The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-03
j. PROCTOR KNOTT
BY SAVOYARD.

static languor upon the downy cush-
ions of her splendid carriage; that even
the perfumed zephyr. as he steals from
/ beds of rare eXOtics, shall not kiss her
velvet cheek too rudely, nor the dam
cling sunbeam taste the delicious fra
GRANGE that exhales from her honeyed
4 lips, while the toil-brow ned daughter
of the honest, hardworking, taxpaying
| farmer. or mechanic. or Indiana or
| Kentucky, in her homespun gown, IN
| nOcent of crinoline or train, must
''Skelpit on through dub and mire,
Despising wind, and rain. and fire."
Whether that fancy surpasses the in
dignant pathos of the apostrophe to
France in the Duluth speech is matter
of opinion always, but there can scarce
be two impressions that. for rollicking
humor. the following passage in the
| Pennsylvania avenue speech finds no
parallel in the Duluth speech:
But. Mr. Chairman.(I have heard
| one reason very frequently urged for
the passage of this bill. which candor
| compels me. to admit, almost cOnvinces
me that we ought not only to appro-
pirate this sum of $4,000, but any
other amount that might be necessary
10 repave Pennsylvania avenue at the
very earliest possible period of time,
horde of officeholders that throng the
| thOrOughfareS of this city in numbers
i almost equal to the hosts which were
hurled with Lucifer from the battle
ments of heaven. For, sir, if there is
a being on this earth for whose com
fort and convenience / entertain the
profoundest solcitude; if there is one
whose smallest want stirs my sympa-
| thetic soul to its serenest depths, it is
] nf1 fun
airy. When l see one of that noble
army of martyrs bid adieu to home and
all the sweets of private life. for which
be is so eminently fitted by nature, to
immediate himself on the affairs of his
countrys service for four long years.
| Homer's touching picture of the last
sad scene between the noble Hector
and his weeping family rises before my
compassionate imagination. When [
see him plunge recklessly into an office
of the duties of which he is profound
iy and defiantly ignorant. l am re-
minded of the self-sacrif1cing herosm
of Curtius, when he leaped into the
yawning gulf that opened in the Ro-
man forum. When I behold him sadly
contemplating his majestic features in
one of those gorgeous and costly mir
/. rors. which are furnished him at public
expense, my heart goes out to him in
|
sorroWfully, at miserable repast of
sea turtle and champagne. my very
bowels yearn for him. And when / see
him perform. perhaps, the only duty
for which he is fully comprehension
ing the receipt for his monthly pay-I
am so overwhelmed with pity for his
miserable condition that 1 wish I were
in his place. -.
Pat Donan was a brilliant man. who
Gal 11 w in, ha faIo f..
army. After the war there was pub
licatiOn in New York called the Metro
pOlitan Record. 1t would have been
suppressed any time between 1861 and
1865 for treason. Pat Donan was its
faVOrite contributor over the name r.
E. Bell'-fOr rebel-and he counseled
trying ii over again; but no one of his
writings in that publication was of the
slightest akin to the Duluth speech
and If Pat DOMAIN wrote the Duluth
speech he also wrote the PENNSYLVANIA
avenue speech. Mr.. Curtis is wrong in
saying Knott never made denial of
DOMAINS claim to the authorship of the
Duluth speech. Not a great while be-
fore he died Donan was in Kentucky
and the question of the authorship
arose, and Knott delivered himself of
some language for publication that
showed that he could be as emphatic
nobody ever pretended 10 put in any
claim for Donan, so far as know I'M
til Dexter Marshall and w z. Curtis
dug it up
The Duluth speech was the child of
accident. One morning, the winter of
1871. Knott was sitting alone and rot
very cheerful in a committee room Of
| the house of representatives. He had
been beaten for the nomination for
congress the summer before. because he
had not mastered the ,provident aud
thrifty art of handshaking, and because
mis- successful competitor was as tall
as General Scott ana had voice like
Stenton-beaten by a diminutive Il ac-
ton of a vote. He was out of congress
two terms-FOrty-sec and Forty
i third. Sitting in his room chewing the
cud of fancy, he was approached by a
Mulberry Sellers with a map of the
| Bayfield, and st. Croix railroad The
fellow opened on Knott with such an
exuberance Of talk and predica ton of
the future Opulence of Duluth that the
! Kentuckian soon got interested and
saw an ocean of harmless satire He
kept the map, and it played big part
in making the speech a success. When
Knott is most humorous he is most
solemn, and as he held that map up
and pointed out places of Industrial.
financial and commercial strategy on
it. his very demeanor was provocative
| of laughter. No wonder when the
| hammer felF' one enthusiastic mem
Der exclaimed: "Oh, d-n it, stop the
clock"
| have always regarded the follow
ing as the finest thing i'm the Duluth