Newspaper clippings: Georges Clemenceau, Myron T. Herrick, and the 'Of No Consequence' anecdote
Book 2, Page 41 ·1920–1929
Transcription
Three pasted newspaper clippings.
Upper left — photograph and caption:
A seated portrait of an older bearded gentleman in a wicker chair, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a light suit.
Georges Eugène Adrien Clemenceau
Center — clipping:
FRANCE
“Of No Consequence …”
“Tiger” Clemenceau, it is well known, suffers from diabetes.
“M. Clemenceau,” said his physician recently, “I must prescribe a remedy prepared in the U. S. which I believe will prove efficacious but which I regret to tell you is markedly expensive.”
Quoth Clemenceau: “The expense is of no consequence. These Americans have an Ambassador here who is an old friend of mine. Put me through to M. Herrick on the telephone.”
Able, kindly U. S. Ambassador Myron T. Herrick promptly procured the remedy. Despatches, doubtless somewhat hasty, reported M. Clemenceau cured.
Right — photograph and caption:
A full-length portrait of a clean-shaven gentleman in top hat, long frock coat, and gloves, holding a cane.
Myron T. Herrick
AI Notes
Three pasted newspaper clippings. At upper left, a photograph of Georges Eugène Adrien Clemenceau (1841–1929) seated in a wicker chair, in a wide-brimmed hat and light suit, captioned with his name. At center, a Time-style clipping headed ‘FRANCE — “Of No Consequence …”’ recounting an anecdote about ‘Tiger’ Clemenceau, his diabetes, his physician’s prescription of an expensive American remedy, and Clemenceau’s prompt telephone call to U.S. Ambassador Myron T. Herrick (his ‘old friend’) to procure it. At right, a full-length photograph of Myron T. Herrick in top hat, frock coat, and gloves, holding a cane, captioned with his name. Companion to p042 where Herrick’s portrait reappears in connection with May FitzSimons’s 1906 Charleston debut (Herrick is also identified by the family compiler on p043).
Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929), “Le Tigre,” was France’s wartime Prime Minister (1917–20) and the lead French negotiator at Versailles. Myron T. Herrick (1854–1929) was a former Governor of Ohio who served twice as U.S. Ambassador to France (1912–14 and 1921–29) — the second tenure, during which the diabetes anecdote was reported and during which he famously greeted Lindbergh on landing at Le Bourget in 1927. Herrick is also the gentleman whose admiring remark about Amy’s cousin May at her 1906 Charleston debut is preserved on pages 042–043.