Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-09-19
WILL BE MIGHTY POPULAR. :"
Some Stories About w. ID. Hoard, the
Story-TeIler.

Some Stories About w. ID. Hoard, the
StOry-TeIler.
From the ST Paul Pioneer-Press
If ready wit, inexhaustible good ma
ture, and knack for telling good stories
in telling way count for anything in
political canvass, the Republican candi-
date for governor of Wisconsin has it
in his power to pile up an enormous
majority for himself in Novemb Der; for
all these whole-souled qualities and DOS
sessions are his. All he needs to do is to
just let himself out. He is the same w.
d. Hoard, brother of Senator Hoard, of
MOntevldeo, who comes over into
Minnesota and attends the dairy con-
ventions. He is usually the life and
soul of these events, and he has never
yet been able to get away from meet
ing of that kind without having first
sung "Finnegans Wake" He is quite
inimitable and original in the perform
ance of this rafting old Irish dirty, and
the ladies in the dairy audiences who
have come to know him well will never
"Finnegan's Wake No doubt he has
already endeared himself to the Wis
consin farmers and their wives and
daughters through this same song and
has thus secured the entire rural vote
of Wisconsin. 1t might be good idea
for him to diversity his political
speeches during the campaign with
stanzas from "Finnegan's Wake" He
would certainly make as great hit by
his singing as Gov. Taylor, of Tennessee,
did by his fddling. And "Finnegan's
Wake" is by no means the only song ne
can sing.
Mr.. Hoard is tall, spare man-some-
thing Of the Abraham Lincoln build
and he has a bright, dark eye that
sparkles with citation whenever there is
any fun to be had or any joke to be
laughed over. He is one Of the swiftest
men at repartee that have ever met,
answering up to a suggestion or
of shot from the mouth
of cannon, but always cleverly.
When he tells stories he knows how to
make the most Of them, and if there is
an Irishman or Dutchman mixed up
with the recital he never fails to make
hit by his artistic use of the dialect. He
is dialect artist, as well as singer and
story teller. If he had taken to the
stage in his early days he would not
now be running for governor, but he
would probably be making his fortune
very fast.
The Listener remembers well retort
that Gov" Hoard made upon that emil
nent agricu lturist of Rice County, at
dairy meeting held at Moorhead three
or four years ago. 1t was convention
held for the purpose of awakening an
interest in stock raising and dairy farm
ing in the northern part of the state.
The Manitoba Railroad Company pro-
vided special train free of charge to
transport the State Dairy Association to
MOOrhea0 and Mr. Hoard cama over
from Wisconsin and went up with the
crowd. At the evening session ne pre-
sided, and proposed number of witty
toasts, calling upon different persons to
respond. The dairy qualities oflthe Hol-
stein COW had been pretty well aired in
the convention, almost every speaker
cracking up that particular breed of
COW. When Mr.. Barton was called on
for speech he modestly declined be-
ing heard, remarking, '1'm afraid, Mr.
President, that I'm so much of an anti
Holstein man that nobody wants to lis
ten to me-" Hoard pretended not to
hear distinctly. Quick as a shot he re-
piled: "Oh, come along; never mind
if your aunty was a Holstein, you can
talk just the same" The crowd just
howled, and Ara Barton skunk back I'M
der the gallery.
[ have seen Prof. Folwell, of the
state university, laugh until his sides
were shaking as he listened to the witty
stories told by Hoard to illustrate points
in a speech. And everybody else who
heard them laughed in just the same
way. That's the kind of man the fut-
ure governor of Wisconsin is. He may
not be dignified to an Overpowering de-
gree, but he'll be mighty popular.