The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-25
PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Forty years ago the gray bearded
minister looked over his glasses at the
young couple in the little church of
Ororille, Cal
"Do you,' he asked, George Glenn
ent Perkins. take this woman TO be
your welded wife?'
And George Clement Perkins gazed
at the minister with all his innocent
young soul beaming in h. eyes.
"Well,' said he, ''let' 5 see-what
do you think about it?''
Likely that story ism t true, But it
is told by United States Senator Per
kins's friends in San Francisco to IL
lustrate the difficulty the man inter
negatively inclined finds in pinning
Perkins down to any proposition. He
has been known to meet III quick sue
cession four friends on q San Francisco
street and reply to the observation of
each anent the Weather in such crytic
terms that the four had to apply TO the
official weather observer to ascertain
if the sun still shone.
He is so cautious that when he goes
into business venture he often meets
himself backing out. He cannot merely
carry water with perfect ease on both
shoulders, but he can load an aqueduct
on either eyebrow and loop the Missis-
sippi on his ears. He has all foreign
ana QOUcSUlC pdleulS ou "dihluS III luc
water when some one IS on his trail
But it looks as though the Big Stick
had prodded him out Of his hole this
year, in spite Of his caution. And this
is q most incouvcnicnt year for George
Clement Perkins to be prodded in, too,
for recollection ism Z far away.
That lamblike disposition of Senator
Perkins which Impels him to lie down
with every new lion he runs across has
L. Mr. Rnncn,-olf h.o
his facts on straight, Senator Perkins
has performed the hitherto unparsl-
ieled feat of being at one and the same
time the widest Indian on the war
party's reservation and the tamest
Quaker Of the peace crowd With one
hand he has boen signaling to Japan
to come on and get her head knocked
off, while with the other he has been
restraining tho desire of the senate 10
provide warships against the time that
Japan comes, He is, perhaps, the only
senator on exhibition today who is his
own deadly parallel.
But such things have happened in
other years-and still Perkins has held
that mahogany desk in the senate
chamber. He may he cautious-but as
a politician he has a lot of other folks
in California stIlI in the infant class
He got to the senate by appointment in
1898. and when it was time to elect
him, in 1897, he stayed at Washington,
instead OF running out to the coast.
That gave a lot of patriots pleasure,
for they thought with Perkins 1000
miles away it would be an easy matter
TO beat him. But he was elected, and
he repeated tho same performance six
wears later. There are some sclf-sacrl-
icing men IN California now who are
willing TO take his toga of his hands
but they VIII lose interest In the
taking if he stays in Washington. The
game won't really bc fair unless lie
will play II where they can watch.
Perkins is not only self made man,
but he did a good toN of making. Ho
was the sort of k hat boys like to
read about Bo"r kcnnebunkport,
Me-, in 1889. hc r.a away to sea at
tho mature age OF twclrc. Getting to
New Orleans on the Golden Eagle, he
enlarged his experiences By catching
yellow fever. He had a chance to go
back home. but that wasn't young Per
kins's sort. lie had started for tho
California gold fields. and he got there
the next wear working his way ont as
a forcmast hand. Al Orovillc he be
came an crrand boy. and when the
fcrryman ran his boat ashore, young
Perkins made his first and only gamble
With what little he had saved. and
what he could borrow from his friends,
ho bought the boat Gas is.' He cleared
IN $4,000 on TINT venture and started