The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-05

onel Is rich man, and is the president OF
a bank in this city. He was made Gus
todian of the campaign contributions of
the loyal democrats Of the district in 1854
He deposited the funds to his individual
credit, and one day he dropped into the
national headquarters and in a casual, on
hand fashion handed In a check for SS5,-
coo, saying that he wanted to make a little
contribution for the good OF the cause, neg
lecting, however. TO remark that the
amount had been made up by the demo-
Gratis OF the national capital Checks of
that size were sufficiently rare TO give Col.
wilson considerable notoriety, and the in
cident was borne TO the ears Of the can
didate- He expressed a desire to meet
Col Wilson. and his hearsay Impressions
ABOUT the gentleman were confirmed. He
TOOK a strong liking 20 the man. and when
he reached the white house one of the first
thlngs he did was to ask Col Wilson to
become marshal OF the district, an office
which brings him into very close personal
and official relations with the President
and his family. Col. Wilson, it must be
said, is intensely loyal to Grover Cleve-
land.
James II. Eckels, now controller Of the
currency, captured the President by a
political speech in which he discussed
learnedly on tariff and sound finances. a
year or two afterward when Eckels was
around Washington Seeking appointment
~ inc oAlCt OF the district attorney IOr
Northern Illinois he was astounded be-
yond measure by being appointed to the
ONCE ne now adorns. The selection of Mr..
Eckels for this responsible position, with
the requirements of which he had N
familiarity whatever. filled both Mr.. Eek
els and the entire country with aston
ishment. The wisdom of his selection is
now apparent to every one. but it must
be said that his appointment was a risky
one-taking an unknown lawyer from
prairie town and installing him in an
Office where failure would have been at
tended With most disastrous results to
the financial institutions of the country,
for Mr.. Eckels was called upon a few
months after his installation to face the
gravest panic that this country has pass
ed through since the beginning of the
war. And he to-day is regarded as one
OF the very best, if not the best, controller
the country ever had, combining a pro-
found legal knowledge on banking and
banking laws with sound business judg-
ment, tact and firmness. He is a good
reader of men and is a born politician
He is really a remarkable man-and a
democrat.
In some indefinable way the impression
has got abroad that the President is not a
physically courageous man, and that one
OF his weaknesses is a fear that he will
meet a violent death The extraordinary
precautions that are taken under the di-
rection of Col. John Wilson mot Marshal
WILSON,, the army officer intrusted with
the special care of the white house and
the sacred person of the President and
members of his family, are poIgllarly
supposed to be by order of Mr.. Cleveland
or in obedience to his own desires. Such,
however, appears not to be the case. and
one of the closest friends that the Presi-
dent has told me the other day that if
there was one thing above all others that
made Grover Cleveland furiously angry
II was the thought that he was being es-
pecially guarded from harm by the hired
agents of the government.
why" said the informant, Grover
Cleveland's early experience as a man
around town and a night OWL made him
absolutely Indifferent and fearless upon
the subject of personal safety. He never
gives the threats of cranks or the wild
stories about designs against him a mo-
ment's thought, except for the amuse-
ment they afford for the moment. He oc-
casionally hears about the precautions
that are being taken for his safety, but
looks upon them as newspaper rumors,
and never dreams that anybody can be
so foolish as to imagine that he himself
is in the slightest need of that sort of
protection. He knows, of course, that
there are officers about the white house
and Woodley. but he thinks they are to
shield Mrs. Cleveland and the children
from any possible harm"
II might relate little incident that &C.
Cured the other night" continued the mar
rator which win illustrate the personal
fearlessness of the President. 1t was
short while before the Presidents family
moved in from Woodley. Mr.. Cleveland
was driving home alone very late. The
night was cloudy and dark. At one point
along the lonely road was dense grove
extending for about a quarter of a mile.
A more forbidding and lonesome place at
that hour of the night II would be difficult
to imagine. At the very gloomiest spot in
the woods three men jump out in front
of the horses head and made demonstra-
ton. The driver halted, and the Presi-
dent, aroused from a doze into which he
had fallen, reached his head out of the car
riage and demanded angrily to know what
was the matter. He saw the three men,
and without waiting for an explanation
began cursing them in vigorous and terse
Anglo-Saxon for stopping a peaceable cit
izen on the public highway. Everything
seemed to indicate holdup and to a man
of the Presidents experience the situation
must have seemed plain to him. AS
matter of fact, IL did not appear clear
that he was about to be made the victim
of highway robbery. The thought that
violence might be intended him never en-
tered his head. He knew that he had
been stopped on the road by men pre-
.sumably road agents, and it made him
mad clear through.
One of the men came to the side of the
carriage and explained that he and his
companions were officers especially as.
signed for duty in that neck OF the woods
to protect the President of the United
States in his passage to and from Wood
ley. They had heard the carriage APP
preaching and probably felt it would Se
a good play under the circumstances -
make a demonstration which would show
their vigilance. The lateness of the hour
and the darkness of the night struck
them as being a natural and favorable
stage setting for a very fetching dra-
matte display. They made the exhibition
all right enough, but the effect produced
was not what they had anticipated.
when the President had concluded his
sulphurous lecture they concluded, one
and all, that they were not called upon
for an encore. The President upbraided
the officers and inveighed vigorously
against the 'damphoolishness' that had
dictated any such move as the stationins
of detectives along his route home. The
scene was-well calculated to try any one
nerves, and the manner in which the
President acquitted himself would have
satisfied any man who saw 1t that he was
as nearly destitute of fear as any knight
4 ID bo.