South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-01-22
STATESMEN
REAL AND NEAR
BY FRED c. KELLY.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22.-One dark,
stormy night a while ago, a short,
dark man with a Napoleonic cast Of
countenance might have been seen
walking the streets of the nations
capital, paying no attention whatever
TO the steady downpour Of rain.
on almost any rainy night that
same short, dark man is likely to be
seen walking up one street and down
another. as if ne enjoyed it.
The man is Joseph W. Folk, So
, lfcitor of the state department. who
will be remembered as the person who
/ kept St. Louis back in the census re-
\ ports for time by sending large
/ slice Of the population to the penl-
I Tertiary. and who later did time as
governor of Missouri. Folk loves 10
put on an old felt hat and walk IN
1 the rain. To walk in the rain In even
, broad daylight delights him. and 10
walk in the rain at night is a privi-
! lege that thrills him beyond measure.
! on this dark. rainy night we were
/ speaking of Folk, with brisk stride,
was walking the streets.
After he had been walking for half
an hour he became gradually con-
scious of the fact that he was being
! followed He then began TO cross
I streets at funny angles, reversing his
course every little while, and trying
\ in every way TO lose the man who
! seemed to be pursuing him. There
were plenty of times back in St Louis
| when Folk found himself Swallowed,
but TO have somebody on his trall
now, when he is leading a quiet, pro-
a in no STA %
department stirred his curiosity. He
/ turned about and walked in such
way that he would meet his pursuer
! under an e. ectric light.
And, 10, .Ie man was a once motor
ious St Louis gambler, known as
Hard Luck Charlie" who had given
Folk a great deal Of anxiety both
when he was district attorney and
, governor.
!. Folk didn't know what the game
might be, but he had nothing to fear.
The man did nothing worse than put
! out his hand. He had reformed, it
seemed, taken the civil service eX-
! aminatiOns and was connected with
the department of justice. He want
ed Folk TO help him get better job.
So the ex-gambler and the eX-gOVer-
nor now fellow employees of the gov
! eminent, stood there in the rain un-
l der the electric light talking things
| over Folk investigated the case in
due season. and did boost the man to
| a better place.
1t is a great relief to Folk by the
| way, that his meetings with former
! evil-doers from st. Louis are COM
/ paratively few. After the boOdling
aldermen began TO complete their
terms in the penitentiary. Folk
! couldn't go to dinner, a theater, or a
| barber shop, without running into
| somebody whom he had cast into
! prison, and who hated him accord
! ingly. Not infrequently he would be
! reading his paper on the street car
and find himself seated next to
| man who would never have had
suit of stripes to his name except for
Folk. That sort Of thing never bother
/ ed Folk as much as it would the aver
| age person, but even at that, he finds
it a rather refreshing change to walk
down the streets of Washington with
fair chance Of not meeting a man
he placed in the penitentiary.
Folk thinks the finest way to round
out an evening, after taking a walk
in the rain, is to go home, put on
! ones slippers, and read the Youths
/ Companion. From earliest boyhOod
Folk read the Youths Companion.
and he used to hustle for subScrip
tons among the neighbors in the hope
that he might win jig-saw
promised in the premium number. A
great many persons out in st. Louis
used to think that Folk must have
been brought up on DeadwoOd Dick
stuff, or something that gave him too
great a taste for excitement. Little
did they suspect that he went home
after a thrilling roundup of grafters
and forgot all save the plot of a con-
tinued story in the Youths Compan-
ion. And he still reads 'em-with
just as much zest as when he wore
short pants.
A few years ago, after he had be-
come famous. Folk went TO Boston to
make a speech and while the recep-
ton committee had him in tow, he
saw himself being driven by the Office
of the Youths Companion.
Pardon me for causing a delay"
he spoke up, but I'll simply have to
! go in there"
He went in, hunted up the editor
{ and told him what a lot of influence
t the paper had eXerted on his life. The
: editor was an old man, and was great
~ touched by Folks brief remarks.
! He actually broke down and wept.
Folk tried TO cheer him up by say
ing that perhaps everything would
, turn out all right in the end. or that
, II didn't, maybe il would all be for
the best The old chap tried brave
~ TO control himself. but he was
2 still wiping his eyes when Folk went
back TO his carriage
Next to the Youths COMPANION.
Folk reads more about Napoleon than
anything else, and has about the
, most complete library of works per
tanning TO Napoleon in the entire
e country. But he denies that he is a
Napoleon fan because he has a face
like NapOleOn's or that he acquired
his face in consequence of reading
about Napoleon.
/ Sen. Root Will never come out OF
the senate chamber in response to a
visitors card unless the card has first
been taken over 10 the senate office
| hni1dfnr and q E-,d LIZ thl $500 =