The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-06-13

who knew him personally. was very fond
Of telling Stories said an ex-congress-
man from North Carolina at one of the
uptown hotels last evening. If you
were to visit his native state you would
never hear him referred to as senator
to the persons who knew and loved
him, and even TO his enemies. he was
known as Zeb Vance. In fact, every
body he ever came in contact with liked
to refer to him as Zeb. His friends can
repeat scores of stories told by the vet
eran legislator. One that 1 have heard
him tell a dozen times, and which was
a prime favorite with him, ran in this
way:
"AshvilIe. which is now the most i'm
portant city in Western North Carolina,
was u very small place along in the
'4O's. 1t was out Of the path Of
travel, and the only man in the vicinity
who could read was a person by the
name of Brown. When a pOstoffice was
established there, Brown was naturally
made postmaster His office was, Of
couse, pretty much of a sinecure, as
there was little or no mail. Brown had
a little general store which was a favor
lite lounging place for all the men Of
the vicinity. On a winter day, when a
crowd was gathered in the store, some
one suggested that they subscribe for
a weekly paper in common, so as 70
be able to keep up with what was going
on in the outer world. This was done
and the men assembled in the store
weekly to hear Brown read the news.
Brown was very conscientious. He be-
gan at the top of the first column of the
first page and read straight down
through the advertisements and all, just
as he came to them. This was slow
progress. and several lengthy sittings
were necessary to complete one issue of
the paper. When the spring came and
the men were kept busy with their farm
work they found that they couldn't
spare more than day or two out Of a
week for the readings.
Brown found that he was falling be-
hind at this rate, and when the men be-
gan to stay away, except when rain pre-
vented their doing outdoor work, the
papers accumulated on his hands. He
adopted a plan of reading the papers in
order, forming a stack by showing the
latest issue underneath and taking them
off the top one by one. as he came to
them, and his auditors were none the
wiser. The stack kept growing upon
him, in spite of his best efforts. and
when the Mexican war broke out there
was a formidable pile to attend to. Since
the neighborhood depended altogether
upon these occasional readings for its
news, il happened that nobody heard
about the outbreak Of the war until
some months after peace had been de-
clared.
THE paper containing the first news
of the fighting was listened to with a
great deal of excitement, and when battle
after battle was read about, the excite
ment became intense The neighbOrs felt
hot brrt fbiocr
to do patriotic Americans and they
did it. military company, comprising
every man of fighting age within the
radius of the influence of Postmaster
Brown, was organized. The men were
armed with flintlock rifles and dressed
in homespun. They marched as far as
Salisbury before they were informed of
the real state of things. The war had
been over for a year. The men marched
back to Asheville and Brown was forced
to leave town when the brave soldiers
learned how they had been duped.'
Another story, often told by Senator
Vance, referred to one of his own expert
enceS when he was making a personal
canvass for votes in a backwoOds settle
ment where he was entirely unacquainted.
An announcement that he would speak at
a crossroads settlement, consisting OF q
grocery store and one house. brought out
about sixty men of voting age, whom he
found waiting for him when he rode up.
He dismounted, hitched his horse and be-
gan TO crack jokes in the regulation back
woods style.
"He flattered himself that he was MAX
ing a rather favorable impression. but
noticed that one old man, with brass
bowed spectacles and an air of deep
thought sat upon an empty box and
drew marks in the sand with a stick,
as if Zeb were not worthy of any par
ticular attention. AS Vance expressed
it. he thought that this old man was the
bellwether of the flock, and he accord
ingly prepared to capture him. Zeb
sided up to the old man, who leaned
forward on his stick, and asked solemn
ly:
"'Yes, sir replied Vance.
".And you've come here to see my
boys about voting?'
Yes, sir
"Well. afore you go on I want to AK
you a question or two. What church do
you belong toy
Vance said that the question was a
poser as he didn't really belong TO any
church. But il was very important for
him to win the votes, so he decided to
make a bluff, as he knew the factional
feeling ran high in the region. He
squared himself, and said slowly:
We'll, my friend, it is a fair ques-
ton and I'll tell you all about it. You
see my grandfather came from Scotland
and of course he was a presbyterian.
HE paused to note the effect. but the
old man made no sign. But my grand
mother came from England. and there
everybody belongs TO the episcopal
church. He stopped again. but the old
man kept his eyes on the ground.
Z" My father was born in this country
and grew up a methodist Still there
was no sign of approval from the old
man.
Vance began to feel uncomfortable, but
made one last effort. 'BuO my mother
was baptist. and it's my opinion that
a man has to go under water to get to
heaven
1.-The old man got up and shook Zebs
hand. You're all right he said, and
turning to the crowd went on: Boys,
he'll do l thought he looked like a bap-
tist' Then a flask of mountain dew was
passed around, and Zeb received the
unanimous vote of the neighborhOOd when
election came around.
''Vance once stumped the state in joint
debate with Judge Settle, the republican
candidate for the governship. All the
white democrats turned out TO hear
Vance, and the colored republicans came
to hear Settle. At the conclusion of the
speaking one day Vance was told that
number of young women had expressed
a desire to kiss the democratic candidate.
He stepped down from the platform
and kissed a dozen or so of the pretty
young women. when he stopped long
enough to turn around to his competitor