Show t y TALMAtfE IN HIS HOME A Glimpse of the Great < Preacher in Private Life LOVE OP OUTDOOR EXERCISE 1 The Pastors Dally Life and Habits I Homo Humorous Anecdote as Told by an Intimate Friend La Copyrighted Written for THE SUNDAY HERALD To know and understand T De Witt Talmage one must see and meet him in his home surrounded by his family In the pulpit or on the lectureplatform he is the preacher or speaker conscious that his words are transmitted to the I farthest ends of the world but when at home he is without restraint and you see only the man as he is j The ialmage house is located in one I of the most desirable and fashionable parts of Brooklyna large fourstory brownstone front with a cupola that is often the resort of tho famous pastor The parlors and other rooms are luxuriously lux-uriously furnished costly bricabrac and souvenirs of foreign travel filling every conceivable spot on mantel floor and tables Two large drawing rooms occupy the first story and in the rear room casual visitors afe admitted A bust of the preacher accosts you as you enter and directly opposite this is a large crayon throwing forth the face so familiar to thousands in every part of the land The sittingroom where Dr Talmage often spends a quiet hour with his family is in the rear of the second Ii story This is practically Mrs 1 al mages room which she uses amost continually THE PREACHERS STUDY The most interesting room however is the preachers study where all his literary work is done and where the sermons that are printed all over the world find their birth It is a comfort ablysized apartment tho rear room on the fourth story of the house An I ordinary office uesk a sofa considerably i consider-ably worn a dictionary stand and three cl1airs constitute the furniture of the room With Talmage this is a sacred room and rarelv does ne allow any one to enter it Not even the servants ser-vants are expected to cross its thresh hold and such dusting as is necessary is done witu a feather duster in the hands of the preachers wife Library shelves are ranged on each side f the room and between the ao irs It is not a showy array of books that are arrayed rayed on these shelves ancientlooking works often handled predominate and in every sense is it a library for useaud one thatis doubtless frequently referred to Talmages library consists rrooa bly of between two and three thousand thou-sand volumes His favorite author is Ruskin and he has probably read twice and three times over everything the great English critic has written On the chairs and in the corners of the rouuu are piles of newspapers and printed pamphlets On one chair is a heap of manuscript sermons and lecturesnot remarkable for their appearance ap-pearance for the great preacher is not great us a poamau The room has three windows the one on the side of the house looking out tpon a beautiful park being tne favorite one at which the pastor often sits and reads Au ink stand that looks as if it would fall apart were the clotted ink upon its surface sur-face removed scraps of paper a few inkbespattered penholders small pieces of blottingpaper rest on the desk while banked up on either side are mountains of leters and papers Books of reference lie on open drawers and on the floor Every drawer is stuffed full with papers as if they were tossed in hurriedly yet in all their chaos every paper has its place Tidiness Tidi-ness does not prevail everything is placed where its owner can readily find it It is withal a typical literary den characteristic of the occupant DAILY LIFE AND HABITS Four days of the week the preacher is away from home on lecturing tours or professional duties When at home he is an early riser and generally is the first astir Sir oclock generally finds Dr Talmage around and about He goes directly downstairs and glances over the morning papers He scans over the principal headings reading what is most eventful and skips all minor news The cable dispatches are always read first editorials next and then domestic news If leisure allows general articles are read Talmage is a hearty eater but his breakfast is light and generally consists of some farina ceous dish milk toast and fruit Tea and coffee ho strictly avoids After breakfast he goes through his mail More often however this is looked over by Mrs Talmage and such letters as she thinks will interest him are handed over Meanwhile tho preacher goes through his newspaper mail Tne principal papers of every city are sent him and the first morning mail generally gener-ally brings fifty or more In these ho finds keen interest and no public man is better informed of the names and Character of the newspapers all over tho country than Dr Talmage Every other paper received during the first days of the week has his printed sermon ser-mon The preacher has grown accustomed accus-tomed to newspaper criticism yet here he-re ds all articles that concern him or his work with care and attention Caricature Car-icature of himself amuses him and a hearty laugh greets each as he meets them in the papers He is rarely offended of-fended and he harbors not the slightest slight-est ill feeling toward paragraphers who continually poke fun at him That fellow has written some verv witty f things about my mouth he exclaimed one morning to me as he encountered a paragraphic shaft on the largeness of Talmngas month uHe Is really clever at it said the preacher and the thought offence apparently never entered his mind Part of the morning morn-ing is taken up with his correspondence correspond-ence and then the famous pastor goes forth either for a walk or on business matters often not to return until late at night He is a great believer in OUTDOOR EXERCISE and his powers as a pedestrian are remarkable re-markable He thinks nothing for ex iP ui ample of walking from the Grand Central Cen-tral Depot to the Brooiiyu Bridge across thu bridge ana to ms hoube a distance of some elgnt or nine miles Let us go for a snort walk was his proposition to me on sultry summer evening n hen he was aiajiug over a day in town I agreed and we started Feeling interested in a special conversation conver-sation we were naving I did not notice the distance we had gone out into the suburbs until my limbs told mA we must beon the outskirts of Flatbnh and had walkea someeven miles But the doctor evidently never felt it and of tours I said nothing Attar we I had walked another mile l began to speculate whether he intended we should walk homo Another naif mile and we came to a fence in the middle of toe road me Which we matt wandered Guess we cant go mucn farther ejuculated Talmage Well perhaps wed better walk home slowly dorry he added because I have thoroughly enjyjeu this little walk Little walk i wondtr < d what his idea was of a really extended pedestrian I pedes-trian trip On the oeacnsund he ha started on an easy run until I was com polled not only to stop but to sink on the sand from exhaustion while lie a mere spe k in the distance was running yet And he a man oi fiftyfive while I am thirty years his junior and generally gen-erally considered a tolerably good walfier and runner Dr Taluiage often walks out into the suburbs and when he reaches an unfrequented spot will break into a halfmile run per ectly refreshed at the finish It is thIS love for exercise that is the secret cf this wonderful mans robust health and his capacity for work SOME CHARACTERISTICS No man enjoys sleeping more than does Talmaue I have known him to refuse a most lucrative piece of work for the Dimple reason as he explained because it would deprive me of my napping tim He will snatch the briefest space of timi between his engagements en-gagements for a nap although it maybe may-be only of ten or fifteen mInutes duration dura-tion On the cars he sleeps ne rly all the time wrapped up in a huge blanket There is nothing tna refreshes me so much as a short sleep he says apologetically apol-ogetically and off he is with his head 1 ou his breast He bleips soundly and wakes easily Talmagu is exceedingly careless in his dress aud it requires the constant eye ol a careful wIfe to see that his exterior appearance is at all presentable He cares absolutely nothing noth-ing for his outward looks ana would wear the same collar for two weeks if he could not find a clean one alter a moments search His cravats are models of economy and only a short titno ago I encountered him on a New York thoroughfare purchasing two black bows from a streetvender That hat has seen wear said a friend to him one day while out walking Ho you think I needa new oiieht asked tating it of and examining it Well let us step in this store as he spied a hatters In amoment he had tried one on paid for it and was out ot the store leaving his old one in the hands of the dealer who evidently thought him the easiest customer he ever had At + a tonsorial artist Talmag is ludicrous I watched him in his room one day with a razor He had allowed himself i but five minutes for shaving In a twinkling he ha1 his coat oil and a towel stuck between his collar and throat I afterwards examined his razor and did not wondor he succeeded only in removing a quarter of the growth of hair on his face It was so dull that 1 could scarcely determine which edge was i tended for use After searching for a moment for his strop aud not finding it ho reached for a book in his library bound m sheep and to my astonishment sharpened his razor on the cover of the volume My laughter surprised him and as I passed it over I presume to this day he cannot imagine what provoked my merriment Nothing was done more naturally or in a more utterly matterof fact way RESTLESS AS A CHILD It would be difficult to find a man more restless in nature than the famous Brooklyn preacher He can scarcely remain quiet or in one position for a moment Of a thoroughly active mind that knows no rest the man must be kept busy or he is unhappy He is happiest when on the go with his hands full of worK and his brain full of ideas In this respect he is not very companionable Finding ourselves at Manhattan Beach one evening two summers ago I suggested going in the music amphitheatre where Gilmore was playing He acquiesced but only one piece had been finished when he rose and proposed going out Upon r aching ach-ing the hotel piazza and being somewhat some-what early for the next train he seated himself at the first convenient table aid began ordering a complete repast We had barely begun when an unfortunate unfor-tunate railroad official cried out Train for Brooklyn U Talmage acted as if he were shot seized his light overcoat and walking stick with one hand and throwing throw-ing a bill of large denomination on the table rushed for the gates I hastily followed nearly choking with my mouth full of food Reaching the train he threw himself in a parlor chair ana breathlessly exclaimed something some-thing about nearly missing the last train I discovered afterward he had understood it to be the last train for Brooklyn when it was scarcely nine oclock and at least a score more trains would leave the beach that evening He will frequently stop the streetcar in which he is riding and walk to his destination because of the slowness of the horses gait INCOME AND EXPENSES Talmages income is large and ho has probably turned his reputation into larger substantial gain than any public man of the day His salary as pastor of the Tabernacle is 12000 per year while his lecturing receipts arc fuly twice that amount As he is the most popular lecturer in the country his services ser-vices are everywhere sought and he can afford to ask high priced For the exclusive control of his sermons in advance ad-vance of tho regular publication as retorted re-torted upon their delivery he receives from a New York firm a yearly amount nearly as large as his salary As editor of a popular monthly ho receives 5000 while his marriage fees run as high as 250 for a single ceremony His Friday evening lectures are also syndicated to a large number of papers and for this he gets a regular stipend Then he has a royalty on his published books and receives very large sums for doing odd literary work whenever he has the time Offers of this kind come to him by every mail Only recently ho declined an offer of 150 per week for a regular newspaper letter on current topics Talmages expenses are of course large His family live and dress well he has a son at college and a daughter I G Ji J 1 of a marriageable agp and must meet many of the thousand and one demands that are made upon a public man He carl ies an insurance on his life of over I 75 0 0 and the ppmium3 on these alone a considerable item Nevi rthe les < having a shrewd and careful wife he is enabled to lay by several thousands thou-sands of dollars each year and were Talmage to die today his family would be more than comfortably fixed for the rest of their lives He is thoroughly devoted to his family and it is mainly fc r them and their future ease and happiness hap-piness in this world that he is working so industriousl Talmage maybe full of eccentricities he may be misjudged by thousands but of the sincerity of his motives there is no doubt in the minds of those who are privileged to see him in his private pri-vate life and who thus know him as he is He is generous to the extreme open hearted and always ready to do a kind act for a friend His utterances and actions may be severely criticised and at times this may not altogether be unrfeerved but of his private life nothing can be said other than to his credit and praise Whatever T De Wt t Talmage may be as a preacher that he is a man loyal sincere and ttue admits of no question EDWARD IRVING 1 After Longfellow Tell us not in mournful numbers that a town is fall of gloom for the mans a crank who slumbers in these burstiog days of boom Lite is real life is earnest ear-nest and the graveis not its goal every dollar that thou tnrnost helps to make the old town roll But enjoyment and not sorrow is our destined end or way if you have no money borrowbuy a corner lot each day Lives of great men all remind us we can win immortal fame let us leave the chumps behind us and we 11 gel there jusc the same In this worlds broad field of battle In the bivouac of life let ua make the dry bones rattlebuy a corner lot for wife Let us then be up and doing with a h art for any fate still achieving still pursuing booming early booming late Real Estate Agent |