Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1908)
WASHINGTON. Tho Interest In tho personality of Grovor Clovolaml luiH naturally re callod many IncldontH of tho duyu when IiIh wuh tho nioHt forceful figure In American public llfo. Nothing which ho ovor did whllo president nttrnetod moro attontlon than tho famotiH men nago ho Hont to congreHH In Docomhor, 1805, on tho subject or Groat Britain's oontrovoiHy with Vonezuoln ovor tho boundary botwoon tho lattor country and HrltlHli Guiana. In an lulorvlow with a Now York Tlmos correspond out Hilary A. Herbert, thou Mr. Clevo. land'H Hocrotary of tho navy, now for tho 11 rut tlino tollH tho truo Inwardness of that hlHtorlc oplsodo. "Tho foundation for Mr. Glovoland'H colehratod Venezuelan message," said Mr. Horhcrt, "wan tho nolo of Secre tary of Slate Olnoy to Lord SallH bury, tho HrltlHh minister for foreign nffalrH. Thnt note wuh written during the congressional j-occhb, three inontliB boforo congrosH convojiod, and before Mr. Glovoland'H message waH propnrod. Tho Olnoy nolo was drafted after n consultation botwoon tho nocrotary of Htato and Mr. Cleveland during the Hummer at Great Gabion on Buzznrd'B bay. Mr. Olnoy wont there, as I hnvo always undorHtood, to confor with tho president, about tho Venezuelan quos Hon. Tho noto wan submitted to every member of the cabinet. 1 remember distinctly I was in Washington that simmier and a copy of ilio noto came to mo and Mr. Carlisle, tho secretary of the treasury, and Mr. Lnmont, tho secretary of war, and wo considered tho policy togothor. "I remombor thnt as the noto devel oped It almost took my breath away, and 1 was inclined to opposo Its presen tation, but boforo tho reading was fin ished I realized Its force and value and 1 heartily approved It. Botwoon Mr. Carlisle, Mr. Lnmont and myself so mo GR0VER CLEVELAND 5UNSBT cfljid BUSY LITE tho two countries which wore ho close ly allied in blood and business. Of course, such measures as could bo taken with tho moans In band to bo propnred In easo of trouble were taken by tho navy department, but there was neither time nor money nor oppor tunity to make any oxtonslvo prepara tions." A REGULAR CHURCHGOER. CLEVELAND'S father was a Prosby terlan minister. Whon tho son was eloctcd president the Hov. Dr. Sun dorland of tho First Prcsbytorlan church In Washington determined to make ovory effort to induce Mr. Clove laud to attend his church. Immediate ly after tho Inauguration Dr. Sunder land culled upon tho president, and tho latter agreed to be enrolled among his parishioners. Cleveland was very reg ular In attendance. Always a largo crowd assembled in front of tho church to see him entering nnd leav ing The crowd was amazed to find that whon tho carrlngo atoppod Cleve land would leave tho vohlclo and start for Iho door, whllo some ono else would have to asslBt Mrs. Cleveland to alight. Then sho would hasten after Cleveland was made candidate for gov- omor particularly because of his vig orous administration of tho mayor's olllce. His most conspicuous act was tho veto of an ordinance of tho council granting a contract for clcnnlng tho city to personal friends. Cleveland regarded UiIb contract as against pub lic policy, nnd, notwithstanding the pressure exercised by his closest ad visers, ho disapproved tho measure, and by this act attracted tho attention of the state. Thcro Is not tho slightest doubt that what Mr. Cleveland did on that occasion had a greater bearing on his future political career than any thing he had dono. A FRIEND OF THE PEN. MR. CLEVELAND look a great In terest In pension legislation. Ob serving n discriminating attltudo, which was most Important, both for tho public treasury and from tho point of view of thoso veterans of unblem ished records, It was his custom to ox nmlno each act nnd nil tho facts con nected with tho claim of tho bonollcl ary with tho greatest care. If ho found a flaw In tho record ho would put a veto on tho back of the ast In his own hand writ lug. Cleveland rarely die- Those who knew tho charming rela tions which existed between tho presi dent and his wlfo wore Indignant at tho publication. That it was abso lutely falso 1 quickly discovered for .myself. Crossing tho Whlto Houno grounds, I saw Mrs. Cleveland bonding over n bed of panstes In which sho took special Interest. Sho was a beau tiful picture that morning. Her oyes woro as clear as crystal, showing that she had Blept well, and her skin with out a blemlBh. Tho nllegcd brutality of Mr. Clevoland towards his wife wns frequently described by the pnpor re ferred to, but novcr did I see any Justi fication or foundation for the state ments it published. Becauso tho presi dent and Mrs. Cleveland refused to ex hibit their children to tho gaping crowd reports were published that they were Idiots and that ono of thorn was blind. Theso reports wore not only falso, but so cruel as to arouse tho hearty Indlgnntlon of the friends of tho president and his wife. It has been often snld, and with Jus tice, that Mrs. Cloveland made an ldenl "First Lady of the Land." Probably Mrs. Clovoland did what no other wlfo of a president attempted. At recep tions sho would take a step forward and Bhnko bands with the caller, re turning to her position before saluting the next in line. This was a task which only a woman of tremendous physical endurnnco could carry out successfully. At the New Year's re ceptions, for example, 9,000 persons greeted tho president and his wife. So that Mrs. Clovelund took 9,000 steps and shook hands 9,000 times on each of these occasions. A3 FRIEND AND LAWYER. CLEVELAND was moro of a socia ble man thnn a social one. l"e en joyed few social relations in Buf falo, rarely visiting the houses of STOESSEL IN PRISON DEFENDER OF PORT ARTHUR NOW A BROKEN MAN. Loss of Uniform His Greatest Humili ation Watches from Window Winter Palace Where He Once Was an Honored Guest. SlitM MMk jjj jw lm ' MLL& AsBBBBBBBBBBMKflBBBBBBflBBBBBflfl St. Petersburg. An American news paper correspondent recently was per mitted to Interview Gen. Stoessel, tho defender of Port Arthur, In prison. Here Is what he writes: Two cold blue oyes examined me through a tiny wicket in the door, and n rough voice said: "What do you want?" "I wish to see Gen. Stoessel," I an Bwered. "Have you permission?" said tho lce. "Hero is my ticket," I said, pro ducing a card on which it was stated that the commander of tho fortress of St. Peter nnd St. Paul had tho honor to accord me leave to see the "noble man Stoessel." The gate In the high stone wall was opened and a soldier appeared. Ho then showed the way to tho reception room in one of the buildings In tho court beyond. Wo had not long to wait for Stoes sel. Punctually at ono o'clock ho came Into the room. Ho was dressed in a black frock coat, his voice was weak nnd he looked older and moro wrinkled tWin when he was on trial a few months ago. 'Oh, yes, ono can live here, and In eufllclent comfort," he replied to our Inquiries about his life, "but It Is a vegetable existence. More thnn any thing 1 feel the loss of my uniform. First Photograph of Ex-President Cleveland and His Family Taken at Their Princeton Home. From stereograph. coynrlKht, 1W7, by I'mlerwood niul I'mlerwooil, N. Y. suggestions were mado as to amend mei3, perhaps slight, and my under standing is that these nmendmonts wore subsequently adopted. All tho cabinet know for three or four months before congress convened that this bombshell had been prepared. Never theless, It was kept absolutely secret. Nobody knew anything about It. As Mr. Cleveland himself said, he did not Relieve In doing public business on the sidewalk. The racssago that Mr. Cleve land afterwards wrote was prepared by Ihlmself just after he had roturned from an outing. He had gono down tho rlv.er on a Ashing excursion, and when lie got back the message was written, occupying him for two days. Tho mes sage was read to the cabinet beforo It was sent In. I do not remember wheth er any suggestions were nsked or of fered, the message being a condensa tion of the very powerful Clney note." "Did you anticipate that war would result from the fessage?" "No, I did not think so, because I did not think there was enough In the .controversy to cause a war between her husband and, catching up with him, the two would walk up the aisle together to their pew. A BAD CAMPAIGNER. CLEVELAND was known always as a bad campaigner. It was an ex tremely difficult thing to got him tor take an active part In politics, even when ho was running for office him self. When ho was nomlnnted for may or of Buffalo, a quarter of a century ago, his political managers woro in despair because of his Indifference. The future president would promise to speak, but when the time came ho would fall to appear, and then It was necessary to send carriages for him and drag him to the meeting. But his popularity was so great that ho experi enced little dlfllculty In polling a largo vote for mayor. This campaign oc curred during a time of political up heaval, when Buffalo was one of the doubtful cities of the state. From the close of the war up to the '90s no one could foretell just how the municipal elections la Buffalo would turn out. tated. He found his Ideas flowed bet ter when his pen touched tho paper. His handwriting wns small, but clear. It was like copper-plate. Probably no president of recent times used n pen with as much frequency as Clovoland. Tho pnlnstnklng charncter of Mr. Cleveland's work will bo roallzed when It Is known that ho made a porsonal examination of every pnpor that came before him. This particularly was true of the records of courts-martial of officers of the army and navy. Whether the defendant wns an ensign or an ndmiral, a lleutonant or a gen eral, he could depend on Mr. Cloveland to give fair consideration to tho re port of his trial. CLEVELAND'S HOME LIFE. ON ONE occasion a Now York paper which wns especially virulent In its treatment of Mr. Cloveland printed a story to tho effect that on tho previous night he had gotten beast ly drunk and had kicked his wife down stairs, bruising her terribly and black ing both her eves. friends. At tho samo time ho was most convivial with his male acquaint ances. Ho was fond of playing cards in ltis youth nnd spent most of his time with tho boys. As a lawyer ho seldom practised In court, nnd, whllo never re. gardod as a close student, he had tho facility of grasping a legal problom, which made him Invaluable as counsel. His practice was confined almost alto gethor to his office, his associates making tho argumouts In court. PRESIDENTIAL LOVEMAKING. ACCORDING to a story In circula tion at tho time, Daniel S. Lnmont was tho John Alden of Grovor Cleveland In connection with tho lat tor's marrlago. Lnmont was sent by tho president to Buffalo to ask Miss Folsom to marry his chief. Thoro was no "Speak for yourself, John," as Miss Folsom accepted tho offer. Miss Fol som, of course, know her future bus band very woll, as sho had boon his ward and had come Into frequent and lulluxate coutact with. htm. For 10 years I have worn the dress of an officer and now I am not allowed to put on the coat of a common sol dier or to use a military cap." "How does your excellenco spend tho day?" I asked. "It begins very early for St. Peters burg,' he replied, "at nine o'clock they bring tho samovar and I tnko tea. The authorities do not provide bread and we have to provide that for our selves. After a light breakfast I dress and go out for a walk in the little gar don. At one o'clock I and the other officers Imprisoned in the fortress dine together and after tho meal I always find my wlfo waiting to see me. We have a right to recelvo friends only once a week, but tho czar has ac corded me tho special privilege to seo my dear wife every day. She re mains until three o'clock and Is not permitted to stay longer. When sho Is gone I stroll In tho garden for a lit tle and then I sottlo down to work. I am writing my memoirs." "Perhaps you will allow mo to see your room," I said. "I have special permission from the governor to do so." "Certainly," replied Stoessel, "but I warn you It is not very imposing." Wo crossed the courtyard together, entered another building and were soon in a vaulted apartment, furnished with great simplicity. There was a little bed, a squaro table, a cupboard nnd, behind a screen, a wash-stand and two comfortable armchairs. Tho lapping of tho waters of tho Neva could bo heard on the stone walls, a monotonous, plaintive sound, half sad and half soothing. Through the barred windows a glorious view could be seen. Far across tho broad expanse of the river stood out In the bright sunshine tho winter palace. "I havo often been there to see the emperor; I have dined there and years ngo danced at the court balls. I never expected to seo it day by day from a prison window." Tho heavy door was suddenly thrown open and a harsh voice said: "Your guest must go." , "Como nnd seo mo again,' said my unhnppy lust, and I loft him still gaz ing at tho palace across tlu Neva,