The age-herald., 1900-03-18
WHEN GoEBEL WARMED UPp
A New Estimate by Newspaper Man Who Knew Him Well

brought me more or less in contact with
 William Goebel. When say that Senator
 Goeloel was a genial ccmpanionable man;
 that he loved a company of good fellows
 and seldom missed an opportunity of join
 ing them; that he was keen in his sense of
 humor and was ever on the lookout for q
 lively joke; that he had his share of per sonal magnetism and was a true, loyal friend, l will not be borne out by more than three or four dozen men, for l doubt if those who knew him intima tely and came within the circle of his close affection ex- ceed that nUlml3cr, and it was only to them that he showed himself. In the presence of strangers he clothed himself with caution and reserve, as though he were accustomed to spies The airy abandon of the mixer was lacking in him. He found 1t hard to
 throw aside matters of importance to shake
 hands with strangers who sought him.
 shall never forget his efforts to "warm
 up' with the crowd of Mayfield, where he coened his campaign for election. He was
 in the hotel ofhce gcGng through a mock introduction to Judge D. B. Redwine, chair man of the Louisville convention. We had
 'iset up job" on him, as the boys say,
 but he had met all expectations by enter
 irI3 heartily into the spiItt of it ard greet
 ing Redwine, who had come unexpectedly
 with: Surely have seen you Iotsore, Judge
 Redwine. Let's see weren't you at our Louisville convention?' Just then some of the Mayfiefd committee entered wiG.l the tH(It h1S u DlS CiONu
 of farmers assembled in the court yard, and they "wanted to sL.aks hands with Goe- bel" Senator G'oebel xall.ed folil with
 t.Ie committee, and l followed Wrtl sev-
 era1 of what was known es the Goebel
 party to see how the democratic clndi-
 date for governor would show up as a
 landshaker.
 He tried his best to meet the demands of the occasion, but he was a thousand miles
 from the Jo Blackburn and w. J. Bryan
 style in that particular line of business. He
 shook hands With each conner grunted q
 "Howdy do," and turned for the next man.
 Presently all had been given the necessary
 shake and the senator found himself in the
 midst Of the group thus saluted. He looked
 as if he didn't know what they wanted next. When one of them asked him a question he answered but instead of elabor- ating his reply and entering into a jovial conversation on such topics as might be suggested he cut his responses short and waised for the next question. He was so manifestly embarrassed and i'll at east that the farmers soon drew off.
 Later in the day was in his room on the second floor of the hotel when a Mayfield worker came in with an old farmer in tow. MT. Goebel was writing a letter in which he seemed much engrossed. The Mayfield man introduced his charge in about the follow ing words:
 Senator, here's a man who has voted the
 
 he has ridden fifteen miles on horseback, he says, to shake hands with you" Senator Goebel looked up and held out his hand. The incident evidently pleased him, but he must have argued that after he had shaken hands he had done all the old farm CT wanted and all that he could actually | dc, for, having performed that salutaton and said, Glad to meet you, sir, he lapsed | into silence. The old man saw it was up
 to him to either carry or <he conversation | or beat a retreat and he a6opttd the lat ter as the easier course. Yet MT. Goebel | expressed himself to me a moment later as much pleased at such incidents, and his l language led me to believe that the thought | of his own conduct having been formal l and unsatisfactory to the farmer had not l crossed his mind
 But later in the campaign Senator Goe- | bel took on a surprising cordianty with crowds. He seemed to grow Into 1t, par | ticularly during and after his swing around with MT Bryan. Possibly the example of l that famous handshaker inspired lnim MT Bryan holds to a crowd until the last min- ute. He shakes hands coming and going and until the train jerks away from the people around the platform. Soon after MT. Bryan began operations on the Ken lucky democracy, noticed Senator Goebel making few ventures on the side into the handshaking speciality and before long he was giving the Nebraskan a rattling run for the good will of the station crowds Goebel usually stood on one side of the platform and Bryan on the other and they l worked like Trojans. This experience un- 1 limbered the senator, as 1t were, and he be- | gan to mix as he never had before mucn to the qualification of his political associ- l ates.
 l Mir. Goebel was easily approachable for l information by newspaper men, but that was about as much satisfaction as the 1 newspaper men usually got There were l few reporters or travelling correspondents | whom he cared for personally or in whose work he showed any interest. Graham | Vreeland of the Courier-Journal was pecu- l liarly close to him. They were on inti- | mate terms of friendship and this relation had lasted for years beginning in the ne- cessities of an active newspaper worker and ending in a deep mutual regard that was entirely distinct from the occupation of either.
 My own relations with Senator Goebel were rather peculiar. I could seldom en- gage him in serious conversation. Probably because we were in the habit of joking with each other, whenever he saw me he would playfully declare that I was giving away the secrets about his imp or his flying carpet or his magic herb,' these being burlesque campaign properties which had | introduced in futnering the ambition of one Captain James Williams and in jocose detrimept to the aspirations of Mir. Goe- bel, who began ito take me as joke that he was constantly encountering On one occasion wrote an article in behalf of Captain Williams, warming his followers to bend to the work, as the Goebel move ment was becoming serious one A month after that MT. GoeToel called me aside with great gravity, just aater a big demonstra- tion in his aonor. He whispered in my ear: DO you Williams men still think the | Goebel movement is a serious one?" and went off in as hiee state of glee as he could attain.
 | have written these recollections only to show the side of Senator Goebel that com | paratively few people have seen-to point | out that he had his genial, companionable | aspect and that he was not wholly the em- | bodiment of stern isolated austerity that | many have believed him.
 | Cannon That shnt 10th Ways