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About Corvallis daily gazette. (Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon) 1909-1909 | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1909)
VETERAHJIFTHE PEN Colonel A. K. McClure, Who Was a Power In Politics. STRONG ALLY OF LINCOLN. Last Survivor of Circle of Martyred President's Advisers Raised Seven-' teen Regiments For Union Army In Civil War Odd Campaign Experience. Colonel Alexander Kelly McClure, prothonotary of the supreme and su perior courts of Pennsylvania and for many years a prominent figure in pol itics and Journalism, who recently died at his home in Wallingford, Pa., at the age of eighty-one years, was the last Burvivor of Abraham Lincoln's circle ot personal friends and intimate polit ical advisers. Lincoln once remarked 3t him. "Mr. McClure has more brains han any man I know," and it has long jeen conceded that excepting only Lin coln himself Colonel McClure was the man most responsible for his election :o the presidency In 1860. He was ;hairman of the state committee of Pennsylvania at the time, and Pennsyl ranla was the pivotal state. Colonel McClure's able management of the ;ampaign swung it into line and thus issured the success of the ticket. - Colonel McClure was born of Scotch. Irish stock, In Sherman's valley, Perry ;ounty, Pa., on Jan. 9, 1828., Schooled upon a farm, he was" taught to be self reliant, and after obtaining a meager book education he was apprenticed, at the age of fourteen years, to a tanner. During this apprenticeship, which last d three years, he made frequent visits to the office of Judge Baker, editor of me ferry f reeman, ana upon ms aa riee he studied politics and occasional ly wrote articles for publication. , Through Judge Baker he eventually became editor of the Juniata Sentinel, 1 new Whig organ, much against the Irish of his father. With the aid only , f an apprentice Mr: McClure, who was then but nineteen years old, got jut the paper, and his caustic pen soon won for him a name, making as it did many friends and foes. During his parly work upon the Juniata Sentinel be formed a warm friendship with An Jrew G. Curtin, afterward the " war governor of Pennsylvania, and a dislike for the political methods of Simon Cameron. Year by year he forged ahead in pol itics, becoming burgess of Mifflin and then deputy United States marshal. Then John M. Pomeroy purchased for him a half interest in the Chambers burg Repository. Mr. McClure became Its editor and made it one of the best known Journals in the state. In 1853 " be was the Whig candidate for auditor general, being: the youngest man ever nominated for a state office in Penn sylvania, and two years later he was l member of the convention that met . at Pittsburg and organized the ' Re publican party. In the following year be. was a delegate to the national cori rention that nominated Fremont for : the presidency." v ; - - In 1853 Mr. McClure sold the Re- . posltory and quitted journalism for a ' time. He was soon afterward admit ted to the bar, and the following year, he was elected to the assembly.! and . afterward to the senate, on the latter occasion succeeding a Democrat who bad added 350 Democratic votes to the district by a new apportionment In 1860 he was appointed chairman ' of the Republican state central com- mittee. In that campaign he made for the first time in the state a thorough organization in every county, township : nd precinct, and in the national con vention he, carried the-state for Lin--coin by winning over the delegates who had been instructed for Simon Cameron. At the "outbreak of the re- . bellion Mr. McClure was in the sen ate, and he was made chairman of the committee on military affairs. Two years later he was solicited by President Lincoln and Secretary Stan ton to make the draft in Pennsylvania, and, with two clerks, he had the state enrolled, credits adjusted, draft made and seventeen regiments in the field in sixty days. To give to him the mili tary authority to make the draft he was commissioned assistant adjutant general of the United States,, an office which he resigned as soon as the work was finished. After the defeat of his party In 18G3 Colonel McClure. at the special request of President Lincoln, went to Philadel phia to aid in organizingand perfect ing the organization for the presiden tial election In the following Novem ber. The same year Lee's army, in its Invasion of Pennsylvania, destroyed all his property, near Chambersburg, valued at $75,000. 3o do this it even went out of Its way, as if with intent to leave him homeless as a punishment for his ardent support of the Union cause. He was a delegate to the convention which nominated General Grant In 1868, and after that campaign he set tied' in Philadelphia for the practice of law. In 1872, with his old friend, Mr. Curtin, he joined the Greeley move ment, and ever since then he was more or less independent in politics. He was re-elected to the senate, and in 1S73 he was nominated for mayor of Philadelphia against William S. Stok ley and made a vigorous campaign, but . he was defeated in this contest and never again appeared as a candidate for office. . -' ' Colonel A. K. McClure has. stood on many platforms, has addressed assem blies large and small, political, social and religious. He was noted for his self command under any circum stances, but on one occasion he was distinctly embarrassed and ill at ease. , On "this occasion Colonel McClure was the chief speaker at a large as sembly, the audience being made up mainly of farmers or other persons who had driven to the place of meet ing. In the . midst of an eloquent speech it began to rain. One after an other of his hearers jumped up and hurried out until the speaker was left with an array of empty benches be fore him. Colonel McClure's face flushed crim son. He had said not a word that could give offense, and he naturally failed to understand the sudden leave taking, but his embarrassment was quickly changed to amusement when the chalnnan arose and said : "It's' all right, colonel; they're only going out to look after the horses. They'll be back pretty soon." The orator sat down until the farm ers returned and then resumed his speech. In 1876 Colonel McClure, with Frank McLaughlin, founded the Philadelphia Times and remained its editor in chief until 1901. when he withdrew from active journalism and devoted himself to periodical literature. He was the author of many books, perhaps the best known of which are "Lincoln and Men of War Times." "Our Presidents and How We Make Them" and "Rec ollections of Half a Century." For years he was the president of the famous Clover club in Philadel phia, and when he retired from jour nalism the club gave him a great ban quet. Covers were laid for more than 300, and the" company included some of the foremost men of every profes sion in the country. Another great banquet was given to Colonel McClure on his eightieth birthday, between 400 and 500 of his friends attending it Two years ago Colonel McClure said at a dinner of the Clover -club: '. "Old age has nothing in it to fear. When death calls to me I shall not be afraid. After dining with Mr. Car negie once Mr. Carnegie said to me that he would give $200,000,000 to have a lease on life.- Two hundred millions, Alec,' he said to me 'that's what I'd give for a lease on this life. I'm not hoggish, either. I'd give it for ten years only.' I don't think Carnegie is afraid of death, but he clings to life. There is a difference. I said,. 'Andy, you would be bunkoed at that price.' " In 1904 Colonel McClure was again Induced to take office and was named prothonotary of the supreme and su perior courts of Pennsylvania. PI OST NUMBER EIGHT NEW CONSULAR SERVICE. Card 8ystem to Advance Interests of American Commerce. American consuls' all over the world are to be supplied with a card index system of catalogues and literature of every manufacturing concern In the United States as a result of an agree ment reached the other day between the state 'department and the depart ment of commerce and labor, says a Washington dispatch, t The arrange ment is in line with the administra tion's policy of placing the commerce of the United States in the first rank through a reorganization- of the con sular service.- The ; service "recently was shaken up, and now the adminis tration is preparing to furnish the" new men the necessary material with which to produce results. - American consulates receive annual ly many queries as to manufacturers in various lines. ; The usual course in such cases is to' pass the inquiry on to Washington, which in turn advertises it to the trade and thus gives any man ufacturer interested an .opportunity to correspond. But this method has been found to involve so much time that the buyer in numerous Instances has pur chased elsewhere before he gets Infor mation about American goods. William Harper,, who evolved thl3 plan, was chief of the bureau of In formation of the Philadelphia mu seums for six years following its or ganization in 1804 and In that capacity visited virtually all of the American consulates in the world in the course of the years 189S-9. -: One of the conditions of the service is that i is free to any and all manu facturers In the country. No fee is to be charged for the service in sending out cards to the consulates. All that Is required of the manufacturer is that he print his cards in the language of the country to which they are sent and in a prescribed and uniform size for assembling.' LABOR-PARODY ON "AMERICA." Sung at a Meeting to Discuss Means to Relieve the Unemployed. A meeting of the unemployed was held the other day under the auspices of the International Brotherhood Wel fare association in a hall at 44 Bowery, New York, to discuss methods of pro viding work for the unemployed Chairman J. Eads How announced at the beginning of the meeting that the proceedings would be started with a hymn. The "hymn" proved to be a paraphrase of "America," the first verse of which ran: My country, what of thee? What hast thou done for me That I may sing? In labor's crowded mart, Strong hand and willing heart. Striving to do my part, To thee I sing. Miss Lily Engleton.lan eighteen-year- old anarchist, was one of the speakers, She said : .; "The unemployed should "be infused with the spirit of the French revolu tion. They should assert themselves, as the French people did. and make it - understood that it is the duty of the government to put the unemployed to vrork.'? ' ," V. ",;"'. , - ' Beware of Telephone Cussing. . The Omaha city council has passed an ordinance imposing a fine of $100 fir the -Offense of swearing into a tele By BEATRICE TUCKER. Copyright, 1909, by American Press Asso ciation..! ' j. .. During the Spanish-American war my regiment of United States infat.- try occupied a single position in Cuba fur quite awhile. We were not very near an enemy and kept out no vedettes or pickets, the colonel being satisfied with the usual chain of sentinels. There was one sentry beat overlooking a valley from which every uiau posted it the evening relief disappeared. No cry, no sound of any kind, was heard at post No. 8, but the sentry placed there was not found when the corporal of the guard took a man to. relieve him. uor was he ever heard of afterward. Some concluded that an enemy crawled up from below, stabbed him and took his body away. Some concluded that the post was haunted and the sentrj was carried away by a ghost. When the first man disappeared tht officer of the guard reported the mat ter to the colonel, who, thinking that it would be better that the next man to stand post on No. 8 should not know of the occurrence, ordered the officer to keep the matter a secret and if there were inquiries about the miss ing man among his comrades to givt out that he had been ordered away on a, special service. So the second man did not. know of the mystery of the first, nor the third of the second, nor the fourth of the third. The fourth man was the last to vanish, for after he had gone the regiment was order ' to the front. I was a member of Company C, and we knew more about the disappear ances than the officers thought we aid but we didn't know what had become of the sentries. It was the prevailing opinion that the men were murdered by hostile Spanish citizens, but with what object we were ignorant After the war closed I came north with the rest of the command, but eight years later went to Cuba on business, and there one day, while passing a sugar plantation, who should I see sitting be fore a workman's cabin but John Hen derson, the last man who had disap peared from sentry post No. 8. At first he pretended not to know, me, but I looked him square in the eye and told him he couldn't fool me. Then he owned up and. told me the following story: . "When placed on post and left by the retreating relief I stood for awhile uncertain whether to risk death Joy some unearthly means or by being shot for deserting my beat I knew that three men had attempted to hold it against natural or supernatural ene mies and failed.. While I was deliber ating I heard a girl's laugh and, look; ing down, saw a merry face and two black eyes peering up at me. The girl had a basket on her arm fun of flowers and began to pelt me with them. I supposed she was simply passing that way and didn'tjeonaeqt her with the ghost who. had, spirited. away the other sentries. I seized on or two of the posies and, .threw . then back at her. She was too pretty to keep at a distance, and I invited her to come up and sit with me on the slope. It wasn't long before I had my arm around her and stole a kiss. - "She spoke some English and, point ing to a house below, told me she was on her way to a dance to take place there. We soon heard the sound of music, and the girl begged me to go down with her, have a dance and get back before the relief came. - I was tempted and fell. I -went with her, danced several times and was thinking of returning when I was surrounded by the men in the room and made a prisoner. -- They were about to take me out to shoot me when the girl who had ar ranged for my capture stood in the door and jabbered Spanish . at them, with constantly "growing irritation. I didn't know then what she said, but learned afterward that, having given them three victims, she wished the fourth to be spared. Finally she pre vailed, partly by threats to expose themt to our troops above and partly by her influence over them. I was re leased and, accompanied by the girl, started tip to camp. I had plenty of time to get there, but was dallying with her, she showing plainly enough ! that she had gone daft on me. I tried ! to tear myself away, from her, but cpuldn't I knew she had betrayed three other men, but her preference for me caught me, and while I was trying to get away from her I heard the relief visit my post Then I knew I was too late, for if I went to camp I would be shot for being'absent on my post. "That threw the whole matter into the hands of the girl. It was the same as having sold my soul to the devil. I deserted, and we went away togeth er. She deserted, too, for she never went back home. Her people were Spaniards, and the men who had been bent on shooting me were Spaniards. They lived about there with their fam ilies, and had the girl told on them, as Bhe threatened to do, our colonel would have arrested and shot them. They had only consented to let me go on her promise that she would keep me from getting back to the command. Of course, not understanding Spanish, I didn't know -this at the time or I should have been forewarned." Henderson had married the girl and they had several children. In that country women fade early, ami upon an introduction I found the wife home ly enough to, use for a scarecrow. I have remembered the incident since as a warning to all men not to be led away from their duty by a pretty face. Henderson was living ln terror, con scious ofbeinjr a deserter, and all be cause he had listened to a siren. 840 acres, 1 1-2 miles from Summit. 700 acres fenced in five Dastures rnn- lning water between each pasture, fan? buildings, 72 bearing fruit trees-will eas e 5 years straight. Also have for ale 2d) goats and 4 good Jersey cows. t. F. Young. 203 N. 14 St., Corvallis. 6-4-4 tw. Money To Pay. Warrants Notice is hereby given that there is money on hand to pay General Fund Warrants endorsed to November 22, 1904, and all endorsed street warrants. Interest will stop on same from this date, June 5, 1909, - Z. H. Davis, 6-5-10-17 City Treasurer. Daily Gazette 50 cents ner month Why not take it. For Rent Taunton & Burnap Cement Contractors Makers of Best Cement Walks in Town All work guaranteed first class. Corvallis, Ore HYDRAULIC WELL DRILLING Powerful and rapid well ma chine run by gasoline engine. Wind mill pump repairing, and drove wells a specialty. Place your orders now before the season's rush'work is on. A. N. HARLAN Box 526 Corvallis, Oregon TBts Best Paint There is no better paint made for appearance and durability than " -,; Acme Quality Paim Specially prepared for exterior and interior use. "FLOOR VARNISH THAT WEARS" UfAl I DA DTD A M n BIIIUT PTniM. second Street, Near Palace Theater MONEY LOANED ON REAL ESTATE LONG TIME EASY PAYMENTS RELIAALE ' REPRESENTATIVES WANTED The Jackson Loan & Trust Co. Fort Worth, Texas Jackson, Mississippi Occidental Lumber Co. Successors to; Corvallis Lumber Co. We are here to supply your needs in the Lumber line. Please call on J. B IRVING for information and prices. 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