Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-09-11
Penny-a-Liner Writes Of Rerkeley's
Distinguished Son.
Mr.. CHARLES LIGHT,
ROAD COMMISSIONER
Tells How Taft Knew Light and How
Light Flashed That EtkIns-to-Giass-
cock Letter, With GeorgeM. Bowers
Nudsing the President to Indorse u,
With Results as Known.

WIN Results as known.
Charles Brooks smith, the political
booster, at so much per. in bis latest
fve-per-column-story, has let in the
light on one Of Berkeiey's citizens
ehom he ~designates as Charles Pub
Lefty Light. The story viii be read
with much interest BY the friends
~hereabouts by whom lie is better
known as Charles Peter, at least
among the readers of the democratic
organ. Mr.. Smith says:
With professional compliments to
Mr.. r. Kipling. we shall proceed to
write the story OF "The Light That
Did Not Fail
Once upon a time there was al
large, corpulent person who lived in
a big White House. who stopped
swatting a little aluminium sphereoid
athwart the links enough to see the
Light" This individual with the
illuminated %patronymic had a letter
from the Sage Of Halhehurst to the
rollarless executive of the Sage's
sagebrush domain, the document be-
ing a strong recommendation to turn
in Light on the job OF state high
way commissioner at $4,000 per,
which Is s2,925 more money than the
average municipality pays for an
ordinary archlight. This fact is
mentioned parenthetically to impress
the gentle peruser that this is no or
binary kind of a Light we are talk
ing about. Light took the fish com
missioner, who halls from the same
town, along with him 10 see the swat
ter of golf balls and the general de-
livery clerk at the patronage win
dow. AS the poetic license OF the
silly season. For, it was the latter
who suggested that they take the lat
ter, too, and ask the "old man. to
3ssign 1t.
Taft knew Light, and doubtless
Light had heard more than once of
Taft, from the golf scores with John
Hayes Hammond If from no other
;source. The president was in high
good hunor. having made lump up"
or something like that on the links,
and when Light flashed that Elkins
to Gasscock letter, and George Bow
ers suggested that Taft write UNDER
meath 1t ~Them's my sentiment. b.
Taft, President" it was done. Handl-
ing over the precious epistle to
Light, the Taft party sprung this rib
tickling one: LET there be Light"
and Charley and George Just had TO
feint a si~de-bnrsting guffaw because
1t was the president, you know. If
they hadn't been suplants they would
probably gone out to the box Office
and asked to have their money re-
funded.
While that was one OF those lucky
happenings Of an instant in the great
game Of politics, it pretty well Illus
trates the plunging proclivities and
breezy nerve Of Charles p. Light,
erstwhile of Martinsburg but now OF
Charleston. who enjoys more promi-
nence in the public prints just now
than any other member Of the Glass
cock Official household. This fact is
largely due to the we7-meaning cur
iosity which clings 10 a novelty.
Light is a newcomer TO state politics
in It's widest scope, OF course. he
has been prominent in his immediate
locality as IN active party worker
and a member of the stale commit
tee, but the people of the state gen
eral'y speaking did not know Of
him, had h~ardlyheard OF him If at.
all. Then he burst on them in a
picturesque and romantic fashion
with that letter from the president.
And be has been bursting on them
ever since. Had fate cast him for
the press agent Of The greatest show
on earth, he would nor found him
self out OF place. For, Charles p.
Light believes in publicity, and is one
Of the best publicity promoters in
politics today. He Is his own Cess
ner. He has a live subject In which
the public is interested, and he Is
travelling abont the state scattering
interviews on road-making from one
end Of newspaper row to the other.
There is never a duplication, there isl
always something new, and, while
his department costs the state $7-l
600 per year. he has gotten $50. 900
worth OF free advertising for himself
and his department. and stirred up
an interest and enthusiasm for good
roads that would be hard 10 esti-l
mate in paltry dollars. And that Is
.AsI eUl 1oJ 'op ueo gu 4eql re 9noeg
under which his department oper-
ates, doesn't give him much of All
chance to do any actual road-build-
ing.
Quite naturally all Of this publicity
and the breezy, winning, irrestibly
fascinating of the much interviewed
one, stimulated some complimentary
booster Of the tripod 10 mention the
Honorable Charles Publicity Light