The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-27

~ II - " bESbh Il "Oh1N Il
man, living or dead. Thomas II. Benton.
of Missouri, served for thirty years in the
senate, but even this period was exceeded
by few weeks by the service OF Mr.. Hol-
man.
1t Is related by an Indiana resident in
Washington that when Representative
Kelley died, and again when Mr.. O'Neill
passed away Judge Holman called on
senator Turpie and impaired TO him
forcboding Of his own early demise. The
senator did what he could to quiet the
superstitious dread of his colleague and
expressed the hope that Mr.. Holman had
before him many years Of usefulness, and
added facctiously that the judge would
probably outlive many of his contempo-
raries.
Senator Turpie said, few days before
Mr.. Holmans death: He owns the old
homestead yet, ana perhaps, not much
more"
Then the senator added, thoughtfully,
ana almost reverently, after more than
thirty years of public service he retifes
as well Off as when he entered congress-"
| This was indeed most e'oquent though
simple tribute to the honesty of Mr., Hol-
man. 1t furnished food for reflection.
For, unconscously, there were called to
mind many instances of public men who
had grown wealthy in the service of their
country. Senator Turpie added, with feel.
ing: His great public services have
| benefited the country ana added nothing
! to his private fortune"
This brief, simple and eloquent tribute
| of Mr.. Turpie expressed more than pages
| of lorld language could have done to
| commemorate the public service of an
| honest man.
n Of a
| timatey acquainted with Mr.. Holman, re-
| lates many anecdotes Of Holman on the
| stump It has been said that senator Per-
| kins, of California, who enjoys n very
! wide acquaintance with the pain people
! of the Golden state, used TO nave a trick
| of asking every other man ne met,
whats the time of day." and, being told.
he would turn his watch backward or
! forward, according to circumstances, and
| the timc-givcr always felt complimcntcd.
| They say that Judge Holman used to re-
| quest "a chew of tobacco from the VII
| layers, whore he canvassed, and that this
| Cndcared him in the hearts Of the rustics
Another story told is that Judge Holman
was billed TO speak one night at Man
| chester. Ind. Senator Turpic, who pre-
| coded him. addressed the villagers Tor
| about an hour, and Holman followed him.
| At the close of his remarks, he said: MY
dear friends before conclude must 90 IL
NbUI illt'llllOl 10 lIt' tsIS' " W NOW Jp'iN''
| who has lost her COW. 1t was the princi-
pal support of herself and little children.
| will give $40 toward buying ner an
other COW. Just pass the hat around
among the neighbors." The hat was
passed around, $50 was realized, and the
Widow Jones made happy.
In 1895 Mr.. Holman was sub-chalrman Of
the committee on Indian affairs of the
house. The committee was authorized by
the house to make trip through the west
and inspect the different Indian agencies.
They Travelled to the Pacific coast by the
Central route and returned by way of the
Southern through Arizona. Their first
visit was to the Sioux agencies in the Da-
kotas. Cannon, of Illinois, and Peele. OF
Arkansas, were of the party. Mr.. Holman
declined to take a sleeper from Washing
ton to the west, protesting that this
would be an extravaganza, for he and
his wife, he said, had Travelled all the way
from Aurora to California and back
without taking a sleeper and Mr.. Holman
actually sat up all night, while his col
leagues on the committee slept on Pull
man car
From Bsmark to Fort Yates the steam.
boat fare was So a head and s. for the re.
turn trip, but in returning Mr.. Holman
did not patronizc the steamer. He insist
ed that there were mules and army ambu'
lances at the fort which could transport
the party comfortably to Mand9n, eighty
five miles distant. Cannon and Peele i'm
plored him to go by boat, but he was OBJ
stinate. "The mules are not earning any
thing" said he "They are idle; they vii
convey us" And they did. The party
rode in one of the army ambulances, ant
a member of the party says that Con
gressman Cannon gave the driver 81 anC
admonished him not to avoid a stone il
the road, but give the old man a goot
shaking up. Before they arrived at For
: Lincoln Mr.. Holman, whose limbs wer'
; cramped, got out to walk. The stage ar
rived at the fort and found the officer!
drawn up in full regimentals. The ladies
were there, too, dressed in their best.
where's Holman? Where's Ho.man?'
they inquired for Mr.. HOmans name anC
fame as a congressman had preceded him
Finally Mr. Holman was observed coming
down the road, tired and dusty Hi
trousers were stuffed i'm his boots, he wor,
a blue flannel shirt, and his 'galluses'
were on the outside. His beard was full
Of dust and altogether he was a sorr!
| spectacle.
When Mr. Holman's figure was seel
approaching in the distance it was pro
posed to fire a salute in his honor. 'No
no! for Gods sake don't" protested tn
| serio-comic Congressman Cannon. "H
will object to the useless waste of pow
der"
During his services in congress Mr.. Hol
man has witnessed some stormy scenes II
the house. In conversation with tn
| writer, he said once, that in the ante
beHum days members. Of congress FIRE
| uuently had weapons concealed in thei
desks. Southern and western member
= in those days were hot-headed individ
uals who regarded their revolvers as nee
' | essary to safety, and were sometime
1 careless in handling them. On one occa
5 sion member in fumbling among hi
= papers accidentally discharged his pisto
= and the bullet went crashing through tn
c desk i'm front of him, narrowly missn
q two or three congressman who We're seat
I ed nearby. "In an instant" said Mr.. Ho
= man, there were fully thirty pistols i
= the air. and the scene looked more like
4 Texas barroom than the congress of tn
$ United States"
e A very pretty story is told of how NJ
e Holman's town received its name. Th
h father of Holman was its first settler. ii
l. laid it out into streets. He was the tath6
@ of the village. The good people VIII
J. were his ncighbors assembled at Farmt
= Holman'S residence to select name fC
h the new town. Further down the Oni
# river, nestled in the hills of that pictul
J. csque part of Switzerland county, theT
u had been started a town which the goo
people called Rising Sun, because of tn
lovely spectacle the sun made as 1t al
J. peared above the crests of the mountain
r. ! I'q ,,nnar Holman and his neighbOrS, in