Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-01-25


| turned by breeze that comes very far from
! being q cyclone.
There are but few men in public life who
do not follow out. this common aspiration
of their species. Here and there is one who
pursues his way alone, unblssssd by the
confidence of his fellows, moody, solitary,
peculiar, more or less unhappy. Such a
one is Senator Hill. For some reason, which
no one has yet quite fathomed, the New
Yorker does not seem to be DESTROYS of
forming any warm friendships in the SEN
ate chamber. Though the rule in that body
is for every man to have one or moro
chums, Mr. Hill apparently feels quite
strong enough to get on alone This does
not mean that he is without friends, or that
he has no one to talk to ON the floor or in
the cloakrooms. But, SO far as can be dis
covered, his friends are more or less distant
friends. In all the lot there is not one close,
confidential companion of David Bennett
Hill.
Senator PETERS Chum.
Senator PETER is another who seems able
to get along without ii male confidant. Mr..
PETER is gloomy and peculiar so far as out
ward appearances go, but he has an init
mate friend, one that sticketh closer than
a brother. 1t is Mrs. PETER. She and the
long whiskered statesman from Kansas are
inseparable. She serves as his private SEQ
rotary. When he is in his committee room,
she is with him. When he is on the floor,
she waits for him outside. When the lunch
con hour comes, they lunch together They
are companions on their way to and from
the capitol and during many leisurely, aim
less walks about the city. No scene on
the streets of Washington is more COM
mon than that of Senator and Mrs. PETER
walking slowly along--he with big, dark
goggles over his dark eyes, and she nimble
and active, apparently serving in the ca
pacity of mentor, friend and guide.
Another senator whose wife is his chum
is the venerable Mr.. Palmer Of Illinois.
Senator Palmer was about 20 years old
when he married Mrs. Hannah Kimball of
Springfield, Ills. 1t has proved a happy
match, despite the sneering of the busy
bodies Mr., Palmer giant almost in
size, while Mrs. Palmer is a little bit Of
woman. but full Of life and energy and an
invaluable assistant to him in all his work
She accompanies him nearly everywhere
be goes. Almost any day she may be seen
at the capitol lunching with her husband
or helping him with his work in his com.
mittee room. She says she has to go along
to take care of the old senator, but he
laughingly retorts that she has not as yet
become accustomed to life in big city and
dare not trust herself ont of his sight amid
81 IpIullcIlS III SuCu d "lCkeU city
as Washington.
Old Time Friendships.
Even presidents feel the need of having
near and comfortable friends. General
Hayes had for his intimates while in the
White House Secretary Sherman, William
Mckinley and General Henry c. Corbin,
now the assistant adjutant general Of the
army. Hayes was always fond of McKin-
ley, and not little of that gentleman's
rapid rise in the political world has been at
tributed to the help which President Hayes
gave him. General Arthur's chum was SEN
ator Jones of Nevada. 1t was to Jones'
house on Capitol hill that Arthur came |
when he arrived in Washington to be pres
ident. He and the genial Nevada man were |
inseparable companions. They dined, drove |
and sat up nights together.
President Garfield's nearest friend was |
none other than James G. Blaine, an exam |
pie which President Cleveland is following |
in making his secretary of state his favor |
lite cabinet officer. Cleveland and Gresh- |
am are like boys together Their relations |
are of the most easy going, informal sort. |
1t is currently reported that they are even
chummy enough to swear at one another at |
times, and certainly they have had enough |
to swear about during the last fow months.
Gresham and Carlisle are also cronies, and
with the president, but Gresham is obvi-
ously the favorite at the White House
When the new cabinet came into Office,
people generally expected Cleveland and
Bissell and Cleveland and Lamont would
be the cronies. but for some reason or other
that expectation has been disappointed
While it is still true that Dan Lamont is Il
man on whose keen Judgment the president
pretty heavily leans, and that Lamont can
come nearer handling the old man. as we
often put it in Washington, with our local
irreverence for greatness born out of long |
familiarity, Dan and Grover are far from
being the chumS they were in the old days. |
Greshsm's Attractive Personality.
Secretary Gresham, just now generally
regarded throughout the country as the
member of tae cabinet in the most unenvi-
able position on account of the Hawaii fias- |
co, has the rare quality of making friends
Of nearly a.! the men with whom he comes |
in contact. Even the men who most Bit
terly Oppose his international ideas or who |
most bitterly denounced him for swapping
parties in tue middle Of the stream are
forced to confess that as a man they have
nothing but affection for him. He 10 one Of
the men who appear to cast u sort Of spell
about those who rub up against them.
Blaine had this quality to marked degree,
though in q little different way. II
Blaine magnetized, hypnotiZed more men
than any other great publicist we have
had i'll this country since the days of An
iiew Jackson He was fond Of max ing the
very men who once hated and despised him
1ow under the influence of his subtle |
and there are many known In
stances of his success in this direction. In
Iced it Is considered certain by those who |!
ire familiar with the facts that IL Mr..
Blaine had not been 30 fond OF exercising
ais magnetism on his enemies, making !
friends and advisers Of them to the neglect, ,
more or less, of his older and trustier
friends, he might have gained the summit !
II his ambition-the presidency of the
United States.
As for Secretary Gresham, it 10 rather odd !,
hat man personally so popular should be
II such hard luck politically or in his OH
ial capacity. A curious instance of Grsah.
ms ability to charm men on whom one '
would naturally suppose he would exert ne
/ huence whatever La found In ths case Of
Senator Murphy OF New York. Two men
more unlike it would be difficult to imag-
ne, and Murphy came to Washington
nsering at Gresham and determined to
ave nothing to do with him. The two men
HANGED to live at the same hotel, and Of
curse they met In a few weeks the sec
etary Of state had no 1rmer friend, no !
nore enthusiastic admirer, than the ina.
hine made" senator from New York.
Reed Croniss with Hit.
Ex-Speaker Reed Is big man physically D
nd mentally and sufficient unto himself,
ct even he feels the need of ehum and
nds him in Congressman Hit. The two
nen are like brothers, An odd thing about q
bis friendship was the fact that, while ,