The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-29
INGALLS, OPPORTUNITY.
Famous Poem Inspired by Personal Ex-
 perience.

at lu0 uOOT, anu III HIS IdIuOuS poem outlined disaster for those who fail to answer the knock, he wrote what he knew by personal experience. Failure to open a door In response to knock lost Ingalls, the first important politi- cal office he coveted in Kansas. The man who did answer the knock won the office, the clerkship of the Kansas State senate. and the man who open ed the door-literally, and not fgura- lively, as the story will show-and won the office away from Ingalls,, was J. M Luce, of Ottawa, says the ottawa Herald.
 One night early in January, 1858, when the third territorial legislature-or first 'free state" legislature-was assembling at Lecompton, the principal hotel was crowded, A member of the upper house, arriving late, was informed by the ho- telkeeper that the house was full and that there were only two rooms with snigle occupants The newcomer in quired who the men were and the lo- cation of their rooms The name of one mentioned seemed to fill him with hope and he went confidently to the door and knocked. The man on the outside want ed the man on the inside to share the room with him for the night. But from the room In tones of dignity came the reply that the occupant felt capable of taking care of the room himselA No sooner was this answer made than the door of the room of the other single occupant was opened and a voice told the outsider to enter and make himself at home. The legislator, tired out by a long ride, did so.
 , The man seeking a room was Sena- tor Root of Wyandotte county. The John J. Ingalls,. The man who opened the door and shared his room was M Luce, then of Centropolis, now of Ottawa. In appointing fifteen or six teen clerks under him Clerk Luce nam- ed the young man who had thrown his strength to him for first assistant, h. gals as second assistant and Colonel J. c. Horton, who died recently in Kan sas City, as third assistant. The leg lislature assembled on January 4, and two days later adjourned to Lawrence. It was this legislature that passed the bill removing the state capital from Lecompton to Minneola, which was not far from the claim which Mir. Luce had taken.
 In 1866 Mr. Luce was elected to the legislature from the North district of Franklin county as a Democrat W. B. Kihbe was elected from the South dis trict as Republican. Albert Wiley, the State senator, was also Republican. Y At the session of the following winter two senators were to be elected. Sam uel c. Pomeroy was a candidate for reelection. Edmund, G. Ross was a candidate for election to the place he was then filling by appointment of Governor Crawford to fill the vaacncy caused by the suicide of Lane. Cover nor Thomas Carney was also in the tiace as the third man. Pomeroy was hard pressed and immediately began nlak- ing overtures to Mir. Luce who was at the head of the Democratic contingent, numbering three. The three Democrats were chased as independents Carney and Luce were warm friends and ap- parenty Luce would have supported him. But one night Carney got to drinking freely and the Centropolis man saw him. That settled it. MT. Luce led the three votes over to Pomeroy and he was elected. Then, following Pom eroy's wishes, the votes were cast for Ross and against Carney and Ross won.
 In gratitude for his service Senator Pomeroy immediately appointed Mir. Luce his private secretary, and on March l, the latter went to Washing ton to take up his duties, at the short session of congress. Senator Pomeroy was chairman of the committee of pub- lie lands, the committee that had charge of the granting of railroad char ters. The most important work of Sem ator Pomeroy at that session was in regard to the right of way through the public domain for the Santa Fe rail- road company. Various attempts had been made to get the right of way for @ road running west from Kansas City to Lawrence and Topeka and on west. This was opposed, of course. by the Union Pacific which already had a line running that way. But Senator Pom eroy and Secretary Luce succeeded in showing how the road could run down from Atchison to Emporia and thence off to the west and south so well that the charter was made out.
 The next session of congress was made memorable by the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson. All the other votes of the senate were known and only the one vote-that of Ross of Kansas-remained unknown. Ross had the vote that would convict or acquit. On the night before the day of the vote, when all was excitement and speculation on the action of Ross, Mir. Luce met Senator Ross and asked him how he was going to vote. Ross replied;
 Luce, I owe you as much as I owe any man, for what you have done for me. But I will not tell you or any man how I am going to vote tomorrow"
 Had he told me how he was going to vote," said MT. Luce the other day, q could have made half a million dol lars that night"
 That night Congressman Daniel w. Vorhees of Indiana, Perry Fuller and MT. Luce went up and called on Pres ident Johnson. Years before that John son had been MT. Luce's attorney in