Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-27
NIGHTMARES OF STATESMEN.
Familiar Applications Bestowed
Upon National Lawmakers.


Upon National Lawmakers.
Washington Letter to ne 7tioestea Ne,rs.
Outside the precincts OF a school there
is no place where uicknames are more
literally and more appropriately be-
slowed than in Congress. often IL Is a
facetious member who, IN the course Of
debate, will call a colleague by u name
that viii cling TO hju ever after. More
frequently, however, ID is IN tAe reporters
gallery that the successful nickname Is
coined. A physical peculiarly in man.
some hobby OF bis, perhaps, or manner
OF talking, Will suggest the name O}
which be is to be known totue opposition
press or to the world a. largo. Ihe mex
name Is not intended as T"pr1ach AL
ways: IL is apt L. q sIgnale very frequent
ly the good qualities most prominent IN a
public man. Jonn sherman X known a.
Honest John sherman" Elmunds as
est. Jerome" Judge Kelley, Us "Protec-
ton Kelley" etc. Among those whose
outward appearance has suggested names
Tor them is Congress sman Barnes, OF Geor-
gIa, " no is known as "Bre'r i,rrapiu"
In the FOriy-elRhth Congress there Was
Bedford, OF Colorado, whose merry locks
and Impetuous manner OF demanding
that the doors OF the Treasury be opened
earned for him the uupr.uucr OF lied
Headed Rooster o. the Rockies the only
instance, | believe, 90 record where al
liter8tiou's Rrtful AID was Invoked TO be-
stow a nickname on a Con gre-Sman.
Every body remembers Weller, OF Iowa
Calamity Weiier'-WhO saw in every
measure ruin anu disaster II be happened
TO disapprOve II, and 1hat was often.
Then there is "BiIl" MorrsO., the Col
onel, the author OF the horizontal tariff
reduction billin the ortY-cigutbCongress
who has been known ever SINCE Is ''IiOrl-
zoutal BIN" Not far from him sits iloi-
man, of Indiana, ordinarily hn0wn AZ
THE Great OnjecIor," by reason Of his
desire to object to everything which be
doesn't approve. Senator Van WAck is
known as Crazy Horse because he
shocks the dignity Of the Senate, treads on
the toes OF the people, nEutatlve!y speak
ing, goes on the warpRth ike the great
Indian chief after whom be was named,
and scalps his adyersaries (again | am
using figure OF speech Ouly), Whlle he
sbrleks with delight and runs his hands
through his hair, which stands on end like
the name Of an Indian pony. one OF the
best fitting names was given TO BurlClgn,
VINO represents the " nuChdlI New
York district IN the House. If you have
ever seen him at WUrh I'm " asaing ton,
or on the floor of a convention, or any,
where else tor that matter, you will
recognize the justice OF calling
him "Perpetual Motion BurieI2h," so
active, restless and energetic is be. In
Massachusetts they call their Senator's
and very frivolous 1t Is Of them to d" it
"GraDdiather -Ioar" aud "Grandmutner
Dawes OF sour own Lyarts" every
body. OF course, has heard. And now that
Vice President W heeler Is gone, the title
of The Lone Fisherman seems about 10
Be bestowed on Senator Frye, of Maine,
on account Of his prOpensitics Tor fishing
and telling fish stories. The name Of
''Coal Oh Payne is given to Senator
Payne on account OF his connection
with the Standard Oil Company. But
Ter, OF South CarOhua, hates To be called
Ham burg Butler" but the name sticks
to nm in spite Of the fact That he has de-
MED ali responsibility for the Hamburg
massacre. 'Whisperlnk Jimmy" is the
name by which Gen. ketchum, of New
York, ls known, and he got it because OF
a habit he has of always Whispering into
every body's ear what he has to say. He
himself is as deaf as an adder, and thinks
every body else the same.
There Is a certain class Of men who
are never spoken Of as Thomas, Richard
Or henry, but always as "FOm, Dick"
and Harry" Why this should be 50 it
is d fiicu 10 say. Some OF them are the
most di2nlhed men, and not n few OF them
are Tar from bel X Joyial or the hall-well-
met fellows the abbreviated names would
indicate. But who ever heard the follow
ing men referred to IN any different way
than Dan" Voorhees,. "JOe" Brown.
Joe HawleY, Joe" Blackburn, "Jin"
Fair, "Blly" Malone, Pat Col
Inns, "Nick" Muller, Jack" Adams,
Tim Campbell, "Archie" Bliss, Tom
Reed. abe hewitt, II ill' Scott, Dick"
Iownsbeud, "sam" Randall, Dave"
Bayne, or TOM Browne2 There are
other Josephs aud Thomases and VIII
liams and Daniels in Congress-, but no.
body would think Of caiiiaE them Joe or
Tom or Bill or Dan, tor instance. Gen.
Joseph w Wheeler, OF Alabama, or William
Kelley, OF P.nnsyiyauia, or JOseph
Lyman, Of Iowa. There are
few nicknames, however, which |
0ugh. not 10 omit 10 men,
tion. There is Coon and-iinish-y our
ticket Spriggs, or SpriRgs OF Utica, and
everybody knows how ne got those
names. There is Bonanza Jones, for
Senator Jones, of Nevada, uut it is not 50
COMMON now as IL once was, for the
bonanza has gone and only the Jones re-
mans. 1t Is an old story how the present
Minister at ConstnnlinOple got to be
called Sunset Cox, from writing "a glow
ing account OF a sunset FOR a paper be
vas cutting IN Ohlo. ALSO now zen,
Logan is familiarity called Black Jack,
from the color Of his Fair and eyes and
swarthy complexion. In Iowa every-
body knows "HeEnepin Murpny,D the
Congressman, whose only idea
is the canal Of that name. Chicago
proudly calls Congressman Lawler "Our
Frank" McAdoO's name is frequently
pronounced so as to sound ke"Mikado,"
though there is not the slightest rcsem-
blance between the ruler at japan and he
statesman from New Jersey. klotz, w no
sat In tue Forty-ninth Congress, went hy
the name OF santa klotz," be- was 50
rOtund and Jolly looking. Hiestand, Of
Pennsylvania, Is known as the "Dutch
1rlshman,' because he Is German by de-
scent, and in the most uproarious fashion
celebrated ST. Patrick's cay in the House
last Marcn.