The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-24

me in brief notes, then written out "a, Il
wards and submitted to him for reyisic,
Ofcourse was delighted to have the oppo,I
tunity of publishing so important an mi
terview from so distinguished a puhII
man. This pleasure was heightened NJ
the fact that it was his first interview. snaI
still further. that it was sought by him. Il
/ do not propose to give in detail the al
velopments OF this wonderful interyiexI
Mr.. Carpenter from the first treated ~
with the absolute confidence of tried AMI
true friend. If 1 had published the inteX
view as it actually occurred it would hasM
made him the laughing stock OF al
country, and as there is no more effectiI
weapon than ridicule he would have ~
don6tedly been defeated in his senatorsI
ambitions. To show the correctness n
this it is sufficient to indicate the rel
character of the talk. Mr.. Carpenter WI
profoundly cynical. and constantly CO.. \
suited with mis- partner as the shred i
politician who knew the sped /
wants of the aching hean I
of the Wisconsin constituent
Mr.. Carpenter would be asked leadia /
question relating to some one of the grsiH
issues OF the day and he would repFY
copiously and eloquently, then he woaa
suddenly shut off the flow Of eloquens
and ask me 4 question: How does tn I
strike you ?" OF course. | always DECLINE /
to express an opinion. This refusal alwsr
irritated the senator. Perhaps you thiiiI
that opinion wouldn't go. Then how
would this go?" The senator would uox
turn about, and with that intellectua
dexterity FOR which he was noted, presen. l
upon the instant another chain OF reason
ing, based altogether upon dill
ferent line of view. This second
opinion would be expressed wthl
such candor and such simplicity to appear
to be the real heartfelt conviction Of thsI
candidate. But then he would alway,
turn to his partner tor his opinion. ..CoIe
man, do you think that will GOT" III
Coleman said YES" the paragraph va
allowed to stand. If Coleman's expressioa
indicated even q doubt, the senator wouA
right-about-face and present another opin.
ion. Some of the Questions called ont a.
least half dozen wholly different answsl
They were nearly all taken down. NJ.
Carpenter would say, Il don't wish d
trouble you, but if you will kindly wrts
out those gems of thought l will later On
selectthe particular pearls with which
desire to adorn my discourse"
And so the interview went on. Tbs
morning session was followed by an even.
ing session of the same day, and such q
kaleidoscope view of the senator's mind
do not believe was ever noted by any enc
of his particular friends in so short q pc
over a period of three days. and at last the
senator looked across the table at me with|
an air of great amusement and relief as hs|
tossed back the gray wave from his sleepy|
eyes, seeming to think that he had finished
with the whole thing and that the worki
was now to be begun by the interviewed
Heexpressed at no time the first shade Of
any lack of confidence in me. He gave msI
that great mass of ridiculously CONTRADICT
n Nerr
handwriting, so that no one could haysI
doubted their verify without the slightes
shadow of distrust. | carried this bund
of miscellaneous notes over to my hona
and worked on them for tine next three Fl
four days. Mr.. Carpenter went to NeEI
York the next day. Before going he said /
81 leave the whole matter in you'll
hands. You aud Coleman can fr|
it up between yourselves. :" While in
New York he telegraphed me: Hold The
interview until l return" This request
was, of course, complied with. When NJ
Carpenter came back within few DAYS 10
took the manuscript as Mr.. Coleman audI
had revised it and again revised it. Mr.. Car.
penter's special desire to stop the interyisw
as indicated by his telegram, was on a.
count of the financial paragraph IN it. He
said: 'Cut out the question and the
answer" adding, There isn't a man in
Wisconsin but what knows that | know
nothing about the management of finances.
public or private, and l am not going 10
try to make fool of myself pretending
that | do" And so the financial parsr
graph was dropped.
The interview produced from the mass|
of notes finally left column and half
of printed matter. The original conversa-l
ton would have required at least six cciyj
umns. AS it was finally printed it az.
peared 10 be an easy oil hand talk betweenl
the correspondent and the senator. The|
senator was depicted as coy and not over-|
willing, but finally yielded with complals-|
ance TO the demands made upon his cour.
tesy by the ardent requests of CORE
spondent ambitious to publish his first in
terview. 1t was copied into every paper
in the state of Wisconsin, and presented
the senator in such a favorable light TO his
state that he was reelected to the United
States Senate with less opposition than be
could have hoped. During the entire cam
paign he never went near the state, and
when the election was over and he ~
again restored to his proud place in tie
Senate, Mr.. Carpenter was very frank .
admit that ne owed this election 10 tbs
particular newspaper interview.
shall never forget the last time that
saw him. He was then at the zenith Of
public success. He had conquered all -
home enmities. so that be was certain .
remain in the Senate as long as he lived
he occupied position in his professsoa
unriyaied. He was constantly in demand
in the greatest OF the leading cases IN
the supreme court. Fees poured into himI
from every direction. The mere annuuace-
ment that he was going % sneak in n, :
Senate crowded the galleries with Oh
beauty and fashion OF Washington ClfI
society. Upon the evening l called 10 -
him found him sitting alone in one
the smaller rooms OF his suite. He "a
seated in front Of the dead ashes Of |
blackened fireplace HIS soft black ID
was shaded over his eyes. This xas hii
iayorite position when engaged II
thought. / did not know az that time
that the senator was looking from tel
shadows Of the gathering gloom Of the |
twilight OF that summer evening lato al
open grave. He had Just returned fronl
New York, where the most emin4>u
physicians Of the day had told him thai
there was nothing in medical sciencsX
which could prolong his life beyond onsX
year. He came home from this consults1
ton under sentence OF death. His mall
Hdy, Brignt's disease. had become so "a
developed before he had thought ID neces1
sary 10 consult the best medical advic4
that there was no hope for him. The SEM
ator asked the physicians TO produce IN
proofs OF their sentence. They gave him
all OF the authorities upon the subject q
this most intricate and battling dseass
They also showed him the tests as mzd4
by them in proof of the deadly charactej
OF the evidence they had found in thei4
examinations. Mr.. Carpenter did not sei
cept this as final until ne had mastered tn
authorities upon the subject and had himi
sell made the test described by the phy%
siclans. Upon the evening I saw him b
mad made all these calculations and bad
inquired out nearly to a day how long y
would have TO live. He was Unusually