The age-herald., 1899-12-07
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE

| David B. Henderson,, said retired army
 officer last night. "I served with Hender-
 son in the union army in the war between l the states, and know him intimately. His | election to the speakership gives me great
 personal pleasure. Some of the newspapers | refer to him a general. He was merely | a colonel and is the last man in the world l who would consent to receive higher title | than he had a right to claim He was not | only brave soldier, but Is one of the best l of good fellows in this any other coun- l try. Henderson received at Fort Donelson
 a very dangerous wound in the jaw, and l was sent to the hospital. Before he had
 fully recovered from that wound he re- | joined his command and distinguished him.
 self in the battle of corinth. in which one l of his feet was shot away at the ankle. He | lay long time in the hospital; and after
 his wound had healed he again rejoined the | army. At the moment of his dreadful
 wound at Corinth he was simply a lieuten- l ant. He was inrme ediately promoted to | captaincy and left the service at the close
 of the war a colorel Three times he has | suffered amputation of the lower leg, the
 last one being just below the knee. This | last was successful and his leg is now quite | well and sound, and he is not likely ever I | operation. He now uses with ease and com l fort an artificial foot and lower leg. Speaker | Henderson is man of genial tempera- l ment, moved by a sense of good humor and | good fellowship. In my opinion he is l superior to Speaker Reed, and in the speak l CTS chair he will distinguish himself. I 1 know him well, know him intimately, and
 am perfectly confident that he will demon l l,is for tl,A oh | which he has been called.'
 1 "Although the speaker of the house no
 longer stands in the line of succession to
 the presidency, he remains, next to the l president. the most powerful single factor
 in our government" said public man. l ""rhe order of succession to the presidency 1 was changed by act of congress some ten | or a dozen years ago-the exact date is, at l the moment, not remembered, nor is 1t of 1 any consequence. The speaker of the house | is not now personally concerned in the sue l cession. The death of Vice-President Ho- | bart makes Secretary of State John Hay | the heir apparent to the presidency In | other words, should President Mckinley | die, Secretary Hay would by law succeed ] to the presidency. Next to the secretary | ury, and so on through the list of cabinet l officers according to the seniority of the creation of their offices. It is a fact quite | well known to students. but seldom con | sidered by the public. that under the or | ganic law there is no such body as cabinet | in the United States and therefore no such | person as a cabinet minister or officer. The l heads of the great departments of the gov l | designate as cabinet officers, are merely | chief clerks to the president. The term l cabinet was first officially employed in this l country in an act of congress passed in 1868; | but congress is without the power to create l a cabinet in the European acceptation of | that term A cabinet is impossible in this country, for the reason that the heads of | the great departments have no seat or | voice in either house of congress, and are I actually responsible to the president alone | In law the president has official ad- l visers,' and can have none. He has eight ! chief clerks styled by courtesy and cus- 1 tom cabinet offcers,' and never referred | to as minister's They are the secretary of | state the secretary of the treasury, the sec | retary of war the secretary of the navy | the secretary of the interior, the postmaster | general, the attorney geneal and the sec | retary of agriculture"
 l George A. Beauchamp, of Eufaua, whom | the Grand. Council of Royal and Select Mas 1 ter Masons has chosen to be the Most Illus | trious Grand Master, is druggist and | chemist by occupation,'' said lobby | lounger last night His name is pro- | nounced 'Beecham' in Eufaula and perhaps | all over this country; but. as a matter of | fact that is not tine correct pronunciation. | But, however you call his name, he is one l of the most admirable and lovable charac- | ters in all the state. I knew him intimate l ly many years ago, when we used affec- l tionately to call him 'Beecher.' He was l then the young prescription clerk in the l famous drug and chemical manufacturing | house of Weedon & Dent in Eufaula. He | was then of very retiring, even shy, dis | position, and had nothing to do with the | delightful society of the beautiful town on | the Chattahoochee; but devoted himself to | his work and his books. He was very popu- | lar-everybody was fond of him. Later he | gave much of his time to the frivblities of | the lighter side of life, which we term 'so- | ciety,' and was a great favorte within the | charmed circle where fair women held | sway. He is still quite a young man. and | his gentleness manliness and human sym | pathy are as broad as the horizon of a life | which learning has widened. He is a right | good and worthy soul, and eminently de-
 serving of the honor which the Masons
 have conferred upon him.
 | Hon. J. P. Mcqueen, of Eutaw, was in
 town yesterday, returning with many other
 Masons from the great Masonic meeting | at Montgomery He left town for his home
 in the afternoon. I've had a great hunt | last week." said MT. Mcqueen. I've killed
 five deer besides large number of ducks
 and birds. There are not many of us at
 Eutaw, but we manage to have good time
 Our club has the best hun ting preserves in | the south. We have all sorts of game in l abundance. and the best of gnnd fshinn