The Washington herald., 1907-10-20

their talking, to their respective COM
/ mittee rooms.
/ But the marble room is not an espe-
Cidlly good place for an uninterrupted
conversation with a man as popular as
were these fine old Confederate generals
In the course OF a talk with Senator Nor
gan one afternoon. FIVE admiring visitors
from his State broke in and added at
/ least an hour 10 the duration Of the In
/ terview Seven interrupted q talk with
Senator Pettus a Few days later, and
correspondingly heightened the time con-
sumed in the Interview. They were all
from Alabama, too, and naturally they
all called the Senator General Pettus,
while Senator Morgan's callers greeted
him as General Morgan.
No one could talk with Senator Morgan
without being impressed with the range
and wide variety of his inf0TmatiOn, nor
with the fact that it was unusually well
in hand. His brain seemed 10 Doe as or
derly as well indeXed file; he never had
the slightest difficulty In recalling any
/ information he wished 10 impart any
/ fact or any quotation or story which he
thought would Illustrate what he had
10 say, Senator Pettus was a mine Of
Z information also; il was not Of as broad
a range as MOrgan's, but he said what
he had % say with a trltie more direct
ness, perhaps. Both Senators were men
Of unusual modesty. never being betray-
I'd into a single word Of personal exploita-
don, hatred or fulsome praise in print
being a characteristic Of each
Reed Proud of Cartoon.
The late Speaker Reed was not an easy
man for the interviewer. but once the big
Maine mans guard was lowered he made
no trouble at ALL
\ correspondent who managed 20 get
the guard lowered by means Of a cloud
of letters of introduction was received
with the greatest courtesy by the Gar
of the House" at his home in Portland.
Ne, where he spent his summers. There
were two conditions only-the interview
was TO be preceded by a description Of
the vine which covered one side Of the
house and was one of Reeds fads. and
no attempt TO discuss politics was to be
made.
This being agreed, the newspaper writer
was placed on an easy footing at once.
The Speaker unbent completely After
rhapsodizing for half an hour about the
vines beautiful greens in summer and
the brilliant cFimsons and golden yeilows
il displayed in the fall he admitted that
one Of the proudest moments of his life
came 10 him one morning when he OPEN
ed famous weekly paper and found
that the best known CariCdUrist of the
day had made him the subject Of a car
toon.
1T was the first time I had been Carl
catured, he explained. "and it made me
certain I had produced an Impression at
last. 1 had the cartoon framed" he con
tinued, pointing 20 the wall before him.
and there il hangs. Mrs. Reed never
has appreciated IL, probably. but she
never has had the assurance 10 keep her
word and take 1t down"
Mrs. Reed emphatically expressed her
dislike for the cartoon Of which her hus-
band was so proud. However. she liked
the curious little bronze elephant which
stood on the mantle. and which he said
he was IN the habit Of gazing upon. be-
cause it was so funny, whenever he felt
blue. Reeds talk extended over wide
range. It included literature as we'll as
"reminiscences. and he showed extensive
knowledge Of fiction in most Of the mod
ern European languages. as well as in
English.
"Czar's" FaYOrite Novelist.
Dickens and Thackeray were his favor
tie novelists. and Eugene F. Wares
verses suited him better than those Of
any other writer Of English verse. The
Speaker was particularly fond of the
piece which begins:
Once a Kansas Zerhyr strayed
Where hTass-eyed bird pup played.
And it was worth going all the way to
Portland to hear him recite IL. lying back
in his big easy chair and rolling his head
from side to side as he did so. He was
great admirer Of Horace, and he had sew
eral different editions Of French transla-
lions Of the old Latin poets odes. from
which he read with great gusto to the
correspondent for half an hour The
correspondent didn't understand a word
of French. but be didn't think 1t neces-
sary to say so, and he enjoyed the read
ing Immensely; Reeds elocution was so
tine, when In the mood, that it didn't
matter whether you could understand
what. he said or not It was almost as
good las MOdjeska's. She once moved a
drawing room fun Of society folk 10 tears
by recitlng the Polish alphabet.
From Speaker Of the House 10 the
champion pugilist Of his day is a far cry.
but il so happened that the next man
this correspondent was asked to inter
view was John l. Sullivan, then unbeat-
en- in the ring
This Gathering Heterogeneous.
Sullivan generally was to be found in
thosS days at a certain rather sporty
Boston barber shop, the name of whose
keeper and its exact location the corre-
spondant has forgotten. The correspond |
ent had TO wait nearly an hour before the
champion appeared, and in that time the
barber received a queer procession 81
visitors One Of them was a tall. thin.
consuIhptive-looking white whiskered /
man. whose apparel included a tall hat I
a lonE frOck coat. and a white necktie
all rather dingy.
This individual had with him his sis 4
Ter, unmarried like himself. and she had 4
come TO visit the BARRIERS wife, who was 4
Waiting for her in a little reception-room |
back lof the shop. The women were de- /
roUt (''pTofessOrs" of religion, and they /
alked earnestly about church matters. /
vhilel the parsOn-likc gambler, the bar 4
Der, land the correspondent discussed /
1ariosus amusing incidents of a tour /
through the West which the gambler /
lad trecently made When John l. ap- /
oearbd he took the correspondent away
o a quiet place.
"Liet's so where they won't bother us
With their gambling and their prayer
nee3ins," he said
Sullivan wanted TO talk politics. It was
LII. = 1. L.