The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-04-03
sKETcH oF muRpocK.
Written by His Fellow Worker,
David LeahY.

Eagle, David D. Leahy:
The only justification man can have
for writing an article. from an expert
standpoint, is that he knows his sub
ject ! think | know mine. It is u
living subject of flesh and blood ana
one that l have been studying day in
thirteen years. My subject is Victor
NurdOck-the next congressman for
this district hope.
I doubt if there is an adult person
either in Kansas or Oklahoma who
does not know him by reputation. A
great many only know that he has red
hair and is brilliant and versa tile
newspaper man. Others only know him
as a. clever and comDanionable young
gentleman full of animation and some
what hostile to dress suits-and Shams.
[ take pride in the fancy that l know
him better than any other living man
with the exception of his father and
father-in-law.
IF ! owned the Seventh congressional
district in fee simple. I would be willing
to wager every quarter section in il
against dime that if Victor goes to
congress he will make his mark and
give his district a national reputation
within three years.
Kansas never enjoyed such a reputa-
ton as when the lamented ingalls, rep
resented it in congress. His UNIQUE
mentality and prodigious intellectually
offset and balanced everything bad
credited to the state. In admiration of
MS pnluplCS against democracy the
whole Republican world forgot the
grasshopper calamity and in their
frothy Indignation the whole Demo-
cratic world forgot the disasters of the
prancing cyclone. How could Kansas
be considered bankrupt at any time
when it had such wealth of genius il.
one MANI Kansas can return to the
enjoyment of the reputation ingalls,
made for it if the Seventh district con-
vention which meets this month nOmi-
mates Victor MHrf0Cl c.lI
that Victor can reach the place of In
gals Immediately but / do know, so far
as anything not pToVable is knOWab BILE,
that he will reach it ultimately if given
nothing but the ebulliency OF an over
it fulfilled
Victon knows more today. than In
gals knew at %. If Kansas were born
again ne could write for the new state
as good a motto as ad astrR per aspera.
To my mind and to my belief he would
direct its course to stars as high as
ingalls, ever dreamed of.
Why can't the public adopt the pol
icy of the promotion of the fittest ?
know practically every man who will
be Victor's rivals for the congressional
nomination, and I am not going to say
anything against them. 1t is nothing
against them to say that in mentality,
in activity. in availability, in adapta-
bility, in temperament, in the grasp OF
the great questions an enlarged repuD-
lie will have to meet and in the gen
eral range of informa Cion required for
a congressman, he stands head and
shoulders and chest above any of them,
while some could not reach his ankles
in general and special qualifications for
the position.
Why. then, shouldn't the Seventh dis
t1ict nominate him2 Is it because he
< fanderfC0f and doesn't know the
people or their needs? Who among the
other candidates has lived mere any
longer? Who among them but he can
say that he walked his first steps and
lisped his first words in the district
Who stands ahead of him in loyalty to
the party that has the making of a
congressman Who stands ahead of him
in the work he has done for the ma
terial development of the district
Never was there a time when the peo-
pie of the district had such an oppor-
tunity to find man who can fit and
adorn a vacant place. The very con-
temptation of the possibility of the los
ing of such an opportunity makes me
mad.
victor was about IS when I first knew
him. He was roofing for his side at
a base ball game-the freckledest boy |
thought l ever saw. He was full ct
that youthful life that has never left
him. He was then known over con-
siderable portion of the state for his
popular paragraphing- known
than ingalls, was at IS He was not
more than 20 When some of the pleas
ant circumstances of fate made him my
boss" / do not believe that day has
passed since, whether together or other
wise. that / have not thought of him,
and never did a thought come to me Of
him that was not accompanied by
prophecy of bright future of some
kind for him. After working side by
side with him for few years he went
I TO Chicago to work on the Inter ocean
as reporter
once when Mckinley was assassin
ated and once when he thought his
father was dying. His affection foI
mckinley was based on the beautiful
affection Mckinley had for his lnVald
wife. He visited at the Mckinley home
at Canton, and the love tne lu w, :
president bore for his helpmate made
an impression on the Kansas youth thal
he has never forgotten. He has toio
me of it a hundred times if he has toic
victor has more characteristics ane
versatility Of mind than any man ;.
have ever known. HIS opsefNati9n
like lightning. He studies everything
that claims the attention OF elther M
mind or his eye, whether II De II
mechanism OF CuC--DJ %ASSH
ONCE or the habits of his old brindi'
cow. And he reaches conclusions ans
results rapidly. Hearing good plans
will make him dream for two days BC
he does not dream often. for goo'
1ianists are not very numerous accord
ing to his standard. Arthur HOFFMAN
the great Russian musician, the on
and only rival of PadereWskl, told M
that Victor's conversation with him OF
musical topics and technical knowlede
of the science OF harmony was one o
the most pleasant surprises of hi
American tour o. books and their con
tents he can talk till the COWS com
home An artist now in Paris told m
that Victor almost sent him crazy CIV
ing him suggestions as 20 how a certail