The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-22
IN HOUSE
NOW RECHRISTENINGS COME TO
MEN IN CONGRESS.
RECALLED BYAM0S CUMMINGS

Political Nomenclature of the Past
and Present-The Black Eagle of
the Piney Woods and His Speech
at the Opening of Hostilities with
Spain-The Tall Sycamore of the
wabash and the Wasp From the
Wabash-Names That Made Men
Famous.
With broad wings and strong legs
the Black Eagle OF the Piney Woods
enters the House of Representatives
He moves deliberately and pays close
attention to its proceedings. Never
does he iutter or drop a feather.
Whether in committee, in the cloak
room, or on the floor, he always knews
what Is going on. With hair as
straight ana black as that of an In
dian, he is as swarthy as the late John
A. Logan. In physique he IS the
strongest man on the floor. His eyes
are black and piercing, and his mus
cles like iron, He has grip of steel,
and the industry and persistence of the
spider made famous by Robert Bruce.
This eagle comes from Texas, ana
ranges between the headwaters of the
Trinity River and Cypress Creek. He
is Reese c. De Graffenreid, the sue
cessor of the renowned Buck Kilgore.
He represents the ten counties just
east of Dallas. AS a rule, he is quiet
and undemonstrative, and spends much
of the time in picking his feathers
But when grave public questions rise
he spreads his wings and scars into
the ornament. He first attracted at
tention by speech ON the Dingley bill.
It was signal light on sea of dreary
discussion. Three years ago he stirred
the House to unusual enthusiasm. 1t
was when the bills placing $4,000, 900
in the hands of the President to pre-
pare the country for war with Spain
was before Congress. Up to that time
De Graffenreid had been comparative
ly unknown. 1t was the grst speech
from the South that breathed the
true spirit of devotion to the Stars and
Stripes. While not so sublime as the
address of Robert G. Cousins on the
destruction of the Maine, it was fervid
with eloquence and replete in patriot
ism. Unlike the remarks of Robert of
Iowa, the words of Reese of Texas
were delivered ON the spur of the mo.
ment and without preparation. There
are other eagles in the Texan delega-
ton, but none who can spread it's pin
ions more gracefully or fold them
more impressively.
Occasionally statesmen are rechris-
tened after entering Congress. A few
bring their pseudonyms with them, and
some leave them at home. Daniel Web
ster was known as Black Dan in Mas
sachuSettS and the mountains of New
Hampshire, but no one ever dreamed
of applying that term to him in the
United States Senate. The same may
be said of John A. Logan. His friends,
neighbors, and schoolmates knew him
as Black Jack; his comrades in the
army changed it to Fighting Johnny;
but in the Senate he was always
known as Senator Logan, of Illinois.
Samuel S. Cox, however, was termed
Sunset Cox the world over. He won
the sobriquet while a newspaper editor
in Columbus, o., and it stuck to him
through life. Visitors to the Capital in
variably asked the guides to point out
Cox. Indeed, many. of them believed
that Sunset was his patronymic and
addressed him thus by letter. In the
Fffty-fourth~ Congress Joseph H. Walk
er was known as the Gray Eagle of the
Quinsigamond. His personal appear
ance and combative disposition justi-
fed the appellation. Never did he use
his beak and claws to more advant-
age than when Bourke Cochran attack
ed him on the floor of the House. 1t
was during the discussion of the Will
son bill in the Fifty-third Congress.
The schedule on manufactured goods
was being considered. a subject with
which Walker was entirely familiar as
he had been a manufacturer. The Gray
Eagle tore great strips of flesh out of
the New York statesman and sprinkled
the walls with his blood. 1t was the
most diverting and enjoyable scene
that occurred in that memorable de-
bate.
The eagle is a favorite bird in politi-
cal nomenclature. The Bald Eagle of
Westminster was for years prominent
figure in New York politics, and the
Red Eagle of Alabama is not unknown
TO fame. One of the most striking
nicknames, however, was that given by
Dan Voorhees,, long United States sem
stor from Indiana. The full signifi-
canoe of the term "Tall Sycamore of
the Wabash" could never be appre-
ciated until you saw Voorhees, on the
stump. With a magnificent presence
snd voice as clear as the notes of
trumpet, he awake all human emo>
tons. In the Senate chamber his was
an imposing presence. Clad in a blue
claw hammer with bright brass but
tons he would have been a perfect
type of the days of Webster, Clay and
Calhoun. voorhees, was certainly the
last of the old time American states
men. few years before his death
he was invited to a breakfast in the
outskirts of Washington. The host was
On officer of the army. Many of the
guests were also military gentlemen
The breakfast was triumph in Gull