Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-01-28

oof ~ osnvecnn1,on rovsaIsd : usan ct
es1enate kuovisdk~ Of nsen and Al
tara - yell - pollt,cA iis AppAf-
ent<y took . deep intsfss< ~ tae
sUs-ler aeens.s Of every DAY NE ana
Ma possssrsd Of = syupAthstic nAiafe
that caused nlm - notice stsn Inc
iirtln children ~ the w<ysids and tns
issisties q nature - Ne vlsssd theta
ds tAlksd enthusiastically u tne
growth and ssidsns prosperity Of TIE
uost when be nad eesn 70 crop oat IA
every direction
Tue deve.opmert Of character IN the
psopls had also interested hir As
nuen - nzstsr.ai shsnKs- he d.
GUESSED the progress OF events ne de-
vs.opm<at Of ace nation. la Al e.
eeedingiy Interesting m4nner. MS
whole conversation Lifted nim Abose
the plane OF the mere politician and
showed him - ~ . man among men.
ncs seeking 10 displAy his knosleize.
bat syupAtletc and snthussslie -
child lie wzs greatly pleased with
tAs sndieAtions here OF development
and prosperity. related 70 him some
tang Of The growth and early history
of Inc stAte. and from figures before
me uns able 70 correct Tor him some
erroneous impressions that prevailed
IN tho east ~ 10 the amount OF mort
gsges on Michigan farms a. that time
found them greatly ovsf-estim>ted.
After my ride with bin l no longer
wondered II hls great popularity or
the admiration and esteem IA which ne
vas held. Tho impression he made on
me Was that Il iarge-heArsed and
pure-m.ndsd man."
Among Newspaper Men,
"Ny acquaintance with James u.
Blaine will always DO . pleasant recol-
lection" said john II. Aclrtyre
10 . reporter for THE HERALD. who
met HIM IN the reading room OF the
Morton yesterday afternoon. 81 Was
lust starting on my career as q news
paper man on THE HERALD and MAS
fun OF ambition aud enthusiasm. Ii
uas 10 the month OF October. 1881,
when Mr.. Blaine was making his tour
through Michigan. delivering cam
paign speeches, and when Editor Lloyd
Breeze assigned me 10 accompany
the party and report the scenes
aud incidents OF the trip. guess
| WAS the hsppiest man IN town.
/ boarded the special tram on which
the Blame party were travelling IN De-
| troit and found seversl other newspa-
per men aboard. among them r. u.
/ Fisher OF tins city. We occupied one
end OF General Manager Muiliken'
| private D., l.. 4 n. coach and Mr..
l blaine and his eon Walker were IN the
same car. We took = roundabout way
To Grand Rapids, visiting lonia aud
Zig Rapids. and making IN all twenty.
seven stops, ~ each one OF which Mr..
l Blame delivered . speech One thing
/ that struck me IN particular Was the
/ facility with which Mr.. Blame seemed
I To grasp the interests and industries oil
each place We visited. lie seemed IL
know almost by intuition just what
vas going On IN every town, and be
never failed TO make local hit
"Anotner peculiar thing / noticed
was that whenever we stopped he To-
sisted on having personal knowledge
that Walker Was aboard the ram Ire
fore We started again. and would take
no ones cay so for II
Mr. blaine mt fonia.
At Ionia we made q long stop and
they had made great preparations FOL
/ the event. A barbecue was IN pro
gress near the depot and several bras
bands were on hand Mr.. Blaine wa
escorted TO u platform car side
tracked near the depot tor the pur
pose. and ne there made splendid
speech 20 a big crowd. NJ. III. Ford.
remember. sat near him on the caranS
took shorthand notes. After tn
Grand Rapids visit l continued witt
the party Tor several days and Travelled
through this state and into Indiana
remember one incident az Ceda
springs that struck me particularly
Col. l.. Mcknight Sellers, who WAS oil
tho reception committee from tn
town, met Is at the train and was in
troduced To Mr.. Blaine by Genera
Cutcheon. On hearing the name a pc
cul.ar smile lighted up Mr.. Blaine
face and he said quickly: YOU'RE no
the man VINO wants 'reconstruc
ton, the Old flag and appTopr:s
tsons. are your That. you know
WAS one OF John T. Rsymond's hits i
his play OF Colonel Sellers
"During the trip | interviewed Nj
Blaine several times and was completed
won by him, ne were all the newspape
men on the train. lie seemed TO max
= special effort to please the newspape
boys ard invite their condolences, an
number OF times he walked down {
our end OF the car and sat IN the midi
OF an sdmiriug group Of correspond
ents. Whenever he made q speech h
waited for the scribes 10 get n posltid
10 take 10 before he started. and nev(
once on the whole trip did he repei
himself.
zone Of Mr.. Blaine's most remar(
ahls powers was his memory of persot
whom ne had met. In spite OF II
fac. that be WAS introduced sad spo3
10 thousands Of people during tn
trip, when | SAW MN IN tho Nortt
eight years afterwards. be immediate
recognized me and called mo by mani
IL vas go with everyone with whom
bad once been acquainted"
DIR. vAUGHAN's LECTURE.
n.