The Washington bee., 1911-05-13
Public Men And dThiiDps
(By the Sage of the Potomac.)
BY THE SAGE OF THE POTO-
MAC


and to transact little business. AS
| stopped off of the train at Warren
ton, | encountered the usual col
ored loafers around the station who
watch the departure and arrival of
trains as cOnscientiously as if thev
were the railroad company's paid train
dispatchers. l stood there and sur
Iveyed the crowd for a few minutes,
trying to recognize some face, bat
they were all strangers to me, and I
to them. Presently an old antidelu-
Wan whose head was frosted with
about seventy Winters, and whose
hair was knotted with an equal mum
Der OF Summers, during which the
comb had not come in contact with
| his hair, ambled up to me, and asked:
"NOu'S a stranger from afar, beent
you, Stranger" | answered: "Yes.
from a little distance up the Poto-
mac" Il reckon yOu's from Wash
ington, stranger, kase yo clothes kin
der has de Washington style" "Yes,
from Washington, Uncle" | replied.
Does you know Mister Honnah, up
yander in Washington" only
slightly" l replied, but l have heard
IIluGu Ol HILL OUiy UuIIl, the ola
fellow soliloquized, 4 dun heard he's
ah big man up yander; member of de
edifcatiOn bOad?' Yes" said |, hes
a member of the Board of Education. "
"Well, stranger" the old man said,
Il alwas reckoned dat Mister Honnah
would make mighty big man He
alias had CideTable ambition. | recol-
lict when he spired to 60 to some
fahin country as bassador when dat
man Cleveland was President, and
wese all down hear in Warrington
signed his papers fer de job He wah
jist as good a Dimicrat as Cleveland,
too, but Cleveland wouldn't pint him,
and I dun heard he spired to sumhn
wild Prisidint Taft. Did his spirations
conclude?" What do you think of
Mr.. Horner down here?" | ventured
ooh, wese think him big man, and
white nough to be white man. Mis-
ter Honnah mighty peert man, and
mighty poplah down hear in Wahin-
ton"
< :. x
When this old patriarch said this, it
occurred to me how frequently is the
old saying "a prophet is not without
honor save in his own land" reversed.
Now, R. R. Horner, it appears, is
popular in his own bailiwick, down
in Warrenton, but up here in Wash
ington he has more bricks SHE'D at
him than are in the Pension Building
But let a fellow, no matter how pop
ular he IS, get on the Board of Educa-
ton, and his troubles begin. Some
times l think Mr.. Horner is in part
responsible for the bricks thrown at
him. He just naturally desires to
lead. There's an element of leader
ship III him, but he lacks tact, and he
counts too much on little things. NJ
man can be big, and be leader, who
stops to investigate and regard as
serious every bit Of local gossip. Mr.
HOrner rather thinks that an office is
the sine qua non of success, and As a
result, every disappointment to graft
fy his ambition for office sOurs him
against men who would and could be
his friends. For a long time he
thought he was in the race for Re
Corder of Deeds, but the brilliant
Georgian beat him out without an
effort. Then that municipal judge
ship looked good to him, but he was
simply in the also ran class. Mo-
discouraged, but awfully sore, he filed
his letters for Collector of Customs,
but White McKinlay ran off with
the plum Three failures right in a
row soured HOrner, and while he has
been the same man, he has not been
himself since. He just naturally got
sore on everybody, and imagined
every mans hand was against him. If
Mr. Horner would just stop and rea-
son that membership on the Board
of Education is a disadvantage, rather
than an advantage, and that there are
other men who are as good lawyers
as he, and some better, and that there
are lots of men who would be his
friends if he would only let them, and
that success Is not always measured
by ability to secure office. he would
be more COntcnted in mind Mr. HOT-
ner IS a handsome man, about the
handsOmest near-white cOlOred man
in the District. and he's a man Of
much energy, but he allows his encr-
gy to run in channels where there is
no mill wheel to turn. If Mr. HOr-
ner was just a little broader, just a
little more sincere, and just a little
more square in his treatment of 9th
ers, and a little more consistent, and
a little less enyiOus, he would be a big
factor and lots more popular, for
say what you will, he's a man of some
ability.
I have been so busy with my social
obligations for the past three weeks
that | haven't taken time to jot down
special points for my column. It's
been something fierce, in society, and
[ haven't missed a call Starting in
with the MOnican ball, l have accepted
every invitation, and now I am nearly
all in. When | stop to think, l
can't help but conclude that the way
we colored folks initiate the white
folks in society is precious time lost
There's mighty few sable-colored peO-
pie who can stand this social whirl
and pay the fiddler COlOred people
seem to have gone mad on society,
and as I got infected with bit Of
the hydrophObia, I went mad, too, l
was Just counting up, today, what It
cost me to say that me and my wife
were in society In adding up the
column of cost, and subtracting my
cash from the cost, I find that I owe
just $36IO more than my next
months salary will amount to. Of
course. I am a damphool-that's La
tin for plain Chump, but somehow I