The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1889-05-23
THEY ARE MADE GREAT.
HOW THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
STATESMEN ARE ADVERTISED.
The Tendency of Newspapers to Dilate on
Little Things-Congressman Martin, OF
oornn Eop,Ons

-~-N~S -
Little Things-Congressman Martin, OF
Texas, Says "Blow Out the Gas and Be-
come Famous"
Special Correspondence
WASHINGTON, May 9.-What is famei
1t has neither limitations nor definition,
standard nor rule. 1t thrives on any
thing and everything, from ambrosia to
dirt, from genius to eccentricity. 1t diff
fers in races and among peoples. The
Slav's poison may be the Saxons food,
and the American may grow famous on
that which would but bind the Britisher
still more securely in the chains of OBJ
scurity. America teens with famous
men. Railway trains, steamers, hotels,
streets are full of them. In no other
country are there SO many 'well known"
men-men whose names, spoken or
printed, are recognized as familiar by a
majority of hearers or readers-as in this
blessed republic Perhaps it would be
sheer conceit to say we have so many
more really great men than England,
France or Germany. In point of fact
don't believe we have half as many, but
we become better acquainted with our
notable men, and we note men for
smaller reason. This is a fraternal, COM
panionable people. Few arbitrary bar
riers are erected between classes.
Our great statesmen, great law
yers, great railroaders, great pugi-
lists, great inventors, great journal
lists, great gamblers, great wits, great
orators, great baseball players, great
millionaires, great actors, great poll
ticians, great horse trainers, great mer
chants hobnob together like brothers.
And we are, too, such travellers that the
Californian is almost as well known in
New York as the New Yorker Men
from all the hooks and crannies of the
land are constantly meeting and COM
mingling in business, politics, Office seek
ing, summer resorting, conventions of q
thousand kinds, anniversary gatherings
such as the presidential inauguration and
the Washington centennial.
But more than all we are nation OF
gossips. We talk more about men than
things. And-the secret Of it all-our
newspapers are greater gossips than we
are. They SO deftly mix their news and
their gossip that you can't tell one from
the other. You don't wish to. Only, if
you stop to think about it at all, you are
likely to realize that the gossip is the
best part of the feast. Without the Cos
sip, news is like pudding unsauced. If
really hungry for substantials you could
eat your bread minus butter, but you
prefer the butter, and plenty of it.
1t is the newspaper that makes our
great men. It is the newspaper that
scans hotel registers, sets Argus eyed OBJ
servers in hotel rotundas; it is the news
paper that makes the name of Col. Slap
dash, Of Texas, well known in Boston,
and the name of Judge Goodboy, of New
York, like unto household word in the
states Of the Mississippi valley or the
Pacific coast The English newspaper
does not gossip, except in the most linn
tied and frozen fashion. The French
newspaper does not gossip, except about
actresses, Boulanger, and the three or
four conspicuous figures momentarily
before the public eye. The German
newspapers never heard Of such thing
as gossip, and I doubt if their language
contains synonym for the word.
In this country the man who does or
becomes anything a little out Of the
common run is introduced to the public
in detail-as boy, collegiate, early strug-
gler for distinction, winner of fame or
success. We are told how many girls
he courted before he married, what
clothes he wears, what he eats, what
sort Of neckties he likes. His wife and
children are introduced along with him,
and good many of his other relatives.
All the newspapers gossip, and then
swap gossip, and thus the new man be-
fore the public eye, or the new woman,
becomes as well known to the whole
American people as if our country were
a suburban neighborhood and we had
new settler with his washing out on the
line and the first calls made by all our
good but inquisitive and observing
wives.
Nor is this all. We have developed an
amazing fondness for printing mems
pictures, and for calling men by their
baptismal appellations or their nick
names. Thus we have "Jim" Blaine,
Bob" Ingersoll, "Tecump" Sherman,
"Mat" Quay, Charley" Farwell, "Tom"
Bowen, "Sam" Cox, "Joe" Cannon,
tom" Reed, "Chance" Depew, "Uncle
John" Sherman, Grandfather" Payne
and many others, just as we used to
have candy" johnson, "Chet" Arthur,
Jack" Logan and "Abe" Lincoln. All
these are aids to the memory and pro-
moters Of familiarity. Going still further
we are prone to make men great for lit
tie things. In making its famous persons
gossip uses wonderful variety of ma
terials. This man is known the country
over for his old hat, another for his era
vat, third because he is in love with an
actress, fourth because he killed
another man, a fifth for his funny
stories, and man may gain fame at one
fell swoop by single remark, like Elan
nagan's "What are we here forp"
There are centers of commerce, manu-
featuring, learning, railroads, culture,
horse breeding, natural gas, literature
and other material and immaterial things,
but Washington is the center of gossip.
7 -, 4.