Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 April 1905 — IN THE PUBLIC EYE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Col. J. Andrew Barbydt, who recently died in Schenectady, N. Y., a* the ago of 91, Is claimed to have beeir

the oldest Odd Fellow in the world and one of the oldest Masons in tho United States. Ha was born in Schenectady in 1814 and thus antetdated the battle of Waterloo, which w rough! such great changes, direct and indirect, in the world’s his-

tory. In 1841. or sixty-four years ago, he joined Mohawk Valley Lodge of Odd Fellows and was still a member at the time of his death. In 1851 he became a member of St. George’s Lodge, A. F. & A. M„ and was thus a Mason for fifty-four years. He was also one of the oldest, if not the oldest, railroad conductor in the country. Col. Barbydt took a deep interest in military affairs, and for twenty-eight years was connected with the State militia. John Henningor Reagan, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, died recently, aged 86. He was a dis-

trict jud g e in Texas 1852-7, and a Representative in Congress 1857-01. and then became a member of the provisional Confederate Congress, and later PostmasterGeneral and Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederate States. He

was a Representative in Congress 1873-8", and United States Senator ISB7-1891, and was the author of tha interstate .commerce bill-which was modified by amendments into the law now in force.

The Countess of Warwick, who, as a newly converted socialist and member of the socialist party of England,

advocates the abolition of the House of Lords, the division of the great landed estates of England for the benefit of the people, the feeding and clothing of all cVldren of school age at the expense of the government.

countess op Warwick and the disestablishment of the state church, is herself the wife of a member of the house of peers, owns a vast estate of 23,000 acres, and has been for a generation at the very head of the most exclusive social set in England. A descendant of Sir Henry Maynard, a noble o* Queen Elizabeth’s court, and one of the most beautiful women of England, she attracted great attention as a girl, and in 1881, when she married the Earl of Warwick, Wien Lord Brooke, she assumed her place as the social leader of the empire.

Walter Hume Long, who has been chosen Chief Secretary for Ireland, has been president of the local govern-

ment board since 1900. Ills father was Richard Fenruddocke Long, and he was born July 13, 1854. Bred nt Harrow and at Christ Church, Oxford, he married in 1878 a daughter of the Earl of Cork and Orrery. Mr. Long,

who first entered parliament in 18S0, was president of the board of agriculture from 1885 to 1900. lie is a strict party man (Conservative), is alleged to possess no extraordinary abilities, and is opposed to making any concession to Irish feeling. In a speech five years ago he favored an alliance between England and America. Thirty-two years ago a Norwegian youth landed in Castle Garden. New York. He had borrowed money to

com© over. He went to Madison, Win., arriving there penniless, homeless an d in debt. When Gov. ernor Robert M. La Follette steps front the chair of chief executive of Wisconsin to hi* seat in the United States Senate, hi.*

|H‘essor will be James O. Davidson. 9H lieutenant governor, and the lad |H>, thirty-two years ago. almost to arrived at Castle Garden. Henry Churchill King ol college was the principal speaker banquet of the New England of Oberliu, held iu Boston. President Cleveland eelcbrat-sixty-eighth birthday quietly nt home, “Westland.’’ iu Princeton, Conrad Schaefer of tbs Stock Growers’ Association ■ issued a call for its first annual con[Htion to be held at D.-cvei M.iy it.

COL. J. BARHYDT.

J. H. REAGAN

WALTER H. LONG.

O. DAVIDSON.