Show COURAGE OF RUSSELL SAGE close fr end sheds new light on char acter of fidanc er twenty years ago few persona could get into the presence of russell sage without passing inspection by john E mccann who for a long time was mr sage s confidential clerk says the wall journal mr mccann served efficiently in that position but he had a soul for poetry and attel ten years he left finance for literature now that mr sage has died mr mccann contributes to the journalist a remarkable tribute to his character he speaks of him as a genius he says he was a deeply religious man who had often during a lull in the storm of business muttered a little prayer and who in the panic of may 1884 when the universe seemed crashing about his ears looked and acted like one in deep communion with the infinite he declares tha mr sage was a true man and a gen tieman while it was impossible foi him to cringe he did not know how to offend deliberately the proof ol 01 his moral courage was to be found IE the fact that for nearly 34 days he insisted on living his own iko ic his own way regardless of criticism whereas a weaker man would have been made a reckless spendthrift b the ridicule to which mr sage wa subjected because of the carefulness careful nes of his personal expenditures |