Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-01-11

II fssl almost - II were the father
OF the n dsru furniture lndustry in
Grand Rapids," aid the veteran Chi.
cAso furniture dealer, J. A. CoiAy Of
Cnacago, IN The lobby Of The Merton
last evening ~ ne compiaeensly sur-
veysd the crowds. II have been COM
ing here for nearly ttairty yeafs When
first began IL buy furniture IN Grand
kapsds. the only frms of any particu-
lar Importance were Berkey q Gay and
Nelson, Matter & Co. The Phoenix, the
orel, hecord 4 Bradfield and none Of
the other leading concerns had been
organized. The firnls that were doing
business had small pszDts Ia compSri-
son with the present mammoth FAC
tories The furniture made then could
not be gwen away nov. 1t WAS . mss-
terplece Of sbomination. Decorations.
Carvings and gswgaws were nailed on,
hlt or mlss, anything to get there.
Most OF the furniture looked a. If IL
might have been dcsigusd by the head
cabinet makers under-study. sucn .
thing - q distinct school or style in de-
Signs was unknown. Now furniture
designer must study his art ~ . sculp-
tor or painter does. lie must be
familiar with the different schools aud
know their dominating characteristics.
He must BE- an artist-and more. he
must tie an inventors concelvor of
original and artistic effects. Another
thing that makes me take an unusual
interest in Grand Rapids furniture 10
that | educated several of the leading
des gners of the city. John Brewer q
one OF them. There 10 one with the
ph9nix. another with Nelson, Matter
company. another with Bergey & Gay.
l can look AT those magnificent crea-
tons OF artistic furniture ana say, I'm
responsible for that"
Milo ID. Campbell of Cold water, ex-
Governor Luce's former private score.
tary, was . guest in the Morton yester.
day. Mr.. Campbell was as smiling,
happy and debonair as he Was pre-
vious 10 the late unpleasantness. The
only cloud across The horizon Of his
happiness was Caused by the statement
alleged to have been made by the con-
gresham pro tempore from the fifth
district to Washington reporter. It
10 in effect that Mr.. Belknap stated
that the caucus had not decided the
senatorial tight and that Stockbridge
might be defeated after all. It Was
claimed that tho friends of Mr.. Luce
and Jay Hubbell would bolt the caucus
when the legislature met and by syndi-
eating with the democrats defeat Sena-
tor Stockbridge. "The idea 10 utterly
absurd-nonsense,"s said Mr.. Campbell
with disgusted scowl. az cannot be-
lieve that Congressman Belknap ever
made the statement. / still have too
much confidence IN his common sense
and judgment to believe that he was
capable OF fathering such an idiotic
rumor. Senator Stockbridge 10 elected
by the vote of the caucus and Governor
Luce and his friends will abide by that
vote. There 10 no more loyal Stock
bridge man in the state today than
Cyrus G. Luce of Coldwater. We made
. good fight and lost. We are not sore;
We are loyal republicans-at least We
try to be. Mr.. Luce 10 happy and con.
tended; he has no i'll feeling toward
anybody, and never dreamed of doing
such . foolish thing - stated by that
statement purporting to have come
from Mr.. Belknap."
81 feel that my character and busi.
ness prospects have been seriously dam.
aged by the statements that have been
printed alb ut me-" said NJ. J. Page of