The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1898-12-16
HE WAS A SENATOR.

AT one of the towns | made recently |
had the pleasure OF meeting my old friend
and schoolmate Bill Grayson, chris;ened
William Henry Harrison Grayson, and now
called Senator Grayson from the fact that
he was elected to the state senate at the last
election.
Although | am not very conceited, | be-
heve that | know a great deal more than
Senator Grayson ever did or ever will know.
When we went to school together | was
acknowledged to be much the brighter of
the two, and ! am convinced that my busy
life since then has brought me into con-
tact with so many kinds oil people and gwen
me such a variety of experiences that have
maintained my natural superiority.
Yet | am not permitted to wear the term
honorable and have never noticed that
people turned around to point me out on the
street. If you were to lock Bill and me to-
gether in room and give each of us a set
OF questions relating to American history,
national issues, current happenings and the
useful sciences most commonly applied to
everyday life | am confident that | could
show myself to be much the better Informed
of the two. When we were boys together
Bill was a resounding buif, and | am told
that he has accumulated nothing in the
meantime except dignity. But he always
did have plenty of that
Why, then, is Bill great man, while |
am plain and despised commercial tray
eler, compelled to bear the taunts and filings
OF trainmen and dining-room girls?
Is it because he has been more indus
trious than |? No; for do more hustling in
month than Bill ever did in his whole
life. | have kicked up dust in the world,
while Bill has done heavy sitting around
and waited for things to come to him.
If you could see the senator, gentle reader,
you would understand why he is regarded as
pillar. Imagine solemn bulk of man,
slN feet and two inches tall, built of sound.
raw material, with hair combed upward, to
indicate spirituality or something of the
kind. The coat is Prince Albert" with a
special affinity for dust, and the hat is a
broad-brimmed SLOUGH which must be worn
slightly to one side as mark of that in
difference which is a trait of the simon pure
rural genius. The coat must be unbuttoned
and tlaring at the top, and the shirt bosom
should billow outward. Then the black bow,
which is the badge OF the professional man,
and few amber stains on the white shirt,
just to show that the great man chews to-
bacco and is in real sympathy with his be-
loved countrymen.
And yet, having this picture of Bill, even
to the cavalry mustaChe, you cannot begin
to appreciate his greatness until you have
heard him speak. lie has deep, st. Der.
nard voice, and he uses it with such solem-
nifty that only the totally irreverent fail to
be impressed.
You have heard one man say to another:
This is fine day, sir" Wen, you've never
heard it at all unless you've heard Bill say
it. He can put more emphasis, more unan
swerable logic and more lofty eoquence into
one of these commonplace remarks than
could inject into reading of Mare Antony'i
funeral Grafton. / don't suppose Bill ever
said anything in his life except something
that he had heard said by somebody or else
read in the Indianapolis paper, and YET
ever time Bill speaks the others present
stop talking and listen in awe. Then they
60 away shaking their heads and remarkinG
that Bill is an unusually deep man.
After studying the career of Senator Bill
Grayson l am satisfied that any large anc