The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-21
A STORY OF QUAY.
How He Narrowly Escaped Being .
 Southern Man.

&&WW 6S A8kN0WAy &S~F~ Southern Man.
 New York Press:
 Senator Quay came within an ace or
 being a Southerner by adoption. Just
 as the great Seward did. Seward was
 actually settled for life in Georgia, put when his Southern sweetheart Jilten him he returned to New York and made his home at Auburn, his soul fuit or bitterness toward his fellow men in Eatonton, Ga. Quay when youth just out of college, 17 years or age, went to Madison county, Mississippi. with chum of the name Of Grimm, whose parents, sister and brother lived on a fine plantation on the Big Biack River. a noble fork of the Mississippi. Here the Jefferson college graduate re- mained one year, boating, hunting, fishing. watching the cotton grow, and. incidentally. falling in love with Miss Lizzie Grimm. the lovely daughter or
 the house.
 Fired with ambition by the half promise of reciprocal love, young Quay set out for Shreveport, La, to study law. He was accompanied oy his Fidus Achates, Griffin, and their deter
 imitation was to gain admission to the bar as soon as possible and begin the practice of law together. the firm name 1 to be Griffin & Quay, attorneys and counselors. etc. But hardly had they begun their studies than Grimm was informed of the sudden death of his father. This sad event necessitated his immediate return to the plantation. wbither he was accompanied by Quay,
 who was still a pensioner on the boun- ty of his rich friend. Affairs of love l were knocked into cooked hat, and n~- a. 1- hxrI, ,tey ata1rx returned to his home in Pennsylvania, finishing his legal studies at Pittsburg He was admitted to the bar in 1854,
 and year later was appointed pro" | thonotary of Beaver county. That was
 his entrance into politics.
 l Ten years passed. Matthew Stanley Quay was assistant commissary gen. | eral of Pennsylvania with the rank of | lieutenant colonel. His law practice assisted by his politics. made him in | dependently comfortable. if not rich.
 He wrote kn MadisonsCounty, Mississip- \ pi. to inquire how the Griffins were getting on. Miss Lizzie. married in the meantime. replied to the letter, and q | friendly correspondence was begun that lasted for many years. The war re"
 duced the Griffins to the verge of pow
 erty, and Quay, in some way learning |
 money advanced by his chum and the
 senior MT. Griffin at comp pound interest | for the entire period that had elapsed
 since his visit to Mississippi. He af- l terwards sent checks for large sums
 of money to enable his forper friends | to clear their old home of debt. | Miss Lizzie had in the meantime a son from her marriage who in the later | eighties was in search of employment. Quay, learning of this. had the boy ap- l pointed to 8 lucrative government posi- l ton in New Orleans, which he filled | creditably until his death a few years ago. Later, when MT. Mckinley was
 elected President. Miss Lizzie. now a l penniles5 widow, became an applicant for the office of postmistress of Can l ton, Miss. and Quay, in the face of the \ fiercest opposition, obtained for her the appointment. The Senator has ever bAen leSaf and grateful to every mem- I haRI of gtha Griffin family.
 | eu What is 1t, Fate? Who can say? l Matt Quay might have been an ordi- nary, pettifogging, indolent lawyer in Louisiana or Mississippi but for the death of MT. Griffin. He might have fought on the Confederate side in the war. Pennsylvania might never have | known the abfest political manager that the Keystone State ever produced
 but for his unexpected return to his
 native soil. Matt Quay has been called
 nearly every bad name in the dictfon-
 ary of the vulgar tongue. Not even
 Croksr has been so lavishly epltheted
 And. believing that there Is inherent good in every man, no matter how he
 may appear on the surface. 1t is q
 pleasant diversion to write these good things of him who has been so gener 0asly tradueed and vilified by men ol plie politieals parties. A little gratitudl covers aImultitude of sins. Quay vii
 soon be 6S years old. He has beal through enough to be 100.