Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-17
PoMoLooY AND POLITICS
Former Controller Of Montgomery
County Loves Both, as Well
as His Business
BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN
WILLIAM ID. HEEBNER recently
wv .ot;rn,I m, ,A,trollo. 20 Moot0omprv q

pomologist that William u. Heebner
shines. His political activities Degan q
ii haLi cen.u @ .h hhso ihe hrn nass of I,ansda,e,
TLu, 80 o,,n,,t een ~ 1890
%a,ntr, nni;t;oians arc os rule.
sL rn,,.dar ,ban tha c;,v hrcd In the
o;t, tho ,atn l. dni;norsd on ,nassc In
tbc country ;t,s an ind;viduaI matter.
IIeobnor Is nn ;ndividunlist.
One of the best stories of the old leg.
is,atiyo days concerns William u. Hceb- |
ner They called him "Bili" then.
There are no Williams. Thomascs or
Jacobs in apy Legislature I ever knew. |
frills. fringe or flounces. They're stat |
ute builders IN the raw.
II rather knocks the romance out Of
the prefix Honorable"
TT WAS during the session of 1885 aud
i "p;u,, IIoohno- ,,os an, of the new
from Woptgomery county. He
was sbrcwd hut besifont: eager TO learn
tho lngis,at;vc rones but backward.
II didn't take him long to learn.
though. At the end of six weeks he was
shouting "Nfr. Sneaker as loud as
the neighbor at his elbow.
Early in the session he introduced n
bill apnropriating. I think the amount
was. $4,000 to the Valley Forge Me-
mortal Commission.
II was usuoI 70 have wasbington's
farewell address read on the 22d Of
February in the House.
It was also customary to select some
new member. easily "rattled." to stand
up before the House and read the ad-
dress. As the victim proceeded he was
guycd and jeered most numerically.
Every Legislature invariably carries
on like n pack of i'll bred schoolboys, or
zapies, some time during session.
Whether because .Hcebner had pre-
scnted n Valley Forge bill. or because
they thought he was easily ratified being
new. he was elected the victim to read
February, 1SSo.
~~ ,r,,r ,, , A. ,,o.,
[ D. "Ppo''''' ua' '"'
~ gomcry man marched down TO the
front, and the House settled itself back
in it's seats for some horse play.
llcebncr announced that he would
like unanimous consent to Introduce
resolution. There was chorus OF
hilarious ayes. The resolution pro;
Nldcd that the bill nppropria,lng Sooou
to the Valley Forge commission be read
for the first time Immediately: that 1t
be made special order for second read.
ing the following day, and Tor third
reading the day after.
The resolution went through with n
yell. The members figured that they
would even up with "Bill Heebner
when he started to read the farewell
address.
Aud now MIR. Speaker. continued
Hccbncr. Il send to the desk the fol-
lowing printed matter to be read by the
clerk as part OF my remarks ON this
resolution. w
The printed matter was washing
Ana Tue clerk was cohipe''ed under
'"'
n,>y ,c,,,> , H.:
H'NNN d. Ni'o''iN' 'u''' iieu
L tenant governor and present fair
price commissioner. was member in
the House Of 1897.
the old saying that Large events fire.
quently hinge on small happenings
Henry *. Boyer was speaker and a.
ID. Fettcrolf was resident clerk of the
House that year.
This was the memorable session that
was held in Grace Methodist Church
after the old Capitol had burned.
On the last night of the session
Speaker Boyer. who got up out of n
sick bed to preside. was in the chair
till a. IN.
The House calendar was crowded
with Senate bills on final passage. and
Boyer announced that. to facilitate aC-
tion. no Senate bills would be taken up
out of their regular order.
Everything moved with the celebrity
of clockwork until about > O'Clock in
the morning. when Boyer was COM
PEELED to give in. He called Frank
McClain to the chair.
DEFORE leaving, the Speaker turned
- to Resident Clerk Fctterolf. and in
a tone audible to the correspondents
said:
Don't let them change the order on
the Senate bills
Fifteen minutes later member.
whether by design or accident. ap-
preached the clerks desk and engaged
Fetterolf in conversation.
At the same instant some other mem
Der moved to take up certain bill
near the foot Of the calendar. and it
was agreed to.
This set precedent, and when
Speaker Boyer returned at 4 o'clock
the calendar of Senate bills had been
so mauled. clawed over and generally
mussed up that it was impossible to
straighten it out.
Imror,art Scnato hills rcvcr cot
thromrb This anrcrcd certain Of Tho
snnatnrs 50 that in the Ouay fgbt NJ