Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-03-27
COL. H. o. TAIR is HOME AGAIN
Great Patriot and Statesman Arrives
From the State Capitol Saturday
Night and is Interviewed Stands
Ready to Save the Nation.
written by Col. H. O. Tair.)

(WTltten Dy Col. ii. u. TAR.
Standing as we do on the threshol
I of war which threatens to devastat
our beloved country, citizens of Wau
sau breathed a sigh of relief Satur
day night, when they learned tha
Col. H. o. Tair, that renowned states
man, diplomat ?" J patriot, had again
returned to our city and was here t,
guide, counsel and direct the though
of this particular community, tn
state or the nation, as the case Nigh
require.
There were not many at the depot tt
welcome the colonel home, owing tt
the fact that his arrival was who'll,
unexpected, both by the citizens O.
Wausau and himself.
1t was not to be rid of the multi
farious duties which devolved upor
him that the colonel has abandoned
the state capital, but rather because
the high cost of living is less marked
here than in the home of the state
solons, and the colonel was summarily
divorced from the pay roll late Friday
evening by the hot-headed and AFRO
CANT chief executive, with whom he
had rather stormy interview.
81 have no desire to pose as mar
tyr" said the colonel as he benevo-
lently accorded the reporter of the
Pilot an interview a few minutes af-
ter his arrival in the city, "but the
fact of the matter is that my patriot
ism was put to such a test that l
could no longer bear the indignities
that were being heaped upon me and
my country by the chief executive"
Il had been delivering an address
to a gathering of Americans in the
corridor of the capitol, and as l spoke
my patriotism began to seethe and
boil, and I said things which would
not be approved by the senior senator,
William Jennings Bryan or the Kaiser.
Forgetful of where I stood, and that I
was in Madison, l made a strong plea
for national honor, for the rights of
Americans to travel the high seas and
to express their honest convictions
anywhere in the United States, or Mil
waukee or Madison.
81 was hastily summoned to the
presence of the chief, he who usurps
the place that should have been mine,
and who with wave of his hand, said,
Consider yourself bounced. Your
to the pay roll ceases right
here and now, colonel"
upon what grounds am I, who have
my best energies, my
wealth of experience, my recognized
to be divorced from the
which should be mine un-
til the end of the session." l asked
him.
Traitor" said he, 81 would have
you know that I passed down the corl,
ridor and heard your seditious utter
ances against our good Kaiser Will
helm. You are guilty of lese-majesty.
Well you know that our grievance
against Germany rests entirely upon
her interference with our commerce,
while in the outer hall, in loud tone
Of voice which may be heard as far
as Berlin, thou didst proclaim in uni
son with that arch knave, Wilson, that
our grievance rested upon Germany's
willful and deliberate assassination of
American men, women and children"
"Your honor" l replied, "the snow
still lies deep upon the ground in my
northern home; wood is $S per cord,
and 1 am unprepared for this sudden
from the pay roll, and if
you will reconsider your rash utter
ance, Twill still abide with you and will
promise to say nothing more which
may be offensive to the good Wilhelm,
for whom you entertain so warm re-
gard"
mix on that stuff" j" he replied, at the
same time pointing to the door.
"When I fully realized that J must
go, I became reckless and lsC forth a
burst of patriotic oratory ttmaI will
linger in the halls of the state ca 1itol
for months, and which, had the as
sembly been in session, might have re-
suited in my impeachment for treason
against the kaiser. While I was al
it. 1 let forth a flood of pent up in
dignities and reminded the governor
that 1 was the sole and original dis
coverer of high taxes upon which h'
was carried into Office, that / was the
original discoverer of the fact tha
they were still higher during his ad
ministration than when l made th'
original discovery, that they would
be higher next year, and l would dis
cover that also and defeat him at thu
polls, that while l had supported hin
last year in the campaign as matte
of party regularity, ! would no
again stultify myself.
Well" he replied, 'go back hom'
and muck-rake me like you have beel
doing the senior senator for years
Bob has grown fat on that and go
votes to burn, right up in your Owl
community, and 1 guess if you ge
after me in the same manner, ] vii
make a better showing at the poll
than / did last time"
Our excited conversation appeare
to attract considerable attention, 70
the Office rapidly began filling up wit
spectators upon whose faces wer
looks of horror, which were NOR
deeply accentuated when he pointe
his finger at me and in tones of scorl
said. "Rous NIT him. He is a traitor
He is a supporter of the president, an
verify believe voted for that arch