The evening world. Newspaper, July 27, 1922, Page 16

> THE EVENING WORLD, THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1922. Still Active in the Discharge of Official Duties, and Says Young Men Should Go Into Politics, but Should Be Honest to Be -He Never Gave a Promissory Note and Never Defended a Lawsuit. Successful OHN R. VOORHIS, Grona Sachem of the Society of Tammany and Comauissioner of Blections, pasted the ninety-third milestote of an &, @ventful life to-day. For ninety-two years he has lived tn New York Otty, sixty years in one house. For eleven years he has been Grand Bachem of the Society of Tammany, a longer period than it haa been Reid by any other man. @nd has held many city offices, He was appointed Becise Commissioner in 1873 “Never in my business career,” says Mr, Voorhis, “did I give @ promissory note, nor waa I ever sued for fatlure to fulfll a contract,” and Bride @ man in politics they will ruin him. Bim alone and he will succeed.” he add “If dishonest people can If they can't they will let By Willis Brooks Hawkins. ’ Wopyright, 1023 (New York Evening World) by Press Publishing Company. HEN @ man has lived minety-three years, Binety-two of them in the heart of New York City, he ought to have a story to a! tell, If during more ‘Bhan etxty of those years he has been @® recognized power in the politics of this metropolis, his story should be @lI the more interesting. And if at @inety-three he still retains and daily @Rercises those mental and physical Qaculties which have enabled him to Qed for half a century some of the (most important offices in the gift of hanging City and State Administra- Bona, he may be truly set down as a emerkable man, John R. Voorhis, whose ninety- third anniversary falls on this 27th of July, ts to-day the working head of the New York City Board of Elections -—the working head, mind you, for he {is at his office in the Municipal Build- ing every day and all day when he ts mot running about the five boroughs, keeping an eye on all the various Properties under the supervision of his department. He frequently walks te his office from his home, at the eorner of Greenwich and Bethune Btreets. Nor does “at his office” mean that ‘he is merely present there. Every day he personally reads, without the aid of glasses, the large volume of mail addressed to this department, and since ‘‘Do It Now’ has long been a rule of his life, he promptly responds ‘to such communications as require an- swers. This he does partly by dictation and party by his own hand, which stil! guides a pen without a quiver. With unimpaired hearing he carries on telephonic conversations and with seemingly tireless feet he hastens from one to another of the many divisions of his department, keeping constantly tm touch with all their activities. Unlike fhe younger heads of many city de- partments he seldom calls an assistant to his room, but goes himself to the as- jstant’s desk; and all outsiders who come io the office for information are referred to President Voorhis, whose familiarity with details enables him to answer practically all questions off- band. Mr. Voorhis was born July 27, 1829, fm the farming village of Pompton New Jersey. “I cannot claim, as many public men @o, that I was born in a log cabin," “for my birthplace was a Pretty good sized mansion on a farm Plains, Morris County, he says, owned by my mother’s father. My Parents were both of Dutch stock, my mother being sprung from the eld Van Gelder and Van Saun fami- lies, and my father a lineal descendant of Steven Coerte Van Voorhees, who emigrated from the village of Hees in Holland in April, 1660, in the ship Bontekoe (Spotted Cow) with his wife Bteven bought, accord- ing to the deed still in existence, ‘corn with hhouse and house plot in the village of Fletiands, with the brewery and brewery apparatus, kettle house and He had an authorized coat rest being and children. land, woodland, salt meadow, waskt arms, the motto of th irtus Castellum Meum. It will be news to thousands of New ‘Yorkers who have known Mr. Voorhis Antimately for many years that he has no middle name. He was chri tened simply John, but in early bu eee life he added the letter R to dis- ish him from another John Voor- his with whom he was sometimes confounded. When John was a year old his par ents moved to New York, where his father, Richard Voorhis, engaged in carting. In this work he wore the then customary smock-frock of the cartman, a long shirtlike outer gar- ment of brown tow linen. The carts of those days were two-wheeled af- fairs, each drawn by one hors The heavy flat platform sloped toward the rear #0 that when backed up to a side- walk the end almost rested upon it, making skids unnecessary. This solid Platform rested, without springs, upon the ponderous axle, and the jolting of the clumay vehicle as it lumbered over the cobblestones which formed the only pavements of that time was sup- Posed to be good for the digestion. Mr. Voorhis saya It was no uncommon sight to see three or four wealthy men riding on his father’s cart after their meals as a cure recommended by their physicians. The family’s first residence was on King Street, but they soon moved to No. 64 Sullivan Street, one door from the corner of Broome Street. The rental here was $5 a month for tho second floor and attic of a fine frame house with brick front in what was then the most fashionable section of the city. Before he was five years old John was sent to the only school he ever attended—a private one at No. 196 Spring Strect, for in those days it was not deemed quite the proper thing to send children to the free schools, which were called “charity” institutions and were attended by, some children who might exercise a contaminating influence. “Pride and piety," says Mr. Voorhis, ‘were marked characteristics of my parents, and they were determined to keep me out of bad company, though I am sure they deprived themselves of many comforts to achieve this end." His first teacher was Miss M. Hew- lett, whose class assembled in the basement of a small house, Mr. Voorhis still treasures her receipts showing that his tuition fee was 2,26 for each quarter. But when he was graduated to the “academy” on the floor above, the fees ran up to $4 a quarter with a few extras such as 25 cents for ink and quills (he had to make his own pens) and an occa- sional $1 for fuel, since the pupils had to provide their own heat, ex- cepting that which was furnished by the heavy hickory ruler of the teacher, Prof, D, Stevens, “I clearly remember that ruler,” says Mr, Voorhis. "It was two feet long and enme to be highly polished by fric+ tion with our trousers, I helped con~ siderably to polish ft, and perhaps it helped to polish me.” At the age of thirteen he left school “to help out the family fi- nances," took a job at $50 a year as errand boy in the law office of John the and, Jay, @ grandson of John Jay, signer of the Declaration pendence, of Ind Street, a few doors south of Wall Street. The Stock Exchange is there now. In his intervals of leisure there the boy began studying law, but bis The office was in New mother did not regard that profession as quite the thing. She had set her heart on having him sent to China a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church, of which she was @ devoted member and tn which there was at the time a vigorous movement toward Christianizing the yellow heathens. “Sunday Mr. Voorhis declares, ‘was to me the most dreaded day of the week. At 9 in the morning I was sent off to Sunday s¥hool at the church on the northwest corner of Broome and Greene Streets. At 12.30 I went with my parents to @ regular service which lasted until 1.30, when we had a Sunday school song service, though T couldn’t sing a note. At the close of this service we recited Bible verses and usually listened to some Jecture on missionary work in which I had no interest. In the evening I was dragged off to listen to a long, dull sermon by the Rev. Mr, Broad- head, and every Wednesday night I had to go to a prayer meeting with my mother. JT was so saturated with ‘Christian duties’ that as soon as J could I broke away from the whole thing, “This was made possible when we had u Sunday school contest in re- Deating verses from the Bible. The prize was described as a beautiful gilt- edged book, but although I repeated the whole 176 verses of the 119th Psalm without a break, consuming the entire time of the contest and discouraging all other contestants, 1 never received the promised book. Even my mother's ardor for the church was somewhat cooled by this breach of contract, and she finally gave up the idea of making @ mission- ary of me. She thought tt might be better if I learned @ good trade. So, at the age of sixteen, I was appren- ticed to her brother, 8. J. Van Saun, @ stairbuilder, then @ distinct branch of carpentry,”* Yor four years the apprentice re- ite QUARTER’S TUITION celved $2.50 a week, Then, at the age of twenty, he was made foreman and received the pay of a first class Journeyman, which was $1.25 a day. At twenty-five he became a partner of his uncle, and in 1862, at the age of thirty-three, bought his partner out and continued the business until the pressure of public duties compelled him to give {t up. During this time he built stairs in many of the finest structures in the city, employing as many as @ hundred men at a time and doing work for the Astors, the Van- derbilts, the Goelets, A. T. Stewart, Arnold & Constable and scores of the large stores that were then going up in the Worth Street section, Touching on the social rivalry be. tween William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor, Mr. Voorhis tells of having built an elaborate black walnut stairway in William Waldorf’s man« sion at Fifth Avenue and 334 Street, whereupon John Jacob at once or. dered a more elaborate stairway of white pine for his mansion at the 84th Street corner of the same block; and for some time afterward the par- tisans of each were known by the light or dark stairways they, Installed in their homes. As an apprentice Mr. Voorhis helped to build the shop still standing at No. 4 Hethuno Street, just off ireenwich Street, and the corner house n door to it, fronting on Greenwich Street, At thirty-three he bought both, and still owns them, having lived in the house gontinu- ie, ously for sixty years. He still spends Many hours, especially on Sundays, in the shop, only a few steps from the back door of his residence, tink- ering up whatever requires repairing about the house or shop. Particularly he enjoys working with the tools he used when he began his apprentice- ship at sixtee He still keeps them in the tool chest that he made for them seventy-two years ago. Mr. Voo: first political activi- ties. wer opposition to Tammany Hall, Which was then ip, the grip of » the Tweed ring, Although his father and grandfather had been of the Democratic faith, he joined with those who engaged in an effort to drive that party from power in this city. But it was not till 1878 that he became om office holder. In May of thu ' llavemeyer ap- pointed sioner of Excise \ with me to Voorhis. a i old office in this cit : vemain honest, Reporters pame and told me that this office had ded Deen worth $190,000 a year to a cer- tain man who had held it. I couldn't tell them that I was going to be satisfied with the $8,000 salary. “I have always been suspicious of men who either prate of their hon- esty or Saunt their piety. “But I can now eay that although in the last forty-nine years I have been Commissioner of Excise, Com- missioner of Police, Commissioner of Dooks, Police Justice, Superintendent of Public Buildings, State Superin- tendent of Elections and Municipal Commissioner of Elections, 1 am still fer from a rich man, unless good health and freedom from debt consti- tute riches. These appointments have been made by etght different Mayors, one Borough President, one Governor and three Boards of Alder- men, representing anti-Tammany, Tammany and Republican organiza- tions, and you may add that I have never, either personally or through any intermediary, asked for an of- fic After afffiiating for some years with the County Democracy against Tammany Mr. Voorhis left that organization when it proposed to unite with the Platt Republican organization for a division of offices, He then organized what was known the Voorhis Democracy to fight both Tammany and the Republicans, In 1890, “when Tammany’s old crowd had been cleaned out,” and the State Organization had recognized its new leaders, Mr. Voorhis ceased his fight, and in 1893 became @ member of Tammany. “Richard Croker offered to put me up as a candidate for Sheriff,” he says, ‘but, since the fees of that of- flee were said to exceed $160,000, I declined, explaining to him that it would look as if I had sold myself to Tammany for the money in it.” In 1011 Mr. Voorhis was chosen Grand Sachem of the Tammany So- ciety, an office which he has held ever since, longer than it was ever held by any one man before. In 1850 Mr. Voorhis, than twenty- one, and Lucinda Lefferts, a few months younger, were married. She was of the old Lefferts family, which dates back to the earliest days of New York. Three hours before her death in 1916, at the age of eighty- even, she walked down two flights to her supper and at her usual retiring hour walked back to her room. Death came so quietly that she was supposed to be sleeping when it was discovered that she had passed away. “We lived together for more than etxty-five years without a serious dif- ference,"’ says Mr. Voorhis, ‘‘and the cerdit for that belongs to her, for I was pretty decided in my ways. But always she was kind enough to ac- commodate her ways to mine,”’ Three sons and two daughters were the result of this union. The eldest son, named for George Washington, died of typhoid at thirty—two other sons died in early life, one from an in- jury and the other from bronchitis)— leaving two sons, John R., now with the Coal and Iron Bank, and Richard, with the Federal Reserve Bank. The two daughters are atill ving, Miss Anna being with her father and Clara (Mrs. William H: Newell) residing at No. 610 West 186th Street with her two unmarried daughters, Clara L. and Irene HE. There is one great- grandson living, @ son of the second John R. Among Mr. Voorhis's earlier memo- ries is one of going fishing with his great-grandfather, Van Gelder, who was a Major in the American Revolu- tionary Army and owned a large num- ber of slaves, one of whom, known as “Yannah,"” was assigned as nurse, or ‘body servant,’ to young John. He says he has seen New York practically rebuilt four times, He re- members when nearly every house tft town had a cistern and the inhabitants drew their drinking water from street pumps, which were social sai | points. Candles were generally for home illumination and whale oll lamps for lighting the streets. There were no garbage collections then, but people dumped their waste into the streets end relied on pigs to dispose of it. Mr, Voorhis attributes his long Ife to an inherited strong constitution, te moderate living and especially freedom from worry, which, he oat is the most important thing of And he adda that most of the worry | in this world comes m assuming | obligations in excess of one’s res | sources. ‘“‘Never in my business Ife | did I give a promissory note,” he says, “nor was I ever sued for failure to fulfil a contract. When I see mem doing @ million dollar business on @ thousand dollar capital, I feel sure that they will soon wear themselve eut with worry over trying to make ends meet. I have never had to worry, over the possibility that somebody would fail to pay me in time to permit me to pay somebody else, for I have always made it a point to keep my | obligations well within the resources I already had in hand." He thinks many persons eat theme selves to death. He eats only two meals a day, never anything at mid« day, and prefers to quit the table a ite tle hungry to eating too much. He eats a small piece of meat every day or two, preferring lamb, which best agrees with him, never eating chicken except at home and when he knows it is perfectly fresh . Asked if he would recommend the political life to young men, he ane swered “Yes,"’ but said they must be honest to succeed, ‘If dishonest pede ple can bribe a man in politics the! will ruin him," he said; “if they can’ 1 let him alone, and he