The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-05-06

CHAUNCEY III. DEPEW.
Mr.. Depew began forming his first
scrapbook Immediately upon leaving col
lege, and although the library in his
railroad Office contains Al of those inter-
esting compendiums, the commonplace
book begun in his early manhood fills
the niche Of honor. "There," spoke Mr..
Depew, waving his hand at the remark
able collection, zone may see the evolu-
ton of the scrapbook Here in my first
attempt it is in embryo, while in those
folios Of the present year it is nearest
perfection.
SAT first, as now, the chief purpose in
collecting the cream Of the waits and
strays was amusement. Soon after be-
ginning saw that instead of slapping
everything in higgledy piggledly, themat-
ter should be sifted,. arranged and in
dorsed. Mark the little fellow began
with" and while Mr.. Depew futtered
the hundred pages of the volume he re-
ferred to he continued, Zone might as
easily find the proverbial needle in the
proverbial haystack as hope to find any
particular thing in such hodge podge."
Once a week there is made single
page alphabetical list of all articles
posted in the previous seven days, and
that list is added to a rough index, which
is on the first of every year perfected,
printed and bound. Mr.. Depew selects
all the material for the books and never
admits any part of his own speeches, ex-
cept stories that have been humorously
or otherwise distorted by repetition and
publication. Every selection the vol
umns, dating from 1866, hold relate one
way or another to Mr.. Depew. Nearly
all are complimentary to the compiler.
Others are facetious, humorous or sar-
castle.
Mr.. Depew believes that future gener-
ations of Depews will find in his scrap
books an unfailing spring of amusement.
Speaking of the way some of his pet
stories were denuded Of pith by those who,
after hearing them from his lips, told them
to others, he said: "A coon story told
In Boston half dozen years ago is still
going the rounds. i have collected 100
versions of it, and would not venture
to guess how many have escaped me.
Were it not that / caught the first ones
and followed up the trail, would never,
within month after telling it, have rec
ognized my own story. The great joke
is that have heard gentlemen repeat
one or other of the emasculated versions
with the assurance that they were among
the hunters. AS the yarn went, some
coon hunters following a hot track
found the dogs barking around a big
sycamore on the edge of shallow
stream. The hunters thought they saw
the coon in the tree top, and one fellow
climbed to shake it off. Fifty feet or SO
above the earth the climber encountered
big bump that encircled the tree.
with great difficulty he at last climb
ed over the obstruction and was much
chagrined to find that what he took to
be coon was but woody excresence.
Then he Skinned down to the bump,
over which he slid feet first, but wriggle
and stretch as best he could he could
not bring his legs to the trunk below.
The bump prevented it. He crawled up
again and shouted to his comrades, oh,
Iordy, boys; I'm freed 'sted of the coon,
I'm I'll stay here till Gabriel blows less
the river rises so feet an floats me off,
Some of the adaptations picture the coon
sitting on the bump holding the hunter
at bay, others have the river rising in
the nick of time, and third class bring
the other hunters up the sycamore and
over the bump until the three are freed
and praying for a high stage of water"
While pointing out several unique imi-
tations of the coon story his eyes twin
killed. when they fell on another case Of
the kind. Chuckling and tapping the page
| he said:
Here is thing in the story telling
way that amuses me more than any in
the collection, because the forty odd ex-
amples in these books prove to me that
there are men who can outfb a fisher
man. The purpose of the original fiction
which is here ard fanked on either
side with unique variations of twas to
show how utterly impossible it was for
true angler to speak the truth about his
sport. Three anglers seeking trout
stopped at farmhouse, and at sunrise
next day each started to -sh separate
brook. When evening came, two re-
| turned with but half a dozen nngerlings,
By and by the third appeared, and his
companions saw that his face was woe
Aegone looking. What Iuclr they asked.