Interesting Lecture by Mr. J. S. Wise

Mr. John S. Wise described his "Recollections of Fourteen Presidents" in the Living Room of the Union last evening. His anecdotes, reaching back to boyhood times, were of unusual interest.

The first president he met was John Tyler, a man of the utmost simplicity and frugality. His father brought him to the White House to meet President Pierce immediately after his inauguration. Mr. Buchanan was a quiet, democratic gentleman. During the Civil War, Mr. Wise knew Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln. He carried the last message from General Lee to the president of the Confederacy and came to know him well. He was stubborn and egotistical, though intrepid and courageous in every way. Andrew Johnson was one of the guests at Mr. Wise's wedding. He met President Grant in a train one evening and talked with him about the Civil War; he was a clever and brilliant talker.

Rutherford B. Hayes was a quiet, unobtrusive man, who has been greatly misunderstood. While President Garfield was dying at Elberon, Mr. Wise went to Mr. Arthur's house to tell him of the President's condition. He was a man of great ability, with a thorough knowledge of the duties of this office. Grover Cleveland was a Democrat whose power lay in his conservatism. Whatever he did, he took the consequences for. Mr. Harrison, who was our next President, was a clear-minded, clever lawyer, but narrow and bigoted in religious matters. Mr. Wise first met William McKinley in Congress. His chief fault was his inability to free himself from the influences about him. The rise of President Roosevelt to power has been entirely due to his aggressiveness. Mr. Wise's acquaintance with the next President, William H. Taft, began when Mr. Taft was a judge in Cincinnati.