The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-07-13

X
et Louis Republic.
On one occasion Mr.. Hoar was urg
ing an important fishery bill In which
Ghs people Of New England were inter.
agtod. Mr.. Morgan opposed it vigor.
0uSIy, and at the end Of his speech
Senator Hoar sarcastieally inquired.
What do the people Of Alabama
know about Goldfish, anyway
$50 much" replied Senator Morgan,
quickly and with the kaenest Of smiles,
mat II the senator from Massachu-
PsttS should throw a Goldfish into a tan
here neid Of people In Alabama IT
would disperSe them 10 q man and ct
once"
great orators Of the upper house. spent
only three years in school, and those
In his early childhood, says q CORE
spondent Of the Pittsburg Dispatch.
From to 8 years of age embraced his
entire academic training, and the most
that he learned in that brief schooling
was Latin. In that one branch he was
thoroughly grounded, thanks also to
private instruction, and to It he at
tributed his remarkably ready COM
mand Of the English tongue In long
drawn out debates.
On every public question he discussed
--and they were numerous-J0hn T.
Morgan was perhaps the best informed
man in congress. While other legisla-
tive obstructlonists could talk and talk
to consume time, all the while saying
nothing, Morgan's speeches, without a
book or a scrap Of paper to jog his
memory, were packed full OF informa-
ton, his facts marshaled with consum-
mate skill. When the question Of Ha-
waiian annexation was suddenly sprung
upon the country toward the close of
Benjamin HArrlson's administration,
Morgan Anew more about the islands
than any man in Washington.
When Morgan was In Paris as a
member of the Boring sea commission,
Lord Hammer, impressed by the Ala.
bamian's marvellous grasp of public
questions, asked him of what univer.
sity he was graduate.
II never saw the inside of a uni.
versity," was the reply.
II beg your pardon" rejoined his
lordship. "Of course not all Of your
institutions Of learning are called uni
Versities, But what college did you
attend-what was your alma materY'
Imagine Lord Hannen's Rmazement
when informed that three short years
In a primary school was the nearest
Morgan ever had to college training.
Neither was Morgan a bookwOrm.
AS reader he was not remarkable.
The secret Of his learning was his
memory What he read, If 1t amount
ed to anything, stuck like a bur. He
thought more than he read, and what
ever he studied he mastered.
Senator Morgan lived In an old fash
Toned house in John Marshall place In
Washington. The name Of that street
gives an index to Mr.. Morgan's char
acter, writes Washington correspond
ent Of the Chicago Inter Ocean. It
used to be -Four and a Half street.
which name, Mr.. Morgan contended,
and reasonably, was too long, too clum-
sy and absurd. He picked out John
Marshall, the expounder of the conSti- |
tuition, as at person to be honored
by having a street named after him,
and he selected his own street as the
proper street to carry the name,
Patiently, year after year, he worked
with the district commissioners to have
the name Of the street changed. Con-
tinued rebuffs did not bother him.
Finally the commissioners changed the |
name Of the block in which Senator
Morgan's house stood to John Marshall |
place. The senator smiled and passed
on to something else. It had taken him |
some years to win but he had won,
Mr.. Morgan's wonderful ability to |
grasp subject in short time was illus.
rated a few years ago, when he was
employed to make an argument In a
case involving a patent for a moving |
says the Philadelphia Press.
The client was desperate, and he om-
ployed Senator Morgan on a friends
advice, giving the senator only six
hours in which to prepare. Mr.. Nor
gan's argument astounded the court
and almost paraly1ed his client SO
comprehensive and accurate was his
knowledge Of the details Of mechanics
as applied to that particular moving