The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-01-31
The. Great Impeacher.

OF the ClnClnnatl commercial, lurtl1eHebtHo
following personal sketch; o' .'f.2sa9;
There is no man in the present Com,
gress who has succeeded better in t'get.J
ting his name into the papers," than Mr..
James M. Ashley, of the Toledo idistrictsit
To advertise himself as extensively in con-v
nection with aapatent medicine as he has'
been advertised gratuitouslys in connec,S
ton with his impeachmentnost nostrumnwonld
have cost him half million at least, and,
then it would be the pills or the lozenges-
or the powders that would have been
known; whereas, now it's the doctors-sq
The personal history of the great lms.1
peacher is interesting; especially as IT,
shows sort of consistent inconsistency,
from the first to last-if Lean say "last"
at the present time as wish sIfconld.-IA
Mr.. Ashley commenced life as an :adyen.s
turer, and his last public effortisin beau.s
tifal harmony VITA that. characteristices
He saw the light of this wicked wold-oi1q
the 18th of November, 1924, and is. con1q
sequently in the forty third year. Of hiss
age. When, he was. sweet fifteen he's
started from his home in Pennsylvania
for the Great West. His first employs,
ment was as clerk on trading boat on
the Mississippi. He went down to New
Orleans and back again several times,
driving sharp bargains with the piaiitaaa
ton darkies in the exchange for scalicoss
and, ,jewelry for the products Of the, farfns!'
Wonder if it was while thus engaged that:
he imbibed that strong love OF liberty
which has since been the master passion
in his breast? He got tired of the, ,tra-g
ding business after awhile, and cast aIla,
chor in that haven of all adventurous
youths-a printing Office. Men who are
unfit for the printing business always go.
to studying law, and Ashley, was no exs :
ception to the rule. He studied law tor
while, but still hadn't found his forte.
and was determined to find that or perish
in the attempt. So he tried bodybuilding:
on the Mississippi. Here, again he was
unlucky, and had the misfortune to lose,
all the profits of his trade with the plantaA
tion niggers: ...,-..-,......... ....,c1
He went back to the law again, but
didn't stick to it. His next move was to
60 to Toledo and start . paper Gen. Jim
Steadman loated him fifty or hundred
dollars, and he made his debit as the edi:,,
tor of Democratic journal, showing those
strong principles of liberty, and SO forth,
which he had imbibed from the fatboat.:
traffic, hadn't yet permeated his. system.
However, he failed as an editor very
soon, and toreswore Democracy and edit.
ing at one and the same time. Next he
went into the drug business in Toledo,
but he soon s~amped himself in that, too
Perhaps the people were afraid to trust tIa@
man with such tdriegated experience as;s
his to make. up their prescriptions. What
is more natural than y man who had fuh9
iatbost, sold pinchbcck jewelry to the
negroes along the Mississippi; half learned :
the printing business, failed as boat
builder. studied law, run paper into theFi
ground, and failed in the drug business -
run for Congress- Ashley hit upon this
expedicnt as the only possible thing to
save him from the poor E6usc, and he sue.
ceeded. He has beer in Congress eight
years, and has two more years still aheadai
of him..a @-s's -''--is 2 n ''.fh =,
In personal appearance; the great Infs D
peacheris quite respectable: . Those who
have noticed. his large headeand bushyH
hair. and who remembers the impression
of a. firss glance ut Stephen A. Douglas,'
will have noticed some similarity. 5Thsa
likeness does not, penetrate below ths
skull, / am sorry to say, but still there
are points about the. head and face of the
great sImpeacher that, remind one Of
Douglas. a, stranger coming to Wash. u
ington and visiting the House gallery,
will soon notice Ashley-he can't very
we'll help it. He will see somebody rush-
ing around among the aisles. and talking
to this member and that member, and aga pa.
parently burdened with the whole bust.
ness of the establishment, and if he'll ask
who is that ? he'll be told that it's Ashley.
A gentleman was once trying to bring
the identity Of the Toledo member to the,
mind of lady. He tried to describe hmm
as a small man, and q fat man, and light.
haired man, and curly-headed man, and
clean-shaved man, and man with q :
great, round head; but all to no purpose,
until the lady's own. recollection came to Z"
her assistance, and she exclaimed, in q
sort of "eureka" transport: "Oh, syesl Z
You mean that gentleman who was rnn-rs
ming around the foot and saying Mr.
Speaker every once in q while, but never
could get recognized" That WAS he, ,ex-d
actly; the very man, "saying Mr. Speaker,
every once in while.n Inats pfes.S
mnch all he ever can get 3 chance to say,
for he tries to make so many speeches
that M members are constantly on guard
aoainst him to prevent his making one.
Of late he has hecome very, unpopular i'm
the House. Jealousy, no doubt. There
are go many men in Congress who want
to be party leaders, that it is no wonder
they should all unite to make commons
cause against towering genius like Ash
ley. Schentk, Bingham, Stevens. andia
host of others are "after him" as the say
ing u.s. in studied purpose to ignore him.