The Washington herald., 1916-03-08
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER
Special Cerrespondent Of The wash
fnEton Herald
lcopyriSht. lst b. tbe Mcclure Nexsraper'
Sybdicstsl


for IL. It's about the last place In the
world Northerner would look for H.
but it's there all right
One experience proved u 20 me
found an absolute lack OF red tape
exclusiveness and oficial aristocracy
The governors OF Northern States. 90
far as my experience goes with them,
are inclined to think pretty well OF them
selves and 10 be more or less difficult OF
approach. For a total stranger 10 have
an audience with the governor Of New
York or Pennsylvania or Msssschusctts
or lllionis is not exactly a simple or easy
matter. Your business must be worth
the governors attention 10 begin with,
and then there is apt 20 be a guard Of
secretaries and clerks you have to be
sifted through first. II your time ano
patience are not exhausted. you may
ultimately reach the Chief Executive in
his private Office.
Not so in the South. at least in
Alabama
I happened to be in Montgomery and
had several hours on my hands, 20 ] went
! up 10 tho statchousc TO look q over and
see the place whore Mr.. Davis proclaimed
the Southern cOnfederacy. Az 7 was
walking down the famous old corridor, g,
negro caretaker in his shirt sleeves. who
was sweeping cut a room. espied me and
promptly took me In tow a. guide. he
was a good guide too. and inteIliEently
explained everything Of interest. When
| we had finished and stood on the end
pOrttcO admiring the BEAUTIFUL monument
with the bronze figures. Joe" said.
! 'Dere's the governor = cab nov. He
done must bc in de ofTloo. Wouldn't yUu
| like for TO meet dc governor. SUM-
| | explained that Of course I would Hike
20 meet the governor. but as ! had no
business with him had no right to ask
! for an audience
oh. dats all right sub" said Joe
DE governor. he be powerful glad
for to meet yuh. Come right along
dis way. sub"
So We went to the executive cham
| bers and passed through al ante
room or two and opened d door.
expected that he would tell a secre-
tary that I would like to call on the
would be told by the secretary TO
come in or that his eXcellency was
engaged.
Nothing Of the kind.
Joe opened the door without knock
ing and said:
Governor. here's a Northern gem
men what would like for to pay his
respects TO yUh."
Then. turning to me. Come right
in. sub"
went right in and was met by
a large. we'll set W. fn~-looking NAV.
] who had risen from his desk. whcr.
he was debating letters Joe did j.e
honors and introduced US.
Dcmocracs Par Excellence.
And that's the way met Governo-
4 II
cratic State Of Alabama The negro
cleaner in his shirt sleeves was PEI
feCtly al ease and so was the govern
/ or Neither seemed to regard the
procedure as anything at all out Of
the ordinary. The governors dignity
was not offended and the negro Iaborer
was not sbashed. II must be borne
in mind, too. the Gov. Henderson is
not a socialist or one risen from the
ranks or anything OF that kind ITe
lis a Southern aristoCrat or wealth and
breeding. Although right in the mid~r
of his correspondence, he insisted on
lmy sitting down and We chatted tOr
half an hour.
| II an episode like that could happen
lin a Northern state capital ] should
be very much surprised
southern aloofness" is all Yankee
fool-talk. They are tho most demo
cratic people in the world down there.
: 1t brought to my mind an incident
| that the late Alfred Vanderbilt " no
was lost on the Lusitania, told me Of.
! Despite his many millions and the
three generations Of millions back OF
him. Allie" Vanderbilt was quite as
much a democrat as Gov. henderson.
,of Alabama
1t was my frequent good fortune to
lbc Mr.. NunderBIlt's guest on coaching
trips. A. every one knows coaching
was his hobby. and he spent fortunes
on it. For number OF years during
the summer, he ran a daily foUr-horse
coach between London and Brighton
over the same road. and making the
same stops and relays and time that
they did before the days OF railroads.
! Nj Vanderbilt drove the coach him
self every day and that meant eight
hours hard work. but il was fun for
him. He told me he got more enjoy
ment out Of il than anything else in
the world.
Like Old Coaching Days.
| He used 20 take passengers who paid
| their rare Just as IN lll' &OtitlIlllE "a -
but that WAS only d iOTmlhty 10 make 81
seem like the old days, as The fare would
not buy the feed even for the siNty-fOuT
| horses he used on each trip. He had
| eight stables and ono hundred employees
| along the road. He dressed exactly like
a coachman, with a nigh white hat and
| capped coat.
| Parties Of tourists frequently bought
out the whole twelve seats OH top for a
| trip. II was customary for all 10 tip
| Scarlet, the guard who blew the horn.
| At the end Of one trip the host Of a
party. who happened 70 be a newly rich
! American, tipped old Scarlet and then
| came up TO where Vanderbilt was stand
| ing by the horses He did not know that
| the coachman who had driven him for
ninety miles was worth 100000 and
1.-THE head Of the famous Vanderbilt fam
| fly. for Allie" never talked TO passen-
! gers he did not personally know and
| always conducted himself exactly as a
! hired coachmsn would.
! Here, driver" said the passenger
| This is for YOU" And he handed Van
derbilt gold sovereign, worth s. in our
|