Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-03-30

interrupt my speech at stated inter
walls with remark that should be
agreed upon between us. To this in
terlection ! was to retort wittily, and
thus, as the old fellow pointed out,
would acquire reputation as a witty
speaker. My first impression was that
he was amusing himself at my ex.
pense, but he repeated to me several
things l could reply to wittily and
wanted me to pay him roundly for
helping me to reputation. But l
told him that was Indifferent to that
kind of fame and he went away disap'
pointed. Not very long after that /
was seated on stage listening to a
speaker when who should arise in the
audience but my quaint visitor and
bawl out one of the very things he
wanted me to pay him for interrupt
ing me with. The orator answered
him with the same retort that / was
offered the privilege of making, and
the audience exploded into laughter
and l heartily joined in, but my
amusement had not the same founda-
ton, l fancy, as that of the rest of the
laughers. And during the rest of the
evening the old fellow made an occa-
sional interruption from different
parts OF the house and the retorts were
OF the same manufactured sort. am
trifle skeptical now on the subject OF
witty retorts."
Mr.. Cleveland does not tell his
stories in a hilarious fashion. He
speaks calmly and slowly, in a sober,
contemplatiye way that adds much to
the effect of the occasional stories he
tells. Nor do his narratives spring
sporodically; that is, he never tells a
story that does not rise out OF the con.
versation, and form, in a measure, part
of the discussion. And unlike Lin
coin, he never replies to arguments or
pleas by telling q story. His tales are
told as part Of social chat.
1t has escaped observation, seeming
ly, that Mr.. Cleveland reads with deep
interest the lives, as their best biog-
raphers have narrated them, of the
long line Of men who have preceded
him in the exalted Office he now holds.
Occasionally he says something which
reveals bis estimate of the presidency
of the United States.
"One of the most impressive
things" he remarked as recently as
last December, about the fame which
attaches to the name of Jefferson is
the pride he took in the fact that dur
ing his administration it became a
matter of course that in the United
States any citizen could visit the chief
magistrate of the country and shake
hands with him. Such q circumstance
proved more of guarantee of genu-
inc Democracy with the people than
any amount OF Oratorical demonstra-
ton could have done. 1t seems to me
that Jefferson's biographers have
touched the keynote of his character
in dwelling upon the fact"
OF Washington Mr.. Cleveland was
heard to say:
at is not merely because he had no
predecessor that he is first OF the pres.
idents." To Don M. Dickinson the
President once said: "An enemy is
never so thoroughly defeated as when
one refuses to quarrel with him." OF
q we'll known member OF congress the
President said: "His best recommen-
dations are the things he does not do. "
One of the difficulties connected
with the presentation of Mr.. Cleve-
lands epigrammatical traits is his
characteristic reticence. He is a most
patient listener, and only his personal
friends have an opportunity of hearing
his repartee, except at the public re-
ceptions when he makes q remark
about a baby which some wo-
man wants him to kiss. The Presi.
dent will decline the honor, and when
he is asked why it is that he does not
care to bestow an osculation upon the
thousands of infants whom he sees in
the course of a year. he replies:
"The best of my reasons is that the
babies never like it."