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HE world's greatest authority on fishes works for the National Government at Washington. His name is Theodore Gill -the multiplicity of his titles and degrees being omitted-and he occupies a room in the north tower of the Smithsonian Institution. To enter that room-though sometimes Doctor Gill, when hot on the trail of a scientific secret, sleeps in it-would frighten a timid person. It is filled with an indescribable litter of fishes and snakes in big glass jars, preserved crabs, stuffed sea-horses, and other wonders of the mighty deep. Yet out of this seeming confusion have come great additions to the scientific knowledge of the world. And a benevolent and paternal government pays Doctor Gill for his labors the sum of $1 a month.

The fact that the scientist has a per

sonal fortune of a quarter of a million dollars, and that he is a favorite dinner guest in Washington society, only marks him as a member of the nation's New Volunteers, an army of wealthy men who are doing patriotic service for their country, at more or less financial sacrifice to themselves.

To some of these volunteers, it is true, come honors and personal prestige greater than they could hope to gain in private life; while many others work in silence and almost complete obscurity. But in either case it would be unfair and ungenerous to question motives; and even if personal prominence and social position be admitted as sometimes being the controlling factor, it is at least refreshing to realize that to an increasing number of rich men the accumulation of more money is no longer the overmastering ambition.

Take, for example, the case of Robert Bacon, who is Assistant Secretary of State. He is an old friend of the Presi

Copyright, 1906, by The Technical World Company

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dent, and was a classmate of the latter at Harvard. To a man like him, worth several millions of dollars-he is a partner in the firm of J. Pierpont Morgan & Co.-the wages of the place are a mere pittance. Nevertheless, he is satisfied to be a hireling, at $4,500 a year, for the sake of the pleasure and the small amount of reputation to be derived from the from the work. Of course, too, there is a good chance of promotion to some desirable diplomatic post.

Places in the diplomatic service have always been regarded as particularly desirable, and are being sought more eagerly nowadays than ever before. They offer many social opportunities; and even the minor secretaryships at embassies and legations are in demand for the sons of wealthy families, who at the present time come pretty. near to monopolizing such posts.

In speaking of the Department of State, one should realize that Secretary Root himself is one of the rich men embraced in the category described. It is altogether probable that he is able to earn by the practice of his profession (that of the law) at least $150,000 a year. As a member of the Cabinet, he gets only $8,000. But there are other things besides money that are worth while, and the privilege of managing the foreign relations of the United States may well be regarded as compensating for large sacrifices.

For so long a time that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, persons of wealth have been ambitious to serve in Congress-more especially in the Senate-but anxiety on the part of rich men in this country to secure employment in the executive workshops is something very new. The Houses of Congress are in session only six months in the year, and a Senator or Representative has half his time to himself, for other occupations. In the federal departments, how

ever, officials are necessarily tied to their desks for eleven months out of the twelve. Such work is serious business, and occupies all of a man's attention; it cannot be done incidentally to other mat

ters.

The case of Mr. Bacon is by no means so exceptional as might be supposed. Occupying the place of Assistant Secretary of the Navy-the position Mr. Roosevelt

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ROBERT BACON.

Assistant Secretary of State.

held at the time of the outbreak of the war with Spain-is a millionaire manufacturer from Detroit, Mich., Truman H. Newberry. He is largely interested in steel, but is engaged in a number of other industries, including the making of automobiles. Himself an enthusiast on the subject of motoring, he devotes much of his limited leisure to traveling about in a touring car. A rather stout and very jolly man is Mr. Newberry.

In a corresponding position, that of

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Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department, is found a slightly younger man, Charles H. Keep, who is likewise a manufacturer and supposed to be worth nearly, if not quite, a million dollars. He comes from Buffalo, N. Y., and is interested in a bank in that city, as well as in certain large paper mills. A Harvard man, he was graduated two years later than Mr. Roosevelt. Until recently he was Secretary of the Lake Carriers' Association-a great organization controlling transportation on the lakes.

Speaking of Mr. Roosevelt, it may be fairly said that he himself did much toward starting the fashion, now followed by so many men of wealth, of seeking employment in the public service. Seventeen years ago he was made a Civil Service Commissioner by President Harrison, and was glad to get that comparatively humble position-though not at all, of course, for the sake of the salary, which was only $3,500 a year.

Although he talks so eloquently about the struggle of life, and the joy of the fight and its reward, Mr. Roosevelt, as a matter of fact, has never known through personal experience what struggle means. The son of a rich glass importer of New York, he inherited before he left Harvard University a very considerable fortune, one item of which was a house in the most desirable part of Fifth Avenue, next door to the Gould mansion, which stands in his name to-day, and is assessed at $125,000-its actual value being

much greater.

COL. CHARLES S. BROMWELL, U. S. A. Master of Ceremonies at the White House.

But Mr. Roosevelt was early seized with an ambition to figure in public affairs-he was hardly out of college when he secured an election to the Legislature of New York Stateand thus it was that at the beginning of the Spanish War he found himself Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

A noteworthy phenomenon, well worth mentioning in this connection, is the disposition which rich people nowadays are showing, to send their sons to the military and naval academies at West Point and Annapalis. Until recently the Army and Navy were not regarded by the wealthy and fashionable class as desirable; but ideas on the subject seem to have changed, and at the present time such appointments are eagerly sought for the scions of millionaire families-evidently for the sake of the prestige attaching to Uncle Sam's uniform, as well as with the idea of doing worthy service for the country which has made them rich.

There are in our Army and Navy, and more especially in the latter service, a good many very rich men to whom the scanty pay is of no importance worth mentioning. What they want is the rank and privilege, as well as social opportunity, that go with the shoulder-straps they wear. Our military and naval attachés at foreign capitals, whose business it is to make a study of whatever is newest in war methods and appliances abroad, are usually selected from among the wealthy. officers, simply for the reason that much

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expense is involved in keeping up their positions properly, and Uncle Sam does not care to foot the bills himself. The War Department would be willing enough, but Congress is sure to oppose any suggestion of the kind, and will not furnish the money.

Thus, for instance, our military attaché at Berlin for some years past has been Capt. William S. Biddle, U. S. A., who is worth about three-quarters of a million. Another subaltern in the service, lately detailed to similar duty, is Capt. Edward B. Cassatt, son of the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and himself a man of large means. Such assignments as these are necessarily of the most agreeable character, giving the entrée to courts and to the most exclusive foreign society. It is not surprising that they should be regarded

as

most desirable

by officers who can afford to accept them.

At the White House, it might be mentioned, are always half-a-dozen most delightful assignments of duty-those of the so-called "social aides" to the President. They are always held by young officers, who are required to do nothing more arduous than dance well and stand about in statuesque attitudes at receptions. It is their most particular function to act as beaux for young ladies who may at any time be guests at the Execu

PROF. SAMUEL F. EMMONS. U. S. Geological Survey.

tive Mansion, taking them in to dinner, officiating as dancing partners, or otherwise helping to amuse them. Naturally, a great deal of social prestige attaches to these positions, the holders of which are invited out everywhere. For some years past, and up to the date of his recent marriage, Major Charles McCawley, of the U. S. Marine Corps, was the principal social aide at the White House.

The so-called Master of Ceremonies at the

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