St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-03-22

trump, Woulu you reIuSe dylns man a
drink of water?'
g No. Mr.. President said I, "but you are
not dying.
90 But, Crump,' he added, feebly, IF you
do not give it to me will de- and hereupon
he closed his eyes. He looked so feeble and
sick that couldn't stand it. Still, l couldn't
disobey the doctors But, somehow or other,
l just sat glass of spring water on a table
by his bed. Then, turning my back upon him.
l went to the window and, hang me, when
returned if that glass wasn't empty President
Garfield looked up at me with a smile, and
asked me what meant by tantalizing him by
placing glass with no water in it within his
reach and him so thirsty. He did not ask
for any more water that day, and am certain
if he did drink it, it did him no HARM
GARFIELD'S BACKBONE.
had an interesting chat with Maj. Ben
Butterworth about Garfield last week. We
Pittsburg on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad,
and Maj. Butterworth grew reminiscent. He
Is, you know, one of the brightest of our pub
lie men. He has had a wide experience, and
ne was for years a close friend Of James A.
Garfield. The two served in congress together,
and Butterworth was one of the Ohio. dele
gates to the national convention at which
Garfield was nominated. During the CONVEX
sation l asked him what he thought of Gar
fields character. He replied;
Gen. Garfield was one of the most pecu-
liar OF our public men. He was great in
many things and weak in others He had
a great head and a great soul, but he had
no more backbone than a fshWorm He
could not say no, and he could not hold an
ger: | verify believe that man might have
spat in Garfeld's face without mourning his
lasting enmity. Garfield would have promptly
knocked him down, but before the fellow
reached the ground he would have begun to
pity him, and would have gone and raised
him up, and told him that he was sorry that
he had had to do it.
THE CHICAGO CONVENTION.
GLOW about the convention of 1880. Major.
With all the publications concerning it, /
wonder whether the Inside history of it has
yet been told?'
"No, it has not" replied Mai. Butterworth.
II doubt whether the full truth will ever be
known. There was some talk CT Garfield as
president long before there was undercur-
over together before we went to Chicago. He
told me then that he did not think that he
ought to retain his position as the leader OF
the Ohio delegation and of the, Sherman
that he said to me:
Don't you know Ben, that they are
proposing me for the president l don't want
it now, and if | am ever to Do president, l
don't think the time for it is the present.
STILL under the circumstances, it don't seem
to me as though l ought to go to Chicago
and make that speech for Sherman. I will
be looked upon there as the leader of the
Sherman forces Now, If this movement in
my favor should develop into anything. what
ever ] do will be accused of being false TO
IL
and | don't. want to go to Chicago as his
manager; What do you thinks?
:. AS for me Garfield said l. 4 don't
think anything about 1t. know that you
| surely would not let you go. You know
the story of Priscilla and John Alden.
convention for me It might turn out in the
Standish when Priscilla asked Alden why
don't you speak for yourself, John?"
faa 41,o
same way, and wish you would go to Sher-
man and tell him what you think. Show him
how am situated. and ask him if he won t
relieve me from my promise and put some
one else in my place.
SHERMAN WARNED.
''Well." Maj Butterworth continued, 'I went
at once to see Senator Sherman, and told
him about my talk with Garfield 1 put the
matter matter Just as strongly as could, and urged
MN MN 10 release Garfield from making a
however. He wanted Garfield to present him
to the convention. He said he was the lead
ing man in Ohio, and that as such he was
necessarily the leader of his forces at Chi
cago. told him that Garfeld's prominence
was just the reason why he shouldn't be
the leader. and l tried to make him believe
could not do it. He told me that he had no
fear of Garfeld's loyalty, and that he would
risk the Miles Standish business. The re-
suit was that Garfield went to Chicago"
1ALhS WITH FAIRFIELD.
WAS Garfield true to Sherman when he got
there?'' l asked
Il think he wanted to be" replied Mai. But
terworth, but what you do in such situa-
tons? We had several conversations about
the matter at Chicago. One was on the steps
, OF the ,Grand Pacific hotel the night before
the convention met Garfield said he didn't
like the talk that his friends were making as
to his availability. He said that he could not
afford to accept the presidency in any wav
q on tic
honor. He said he wished the situation was
otherwise than it was and that he did not
know what to do | think he felt very much
the same during the convention. | sat lust
behind him. and when they began TO vote for
him l could see that he was much frightened
He turned around to me and asked me what
he should do Said he:
IF l ask them not to vote for me II will
appear as though / were calling attention to
myself, and my refusal will be a kind of bid
Tor them to vote for me- On the other hand
IL l remain silent it seems to me as though /
will be false to Sherman. What shall I do?
what would you do. if you were 10
then said that If | were in his place I
would state that under no circumstances
could accept nomination A moment later
CARRIED got up and made a speech of this kind
at least he told his friends In the conyen
ton that he did not want them to vote for
him. 1t was of no avail however and the
stampede soon occurred which made him the
nominee.
GRANDMA GARFIELD.
You were there at the time" continued
MAJ. Underworld and you doubtless have
a vivid remembrance of that wonderful scene
Ihere were many things. however connected
with IT which were not published. AS the
vote was being taken, and as the point was
reached when there was no doubt that he
was to be the candidate, l leaned over 10
Garfield and said:
We'll, Garfield, there is one woman 7
know who will be very happy over the result
of this days work
Garfield turned around, his eyes filed
with tears, and he said
Ben, / wish you would 90 as soon as
you can and telegraph to mother
Gen. Garfield Maj. Butterworth went on
mad great love for his mother. She was
his hrst thought in everything. She was with
him in the White house. I remember calling
there one day with Charley Foster We were
talking with the president, when Grandma
Garfield came in and told James that she
would like to have some money. President
Garfield asked her how much she wanted
and she told him FIVE dollars would do
whereupon he handed her a ten-dollar hin
AS he did this Gov. Foster asked Mrs Car
field If she did not think she was getting q
little extravagant in her old age Grandma
Garfield did not see that Foster was Joking
She looked at the bill rather doubtfuliy and
said that she thought she could get along
with much less IL James thought it was
necessary. There was a laugh of course
ana James told his mother not to worry, and