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Show 1 If U 1 . ' - ' ;I r) I . ! i.-f t - ' -ftO - '1 POSTMASTER-GENERAL WYNNE, MRS. .ROEERT T. WYNNE, . Successor of late Postmaster-General Payne. . One of Washington's Most Hospitable Hostesses. The Catholic Mem (Boston Kepublic.) l'resident lioosevelt has appointed to his cabinet, cabi-net, a man who is. the product of the Irish race and the Catholic church. Robert J. Wynne, the new postmaster general, is an Irish Catholic, proud of the race from which he sprung and faithful to the church that his family, for generations back, have been devoutly loyal to. The name Wynne does not strike the average American ear as Celtic, and comparatively com-paratively few persons, other than intimate friends, and associates at Washington, were aware when Wynne was first taken into the administration circle? that he was descended from Irish stock. But a brief acquaintance Avould convince the. casual observer ob-server that the man who has jumped into national prominence in the brief space of two years is of Celtic blood. The traits of tho successful Irish-American Irish-American dominate his character and they are the traits which won for. him a seat in the American" cabinet. , The cabinets, of our presidents have not admitted ad-mitted more thaji a handful of men of the Irish race. When Joseph Mclvcnua, now a justice of the I nited States supreme court,, was made attorney general by President McKinlcy, the selection came as a surprise. "Why, he is a Catholic and Irish' said the bigots and the under-current, of official and private gossip showed how deep-rooted Avas the feeling that the Irish and Catholics should' have no place in the cabinet of eight men who act as advisors ad-visors to the. president and direct the eight 'executive 'execu-tive departments. Postmaster General Wynne, succeeds suc-ceeds Attorney General McKenna as the representative represen-tative of' the many millions of Irish-Catholics in the United States. Justice McKenna was unknown to the country when lie entered the cabinet ;, Wynne takes his place, with an established national reputation repu-tation for fearless integrity, proved in a trying manner by expressing and rooting out corruption that pervaded the pos'.'office department and -gave rise to a public scandal that no one had dared to tackle. Wynne was the exception and the work he ! did in behalf of the country's honor has now brought its reward. . Robert -I. Wynne wa:. born in Xew 'ork City in November, and was there educated in the public schools. lie moved to Philadelphia and learned telegraphy, working in the gold and stock board, eventually becomi.ig chief operator of' the Pacific iVr Atlantic Telegraph company. After a residence of eight years in Philadelphia, Mr. Wynne came to Washington. His first newspaper work was on the Cincinnati 'Gazette under General II. V. Boynton, who trained him as j Washington correspondent. cor-respondent. He wrote for the old Gazette and the Cincinnati Commercial G.izctte until 3SSII, when he was appointed private secretary to the secretary of the treasury, Charles Foster of Ohio. On the election of President Cleveland. Ur. Wynne returned re-turned to journalism as correspondent of the Cincinnati Cin-cinnati Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirgr. His letters and dispatches on national politics, tariff and finance obtained for him recognition aiid an exclusive engagement on the Xew -York Press, an ultra protection and gold standard paper, from which he resigned to become. Postmaster General Payne's first assistant. The new postmaster general gen-eral has been one of President Roosevelt's intimate friends for many years, and his appointment as first assistant was largely a personal appointment. At the same time every Republican senator with whom the president discussed the wisdom of the selection before consulting Air. 'Wynne earnestly .advocated it. Mr. Wynne's relations with Postmaster Post-master General Payne was equally cordial at the start. 'Everybody in Washington knows Wynne. 11c has lived there for twenty-five or thirty years. He is a compactly built man of 100 pounds weight, lie is an Irishman, and has all the pugnacity and all the wit of the race. Hi.-, face is round and full and his eyes twinkle with mirth. He is "Bob"' to all his friends. For twenty-five years he was a newspaper news-paper correspondent. During that quarter of a century he. has known and had the respect of all the great men of the country. As a newspaper correspondent Wynne was a prominent advocate of governmental honesty and a high standard of honor in all mictions of life. His fearlessness jeapordized his life more than once. Through all the trying times when the star route frauds were unearthed, when the Credit Mobilier scandals and a dozen other critical periods when men were torn by prejudice and moved by passion rather than judgment, Wynne stood the test, his equilibrium maintained and his daily accounts fair and just. Wynne always rang true when. put to the test. Those were troublesome times through which the newspaper, men passed. When "Bill Sterrett," the redoubtable Bill whom every one who has ever been to either Texas or Washington knows, came to the national capital and spent a week in the iber of the Cabinet. offices occupied by General Boynton and Wynne, he declared that he-had seen more violence and physical encounters there than in twenty years of Texas life. The crusade which ihcy made against pension "sharks" resulted in a running 'fight from their office to a drug store, nearly a block away, in which General Boynton. Wynne and a pension shark and a dozen or more red and green bottles in the drug store window mixed indiscriminately. When the star route disclosures were being made, Wynne was always on his guard. The night when a correspondent of the Baltimore American was killed in a street duel Wynne was" with him, and but an hour before had disarmed him. As a member mem-ber of the standing committee of correspondent.? of congress he insisted that the crowded press gallery gal-lery of the house should not be overrun with people uneonnnccted .with, newspapers. When Speaker Keifer and the sergeant-n -anus tried to do it they - failed, because ho" wired ir!ibe doors securely, and the correspondents held the fort thirty-six "hours until the legislative session ended. Xever since has thft press gallery been open to the general public. . Mrs., Wynne is one of the best known' hostesses in Washington. She is identified with official and residential society. Being of,atx.old Washington family and having been identified' with official society so-ciety for some years', bet acquaintance is almost unlimited. And wherever she -is. known, she is liked. She has all the elements of popularity. She is happy, bright, sympathetic and unselfish. In spite of the fact that she loves society, -she never neglects her duties at home, anJ the. health and happiness of the seven children of the family, and their perfect per-fect congeniality among themselves testifies to' this. There have been ten children born to the Wynne's: Only seven are left, and one of these, -the eldest girl, is married. She is Alice, now the w;ife'of S. J. Scmler, a man of cultivation and a fine linguist, both now living in Canada. The eldest son is Captain Cap-tain R. Frank Wynne, stationed at the Xorfolk navy yard. Captain Wynne entered the army at the time of the war, and served with distinction in Cuba and also in China during the -late Boxer troubles. The next son is Henry Boynton Wynne, who is associated with his father in the postofficc department. Ida is , the next, and since-her return from the European trip with her parents, she has entered the Georgetown convent- as. a boarding pupil. Her next sister, Ruth, who was also abroad this suhuner with the family, is in school in the Academy of Visitation. Two other sons, Charles and John Shriver Wynne, make up the interesting family. The last named is but 5 years' old. Airs. Wynne" ks a remarkably young wonvin to be the mother of such a family. She was married when barely out of school, and her first long dress was her wedding gown. She was formerly Aliss Mary Ella McCabe, daughter of Afr. and the late' Airs. Owen T. McCain' of Washington. Her -education - was obtained in the Academy of the Immaculate Condition, Con-dition, .corner of X and Flight h' streets, one of the oldest institutions in the city. Both Air. and Airs. Wynne have been identified with the parish of the Immaculate Conception, of which church they arc-regular arc-regular attendants. . . |