The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1896-05-02
TT WAS WON BY A GOOD STORY
How Allen of mississippi Settled a
Contest for u. :. MarshnIshfp.

Every public man knows what VeNa-
tions surround the bestowal of public I,o-
sitions-the quest after them and the selec-
ton of the lucky winner. quite as true is
il that humor has much to do with the
winning of the coveted prize. There Mas
that little story that everybody knows, or
the delegation that waited upon Lincoln
to urge Mr.. Somebody's appointment to
a district attorneyship somewhere. Lin
coin told them that they had made an
awful showing for their man. and that
his only chance of getting the job was
that the other fellow might make worse
ono. Scor thereafter Lincoln sent a little
note to the first delegation, informing
them that the other fellows had done even
worse than they had done. which meant.
of course. that their man had won. says
a writer in the New York Herald
Just now Allen of Mississippi-one of the
raconteurs of congress-is entertaining
his fellows with little story showing how
he recently won for his candidate from
President Cleveland an appointment to the
United States marshalship in the state
The old marshal had died, and Allen
went to the White house with the name of
somebody whom he deemed fitted to be his
successor. President Cleveland advised
him to secure the Endorsement of the other
members of the Mississippi delegation.
Allen knew full well that the effort to Sc
cure their Endorsement would be regarded
only an invitation by every man of
them to find a candidate of his own. And
so it was The result was a lively cross
hauling on all sides, and the situation be-
came so Overwhelmingly complicated that
Allen almost abandoned hope of winning
his fight One day. while the fight was
hottest he dropped in at the White house.
'Ha," said President Cleveland as he
greeted him, Il suppose you have come to
talk about the United States marshall
ship"
No" Allen responded, "but mighty
good story just came into my mind and L
thought as 1 was passing l would drop
in and tell it to you"
Always ready to exchange importuni-
ties for place for a good story was the
presidents assurance.
ITS a trife personal, Mr.. President"
Allen said, because it's about myself and
one of my clients. My clients father died
and left his estate in rather a bad kind
of a middle, and I was called in TO
straighten it out. There was a fee in it,
and of course | took charge of the matter
right away. The moment I began to try
to straighten it out I flushed a covey
of collateral relatives who laid claim to
part of the estate and caveated There
was an awful long litigation. We and the
collateral fellows pulled and hauled at
each other until the tug of war about
| played all of us out, and my anxious ci-t
emit who had expected to take possession
| of the property without any obstruction
| became especially weary Scarcely day
went by without his wanting to know how
! the thing stood, and when it was going to
| come to a head. He was oVerjoyed when
l told him that at last the case had got
up to the judge and was to be heard the
next day, and would probably be decided
right away.
I Il went over to court, Mr. President. and
presented my case in so clear and con-
| vincing a light that / was satisfied the
court must be with me, and you may
| imagine my surprise when, after the argu-
ment, the judge announced he would take
| the papers and reserve his decision. The
next day my client rushed into my office,
| breathless."
Well he exclaimed. is it all over?
Oh l said to him. I made a beautiful
! argument before the court. Why, it was
so clear that there was no room for the
court to have any doubt / talked for two
hours, showed the court all the bearings
of the case, and
Yes, but my client gasped, what was
the result
TO take the papers and. reserve his de-
cision. He shouldn't have done it after
such an argument and such a speech as
made, and the case so clear But then.
1 did the best | could for YOU
My client was awfully chopfallen. His
jaw fell and a shadow of gloom spread
over his countenance.
What's the matter, John?' 1 asked
him.
" Nothn'. nothn',' he answered. with
a broken air only ! begin to feel sorry
that the o.d man ever died
President Cleveland is quite as quick to
see the point of a story as he is to see Il
point i'm finance or tariff. and he saw the
deadly parallel of the story with the mar
shalship contest at a glance There was
the dead father for the dead marshal, the
warning Mississippi delegation for the
warning collateral heirs in the win case.
and himself for the hestating judge. and
Allen for the client who was beginning to
be sorry that the old man was dead, and
he was touched.
well, Allen" he said. chat story car
res it's point with it. The court doesn
reserve its decision any longer. You win
the marshalship in Mississippi for your
!