Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-23
THE PLUMEnKNIGHTs HELMET
MIR. Hess Unsuccessful Venture in Busl-
ness Politics.

From me Ne,o Iork Times.
The rise. decline. and fall of" Of the
.'Pumed knight Of the last Presidential
campaign-so striking u figure before the
fatal ides Of November, so limp and
shrunSen after the cold-blooded returns
had tod their story--was the occasion Of
a lawsuit IN the superior Court, before
Judge Freedman, recently. Al leasJ
one most important moot point was
forever settled BY the revelations,
namely, who Is the putative father Of the
"Plumed Knight" That his lordly i'm
age spranS cap-a-pe from the prolific
brain Of the Ron. Bob ingersOll is an in
disputable matter OF history. But who II
was that materialiZed him, put flesh ana
blood on his bones, a helmet on his mead,
and placed the OdOrifer0us torch IN MS
hand may have been suspected, but WAS
never positively known until 1t was
proved yesterday in court of justice. IL
WAS Jake Hess. wbi'om Commissioner
OF Charities and CORRECTION ana now Com
missioner Of Electric Subways and other
underground operations up TO the present
time chiefly 0t the fguratlve or polltlcal
variety.
1t will! surprise no one familiar with the
practical trend Of Mr. Hess mind TO be
told that he was actuated by no maudlln
sentiment in setting the "Plumed knisht.
on his legs. 1t was purely matter OF
business politics. As Chairman Of the
republican Campaign Equipment Com
mittee be saw an opportunity tor turning
an honest penny in the way OF 'dIvVy,"
aud thereupOn was created the National
Campaign Equipment Company, Whereoi
The A. Y. Wolf. OF No. u East houston
street, was the tgurehead, and Mir. Hess,
there 10 reason to suspect, the concealed
party In his own graphic language, as
testified To by plaintiff, "had the pull on
the party" When Mir. Hess had arrived
at the determination TO convert BOB In
gers0ifs fancy into fact he hied himself
to the studio of Edmund X. Morse,
sculptor in papier-mache. at No. "a West
fOurte 3nth street, and got that gentleman
TO con struct the model OF helmet. A
helmet was duly made, and a magnificent
plume was stuck in the top OF II. Mr..
Hess put it on, paraded up and down tue
room, and in "a moment OF pardonable en-
thusas m declared that with that helmet
IN the head Of million knights, march
ing through the land, Mr.. Blaine was as
1000 as elected. Mr.. Hess knows good
thing when he sees it, or, what sometimes
amounts TO the same thing, he thinks he
does, He accordingly had drawn up
cast iron contract, in which he pledged
himself to use no other helmet, and in
turn the manufacturer bound himself %
not to make any other kind Of helmet for
any other person, and ) mot TO sell either
tins or any other Kind OF helmet to any
outside party. This contract was made
IN midsummer, and ran to Oct. A.. 1t was
understood between them tnat under no
circumstances was Mr.. Hess name TO be
mentioned in connection with this mat
ter. The only thing that troubled Mr..
Hess was fear that he would not be able
to get helmets enough. As soon as the
campaign should be fairly agoing, knights
would rush to the fore by tens Of thOus-
ands, shouting for helmets. and he want
ed matters 80 arranged that all orders
could be filed with dispatch. According
ly. he persuaded Mr.. Morse to set up a
''plan1' OF 500 mOlds for making these
helme tB--enOugh to have supplied every
voter q the land with a plumed top piece
in very short order.
Now comes the sad part OF this story
The helmets didn't 20 of. In all only
about 1000 were made. and as many as
900 are still on the manufacturers
hands. and the suit now trying is brought
against Mr.. Hess by Mr.. Morse TO recover
the sum OF $S05, the cost. with few incl
dentals. Of this blOwn-out campaign ma
terial. Mr.. Hess made an interesting figure
on the witness stand when be denied that
be was in any way interested in this he'll
met business, but had signed the contract
simply to Oblige his friend Wolf, who was
the only real and bona hde National Cam
paign Equipment Company. He even
blushed when the learned Judge. with a
skepticism that was but thinly disguised
in his manner and tone, turned upon him
and remarked,
"YOu signed this contract to please
your friend, and yet by the very terms Of
this contract, this friend could not pro-
cure single helmet without your per-
mission"
Mr.. ThomRssen, an attorney, testified
that when he presented the bill TO Mr..
Hess for the OvsrstOck, some time about
the middle OF November, Mr.. Hess conf
dentially remarked; that at one time he
had hoped to make thousands out of the
''spec," but lately he had lost all interest
in the matter, and accordingly refused to
settle. A number of the "bOys" were
present in court, giving Mr.. Hess their
moral support, among others ex-senator
Gibbs and Gen. Barnum.