Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-12-30
SOME TALES OF THE CLOAK ROOM
EARLY TRIALS OF MEMBERS OF
THE SENATE.


I
Stories oriit out oil the senate cioaN-
t"onS' some OF the men VINO peions
TO the "Milllonaires' club" were forced
to battle with adverse circumstances
In eari, us. "a &, ,,.a,,ts ~. s,rorgo
- 80 '''1 - 'N
"a 'heiF eNperlences shouiu not iuih's"
material for interesting stories. one
who will take the trouble TO study the
,t,a,a. I.,-.t-, T., -, -
skeleton autooiosrapnies IN the CON
Bressionai directory VIII ma that the
proportion OF members OF the senate
who atartad o,,t 4, iiee ananciailv we'll
..,-,
Npuippeu mFery smut ~ the 'estiiio"'
of some of the senators Is to be be-
lieved, their early efforts were marked
h,, 100. .,.,.,to,
stat priNa.io"''
senator Perkins or cahlornia' VINO
was born In Maine. went to sea as q
cabin boy Mt tho tender age of ~ years
,ra. a,,,,.,,. -, ,,,,o,,,., ,h., no hos
The country row KNOWS thht ne nus
been governor or California, and that
he Is one Of the chief commercial men
n, tho pac,eo coaat stewart Of Ne
y" '"e "eino eoaa''
Vana, although ne possessed Boou ca
ucation when he started westward in
1sAg wont m ,vorle with nick and SHOW
al T., C.,,e..,. 49,, no tata tha ,o,r-
"a Ni'i'of ma a''u '''us i"-' -.
dalton of his career. Once In awhile
MIR stewart DIVORCES from his favorite
theme. "The Crime Of 1873" long enough
to naf.rata some of his experiences in
the mining camps of California and
Nevada. and Mt such times he Is thor
oughly entertaining. Despite his years,
he is stlll fun OF vigor, and one who
observes his erect form and listens to
one az his silver speeches Is bound
Ia get the Immersion that 'Bnl" Stew
arr Ont n considerable flgure among the
Argonatita
As a connecting link between the
commonplace present and the redshirt-
ed. high-booted and slouch-hatted past,
stewart Is unique. His colleague. John
p Jones. was also plscer-miner In
California In the early days OF the
gold replacement He was born In Eng
land. but was brought to this coun-
try in his Infancy, and had hard
battle with life before he struck pay
dirt"
Senator Dubois was United States
MargEnl of Idaho from 1852 to 1856,
and felt the rough edge of life before
he returned East as delegate In con-
press. MIR. shoup, who divides with
him the honor OF representing Idaho
IA The upuer chamber, was a Federal
acout In the Southwest during the
war and later miner, stockralser,
and finally governor OF his adopted
state Mr. Pettigrew of S0uth Ia
koto was a laborcr In the employment
on n United states deputy surveyor
whom he entered Dakota Territory IN
1860. He became surveyor, tnen
ronI estate agent, and eventually u
lawyer aud senator
Mr.. Rouch, who was born In WASH
inrton. went 10 Dakota territory In
1879 and became mall carrier in
country where one might ride all day
t,ithottt seeing a human being or any
| thiuR more companlonable than coy
! ote Naturally, he became a prominent
drure as mall carriers are apt to be
| In sparscly settled communities. and
| when Dakota took on boom and gave
| 10 the Union the states of North and
] south Daltota, he was the Democratic
| candidate for governor OF North Da-
| ltotn Defeated he tried again In the
| npxi election. and again failed. Then
/ no turned his attention to the position
ar limited states senator. and in 1898,
| after ballptirig thirty-three days. the
| fusion legislature elected him to his
| nregpnt posytion.
All OF these senator's are good story
/ tcllets. and. hy reason OF their varied
| experiences. they are not Obliged TO em-
/ % oy secondhand material In furnishing
| entcrtainment TO their friends. Mr..
( Perkins has Il NEW story for every de-
! maid. ltin latest but thuEtNllh Il AiAh~
| tiny on shlpb6ard, perilous escape
/ which he planned and his meeting.
/ forty years later, with one of the men
| who succeeded, with his help, in getting
/ out OF n bad scrape.
| at was In December, 1884" said Mr..
PcrlSins ''lhnt / shipped on the Lizzie
I Thomson. bound from st. John. N.
-. To a European port with cargo of
deals. The Lizzie Thompson was O full
rigged ship with miscellaneous crew,
some of the men being from New Eng
Z land The captains name was Oliver,
and he and / hailed from the same
town In Maine. Right here let me say
that there were 30 many people In
Maine OF the name OF Perkins that the
/ custom had become general OF dstin-
gushing them by their middle names,
ana for that reason I was known as
George Clement, the Perkins being re-
/ served for extraordinary occasions. I
had first gone to sea when l2 years old,
! and when shipped on the Lizzie
| Thomson | was iG, and thought /
knew u good deal about nautical mat
tors.
'"fhe crow had engaged to make the
voyage for 10 pounds shtlllngs per
man. The ship was new, and we had
not been long al sea before she began
'spltiing oakum.' which in the Ian
guage OF the landsman. means that the
oakum with which her seams We're
closed did not stick as It should. when
the leak was discovered. the captain
ordered all hands TO the pumps, much