The Washington herald., 1914-02-11
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BY FRED g. KELLY. !
Representative Lawrsnee a stringsr.
OF Illinois. one Of the aspirauts to be
senator from that state. has been
greatly handicapped in going through
life by Q mania for collecting All man.
ner Of historical curios.
when he was . younSster attend
ing college. he worked on . little
weekly Newspaper to pay his expenses.
but as rapidly as he got dollar or
two ahead he was certain to bump
from. a rare building. Such tempta-
tions In the path Of the young man
might have been his undoing. 1t was
o wonder that he ever got through
college at all. for he had rot only to
meet his regular expenses. but pay
tribute to his hobby. Many was the
day that he stood nervously lingering
his last dollar. trying to decide wheth-
er to eat food that day or buy . let
ter written by Abraham Lincoln. At
such times he would become as nerv-
Gus as . gold-cure aiumnus passing
a saloon.
His young friends used to try to rca-
son with him.
''Ah. think Of your home and moth
err" said they. DO try to brace up.
But twas, no use. He squandered
his substance riotousiy on relics and
studied on an empty stomach.
II he had taken the money he spent
on relics and invested II in gold min
ing stock or Honduras rubber stock.
paying 800 or 400 per cent on the
dollar. stringer might today be a
multimiilionaire. As II is he is a
man OF only modest means. Thus his
quest for political honors have been
all the more difficult. A poor man may
succeed in politics. OF course. but he
In under just that much Of handicap
II Is like being a subject without
predicate, or an inside without an out
side.
However, stringer has one of the
finest collections OF Lincoln documents
in the country. and his layout of his
toric curios runs all the way from bull
let's OF famous battlefields to peb-
bles from famous dooryards. Give
Stringer a brick or shingle from a
building where some great man made
a speech OF historic Significance and
he will clutch II to his bosom with
much enthusiasm. He also goes in for
autographs OF famous people from
are perfectly legible. and others are
a country bank cashier.
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Byron r. Newton was an accurate and
painstaki reporter in the good old days
when he was a newspaper man instead
OF a mere statesman. But there was
one case in which he purposely and
brazenly twisted the facts. He had been
sent by his paper out to Oyster Bay to
write an account Of IN Informal shoot
ing match between r. Roosevelt and his
guest. a German army officer noted as
an expert marksman.
T. r hit the buirs-eye twice out OF
seven or eight shots. which was reason
ably good shooting. and the German
chap hit II about six times out of eight.
But when Newton sat down to write
his story II occurred to him that II would
read more scceptably to all patriotic cit
liens IL he had T. r. putting 1t all over
the visitor. SO he dashed of a graphic
account OF how the German shooter fired
at the target three or four times with
out hitting the bulrs-eye once. even. and
how T. Il. then leaped into position and
plugged the center of the target six
times without coming up for air.
And the next day, tits said. the editor
of Newton's paper got letter from
T. r. commencing the close observation
and accuracy of their reporter.
Representative James A. Hughes. of
West Virginia. was living a little while
ago in a Washington apartment house
that adjoined a yard which was night
ly a convention place for cats. BY
hundreds and even thousands they
came 10 that yard each night, SO IL
seemed to Hughes. and they kept him
awake with their conversation. He
threw away pretty much everything
that was loose about his apartment,
but II did no good.
One evening he cam. home with three
or four dozen Nars of soap.
why SO much soap?' his wife inquired.
ITO huri at the cats" cried Hughes.
why didn't you buy few stones or
blocks of wood?' asked his wife.
wouldn't that have been cheaperF
Hughes opened his eyes in astonishment
81 might have done that" he con-
fessed. but a cake OF soap was the last
thing / threw at the accursed things and
II was all / could think Of.
Senator Ollie James has in his WASH
ington apartments the table and chair
that he used when he presided over the
Baltimore convention and declared Wood
row Wilson, the nominee for President
of the United States. The articles were
bought and presented to James by Edwin
o. Wood. member of the Democratic Ma
tional Committee. from Michigan. who is
a great James enthusiast.
IT hope the chairs strong" remarked
the huge Ollie. when he saw il in his
apartments. Half the chairs 1 meet
aren't built for a man my size"
Well. this one held You all right at the
convention, didn't it," suggested Wood.
Hum. let's see unused Ollie; Il don't
remember of sittin' down that week.
Representative Cooke, Of Ohio. got his
start in life taking care OF a doctors
horses.
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