The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-18

of the United States. At the same table
with him sit perhaps Cornelius Wander
biIt III. Walter Webb and General Lang,
and at other tables are other men who
represent millions. Mr.. Depew's lunch is
q temperate one and he is one of the most
careful eaters In the country. / don't
think he knows he has stomach,
and he confines himself to the substan-
tials, and plate of oyster soup, q bit OF
chicken and cup of coffee making good
meal. He is just as simple as to his
breakfasts and dinners. He eats the first
at about half past seven, and plate of
oatmeal, couple Of soft-boiied eggs, some
buttered toast and glass of milk are all
that he needs. If he takes any coffee it is
not strong, and he sometimes varies the
repast with tea. His dinner Is without
wine. As for smoking, he gave that up
entirely years ago when he found it hurt
him, and he takes no mulants, am
little champagne towards the latter part of
the feast.
HOW eHAuECEY DEPEw SPEAKS.
first heard Chauncey Depew speak at
IN annual dinner Of the Gridiron Club, at
Washington City. The Washington City
correspondents who make up this club are
the pick Of the newspaper men of the
United 6tates. Their dinners are noted,
and United States senators, supreme court
justices, famous generals and men promi-
nent in all branches of life are glad to at
tend them. They come knowing that
what they say will not be reported, but
they also know that they must leave their
dignity outside the club doors, and the
unconventionality which prevails at the
table is TO the guests the charm and the
fear of the dinner. In the speeches made
no one is permitted to be prosy or dull.
If the president of the United States
should tell an old story, it would be
greeted with the word chestnut" from all
parts Of the room, and the phrase-monger
and platitude peddler had better keep his
seat. The speeches are interrupted again.
and again with the sharpest of witticisms,
and chance is offered for the
brightest of repartee. Mr.. Depew's
speech at this dinner was as full of
wit and of ideas as an egg is
full of meat, and he was given several
speeches during the evening. His man.
ner of speaking was a surprise to me- He
uses the conversational tone, seldom
makes gesture and has no rnannerisms
nor trick-cards of oratory. His speaking
makes me think of Joe Jefferson's acting.
and he says he got his first ideas of good
speaking from Wendell Phillips, who
simply talked to the brains of the people
in front of him.
Let me give you picture of Chauncey
Depew as he makes an after-dinner speech.
He looks more like preacher than club
an,and as he stands swinging his glasses
in his hand, looking out of his sober blue
eyes up and down the table. his cultured
clerical face makes you wonder when he
stepped out of the pulpit, and whether,
after all, it is not a mistake, and he is not
about to ask grace. He begins to talk
His words come freely and naturally. He
smiles little as he tells good story, and
his blue eyes twinkle as he
wittily replies to the sally of
one of the men from the other side of the
table. As he goes on, his face beams with
good fellowship, and you note that his
tfty-eight years have not made him old,
and that though his hair and beard are
frosted silver. his soul is as young as that
of any boy about the board. As he con-
tinues, you find that his speeches are more
than stories. You note that he has ideas
as well as wit, and you realize that the
speaker is not only an orator, but man,
and that great one.