The Washington times., 1916-01-27
MODESTY SHOWN IN
CAPITAL DIRECTORY
"SeIf-Made" N. C.'s No Longer
Take Up Much Space with
Autobiographies.

The gentle eibes of the heartiess
scribes In the House and Senate press
galleries. the scribes aver, are responsi-
bio for the almost total absence from
this years Congressional Directory or
the once numerous annual crop OF auto
bioGraphers Of "self-mado' solons.
Mighty few Of the extraordinarily large
number of new Coneressmen this year
dwell upon the davs of the log CABIN
and the hardships Of early youth. Some
men who formerly took much space to
tell about themselves now win disttnc-
ton by going to the opposite extreme.
Minority Leader Mann made one mis-
take In his brief description Of himself.
He wrote: James r. Mann. Repub-
lican. of Chicago. was born In 1886;
elected to the Fifty-fifth and succeeding
conGressos. Member Of the ,l,a Banking ihn
| statement got into the proof sheets OF
| the directory. but the committee makers
did not put Mr.. Mann on the BIC COM
mittcc.
Here Is a notable sample Of brevity:
"Thaddeus II. Caraway. Democrat,
Jonesboro."
This is a whole storv--of the life-of
! the CONGRESSMAN OF the First district
| OF Arkansas as told by the member HIM
| self In the directory.
The member from the Fourth district
OF the same State ss"s Of himself:
'Utis WinGo. Democrat. of De Queen.
elected to Sixty-fourth Congress"
There Is another brief sketch In the
/ directory which records nodestly the
| story OF the rise to political fame OF a
| Western Senator. The story was first
| told with more regard for detail. Then
| somebody gave him a "hunch" and he
beat the iokesniths to it by a neck and
! stopped the proofs and now three lines
I tell the story.
that reads like this: Congressman Ben
Clark 1Iillard was born in n log cabin
on a farm eight miles north of Osceola.
! Clarke county. Iowa
| Congressman Charles Bateman Tim.
| berlake: His boyhood was spent on a
| farm"
Congressman Taylor: Spent his early
| life on a farm and stock ranch"
| Probably the most interesting nara.
| tive OF ones self in the directory Is
that of James Harvey Davis OF Texas
| "Cyclone' Davis. as he Is technically
! known in the nomenclature of political
| explosives. Mr.. Davis takes up some
| space TO tell about this matter as fol-
! lows:
| I'm debating the money question with
| Gen. Watt Hardin in 1892 at the capito
building in Frankfort, KY. he was re-
ported by the Cincinnati Inquirer and
| Chicago papers as Texas Cyclone.
under which title over half OF his mai
| Is now received
The final triumph is recorded as fol-
| lows:
! WAS elected to the Sixty-fourth Con
| gress with the Hon. Jeff McLemort
| (chosen to fill temporary vacancy as
| collea que, receiving some 200 votes less
than his colleague, an alleged penalty
for not having always been collar
Democrat; and heavily scratched by
| ra bid antis."
The colleague" to whom Cyclone
| Of n
Texas delegation chronicles. "Jeff Nc.
Lemore." as he signs himself. pleads
| guilty to having been born ION a farm
| two miles west OF Spring Hin. Maury
| county, Tenn" He adds that the event
occurred on Friday. the 18th o.
March," and who's afraid in storm.
He is a bachelor and a newspaper
| man." says he.
Had but little schooling" writes JEFF
McLemore. because of his aversion tt
teachers. and as pupil never saw thu
inside OF a school room after he wa!
fourteen years old"