The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-05-01

was worldly wisdom. He never had much
contact with men ard his life was rather
that of a professor or literary recluse
than that of the practical man of affairs.
He began life as professor. Then he
went into the army and then to Con-
gress. He had little experience with
the hard knocks and the business of the
world, and he made mistakes OF Judgment
that a more eX perienced man would have
seen and stunned. He was very timid
man in some things and a very bold one IN
Others. He was always brave on the money
question, and he took his position early as
to a sound currency. He always stood up
for the principles he believed in and his
timidity was rather in regard to matters
relating to himself than to public questions.
He feared newspaper comment, and though
he had some of my democratic tastes, he
was rather ashamed 10 let them be known"
II remember an instance" Tho secretary
went on, (which may give little light on
this phase of Gartield's character which oc-
Cured when we were in Congress together.
He was fond Of playing cards and his favor
! ite game was casino, and he liked to play
for 10 cent stakes. l remember one summer
| night at Wizards hotel we got party to-
! gether and were seated around table in a
room on the second floor on the f street
side in the house facing newspaper row.
Ii was very hot and we had our coats and
vests off and our sleeves were rolled up to
the elbows. The windows were wide
open, and by the gaslight in the room you
could see our cards from across the street.
After we had played about an hour tele-
graph blank was handed me. 1t was from
Bob Vance, the correspondent of the Gin
cinnati Commercial, and it read something
like this:
Immense excitement on Newspaper
Row. a big crowd is watching your little
game. Pools are being sold on the result,
and the boys are sending dispatches out
over the country concerning it,"
| read this dispatch out loud at the table,
and Garfield was very much frightened by
it. He wanted to close the blinds, but we
would not let him, and he evidently feared
that the story of his card playing would be
sent home OF course the crowd was alto
gether fictitious, and l knew the newspa-
! per men well enough to know that they had
other things more important than q little
!, Congressional card game, and that they
were too good-natured TO say anything
! about the matter anyhow No word of il
ever appeared in the papers, but Garfield s
annoyance about the matter amused the
rest of US very much"
How about Cakes Ames and the De
Golyer pavement!"
81 think he was more foolish than wicked
in those things and it was his simplicity
2 that got him into trouble. A great deal OF
fuss has been made about Cakes Ames and
| hold a different opinion concerning him
now than [ did at the time of the Credit
} MobiIier investigation. Cakes AmeS did g
, great work in building that railroad and II
3 was a work that few men could have done
l believe he undertook it more with the
idea of having great name for his family
than for pure money making. He was, you
: know, worth millions, which his family ha6
made out of the manufacture of shovels
I and he wanted to go down in history as the
builder of the Pacific road. 1t was a won
t derful undertaking to contemplate at tina
time and Ames had the nerve to go into i
4 and he was spending millions to carry i
g through All the while he knew that Con
/ gress could at any time knock out hi:
scheme, and he thought, doubt not, tia
: if be could get Colfax, Kelley, Garfield ant
others of the leading congressman Il
: hold little stock in it tina
they would watch the legislation
r and not let his enemies ge
t the advantage of him. Ames was no
d bad man, and the censure of the House
t killed him. 1t is the regret OF my life tina
S I voted to censure bin, and l think he wa
Il very badly used. When Garfield got int
n this trouble his other friends in Congress
from OHIO deserted him, and twas shortly
after this that he had fuss on the foo
Q with Butler. He was, you know, the chair
l man of the appropriations committee, ant
as such he had objected to one of Butler
:. items Butler was very bitter in hi
d speeches, and he sneered at Garfield an,
y got off Latin quotation: "Dc nortttis nj
a nisi bonum' or '.say nothing but good O
e the dead" He wanted to tell the Hous
9 that Garfield was dead man, and hi
8 speech was so mean that went to GARFIELD
n and shook hands with him, and told hin
g that was his friend and that would sticl