The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-12-13
ESTABLISHED JUNE %. 1859 VOL. 90.
ANOTHER OF BILLY" MASON'S STORIES
why he Told the Tale of the Sore
Toe In saccarappa.I
Something About Beer and Baked
Beans at the Tosus home.
Florida Republicans Bring a Message
Of Thanks to Speaker Reed.
Especial to the Press.1

of telling stories of his stumping tour In
Maine last fall. One of his best stories is
about how he used the "sOre toe" illustra-
tion in Saccarappa. When Mr.. Mason ar
| rived in Saccarappa, h prospected about
little before the time for the meeting came,
and found that there was little dissatisfac-
I'll over the disposal of the post office. las
soon as / found out this" says Mr.. Mason,
81 determined to tell the sore toe story. AT
ter l had talked awhile, said, Now there
may be few OF you here whoare not feel
ing Just right over some fanced slight.
| When was boy used to know a boy who
| like all the boys in our school. went bare
| footed in the summer. But this particular
| boy used TO be earliest out OF his boots, and
| the moment he began TO go barefo0ted ne
| tried in every way to stub his toe 10 order to
| make 1t sOIe He used to get the first sore
/ toe in the school, and as soon as he would
| get it he would begin to exhibit 1t in order to
| get sympathy from the other boys. When he
| would see boy coming, he would sit down,
| phil the rag off his sore toe and work TO
the martyr Of the school. Ard as he grew
older he Joined the church, and there he has
been always getting greVed and making sp- |
peals for Sympathy; he always has had |
sore toe; s,ob And d in the lodge, esdiSs; 1iGo;
member. he always has q sore toe.
and wheu l die and go to heaven. where al |
Republicans will 60, expect the first thing |
will be that this fellow will walk up to /
me on the golden pavemeDts. take me by the |
arm. and In a whining tone of voice say to
me, "See here Mason have been a Repno-
lican all my life and ought to have as good
show as any one. but you come over and see
this fellow who only came over from the
Democrats in 1888. He has harp twice as
big as the one they have given m-." You
see, my friends, he will have sore toe even
there; and shall have to tell him what
fool he is and that If he does not stop his
complaining over his sore toe he will soon
get out of heaven and 20 down. down, where
all the Democrat are When got to this
point in my st0r, the audience saw the point,
and warmed up to the applause in great
style. After the meeting was over one OF
the men in my audience came to me, shook
me warmly by the hand and said. that sore
toe story has fixed me. A post office matter
here did not quite suit me anu had de
termined not to vote the ticket this fall. But
am a Republican and none of your sore
toes for me am & ing in and get all my
friends to go in And from what hear" l
guess there were not many fellows with sore
toes in oaccarappa on the day of your cleo
tion."
Among the reports submitted to Congress
by the board of managers for the soldiers
homes for volunteers is the report of Gene
Luther Stephenson, commandant of the
home at Togus, Maine. This hcme has
about 220O inmates, and is in a prosperous
condition. The most interesting portion of
General Stephenson's report Is that which
relates to the sale of beer. "The new build
ing built for the beer saloon has w been
occupied for more than a year." says Cen
eral Stephenson, land confess that some.
what to my surprise its use has not increas-
ed the amount of drunkenness, while it is
more comfortable than the old place where |
1nndo off int /
of tables and chairs for the men to use while |
imbibing their beer am requested to ex |
press my opinion as to whether the sale of
beer tends to the advantage Of the branch
beer to the members of the home was,
think, first started at this branch about six
teen years ag0-l0ng before | assumed the
duties Of governor,-and l have no knowl-
edge nor data which will enable me to make
any accurate comparison between the two
systems. There are many difficulties COLI
nrcted with the sale of beer and the busi-
ness is personally disagrr cable to me- In
many instances men would get intoxi ated if
allowed to purchase all they DE-.
sired, and considerable Judgment is required
in lim ting certain members in order that
they may be kept from abusing their privi
lrRe@. am of the opinion. that in few
cases the desire for stimulaDts
is increased or commenced by the sele and
use of beer; but it is useless to deny that a ,
very large proportion of the veterans who :
seek the national homes are men whose hab- | I
its of using spurious liquors are established :
and confirmed, and entire abstinence could
be- made possible only when it would be im- l
possible for them t1 procure what their ap- | {
petites craved. Unfortunately this Is not | |
the situation In Maine any more than in any
other parts of the country. There can be- | |
found In the vicinity OF the Home numerous | G
places where vile compounds ara sUld, upon | I
which men get Intoxicated. aud which are
deleterious in their effects upon
haah h..olf nf ha nnf n tkAS ~ L
ites control their better judgment 1t bt- I
comes, therefore, choice between two evils, / s
and am convinced that the best course is | !
Tor the Home to furnish a comparatively | {
mild beverage to the men in the form of la
ger beer, than to di.continue the sale alto :
sether; for unless very severe penalties s
were ests Dshed In case Of intoxicati0n they
would surely obtain stronger liquors aud use .
them to excess" (
Assistant Inspector General Avertll, Cf /
the national homes for disabled volunteer
soldiers, finds that one of the chief excel
lenries of the commissary department of the
Togus Home are the baked beans which are {
furnished twice a week
On Thursday delegation of Florida Re-
publicans, headed by Hon. John S, Miz-ll'
collector of customs at Pensacola. called upon
Speaker Reed to express to him their appre- I
.iation of what the House had done in he
lalf Of fair elections, and to express to him |
personally their appreciation of his own
,onrse. The delegates were all white men | :
md representative MEN of their state. They | /
great impatience at the delay of | q
he Senate in passing the elections bin | (
They said that the recent elect on in Florida
,Ould not be called farce, because it did
Tot rise to the dignity of farce. If they
uult not have the Lodge electir bill all |
hey would ask, Mr.. Miz-ll saiJ, would be-
hat the Florida election law might be ap- q
)lied to the whole United States Perhaps, |
hen, the people of the North would under
stand what election methods are in Florida.
Not only are the negroes counted out, but
many New England Yankees as well. All
he receiving and all the counting of votes
N every precinct of the state Is done by the
Democrats, and they can count as they please | !
As result they have eliminated the Repub- |
can party In the state.
|
WALLS GAME CRASHING DOWN..