The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-03-08
HOTEL LOBBY GLEANINGS
MIR. G. T.. =. NEAL, OF LEBANON, AT
THE DENIsON HOTEL.
Might Have Been the Hero of Tark-
ingtOn's Novel. - Gentleman
from Indiana"-HoteI Visitors.

G. T. 5. Neal, OF Lebanon, who is staying
al the DenisOn Hotel. is believed by many.
on account of a certain incident in his
career. 10 be the hero of Booth Tarking-
toms novel. ~ Gentleman from Indiana"
A good many years ago a young man was
arrested somewhere in Boone county,
charged with crime in which young
woman was his accuser. The prisoner was
confined in the county Jail at Lebanon. 4
few days later mob was formed which
battered down the Jail doors and carried
the prisoner trembling, to the courthouse
yard, with the idea Of hanging him TO a
tree. Neal, being a giant physically. rushed
into the mob, took the rope from the vic
TINS neck. carried him into the courthouse
building and blocked the door with his own
huge frame and prevented the mob from
venting it's lust for vengeance.
This incident" remarked a man who
was telling the story yesterday. is pre-
cisely described in Tarkington's story. Neal
is a sort of prime mover in all matters
OF reform and progress in his county. Like
many Of the successful men of this gen.
Grafton. he started our in life as a country
school teacher. Later he was surveyor of
the county and has waded through it when
il all mud and mire. He has even
been up 10 his shoulders in water, working
with a transit. 1t is largely through his
efforts, it is said that the county of Boone
was brought to it's present condition OF
being of the most fertile sections
agriculturally in the State. Stephen Neal,
the father of C.. +. S. Neal. is also a
very interesting man. He is now past
eighty and Is in possession OF all his
faculties. He is one of the old-time schol-
airs that are fast passing away He reads
Hebrew, Greek and Latin like an ordinary
man would his newspaper. Probably the
greatest distinction he bears is that he is
the author of the fourteenth amendment
10 the Constitution of the United States.
He has had very interesting acquaint-
ance and correspondence with nearly all
men of national prominence two or three
decades ago. Among these was Horace
Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune.
AT that time II used TO be the custom TO
have what they called editorial leads in
newspapers on the Fourth of July and
other days of national celebration, and
Mr.. Neal for many years contributed these
to Greeleys paper. At the opening of the
SpaniSh-Americdn war Mr. Neal reSurrect-
ed an old letter written him from the front
of the Mexican war in lS4S, and this letter
was interesting from the standpoint that
IL Is an exemplification of the fact that his
tory repeats itself, for IL showed where
the anti-expansionists came from. II went
on to state that they had all hoped for an
honorable peace, but that il would never
be declared so long as Calhoun, Webster,
Clay and many other talented men cir
culated their speeches among the natives.
The letter closed with a bit of spread
eagle oratOry, which is lost art to-day.
Ii was follows: Let pure Democracy
be the countersign of liberty. Let the
proud American eagle triumph over the
bleaking buzzard of the night and forever
keep the tree of liberty for his resting
place. Let. those who say this war is un-
just on our part and who continually con-
front us and our enemies with extracts and
speeches against us, sink with the load of
Toryism they have accumulated