When commended, however, he feels encouraged; when condemned, he seems strengthened to maintain his course.

M. M. POMEROY, but better known as "Brick" Pomeroy, editor of the La Crosse Democrat, daily and weekly, Pomeroy's Weekly Democrat, and the New York Daily Evening Democrat, is one of the many remarkable examples of the possibilities afforded by our social and political institutions for young men gifted with determination of purpose, and a disposition to improve every opportunity by constant and effective work, to rise from the most humble circumstances to wealth, influence, and position. To hold good rank among self-made men who have illustrated the journalism, literature, and the material progress of our country, is an honor of which any man may justly be proud. This is the only aristocracy allowable under our democratic institutions. In this noble group every man may strive, with a laudable ambition, to outrank all competitors; and his success and sovereignty can be cheered by high and low with the most hearty good-will and without detriment to manhood or to principle. Mr. Pomeroy is a born leader, and has won his way, thus far, by his indomitable pluck and almost incredible ability for continuous hard work. He is a strict temperance man; mild, quiet, and gentlemanly in manner; liberal and humane almost to a fault; always remembering every kind act which greeted him during his cheerless boyhood, and making it a reason for some prompt return, if he meet the doer ever in distress in after-time.

He is essentially a hard-working man, and a hard-working friend of the working-man. He believes in the toiling millions, and a great many of the toiling millions undoubtedly believe in him, as is evidenced by the immense circulation of his various journals. His style as a writer is colloquial, sharp, often unpolished, but evidently the outspoken thought and feeling of the moment.

He has one quality which indicates greatness, and that is, his remarkable ability to select a class of men to aid him in the management of his business who never fail him, but always, under all circumstances, work with him as a unit.

He is a wit, and at times inclined to indulge in the maddest waggery, yet a staunch advocate for the truth as he understands it. In the domestic circle and among his friends he is as cheerful, lively, playful, and simple as a child. In the exuberance of his feelings he some

times says harsh things, or outre things that lead the more sober-minded to look upon him as a violent demagogue, one in a great measure devoid of conscience. If Mr. Pomeroy has one fault of organization, it would be found in this direction. Lacking the watchful care of a tender mother, and having to fight his way from the start, it would be strange if, in his single-handed combat with the world, he did not show at times traces of the Ishmaelite in his political writings.

One has but to read his Saturday Night articles, and other compositions bearing upon the well-being of society, to learn that his heart and his conscience, his mind and his hand, work ever earnestly in harmony for the right. His career for usefulness has but just commenced; and with the wider fields of observation opening before him, and the more varied and generous self-culture he is constantly achieving, we may naturally expect, should his life be spared, a distinguished and useful future for him.

To-day he is a power in the political organization to which he belongs, which can not be safely ignored or overlooked. It is said of him by his political associates that he is too independent, that he can not be bought to act the part of a subservient tool. Thus in this city he may be looked upon as one of the checks likely to interfere with the tide of extravagance and corruption so notoriously prevalent in the city government.

He has built up a splendid property in La Crosse, Wis., and his success in his enterprises in this city seem to be fully assured.

He holds a very high rank in Masonry, and is an active friend to all benevolent enterprises. His energy, perseverance, pluck, and untiring industry; his love of kind and of country; his devotion to temperance, and the elevation of the toiling millions; and his fearless advocacy of the rights of man and woman, we can heartily commend as examples for the young men of our country; but we do not agree with him politically, nor can we recommend his style of controversy as a model to be followed by the rising journalists of our country.

Mr. Pomeroy was born on Christmas day, 1833, in the then small village of Elmira, Chemung Co., N. Y. His father, whose name is Hunt Pomeroy, was at that time the principal jeweler and watchmaker of the town, but now a resident of California, where two half-brothers of M. M. Pomeroy also reside. Mr. Pomeroy's mother died about a year after his birth,

when he was taken into the family of his mother's brother, Seth M. White, a farmer and blacksmith, who was then living near Elmira, and with whom he lived till about sixteen years of age.

He is a compositor, having learned the trade with Mr. Thomas Messenger, of The Journal, published at Corning, N. Y.

Mr. Pomeroy is a popular lecturer, and also an essayist in his way. He has published the following books: " Sense," a book for hearts and homes; "Nonsense," a book of humorous sketches; "Pomeroy's Pictures of New York." A volume is now in press, entitled "Our Saturday Night." A "Life of Brick Pomeroy," with steel portrait, by Mrs. Mary E. Tucker, has been published recently.

CHARLES P. SYKES.

PORTRAIT, CHARACTER, AND BIOGRAPHY. (SEE PAGE 319 FOR PORTRAIT.)

THIS gentleman has by nature and by inheritance a capital constitution. All the elements which promise long life and vigorous health are his, and all he has to do, in order to keep himself in good condition, is to make the best of them. He is, however, very full of mental vitality as well as physical, and there is so much drive, push, and enthusiasm in him, that he is liable to forget his bodily needs.

He has excellent perceptive faculties, is ever on the qui vive, and nothing takes place of an unusual character within the range of his vision without his notice. He is by no means reckless, but vigilant, mindful of consequences, and full of forethought. He is decidedly original; has his own way for performing whatever he undertakes. In following a pattern, he would be disposed to make improvements upon the copy. He avoids anything like routine; has his own view of things.

There is not much credulity in his composition; he wants the evidence of his senses to convince him. Is a new subject presented for his consideration, he asks for proof to substantiate the statements made in its favor. His relig

ion consists in integrity, in doing what he thinks right between man and man, and between himself and his Maker.

He is rather indifferent to the good opinion of friends, and brave enough to maintain his convictions, irrespective of what others may say or think. He has a strong will, but is slow in deciding questions. He usually takes an abund ance of time to fully inform himself with reference to any new subject, but when once decided he is steadfast.

He has strong love of social life; wife, children, friends, and home command a high place in his affectionate esteem; and he is fond of those things which appeal to the esthetic taste, but lives more in the world of fact and practical philosophy than in the world of fancy. He has doubtless made his way in the world from early life on his own account, and so has strengthened his apprehensions of the useful and the practical. He is adapted to a line of life which requires those elements of character which are found in the manager, the superintendent, the director. He would have made an excellent navigator or scientific explorer.

Were he in literature or authorship, he would work for a purpose. As a writer, he is inclined to be more free in expression than as a talker, but he is at all times definite and pointed, aiming straight at the pith of a subject, giving the kernel, and concerning himself very little about the shell.

It is difficult sometimes to predict from the predisposition of the child what the future of the man will be. Too young to mold circumstanchances as they occur, the goal achieved by ces to his will; too feeble of will to grasp the manhood is rarely that which the ambition of youth aimed at. Thus it was with the subject of the present sketch; circumstances robbed the church of a good minister, and gave to the world a first-class business man.

Mr. C. P. SYKES is a New Yorker, having

been born in the town of Eaton, Madison Co., Sept. 16, 1824. He is of mixed parentage, German and English, and in him the types have

blended graciously. His parents removed to Guilford, Chenango Co., in 1827, where he continued to reside with them until the death of his father, which occurred in 1829, a loss the importance of which he was too young to realize. Some years later his mother married Mr. C. Haven, who was a widower with a large family of children; but the household was so well regulated, that the utmost harmony and friendship reigned between the two families. Of Mr. Haven's family, one son became a member of the celebrated law firm of Fillmore, Hall & Haven, of Buffalo, which in the person of Millard Fillmore gave a President to the United States.

It was while living at Mr. Haven's house that the bias of the mind of young Sykes for the Universalist ministry became developed; but circumstances which he could not control militated against his adoption of that sacred calling. His stepfather having become sincerely attached to him, and observing in him traits of administrative talent, intrusted him with the charge of the home-farm, in preference to either of his own sons. Such unusual preference fortunately caused neither dissension nor heart-burning, for all willingly admitted his superior fitness for the position. He had up to this period been unable to pursue any regular course of education, notwithstanding his intense ambition to acquire learning. All the education he received up to his sixteenth year was gained at an evening school in the country during the winter months.

The responsibilities and duties which devolved upon him in his new charge allowed him no time to study, without which all hopes of the ministry must be abandoned. So with a sigh of regret he resigned himself to the duties he had undertaken, and applied himself to them with increased activity and determination. Previous to his leaving his long-time home, he married, and in 1854 removed with his wife to La Crosse, Wis. Here he established the Daily La Crosse Democrat. Although his early life would seem to have afforded but little of that sort of preparation necessary to fit him to carry on a business which specially needs an extensive knowledge of men and things, the early period of life at which he assumed responsibilities gave him an independence of thought, a decision and action, and a self-reliance which rendered his way, on entering the active field of business life, comparatively easy. He soon made his power felt, and by his promptitude and energy rapidly extended the circulation and the influence of

his paper, while his exactness, strict probity, and his large and generous ideas, and his liberal, intelligent policy raised his reputation as a business man, and made it known and respected throughout the Northwestern country. At the period of his greatest business success, 1859, his wife died, leaving him with one infant son, Charles T. Sykes. This loss affected him deeply; he lost all interest in the business, and a desire, which constantly increased, impelled him to leave La Crosse.

At this period Mark M. Pomeroy arrived in La Crosse, in search of that very thing which Sykes was willing to part with. Their acquaintance rapidly grew into a warm friendship, and eventually Mr. Sykes sold his share in the Democrat to Mr. Pomeroy. Being thus freed from all business relations with La Crosse, Mr. Sykes sought out a new field of action, through the novelty and excitement of which his mind might recover its former healthy tone. He sought the regions of the Colorado, and soon became largely engaged in gold-mining operations. Here his brilliant business capacity, his decision, tact, shrewdness, and strict probity in all monetary transactions, stood him in good stead. He won the esteem and respect of every one in Central City, where he lived for several years, and through all the mining districts. Most of his operations proved successful, so that in three or four years he had realized an ample fortune, being the owner of a large portion of the gold-mining stock of that country, together with a portion of the only deposit of petroleum oil in the whole Territory. During this period he visited New York, and being armed with all the facts of the case, organized several important gold-mining companies.

The close of the war left the securities and the business operations in a very depressed condition, and Mr. Sykes shared the misfortune with many others, and found himself the loser of nearly all of his hard-earned wealth. Discouraged, but not subdued, Mr. Sykes went to work, and investing what remained of his capital if new channels, he succeeded in saving some portion, at least, of his lost for

tune.

During all this period since 1860, the friendship which existed between Mr. Sykes and Mr. Pomeroy never cooled. Though separated by long distances, communication never wholly ceased. Mr. Pomeroy was constantly urging Mr. Sykes to join him and assume the position of publisher and general business manager of his paper, the La Crosse Democrat, which had