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
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Corvallis, Ore
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