At the time of our visit to Raleigh I had not met Mr. Daniels, nor heard him speak.  Since that time I have heard him several times and have talked with him.  Also I have talked of him with a number of men who have been thrown more or less closely in contact with him.  As is well known, naval officers detested him with peculiar unanimity.  This was true up to the time of our entering the War.  Whether matters have changed greatly since then I am unable to say.  One officer, well known in the navy, said to me quite seriously that he believed the navy would be better off without its two best dreadnoughts if in losing them it could also lose Mr. Daniels.  Such sentiments were peculiarly unanimous among officers.  On the other hand, however, a high officer, who has been quite close to the Secretary, informs me that it is indeed true that he has improved as experience has come to him.  This officer stated that when Mr. Daniels first took office he seemed to be definitely antagonistic to officers of the navy.  “He appeared to suspect them of pulling political wires and working in their own interests.  That was in the days when he seemed almost to encourage insubordination among the enlisted men, by his attitude toward them, in contrast to his attitude towards their superiors.  Of course it was demoralizing to the service.  But there has been a marked change in the Secretary since Bryan left the Cabinet.”  From several sources I have heard the same evidence.  I never heard any one say that Mr. Daniels was really an able Secretary of the Navy, but I have heard many say that he improved.

Personally he is a very likable man.  His face is kind and gentle; his features are interestingly irregular and there are heavy wrinkles about his mouth and eyes—­the former adding something to the already humorous twinkle of the eyes.  His voice has a timbre reminding me of George M. Cohan’s voice.  He is hardly an orator in the sense that Bryan is, yet he is not without simple oratorical tricks—­as for example a tremolo, as of emotion, which I have heard him use in uttering such a phrase as “the grea-a-a-at Daniel Web-ster!” Also, he wears a low turnover collar and a black string tie—­a fact which would not be worth noting did these not form a part of what amounts almost to a uniform worn by politicians of more or less the Bryan type.  Almost invariably there seems to be something of the minister and something of the actor in such men.

Once I asked one of the famous Washington correspondents what manner of man Mr. Daniels was.

“He’s a man,” he said, “that you’d like to go with on a hunting trip in his native North Carolina.  He would be a good companion and would have a lot of funny stories.  He is full of kind intentions.  Had you known him before the War, and had he liked you, and had you wished to take a ride upon a battleship, he would be disposed to order up a battleship and send you for a ride, even if, by doing so, he muddled up the fleet a little.