The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-04-26

"How can that famous speech affect
the visitor to Duluth now?" asked the
reporter.
"Well, SIR" continued grandfather,
S'that speech has been the bane of my
existence for the past two weeks, and /
believe if had remained in Duluth lit
tie longer it would have been the death
of me. They work that speech on a
stranger just as the people of Green's
burg, Ind. used to work theirguests with
that tree which grew on the top of the
courthouse"
The reporter had never heard of this
Indiana phenomenon, and grandfather
enlightened him.
1.-The thing was this way. The people
of Greensburg were surprised to find
that small tree was growing on the
roof of the courthouse in that town.
They never could account for it exactly,
but the theory is that some boy had
fired an acorn on top of the courthouse
and it had lodged and taken root in one
Of the cracks of the slate roof. ANY.
how, from small bush it grew and
grew until it got to be several feet high.
OF course it was great curiosity in the
town, and people came in for miles to
see the oak tree growing on top of the
courthouse.
"When stranger struck the town the
very first man he would meet would be.
gin to tell him of the great curiosity
they had around at the courthouse, and
would wind up by marching him around
to see the tree growing on the roof.
You would meet another friend, and
about the first thing he would say would
be something like this:
"'l suppose we have one of the most
curious things in this town ever seen
anywhere. Around at the court house
we have tree growing right out of the
tiling of the rocf,' and then he would
grab you by the arm and prance YOU
around to see it.
"Well, you see how this thing would
be when fifty or sixty people would tell
you, one at time, about this con-
founded tree and feel mortally offended
If you didn't walk around with them to
take look at it. It's the same way up
at Duluth in regard to Proctor KNOTS
funny speech. OF course, there never
would have been a race-horse called
Proctor Knott if this speech had not
been made, but that's no reason why a
man who goes to Duluth on business
can't be given chance to transact his
business and get away without being
bounded around town by lot of people
who want to prove to you how far Proc
tor Knott was off his base when he
ridiculed Duluth in his speech.
Stranger in town, L suppose?' in
quired the landlord of the hotel where
stopped. l told him l was. 'Duluth's
quite city now,' he went on. Last
census gave us $4,000. Got ten news
papers, and when the Government fin
ishes Its improvements we will have a
dockage front of twenty miles. How
many bushels of wheat do you suppose
were shipped in here in thea last
four months? A fraction over Is, 229, Az
bushels. Think of that! And yet this
is the place that Proctor Knott ridiculed
so numerically in his great speech be-
fore Congress. His mock heroics over
the town Of Duluth, that he claimed to
have never heard of, were simply kill
ing. Standing in the halls of Congress-
and the landlord stood up erect to be
better able to give me a correct idea of
Mr.. Knott's great rt-'standing in the
halls of Congress, thus, Proctor Knott
said: Duluth! The word fell upon my ear
with peculiar and indeScribablec charm.