The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-02-07
IMAM Of lRoIs TO SPEAK I
AT JACKSON BANQUET
Caleb Powers. Of Kentucky, WI Il
Be Among Guests at
Function Feb. Is

tfnsiye array OF oratorial talent for
the annual banquet 20 be held at
Masonic temple on Tuesday evening,
I Feb. 10. Senator Townsend, Repre-
i sentative wedemeyer and Gov. os-
born WIN respond TO toasts, but in
terest viii center especially In Rep
rtsentative Caleb Powers. OF Ken
tncky. Powers is frequently referred
| 10 as Kentucky's man Of iron"
Few men have so much of action
crowded into the brief span of life
IS has Caleb Powers, congressman
from the eleventh Kentucky district,
Eight years in the Jail at George
town, KY, following his conviction
on the charge of completely IN the
murder OF Gov. William Goebel, on
Jan. 20, 1900, was one of the incidents
Of his career.
II will be remembered that Powers
was secretary of state at the time
Gov. Goebel was shot, and II was from
Powers ONCE In the state house AZ
Frankfort that the bullet was alleged
TO have been fred. Power always as'
serted his innocence of completely III
the crime, and said he was not in We
city at the time the shooting was
done and knew nothing OF the plot TO
do away with Kentuclys governor.
His trials cost the state $4,000. Four
times he was on trial for his life;
three times convicted; two OF the con-
victicns sentencing. him 10 lie I'M
prisonment and the last cpndeinning
him 70 be hanged.
II was proved conclusiyely at the
trials that Powers was 200 miles from
Frankfort when Gov. Goebel was siaot
90 he was entering the court house
10 take by force governorshlp 10
which William s. Taylor, his Repub-
Mean opponent, had been elected. Inc
Democrats. nevertheless. insisted that
h was in the conspiracy. Both he
and Howard, who was convicted as
the man who shot Goebel, were re-
earsfed an Republican martyrs. and
Gov. Wilson was loudly applauded
when he pardoned them in 1908. The
royernor Issued his pardon only after
long and conscientious study OF the
evidence on both sides.
After Powers release from prison
in 1908, n was announced that he was
engaeed to Miss Eleanor M. Bonham,
4 wealthy girl OF York, Pa. Their &C
ouaintance was begun while he was
"a prison. She became interested In
Mis- case when I'm Kentucky and Wis
tied him I'm prison. Her kindness won
the heart OF Powers. She remained
true to him during all the long iti-
xafions which finally resulted in his
+ being set free by Gov. Wilson.
Immediately Powers started cam
paigning for the Republican nomina-
ton to congress from the bloody
eleventh." the mountain feud district.
The mountaineers who had regarded
him all along rs a political martyr,
rallied to his support in the Repub-
\ licap primaries, and contributed large
\ IL 20 the defeat of his opponent, ID. c.
Edwards. The popularity OF Powers
was so strong that even in Laurel,
4 the home county of Edwards. he cut
down the majority OF the latter 10
TO votes. When that result was an
nounced, Edwards and his lieutenants
acknowledged defeat. and announced
3 that Powers had won by a majority
OF 1000. It was bitter fight through
out, and while IL was in progress as
= 8ertieH was made repeatedly that IL
Powers should win, Edwards sup
B porters would knife him at the gen.
xrzr srectf0n. The credit Tor inc nUfn-
mating OF Powers to congress was
given to the mountaineers, who evil
a Ueuuy uebifcu u give HIN 'ihoASo
ton.
In person Powers is tall, gaunt. tan
visaged. with high cheek bones, deep
set eyes that pierce. thin lips that
spell determination. He does not
smile easily, but perhaps that is n
8 remembrance OF the hangman's moose
30 narrowly avoided. In his time he
has been school teacher, cadet at
West Point Quitting on account OF
weak eyes), law student, superintend-
emit OF public schools in mining dis
trict, and finally secretary or state in
Kentucky. until ousted as convict,
& and finally arrested and tried as a
felon.
Powers experiences would have
broken down an ordinary man. But
he IL not an ordinary man in any
sense OF the word. His will is iron,
his nerve chilled steel. When the
whole state OF Kentucky rocked with
passion and when he faced hostile
Judges, prosecutors and jurors, he
never auailedss@=s--.as=z=za--
During all his long Incarceration he
kept his mind and body alert and ac-
tive, ready for freedom and the OPP
portunity which made him "the gen.
tleman from the eleventh Kentucky"
q man whose name is still anathema
10 Kentucky Democrats, md who was
once called by Republican orators all
over the country as the Dreyfus OF
!. the dark and bloody ground"
In his speech at the banquet, Mr.
Powers Will tell OF The Mountain
People Of Eastern Kentucky"