The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-07-27
OR!ES OFHENDERSON
acteristic Glirnpses of For
mer Speaker of the House.

:
@ ssDs General Riot On tho Floor OF
81 House Of Representattves-Do
aN1tton to His Mother-SVHote to Her
' HSery Week. ........
Che late Colonel David Bremner Hen.
s1arEon, the former speaker OF the house
0fSrepresentativeS, once said to Wash
8tngton Post man: II make IT rule Of
life to get some good out Of every.
tlthtng, II possible. / owe this trait In
makeup to my first composition,
S30rI was not born 80.
EssISwent to school to my brother. He
sSyasSa splendid man, aud with a chtld's
I Htntnitive insight into character recog-
St1titzsed that fact and adored him Us a
sort of demigod In consequence So
syhen he assigned me the subject for
my first composition l determined to
cover myself oil over with glory by
making 1t the feature Of the day.
tdid1 but not exactly In the way had
planned 1t.
subject was The Mouse and !
Sttddled the character Of that maraud-
Ing little rodent pretty thoroughly. I
$daScribed him, front view and gable
END. complained Of hts propensity
Tor appropriating to his own use the
SDroperty Of others, Of his rather apt
Shabtt of biting when his right Of way
us 1nfr1nged upon. Of his liability to
run up fellows trousers legs and to
drown himself in preserves.
} MY composition was very funny.
/ thought tt the best one Of the lot, and I
believed the other boys did, too, they
laughed 80 immoderntely. stole q
glance at my brother, and his face
8was as black us a thmdercloud. Pres
$ently he arose for the duty Of criticts-
Ing our literary productions. He had
kind word Of praise for all until he
came to mine, which. having been read
last, was the Inst to be reviewed
This composition he began, is
2 the least Reritorious Of the number
because this historian has utterly fail
ed to find one kind thing to say Of the
subject of his sketch. and yet 1t re-
Quired the wisdom and care Of the In
finite to create It The historian who
can see nothing but bad In nny subject
whatever does not deserve good
d word from others and is not safe in
structor Of his kind. IF you were to
+ write the story Of an assassin you
could at least tell Of the virtues that
had to be assassinated to bring q man
to the point where he could do such a
deed
"He went on quite lengthi1y In the
same strain. I was crushed, and 1t
was only after many years had passed
and my reasoning powers had matured
that dim suspicion begnn to dawn
upon my mind that my worthy brother
was only the pot calling the kettle
black after oil, fnnsmuch as he had
not single good thing to say Of me
even If didn't deserve 1T, for was
hardly as bad as an assassin, at any
rate. This reflection, however. has nev-
er hindered his intended lesson from
taking root, and to this day try to
practice It,"
In the stormy days of the house OF
representatives, just before the adop-
tion Of the resolutions preclpitating the
war with Spain. Colonel Henderson
prevented a general riot on the floor.
Partisan feeling was running very
high, and Representatives Brumm Of
Pennsylvania and Bartlett Of Georgia
became involved In n dispute, and the
lie was exchanged
Members began throwing copies Of
the Congressional Record at one anoth
er's beads and to strike out right and
left with their fists and one excited
southerner drew n knife. There was q
great rush Of members into the space
directly in front on the speaker 9
stand, which for the time being SEEM
ed transformed into fighting pit
Suddenly Henderson came hopping
: down the aisle on his clutch, and, lean
ing himself against the desk, he waved
his crutch In the air and his voice rang
5 out In clarion call for order. For the
time he seemed to override even the
power Of Speaker Reed
members Of the house OF representa-
tives,n be shouted, you forget where
you are Back to your seats"
The command was effective. Mem
bers halted and dropped into cnnven-
. lent seats, and In few minutes Hen
derson's crutcb had completely restor-
ed order where the gnvel Of Speaker
Reed had apparently failed.
In his large circle Of friends 1t was
traditional that Colonel Henderson al
ways kept his word, and in Illustration
of this characteristic 1t ts said Of him
that when boy going away to school
ne promised his mother to write to her
at least once every week. And there
after he kept his word Prom college,
from southern battlefelds, from his
law Office and from congress that week.
IL Letter went to cheer his mother ess