The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-11
CHARACTERISTIC STORIES
OF EX-SPEAKER REED

. mined to quite political life He con-
fided to a friend his purpose.
The party" he said. has no fur
( Their use for me. 1 have established
its power in the lower house-that is
to say, l have established it in bust
ness, so 1 can quit. l came here q
poor man and / leave here poorer than
l came. There is not anything left
me now but hard work at the law
get out of debt and make money if
can. 1t seems To be the fad these
days TO make money and get rich, and
so | will strive to be one of these great
and nightly milliOnaires."
He did leave Congress a poor man,
for he was an honest man. clean and
straight to the end: but since he met
with wonderful success at the law.
making in the last three years over
$3.50, 0O0 and had he lived a few years
longer would have indeed been a mill
lonaire. Three corporations for which
he was the legal adviser paid him as
much as $4,000 per annum, and in
addition to this he picked up some
large fees.
Every old congressman remember
the debate on the Mckinley bill. 1t
ran for fortnight, night and day.
The hot weather heated the partici-
pants in the discussion. Among these
was Joseph H. Walker of Worcester.
The heat sent streams of perspiration
down his face and his shirt-collar be-
gan to wilt. Take off your coat -
shouted one of his friends. The sug-
gection was quickly adopted, and he
drew off his double breasted frock coat
continuing his argument in his shirt
sleeves. The House was in committee
OF the whole and the speaker was not
present On the following day Mr..
Reed remained in the chair until the
hour for lunch had passed. A friend
mounted the steps and said: Il thought
you always went to lunch at 2 o'clock.
You're man of regular hSbits. II
they become irregular your health will
suffer and the nation may lose a
statesman. What's the matter with
you?' "Wa-al," the Speaker redlied,
I'm tell you. I'm afraid that if
leave the chair some graceless scamp
may get up and take off his trousers.
It's a laundering sight hotter to-day
than it was yesterday"
An important party measure was
about to be voted on by the Fifty
first Congress, and the Republicans
needed every vote. Come at once, -
Speaker Reed telegraphed to Congress-
man Lansing of the Watertown On.
" district. Impossible" the con-
gresham wired back; "washout on
line" Reeds reply to this was
promptly wired, and was as follows:
Never mind little things like that;
buy another shirt and come on
The story of Mr.. Reeds admission
to the California bar is still told by
admiring friends. 1t was at the time
when every one was discussing the
Legal Tender act. Judge Wallace ar
terward Chief Justice of California,
asked Mr.. Reed:
rs the Legal Tender act constitu-.
tional?"
1T is" answered Mr.. Reed, without
moments hesitation.
you are admitted" said the Judge.
ANY one who can answer offhand a
question like that can practice law
James B. bedford, representative
from Colorado, some years ago, was
fond of cumulative forms of speech,
piling one word upon another until
he had reached what he considered a
fitting climax. Replying to a fellow
member one day, MIR. Bedford asked a
question which elected no reply.
THE gentleman sits dumb, mute, ST.
lent" said he, in an impressive man
ner.
Mr.. Reed convulsed the members
about him by. interjecting:'
And he amt saying a word be-
Sides Bedford"
Mr.. Choate's appointment as ambas-