Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-02-14

| do the rest OF my life, so I want yor
to set that finger just in the shape il
would naturally be in when | hold a
pen in my right hand He laughed
| heartily and made fun of my PROPOSE
| tion. but l persisted, and he set it in
the crescent shape you see it in. II
! doesn't bother me in writing, but would
have been nuisance If he had set il
straight I couldn't help thinking
how different his career might have
! been had DR.. Dysart set it straight, fol
then he might not have written those
hundreds of thousands of letters which
have done SO much to prolong his ten
llre in the senate. 4 crescent shaped
finger is good thing to have in the
family sometimes.
cockrciFs Memory.
But his endless letter writing is not
tho only aid to his senatorial longevity.
His marvellous memory for names and
faces has helped to keep him i'll his
curulc chair.
When he made his losing race for
governor in 1871. being defeated by
only onc-siSth of one vote in the state
convent ion--the closest shave OH rec
ord his present brilliant and eloquent
colleague. George Graham Vest, WAS
one of his competitors. and thereby
hangs Il tale.
When the war closed. SO the story
runs Cockrell took home with him
# l. H.,
office address of every man carefully
noted on that important aud valuable
document When in their stunlping
tour they approached any particular
town. Cockrel would use that roster
TO refresh his memory as to the names
Of all his soldiers who had their hah-
tat there or therea bout. SO when he
met them, though ten years had inter
vcned. he would slap them famiiiarly
on the back and address them cordially
as Bill or Joe or Tom as the case night
be, never missing the mark. OF course
tie men We're delighted that the @ener-
a! remembered them and were vociter
oUs supporters of their Ok! commanders
SO there is method in memory as we'll
as in madness
Cockrells memory performances dis
gustcd Vest exceedingly. One day
somebody asked him how he was get
ting on running for governor. and he
replied: Not any too well. 1t seems
to me that Cockrell's brigade must
have composed at least One-h half the
entire Confederate army and most Of
the other half
OF course there are tricks in all
trades. even in tho exalted one of cleo
great state or for n seat in the senate
of the United States; but, after allow
ing much for exaggeration by both
friends and enemies as to Cockrell's s
Drodigious memory. there is enough
residuum Of truth to show that he is a
remarkable man in that respect.
w. H. Steele. nicknamed Buck" for
many years county clerk Of Lafayette
county. Mo-, told me that from 1864,
when, a beardless boy, he was in the
same hospital with General Cockrell,
till 1880 they never met. In the mean
time Steele had grown a full beard.
Cockrell visited Lafayette county in
his campaigning that year, saw Steele a
half block away on the streets Of Lex
ington and not only recognized him in
stantly, but addressed him by his So
briquct of Buck" 1t goes without
saying that Buck" was till his dying
day Il thick and thin, whole hog
friopl To tho Il
all his kith and kin
Strict Construction of Statute.
The late Hon. Marriott Brosius OF
Pennsylvania once said:
"Nhen old Judge Ben Wade. was q
circuit judge in Ohio there was q law
| on the statute books OF that state pro
hihi'inS the testimony Of a negro to bt
| heard in court. Wade was an intense
| ahotitionist. One day in the trial Of .
case "A man black as Err!ns was offer
ed as witness. The la wy"rS got into
| a wrangle "hont it. When they were
| through Judge Wade delivered him
self thus: The statute which provides
| that a negro shall not testify in cour
is disgrace 10 the state. and viii
| cOnS1rue it strictly Counsel have pro
dured no evidence to show that tLi!
man is q negro: therefore, Air. Clerk
swear the witness" Perhaps" adla
alr l;rosius. with a chuckle. "Judg,
| Wade was color blind"
! CHAMP CLARK.