The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1893-03-18
4 scrap from a Page or HIstery.


Editor Democrat:
Within the past few weeks l have
noticed the sever | articles booming
another for the position | ask of the
community. An old citizen asked
Inc why | did not speak in MY own
Dehalf, stating that he could remember
some of my acts which he thought
merited 1t lesst the Endorsement of
the present citizens and which he
thought they could not well afford to
ignore. / am no politician. Never
made q speech in"my life. Lack. of
brains and the full knowledge of that
fact has ever deferred me from any
effcrt in, that direction. y. Y. Il.
seeris to look upon this as a rail
splitting. contest. If such were the
case | Should be sadly left but when
it comes to, receiving and forwarding,
making up, asserting and delivering
the mails l Believe l am the equal of
any other Democrat, be he young or
old. -
[ will now remind nv fellow citi-
zens of the part | have taken as q
citizen for the past forty years. L am
truly a citizen of the past and only q
perambulator of our streets for the
present. The past is too soon for
gotten. While the present is con-
tinually staring US in the face When
| returned to this city [the dearest
spot to me on earth) from New
Orleans in 1852, l came to make it my
future home. l associated myself in
business with the then postmaster
and::,merchant, W. Fl. Gale. 1t was
soon learned that l had brought
with me a most attractive pile which
was not invested in my business. In
a short time l r. Wathen, Andrew
Giboney, DIR. Wilson Brown and
others called en- me in a body, stating
that they wished ire to join them in
building a Rock Levee across the
swamp. They represented the road
then in use as a most dangerous and
impossible one, where cattle and
horses were being mired down and
vehicles lost. Also advocating the adj
vGntsgcs of a road o fthis kind would
be, not only to the city but to my
business. We obtained a charter and
built what is now the Rock Levee. 1t
cost NE LIS dollars and the company
about IA thousand, and neither this
city, county or State paid a single
dollar towards it. To that road may
be attributed the first impetus to this
city's business prosperity. 1t gave us
the Scott county and New Madrid
trade and its benefits are now being
felt, especially by those owning
property and doing business in the
southern part of town. That handful
of less than q dozen men should have
their names cut on the stone steps
leading 10 the court house that their
memories might remain green in the
minds of the rising generation. Not
a great while afterwards the BLOOM
field Gravel Road Co. was ccntem-
plated and again my attractive pile
was largely diminished. Then the
jackson Gravel Road was being ex-
tended and my pile again resoried to
and diminished several hundred dol
lars. In all about two thousand five
hundred dollars, for which | received
In return just sIs dollars. This is my
financial history of the past-when /
was somebody.
l have a petition "a short one) in
presenting which l invariably ask
the question, have you signed any
petition. The answer Oh Main street
generally is l have, | signed one on
the Sunday after the election. Or
course 1 passed on as that bird was
too early for me ana was evidently
after the worm. In fact | have never
thought a change would be made on
the day of the inauguration and so
far have taken no action farther than
above stated. j. b. PHJLIPsON.