Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1908-01-17
LONG YALE MASCOT
RECENT DEATH OF HANNIBAL
REGRETTED BY ALL.
Quaint Old Negro Candy Man Had an
Interesting career-Said to Have
Been More Than a Gen.
fury Old.

The death of Hannibal, the negro
candy man, has left Yale with no mas
cot but Pop" Warner, the cross-eyed
expressman, whose auto truck now
takes an official crowd to all the ath-
letic games. Pop" has just made his
debut, and it will be years before he
attains the fame of Pop" Smith,
"Davy, the candy man." Murray, the
hackman," and Hannibal.
In many respects Hannibal was the
most remarkable of the long list of
Yale favorites. He was gifted with a
versatility granted to few men, black
or white. He was one of the campus
favorites in 1869, when G.. F. Woods
wrote in -Four Years at Yale"
Candy Sans chief rival is a crafty
black man named Hannibal, whose en-
trance into the room is always &C
companied by some such formula as:
Not wishing to disturb the gentlemen
in their studies / call to see If either
of the gentlemen would like to invest
in purchasing from me some packages
of superior old-fashioned homemade
molasses candy This rigmarole, like
the rest of Hannibars speeches, is de-
livered with the greatest appearance
of gravity and without pause or in
Election of any Sort
Hannibals age was in dispute. He
was said to have crossed the century
mark. One of his original sayings
when asked how old he was used to be
that he had a faint recollection of
the first thunderstorm in Connecticut.
The mock orations he delivered will
live in the memory of Yale men as
long as they cherish a recollection of
the university, and hardly an alumnus
will read of his death without re-
calling some anecdote of the old negro
who sold candy gave boxing lessons,
sleight of hand exhibitions, sang and
danced and made speeches on all
occasions.
Early in life he was an instructor
in boxing in the Yale gymnasium. He
was one of the quickest pugilists in
action who ever struck a blow, and he
met George Dixon in several bouts
without the former negro worlds
champion getting the decision. He
was thrown into a room with John l..
Sullivan when that champion was at
the height of his popularity. John l..
at that time weighed more than ESQ
pounds, and when Hannibal was asked
If he wished to meet the champion he
answered: Hannibal is not Mahomet,
and must refuse to mix 1t up with the
mountain"
Approaching a group of college stu.
dents, Hannibal used to say: mot
wishing to interrupt the gentlemen
and wholly in the search for knowl
edge, which has been my unvarying
custom through life, would like tc
ask the gentlemen here question
What is the first thing a gentleman
puts on when he gets up in the morn
| ing?"
Everybody took a chance in an
swering, and when all had finished
Hannibal would say: mot wishing tt
place myself above the gentlemen
present in knowledge, l beg to say
that all you gentlemen are wrong. Thu
first thing a gentleman puts on in thu
morning is his foot-on the floor"
His Latin orations were his spe
cialities. He had attended commence
ments half a century ago, had Learned
by heart some of the addresses ant
had copied the pronunciation of tn,
speakers.