The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-25
JAMES g. BLAINE.
Ths Nominse OF sfnsTI TItepqbl,ckn Party
fotfrctlderit X N

CeleDrhteu altnOO gu III lllo 80 dctlNo hS MT
Blaine's has been, TO do this is to record com
monplace information, while important oc
ourrences may be displaced / did not hap
pen to be In Washington County, Pep9syl
'vania, ohA AJanuafyi6i, $780, Nhen1 Mr. Blaine
was born, and 1t was not my fortune to bes
playmate of, schoolmate or ooIegemate Of
his, but from "rellable sources" as newspa'
per men say, lam enaaPled to spts thai Mr.
Blaine's boyeiood was rSncn like other mems.
He had the same trvubics, the same quarres,
the same suocesses, the same youthful sor
rows, the same disappoptments. 1t Is only
phenomenal men who have no childho0dwith
the stone.brulses, the chapped hands and the
bloody noses OF the country boy, believe
Mr. Blaine although II makes not the slight
est difference with the nam comes from hne
old Revolutionary stock; that his greatgrand.
father was Colonel in the Pennsylvania Line
in the Revolutionary War; that he lived IL
that grand Cumberland Valley, whose golden
fields of grain and bright, green meadows
charm all behoders 10 the present day; that
the Blaine family is still well remembered In
the lovely village OF Carlisle; that Colonel
Blaine was the intimate friend of Gen, Wash
ington Tor Mt least MS intimate MS that old aris.
toorat ever allowed friend TO. bel; that he
was Commissary.Generalo OF the Northern De-
partment of Washingtons army; that he ad'
vanced from his own means and from contrl-
buttons obtained by him from his friends
large sums OF money towards purchasing sup
plies for the army during that terrible winter
at Valley Forge; that Washington attributed
the preservation of his troops from absolute
starvation to tho heroic and self-saorhcing
efforts of Colonel Blaine-these are facts, J
believe, susceptible of proof. But Colonel
Blaine is not a candidate for the Presidency,
and his great-grapdson Is. Mr. Blaine gets hs
middle name (Gillespe from his maternal
grandfather, q pioneer OF distinction in West
ern Pennsylvania. Fortunately or unfOrtu'
natcly there is no record OF young Blaine eN'
cept that contained In the family Bible before
he arrived ut the age OF thirteen, but / have
no DOUBT that he was as bright as his school
fellows and fully as mischievous. forgot TO
say that his father livid in the Borough OF
Washngton and was Prothonotary OF the
county. Attle age Of thirteen, In the year
lS43. the young boy entered Washington Col.
legc, from which he was graduated at the
/ head OF a large and distinguished class In
| 1871, when he was only seventeen yeRrs Old.
BLAINE YOUTHFUL DAYS.
From an old colegemate of Mr.. Blalne's, an
officer OF rank and characterin In tho rebel army,
I / have obtained some interesting points re.
| gardlngthe youthful days ofthis distinguished
! man. At the college, with two or three hun.
dred students from ali sections Of the country,
! Blaine was from his FIRST entrance leader.
( Endowed with a splendid physique, he was
! foremost in all athletic sports. He is not re-
mombcred rs hard student, who burned the
midnight oil. IL was not necessary for him
| 10 do this, as he learned everything quickly
and easily, and his standing In his classes was
always among the very first. In the annual
commencemcnts and the frequent contests of
| the rival literary societies of the college he
| was never conspicuous as a debater or
! wrangler, but he was known and acknowl-
/ edged ms the power that controlled all these
| things. Goethe has said: zone builds his
! talents in the stillnessos and builds his char.
aoter in the storms of the world"
CARVING HIS OWN FUTURE.
From this point in life Nlr. Blaine began to
! carve out his own future. In those days the
| young college graduate did not loaf about
| home, village beau, smoking cigarettes and
] devoting most OF his time to his hair-at least
Blaine didn't. He struck out at once to seek
! his fortune. IL was u very lucky strike for
4 him, for IL he had not struck out as he did,
/ and had not gone to Kentucky, and had rot
i located near Millersburg, he might never have
met Miss Harriet Stanwood, woman who
will "do him good, and not evil, all tho days
OF his life" But OF this again.
Mr. Blaine, after he left college, went to
Blue Lick Springs. Kentucky, and became one
of the professors in the Western Military In
etltute. In this school there were about 40
boys. gentleman'now living In Washington
(who was also, by the way, an officer In the
rebel service), was q student in this school.
/ He well remembers Blaine, and describes him
| as a thin, handsome, earnest young man, with
| the same fascinating manner he has now. He
/ was very popular with tho boys. who trusted
| him and made friends with him from the first.
| He knew the given names of every
one, and he know their shortcomings
and their strong points, and 70
that who went to school at the Blue Lick
Springs then very popular watering-pace.
Ny friend says that Blaine was man Of great
personal courage, and that dnring a bloody
fight between the faculty OF the school and
the owners of,the springs, involving some
questions about the removal Of the schoolj he
behaved In the brayest manner, fighting hard
but keeping cool. RoyolveTs aud knives were
freely used, but Blaine only used his we'll
disciplined muscle Colonel Thornton +.
johnson was the principal OF the school, and
HIS wife (bOth most excellent, well.bred and
highly cultured persOns had young ladies'
school at Millersburg, twenty miles distant.
II was at this place that Blaine met Miss Stan
wood, who belonged 10 an excellent family In
Massachusetts, and she Afterwards became
his wife. Blaine, alter an experience OF a
| year or two, discovered that he was not born
! 70 be school teacher, and he returned TO
! Pennsylvania and studied law, but never
| practced 1t. In 1858 he removed TO Maine
and there began a career that has made him
the most talked of and the most popular man
] in the country.
BLAINE AS AN EDITOR.
/ II was IN Portland that Mr.. Blaine first .b,,.
came an editor. / have often thought that
| great editor, as great porhapsns Nj. Greeley,
! was lost when Mr.. Blaine went into politics.
| He possesses all the qualities OF n great
times that he will never be entirely happy
until he rs at the head of great newspaper.
He has phenomenal memory, and there Is no
quality more valuable In journalism than
this. as you very well know. Air. Editor HQ
remembers circumstances, dates, names and
places more readily than any man ever met.
and It 10 this wonderfully available memory
that makes him such a ready speaker and
such charming companion. He has also
great quickness and accuracy OF Judgment,
another excellent and indispensable quality
in journalism. He writes rs readily and
strongly as he speaks, and very rapidly. In
many respects he resembles Mr.. Greeley as u
writer-he goes straight 10 the point and
wastes no time In painting with pretty words
q background for his thoughts. His other
qualities for journalism are, hoi courageous,
he is fair-mlndod; he grasps and weighs the
events Of the day, and finally, like all good
Journalists. he is good husband and father
and good fellow.
Mr. Blaine held his first public Office in 1853,
when he was elected 20 the Maine Legislature.
He had already achieved distinction as
public speaker In tho Fremont campaign OF
1866. He wns five times elected 20 the egisla.
ture, and in 1851 and again in 1852 he was
chosen Speaker Of the House, in which posi-.
tion he exhibited the same peculiar fitness for
presiding officer that he showed as Speaker
of the National House OF Representatives,
though II must he confessed tbat, in the latter
oiiiee, he was a little too oppressive and auto.
cratic. m. 1oK > 'l
l,5 HIS FIRST TERM IN coN1REss. ~.
in 1903 Mr.. Blaine was lfst elected TO Con.
gross. Durihg his firsttern he gava himself
mp mostly 70 sturdy and observation, but In the
pTThirty-ninth Congress he began 20 DO felt,
foremost in all legislation. He has nn apti.
tude for legisl9tiYe business that few possess.
He seesthe wchk and the strong points nj q
bill, and his Judgment IS SO quick and accn-