In this connection a friend writes concerning Mr. Hine: “I remember, of course, his prominence in our town meetings and meetings after Woodside became annexed to Newark. He was the best speaker by far in our section, and better versed in parliamentary rules, so that he kept the meetings in better order than they would otherwise have been. He had a great faculty of leading people to state their views, thus getting a subject well ventilated and adding much interest to a meeting. In consequence of his great ability for speaking he was always chosen leader of our citizens’ delegations whether to the City Fathers for better horse car facilities, or to the Erie Railroad officials for improvements on that ‘system’.”
NOTES ON MR. HINE’S CHARACTER.
Mr. Hine’s character was of a grade not often met with. I was with him probably more than any one else, as for many years we came and went together morning and night and were closely associated during business hours, and I can in all truth say that never once have I heard him utter a word, even by implication, that could not have been uttered in any presence, nor did I ever hear him gossip of his neighbors nor offer a criticism of any one not present except once, and that was so gentle that, had it come from another, it would have passed unnoticed. In this one case he referred to an erratic genius who played the church organ for many years, and who sorely tried his patience.
But it must not be supposed that because of his gentle ways Mr. Hine could not fight. Nothing could stop him when a sense of duty impelled; not even the fear of death—if he ever had any such fear. As an instance: When traveling for the Ætna Insurance Company Mr. Hine, shortly after his marriage, and when a wife and baby were dependent on him, was sent to a town in Arkansas to establish an agency for the company, being instructed to select a certain man if he was found to qualify.
They met and Mr. Hine, being satisfied, gave the man his commission as agent, but during the following evening he discovered that his new appointee had celebrated by getting drunk, and immediately concluded to take up the agency. Those acquainted with the man, however, insisted that he do nothing of the sort, stating that his agent was a fire eater, who would accept it as a personal insult and would shoot.
Mr. Hine believed that only a coward carried arms and never did so himself, though he had been much in the Southwest and recognized the small value put on life (this was about 1857 or 8). However he saw what he believed was his duty and, while admitting later that he faced the man with considerable fear of the consequences, he did face him, and as briefly and with as little sting as possible, stated his reasons for withdrawing the commission. Strange to say the “fire-eater” acknowledged the justice of the move and expressed himself as sincerely sorry at the outcome. Only the highest class of courage can compel a man to face such a situation.
I once by chance heard him tell an individual himself that he was either a knave or a fool, but neither knew that the remark was overheard, and Mr. Hine never again spoke of the matter so far as I know. He could tell the man himself, if necessity demanded it, but would never speak of it to others.
His contempt for money, except for the good it could be made to do, was genuine and deep seated. His charities, considering his limited income, were boundless, as evidenced by his check stubs after his death. An examination of these showed merely that the $50 or $100 had gone to “an old friend”, or were marked with the one word “charity”. While in many cases money thus handed out was ostensibly loaned, Mr. Hine early learned never to expect its return, and he was seldom disappointed. One of his pet aphorisms, “gratitude is a lively sense of favors to come”, was frequently applied to this situation.
The fact that he was imposed on and defrauded by charity fakirs time and again never made any difference; the next time he would take chances rather than run the risk of not helping where help was needed. He often said that “he could swallow anything he could get through his shirt collar”, and his shirt collar was a mighty easy affair, as many “a friend in need” discovered.
On the other hand, no matter how much it might curtail his income by antagonizing a customer, he would hit every head in sight if he thought it deserved it, and he knew how to hit—none better. He had a way of grasping a situation and clarifying its follies or crooked features that was at times merciless.