The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-05-24
THE LATE SENATOR BECK.


A REGULARITY Of His observation-disclosures In
scotland and Florida.
II was oycrwork that had much 10 do
with senator Beck's death. says q WASH
inRton correspondent Of the New York
World. His mind was the hest example
of perpetual motion that ever had q place
inside q human skull. II worked even I'm
his sleep. and one day when the subject
Of brain work vas being discussed by n
marty of senator's In one OF the cloak
rooms Senator Beck is said 10 have old
the following story concerning q peculi-
arity Of his brain which he said he be-
lieved had done him a great deal OF harm
during his life. Said he:
az first noticed II when I was a boy GO
ing 70 school in Scotland. ! had a strict
old preacher for n tutor, and with n num-
Der of other boys went to the parsonage
to he educated. One night ! was very
sleepy and still had a long Latin lesson
to get of. l tried hard TO learn IL, but
before I was aware Of II I was
doing. Al length l read the lesson
through in n half-lrcaminR condition and
with the Latin all in a tumble in my head.
] wen 10 sleep. Iawoke the next morn
ing with my head perfectly clear and,
strange 10 say. all the antiquities in my
difficult lesson were made plain and i
read the Latin without a balk. The same
thing happened a second time and l
again found that when i went 10 sleep
with a confused idea OF my lesson, learn
ing il while DOING. awoke with all the
knotted points unravelcd. II became my
custom after that to read my task over
just before going to bed, and j never failed
20 have them in the morning. My strict
old tutor saw that ] never studied, and he
thought one Of the other boys must be
I..ls,, .. A nrl.s a.. mi 40. s..na anA
OF Livy 10 translate and told me II ! did
not have il for him the next morning he
would fog me. He then forbade any OF
the boys TO go near me and watched my
actions. ] read he lines as usual that
night before l went TO sleep and the next
never bothered me after that. Well.
the year passed and found
my faculty still clinging to
TO me, till ] began to put too much faith in
IL m depended almost entirely on my
mysterious helper. l found IL grew weak
err as ] grew older,and though I have such
spells sometimes now they are not fire.
lines and words of the subject I am study
ing before my minds cye.a and, without
knowing the process, ] work out the prob
lem. i remember that u p~hrenoloRist ed
amined h heads Of my family some time
q and they b wanted me To nave my
neAu put III MS hatlus. fllaliy. more to
obligc them than anything else, consen-
ted. The man said he would examine my
head and give me n chart of IL for IS, or
lie would tell me my main characteristics
for 81. ! told him 81 worth was enough.
He then felt my Uranium and said that ]
would have made a good spiritual medi-
UNI, and he told me that my mind was
capable of working separate from my
body and that | solved problems In my
sleep. lgave the man So for his knowl-
edge and nave had more faith in phren-
ology since then than ever before.
Senator Beck was one of the best story
telIcrs of congress. He was a reader and
a student, N was perhaps the best post
eel in Scotch classics of any man In h
senate. He often quoted Burns, and
could, II is said, repeat SCOTS LADY of
the Lake" ofi-hand. lie thought there
were no novels equal To those of Walter
Scott, and he was proud Of his native
wandered over the lands where Burns
and Scott lived n worked, and brought
bach with him "A number Of stories of his
experiences. One was his meeting with
an old school friend. As he met him he
said: And don't you remember me, Dom
ada" Mo- was his friends reply, AS
he scanned his face, 'but / caught a six
poun' salmon to-day in the Firth. and
whenever ] have n that before some
thing has happened. You are either Jim
Beck, who left us thirty years and more
agone. or YOU are John Mcpherson.
Which is it, Sure enough replied
senator Beck, "lt's Jim Beck" "Well,
Jimmy said the old Scotchman, 'they
tell me they are going 10 put you in the
American house OF peers. Is II so? Come
home with me then. and wei eat the fish.
An American lord is a. good any day as a
Scotch salmon"
}. ID. Balen, of Bay City, Mich, was a
.l.a. f.sa..l IA Su n A.. /
New York Tribune, and relates this incl
dent OF one of their outings in Florida. II
was nj Green Cove Springs, AT a resort
kept by Alexander Morgan, "a brother of
John Morgan. the raider. AT the back of
the lawn. which extended To The 81. John
river. was a small foot bridge keep for the
purpose of entering aud landing from the
pleasure boats used by the guests. and
from this bridge IL was customary To
throw into the river all Inc refuse aud de- |
bris. from the table of the house. As "A
consequence catfish II all sizes were in
the daily habit Of coming close under
meath TO feed OH the broken victuals, and
il was "A rare sight to see the fights
and commotion caused by the e.
forts Ia get the largest supply by
individual fish. Senator Beck, Mr.. Balcn
and others were standing on this bridge
ono sunny day when tho darky from the
house appeared with a large tin pan of
stun, which he dumped into the water.
In "a mn the fish were struggling he
meath the bridge, and senator Beck, as
excited as a school hoy. was leaning far
over the rail laughing, cxclaiming and
gcsticulatiug. when HE spectacles in their
which he carried in his outside coat
pocket, fell out into the water. In a
homer a catfish, certainly two feet long,
rose 10 the surface. took in the case. spec
iacles II all, and made a bee line for the |
middle OF the river. The senator yelled
out. stop him! stop him! He's got my
glasses" u then realizing the ride |
ulousncss Of the situation burst out laugh |
ing so heartily hat he could almost have
been heard at jacksonville.
Feminine Thrust and Reply.
Luun..n H. n..Iun AuID.rIu.- nu.uII.