The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-08-02
A ROMANCE OF THE ROW.
Whose Origin Has Been wrongfully Inn
puted to Private Secretary Ha1ford.

Whose Origin Has Been Wrongfully Inn
puted to Private Secretary Halford.
Two young men sat several Sunday evenings
ago in the dining-room of we'll known up
town resort for newspaper men. One Of them
was a correspondent, the other department
official. The latter was half-jocularly, half
seriously abusing the journalistic profession
and ridiculing the idea advanced by his COM
panion that the press was great power in the
land which the biggest man feared and re-
spected The department official declared
that public men as a rule paid no attention
whatever to the average newspaper story; that
the endless ''fakes' sent out from Washing
ton especially SO disgusted public men that
they wouldn't take the trouble to deny them.
At last the newspaper man, a correspondent
Of minor paper In an inland city, became
warmed up and declared: "I'll bet you
wine supper here tomorrow night that can
write a story, and not wildly improbable
one either, that the President himself will
deny before supper time comes tomorrow
night. I'll write 1t here and YOU can see it
before l send it out" The department official
jeered at this and declared that the newspaper
man couldn't write ANYTHING and get 1t
printed which the President would ever notice.
"Then you don't want to take the bet P' in
CURED the newspaper maa quizzically. Eyes,
I'll take the bet,n said the other, after
moments hesitation. 'Now let's see you
write the fake"
The newspaper man pulled out a pencil,
got waiter to bring him couple of sheets
of paper and sat few moments twirling his
cigar between his fingers, thinking up story
Then he began to write, and in the course of
ten minutes, with several pauses, ground out
about $50 words. "There, read that" he said
as he finished and turned the dispatch over to
his friend. The latter read the Dispatch
which was about Mr.. Blaine. 1t said the
news had just leaked out here that when
Blaine was taken Ill in New York he became
so discouraged that he sent to the President
his resignation as Secretary of State. 1t was
known, the dispatch continued that Blaine
had for some time before the President went
West been disgusted with the way Mr.. Harri-
son had treated him in connection with the
Canadian reciprocity negotiations and the
Behring Sea matter, and that this made MIR.
Blaine all the more willing to quit the Cabinet
when he found his health broken. In conclu-
sion the dispatch said Harrison was inclined
to accept the resignation, but was dissuaded
BY members Of his Cabinet friendly to Mr..
Blaine They urged that IL the Secretary
were permitted to leave the Administration
he would give himself up altogether to the
hypochondria which always attacks him when
he is Ill, while IL he had to look forward to a
return to duty he would recover much sooner,
These arguments prevailed with the President
80 the dispatch went, and he wrote kind
and cheering letter to Blaine refusing to let
him quit the Cabinet.
When the department official read this dis
patch he laughed heartily and asked the news
paper man IL he really meant to spring the
lake" ON the country. "Certainly, | do,
and here goes" said the correspondent as he
pulled the messenger call in the corner. A
boy came in few minutes, and to him the
dispatch was committed. "If there isn't
denial of that story in the Star tomorrow
afternoon. coid ba
sumed his seat and lit a fresh cigar, "I'll set
up the supper and bottle of Pommery here
tomorrow night" His companion laugh
ingly agreed to do the "blowing off, If there
was denial Of the story
Both watched for the Star eagerly the next
afternoon, and when the newspaper mans eye
struck the Cape May dispatch he laughed.
There, sure enough, was an emphatic denial
from the President that Mr.. Blame had sent
IN BIS resignation after he was taken i'll in
New York. That night the newspaper man
ate good supper and helped drink bottle
Oh Wine at the expense of the department
ofiicial. The latter, perhaps, would not have
PAID the bet 30 willingly If he had known that
the newspaper man had telegraphed to
friend, another newspaper man, in Cape May,
asking him to see the President about the
Blaine resignation story and get denial of it.
This little piece of strategy the newspaper
man kept to himself, and the thought of it no
doubt gave a peculiar zest to the supper and
the Pommery.
And 1t should be said in justice to Private
Secretary Halford that the story which origin
ated as above described has been persistently
attributed to him because it was sent to a
Western paper of which friend of his is cor
respondent in Washington. This came about
In this way: The newspaper man who wrote
1t on wager was asked by couple Of other
correspondents after telegraphing it that Sun
day night If he had sent out any news. Not
being anxious for ''scoop," he told what he
had written about Blaine, and the inauiring
correspondents thought 1t good enough to
send to their papers as well. This is how the
story came to appear in the Western paper of
which Mr.. Halford's friend is correspondent.