The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-07-16

bank failure. Eskridge lost the ac-
cumulationS of years, but retained the
plant and good will of the paper. He
was compelled to move to a new office
built for him by his brother, John t.
Eskridge, who was an officer in the
confederate army, and a radical Demo-
crat, while the editor was a bitter op-
ponent of that cause.
1t is strangely significant that the
revolver with which Mr.. Eskridge ended
his own life was purchased immedi-
ately after the failure of the First Ma
tional bank and the suicide of Charles
S. Cross. The losses into which he had
been plunged weighed heavily on the
governor and soon the sickness which
caused the melanchOlia came on. The
Cross suicide and failure was a shock
from which the governor never recov-
cred.
I Mr. EslSridge was secretary of the
first Masonic lodge organized In EN-
poria. He kept the faith until his
death. He served the city in all sorts
of public offices and was for many years
a conspicuous figure in the Republican
legislatu lures. Mr. Eskridge reared in
that service the monument which will
always stand.
He was the author Of the law author
izing school districts to vote bonds for
the construction of school houses.
He secured the location of the state
normal school at Emporia, sacrificing
the nomination for governor to ac-
complish it.
He had the name of the county
changed from Breckenridge to Lyon, in
honor of the valiant deeds of Gen. Ma
thaniel Lyon, who gave the people Of
Enporia valuable service in troublous
times.
He served as lieutenant governor un-
der Governor Harvey, and enjoyed the
distinction of being the only man in
Kansas who defeated John j. Ingalls, In
a state convention in those early days.
Tn 1xcr7f Io MOI i71af
the governor obtained.
Mr.. Eskridge had one hobby: the con-
struction of a railroad from Lawrence
to Emporia-
His fad was the adoption of reso-
lutions He never attended a ward
caucus, a general meeting for the i'm
provement of the town, political gath
ering or a public meeting of any char
acter, that he did not present resOlu-
tions for adoption. In the days when he
was a regular member of the state con-
ventions he was always on the COM
mittee of resolutions. He believed in
declarations, having acquired this idea
while a member of the Republican con-
gressional convention May %. 1861, at
which the following declarations were
made:
Resolved, by the Republican party
in convention assembled, That the ex-
listing condition of national affairs de-
mands the emphatic and unmistakable
expression of the people of the state,
| and that Kansas allies herself with the
uprising Union hosts of the north to up
| hold the policy of the administration.
Resolved, That the grave response
| bilities of this hour could not have been
safely postponed, and that they have
| not arrived too soon,and that, in the
| present war between government and
anarchy, the mildest compromise IS
| treason against humanity.
| The most vigorous fight Eskridge
| ever made was when he drove John
Madden out of the Republican party.
Years ago Madden and Eskridge had a
| Quarrel over a subscription account.
| Madden was nominated thereafter by
| the Republicans of his district for pres
idential elector. Then Fskridge opened
| his heavy guns. In that part of the
state this fight is recorded as the most
bitter political feud in It's history. Mr..
| Eskridge was a fighter and he made
! things so lively for Madden that in a
| public letter he declined the nomination
| for elector and Joined the Populist
| movement at the same time In later
years the trouble was patched up, and
| when Mr.. Eskridge bofted his own party
| platform and evinced a friendliness for
silver. he and Madden became warm
friends.
After the St Louis convention Mr..
| Eskridge halfway left his party, and
! has since been inclined to the silver side
| of the political divisions He associated
with Republicans in local affairs but in
| national affairs he was inclined towards
/ Bryanism.
Eskridge was once mainly responsible
for the defeat in the legislature for the
amendment Offering women the right
| to vote. In this he laid the foundation
| for the lasting hatred among the suf-
| fragists. An incident of this character
| is best illustrated by the experience OF
| a reporter for the Republican. Years
| ago Susan E. Anthony arrived in EN-
| poria to lecture. The reporter was sent
lsby the governor to interview Miss An
Continued on Sixth Page.l