St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-04-12
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| man, with a head not much bigger
than base ball, comes up and sits
down beside Allison. He puts his hand
on Allison's shoulder, and Allison turns
around He greets the long bearded
man cordially and chats with him,
placing his hands on the mans knees,
as though he loved him. Still, there is
no love lost between these two men.
That little man with the base ball head
and long beard is PETER, and 1 venture
that away down in his soul Allison de-
spises him. but Allison is a diplomat,
and there is no need Of showing it.
There are some curious things about
| Allison and Cullom. Both were born
the same year, both worked on farm,
both got their schooling in log school
houses and both were educated in sec
ond-claSS colleges. Allison was born in
Wayne county, Ohio; Cullom was born
In Wayne county, Kentucky; Allison
was one of the best spoilers of Wayne
| county. At sixteen he went to an acad-
! envy at Wooster, O., and worked on the
farm during his vacation. Next he
went to Allegheny college, at Mead
vile, then taught school and finished
his college education at the little town
of Hudson. near Cleveland. He then
went to Ashland, O., town of about
5000 people, and there studied law.
He was deputy county clerk at the
same time Judge Stewart, John Sher-
mans father-in-law, was judge.
But who is that old woman whose
figure shows out through the lens be-
tween us and Allison? 1t is merely q
| silhouette on the crrO11p6 oil ood IVA
need new focus. AS we turn the
screw the old woman's figure changes
into that Of man. We can see it's
bald head, and we note mat it's eyes
droop, as did those of Ben Butler. 1t
is dressed in black. and it's double
breasted frock coat is unbuttoned and
hangs out somewhat like a skirt. Now
the figure turns about face. and we
see the form and features Of one of the
best-knoWn men Of the great North
west, the great lawyer of st. Paul, and
a man who can make. it is said, from
$25,OO0 to $4,000 a year at his prac-
tlce HIS name is Cushman K. Davis
and, though he has withdrawn from
the presidential race. his name may yet
be mentioned among those which come
up at st. Louis. Cush Davis is a curl
ous-lookirg man. He is very tall. His
shoulders are slightly bent, and his
little semi-bald head is fastened to
them by short neck. He is one Of the
most studious men of the senate, and
one OF the best read. He has one of the
finest private libraries of the country.
He is a great lover of books, and when
he wants to rest from his studies he
drops what he is at and takes up some
work in a different literary line. When
he is tired of thinking Of politics he
translates a lot of Virgil or Horace
for change, and when he finds-as
he does sometimes, I venture, for he Is
a trifie lazy-his ambitions tagging.
he holsters himself up by reading the
life Of Alexander the Great or that of
Julius Caesar. To him the greatest
man who ever lived was Napoleon. He
was an admirer of Bonaparte long be-
fore the present craze concerning him
broke out. He has already about 400
Napoleonic books in his library, and
he is always picking up more.
AS l compare Davis with Cullom and
Allison I think Of the three great men
who have nodded the lives Of these
presidential candidates. Davis is
worshiper Of Napoleon. Allison was
brought up on Henry Clay. Cullom
modelled his life after that of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and over there, so near
Cullom that he could hit him with a
paper wad, If he chose to throw it, is
another senator "a young man - of
some presidential ambitions who all
his life has worshiped at the shrine Of
James G Blaine. That man is Ste
phen B. ElkinS Note how he sits there
behind his mahogany desk, perfectly
at ease in the senate of the United
States! He is one of the youngest of
the prospective candidates, and per-
haps the richest. He owns miles of
railroads, thousands upon thousands Of
acres Of timber and millions of car
loads Of coal. He has towns and vii
lagos on his estate, and his principality
in West Virginia is unsurpassed by
that of any man east of the Mississippi.
And still Elkins began his life as a
poor boy He went across the plains
in canvas-covered wagon to New
Mexico, studying Spanish on the way.
He settled in Santa Fe as a lawyer,
and made money out of both the Mex
leans and the Spaniards. One Of his
first good jobs was in connection with
the Maxwell grant. Maxwell paid him
a salary of $1,000 year for defending
his interests, and at one time he got
$4,000 from Maxwell for a single hours
work. He first came to congress as a
delegate from New Mexico, and after
leaving the house of representatives he
made $4,000 a year here at Washing
ton practicing law. From Washington
he took the dollars he had saved to
New York, and they there bred for him
more dollars, increasing their yield al
most as fast as Australian rabbits,
which are said to be the fastest breed
ers of the world. The result was that
he soon had a big fortune, and by
Joining this with that of his father
in-law, ex-senator Henry G.. Davis, he
became possessed Of his wonderful es-
tate in West Virginia.
Senator Elkins is not lying awake at
night waiting for the presidency. He
told me once that If it came his way,
and got near enough to him so that
he could put his hands on it, he would
take it, but he added that he did not
think his chances were very good. He
is healthy-looking man, and does not
lose sleep over his political ambitions.
He is a good organizer, and knows
all about practical politics. He is,
however, a more cultured man than
| many suppose. He Is well educated
| and has the studious bent. He likes
Browning, quotes Tennys0n frequently
and reads Greek Latin and Hebrew in
| the original He iS yraaf wa1l-ar