Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-01
BENJAMIN F. BUTLER,
A CORRESPONDENT NOTES SOME OF
THE GENERALS PECULIARlTIES.
His Strong Points of Individuality-Views
which Generally Run Counter to the
Commonly-Accepted Ones-An
Unheroic AIishap.
New York Cor. Chicago Journal.

New York Cor. Chicago Journal
No man more odd than Benjamin +. Butler
comes to town. He is here now. As he
walks in Broadway or sits in the theatre, or
goes into court in the practice of his -profes-
sion, he provides amusement for all specta-
tors. Not many of our notsbles are the
equals of their caricatures But no por-
traiture of Butler in the most hostile of
comic journals is an overdrawing of his
strong points OF individuality. The regard
for him is a strange mixture of ridicule and
respect Put him into a suit Of tattered
clothes, start him off as tramp ami he
would be so remarkable a figure in that
groteSque walk of life as TO defy competi-
ton, and make the dogs bark more in awe
than aggresSivenesS But he wears good
clothes and has that unmistaksble air of
prosperity which IS sure to command the
respect OF mercenary Americans.
Butler is the Funniest man on earth, re
marks his fellow-lounger in the hotel cor
ridor
Il am told that he has accumulated half a
million" says another observer.
Instantly the sentiment in the careless
breast of the first speaker changes from
amazed contempt to serious admiration 1t
may not be the same in Chicago, but here in
New York a man if known by the bank sc-
count ne keeps The fact that Ben Butler is
wealthy through his own efforts is enough to
make Us respect him, in a way; and trust
that i am offending no political
prejudice when l write that Butler
INDECENT would be merely ridicul-
Gus crank, while Butler affiuent
is admirably eccentric 1t is true, however,
that he is an unSolved puzzle to those nigh
him. The only certain conclusion is that he
is the most entertaining of men His con
versation is unique. His views nearly al
ways run coInter TO the commonly accepted
ones, and-stranger still-they do not i'm.
press the hearer as having been formed like
those Of a professional philosopher, for the
express and only purpose Of astonishment
l asked him what he thought about journal
ism for instance.
Il love reporters and hate editors he
answered. 1T is a common fashion to re
gard all reporters as liars. On the con-
trary, l have, in a long and varied expe-
rienced, found them trustworthy. l don't
mean to say that there are not wofully
bad exceptions: hut nine times in
ten the published interview, the
printed speech, the hurried account of
any public occurrence, is far more accurate
objection of an unprofessional observer would
Afford
Butler is a man of varied accomplish
ments. He is one of the most elaborate of
eaters. He is a sumptucus liver When in
New York. he literally demands the best
that fashionable hotel affords in the mat
ter Of both lodging and meals. He has the
exacting taste Of an artist and something of
n Dra 4 ha of nj
is the using of pencil On his finger nails
He uses the ends of his fingers to receive as
well as make memoranda; and, while much
OF the data thus manicured is dry and Stats
tical, there are numerous pictorial features.
In his earlier years he was something of an
artist, and on returning from a day or even
ing OF intercourse VITA his fellow man and
woman his nails are usually covered with
hasty. covert sketches Of what has par ticu-
larry impressed him
However, / doubt if he made the slightest
picture OF the funniest thing that ever hap
pened to him 1t was in the Union Square
theatre. which is furnished with chairs that
are automatic to degree, involving ma
chinery sufficient for a steam engine 70 every
seat These contrivances are the invention
OF Steele Mackaye, curious individual,
who wrote "Hazsl Kirke," devised the
double stage in advertising use at the Mad
ison Square theatre, lectured years ago on
the Delsarte system of expression by panto-
mime. Each of the chairs belongs to pair
swiveled to a solid, iron post, TO which it
hangs in dependent uncertainty. The
stranger who attempts to use it
uninstructed by an usher is dis
mayed and dumfounied by the prob
lem of how to get into 1t; but, when manip
ulated by an expert, it unfolds arms, a
cushioned seat, peg to hang his hat on,
and even a place for the insertion of his
umbrella or cane. On conforming himself
to the right angles for seated posture, he
finds tLst the Mackaye chair fits itself to his
shape with wonderful fleXibility. Not only
does it conform readily to the man with
short legs TO his long body, and to the other
man with long legs to short body, but on
Strengthening inst.nctively for yawn you
find that it so far tran Sforms itself into
couch as to all but deposit your head in the
lap of the person next behind you The
further and aw. al inherency of this chair is
that, instantly on the sitter rising, it auto
matically withdraws itself from under him
and adheres closely TO its standard.
Behold Gen. Butler piacidly seated in one
of Mackaye's chairs. He had enjoyed the
half-hour piece which opened the entertain
ment. for it was a neat little thing, and the
long agone marrying Of an actress has
specially interested him in the intrica-
cies Of stagecraft His big bald head
reminded me of the globe in the school Of
my childhood, than which no object Of ro-
tundity has ever more endurably impressed
me. His massive shoulders and length of
body made him as con picuous as most six
footers, and all g,zes were Immediately
transferred from II actors TO him after the
fall of the curtain. At this juncture, when
he was the focus Of the audience, he rose to
his feet for a stretch of his disproportion-
ately brief legs. The chair silently folded its
intricate parts, and stole away TO hug its
central standard. The statesman, having
settled the kinks in his calves, reasonably
supposed that he would drop gracefully into
his seat again The hard floor, away down
on the level of his feet, was the first surface
with which he came into cantact. His bulky
head was just in sight, and it was more gro
tesQue and Kaleidoscope in expression than
any comic rubber dolls while distorted by
the unheroic nature of the mishap and the
hilarity Of the spectators.