Iowa Senatorial Campaign Just Closed at Des Moines
Senator Owir Colonel Hoot
TWO OLD-TIME FRIENDS Photo by Louis H. Bostwick.
John Henry Gear
Senator From Iowa
WASHINGTON , Jan. 20. ( Special to The
Bee. ) Unlike Ur. Samuel Johnson , who
talked for hours with his friend , Doswoll ,
about his o'irly life , John Henry Gear , re
cently ro-olectod senator from the state of
Iowa , IH extremely reticent In talking of
himself. Dr. Johnson suld In one of his
conversations with Boswell that every man
could best write the story of his own life ,
oven though ho could not write anything
el o , and it would bo Interesting reading to
the great mass of people In the western
country If Senator Gear would tell the stoiy
of hlH life , especially that feature of it
wherein ho figured prominently when Lin
coln and Douglas weie candidates for tin'
presidential nomination. It has been said
that Mr. Gear was a Douglas republican ,
but 11 IIIIK been so long since that ho Is
perfectly content to forget that episode In
his busy life.
John Henry Gcsir Is one of the most taci
turn men In the United States senate. He
has little or nothing to say upon the floor
of the .senate , his work , however , counting
In committees and In the departments.
Upwards of forty years ago ho formed a
partnership In the grocery business with
William ( Yollmugh , locating In Burlington ,
and today the habits of frugality and'Indus
try formed in the early yen re of his man
hood are as pronounced as they were then.
Senator Ges-r Is not a rich man. While ho
has been fairly successful In business he has
not ainastod any considerable amount of
money , although during his term as gov
ernor of Iowa he earned the sobriquet of
"Old Business , " which is as characteristic
of him today as during the yeais that IK
was Iowa's executive.
He was born In Ithaca , N. V , on the 9th
of April , 1821) . After completing a course in
the common schools he removed to Galena ,
111. , In LSDti , where he remained two years ,
but thi' spirit of the west was In him and ,
believing In the great possibilities of the
Transmlsslsfllppl region , he located at Kort
Snelllng , in the then Territory of Iowa , In
*
' * & * * * *
Senator K H lluubard late Young
TWO 1'ROMINENT FIGURES Photo by Louis H. llostwlck
GO\EUNOR LESLIE M. SHAW I'hoto by
Louis H. Bostwick.
IS38 , removing thence to Burlington in 1S13 ,
where ho engaged in the grocery business ,
as stated above. Twenty years afterward he
was elected mayor of the city of Burlington
and , having more or less political ambition ,
ho was elected a member of the Iowa house
of representatives of the fourteenth , fif
teenth and sixteenth general assemblies of
the btate , serving as speaker during the
last two teims.
Ho was governor of Iowa from 1878 to
18S2. Ills administration as governor was
signall/ed by many reforms , bringing the
state into enviable prominence as one of
the bent conducted commonwealths In the
CAPTAIN E H HUNTER-GEARS CHIEF
MA.VAGEH Photo by Louis R Boetwick
union Ho served two tenua in the Fiftieth
and Flfty-flwt congresses , his opponent dur
ing ono of tbe campaigns being Demon Hall ,
a BOH of J C Hull , one of the biggest law
yers of Iowa Ho was assistant secretary of
the treasury under Harrison , was elected to
Kx-Audltor ( Mc < . * iirth > Carroll Wriirht A. B. Cummins.
MR. CUMMIN'S AND HIS MANAGE .ti Photo by Louis K. Bostwick.
the Kitty-third congress and on the 23d of
January , 18 ! ) 1 , the legislature ot Iowa elected
him a senator In convict * * for six years , his
term beginning on the -1th of March , ISO. ,
and ending March 3 , IflOl. Ills re-election
SI KAKBIl D 11 BOWEN Photo by I/iuls
H Uostwlck
gives him six years more in this body , his
term to which ho was re-elected last week
expiring in 11107. jj. c , S.
What Gets Away
ChUago Tribune : Thecoiihor looked ever
'he dispatch that had just been filed by the
telegraphic correspondent.
The advance of the. troops was magnifi
cent. On they came In solid phalanx , with
banners waving high In air. and at their
head , the very Impersonation of the god ot
billies , rode the gallant colonel , regardless
of the btorm of bullets the enemy's sharp-
bhooters were firing at him. It was majestic
It was terrlNle. The bhrleking shot and shell
were powerless to stay the progress of those
heroes. On they marched animated by a
blnglo purpobe. and in their gleaming eyes
and firmly set Jas their heaving chests
tumultuous with the fierce Joy of battle "
"That s all right , " muttered the censor ,
IION \ II CUMMIN'S OK DES MOINES
A LEDING SENATORIAL ASI'IIIAN'T
I'hoto by Louis H. llostwlck.
casting his eye a little further down tbe
'Tho charge was successful , but the vic
tory was won at a fearful cost. Our casual-
'Us ' were - "
Hero the censor firmly grasped his blue
pincil and proceeded to edit the rest of th.
IntlDc
Willing to Try It
( Mill ago Times-Herald : "I hiippose , " she
mid , "lhal you had an ancestor in the celo-
biuied lltilo party that 'came over' with
William the Comiueror ? "
" 1'eiliapn , " ho replied , "but I have never
looked the matter up. "
"Of course you arc a lineal descendant of
Boinu one \\lio came ever in the Mayflower ? "
"I don't know. It Is possible that I am ,
but I have never hunted up the records. "
"Well , " ( die went on , "you are descended
from an oillcer of the revolutionary war ? "
Klnillng himself cornered , he broke down
and confessed.
"My father's name , " ho said , "was
SifchicitiKcndowskl , which ho changed to
Dews with the sanction of the court. "
She sat for a moment , alinuht crushol.
Then hope seemed to return to her and
bho asked :
"How much did you say you expected
your father to leave you ? "
"I figure that my share of the estate will
bo about $2.000.000 , " he Hald.
' All right , " she answered briskly , " o
i an worry along without the lineage nod
fatlll bo happy , dear. "