The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-05-21
SlLYERITE MARTYR.
General brakes Rash Vow
to Let His Hair Grow
Till Bryan is Presi-
dent.
LIABLE TO BECOME A FREAK
His Present Picturesque Appear
ance - Some Personal
History.
LIABLE TO BECOME A FREAK

There is only one j. Madison Drake III
New ~Jersey-and probably in all the
country-and he lives down within the
confines of Newark's neighbor, Elizabeth.
says the Newark Sunday Call His
home is at No. I16 Jefferson avenue, but 1t
is the man and not his home with which
this sketch is to deal. There is another
person named ]. Madison Drake in Eliza
beth: He is probably better known as
Bob, Drake, however, and a son of ].
Madison Drake, yet it can be truly said
as above that there is only one j. Madi-
son Drake. He has been before the pub
lie in one way or another for years and
probably will be for innumerable years
to come. in spite of the fact that he has
passed the sixty year milestone of life.
Perhaps his greatest title to distinction,
apart from that given the ordinary NOR
tai, is his military record. 1t earned for
him the rank of General-and who in this
section of the country has not heard of
General j. Madison Drake and his FAM
Gus veteran zouaves? Not only in New
Jersey, but from one end of the country
to the other the same question would be
equally pertinent. J.. Madison Drake
served throughout the Civil War with
much credit, and soon after the war his
valorous service and deeds of bravery in
/ Inc HGlu III Lie SERVICE Ol his 0ldlG anu
country were recognized by the then
Governor Parker, who brevetted him a
general. And General Drake he has
been ever since. He was long command
ant of the Third Regiment, N. G. N. j.,
n afterward organized the Veteran
Zouaves, and has led them in marches
hereabouts and up and down and across.
the country on various pleasure trips
and on special occasions when events of
unusual Importance were occurring.
One9of General brakes. chief character
ness. When he says he will or he won't
dc a thing, he will or he Won't do it and
that's all there e Is about it Persuasion.
brought to bear is lost upon him once he
decides that he is acting in the right,
according to his own mind, and many are
be told. He has decided opinions upon
whatever he takes notice of, and he
doesn't fear to express them, regardless
Of the consequences, and nowhere is this
columns of his newspapers-for General
cessful Elizabeth Leader" though
much of the work of the establishment
Bob and William M. Drake. The lat
ter is also the leader of brakes Band,
which is an adjunct of the zouave organi-
cation, has travelled all over the country
with it, and during recent years has come
into prominence as a concert band.
One of the most recent occurrences
showing the determination and fearless
ness of General Drake was his attempt
about Christmas time TO ride a frisky
mustang of the fiery and untamed'' sort.
He decided to ride the animal in spite of
warning that it would be dangerous. h
first Elizabeth folk knew about it was
when they saw the General dash along
Broad street on the mustangs back. It
was a lively ride, but conquer he would,
he had agreed with himself. lie would
probably have succeeded, too, but for
the fact that a portion of the saddle trap
pings gave way and the General was
thrown violently to the ground.
He escaped without broken bones, but
was badly shaken up and bruised pretty
much all over, and sustained several Sc
we're sprains, which caused him to be less
active in the world than usual for some
time. - {%aTS5sN
tllzabeth folk who witnessed that IaesIsa
orable ride declared that the sight was a
picturesque one, as the mustang and its
old soldier rider were dashing through
hair floating behind him on the breeze
and causing the small boys to think at
first that he was the advance guard of
a Wild West show. This thought came
more particularly to those who didn't
know that General Drake had come to
affect long, flowing locks, but who knew,
quite to the contrary, that he had pretty
much all his life worn his hair closely
cropped and in keeping with his we'll
kept military mustache and goatee. In
deed, it is said that, winter or unm
tho. al
eighth of an inch long. 1t was never cut
with scissors, but was regularly taken off
with a clipper. But now there has come
a change. Parted in the middle, his hair
is combed carefully backward and down,
and so long is 1t that it falls gracefully
upon and well below his shoulders in
wavy form. 1t is well kept. is unusually
thick in growth, and, though three score
years, and many of them exciting ones,
have passed over the head which bears it,
there is not a gray strand in it. Some
times the erstwhile warrior and present
editor coils or folds up these newly grown
and iuxuriant locks and places them out
OF sight on top of his head and under
his big military hat, but he generally
lets them float lazily about his neck and
shoulders as the Elizabeth winds may
blow them.
General Drake has not had his hair cut
since last August, and he may never
again have it cut before he goes the way
OF all men, strong-minded though they
may be. The reason for it is that short
~ after the nominations of Presidential
candidates were made last summer he
vowed a great big vow. People who
heard him make it more than once didn't
really believe he meant it, but they
counted not upon the strong mind the
hat, and, incidentally, his present foot
long growth of hair. In short, they for
+, got that when General Drake makes a
: VOW that VOW is generally Kept.
The Generals vow is the result
of an ardent admiration conceived by
the General for one William Jennings
Bryan, whose nomination for the PreSi-
dency by the Democratic National Con
> vention and his subsequent marvellous
! silver campaign caused the election of
: Major Mckinley in an overwhelming man
ner. General Drake was at one time an
ardent Republican, but with the close of
the Arthur administration and the open
ing of the first Cleveland campaign he
. became a Mugwump. and then a
5 thorough-going Democrat. He believed in
, Bryan and his silver theories. and YER
: bally and through his paper let the fact
e be known. He studied the matter GU:
1 | and could discern no such thing as -dafeat