The Washington herald., 1915-04-01
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Senator Who Was Always Ready
For Trouble"
Written Expressly for The Washington Herald.
ny DIR. F.. J. EDWARDS.

'Since I have been a member OF
Congress in both the Lower and the
Upper Houses l have been a close
| student of the personal character
of members. and have learned many
| things about one and another which
have been very interesting and OF
which the public has had no knowI-
edge" This statement was made to
me by the late William P. Frye, of
Maine, whose service in Congress was
for almost a generation of time. be-
ginning few years after the close
of the civil war.
Senator Frye was probably one of
the best liked members of Congress
who ever sat in either the Upper or
Lower House. Some of his colleagues
were sometimes of the opinion that IL
he had devoted less time to the gain
ing and maintaining of friendship and
more to the preparation of speeches
he would have gained a higher nation
al reputation than he did possess.
When he first went to Congress he
early gained a fine reputation as .
speaker. He was of dignified presence;
he possessed voice wonderfully Mt
ted for public speaking, of a musi-
cal, but not monotonous quality, and
was able distinctly to enunciate with
out straining his voice. The cordial
ity of his nature and his willingness
to overlook some ;i;tellectual or tenn
peramental weaknesses and to regard
only those qualities as worthy of at
tention which revealed the better side
of a members intellect or tempera-
ment made ii possible for him to main
tain friendships which other Senators
found difficult to establish.
Senator Frye spoke TO me Of his
relations with the late Isham G. Har-
ris, who was for nearly a quarter of
a century a representative of Tonnes
see in the United States Senate.
II aearned early in life, and my
knowledge was afterward confirmed by
my experience in Congress. that the
man to beware of was the one who
had a constant smile, a continuous
display Of his teeth. He was the man
to be dreaded and constantly to guard
oneself against said Senator Frye.
"On the other hand, the member of
Congress who was peppery, who flew
of the handle at the slightest pretext,
who. seemed to revel in indignation,
was likely to be man or kindness
at heart and worthy to establish cor
dial friendship with. This was espe-
cially true of Senator Harris, Of Ten
nessee. There were times when could
not keep my eyes on his face as he
sat at his desk In the Senate cham
Der. with his sallow complexion, his
bright, small eyes and his fierce mus
tache standing out at an angle with
his cheek, which MADE me think of
! Chinese mandarin. He was the most
peppery man In the Senate. Some
times those on our side of the cham
Der who vera mischievously disposed
stirred him, up so that we
might enjoy his display Of irritation.
One time he caught me at this and he
aimed at me a perfect volley Of verbal
fireworks. He did not realize how
many of US were slyly chuckling. Any
,ne would have thought that we were
to be forever enemies. but knew
that after he finished his remarks he
would become the gentlest of men and
would have no animosity for me. In
.act, an hour or two after this attack |
met him I'm the cloakroom. He put |
his arm around me and said kind |
.hings and you would have thought |
hat never since our acquaintance be-
yan had there been the slightest cause |
Tor irritation on the part of either |
me of us toward the other.
81 think the Senators recognized |
hat Harris display Of pepper was a |
,urely superficial attribute, for don't |
NOW Of any Senator for whom q more |
Iincere regard was t>by all the |
Senator's than for him. There were |
others who never got angry, who |
we're always placid apparently, who I
could not count many OF |
he Senators as their staunch
riends."
Copyright. .sis. By 4. J. Edwards All rshts ~
served.)
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards will tell
How Yale Acquired John TrumbulPs /