Evening journal., 1912-12-10
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Watch With a
History
By Holland

"A gentleman who lives in Canton,
New York, met me a few days ago
while / was on my way to my office
on Broadway and said that he had
got a relic which he would like to
show me, but not in public.g
Thus the late Judge Noah Davis,
the distinguished jurist who tried and
sentenced William NJ. Tweed for com
plicity in the Tweed ring fraud be-
gan an anecdote which he narrated
to me in detail as follows:
My friend went with me to the Of
flee of banker who was a common
friend, ands when there he took from
his pocket an old-fashioned, large
faced silver watch 1t was running,
and / observed that It was keeping
accurate time, for its hands pointed
to exactly the same figures as did
the regulation clock on the wall M
my friends Office
This watch said my Canton
friend, formerly belonged to Slas
Wright It was among the effects
which came into the hands of his ex-
ecutor az the time of his death, in
1850.
This watch has a very interest
ing history. It is the identical watch
which Mr.. Wright carried when he
was United States Senator and after
ward when he was Governor of New
York State 1t is also the watch
which he took from his pocket when
he was informed, in the spring Of
1914, that he had just been nominated
for Vice President on the ticket at
the head Of which stood the name Of
James H. Polk
Il knew the rest of that story we'll, 3"
said Judge Davis to me. zone por-
ton of it was published az the time
of the incident but / presume that
it has been forgotten now.
"Silas Wright was probably the
most intiamte of all the political
friends that Martin Van Buren made
He was more intimate with Van Bu-
rem than ever President Jackson was,
although it was due to Jackson's in
fluence that Van Buren, was nOmi-
mated for President in 1886 The inti-
macy was closer than that of politi-
cal fellowship It was almost broth
erly
Senator Wright very earnestly
supported the movement to nominate
Martin Van Buren for President in
1874. 1t was due chiefly to his infu-
ence that the New York delegation
to the Democratic convention at Bal
tmore acted as a unit in favor Of
Van Buren's nomination.
Every slkillful politics directed by
some very brilliant Southern politi-
clans brought about the defeat OF
Van Buren and the nomination OF
Mr. Polk. Polk's friends then pro-
posed to the New York delegation
that Il offer the name of Silas Wright
as candidate for Vice President The
offer was somewhat thOughtlessly ac-
cepted and Wright was nominated
1T was in that week that Professor
Morse had established his telegraph
line between Baltimore and the Cap
itol at Washington. The report. was
sent over the wire to the Capitol
that James X Polk had been nomi-
mated for President and Silas Wright
for Vice President. The precise hour
was stated in the telegram
Senator Wright was called from
the Senate chamber and shown the
despatch
HE said: This is a joke It is
impossible to hear from Baltimore
as soon as this
"They told him that they would
send back a despatch to Baltimore
asking for confirmation Of the report.
Senator Wright took his watch from
his pocket-the identical watch
which | was shown by my Canton
friend He said that he would give
lat NaI, -,
from Baltimore. Within half an hour
a confirmation of the report came by
telegraph Again Senator Wright
looked at that watch and then he said
that he himself had a message 70
send and that il might as well go to
Baltimore over the telegraph line. He
still doubted the report that he had
been nominated, but he wrote a few