Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-18

and elsewhere. the honor OF introducing
some Of the brightest orators of the day
fell TO the lot of Grubbs. No more en-
thusiasuc Wing then lived. His flights OF
ofatory were by no means commonplace
ana no one who was witness might say
with a sneer: Hes now on his feet. he
VIII soon be on his head" Peter said his
say in few words, and those words, like
bullets shot from a sure gun, went
straight to the mark.
SLADE AND HIS AIDES.
But Slade, as he was Familiarity called,
| was one OF the hard-working members or
\ the club-the handspring that set in mo-
ton Its well-constructed machinery. His
| aides-de-camp SO to speak, were men OF
zeal, ability, and infiuence-Haxall, the
great merchant miller; Tompkins. an off,
/ Ger of the Blues; Bridges, one of Poe's
college chums, who knew more OF the
! poets humors than he dared tell, para
| graphist whose editorials in the Richmond
Wing cut TO the bone; rutherford, the
great landowner; Streeter, editor OF the
Star, a bright little sheet that circulated
among the masses; Munford, the father
Of our Commissioner Of the City Revenue;
Rice, well-known plumber; and Barnes,
the ideal Of the workmen and founder or
large iron-works In the city.
Auxiliary committees were In force, and
| held their secret sessions, usually at one
or other Of the nearby restoratives. Old
citizens, who never before had attended
political meetings, were TO be seen on the
benches and some Of them reputed 10 be
good takers would be invited to the plat
form. Debating societies contributed their
quotos, and many a first ambitious speech
was made at the sittings or Tippecanoe
Club No. 1.
But the Bar Of Richmond-they nearly
all Of the Wing party-made an imposing
array of talents. Benjamin Watkins
Leigh, precisian in the use Of language
an orator fit TO hold his own in an as
semby OF the gods; John r. Cooke, a
great lawyer, father of Philip Pendleton
and John Esten; Wyndham Robertson,
whose oratory was OF the Ciceronian
stamp; w. III. Mcfarland, not inferior
in the graces of style to Robertson;
General Pegram, father Of Confederate
general who died on the field of his
glory; John NJ. Patton, whose voice i'm
a war of words was trumpet-tongued;
Stanard, legal giant, but "caviare
TO the general" and unable 10 wake the
echoes; Sidney Baxter, a heavy man,
but excellent advocate; John ID. Mum
ford as powerful for the Wings as his
John A. Meredith, a sound judge of law
and clever of speech; Tom August. then a
STRIPPING protege OF President Lyons,
rich of promise and fertile Of expedient;
John NJ. Bolts loved Of the dis
tracted multitude. who like not in their
judgment, but their eyes" a fine de-
batter, the terror OF the Democrats, the
ogre Of an esoteric clique in the city, each
one of whom lacked his popularity and
wanted his office-he was our congress-
man then: Raleigh T. Daniel probably
the best off-hand speaker then living in
the city. He could say finer things in a
breath than some others might invent in
a lifetime
TOO deep for his hearers. he went on |
refining,
And thought OF convincing while they /
thought OF dining:
Though equal 10 all things, for all things /
unfit.
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for I
a wit:
For patriot too cool. for a drudge dis
obedient
And too fond OF the right TO pursue the :
expedient,
In short, twas his fate, unemployed, or
in place, sir.
To eat mutton cold and cut blocks with |
a razor.
MYERS, THE HUMORIST.
Amongst the most humorous as we'll |
as conspicuous members of the club were
George X. Myers, captain of the City
Watch, and William West, son-in-law Of !
Ezekiel Davis (merchanD. Upon a mo-
ton to install the ladies as sitting mem
oers. Myers made, in opposition, one of
lis characteristic speeches. The gen.
-leman says a true patriot will sacrifice
family pride on the altar of his country.
But say there's no need of such sacri-
fee. The ladies, as auxiliaries. areJ
stronger at home than they would be
lere with us noisy fellows. Their pres
ence would be greeted with bigger crowds
md brighter speeches, but 'twould
De all talk and no cider. You couldn't
Keep the girls from flirting or the young
men from counting, eitherr'
Amid cries Of question, and great mer- |
'iment, West would crook his arms 10
he shape Of trombone and initiate it's.
ones so marvellously as TO persuade
hose at q distance, that he sounded the
leynote of the big brass band.
He was mimic who enlivened the
hub with various displays Of his powers.
He had Botts's platitudes by heart, talked
Ike Bolts gesticulated like Bolts, curled
Ike Bolts. His infatuation for that
vrong-headed politician was not singular,
ut so demonstrative as TO invite the
arcasm of Democrats, who dubbed him
he Hon. John Minor Bolts West
Frank Regnault. maternal grandfather
II our John Regnault Ellyson, was one
the handsomest figures Of the Glee /
Tub group. AS an amateur singer he
'as in that day what our Frank Cum
ingham is in this. His voice had a !
iorant quality as Of the baritone, and
ang to the heart. One of his songs was
parody on John Anderson. My 10 John.
hitch he sometimes would repeat to /
he evident delight OF his hearers
lggesting in the passages points with
1itable gesture and grimace. as actors
re wont TO do on the stage.
John c. Calhoun, my 10 john
l wonder what you mean;
You surely can't be thinking. John,
That all the Wings are green!
Such like were the squbs hurled at the
cad of the great Carolinian, whose at
tude in the 40 campaign was not only 4,
surprise. but mystification to the :,
Wigs. For was not Calhoun the father
( the Wing Republicans of the South. IL :
OF OF the North? Was he not the great
octrinaire at whose feet many of them
ad sat? Had not Tyler sympathized with
ne masters scheme OF notification, and
ven voted alone In the Senate against !
ne odious force bill? Was not Harrison
imself a disciple of Jefferson, and ike ,
is second" a strict construer Of the .
ederal Constitution?
A BORN IMPROvISATORIE.
But | go back to the drama OF the