Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-03
HENDR1CKs AND BuRDErrE.

The "Hawkeye' Man Tells How He
Once Dined with the Democratic Can
didate.
Do you know, l have a very pleasant
recollection of Mr.. Hendricks? The only
Mr.. Hendricks in the world just now, of
course. 1 never met him but once, and
then 1 had the honor of dining with him.
do not mention this fact in order to
create the impression thatl am on easy,
familiar terms with all the candidates in
this Presidential campaign. l fear l am
not. If wanted $500 to-morTOw-and /
probably will; at least l want it to-day,
and / am not the man to change my con-
victioDs on financial matters in twenty
four hOurs-I do not know single candi-
date for President or Vice President
whom l could, so to speak, strike for THAI
amount.
Well, Mr.. Hendricks had the honor of
dining with me-that is, we dined with
each other. 1t was this way. / had been
lecturing, after the count of 1876, out in
vast, free, glorious West. 1 was hasten
ing home to Burlington, over the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy. On that same
day Mr.. Hendricks was on his way to
California. Both day trains on the Quincy
road dined at Wormley's, at Charlton,
Iowa. Mr.. Wormley met me at the door
of the dining-roOm with even more than
usual cordiality. He said to me:
"Good. l have company for yon to-day,
Come right over to this table,"
followed him and faced gentleman so
much better looking than his campaign
portraits that 1 did not recognize Mr..
Hendricks until we were introduced. His
face was pretty attractive. His manner
no less charming. | was pleased that
fate had cast me in his way. That is, l
was at first. He was so pleasant. L liked
him. Early in the course of a brilliant
''You are the young gentleman who
writes the poetry in the Hdl0keye, be-
lieve." And you never saw a more be-
witching smile on mans face.
Now, that was the very thing l didn't
want to talk about. l had been writing
whole pages of campaign ''pOetry," they
call it in the HdlUkege. but, YOU under
exactly a Democratic paper. Not just
what you'd call Democratic paper. At
least, it was no more Democratic than
the most rantankerous, rally 'round the
flag, boys third term, Hayes and the
whole ticket, Republican paper of Repub-
lican Iowa could be expected to be. 1t
was just about as Democratic as the
Brooklyn Eagle is Republican. And l
knew what kind of ''pOetry" I had been
writing. l fidgeted little, poured spoon
full of sugar in my soup and owned up
that / was the man. Then i asked him
how long he expected to remain in Cali
fornia.
He told me, and then said: "There was
one little pOem'-nOw, see how kind he
was-he called it poem. "There was
one little poem you wrote, beginning:
"There was an old hOOsier as PVe heard
tell-nOw, how did the rest of that go?'
Go? l went for him, tooth, claw and
toe-nail, and / knew it, and l believe he
knew it. L feeby said: 81 don't remem-
ber,H emptied the salt into my coffee, and
chopped he would find rest and returning
health in California" l also hoped that
l would die in a few moments, but 1
didn't say so. He thanked me in his
courteous manner for the wish | eX-
pressed, and then went on.
"Ihere was another, good one; l can
recollect only the second stanza; how did
the first one runY
And Herewith he quoted few lines of
one of the meanest things | ever wrote
about any man, While he quoted my
prize poem, pretending to forget the
stanZa that referred to himself, l was
confused, but / seemed distracted, as l
| spread five very thick layers of mashed
potato on my folded napkin, under the
impression that | was spreading a piece
of bread and butter. / said | wasn't
I
quite forgotten it. Then | attempted to
wipe the cold, beaded perspiratiOn from
my brow with that napkin, and added to
my embarrassment; | must have APP
peared embarrassed or eccentric, ] am
sure.
Well, the long and short of it is, Mr..
Hendricks remembered every mean poem
| had written about Mr.. Tilden and him
self during that bitter campaign, and he
could quote just enough of the innocent,
gOOd-natured lines of each one to show
me that he had read it. l never saw a
man with such a memory. | hope he en-
joyed his dinner. / think he did. He ate
heartily and smiled good naturally all the
time, and he babe me goodbye very pleas
antly. / am confident l showed off to
good advantage. If l did, l dlssembled.
| didn't feel that way at all. But didn't
run. / sat there and took my punishment
like man. When Mr.. Hendricks went
to his train / arose and sought Mr.. Worm
ley, to tell him about it. He was lying on
the floor behind the cigar counter, Wheel
ing and choking like a man who is trying
to laugh himself to death. l began to get
mad. l said;
"See here, Mr.. WOrmley -"
He feebly mOtioned me away. ''Train
time," he gasped. go to Burlington; go
away. Let me die in peace"
l turned away and got on my train. l
did wrong. / ought to have licked Worm
ley while he was helpless. 1t was the
only chance l ever had. And l never
dined again with Mr.. Hendricks.