Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-02-01
SENATOR Is. IL. TULAIAN.
Pen Picture OF South Carolina Man by
metropolitan Writer.
CA. II. Lewis, i'm \. Y American \


Some viNacious Frenchman once
said that man is as old as he feels
and a woman as old as she looks. /
DO not propose 10 be drawn into any
discussion Of woman. She Is no more
10 be Improved than a Gala lily is to
De improved. Moreover, my pcncil,
however kindly, Is too coarse for
what peachblow de.icacy the subject
would demand. II would be as
though a stevedore handled spun
B,dss or Irish lace.
AS to the animal man, however. |
feel more sure as to my ground.
Granting then that the vivacious
Frenchman was right, Senator Till
man born in 1SI7---is much older
than his age.
MIR. Tillman first burst upon an
unguarded world linked to that hum
pie vegetable. the potato. Mr.. Till
man wanted certain things to occur
in the destiny OF the potato, and he
went to Il farmers convention and
laid bare his views. So earnest was
he in his advocacy of the potato
that other delegates took affront and
assaiied Mr.. Tillman. Being man
OF his hands--and fCet---Mr. Tilman
DISTINGUISHED himself in these bick-
cfingS and thraShed several sons of
the soil until they endorsed his 30.
lato position.
Mr. Tillamn resolved to make the
potato an issue and carry it before
the people. Organizing his hcrrh
mon OF the hills, he led them AGAINST
the patricians OF the .owlandS. who
lacked i'll reverence for the potato.
lie ran for the office OF Governor
ana was elected. This was in 1899.
lie was elected again in 1892.
When be became Governor and
mad moved into the Executive Man
81 m. Mr.. Tillman found broad
green lawn in front. Fun Of \ DO
tato sincerity, and condemning blade
and blossom as the mcrest badges of
an oppressed plutocracy. he ploughcd
up the lawn and planted it to pota-
toes. The peasantry passing were
pleased with the potatoes in Till
man wool hat. The potato-hating
palricians cursed MIR. Tillman and
MS iawn-wasting agriculture as the
mcrcSt mountcbank and his trick.
AS to his personal appearance.
Mir. Tillman is fashion Of scdatc
Cyclops. Only his one eve does
not blaze from his forehead. bu1
adorns the starboard side OF his
head. Some with bent to admire
Mr.. Tillman have told how he lost
the eye in the field Of South Caro-
lima honor. This is imagination. His
biography lays his optical loss at the
door OF sickness, while historians
who know the Tillman youth, tell of
lis beng sacrificed Oh the altar Of
accident
OF medium size, with a face made
grim and sinister by the eve absen-
teeism quoted, Mr.. Tillman, when nil
Is SAID, Is a bit impressive His pro-
file is like the side view of a rip saw.
Ills face is strong, not handsome, and
resembles the raw face OF a clim. laid
bare by some recent landslide. His
Jaw, broad and bony, confers an iron
bound effect. lie doesn't look like a
humorist and he isn't
Experience has shown that Mr..
Illlman, like every true-born politi-
elan, is extremely hard to Kill. That,
however, argues nothing for either
his noble strength or size. Cats are
hard to kill Once upon time a
man possessed a supernuous cat. He
carried it Il mile, tied il stone to its
neck with all the care in life. and
tossed it with most hopeful splash
into the deep lock OF canal. Saun-
tcring homeward, Il sense OF duty
well performed curling about his
hearts roots, the man found the cat
on the doorstep drying its fur. And
so with Mr. Tillman. Carry him as
far as YOU choose, tie every stone or
error or misdced about his neck. toss
him into the deepest waters OF popu-
lar condemnation, and an hour later
there he will be found sitting on the
political doorstep ready to rush in
side the moment you lift the latch.
me Tlllman war record is brief
not bloody. In 1864 he Aot ready
to join the Confederate army-but
tely-for the Yankccs--feu
i'll in time to head his valor off.
When he got we'll he became a far
mer OF the sort whose main crop is
olllce. Mr.. ililman sOwcd the COM
mon prejudice to reap prcfermcnt for
himself.
Mr.. Tillman fought Gen. Butler for
the seat he now holds. After the
fashion OF their region, Mr.. Tillman
and Mr. Butler met in "ioint de-
bate These collisions were made
up Of ninc-tcnths villifcation, one
tenth debate. They were cantankcr-
GUS rather than controversial.
Whatever fault may be found with
Mr.. Tillman in the land at large in
the Palmetto rattlesnakc region he
represents he is regarded as the
modern DemOsthcnes. In South
Carolina oratory demands that you
call somebody a liar and quote
Shakespeare, and the speeches OF Mr.
Tillman abound in these particulars