Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-30

~
! !: !: !. !
S>.kSs2 ~ once. q very rare
EkGM&k<MMWM happening with the
| lEfEEN%NX%N III Senator from Illinois,
lNFSN M\Z| there was ambi-
kM~~NA II tious office seeker
4EEAe-~W~ present. and nobody
W. FM who cared to talk
about silver.
Gen. Palmer-one Is at no loss for a title
by which to address him. since out in ILL.,
nois he is addressed as colonel. general.
| judge or Senator by his friends. and as Mr..
Palmer by his wife-settled himself IN his
chair. while the pleased look Of one who
| remembers interesting things and likes TO
! dwell upon them. stole over his face.
Yes. knew him WELL 1 met him for the
| first time, / think, in 1899, though before
that had heard him speak in court"
And was he eloquent asked an inquis-
tive newspaper man in the corner.
NO." said the Senator, hardly eloquent.
/ regarded him as a good lawyer. fair
speaker-methodical and painstaking rather
than eloquent. But as of course you know,
he was a great story teller"
This promised well, and nobody coming
| in to interrupt The Star woman wished for
| memory phonographically constructed.
| and settled herself to listen.
A sample Lincoln Story.
Lincoln never told a story simply for the
sake Of the story. His object always was
| to illustrate point. / remember what was.
l think, the first story l ever heard him tell.
It was in Springfield and a number Of us
were together one evening. With US was
Judge Krum of st. Louis. Judge Krum
was a good deal out of temper with a local
magistrate who had decided a case against
him. and swore he would carry 1t to the
| supreme court and take the conceit out OF
| that judge.
That reminds me Of a man / once
knew, who had dream said Mr.. Lincoln.
| He dreamed that he was to lind a hidden
treasure in the earth. but this he could do
| only on condition that during the digging
for It, ne keep silent, and say not word.
he set out to dig and a great many things
happened that would have drawn speech
from almost anybody, but the man kept his
| mouth shut. A tremendous infantry battle
went on near him, and a naval engagement
| took place in sight. The man kept on dig
ging and said not a word. A giant came
striding by. taking enormous steps. and
| was soon out Of sight Then O dwarf came
prancing along on his little feet. looking
as If he felt nine feet high. He came to the
edge of the hole and looked in.
Say. he said to the digger the Sem
ator reproduced his high sQueaky little voice
| admirably" have you seen a giant go by
| here?
The man kept on digging. and said not
| a word. Say, can't you give civil answer
| to a question? asked the dwarf The man
kept on digging and said nothing. oh, very
| WELL said the dwarf. III just walk on and
catch up with him pretty soon anyway
The man stopped digging and looked up.
| Yes. you WILL he said
"Of course" said the Senator, I'VE all saw
the application and roared That merely
serves to show his purpose in telling stor-
| les. His height. his lack of comeliness and
his storytelling were his most noticeable
| characteristics.'
He was never anything but extremely
plain In appearance" said Mrs. Palmer
| He was even worse looking in earlier life
| than during his presidency. i can't remem-
Der when did not know him. but I think
he never appeared SO well as he did just
little while before he was killed"
His Greatness Not Foreseen.
| None Of u.s." went on the Senator, "ev-
er foresaw greatness for him. He served
one term in Congress. in the Fortieth. but
didn't make any stir. He was a candidate
for the Senate in 1856. He came to me and
asked my support was unable to give it,
and told him so. as 1 had espoused the anti
| Nebraska bill, and as / had already had a
row with some Of my party because of it.
1t was necessary for me to be more DEM
| ocratic than ever
| Il nominated Trumbull and on the first
| ballot the vote stood about forty-nine for
| Lincoln, forty-seven for Yates and five for
Trumbuil: Lincoln saw that he could not
| get the five of US, and so he went among
| his supporters and made them vote for
Trumbull. Trumbull was elected. and Lin
| coin came to our room that night and we
|
| years later with Douglas.
| THAT was great campaign" said the
Senator, his eyes lighting up with the spirit
! OF fight. I'VE canvassed that state thor
| oughly. 1t was during that campaign that
Lincoln made what 1 consider his greatest
| speech, beginning. United we stand, divided
| we fall Douglas beat however.
When we proposed to nominate Lincoln
| for President, Hornblower, the father of
Judge Hornblower. who succeeds Justice
Blatchford on the Supreme bench, came to
| me and tried to persuade me to consent to
placing Lincoln's name second on the ticket
| He thought We ought to have some known
| and tried man like Seward to head the tick
| ct. David Davis. who was present agreed
with him, and demonstrated with me for
| my obstinacy. but I steadily refused and
| when Hornblower left, took occasion to
| give Davis piece Of my mind"
When the News Came.
IT never shall forget the night the news
came of Lincoln's election" said Mrs Pal
mer 1.-THE ladies of Springfield were serv-
ing hot coffee in an upstairs room over a
| confectioner's. used as an ice cream saloon.
Everybody was there waiting for the news,
and all excitement Mrs. Lincoln was
| there early in the evening, but became
so nervous and excited that she finally
| went home. Mr.. Lincoln seemed not to be
at all excited. / saw him that very day
| walking along the street with a market
basket on his arm, and Tad, his favorite,
| CllllSlnS 10 tne IldTket basket ana doing
his best to keep up with his father
| THE decisive telegram came from New
| York. and Mr.. Lincoln read it out stand
ing under the gas jet in the middle of the
| room head and shoulders above the rest
who crowded the room, and looked on from
| the stairs. He read it with no evidence of
| excitement and then said quietly: Well
| must go home and tell Mary An artist
| from Frank Leslies was present and we
| all appeared in the paper. just as We stood
while Mr.. Lincoln read the news"
| Parenthetically. that is one Of the few
pictures Of Mrs. Palmer to be found for
she is not fond of being photographed, and
| has not had her picture taken" for six
| teen years.
do you think that Lincoln before his
| Inauguration thought there would be big
war; asked the newspaper man with the
inquiring mind.
Yes" went on the white-haired old SOL
der, Il do. / was a member of the peace
conference which met here in Willard Hall
in February and continued into March
said to Mr.. Lincoln that the conference
| would accomplish absolutely nothing, and
asked what he wanted me to do as 1 was
| regarded as his spokesman. He told me 70
make big promises.
| There's going to be war; he said. and
what we want is time. Promise anything
| Il did SO. I promised things 1 could
never have supported. but I knew they
would not be accepted. and they were not
Chase and others wanted a convention
which would divide the country amicably
| hn he orr