New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-02
r,FE OF A CENTENNIAL CHAIRMAN

Al the time of the decease Of Jumbo, who now
finds himself divided in death, his skeleton coming
n the Metropolitan Museum OF Natural History,
while his cuticular covering, less fortunate, goes
% BOSTON. IL was remarked by some pleasantly
disposed person, upon the announcement pelng
made that the great elephants skin was found 70
be four inches thick, that he would have MADE
most excellent Governor Of Western State, ms
wealth of epidermis being such that he could have
endured the sings and arrows OF abuse usually
brought TO bear on this class OF long-sunerinS
officials Though IL Is TO be re gretted that sueh is
the case, IL nevertheless appears that Jumbo would
have also met with great success as chairman OF
some one OF the committees having In charge ar
rangements for the coming Washington centennial
celebration It is related Of Washington that
once under very exasperating circumstances he
was heard TO swear: could he now be present in
the fcsh to help arrange his own celebration IL is
feared that the good man would make the wslidn
ring with his vigorous II not altogether elegant
language Washington, grat as he was, could
not endure everything.
The life which the chairmen Of some OF the I'M
portant committees have led for the last few weeks
must have been much like the existence OF man
who makes his home close beside the crater oil an
irritable and dissatisfied volcano With his doys
DIVIDED between IhlnllJ iuuotl NoS"AiA~ h Va
ancestry and the elite directory on the one hand,
and the reading Of the abusive letter. tho fault-
finding editorial and the warm and earnest legis-
Iatiye rebuke on the other, he has known exciting
times. Lying down OF night 10 snatch little
sleep, he has had visions OF pre-Revoiunonary
aristocrats; IN his dreams naughty woman with
bitter smile has pointed finger Of scorn at him
and demanded II IL were true that she was not
4. III Xo An TINT uun1rille he
has turned away from her 70 seek safety in light,
when ire heavy hand Of tho member from
CatskilI County has been laid on his shout
der. and the enraged hwmaker has in
qulred in hoarse accents il he was going TO
have q seat in that grand stand or Ind got TO
crawl up an ehotric-lght pole TO sec the parade.
Tho poor chairman has tossed on his feverish pill
low his dreams haunted by such visions as these,
tin at last he has thought 20 escape the crowd OF
prosecutors by climbing tall genealogical tree,
and Just rs he has got 20 the top the chairman OF
another committee has pushed him of, and he
has fallen 20 the ground with crash amid the
delighted shouts OF the entire country, and-awoke
and called for the morning papers to see what new
fault was being found with him.
This gives o meagre glimpse Of the life Of cen-
tennial committee chairmen for the last two
months. That their lot is hard no one can deny,
but some one has TO attend to these matters, and
wo trust WHEN IT is all that they will have the
gratitude of the whole people and possibly monu-
nents after death In the meantime these things
afford an illustration of some Of our good points
as compared with other nations. In these effete
monarcbies pomp and ceremony are thought great
deal OF, but we don't core anything about such
things. We understand that true native individ-
ual worth is all that amounts to anything; we
don't care who dances in the first quadrille. We
are plain, democratic American citizens; we lead
the world in everything, and we ore far above any
little jealousy about quadrills. That is, we usu-
ally are sometimes, though, we get up on high
limb of our ancestral tree and act good deal like
other folks But when we do we make MON noise
than any other people on the globe.