The junior Senator from Indiana may be said almost to have begun his political career with his present position, for although his influence and advice have been felt in the party councils before, he had never held public office prior to his election to the Senate.

Senator Fairbanks, now of Indianapolis, was born on a farm near Unionville Center, Union County, Ohio, May 11, 1852. He was educated in the common schools of the neighborhood and in the Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, graduating in the classical course of that insti tution in 1872. Two years later he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, and almost immediately removed to Indianapolis where he has ever since practiced his profession.

Although not an office-holder, he has been known for many years in his State, as a successful railway and corporation lawyer, financier and even politician. As a relief from his other cares he has also been a contributor to the press. He was elected a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1885. His private fortune is very large, most of it gained by fortunate railway investments and enterprises. He has been a director of several important roads and president of the Terre Haute and Peoria Railway.

In 1893 Mr. Fairbanks was unanimously chosen as the nominee of the Republican caucus for United States Senator in the Indiana Legislature and subsequently received his entire party vote in the Legislature, but was defeated by David Turpie, Democrat. In 1896 he was a delegate-at-large from Indiana to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis, where Mr. McKinley was nominated for the presidency, and was temporary chairman of that convention. He had been chairman of the Indiana State Republican convention in 1892, and again in 1898 he filled the same chair. In January, 1897, Mr. Fairbanks was chosen Senator by the Republican legislators, over Daniel W. Voorhees, Democrat. His competitor before the Republican caucus had been General Lew Wallace, author of "Ben Hur." Senator Fairbanks was appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission, which met in Quebec in 1898 for the adjustment of CanadianAmerican questions and was chairman of the United States Commission. He is a warm friend of President McKinley, a strong supporter of his views and policies, and at one time was seriously considered as the "administration candidate" for the Vice Presidential nomination of 1900. His term of service in the Senate will expire March 3, 1903.

Chauncey Mitchell Depew, for many years one of New York's most widely known citizens, was born in Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, 1834. Mr. Depew's remote ancestors were French Huguenots, who came to this country about 1685 and were among the founders of New-Rochelle. In his school days Chauncey Depew was an omnivorous reader and an eager student of history. He was a delicate child with yellow hair and awkward ways, and while his boy friends played football or went fishing, he found his most satisfying recreation in the companionship of books. After his graduation from the Peekskill Academy he went to Yale College, where he graduated with honors in 1856. He then returned to his native village and studied law in the office of William Nelson and was admitted to the bar in 1858. That same year he was elected a delegate to the Republican State Convention and the following year he took the stump for Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 he received his first public office, being elected to the Legislature, and served two terms in that capacity. In 1864 Mr. Depew received the Republican nomination for Secretary of State and was elected by a majority of 30,000. It was in this campaign that he first displayed clearly the remarkable ability in public speaking which has since then been so generally recognized.

In 1866 he was appointed attorney for the New York & Harlem Railroad Company and three years later he became attorney for the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, and afterwards became a member of the board of directors. Mr. Depew's influence grew with the growth of the Vanderbilt system of railroads, and in 1875 he became general counsel for the entire system and was elected a director in each of the lines comprised in it. Mr. Depew's influence in railroad circles has been constantly increasing, until he has reached the position of chairman of the board of directors of the entire Vanderbilt system of railroads.

Mr. Depew was a candidate for the presidential nomination at the National Republican Convention of 1888. He has probably made as many political speeches as any man of his time. He has spoken publicly from one to six weeks in every political campaign in this country for thirty-nine years. In addition to his political speeches he has delivered innumerable addresses on a great variety of public occasions.

Mr. Depew was elected to the United States Senate in 1899 and his term of service will expire March 3, 1905.