows'
that more than one-third of tho total member
ship of the upper branch of congress has passed
away. These figures do not include tho mem
bers who died after retiring from tho senate,
but only tho men who succumbed while in har
ness. The present membership of tho senate
Is ninety-six. Tho death roll Includos some of
tho strongest characters and most prominent
statosmen of the present generation. Sena
tor Raynor's death Is tho fifth, counting Vice
President Sherman, among tho members of tho
upper chamber in tho last eight months and
during the present session of congress. Sena
tor Robert L. Taylor of Tennessee died last
spring after a term of four years; Senator
George S. Nixon of Nevada, who was elected In
1905, was stricken down last summer, and only
a month ago Senator William B. Hoyburn of
Idaho, who had served slnco 1903, passed away
after a few months of Illness. Tho fatality
among Maryland members has also been strlk
ing. Senator Rayner Is tho third Marylandoi
to die In harness during tho last five years.
Senator Arthur Pue Gorman and Senator Wil
liam Pinckney White, both of whom had served
in the upper chamber with him, yielded to the
fearful strain and arduouslabors which are now
a part of the life of a senator.
IN tho last dozen years such powerful figures
as Marcus A. Hanna of Ohio, John W. Daniel
of Virginia, Redfleld Proctor of Vermont,
Stephen B. Elkins of West Virginia, William P.
Frye of Maine, John T. Morgan and Edmund
W. PettUB of Alabama, George F. Hoar of
Massachusetts, Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota,
Matthew Stanley Quay of Pennsylvania, and J.
P. Dolliver of Iowa, havo disappeared. The
senators who died In the last twelve years are
as follows in the chronological order of their
deaths: John H. Gear, of Iowa; Cushman K.
Davis, of Minnesota; J. H. Pyle, of South Da
kota; William J. Sewell, of New Jersey; Jamea
McMillan, of Michigan; Marcus A. Hanna, of
Ohio; Matthew Stanley Quay, of Pennsylvania;
George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts; William B.
Bate, of Tennessee; Orville H. Piatt of Connecti
cut; John H. Mitchell, of Oregon; Arthur Pue
Gorman, of Maryland; Russell A. Alger, of
Michigan; John T. Morgan, of Alabama; Ed
mund W. Pettus, of Alabama; S. R. Mallory, of
Florida; A. C. Latimer, of South Carolina; Red
field Proctor, of Vermont; William James Bryan,
of Florida; William B. Allison, of Iowa; Martin
N. Johnson, of North Dakota; A. J. McLaurln,
of Mississippi; S. D. McEmery of Louisiana;
John W. Daniel of Virginia; Jonathan P. Dol
liver, of Iowa'; A. S. Clay, of Georgia; Stephen
B. Elkins, of West Virginia; C. J. Hughes, jr.,
of Colorado; William P. Frye, of Maine; Robert
L. Taylor, of Tennessee; George S. Nixon, of
Nevada; William B. Heyburn, of Idaho; Isidor
Rayner, of Maryland.
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