The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-12-10
Joseph c. s. BLACKBURN.
BY SAVOYARD---In Washington Post.

! porting over pleadings and precedents
! he was sitting at the tavern cracking
| jokes, expounding the American Con-
stitution, regulating our financial sys-
| tenn, GUESSING the Republican party,
! and giving more serious thought
| to speculation on the result of the
| coming event on the turf at Lexing-
! ton than to the argument he was
j going to make to the jury in the court
| house next day. He was the univer-
sal favorite.
Even jockeys and bootblacks called
him Joe" Men who never saw him
before slapped him upon the back
as they tipped glasses with him, and
drank to the sunny South. He was
the life of every burpoo, had the
best mount in every fox chase, and
was stationed at the best stand in
every deer drive. Carpe diem was
the order whenever he appeared.
His friends often lamented his aver
sion to study; but had he been a stu
dent like Breckenridge, or a thinker
| like Carlisle, Kentucky would have
| found another favorite. He would
not have been "Our joe A man
| cannot follow the technical reasoning
| of my Lord Coke, or Mr.. Justice
| Blackstone. or M. Chancellor Kent.
and at the same time be the best
| Judge of whiskey in all Kentucky. He
cannot bury himself in the writings
| of Burke and of Jefferson. and at
the same time invent the best recipe
flor burgoo ever ordered. Ii Joe ever
read anything. his best friends never
found it out. Indeed. some Of them
jocularly say he can't read. Though
an ignorant man, so far as concerns
the knowledge gained from books.
he is no foo!-far from :t-and his
Ignorance. only emphasizes the cX-
traordinary energies of hts character
and the force of his personality.
Though he has been a politicians
all his life, It was not until 1871. at
the age of thirty-thrce, that Blackburn
was chosen to public office. That year
he was returned to the Legislature
from Woodf0rd county, after defeat
ing Gov Porter for the Democratic
nomination. He went to Frankfort
talking. and none of his colleagues
ever knew him to be silent during
the session. He was the best presid-
ing officer IN the house. though he
knew nothing about parliamentary
law. When he sessions of the DAY
we're concluded he held forth for the
better part of the night at the hotel
where he was always surrounded by
admirers He was the last man to
a.,
time his tongue was agoin, and he
never heard anybody else The fol-
lowing anccdote illustrates the man
thoroughly:
one day Blackburn attended a bur
goo or the banks Of Elkhorn. that
beautiful tributary Of the Kentucky
river. ripping laughing, bubblins,
dancing, murmuring, babblinG through
the very heart of the blue grass re-
Il Of E.ilH RIM
ming over a ground of green. Ther"
were j. Stoddard Johnston, Henry
T. Stanton-sweetest of poets anu
most loVablc Of men-Wlliiam lett
George Harper, Attilla Cox, sam
Gaines, Sam Leavy. Price McGTath,
Henry Martin. Jack Chinn, Charlton
Morgan, John Sandford Governor
Robinson, Hull Davidson, Matt Simp-
son, Jim Jewell. Tom Bush. Blu
Crabb. and perhaps half dozen oth-
ers. These were the men who maze
Blackburn Congressman in 1874 and
these the men who promoted him to
the Senate in 1884. The burgoo was
concocted by Gus Jarbert, who could
have taught Delmonico many trick
of the art culinary. The food was
feast for the gods on high Olympus,
and upon it Lucullus could have sup
ped with Lucullus a whole season. AS
for the LIQUID refreshments, it suf-
fees to say there was mint on the
banks of Elkhorn, there was ice at
Lexington, and Bourbon county is just
over the way.
Blackburn was the one guest who
seemed depressed. He, the soul of
every such symposium on this occa-
sion. sat apart in moody silence 1t
was generally remarked, and sam
Gaines asked him what he was moplng
around in that style for.
81 don't like this crowd" said Joe.
"Why, Joe, there is not a man here
who would not die for you. You as
tonish me-" exclaimed Gaines.
"Oh, the boys are all right enough,
returned Joe. but the damned crowd
is too big for an anecdote, and not
big enough for speech"
It was a spontaneous outburst OF
nai-altogether unaffected. He had no
thought of humor. He only gave vent
to his feelings of disgust when he saw
he could not do all the talking.