The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-05-20

Mr.. Page Heard From on This Mat
fer-He Makes Some Humorous
Points ON Justice Clark.
RaIeigh News and observer.)


CRaIeigh News n Observer.)
The following letter was received yes
terday from Mr.. Henry A. Page. presi-
dent of the Asheboro and Aberdeen
railroad:
Major Josephus Daniels. Raj Ugh, ". c..
My a old Friend and Playmate:
1t is true you refused to lend me your
speaking trumpet" a little while ago,
and afterwards allowed Judge Clark to
use it on me both directly and indirect
ly, in person and by proxy; and per-
laps / ought to be mad at you, but 4
am not, n 1 address you thus anec-
~tionately to prove TO o that with all
your faults I love you still To fore
stall objection on your part to the &C
curacy OF my salution; / hasten to ad-
init that you and / were not
IN point of locality, that is, our back
yards were too far apart to permit fire.
Quent exchange of visits. But 1t Is IN
point Of time that We must have been
playmates. At the very same time
Gust think of iD that you were chasing
sandfddlers on the historic banks OF the
Tar, L was skinning my shins and tear
ing my trousers in the black haw
bushes of Wake. Surely then you will
allow both the warmth and accuracy
of my greeting justified? / hope so,
for you see, 1 just must have somebody
to address his letter to. That is the
new style, you know, and even if 1
could afford to be out of style, there
are certain very clear advantages to be
gained by addressing letters of this
sort to individuals. Besides, l have
heard ard players say n must either
follow suit Or trump, and l am out
nf %prInanc Co nlaaca hear with me
will you?
Once Upon a time l was Obliged to tes-
tify on the witness stand that a GER
tain mans character was bad. A little
later / had a letter from him about as
follows: Dear Sir: / was very much
surprised at your testimony in my case.
l am a democrat; you are a democrat;
/ am a Methodist, you are a Methodist.
How then could you say that my char
acter was bad? Yours truly,--
The presumption is that there can re
NO such thing as a bad democrat, and
Shat there should be no difference of
opinion on that point among Metho-
dists. / was reminded of this old Incl
dent when / read the many harsh things
Judge Clark has to say OF me in his
letter to his dear friend, Colonel Il. j.
Holt. published in last Sundays papers.
We seem to nave a tolerably poor opin-
ion of each other, notwithstanding the
fact he is a democrat, / am a democrat;
he is a Methodist, / am a Methodist, l
think, however, that we Would seem
further apart in our party and church
relationship if the proper qualifying ad-
jectives should be prefixed TO our re-
spective democracy n Methodism.
For instance, he is a populist democrat,
while / am a goldbug Tin the far distant
past we would have said a Mckinney
democrat. His Methodism is OF the
rabid anti-Kilgo type. Mine was more
mildly anti-Kilgo as long as Judge
Clark remained a trustee OF TRINITY.
When he turned against Dr. k1lgo, that
seemed to me the very best reason IN
The world why i should be for him, II
/ wanted to be right. When Judge
Clark comes over on my side or the
hence, my conscience monis me to
~Efurder.' ooh yes; / have got one,
to S$yedSlesome fellow he is at
times.) It's funny hoy manraifIerent
sorts OF men the tern tESSthodN m
cludes, isn't it? Starting way up at the'
top of the ladder with the nre-tried
holiness brethren, on down through the
list of the common old backsl1der, the
fellow who has slid away back past the
starting point, all Methodists. ana
democracy has come to be almost as
comprehensive. 1t reminds me Oh tne
lion lamb, asp, cockatrice sucking cnlla
story. The News and Observer, The
Charlotte Observer, Judge Clark, Sena-
tor Ransom, all claiming democracy rs
their ancestral home. Even L a peei
hoping that there might be a little piece
of the old flag left to wrap around the
fingers / got cut fooling with the buzz
saw"
You know I was not mucn surprised
that Judge Clark did not like my form
er letter. but when Major WILSON'S ap-
peared it did seem to me tnat lne
Judges view of my effort ought TO nave
been modified. BY contrast my remarks
became tame and dull, and l very near
ly forgot that 1 had said anything at all
about him. Back in the early days on
the Wake county farm, one summer. l
had the task of cutting bands arouhI
the bundles of wheat as they were leu
INTO the thresher. With a big butcner
knife slashing away at the tough wheat
straw, I made a bad lunge just as m"
odd negro feeder reached for a bundle,
and split one of his fingers wide open.
He stuck to his job; put some narrow
strips of plaster across the gasn' anu
kept on firing the bundles into the ola
thresher- 7 felt mighty bad about il.
As he reached out for each und tnat
agly cash came directly under my eyes,
a constant reminder OF my carelessheSS'
Fhe next day that damaged hano reach-
ed for a piece of iron which was SilolnS
into the thresher, and the SHARP teetn
caught iron and hand at the same mo-
ment. When we got him out ms mana
to his wrist was hanging in shreds. 't
was a certain sort of relief to me to see
mat the ugly knife mark was gone
am surprised to n that Judge Cia!h'
in answering Wilson remembers SO DIS
tinctly the little cut l gave him. IL
must be true as the old proverb has i:
I've come to hate those we nave souga
to ;njure." / find among the Russeh iep
tiers two referring to me. showing tnay
at the time they were written JuosI
clark was seeking to do me harm.
/ declare that / knew nothing OF sIN
Ehis when my former letter was writ l
ten. / did not know that l couio possI1
bsv make any personal complaint
against him, and my purpose was TO
simply criticise Judge Clarks pupnc
record. as any citizen has the right 10
do. Had / known the contents OF tnese
two letters then, I should most certain
" have held my peace. If I j know my
self, I have no malice in my heart tof
ward any man, and I cannot afford to
enter into a discussion in which, nance