The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1910-03-04

Washington.-The departure of Gen.
James Gordon, who has been acting as
temporary United States senator from
Mississippi in the place of the late Sem
ator McLaurin, removes from public
life the most picturesque character IN
Washington. Temporary Senator Cor
don, on retiring Thursday, delivered the
following address:
Contrary to the dignity and usage OF
the senate, frequent applause punctu-
ated the generals address, without re-
buke from the chair. At the close there
was more applause and the senators
showed themselves greatly moved.
Senator Depew at once arose and de-
clared that he had listened to the most
remarkable farewell address ever deliv-
cred to the senate.
Il Think" said Senator Depew, that
the sentiment of all my associates Is
voiced when l say that no matter how
distinguished and able the successor to
the senator from Mississippi may be,
we will always realize hat we have lost
| Senator Gordon"
A Remarkable Speech.
Senator Gordon said:
Il am informed that the senatorial
deadlock in Mississippi has been broken,
and that we soon shall have Mr.. Leroy
Percy to take my place. AS am about
to retire from the senate, | wish to eX-
press my feelings and sentiments IN re-
gard to my little experience here. l wish
you to understand that l am not making
q speech and that l nave not written
any poetry, as is ascribed to me by the
newspapers.
Il am guilty of one little act OF
poetry. | published a little book, which
L have got hidden away in my desk
here, and which L am going to give to
the president when l get through here,
and probably he will have a worse opin-
ion of me then than he had before.
Il will tell you how l came to be a
United States senator. l started it when
l was 5 years old. 1t took me a long
while to get here, and l found it a
rugged TOau 10 IIdNtl, DuC uiu SOO hSiS'
Present Nodded is Destiny.
"When | was a little chap about 5
years of age-I will tell you a story and
you may tell your children, and you old
fellows can tell your grandchildren
received as a present something like a
map on pasteboard. 1t had this great
capitol as a picture at the top OF 1t and
tie squares with numbers on it. Those
numbers were all the passions that had
escaped from Pandora's box.
1T had all the temptations that would
befal a youth in growing up. My mother
used to take me to her side. 1t had a
little totem, they called it, in octagon
shape. 1t had numbers up to eight on it
to spin. If you spun them they went
over the mark, and if they went on a
bad place in the ~sQuare-that is, on one
of the bad passions-they had to GO
back, but if they got on and escaped
those they got to this great capitol OF
the United States senate. L saw a great
big fellow sitting up there in that stand
| wanted to know of ma if | could get
there and, God helping me, l got there
yesterday.
Glad He Lost His Wealth.
"She told me that if | would lead a
clean life and form no bad habits / would
be sure to get there. She never told a
story in her life and l knew it was true.
In all my life, senators, that thing has
stuck to me and every time l wanted to
do wrong l saw one of those passions on
that board. l say from that until today,
"And l have never made it public until
now. l thought this was the place to
do it.
"Now, l wish to talk to you about our
affairs in Mississippi and so forth. l am
a peculiar sort of a genius-not much of
a genius, either-but l have got about a
thimbleful of common sense for use oc-
casionally and l want to use it now to
the best advantage.
Il have had a varied life. was born a
multi-millionai-e, unhappily, too, for
never saw one of them that vas happy
yet, and 1 never was happy myself until
| got rid of my millions. The largest
portion of it went to feed a number of
| slaves that 1 unfortunately inherited,
and the rest l spent on my friends like
a gentleman and got rid of the incum'
brance. Laughter.)
Sorry for John D. Rockefeller.
"1 have been listening to speeches
here carefully and the more L heard OF
the speeches the sorrier l felt for the
m~illionaires. Thank God, 1 am not one
any more!
81 heard the senator from Arkansas
(Mr. Davis) the other day make a speech
In which he abused Rockefeller. If there
is a man in the United States that l an
sorry for, it is Rockefeller. 1 cannot
help sympathizing with a fellow that ev'
erybody is cussing, and l never could
see what they cussed him for unless for
having more money than anybody else,
and / do not think that is any fault, but