Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-15


means to impugn the bravery Of the
Tillman family in the war, would
ask Bishop Cqpers. who Is in the au-
dience, to come forward and say what
he knows about the fighting qualities
Of Jim Tillman."
Bishop Capers is the Episcopal bish-
op at Columbia. He was one of the
fighting Confederates and happened to
command the regiment in which James
Iillman was a captain. He mounted
the platform and said that while he
disapproved politically of the candi-
date for governor he must say that
James Tillman bore 1.-The oriflamb of
his regiment -
On receiving this statement from
Bishop Capers, Tillman, with,an indie
scribable curl on his lip, turned to his
| opponent and, pointing to the state
house, said, There is monument
there, sir, to the memory OF drawer
man than ever you. dared to be-"
Humorist of Herculean CALDER.
Benjamin. r. Tiilman has ever been
the despair of analysts. On one point,
however, they are all at one-he is a
humorist of herculean caliber. Besides
being man Of great mental capacity,
he is endowed with a keen sense of
the ludicrous and talent for calling
attention to various incongruities as
they happen. When he first landed in
the senate there was disposition to
take him seriously, but it would not
do. Between Tillman in earnest and
Tillman In jest there is vital differ
ence, and his colleagues soon learned
to discriminate.
One day, when the South Carolina
senator was engaged in spirited col
loquy with Senator Bailey of Texas.
Warren, the new senator from Wyom-
ing, slipped up stealthily, extracted
bottle from the pocket in the tail of
Tillman'S coat, uncOrked it, smelled of
its contents with an appearance of in
tense appreciation and then restored
it to its original position. The senate
| was convulsed, but the South Caro-
linian was unconscious of the panto-
| mime and went on with his speech.
When he had finished nearby sena-
| tor explained to him the cause of the
| hilarity which still prevailed.
Without a moments thought Till
man rose in his seat and said benign
| ly:
~ don't want to magnify a trivial
| matter, but 1 learn that friend has
| taken advantage of my preoccupation
| to examine bottle which l am carry
| ing in my coat pocket Now. in order
| that there may be no misrepresentation
| and that / may not be considered in
hospitable and perhaps selfish, l will
state that the bottle contains solu-
| ton of boracic acid. a throat lotion
| placed in my pocket by Mrs. Tillman.
with the admonition to use it frequent
ly. 1 regret deeply that the gentleman
| should have been disappointed in his
investigation, although l know that
| had the bottle contained that, for
which he was searching l should new
| er have seen it again"
How He Illustrates a Point.
| Tillman's readiness to illustrate a
point by means of a humorous story
| is well known at the capitol One day
he was discussing with some of his
| colleagues the efficacy of mildness in
| debate.
| "One can't be too mild" he argued.
ITO be mild and at the same time I'M
| expected is usually to succeed. Here
| is an instance: At the theater the 9TH
| er night man turned to his neighbor
| and exclaimed excitedly:
"Look here, my friend! You have
sat on my silk hat, and it's ruinedr
| 1.-THE other looked at the hat and
sighed regretfully. I'm awfully sor-
| ry,' he said, but it might have been
| worse
: "'Td like to know howl the injured
one exclaimed Indignantly.
'The answer was an excellent ex-
ample Of mildness, coupled with unex-
pectedness. 1t was:
az might have sat on my own hat :"
One day y6enator Tillman dropped
into the wal department to pay a
friendly visit to Secretary Taft.
"See here" said the latter, who had
just begun to use, spectacles "See
what you have driven me to with your
attacks on my character and motives.
You have forced me to take to glass
es''
"Well," replied Tillman, with CLINT
in his eye, II hope that now you will
be able to see the constitution"
A Shakespearean Scholar.
Senator Tillman is Shakespearean
scholar, and whenever he uses a quo
tation from the great master 1t is cor
rect. Not having been in college. he
never studied Greek and Latin, but he
has pursued those studies independ-
Iently since and frequently astonishes
cultured men by the correctness Of his
quotations.
Senator Humans great delight out
side of the senate and political life is
the cultivation of flowers. At his home
in Trenton. s. c., he leaves the man
agement of the farm almost entirely
to others and while there superintends
the cultivation of flower beds. He has
myriads Of these flower beds. He
studies the seasons and has flowers