Omaha daily bee., 1891-09-27

t - -. -
were skulls and cross bones. Senator Sher-
nan wrote the report Of the committee and
IL was smuggled through TO Nashington IN
side the clothing OF the wife OF DIR. Robin
son, afterwards governor Of Kansas. john
Brown was the sergoant-at-arms OF the com
mittee and Senator Sherman says that
Brown told him all the circumstances OF the
killing at Ossawatomlo and seemed surprised
TO think that he should consider the hanging
of men by a sort Of vigilance committee rs
contrary to law lie referred TO Ben Wade
as being a better man than he was credited
with being, aud said; "Ben Wade was
rough in his expressions and he was often
accustomed to use tho word damn but he
never accompanied it with the name OF the
Deity and | do not think he ought to be
called a profane man.
asked Senator sherman if he realized at
this time that the war was coming.
He replied, "Yes, ! mad no doubt of II and
l told my southern friends in congress that
If the states seeded there would certainly
be war. They thought differently and many
of them believed that the north would &C
cept secession without n struggle. | rcmem-
Der one, ar especial friend of mine, Crawford
Of Georgia. We often talked over the sltua-
tion together and, Just before ne was about
TO leave Washington, | urged him not TO TO
go. He said, why, Sherman, | am sure to
come back again. | am going TO the south
now aud in two years | will be back here
at Washington MS envoy extraordinary and
minister plCnipotentiary from the Confeder-
ate States TO the United States replied,
you are much more likely to come back
here as u prisoner Of war. You do not APP
preciatc our people at the north. You have
no idea Of our character or our resources.
We have not commenced to think OF the mat
ter of secession seriously as yet. We have
not begun to get angry, but | can tell you,
that the north Will never permit u disrup-
tion Of the union and, If the south attempts
1t, every home in it will be visited with the
horrors of war Crawford did not believe
me, but when | met him some years later at
the Atlanta Exposition, he referred to the
conversation"
sherman and Hayes.
Senator sherman knew President Lincoln
well and y mutual admiration existed be-
tween them. He was intimate with all the
presidents from Lincoln to Harrison aud lie
was as close to President Hayes as any man
in his cabinet. During our conversation !
asked him what eX-President Hayes was do
ing now.
Senator Sherman replied: ale is living
as an ex. president ought TO live. He is rich
and no is d~evoting his energy
and his fortune solely to the public
good. He is connected with a number
of charitable associations ana no private life
could be more useful than his. He is about
20 years of age now, but he IS in a good con-
dition physically and Intellectually. lie
avoids nOtoriety aud mas taken no part in
politics since he left the white house. | con-
slider him a man Of much greater ability than
he is given credit for. His administration
was always burdencd with the question OF
the legality of his seat, but he gave the coun-
try one of the ablest administrations of its
history and he was as good an executive as
any country has ever had
"By the way, senator, | see that Ben
Butler has written a book. You must know
himm
YES" replied Senator Sherman, "Beu
Butler is a remarkable character. l first
knew of him during the Charleston conven-
tion of 1850, but | did not meet MIN till he
was a major general. during the war. | don't
think he was a great soldier, though con
sidering the fact that he had no military
training, he did fairly well. In politics, he
has always belonged to the school of In
tiationists."
Stories of Thad Stevens.
From Butler the talk drifted to Thaddeus
Stevens and Senator Sherman said:
"Thaddeus Stevens and | were great
friends, though we were always on different
sides of money questions and he used to say
that my eyes were not big enough to see
anything but q gold dollar. lie was Il man
of brilliant intellect, biting sarcasm and
innate wit. He was an ardent supporter of
mine at the time of the Long speakership
contest of 1859, when for eight weeks, the
house balloted for a speaker. For weeks |
was within three votes of II majority and my
friends stuck to me until | saw that there
was danger that a democrat might be elected.
/ then urged my friends to choose some
other man who could take my votes and get
enough additional ones to secure the election.
All of my friends except two SAID they would
vote for anyone L selected, and these two
were Thaddeus Stevens ard Mr.. Spinner,
who was afterwards treasurer. They refused
to compromise on anyone, and Chaddeus
Stevens said that he would vote for Sherman
till the crack of doom. Notwithstanding this
| picked out Pennington Of New Jersey US
the candidate in my place. My friends voted
for him and enough others came in to secure
his election, but it was so arranged, that to
bring about the election, Thaddeus Stevens
had to vote for Pennington. AS he did so,
one of the congressman rushed over to him
and said:
"'Mr. Stevens, l thought you had sworn
to vote for Sherman till the crack of DOOM
"'Well,' whispered Stevens, US he pulled
the man over and put his mouth to his ear, Il
think | hear it cracking
'"Thaddeus Stevens was quite i'll for some
years before he died. Senator Sherman
went on. "lie knew lie had to die soon, but
this never affected his spirits. During his
last days in congress he had to be lifted out
of his carriage and carried up the steps to the
capitol. He was a very heavy man and he
had two big, burly negroes to carry him. One
day, just II few weeks before his death, when
these young fellows, after great labor landed
him on the top, he said, as he paid them:
Boys, | don't know what I'll do when you
die.'h
Some Notable Experiences in Europe.
Senator Sherman has travelled through
every part Of the United States.
He has visited every state and ter
ritory u number OF times. He has made
several trips to Europe and during his visit
of 1867 he hau some remarkable ex experiences.
During our talk the question of Prince Bis
inarck's retirement to private life came up
and | asked him if he had ever met Bis
mark. .
He replied, 81 met him in 1867. 1t was at
Berlin ana we had II long talk together.
The greater part OF our conversation was as
TO the war which had then just closed and
BismarlS told me that he was glad TO say that
the sympathies of every man III Germany,
from the king in his palace 20 the peasant in
his cottage, were with the north in that
struggle. Biamark was in his prime ut that
time. He was taller than | am and much
heavier. His features were decidedly Ger
man but he talked English as well as / do,
and / was much impressed by his ability and
character"
Did you meet Kaiser WilhellnW
"He was not Kaiser Wilhelm then,n re-
piled the senator, me was plain King
William of Prussia. No, | visited his palace
at Berlin. but did not meet him, as no was
engaged ut the time of my visit. | met him
a few weeks later at Paris under remarkable
circumstances. 1t was at the time of the
international Exposition of 1867 and / was
presented by our minister to France, the
Hon. John A. Dix, to the French emperor.
Napoleon ILL.,, to Car Alexander of Russia
and to King William OF Prussia. The
audience was in the palace of the Tuiileries.
We were in evening dress with knee
brooches and stockings and remnmber