The herald., 1896-08-13
BRYAN's FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH
lie Prepared It In Hay Field and Nobody Cans
to Hear II

Coming up from Centralia Mr.. Bryan
and his escort of newspaper men found
themselves on the platform at Odin.
with an hour and forty minutes to wait
for the train to Salem, only thirty miles
away. Mr.. Morrison the magnate OF
the town, came with lantern and took
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan to his fine house
to wait. The newspaper men descend
ed upon the livery stable and discov-
cred that the six miles could be covered
in forty minutes. Uhey chartered a
surrey and a country hack and sent an
invitation to the nominee and his wife
to be their guests on the overland trip.
The acceptance was prompt and hearty.
Mrs. Bryan was given the surrey. Mr..
Bryan got into the hack with the boys.
The mules found the load of political
honor and newspaper talent too much
for the liveryman's contract. 1t turned
out to be a drive of two hours instead
of forty minutes. The hack creaked
and groaned as the way was plowed
through the ruts of the slack from the
Odin coal mines. What had promised
to be time saving and comfort contrib
uting scheme turned out to be bone
racking hardship. Yet the life of the
trip was furnished by Mr.. Bryan The
newspaper men grumbled at the mules.
Once a heavy lurch dropped the nomi-
nee out of the back seat, but he climbed
on again with laugh. The unfailing
good nature of the man never found a
| better illustration.
As he came out of the Morrison home
| at Odin and got into the hack with the
| newspaper men, Mr.. Bryan remarked:
perhaps some of you would like to
| know how / came to prepare my nfst
political speech"
| "Was that the one you delivered up
| in the Barefoot Nation?" one Of the
| correspondents asked, referring to
southern Illinois locality by its homely
| designation.
| mo" said Mr.. Bryan, "it was poll
| tical speech never delivered. prepared
| it sixteen years ago this summer. was
| of age and was working at the time for
| Mr.. Morrison, whose house we have just
| left Mr.. Morrison bought the hay on
| half section of land which belonged to
| us, and l was helping him get 1t up. A
| political meeting was arranged for Sha-
| nnefelt's grove. 1 was invited to make
| a speech, and l prepared that speech
| while making hay. The bills announced
| that the Hon. Mr.. This and the Hon.
Mr.. That, and Mr.. w. J. Bryan would
speak l was the only man who wasn't
an honorable. When the day came
got a buggy and drove down to the
| grove. The other two did the same, and
we three who We're to speak went string
ing down there in three buggies. When
| we arrived we 1Ounu tne Indu III CHaA {
of the grove one man who had wheel
of fortune, and two men who were in
charge of the lemonade stand. That
was the attendance. with the exception
of few children from the neighbor-
hood. The man in charge of the grove
said that there was to be ball at night,
and he thought if we would wait until
then we would have crowd. The peo-
pie were busy with the crops, and could
not turn out for day meeting, he ex-
planned. We talked it over, and waited
/ a while. The attendance didn't increase.
| took the wheel-of-fortune man into
my buggy. The others who were to
have spoken took in the two lemonade
men. and we went back to town. That
was the first time prepared for a poll
tical speech, and the speech was not de-
livered. A few weeks afterward l made
my first speech at the court house In
Salem" ----.----.. .-.---...-