The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-11-10
FOUR, NOT OF A KIND.

son tells of the interviews which he
had with four great men. The first
was Henry Clay. He seized the inter-
viewers hand, led him to chair, and
then, for more than an hour, appeared
to be charmed with his visitor.
Mr.. Watson's vanity was afterward
shocked. He learned that Clay be-
slowed this courteous attention upon
every visitor. The next man was
Thackeray, the novelist. Mr.. Thack-
cray was SO sarcastic that the inter-
viewer was crushed. The following
are Mr.. Watson's interviews with
Lincoln and Cameron:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
My next contact with a great man,
where felt as If politeness, without
policy, redeemed everything, was with
Abraham Lincoln in 1861, when every.
body flocked to Washington, and /,
among the rest, ON what l thought was
national business, but what I am now
inclined to believe was entirely my
own. / had little experience In ap-
preaching great men, and what l did
have had always been attended with
success. I wanted to see the presi-
dent, and made my way directly to
the White House, thinking had only
to announce that I was there, and be
received with open arms.
%ovrr,I -. 4
officers in uniform about the corridors,
and asked one of them where | could
find Mr.. Lincoln. He pointed to a
door that stood ajar, and went to it
without thinking where it might lead
to, and pushed it further open. AS 1
afterw ward learned, the doorkeeper had
only that moment LETT his post to 90
into the next room for an instant. AS
l looked in I saw tall, gaunt indi-
vidual sitting at table in the middle
of the room, looking over some papers.
He said nothing, but beckoned with
his finger, and as his portrait was not
then as familiar as 1t was afterward, l
did not recognize him. / went to him,
and he asked me, as I then thought, in
slight tone of irritation, what do
you want?" / answered that wanted
Mr.. Lincoln. "I am Mr.. Lincoln" he
said, more pleasantly. l at once
dashed into my business and dis
patched 1t in as few words as possible,
all of which / had rehearsed before,
and though, as I now know, 1t could
not have interested him in the least,
he listened with profound attention.
When l had finished. he scratched
few words on piece of paper, signed
it A. L., and handed it to me with the
simple words, "Take that to Mr.. Cam
eron."
At that moment, as I rose to my
feet, a man entered with two cups and |
saucers, plain tin pot, and the usual
paraphernalia for tea or coffee.
"Take a cup of tea, colonel" said
the great man. At that moment I |
thought of the old story told of some
afterward celebrated marshal, with
whom Napoleon made the same mis-
take; and rs was only trying to be a
colonel, my airy, fairy scheme being
to organize a regiment of compositors,
pressmen, writer's and general news
paper men, to disseminate northern
newspapers and their ideas, as we adj
vanced into regained territory, why |
thought 1t a good chance to get off the
old story on the president, and said,
Gin what regiment, Mr.. PRESIDENT"
ooh! that will all come in good |
time," he answered, with a little
laugh. "This is not thing of day"
l thanked him, and sat down to my
coffee, saying something about intrud-
ing. His answer was:
"Tll tell you when to 20. guess
Pve learned that in this place, If Pve
learned nothing else. Beside that, 1 |
think you've learned something from
the well-bred dog, and you know he |
always got out before he was kicked |
out"
The coffee was finished, and very
bad coffee 1t was, during the drinking |
of which we had a little talk about |
coffee, and how to make it, in which |
he agreed with me that 1t was in the
making, not in the coffee itself, and
related how, when he was young
man, after travelling all night, cramped
up in stage, In southern Illinois, he
stopped at q small wayside inn, where
he had fried chicken, buckwheat cakes
and coffee for breakfast.
"Such coffee, sirl 10 say nothing of
the buckwheat cakes and chicken, /
had never before tasted. 1t was deli.
cious, and as I found out afterward
was simply made from parched rye"
! did not say anything to Mr.. Lin
coin about his having been cooped mp
all night, and being cold and hungrT, |,
but ] had q suspicion that this may
have had something to do with the
coffee.
The coffee dispatched again rose to
60. He took my hand very solemnly
and said as went out: "Don't mind /