Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-10-23
The Tribune.
Interesting Sketch of Horace
Greeley.


We walk through the little gate I'm
the counter, turn within the open
doorway on our left, climb short,
narrow bight of stairs, and find our.
selves In a small room, ten by fifteen,
furnished with green carpet, bed,
lounge ana open book-rack, a high
desk, awriting desk, three arm chairs,
short. legged table, and asmall mar
BILE sink. aa - -'' -
Mr.. Greeley's back is toward us.
He Is seated ut his desk. His head is
bent over his writing, and his round
shoulders are quite prominent. He
Is scribbling rapidly. A quire offools.
cap, occupying the only clear space
on his desk, is melting rapidly be-
heath his pen. A glance ut the man
uscript reveals two dozen knotty
figures. You may be sure of a leader
on the national debt to. morrow morn.
ing. The desk is heap OF confusion.
Here Is Mr.. Greeley's straw hat !;
there Is his handkerchief. I'm front
OF MIN Is "A peck Of newspaper clip
pings, not neatly rolled up, uut loose
ly sprawled over the desk. AT his
lett rick kety pair of scissors catches
hurried nap, and at his right paste
pot and Il half broken box of waters
appear to have had a rough and tun. =
be fight. An odd looking paper
holder is just ready to tumble on the
fioor. An old fashioned sand box
looking like dilapidated hour glass.
Is half hidden under slaslicd copy
of the New York World. Mr.. Gree
ley still sticks To waters aud sand, In
stead OF mucilage aud blotting paper.
A small drawer, filled with postage
stamps and bright steel pens, has
crawled out OIL the desk. Packages
OF folded missives are tucked in the
pigeon holes. winking at US from the
back OF tile desk, aud scores of half
opened letters, mixed with seedy
brown envelopes, flop lazily about
the table. Old papers lie gashed and
mangled about his chair, the debris
OF a literary battle field. A clean
towel hangs on rack at his right.
A bound copy of the Tribune Alma
mac, from 1888 to 1868, swings from a
small chain fastened TO a staple screw
ed in the side OF his desk, two other
bound volumes stand on their feet In
front OF his nose, and two more OF the
same kinds are fast asleep OH the
book rack I'm the corner. Stray num-
bers of the Almanac peep from every
nook. The man who would carry off
Greeley's bound pile of almniiacs
would deserve capital punishment.
The Philosopher could better afford
to lose one OF his legs than to lose his
almanacs. The room Is kept scrupu-
lously clean and neat. Il waste pa
per- basket squats between Mr.. Gree
iey's legs, but one half the torn ell
velopes and boshy communication
| fiutter to the floor instead of being
tossed into the basket. The table ut
his side Is covered with u stray copy
of the New York Ledger. Here Is an
iron garden rake wrapped up I'm an
Independent. There hangs pair of
handouts once worn by Old John
Brown, and sent to Mr.. Greely by all
enthusiastic admirer Of both Horace
and John. A champagne basket, fl
led with old scrap-books and pam
phlets. occupies one corner. A dirty
bust of Lincoln, half hidden i'm dusty
piles of paper, struggles to be seen on
the top OF his desk. A pile of cleo
tion tables, dirty, ragged and torn,
clipped from some unknown news
paper, look as If they had half q mind
TO jump down on the "Old Man'su
bald head. A certificate of life men,
bership in some Tract or Abolition
Society, and maps of the world, New
York and New Jersey hang on the
wall. A rare geological specimen of
quartz rock, weighing about ten
pounds, Is ready to roll down high
desk to the floor on the first alarm.
Dirty pamphlets are as plentiful az
cockr0aches. Let uslOok at his office
library. Here are $50 volumes.
Pen, ink. paper, scissors, aud en-
velopes are i'm unfailing demand.
The cry, "Mr. Greeley wants writing
paper" creates q commotion In the
counting room, and Mr.. Greeley gets
paper quicker than hungry fisher
man could skin an eel.
Mr.. Greeley can lay Virginia worm
fences In ink faster than any other
editor In New York city. He uses
fountain pen, present from some
old friend. He thinks great deal
OF 1t, but during an experience of
three years has failed to learn the
simple principle of suction without
getting his mouth full of ink, and he
generally uses it with an empty re-
ceiver. lie makes dash at the ink
bottle every twenty seconds, places
the third finger and thumb of his
left hand on his paper, and scratches
away at his worm fence like one pos
sessed. He writes marvelously fast.
Frequently the point of the pen
pricks through his sheet, for he
writes heavy hand, and snap fol-
lows, spreading spots over the paper,
resembling q wood-cut portrayiilg the
sparks from blacksmith's ham rf,er.
Blots like mashed spiders or crushed
huckleberries occasionally intervene,
but the old veteran dashes them with
sand, leaving a swearing comp0sitor
to scratch off the soil, aud dig out the
words underneath.
Mr.. Greeleys manuscript, when
seen for the first time, resembles an
intricate mass of lunatic hieroglyph-
les, or the tracks Of a spider suffering
from delirium tremens. But by those
accustomed to his writing, q remark
able exactness Is observed. The speI.
ling, punctuation, accented letters.
and capitalizing are perfect, The
old type settlers of the Office prefer
1 i. Il. - Il