The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-06-08
ABOUT
FAVORIT SONS
lthsTEREsTlNo FADING ARouT;
al oNE ~ THE BEST kNoWiN p
81 CHARACTERS IN TiHE
IS UNITED STATES.


HARAcTE L 8 Ii I'M THE
Unit 20 ST s.! z AT y
WAsa1NGTON June S. s ~, III Can
non was born OF God Hearing and man:
loving parents. He mad himself. and
| he did "a darn poor job of IT.. &
This Is the autobiography OF ]" Uncle,
Joe. Of Illinois. He wrote 1T upon re-
quest, and he got almost as much Into.
the two lines as Grant. or Sherman. or,
Mark Twain did into volumes. st:Ss
Born a Quaker seventeen-two years
ago In North Carolina. reared to man.
hood in IA clearing on the banks OF
the Wabash In Indiana, lawyer. bank,
err, and fnear-millionaire. Joseph G..
Cannon Is. often cited to prove that
the grand old type OF American man.
hood. rugged and sturdy, that charac-
terized the fathers of the Republic, is
not always spoiled by wealth.
The manufacturing process to,
which Cannon referred in his auto
biography occurred in the House OF
4 Representatives. For more than
generation he has been a member OF
that body. and for five years It's Speak,
er. The raw material was recognized
as such. 3"The gentleman must have;
oats In his pocket" exclaimed a mem.
Der. when Cannon made his first
speech in the House. The "kid" mem
Der from the West admitted It, ana
suggested there might also be hay.
seed in his hair. Last winter that
speech was recited from the floor by
one Of his admirers. while Cannon sat
b1ushing In the Speakers chair, his
vest unbottoned from top to bottom.
!, his; flazzled hnir SO thin it could no
longer hold hayseed II It tried. his
bones clothed in homespun, and a
toothpick in his mouth-1ust as pic.
turesque a figure as he was thirty
three years before.
Ills habits and maners are all-per-
Ivading. They permeate "Uncle Joe IS"
clothes, Just as they do his system.
They are likewise copyrighted. About
a year ago when the Speaker went to
/ New York. the metropolitan newspa-
pers commented on his twenty-five
cent hat" In reality, is was $40
Panama. but 1t had been Cannonized.
The best tailors in Washingt make
his suits. but IN everlasting contest
between the garments and their owner
us to their right to shield him from
the elements. give his clothes with
cred rose appearance the year around.
The tobacco habit chnracterizes him
as nothing else. The angle at which,
his cigar Is, held Is regarded as bnr-
ometer OF his spirits. Only on one oc-
casion was the clgar ever observed ut
gloomy" That was the night OF cleo
ton day in 1890, when Cannon and
Mckinley were defeated for Congress-.
Both were ut headquarters in Chicago.
Finally when all others were gone. ex-
cept one or two. Cannon said to Nc.
Kinley:
William. there Is no use OF our try
ing to fool one another. is therc?"
mo. Joe" replied Mckinley.
"Well. doesn't it beat HE'LL. nnl
with that his cigar fell to the lowest
angle it ever registered. 1t was the
ionly defeat he ever suffered.
Plub tobacco is another Cannon ac-
| quaintnnce. The Speaker will stop Il
manon the street to ask for a chew.
He has gotten many chew and a
vote for Congress besides. by asking
for the first. At the time OF the BIZ
cycle craze. a friend asked Cannon
how he was progressing In his ut
tempt to ride.
"Oh fairly we'll; succeeded today
for the. first time In splitting without
failing or" he responded with pride.
He Is said to have two other hab-
its. cussfng Democrats and raising
the ante at inopportune moments. p
AS public speaker, Cannon never
set the world on fire with his elo-
quence. But lie has often flooretl his
opponents by the soundness Of his
logic. his ready flof of humor, his
4 rugged. homely language, and his
windlass gestures. A good baseball
pitcher was lost when Uncle Jot be.
came n politician. If he wants to EN-.
phasize what he is about to say, he
begins to shake his heal after the
fashion of n horse eating hay from a
stuffed Manager. BY the time the eli
max Is reached his trusty left arm Ia
describing circumference with n
four-foot diameter. He gets lots OF
exercise out OF his gestures, almost
as much ns in his morning breathing
exercises in front Of the open window
Of his bed room. W. .a-..L- AZ