The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1875-02-13
MADISON CORRESPONDENCE
Tom Marshal "reminiscences Of Wis.
con>in Public Men-AnguS Cam.
cron of La Crosse Elected
I. :. SenatOr-How 1t was
Accomplished, etc.
MADISON, Friday Febr,,arv :


hut two days, and during that time he
had succeeded III catching every
thing, from the itch to the Sneakers
eye ltch IS not exactly the word that
he used, but answers the purposn of
this letter, he adopted an inelegant and
altogether lrreverent style Of forensic
eloquence. But Marshall was one of
those rard All in the statesman line
whose arguments and eloquence were
Ut the convincing and persuasive sort.
although not always cooched in the
choicest language, or delivered in strict
accordance with parliamentary Ell
quctte,-a man whose counterpart SO
far as excentricity and originality of
expression IS concerned, may be found
id alm0rt all Legislative bodies: and in
other walks Of public life. And while
in the vein, | am tempted to indulge in
BRIEF "REMINISCENCES
ct public men and incidents of our own
state revived from association with the
building from which ] write, and from
the august presence of the Legislative
body surrounding me, many members
If which will readily recognize the men
aud incidents now so wildly recurring
to me after the lapse of many years.
Of former members of the legislature
III years gone by, | recall the swarthy
aisage and robust form of
JEAN BAPTIsTE DU BAY,
the Indian member from Portage, whose
trial for murder first brought into prom
lucnce the name Of Elk Chief Justice
Dixon, and which resulted in Du Bay ac
gulttal. Few old settlers and acduaint-
t,F 4.
kindly the generous nature and native
simplicity OF this civilized son of the
forest, who, while a member of the leg
lsiature, was one OF the most influential
Of the peoples representatives.
On the roll Of Ex-Speakers belongs
tine name of VIM. Hula generous,
warm hearted man, whose one fault, al
though great, was more than balanced
by his brilliant talents as a legislator,
and MANY good qualities of head and
heart. And here too is the name and
exploits of the gallant
etrTAIN or THE cEDARBURG RIFLES,
and present Speaker of the Assembly, to
DE written. That his first elevation to
that dignity was due to a Democratic
majority, and that now . his nose goes
down and his moustache goes up" over
the deliberations Of Republican
House, does not in my mind detract
from his efficiency as presiding officer
or give room for IA suspicion as to his
integrity. Fred Horn is no s ouch, if
the Cedarburg Rifles did disband when
invasion was threatened.
Now, lest | be charged with partiality
for the
BIG TOADs N THE PUDDLE,
/ dare not close without making brief
mention ef a representative Of that gal
iant band Of patriots who come down to
Madison every winter with their paper
collars and "biled shirts" with the
unselfish purpose OF deyoting their time
and talents to the public veal, in the
capacity Of door keepers, firemen, etc,
and as somewhat remarkable speci-
men Of this class-in fact an altogether
exceptional one-I remember (and what
iabitue OF the capital from 1913 to 1858
.l0es not the Hon Felix McLinden, the
gcntlcmen from Fort Winnebago. Felix
was an
HONORARY LOOKING LITTLE CUSS,
with weak eyes and big feet, and abih-
ties limited to an enylable talent for
successfully stocking the big woca stoves
then in use. But lie possessed that
strueinwardness' and inherent worth
ness. which constituted him a power
among his fellows, and which eventual
cl i'll his presence becoming a neces-
sity to the working OF a Democratic
legislature Felix was q Democrat
If the strictest sort, and his presence
lit Madison regularly during succeeding
sessions was proyerblal Indeed, 1T
came to be a question wlthsOme whether
the legislature came because Felix did,
or Felix came because the Legislature
did. At the beginning Of each session
Ie appeared on the floor of the House,
and iii the lobbies, renewing acquaint-
aHce with old members returned, and
-eductivcly ingratiating himself into the
good graces Of the new. And he was
always successful and thrived. But
with the coming in Of Republican ma
iarity Felix's occupation was gone, and
he withdrew to Wmnebago's shades,
only 10 reappear at Madison again on
the coming in Of the Liberal -Reformers
and again to sink into obscurity on the
second advent Of the Opposition.
4 HOPE REALIZED.
TIL my last letter | expressed the hope
THAT | would be able id my next to am
uounce the Senatorial contest settled.
That hope has been realized, and TINS
il tile way it came about. When /
closed my last the eighth ballot had Just
been taken, and the result showed that
tile opposition to Carpenter was deter
mined. and that the only hope Of elect
inra Il. 5. Senator this session, lay III
Il compromise between the Democrats
ana dissenters. The succeeding ballots
on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday in
dlcated no change IN the situation ex
eept that the wayering ranks Of the Car
penter faction, partially demorallzed by
the bombshel from Washington IN the
shape Of Hicks telegram announcing
TINT our delegation advised the aban-
Ianing at the Young Lion, had re
formed and presented an unbroken
tr-ut Thus matters stood on Monday
evening. when Democratic caucus was
held and i declaration Of principles
adopted upon which they hoped to
unIte,with the dissenting Republicans
lin COMPROMISE candidate. This doe
Umant W. submitted To the boilers,
who, after expressing general approval
81 the platform, presented four names
for the consideration Of the caucus,
which we're Judge Cole, Angus Cam
or1n, cx-Goy. Lewis and ]. J. Guppy.
The discussion which followed was
earnest. and resulted III the unanimous
nomination of Angus Cameron, of La
Crosse. The.platform adopted was tel