The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-09-22
GENERAL WILLIAM MAHONE.

| NSneTdl Nlllldm u1duOuc uOISC
is about the handsomest In Peters
burg. After the war the citizens of
that town, through the city council,
offered him lot to build on. 1t was
a recognition of the services of the
| gallant Malone brigade. Next to
General Robert E. Lee, William Ma
hone stood highest in the affections
| of all true Virginians. He was son
of the state, and, after Lee and Stone
wall" Jackson, her greatest fighter
in the rebellion. The night before
the surrender at AppomatOx General
Lee called Malone into his tent.
There the two went over the situation
together. They agreed that surren-
der was the only thing. General Ma
hone did not accept the lot offered
by the city, but the citizens united
again and by subscription bought a
house and lot and presented it to Mrs.
Malone She likewise declined to
accept the gifts. But the general
| bought on Market street and built the
residence which he now occupies, to-
gether with Mrs. Malone and his two
sons, William and Butler, and his
daughter, Nettie.
Malone and the exploits of the Ma
hone brigade were celebrated in prose
and song. For years the Little Wiz
ard" was the idol of his people. They
began to harden toward him when,
from his seat in the United States
senate, he rose and strobe acoss the
aisle and shook his fist in the face of
Hill, of Georgia. Then he became a
Republican. Then the idol of Vir-
ginia and of the south was pulled
from its pedestal. To-day all that is
left of bourbonism, and there is a
good deal of it left, hates William Ma
hone worse than it does Longstreet or
Mosby. It is because he is the strong
est southern Republican. 1t is be-
cause he has fought and is fighting
still for a reiuvenated south, Just as
he did in the war, with all his brain
and heart and soul, for his loved Vir-
ginia.
This wonderful man was the son of
fine old-fashioned dtavernkeeper, who
lived on the Jerusalem plank road in
Southampton county in the black
belt below Petersburg. 1t is pretty
certain that the old gentleman played
stiff game himself, but it is not true
that little Billy became so proficient
as to pay his way through college
playing poker. He was, on the con-
traTy, what is harshly called poverty
pupil at the Virginia military insti-
tute, but what is better named schol-
arship. He trudged up to Richmond,
indeed, in his, bare feet to see the
governor personally and secure his
aid. William Malone came out a
civil engineer and good one, He
built the railroad from Richmond up
| to the southern terminus of the Penn
| sylvania over back of Alexandria.
This man, who was major general
at 30, took charge, when the war was
over, of the railroad which he had
built some years before. 1t was then
little more than two streaks of iron
rust. He made it the powerful Rich
mond & Danville. He showed the
qualities of the born leader at the start
eff. He sent the agents of the Adams
Express company and of the Balti-
more & Ohio flying from his trains,
and went into the express business
himself. He wanted to make dollar
and save hundreds of dollars to the
communities through which his great
transportation company passed. This
expulsion of the middlemen did won
iers for the farm people all along the
road. They found convenient mar
kets for their eggs and chickens, their
milk and butter, their farm and gar
den productions generally. General
Malone made money and solid pop
ularity all at once. But in the big
Richmond terminal fight the other
moguls froze him out. There is a
tradition, however, that the general
was posted about the movements of
the syndicate and made handsomely.
There is another tradition that young
Butler pocketed good $4,000 him
elf.
The substantial houses of the
wealthy border General Mahone's on
all sides in Petersburg, but the peo-
pie, no matter how near they are as
neighbors, never speak to him or his
family-never notice them. 1t is his
town and theirs, his lifelong abiding
place-his birthplace almost. Hard
by is the church of strict denomina-
ton, for which Mrs. Malone used to
subscribe lavishly. She and her hus-
band and children were driven from ii
by the denunciations of a minister
pounding with one fist and then the
other on the very bible which she had
presented to him.
"They ostracize you here, general,
somebody said to Malone once.
mo, / ostracize them" he replied
with smile.
In the cavalry and cavalcade cam
palgn made by the nephew of Robert
E. Lee, and the son of Henry S. Wise
four years ago, the basementof Gen
eral Mahone's house In Petersburg, in
which was a large billiard room, was
turned into the political headquarters
for the Republicans of the whole state
Six busy clerks sat in high chairs
around the covered billiard tables.
Three or four short hand men, and
typewriters were on hand, and were
| kept busy by the little general. The
bill for stamps and printing ran all the
way from $50 to 800 day, and every
cent of the money was paid out Of
Mahone's own pocket. To send all
these documents out cost on the
average S125 to $50 every day. The
general willingly filed out his check
for the amount every night. Nobody
else put up cent. The personal bills