Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-03-12
WILLIAM B. MORRISON.
The Revenue Reform Martyrdom Of
'86 Produces a Crop-Prophecy
at Waterloo.
Tho Woe. Presideney-"RsbsI Lsad"-CoI
IesEues IN ting 5Os-A Lost shee pskin.
Ths InDeF-StHts UOmmissIonership'
st. Louls Globe. Democrat


still The seed OF the chulch."'
The second day after the congressional
election Of SIS Colonel William Nor
rison walked into the little station at
Waterloo and handed the above to the
telegraph operator. It IVES his answer to
message asking him how he felt over
his dstest By Jehu Bikrr.
SIX cen months have passed. mes
sage which could not have bresthed the
spirit OF free trade stronger If he had
written IL himself mss been sent to Con.
Tress. 4 tariff reduction bill which en-
braces sll that he fought for has been
launched hytbs Democratic msj yrity Of
his old committee And in the MIDST of
all he sads himself riding aloft on q boom
toward the nomination for Vice Presi-
dent. Truly the revenue reform mar
tyrdNm Of Colonel Morrison is yie!diDg q
CROP
Colonel Morrison Is openly and svow-
eddy candidate for the second place on
the ticket with only this contingency
inst he will willingly waive his candidacy
if It SHAH seem best to give the nomins-
ton 20 tae state which had 1t four years
sEC. r. personal preferences are TO de-
cid be is 90 be counted in. II state
policy rnles h is out.
Morrison was born in Illinois. He IL @
native Of the county where mis- home is.
Waterloo is the shtretown for G lsrge
agricultural community in which he Ger
man element is particularly s:r0og. That
part OF Illinois wss first occupied by
French settlers, and maay descendants of
the Klskaskia sud Cthokia colonies are
still there. Bat the thrifty Geruans, at
lracsed by the fertility of the Mississippi
bottom lands, l1Cked in and became
numerous enough TO choose the name
most Objectionable to their French neigh
bora for the town.
In Monroe county Morrison was born
and reared The bump of locality WAS
strong. He never moved awsy. Until
about ten years ago Waterloo was with
out s railrosd, and when Colonel MORT
son returned st the close of Congress
ionsl sessions he had to take q stage
coach and ride fifteen miles through the
mud OF the American Bottom to reach his
home.
There is something remarkable in the
WAY he has chung to the staid old town.
He went away TO college, but he returned
10 Monroe county TO enter upon the
practice of law. He served the
state term Alter term in the Legis-
Ia;ure. BE attained the prominence
which made him Speaker. He went into
the army and won his title. He was
elected 10 Congress eight times After
one of these terms in Washington he was
defeated two times in succession, and
there supeared 10 be no future for him.
The outlines Of his district were changed
repeatedly. But through all his ups snd
downs the idea Of moving away from
Waterlo) seems not to nave entered his
mind. he never grew too big, in bis own
esEimstionr for the old hoUe.>
AMoDEsr HOME.
Waterloo rambles over several easy
hills. The-e is no GRO Wding. The houses
hsye large yards. One Of them, two
stories, slste color, Of plain cottage
architecture, with q high peaked roof, is
Colonel Morrison's. 1t looks comfort
able and has q well kept appearance.
But there is nothing about the
exterior to distinguish it from
many other Waterloo homes. One
large corner room on %he ground
floor Is given up to books. Those people
who only know Colonel Morrison by his
Gway-from-hCme life would experience 8
surprise Il they could look into this cor
uer room of the Waterloo cottage. The
revenue IGIOILD lohOCA lAo o Alb4o1 WhASAi
any man In public life might envy, not
the character. In the cases which
line the walls there are perhaps
1000 OF 1900 books, but they
are andErd. There is another
thing shout this room which throws az
interesting light upon ColoHel Morrison.
1t is no den. The bright, tresh-looktBg
carpet, the prlished stove in which
hickory sticks crsckIe, the all-peryadlDg
spirit Of extreme neAtness and order, are
certainly st variance with the general
fmpression formed Of the man who strolls
through the lobby of Washington hotel
with mis- hands in his pockets and SLOUGH
hst drawn down over his eyes.
Perhaps if the whole truth was told II
would be known that, like some other
public men, Colonel Morrison owes more
TO his wife than the world at large sns
pecls. There is story told that an inti-
Tnste friend called on him ct his parlor II
the Willard one day, looked at the table
piled high with pspers and then re
marked:
"Mrs. Morrison Is out Of town, ism
she?"
The Colonel followed the glance of hi!
visitor to the disordered table, and theI
replied:
Eyes, Mrs. Morrison is sway"
In the course of the interview Colone
Morrison hsd occasion 10 look for SOM
document to which he wished to refer
and went to the table. He pulled things
over for some minutes without nndin.
what he wanted, snd finally giving up tn
search rned 10 his visitor and said:
az think it's time Mrs. Morrison wa
back, don't your"
& friend of the Morrisons who has beer
iaa position to know, ssys that Mrs. Nor
rison has not limi ed her helpiulness II
keeping the Colonel's papers in order
Having no children, she has had time Il
devote herself to whsteVer her husband
was interested in. This inclination ha
led her to take up the study of politics
economy years ago, andjtheir friend, Wit
is himself thoroughly educated and vel
read MAD, says that there ID no woman II
the country SO thoroughly informed cl
the subject as Mrs. Morrison. She ms!
facts at her tongues end, and know
where to place her hands upon figures
For many years she has really acted 81
Colonel Morrison's private secretary, do
ing much of his writir e and Investigating