The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1910-03-03
GORDONSAYSFAREWELL
Senator Depew Declares 1t the rlost Impressive
Speech He Ever Heard
Tells of War Experiences and Says He Skedadded Many
Invites Hepburn to His Mississippi Plantation and
Thinks He Will Change Views of Lee.

having more money than anybody else,
and | do not think that is any fault, but
is misfortune.
Il am sorry for a man in his condi
tion-when a man cannot go out in the
street and have even his little grand
children walk in sight of him without
threats that they will kill his little
babes-I know the old fellow loves those
children better than all the gold in his
vaults and he would not be human be-
ing if he did not.
Thinks John D. Is Good Man.
81 am going to say something that is
unpopular in my section of the country
and if / were one of the office-seekers ]
might be tempted to do wrong, but al
ways did say before my people what !
thought was right. | think that Mr.
Rockefeller is good man and l am
going to think so until somebody shows
me that he has done wrong. | see his
employees often and / never saw one who
did not speak well of him. l am told
that he never had strike among his
employees.
given more millions-I do not think
much of him for that, because he had
more than he had any use for-but he
has given some of them to the poor, tc
charity to the churches, and to educa-
ton, ano to build hospitals all over the
country where they are needed for his
employees, and when they are sick they
go there and are cared for. If anybody in
the United States does not like that let
them put it in their pipes and smoke it.
l have said it.
Would Welcome Old Pipe Lines.
"If my old friend from Arkansas is op-
posed to what l call prosperity, | would
like for Mr. Rockefeller to come down
and run his pipes through Mississippi.
He can go all over my land. We shall
be glad to have him. l used to pay 40
cents gallon for oil to be burned in my
lamps. We are little better off now; ;
we are Independent because we have got
electric lights, but we paid 40 cents q
gallon for oil, and now l can get it for
10 cents gallon.
Il do not know whether Mr.. Rookie
Teller is the cause of the price coming
down to 10 cents, but l think it will
be that way in Mississippi if they get the
conveniences that this pipe line BUSINESS
proposes to give them, and | intend to
vote for the pipes That is all there is
to it.
Fought, Bled, and 'Skedaddled.'
'Well, | want you to understand that
| am plain, blunt old Confederate sol
der | wore the gray and l fought and
bled, but did not die. But l 'skedad-
died frequently. You understand that
word. These old soldiers will under
stand it.
Il had the honor, during my services,
to capture some prominent men in the
Northern army. Among them was Cen
eral Coburn, of indianapolis, Ind. /
captured one great big man named John
Shafter, who was a major in the Ninth
Michigan. He was poor shot, for l ad-
vanced at him with my saber and he
shot at me five times and never
touched me.
"Now, will tell another truth. That
fellow Shafter gave me an awful scare,
anyhow. When | approached him he
handed me his pistol and said:
"'You are welcome to it, but it will
do you no good; l have shot all the car
tridges away; but over at stockdale, near
Franklin, Tenn, have a valise that has
got a thousand cartridges in it, and you
are welcome to these if you will go after
them"
81 said Thank you for the pistol.
will go after them
Never Fired a Shot in the War.
"In this fix 1 went down with Forrest,
and we went to Brentwood station and
captured the fort and got the cartridges,
but | never used them. | never fired a
shot during the war That is a fact.
had Just about as much as | could do,
with the scare that was on me, to look
after the men that / had engaged, and
that is the kind of a soldier L was. /
told the other fellows to do the fighting.
A great many of them stayed at home,
and if had been as smart as they We're
| might have done the same.
'Another time gentleman, who is
y living yet, by the name of Captain
Brown, of the Seventh Illinois-he and |
had some little engagement. That Sew
enth Illinois was the meanest regiment
ever saw, for it never wanted to quit
fighting The Seventh Illinois and the
Second Iowa were the worst men | had
to fight, but am glad when l see them
alive today
"When we meet we shake hands. We