The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-12-07
CLARK ON WATER WAGON
Speaker Says He Didn't Fall of at
Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor.
Chambersburg, Pa, Dec. o.
Champ Clark, Speaker of the House
of Representatives, says he will sue
Prof. f. A. Barbour unless the latter
retracts statement to the effect
that the Speaker was once so intoxi-
Gated at Ann Arbor that fraternity
brothers had to put him to bed
Prof Barbour, who is teacher of
English in the Ypsilanti, Mich, Nor
nal School, made an attack on
Speaker Clark in an address deliver
ed at the Franklin County Teachers
Institute held here November 20. He
declared that on the occasion OF
Speaker Clark's visit to Ann Arbor
he was so intoxicated that he was
unable to deliver an address he was
scheduled to make.
In a letter to the editor of the
Franklin Repository Speaker Clark
declares that he has not taken a
drink of intoxicating liquor since
1904.
81 have been lied about" he said,
until my patience is threadbare. |
have just written to Barbour that re
must retract his statement or suffer
the consequences" Following is the
Speakers letter to the editor:
My Dear Sir: A friend OF mine
sent me an editorial clipping from
your issue of November q, entitled
Institute Speaker Causes Sensa-
ton" In it you say that DR.. f. A.
Barbour, professor of English in the
Ypsilanti Normal School, of Ypsil-
anti. Mich, created a sensation by
making an attack on me which at
tracted widespread unfavorable com
ment. In your editorial were these
words:
HE (that is Barbour) asserted
that Champ Clark was scheduled TO
make an address at Ann Arbor, Mich.
but said that the Speaker became so
intoxicated that his fraternity breth-
rem at the college took him to their
chapter house so ne could sleep it
off and not make a spectacle of him
self"
Barboul's statement is malicious
lie made out of whole cloth. | never
took drink at Ann Arbor in my life.
was never to any extent Whatever
under the influence of intoxicating
liquor at Ann Arbor in my life |
never did drink much at any time.
| have not tasted intoxicating liquor
in any shape, form or fashion since
the fifth day of July, 1904.
| have lectured before the Uni
versity of Michigan at Ann Arbor
three times About every three or
four years they Telegraph for me to
come there and lecture. The only oc
casion on which | ever had anything
to do with my fraternity brethren
at that place was year or two ago,
the last time | was there They found
out | was coming there TO lecture
under the auspicies of lecture bur
eau and they wrote and invited me to
be their guest | wrote and accepted
their invitation and they met me at
the depot with a number OF other
students and took me to their chap
ter house.
took dinner and supper with
them and spent the afternoon writ
ing letters. reading, etc, and did
what usually do when can get a
chance out on a lecture expedition
that is, took a short nap in the
afternoon.
That night lectured before an
immense audience and received a
vast amount of applause never
had finer reception anywhere and
never delivered a lecture in better
form.
have just written to Barbour no
tifying him that he must retract his
statement or suffer the consequences
Col Roosevelt felt under the neces-
sity of suing two editors for Islander
on the same subject. | have been
lied about until my patience is
threadbare.
thank you for the kindly spirit of
your editorial. Your friend.
Chamn Clark