Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-12-01
WASHINGTON.
The Blue Grass Candidate for the
Speakershlp.
The Prospects Of Congressman Carlisle, Of
Kentucky, as Successor Of Keller
His Early Life and
Public Services.
GENERAL NEWS FROM THE CAPITAL.

the recent cases Of official decapitation have
occupied the attention Of politicians and
the people alike for few days the proba-
bic result of the contest for the Speaker
ship OF the Forty. Congress has not
been wholly forgotten.
Among those mentioned, Mr.. Carlisle, OF
Kentucky, seems to hold the most conspic-
uous place, and his friends
never tire in their efforts to
prove his fitness for the position that
viii be made yscaRt Ben keAteg stePar
ssr,ts the sixth Congressional district OF
Kentucky. He was reared in the country
near Coyinghton. At the aged OF seven.
teen he began to teach school in a little
out.Of. the-way school house, and the story
goes that
He Fell Desperately I'm Love
with a young lady who lived in Covingtop,
and was out near where he taught visiting
relatives But whatever matters of alice
ton moved his heart his mind was still
free to grapple with the intracacieS OF the
law, ana when opportunity favored his
aspirations he entered an Office at Coving-
ton and thoroughly qualified himself for
admission to the bar. He was admitted in
1855 when twenty-three years OF age, devoted
10 the practice Of his profession. In 1859
he was elected a member OF the Kentucky
House of Representatives. Nominated in
1864 as Presidential Elector on the Demo-
cratic ticket, he declined the honor. In
1866 he was elected to the Senate OF his ma
tive State, and again in 1869. He was pres
ent as a delegate at large from Kentucky,
at the National Democratic Convention
held in New York City, in 1868. His
nomination for Lieutenant Governor of
Kentucky in 1871, caused him to resign his
seat in the State Senate. He was elected
to the Lieutenant GoyernorShip IN August,
1871. and served until September, 1915. His
fellow.citizens elected him presidential
electOr at large for Kentucky in the year
1876. He was subsequently elected to the
House of Representatives at Washington.
Mr.. Carlisle's record in Congress is that OF
an able and diligent man, well-informed
and competent to fill more exalted posi-
tions than those he has been called upon
10 fill. He is a member OF the MissiSs-
ippi River Committee.
He did not have the benefit of full col
legiate education, but has made the most
out Of his common school training, and is
in every sense
A SeIENade Man.
There is nothing remarkable about his
personal appearance, but his face is full OF
character His face is clean shayen and
makes him look younger than he is. He
dresses in the old time black broad-cloth,
cut after the truly congressional frock
style. He is very neat and simple in the
smaller points of his dress. A tie Of the
butterfly pattern generally punctuates his
turn-down collar, beneath which broad
white shirt bosom is exhibited.
An old friend who listened to his first
plea in Court, tells the following story:
THE case was of hard, dry knotty char
acter, full of legal subtlety, and thought
| 10 myself, Johnny, old boy, you're in fer
| failure to-day. There was hardly any
! one in the Court room except lawyers, and,
| considering the case and the audience, 1t
/ must have been a most trying maiden ef-
| fort / can see Carlisle now as he stood up
| in the Court room with a copy OF the Re-
| yised Statutes in his hand. He had that
| same weary, studiOus look in his eyes that
| same cold, passienless expression on his
| pale face that he has to-day. Without the
! least degree of nervousness, in his plain,
calm, quiet way, he began his speech. You
| could see that
He Had Mastered Every Detail,
and the lawyers, as they grew more and
| more interested, moved their bodies for
! ward and hung on his words. l have no
| hesitation in saying that it was the best
speech of the kind ever made in the Coying-
ton court house. Without telling an
aneCdOte or cracking joke there was some
| thing so winning in his voice and IN his
manners that the interest never tagged.
When he had finished the lawyers all
crowded around him, the judge shook him
warmly by the hand, and Tom Jones, who
! happened to be in the court room,
told him he had a great future
before him. From that day his for
tune was made. Practice poured in on
| him, and in two years he was doing more
| business than any lawyer in that Judicial
district. | have heard him many times
since then, and he has never changed his
style or his manner. He has remark rkably
sweet voice, and while l never heard hlm
tell an anecdote, privately or publicly,
there is something about the man that is
| inexpressibly winning. He made an argu-
ment before the Court of Appeals in muir
der case a few years ago and spoke for
nearly two hours. When he concluded
Judge Coler asked the other judges to ad-
journ for the day. When asked by one OF
the lawyers-who had ease set for that
day-why he adjourned court after Car,
lySle's speech, the old judge answered
spoiled, as would be the case if any other
man had followed hum"
"Carlisle'S wife has a wonderful influence
over him, and il was due to her that he did
not go the way Of too many young pollti-
clans who come to Frankfort and get taste
Of the LIQUOR that is sold there"
Mr.. Carli sle is an orator after the old
school. In the most commonplace discus
sions he talks in the most earnest manner
and preserves as solemn face as if he were
presiding at a funeral. When he gets
warned up he talks very loud, and makes
use Of good many high sounding phrases.
He also has habit of shaking his finger
Ominously at the speaker. The Republi-
cans admitted last session that Carlisle was
1.-THE only Democrat in the House who could
successfully assail any of their political
y doctrines. His most notable speech last
session WIS in reply to one made by Nc
Einley, of Ohio, which the Ohio statesman
labeled the golden era of protection.