The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-05-06

and Proud OF Their Affection.
Especial to The New York Times.)
Washington. April 24.-This ses-
lsion. now drawing near its end. will
lsoon pass into history. or such his
tory as its d~o-nothing record may en-
little it TO, with only one characteristic
outbreak by Benjamin Ryan Tillman.
land that o very mild cne. In this
regard this do-nothing Session is GER
itainiy enabled TO shine with a bright
Historical light. 1t holds the grand
lprix among all expeditions where
irillman has been an exhibitor.
The exhibition referred to was dis
iplayed for a more or less admiring
world some weeks ago. Mr.. Warren.
Senator from Wyoming, who had
never before attracted the calcium
rays from the top gallery, wandered
into the Senate feeling very happy
Prom some unspecific cause, and OBJ
SERVED Tillman making gyrations of a
ITillmanesQue sort and holding forth
Ito the discontinue and rout of MT.
bailey, of Texas.
Mr.. Bailey did not know he was
being routed, but that is a side issus.
Mr.. Warren glanced toward the
Igesticulating and expostulating Till
man, and perceived a large thick
bottle protruding from his pocket.
He slipped across the aisle. alb
returned it to the Pitchfork pocket.
Later a serious-minded Senator in
formed Tillman of the incident, and
,he arose and detained. Warren
Iabjectly a~pologiZed, but later the OBJ
Iservations of both gentlemen were
stricken out of that unreliable pub
~llication. The Congressional Record,
lby unanimous consent of both. The
burden Of Tillman's expunged remarks
WAS hat he did not like to be held
forth to the country as a person of
loose habits when the bottle con-
ltained boracic acid. with which he
was trying to repel the ravages of
something which had recently assailed
ibis throat.
JEST TAKEN SERIOUSLY.
All would have been well had not
iTillman added to this one of his
characteristic outbreaks. He said he
never became intoxicated, except at
lbanquets, and even then he could find
ibis way home without being LOADED
INTO d cab. Though this was excised
from The Congressional Record after
lMr. Hoar and other dignified gen
ltlemen had argued with Mr.. Tillman,
lit got into the and there
twas more matter for Mortified gestic-
lulation on the part Of the good people
l"lOiI IL IllCHlOTh SeHdlOT QGlISnIS
Ito horrify. There is no doubt that
Ian additional shade of red was add
led to the mental picture of the Sen
lator from South Carolina which
|many good people of the north use
for baby-frightening purposes.
1t is good time to tell the truth
labout Tillman, though he will not tell
lit about himself, and thou,rh he de-
lights to say things that make it
Iwell-nigh impossible for even his
lweli-wishers to ascertain it. This
incident is a genre picture of 1T. So
lserious was that throat trouble. at
(which many people scoffed and which
few in the north believed, that Till
imam has long been down in South
carolina battling with it, withdrawn
from a scene in which he delights
land where he would rather be. war
paint on, han anywhere else in the
world. Boracic acid has given way
ito more stringent remedies, and Till
man is fighting, if not for life, at
least for health.
1t affords a side light on the whole.
deliberately Tillman holds out his
worst side 10 the public. Deliberate
Ily he paints himself as a savage,
wearing a breech clout and bandishing
"a spear. and deliberately he shocks
the north and the best part of the
south. Even in his own home -
lSouth Carolina there are good moth
ers who tonight hush their off
lspring to sleep with the name of
lTillman.
And all the time he is as good a
Fellow, as sensible and decent a citi-
zen, and as wise a man, as one could
wish to meet. The proof? If proof
be asked, what more convincing could
be offered than the fact that his
warmest admirer in the Senate is
George Frisbie Hoar. of Massachu-
sets? Like seeks like. even though
and a savage mask, and Hoar knows
bTfllman to be a man. The Pilgrim
ANSWERS to the Palmetto as old But
Ter and Hampton M all those cav
lalfers were never able to make him
lido.
Why did Tillman deliberately seek
TO spread abroad the impression that
THAT his sobriety was only for the
Senate? The question is the despair
lof his admirers, all the more their
despair for the reason that the man
lis absolutely sober, temperate, in
every way decent and respectable.
But the deeper question is, Why does
he spread abroad the idea that he is
a wild man politically; that he drinks
blood n eats raw meat, when he
Ps as level-headed and sane a man
las the world ever saw? Why Toes
The pose as Wilkes, and seek that
place In history, when his friends
know better?
1t Is the unsolvable mystery Of this
complex character. It ds probable
that 'Silas Larrabee," that wise old
Maine philosopher. solved the cues
Ition in The Times some years ago.
when he said that the lion TfIIman
loved the jackass's hide. and that 1t
was a pity. He does seem to love
lit
HIS TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN.
1t Is not long ago that Tillman.
rising in his place in the Senate. de-
lclared Abraham Lincoln was the
greatest of modern men. And T."
he said, and then paused and looked
upon the men who remembered
South C~arolina's outbreak which es-
ltablished he Southern Confederacy-,
% nd fE0E-