The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-07-08
TOM CORwIN.
A Few Anecdotes Of thc MAN Els
Western Reserve Experience.
[From the Cleveland Herald.l

Memories OF 1910 are to-day like the
history of an almost unknown or for
gotten time. That was practically be-
tore the day of the newspaper squib and
paragraph, and before the day of rapid
transit /; and Tom Corwin, the king of
stumpers, was the first man to introduce
ndicule and sarcasm on the stump and
make them success. Pretty soon there
after George ID. Prentice, the great
founder of the Louisville Courier Jour
nat, began the WORK % political para
graph writing and transferred the Cor
winian style Of discussion to his paper.
Many were the fights that came from
Prentice's jokes. He kept a revolver
constantly loaded and cooked in the
light-hand drawer of his desk, and
whenever stranger darkened his edi-
torial sanctum he instinctively grasped
the handle of the weapon, and ten times
in n dozen his precaution was entirely
pertinent. The people had to be edu-
Gated up to this new idea of freedom of
the press, and the border mind was the
first to be worked upon, and by the
tiorid genius of Prentice.
The fund of stories which the older
class OF politicians continue to tell of
Corwin will ney er be exhausted. L struck
one OF these men of 1910 recently, and
the relations which he gave me are well
worth repeating.
A mass-meetlng in the central portion
of the State was addressed by Corwin
and the elder Tom Ewing. Ewing spoke
III the forenoon and Corwin was to fol-
low In the afternoon. Ewing delivered
cal efully-prepared speech on the is
sues OF the campaign. There was not a
single stroke OF fancy or wit IN the whole
talk from beginning to end. The peo-
pie seemed to be FESTIVE under it, and
DESTROYS for Corwin to appear. At din
ner Mr.. Corwin said /:
"You made a great mistake, Ewing,
in your speech this morning"
Mr.. Ewing looked exceedingly sur
prised and annoyed, and sagely asked
"What could it have been, Mr.. Cor
VIM"
why, you talked to those peoples
brains. They haint got any brains.
Lord, wait till L get mp this afternoon
and talk at the PIT of their stomachs
then you'll see them give attention.
They'll appreciate that.
When Mr. Corwin's son, the late DR..
w. II. Corwin, was attending Dennison
University, his teachers became alarmed
at his sitting up too late nights, and
thought he was overstudying. They
wrote to his father in regard to the mat
ter. Mr.. Corwin addressed his son as
follows on the subject
My Son: i understand that there is danger
of your injuring yourself by over. mental exe.-
ton. There are so few young men these days
that go that way that l desire to say that,
should you kill Yourself from too much study,
it would give Inc great pleasure to attend your
funeral.
Corwin spoke less on the Reserve, per-
haps, than In any other portion of the
State. He was fond of relating anec-
dotes in regard to the peculiarities OF
the people in this portion of the State.
One of these ran something as follows:
/ was unfortunate enough on IL GER
tain occasion TO speak III the little town
of D., on the Western Reserve. You
have all heard OF the Western Reserve, l
presume, and SO [ need not particularly
describe it. Well, the meeting was
to be held in the Presbyterian church.
was escorted to the house by one of
the very respectable citizens, and took
my seat in front OF the big, high pulpit,
which was boxed up Oh the side of the
wall half way up to the ceiling. Finally,
after prolonged, deathlike Stiffness, a
man arose back III the center of the
room and said L nominate Mr.. iona
than Edwards for Chairman of this meet
ing. Another man got up in another
part OF the room and SAID l second
the motion. After a while another man
got UP and said: you hev all heered the
motion and the second. You that favor
it say aye, contrary no. Mr.. Jonathan
Edwards is elected President of this
meeting Mr.. Edwards came solemnly
forward, and, after being seated few
minutes, arose and said Ladies and
gentlemen, you hev come together to-
night TO listen to Hon. Mr.. Thomas Cor
WINE on the political issues of the day.
il M Corwine will come forward l will
Introduce him to the audience L went
forward. The Chairman said further:
This is Hon. Mr.. Thomas Corwine, who
will address YOU
- thought would break that dron-
ishness or Kill myself. told my funni-
est stories. cracked my best jokes in
profusion. / lavished remarks that
would lay Southern Ohio audience up
with the pleurisy. But all were as sol
emn as though L was pronouncing the
funeral Grafton over Cock Robin. Occa-
sionally would see fellow put his
hands to his face and bend down as
though in devotion, but when his face
came up il was again solemn.
"At length gave up in despair.
After we were all out of the church one
of them came up to me, and, doubling
himself up with laughter, he said:
"Mr. CorWine, you said some of the
(te-he-he) funniest (te.he-he) things L
ever heered te-he-he). I du declare
you come pretty near making me laugh
right out in meeting
"What terrible calamity that would
have been. But TO the Western Reserve
Yankee laugh in the house of worship
or 'meetin' house, as he calls it, would
be an objectionable sin.
why the New Revision Will BE Ac.
cepted.
OF course, the translation will receive
criticism. 1t asks it and can endure it.