The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-01-02

One of the most ...a
have come into the United Statee4s
ate in recent years is Nathan Fellows
Dixon Of Westerly. r. l., elected to fill
the unexpired term Of Jonathan Chace,
who resigned in April. 1889. IL is a
matter of history that Daniel Webster
and other men Of his time could repeat
word for word the Constitution of the
United States. and that II was no task
at all for them to rattle off the Decla-
ration of Independence from memory
without missing a word. Senator
Dixon has not yet put his memory to
this test. but ne has shown what
wonderful one 1t Is in another and,
perhaps, more difficult manner. Some
time ago. after he had been senator
but few months, he astonished his
colleagues one day by repeating en-
tirely from memory and without maxi
ing single error the roll call of the
Senate, consisting of eighty-four names,
arranged alphabetically. There were
many expressions of surprise at this
exhibition of his peculiar powers, but
Mr. Dixon modestly protested that he
had performed no feat at all, and then
| to prove it he almost paralyzed his
astonished hearers by repeating the
roll call backward. without once hesi-
tatiug or committing an error of any
kind.
Repeating the roll call in alphabet
cal order is not the only evidence of
Senator Dixon's wonderful memory.
So closely has he watched the proceed
ings in the Senate and so keen is his
sense of observation that he can at any
time call off. entirely from memory,
the list Of pairs stating accurately just
vut.af uT@n TRatrad with aanh
other, and on what subjects. Senator
Casey has charge of the matter OF
arranging pairs in the Senate, and re-
peatedly he finds it necessary to con-
suit with Senator Dixon. and always
receives information as to the status oi
the pairs which enables him to arrange
everything satisfactorily for all parties.
AS told in the N. Y Sun lately. dur.
ing almost the entire tariff debate
) Senator Dixon kept his head studiously
buried in the report of the finance
committee. When il was accidentally
. discovered in the Senate a few day
ago, it was found to contain among
other things caricatures more or lesi
, fiattering Of several of the more pict
uresque members of the Senate. Ii
. many cases. however, his pictures wer'
in no sense caricatures. but presented
striking hkenesses of the subjects
For instance, on the margin of one o
the pages he had sketched a most per
feet outline of the clear-cut profile O
Senator Evarts of New York. Th
: sketch was such a clever one that tn
portrait was recognized at glance b
9 all who saw It, and Mr.. Dixon ha
been kept busy explaining that be ha
+, no motive in making the picture exceI
to occupy his mind. The book in whic
. he made his drawing is a large volum
containing the various sections of tn
Tariff bill, and the reason why II
changes were proposed, arranged o
alternate psges for ready reference
= The margin of these pages is yer
IN broad, aud it was here that Mr.. Dixo
3 arranged his caricatures, and where
drew on the page relating to works I
at art aud antiquity an almost life-siZe
reproduction of the eherub-like face
70 Senator Hoar. To give an interestir
IN and humorous turn to the picture Il
artist purposely neglected to draw al
In hair on the head of Mr.. Hoar. and Il
effect was most lrdierous. The boo
es was shown about in the cloak room
D. for some time before Mr.. Dixon disco
m cred his loss. AS soon rs he obtains
possession of his improvised album
locked IL IN MS deSk auu feiused
II, show it to ANYBODY. 1t must not
as supposed that Mr.. Dixon used his tar
g. book only for the purposes of sketC
,e' ing. 1t is fact that on the margin
ne the pages he recorded every amen
We ment made to the tariff bill from t
an time it was first called up until it W
a disposed Of together with the yoi
IL. upon them. His album furnishes
uS complete illustrated record of the &C
no sideration of the tariff bill in the Sena
to