Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-01-16

WIN W IL ' iioi'i 'iNS, iittNt you ~ ~
work SO soon % "Well," replied
Horace, you see how it is yourself. .
This is supposed to have been the
origin Of the well-known phrase, which
has been attributed to William NJ
Tweed.
Scientists say they can tell what a
man is by the style of his salutation.
If this is true, it is easy to measure the
frank democracy Of the great farmer
editor. The meaningless ''good morn
ing and all the preliminary rites of
recognition, were little to him. Instead
of "Good morning, Mr.. or Judge" his
favorite manner to know friends was to
give your hand a hearty shake, saying
'.Waal, sinner, how air vor!''
When Mr.. Greeley first bought land
in Westchester county everybody laugh
ed at his notion Of managing a farm,
and one friend said, "Horaco, you'll
be sick Of living in the country within
two years, and your place will be ad-
ycrtised fer sale s.Then," re-
sponded Horace, ''the sheriff's name
will be at the foot Of the advertise
ment.'' Other friends demonstrated
with Mr.. Greeley on the expensiveness
Of his farming operations. do you
not perceive" said one, ''that your
hired man does not more than half
work "Ccrtainly," replied Horace,
Il am quite aware Of it: were he dis
posed to be efficient he would work his
own land and not mine.
The Fremont campaign profoundly
interested Mr.. Greeley. In those days
the telegraph and naii facilities We're
not what they are to-day and the elec-
ton returns were tardy and untrust-
worthy. He had complied figures from
various sources, and had mass OF
documents before him from which he
expected to close his work. 4 number
of friends demanded his attention, and
while he was in conversation with them
the Office boy handed him an evening
newspaper containing what seemed to
be carefully prepared table Of the
figures that he needed. Mr.. Greeley
grasped his scissors. cut out the table,
made his comments upon the total, and
sent it up 10 the printers. The next
day any close observer of the eminent
statistician could have seen that he
was deeply troubled And he had
reason to be- The evening news
paper had the reputation OF being
habitually inaccurate in its political
figures, and in this case the totals that
Mr.. Greeley had copied were erro
neous by many thousands. Forgetting
the source whence lie had taken hi.
figures, Mr.. Greeley went to the com
posing room direct, demonstrated with
Mr.. Rocker, the foreman saying that
he ought to be kicked then to the
printers. that they ought to be kicked,
and finally to the prooi-readcr, that he
ought to be kicked moro souudly than
all the rest The latter meekly pro
duced the original manuscript of Mr..
Greeley, with the reprint from the
evening newspaper, "What paper is
that cut zfrom - said Mr.. Greeley.
The evening - replied the proof
reader. Mr Greeley suddenly bethink-
ing himself Of the character OF the
newspaper, promptly; with that sense
Of Justice which is one Of his greatest
attributes, turned to the proof-reader,
and asked in a sad and Inundated
manner, "Would you like to kick
me -
No other man III tic country had
such extensive knowledge Of political
statistics as Horace Greeley. His
memory Of bygone votes was prodigi-
Gus. From the days Of jackson and
Adams he had clear remembrance of
every important election; who were the
candidates, and how the people voted.
To see Horace in his perfect element
one must have been near him on the
night Of general election. lie would
work all day at the polls. \ man who
did not vote for some ticket he detest
ed, and he never failed to vote and to
try to Get Others tc de Sc. Before any
returns arrived he would lie at his desk
as they were received they were
forthwith sent to hlm. II they
showed no particular change he would
run them over with current comment,
such as, eve gain ten IN Milford, y
s.There's a small loss in Naugatucs-
the railroad strike hurts us, and 50
on, rapidly making a table comparing
with a previous vote. Here comes an
other dispatch Ugh, eh-ha," be
mutters that signifies an unexpected
loss. \ third dispatch with large
list Of gains: "iIoo - startlas the
bystander, who looks around for In
dians "Wah-hoo 90 again, starting
the very roof. and these fearful bursts
continue at intervals until the list is
complete. Then he grabs his pen and
settles down with chuckling laugh
and the satisfactory expressions
"We'ye got 'em, sure" OF loss where
Mr.. Greeley rather disliked his party
candidate, he would say, with a com
ical smile, That hoss is edead-his
eyes is sot. -
Twenty years ago the Tribune Office
was heated by an old-fashione1 hot,
air furnace. sending its blasts through
wooden tubes about one foot square
into the various rooms, the quantity
being regulated by wooden gates slid
ing across the tubes. On Sunday there
was no heat until s:Pat" fred up In
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