Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-23

previously. The fact that he supplied her
with the most beautiful French gowns and
lavished money upon her. she did not con-
slider compensation for the teasing she got
at the hands of her fellow pupils. In two
months he had to take her back home still
uneducated.
The old warriors eccentricities increased
during his declining years, and after his
last marriage he thought little Of any
thing except his dream that some ancient
enemy was trying to murder him and his
peasant wife" as he called her. She. in
spite of his kindnesses kept running away
from White Hall. and finally he decided
he must get divorce. This he did. charg-
ing her with abandonment She soon mar
ried worthless young mountaineer named
Brock. who was once arrested for coun-
terfeiting. Then the general began plot
to get her back. having already given a
farm and house to her and her new hus-
band, only to hear that Brock sold the
property. AT last Brock died. and few
months ago dispatches from Kentucky
stated that the general was trying in vain
to prevail upon his child wife" to return
to him. She refused persistently, never
having Outgrown the dislike for the luxuri-
Gus life with which he surrounded her and
still preferring the simple country exist
ence to which she was born.
Born Of Distinguished Parents.
Gen. Clay. whose father was Gen. Green
Clay of revolutionary fame, a kinsman OF
Henry Clay. and the scion of what was
originally an illustrious Virginia family,
was born at White Hall. the family's great
kentucky mansion. in Madison county, on
October 49, 1910 On his mothers side also
he was descended from a line of colonial
fighters, and there were inheritanceS OIL
vast estates from both branches of the
family. Young Clay received the best pre-
paratory education and finally was grad
uated from Yale College in 1892. His first
anti-Slavery speech was made in college,
Immediately upon returning home with his
degree he Joined the militia of his state as
a staff officer, and soon afterWard his prac-
tce of law and his abolition crusades be-
gan in Lexington, whittier he moved from
ITCH olIulM
In 1915. after he had spent three terms IN
Congress and had been defeated in several
elections by his pro-slavery opponents, he
began to publish at Lexington the True
American, an abolitonist organ. The pub
fishing office was mobbed and several duelS
resulted. Later. however, the paper was
printed in Cincinnati and circulated In
Kentucky.
In the Mexican war Gen. Clay served
with distinction in the volunteers. At the
start of the fight between the north and
south President Lincoln. whom he had sup
ported vigorously, had promised him the
War Department portfolio, but the general
requested that he be sent to Russia as min
ister He remained in ST. Petersburg from
1851 to 1869. Before that he had supported
Taylor Fremont and Lincoln in their re-
spectiye campaigns. and later he was
supporter Of Greeley in 1872. Tilden in 1876
and Blaine in 1884 On whatever political
side he ranged he was always a power
In Kentucky. and TO his efforts some au-
thOrities have attributed in large measure
the failure of President Grant to secure
third term.
The generals duels began in his youth,
and recently he told an interviewer that
he could not remember exactly how many
fights he had had. There were too many
of them. His face was covered with scars.
and his body from head to foot. bore the
oil nnn mo
of them the outcome of political feuds.
His Bloodiest Encounter.
1t was during his campaign for Congress
against Wickliffe that Gen. Clay had his
bloodiest encounter, in which his only
weapon was a bowie knife. He had chal-
lenged his opponent for using Mrs Clay's
name in a political speech, but their sec
onds had called the fight off after each
fired an ineffective shot. Then bully
ment. lay in wait for him at a meeting.
The general for once had forgotten his pis-
tolls. but as Brown shot him above the heart
he closed in with his knife. cut off the
him. receiving himself dozen or 80 Sc
rious wounds from the hostile crowd that
surrounded him. AS result of this fight
he was tried for mayhem. Henry Clay de-
Tended him and a speedy acquittal followed.
In his late years Gen. Clay kept White
Hall guarded like feudal castle, thinking
always Of the enemies whom he imagined
to be seeking his life. Though his sight
became so much impaired that he could
not shoot any longer, he kept plenty of
firearms at his elbow, and kept trained
from portfolio In the wall the same brass
cannon he had caused to be built to protect
his printing Office from the mobs in 1915.
Aside from this delusion about his enemies.
however. he seemed to think clearly up to
the last sickness. 1t was his boast that he
had never used tobacco and unlike the
traditional Kentuckian. he cared for little
toddies.
Il haven't had a days sickness for thirty
years.. he told a friend a few years ago.
except when I was laid up little while
because of a little encounter with a man
named Turner"
This Turner. the friend recalled. had cut
al, ri In ha