COE I. CRAWFORD 27 A FIERY ORATOR "You're a liar!" (apologies to T. R.) ripped out a big red- faced fellow sitting mid-room in the 1. 0. 0. F. hall at Alpena, during the redhot political campaign of 1896. The speaker in a dramatic pose, with clinched fists and with his voice pitched in stentorian tones, had just reached a terrific climax, as he sought to show that the salaries of the daily wage-earner had steadily increased in this country since the Civil War, except during Grover Cleveland's two democratic adininistrations. This insult hurled into his teeth caused the campaigner's face to flush. Seizing a book of statistics with which to prove his assertion, the speaker rushed down the aisle to the brazen- faced scape goat, held the book firmly against the fellow's nose, and said in a manner that was in keeping with the excitement, "Did you say I was a liar?" The fellow's head kept going far- ther back. Every red corpuscle in his blood spontaneously crowded themselves into the veins of his face. "Did you say I was a liar?" thundered the speaker at him again. And the speaker-ah! yes, the speaker! Who was he? None other than the fiery, fearless, eloquent young attorney-general of South Dakota-himself a candidate for congress-the Honor- able Coe I. Crawford. Crawford is by far the most spirited, logical and convincing campaign orator that the state has ever produced. The campaign of 1896 was the hottest political contest this country has seen since the Civil War. During its progress Senator Crawford de- livered 105 telling speeches-speeches that were filled with pith and unanswerable arguments; and although he lost the fight for himself, he helped to stem the tide of popocracy and democracy combined and saved to the republican party of the state a part of the state ticket. The scene at Alpena was mild beside the one that was enacted at Mound City in Campbell county. At this meeting, J. H. Kipp, 28 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA who afterwards became insurance commissioner under Governor Lee, and a bunch of rowdies, stationed themselves in one corner of the room in which the meeting was beirng held, and deter- mined to break it up. Every time Mr. Crawford would make a point they would groan and then hurl ugly remarks at him. The speaker's patience became exhausted. Being a master of invective, by birth, and a sovereign at sarcasm, by training, he suddenly stopped his address to pay his respects to Kipp and his friends. If ever fiery darts of burning invective, spat from the end of a human tongue, pierced the social armor of men, it was those that were sent seething into the skins of Kipp and his rowdies that night by Crawford After giving them a tongue lashing that would have caused the soul of a cannibal to shrivel in its casement, the speaker went on uninterrupted. Again at Bowdle, during the same campaign, when Mr. Crawford had gotten his audience to a fever pitch of excitement, some licentious cur gulped out, ''You got $20,000 for selling out to Taylor." (Taylor was the defaulting state treasurer whom Mr. Crawford, as attorney-general, was compelled to prosecute.) Quicker than a flash and in a tone of voice that showed he was not too young to begin nor "too old to come back," the speaker shot at his accuser this penetrating rejoinder, "I don't know who you are, but I know one thing and that is that you are a brazen liar." There was a slight shuffling of feet - a silence - a few coughs, when finally some one said "sic 'um" -then silence, as accuser and accused, Iiar and Iyee (no charge for this new word), stood glaring into eacb other's eyes. The accuser settled down deeper and deeper into his seat until his crown played tag with his coat collar; -the speaker went on. Once more -this time at Hartford. Owing to a railroad ac- cident, Mr. Crawford was obliged to drive to Hartford from Salem. The night was blinding dark; the driver got lost and they did not reach Hartford until ten o'clock. Meanwhile an old farmer had been ''filling in" until the regular speaker could ar- rive. As Mr. Crawford entered the hall and was recognized, pent-up feelings gave vent to out-spoken threats, men jumped onto chairs and called each other liars; some shook ten, twenty and even hundred dollar bills in other men's faces and told them to put up or shut up." A fist fight was going on outside, and oaths rent the air. Mr Crawford spoke till after midnight; then the crowd re- fused to depart. Both sides prepared huge bonfires which they re-kindled until their fiery tongues intermingled in the morning skies with the reddened streaks of dawn, Such are only a few of COE I. CRAWFORD 29 the stirring scenes through which he who constitutes our subject has passed. CRAWFORD, THE ORATOR Senator Crawford has a style of oratory peculiar to himself. It comes natural to him. It is different from all other men in the state. His climaxes are not built up on previons meditation. He gathers his inspiration from his surroundings, ignites it with a fuse of soul, and immediately there is an outburst of high keyed rhetoric that causes one to feel his chair lifting him from the floor. Your hair stands pompadour; your scalp puckers as though it had been rubbed with alum; the muscles of your face twitch; your heart thuds; you lean forward; you hold your breath; -you have been touched by the magic tongue of the orator. Then as his oratory subsides, you relax, settle back, feel as though you were being lowered into an abyss, catch your breath, feel your heart-throbs become normal, and sit meditating over the argument being adduced; when suddenly the speaker's eyes flash again, his voice raises, his fists clinch, he comes nearer, you tremble under the spell, and then as if touched by an electric battery you leap upon your seat and cheer! What's wrong? Nothing! You have merely felt the power of human words, the accents of a soul-stirring voice, the effects of natural, inspira- tional impassioned, spontaneous eloquence. Such is the oratory of Crawford. His silvery tongue, pivoted on a diamond swivel, glistens with sparkling verbiage and brings upon you an incanta- tion that is overpowering, aweinspiring, magical, grand. Again Crawford speaks in epigrams. When he uncorks a new can of them they spurt forth with a hissing, squelching effect like a punctured tube of patent fire extinguisher. His "imps of hell", "toads in a cellar", "machine whelps," and dozens of other epigrams hurled at his personal enemies during the bitter campaigns of 1906 and 1908, are now matters of state pride in a chosen son's vocabulary. Mr Crawford was one of the ten law students, selected by the faculty out of a class of 130 for commencement honors at the Iowa University Law School. He acquitted himself with oratorical honors, even at that early day in his career. AS A LAWYER Senator Crawford earned the money to put himself through law school, by teaching school. After graduation, he again taught for a brief period, to get money with which to start up in his practice. 30 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA Nearly every lawyer has to go through this starvation period. Young Crawford was no exception. He became the junior mem- ber of a law firm at Independence, Iowa, and at the end of a year he found himself $300 in debt. He got together $25 (enough to pay his carfare to Pierre, S. D.) and started west, to "live or die, sink or swim, survive or perish." Reaching East Pierre, he rented a shack and stuck out his shingle. His first cases were defending frontier ruffians in justice's court. He soon built up a practice that was phenomenal. It was these early efforts at oratory in justice's court that in later years caused his subsequent law partner, the learned Charles E. De Land, to write of him: "Boundless energy, fearless advocacy of his client's cause, stern and drastic invective against those who sought to trample upon his own rights at the bar-these were the qualities, the memories of which mark my first information of him who is the subject of this sketch, the then young man who, in his maiden efforts in justice's court, after settling in Pierre in 1884, had by sheer force of manhood, expressed in matchless eloquence, arous- inquiry and astounded listeners passing by, and who eagerly inquired 'Who is he?' to be told 'He is Coe I Crawford.' " This promising young attorney soon lost his entire law library in a fire; re- moved to Pierre, stuck out his sign, started in all over again, and in a short time became one of the recog- nized criminal lawyers of the state. In 1897 he re- moved to Huron to become attorney for the North- [photo of SEN. COE L CRAWFORD] western Railway company, where he soon distinguished himself at the Beadle county bar. His defense of young Hubbard, in the famous Hubbaid-Cakebread murder case which occurred on the Miller ranch four miles north-east of Alpena, was perhaps the ablest effort of his life. In the first trial Hubbard was found guilty COE L CRAWFORD 31 of manslaughter and was sentenced to the Penitentiary. Crawford was dauntless in his efforts and at the end of fourteen months he secured a second trial for him. It was his argument before the jury in behalf of his client at this second trial to which we specifically refer. Business was largely sus- pended in all of the surrounding towns. Hundreds made their way to Huron to hear Crawford's closing argument. These who could be squeezed into the court room will never forget the magic spell of his oratory. Not a dry eye in the jury box; not a dry eye in the entire court room; women sobbing in the audience; strong men burying their faces in handkerchiefs; even the court became visibly effected; as hour after hour, building up climax after climax, while he held his audience in tragic suspense, the gifted oratory mounted from the hill-top to mountain-top in gilded flights of almost supernatural oratory until at last he sud- denly broke the chains of bondage and set his prisoner free! IN POLITICS No man will pretend to deny but that Senator Crawford has few equals and no superiors in state Politics. His rise from that dismal law shack at old East Pierre to the United States senator- ship fully attested his capabilities along this line. He is not only a good campaigner, but he is an adept at campaign execu- tion. He is a born leader. You simply can't down him. The next year after settling at Pierre he was elected states attorney for Hughes county. At the same time he formed a partnership with Mr. De Land, which lasted for twelve years. After serving only two years as states attorney, Mr. Crawford was elected to the Territorial Senate in 1888. Two Years later he was elected state senator from Hughes county. Two years after this he was elected attorney-general for the state, filling this position for two terms. during a very trying time. This took him up to the eventful campaign of 1896 when he was a candidate for con- gress, and in which, during the tide of Populism, he lost by only a few votes. In 1904, he made a fight for the Governorship and lost, In 1906, he renewed his fight and won. Crawford's ability to forsee the culmination of Public sentiment and the probable turn of Political events, is his greatest asset. After serving only one term as governor, he declined to become a candidate for re- nomination, but plunked head-long into the senatorial fight, winning the nomination in the June primaries of 1908, and his election at the bands of the state legislature in 1909. It will thus be seen that his political record has been a phenomenal one. WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA 32 CRAWFORD, THE REFORMER Crawford's political rise was finally due to the reforms for which he stood. During his administration as governor there were enacted into state law some of our most wholesome reforms. There will of course always be honest differences of opinion con- cerning some of these laws. He came forward upon the theater of political operations just at the psychological moment. LaFollette had just led off in Wisconsin; Cummings was leading off in Iowa; the spirit of in- surgency, born in the northwest, had taken root and had begun to spread. Dolliver, Beveridge. Lenroot, Bristow, Hubbard, Cooper and others caught the echo and responded. It has plainly become the West against the East, and the former is going to win, even at the expense and peril of turning the country democratic. PERSONAL HISTORY Senator Crawford came from good, old, Presbyterian, Scotch- Irisb stock. His father was a wagon maker and an honest, up- right, conscientious, Christian gentleman. In 1851, he removed from Ohio to Allamakee county, Iowa, and settled on a farm. Here Coe I. came into being January 14, 1868. His boyhood was on the farm. During the winter he did chores and attended district school for a few months each year. At fifteen years of age he entered a semi-graded school at Rossville. During his two years at this school he stayed with Dr. Simeon H. Drake, who gave him private lessons in Latin, Geometry and English Literature. He drifted to Ohio, taught school, traveled two years for a publishing house and then entered the law school at Iowa City, where he graduated with honor with the class of '82, and since that time be has repeatedly horrored his Alma Mater. Mr. Crawford was married in 1884 to Miss May Robinson of Iowa City. Two children blessed this union. Mrs. Crawford died in 1894. Complying with the mandates of the scriptures, he married ber sister in 1896. Three children were born to this second union. CRAWFORD'S HUMANITY When the Revolutionary army was spending its trying winter at Valley Forge, Isaac Potts, at whose home George Washington was making his headquarters, overheard the general in prayer on his knees one day along the river bank. He reduced the prayer to writing. It is still preserved in both history and literature. COE L CRAWFORD 33 In it may be found these words. "Let all our victories be seasoned with humanity." In the naval battle at Santiago, Cuba, during our recent war, one of our gun-boats hove near to a shell-riven, dismantled Span- ish gun-boat that was on fire and was sinking. When the Amer- ican crew beheld the terrific effect of their gunnery on the enemy, they began to cheer. Raising his hand, the commander said to his men, "Don't cheer boys, the poor devils are dying." The humanity displayed by these military heroes was also displayed by Mr. Crawford in his great political battle for the senatorship. During the campaign, his integrity as a citizen, bis manhood and bis personal record, were attacked in a most vicious manner. Volley after volley of political viputeration was hurled against the armor plate of his character, yet he come out of the fight without sustaining any permanent injurv. He was siting in the governor's office when the united republican ballot of the legislature, in joint-session, was cast for him as United States senator. His presence was immediately demanded and a speech was loudly called for. In a moment be appeared, escorted by a special committee, and took the platform. Raising his hand, to allay the cheering, be calmly said. "Out of the heat of the campaign, I bring no malice toward any man." After completing a neat speech in the senate chamber he returned to the governor's office, where he was met by Governor Vessey who said to him: "This is the first time I have ever felt right about the senatorship since you were denied the appointment eight years ago. The fight has been a bitter personal one, and I congratulate you on your victory " Senator Crawford replied: "Governor, I could never have stood it if it hadn't been for such loyal friends as yourself, who have stood with me bravely through it all." Interviewed a few hours later about his speech of forgiveness delivered before the legislature he said: "No man has any right to harbor malice in his soul. He has a right, of course, to de- fend himself in a dignified way, when attacked, but he has no right to harbor malice toward any man when it is over." Two days later he was summoned to the Governor's office to accept his commission from the state as United States senator from South Dakota. Taking Governor Vessey by the right hand, and placing his left hand on the Governor's shoulder, Senator Crawford said: "I know of no man in South Dakota whose name I would rather have on this commission than yours,-not simply because of the political strife through which we have passed to- gether, but because of your personal friendship." 34 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA Thus, "out of the heat of the conflict," Mr. Crawford came forth a forgiving, high-minded, Christian gentleman, ready.and willing to practice the daily prayer left for us by the Nazarine, two thousand years ago, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." AS A SENATOR Men have already begun to criticise the senator pro and con for his record at Washington. We feel that judgment should be suspended for the present. His term is six years. He has served only eighteen months. Why jump at conclusions? The "National Magazine" for this month has this to say about him: "A new senator, who in debate displays all the self-poise and ease of a veteran, is Hon. Coe I. Crawford of South Dakota. Always forceful and effective, although he keys his voice a trifle higher than most speakers, he is never asked to repent a sentence because it has not been heard. In his recent speech in the Senate he announced that he should ask attention for only a short time, but he was kept on the orator's witness stand for over an hour. A senatorial debate reminds one of a gridiron dinner, because of the quizzing that goes on across the floor, when the 'broilers' are all red hot, and each senator is ready for carving with his sharp- est knife." ROBERT S. VESSEY 35 OUR GOVERNOR Rising to an impassioned outburst of eloquence, while deliv- ering an address at Ethan, during the recent political campaign, Senator Coe I. Crawford said: "My Fellow Citizens When you look into the face of Governor Vessey, you look into the face of a man! -a man who has written his own splendid character on the hearts and in the lives of the people of our entire state!" (Pro- longed applause ) The word "man" has in it only three letters; yet, after all, how few of our own sex (let's be honest) really incorporate into their lives all of the constituent elements em- bodied in this little word. Senator Gamble, upon be- ing asked recently what gave the governor such a hold on the people of our state. said, "His face." That's it! Any man with Bob Vessey's face can win in politics. He isn't like one of our former public men who was prominent in national life and who, upon being ac- cused of being "two-faced," declared "It isn't true! lf it were, I wouldn't be wearing the face I now have." [Photo of ROBERT S. VESSEY] Have you never noticed the dimple in that stern chin, and the protruding lower lip -each of which ar, indica- tive of determination? And the deep-set, kindly eyes with their wealth of shadowy eye- brows, denoting his pleasing temperament? What an open countenance! What a man- hood revealed from within! 36 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA Fortunate, indeed! His face is his political asset, and not a liability. Another campaign has come and gone in our state's proud history. Robert S. Vessey has been triumphantly re-elected gov- ernor at the hands of the republican party. His past record bas been accented as a criterion for the future. The people, by their ballots, have said, "We are content." His unsullied manhood will now become more conspicuous than ever before. The eyes of the state are riveted upon him. The smoke of the last cam- paign is clearing away, and above the clouds of strife, like the sphinx on the Egyptian desert, there stands out in bold relief against the historic sky the resplendent character of the man. Governor Vessey is a Badgerite by birth. It seems that about sixty per cent of the fellows who have won distinction in the public life of South Dakota, came from Wisconsin. No won- der when that state began to "insurge" in politics that we should "follow suit" or "trump" as the case may be. (We don't play cards either-we borrowed these expressions.) Our governor - grand, good man that he is - was denied the advantage of an education. He got his training in the universe instead of a university. But, after all, this counts in life; Vessey has proven it. In 1882, he was united in marriage to Miss Florence Albert, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Picture if you will an ox team hitched to a covered wagon, wending its way across the prairies in the spring of 1883, toward Wessington Springs, driven by a sober- minded young groom. with his bride by his side. Watch them reach their destination; see the young couple climb out, kneel down and thank God for the scanty blessings of life; and you will have before you the image and circumstances of the man who was destined to become the governor of the state that had just adopted him, Robert S. Vessey. For a few years he played the "good shepherd" and raised sheep. Then he organized at Wessington Springs a mercantile business which he recently sold; and later he went into the bank- i,ng business also. At present he is the head of a large trust com- pany organized at Pierre, and be is a trustee of the Wessington Springs Seminary, and of Dakota Wesleyan, at Mitchell. In 1905 and in 1907, he was state senator from Jerauld county. During this period he was steeped in reform. The old political methods employed in the state did not appeal to him. He was open and above board in all of his contentions. He in- troduced the measure compelling campaign committees to keep an account of their expenses and to make public report; also the ROBERT S. VESSEY 37 measure compelling railroads to build connecting tracks at inter- secting points; and he secured the adoption of better state bank- ing laws. Always on the side of the people his determined and manly stand on public questions invited the attention and commanded the respect of the state. When Governor Crawford decided not to stand for re-election as governor but to make the race for the United States senate, Vessey's geographical position, the fact that he was in accord with Crawford's program and that he had organized the first Crawford club in the state, made him the log- ical candidate for governor. He went into the primaries, won a decisive victory at the hands of the republican party; was elected by 17,000 majority in the fall of 1908; was renominated by a tremendous lead over his two republican opponents in 1901, and on November 8, skinned his democratic opponent by over 23,000 votes. Going some, eh? AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER Vessey went into the politicital campaign of 1908, wholly un- prepared by experience on the platform to make the fight that was facing him. Every time he tried to speak his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. and you could scarcely have pried it loose with a crow-bar. His friends took him over west of the river in Lyman county where the population was not nearly so thick as it is to-day, and gave him the opportunity of practicing on some small audiences. The first night was awful. The fellow was frightened half to death. The next night was no better - possibly worse. Here, the nifty, versatile, experienced Crawford took him under his Demostenesian wings and gave him a bit of Platonian advice. Said be, "Now to-day, think up some good story; and when you get up to speak tonight, tell it first of all." Vessey thought, the story was born; he told it; it took like a Dakota prairie fire; his audience responded, he had found the key to the situation, and he has been talking ever since. Would you believe it? - this bashful, untrained business man has made more public addresses during his two years in office than any other governor whom we have ever had. This may sound start- ling, but it's true. He has addressed old settlers' picnics, stock growers' associations. conservation congresses, educational gath- erings, Political meetings, Sunday school conventions - in fact a multitude of associations and organizations, both within and without the state. 38 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA WRITINGS But vvhatever may be said pro and con for his work as a speaker, no one will deny but that he is an ideal writer. His first message to the legislature was absolutely faultless in its English, and it rang true with humanity and did him and the state great credit. Read two paragraphs taken from his lost Thanksgiving proc- lamation: "The absence of the opening buds of spring, the faded blos- soms of departed summer, the gray veiled skies of autumn, the chill of lengthening nights and the tang of frosty mornings, - all serve to remind us of the approaching end of the present year and bring again to our minds our beautiful custom of National Thanksgiving. The sunshine of prosperity has smiled upon our land, and peace and plenty have been among our people and blessed our homes. Civic conditions in our state have been improved, and the plane of morality among our citizens has been lifted, for which let us be especially grateful." When Mr. Vessey goes out of the governor's chair in 1912, he will be but fifty-four years of age. There still lies before him fifteen years of active usefulness. What his intentions are we do not know; what his political am- bitions may be we are not prepared to say He has twice suc- cessfully withstood not only the democratic campaign fire, but the cross-fire of his own powerful party as well. One thing is.certain -- the little mound that marks his final bivouac will be revered by the people he has served, and on his tombstone will be engraved the loftiest epitaph in our language, HERE LIES A MAN. 0. L. BRANSON 39 A POLISHED ORATOR In the quietude of eventide, when the stream of life's activ- ities is softly burying itself in the bosom of night, when its wavelets are falling asleep, and when its current no longer speaks even in whispers, 0. L. Branson - quiet - meditative -- all alone- wrapped in the tinted shroud of twilight, goes out into the gar- den of rhetoric, plucks from the flowrets of language the choicest garlands of speech that ever rang forth from the palate of a man, arranges these posies of thought in superb diction with the dainty touch of an artist's skill, plaits them into full-bloom wreathes of oratory; and then comes forth again, in the wee small hours of the night surcharged with roseate eloquence, ready to deliver a flowery address on the morrow. Ah the sweet peonies of human thought - the gladiolases of entrancing speech! How they warble forth in musical resonance over that magnolia tongue! How the inmost recesses of the hu- man soul unfold like huge poppies to receive into their daised cells the nectar of his magic words. Branson is easily the most polished orator in the state; and a collection of his model orations should be published in book form, be adopted by the state superintendent of public instruc- tion, and be placed in the school libraries throughout the entire state. ELOQUENCE AND ORATORY The line of demarcation between eloquence and oratory is more pronounced than most people think. Eloquence is logic and diction built up together in perfect climaxes, and effectively de- livered; oratory is an inspiration born of the occasion, gathered from one's audience and hurled back at them with telling effect. The orator on such occasions is merely a verbal clearing house for a multitude of burning ideas that have been transmitted to him telepathically from his audience. These he assimilates and class- 40 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA ifies, sub-consciously, and then reflects them back to his hearers in a current of beatiful and fluent language. Branson's ad- dresses are usually thoroughly prepared in advance. In this sense he may not always be oratorical, but he is invariably eloquent. Size and voice are two of the greatest assets to a public speaker. A dwarf excites sympathy, while a giant commands respect; each of them, on account of his size, finds it easy to gain and hold attention. An out-reaching voice that is clear and full is also indispensable. Branson has all of these advantages. He is tall, graceful. dignified, of commanding presence; has a good voice, thoroughly trained; speaks slowly and articulates perfectly. Following are a few extracts taken from his superbly elo- quent address delivered to the high school graduating class at Volga, S. D., in May, 1905: "I always feel an inspiration on an occasion of this kind that I never experience upon any other; for while it brings its sorrow in a measure, because from this time forward those who are grad- uating here are expected to fight the battle of life for themselves, Yet I never stand in the presence of the youth of our land but what I feel as though the joyous hour of spring is here - 'Mighty nature bounds as from her birth, 'The sun is in the heavens and life on the earth; Flowers in the valley, oplendor in the beam, 'Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream.' "Hail! beautiful morning time, when to these young men and women all nature seems tu be In harmony. The golden sun- light of morning is resting upon the horizon and shedding its brilliant rays over their young lives; fresh buds are bursting, song birds are singing, the whole Universe is joining in that glad hallelujah chorus.- singing to the angels beyond the stars; and what message shall I bring to them that will help to guide them In the great journey they are soon to begin? * * * * * "Then too, whatever you do, do well. Don't be a weakling; don't be a frittering frailty; but in everytbing you undertake, be master of the situation See the greatest of the Roman sen- ators quietly walking down the aisle of the Roman senate, never dreaming of danger; see those sixteen blades of steel pierce his flesh, and as the blood flowed from sixteen wounds his soul went to make its peace with the Great Judge in Heaven. The angry mob that gathered about his prostrate form demanded justice and swore vengeance upon Brutus, but quietly and calmly Mark Antony stood over the dead body of Julius Caesar, master of the situation. O. L. BRANSON 41 "Hear the thunder of cannon and the rattle of musketry upon the fleld of battle; see the charge and countercharge at the point of the bayonet, and finally see the Union forces in disorderly retreat. But, listen! away in the distance I hear the clattering of hoofs, and finally I see a black charger all covered with foam hurrying to the scene of adtion, and Phil Sheridan rides up the Shenandoah, master of the situation. * * * * * "Take your lesson from the 'thunderbolt of war.' More than a hundred times he led the armies of France to victory. He lowered the colors of tho enemy at Austerlitz, and stood trium- phant in the face of shot and shell at Lodi Bridge. He led his conquering heroes to the summit of the Alps and carried the Eagles of France to victory beyond the clouds. But, in an un- guarded moment, 'There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium's capital had gathered there Her beauty and her chiverly,' and while the red wine flowed and the merry dance went on, the Duke of Wellington was marshalling the forces that carried the day at Waterloo; and the pendulum of time ceased to swing for Napoleon on the rock-bound coast of St. Helena." Once more we catch our orator in a different mood. This time with his silvery tongue inlaid with "pearls from many seas," we see him standing before a joint-session of our state legislature, sounding forth the praises of the martyred McKinley. Space forbids the use of more than a few paragraphs of this able eulogy: "When I think of the greatness of my theme, I almost hes- itate at the thought of even attempting to approach it, but when I think of his splendid character that shines forth as brilliantly as the light-house that marks the pathway of the mariner at the midnight hour, I am inspired to go forward and do my duty; not because I believe I can tell the story better, not because I believe I can sing his praises more sweetly, but because I believe down deep in my heart that some of the most beautiful lessons in the world's history are to be found in the life of William McKinley. "In June, 1896, in the city Of St, Louis, the Republican National Convention was held. That mighty host of delegates from every state in the Union was determined to bring back to our country that confidence and prestige that seemed to be swiftly departing from us. They called for a leader; the trumpets were sounding, the bugles rang forth; and the knightly McKinley 42 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA came forward as the man of the hour. His spurs had already been won in the halls of our national congress, and the voters of the nation were quick to rally around his standard. The contest came - one of the fiercest that has ever been known in the history of politics. For days and weeks two great political parties of the nation were doing battle royal; but on the evening of election day, when the smoke of battle had cleared away, it was found that the hosts of democracy were retreating, and the victorious banner of the republican party went streaming by. "Was there ever such an hour as that? Have you ever stood by the sea-shore and watched the ebbing of the tide? the receding waters drifting - drifting, until it seemed as though they were gone forever? Then the change comes. You can see the return- ing waters, the sea-gulls, the canoe and all that ride opon the bosom of the mighty deep, come gliding merrily in to greet the sea-shore. So with the condition of our nation. After hope had fled and confidence had gone almost forever, the incoming tide brought us the greatest period of prosperity ever known in the history of our country." A man may say certain things to you and mislead you temporarily in shaping your estimate of his real make-up; but when - he begins to write, then you see the real man himself come to the surface. A few days since while doing a little Pinkerton work in the north central part of the state with a view to picking up [photo of O. L. BRANSON] some. more data in the life of Mr. Branson with which to enrich this article, we ran across a letter dated July 20, 1910, written by him to one of his friends, which shows better than we can express, the sincerity of he man about whom we are writing and his loyalty to his friends. We herein publish a part of it: "As the years have come and gone I have made many new acquaintances, but when- O. L. BRANSON 43 ever I want a real good visit, I cling to the old ones. I have always appreciated your friendship and goodwill. "As I grow older I think I can truthfully say I become stronger in the hope that every transaction which the First Na- tional (tbe bank of which Mr. Branson is president) may have may be honorable and square in every particular. I appreciate fully the value of our friends, for without them we could never have accomplished the few things that we have. "That your future may be bright and your business career successful is the wish of one of the best friends you have ever had, 0. L. Branson." BUSINESS MAN It is seldom that a man of strong literary tastes is successful in business. Branson is an exception. He is a happy combina- tion of oratory, business, refreshing sociability and tact. On the stump he is an effective political orator. Always unique in his opening remarks, he catches his audiences with ease and holds them to the end. On the other hand, as a banker and business man, he is quiet, considerate, approachable, fair, honest and aggressive. At present Mr. Branson is president of the First National Bank of Mitchell, an institution which he took hold of thirteen years ago and when its existence was hovering in the balance, placed it upon a Gibraltar basis; raised it's capital stock fron scarcely enough to meet its pay roll, to $100,000 and has watched its deposits climb up from mere nothing to $850,000. He took the institution out of its old one-story, rented building and housed it in an elegant new pressed-brick, three-story structure of its own. He is also president of the corporation of O. L. Branson & Co. of Mitchell, and is president of a number of smaller banks throughout the state. POLITICS In his younger days Mr. Branson held various minor offices. In 1902 he was sent to the state senate from Davison county; two years later he was re-elected. In 1906 he was elected Mayor of Mitchell, and at the close of his first term he refused to become a candidate for his own successor. He was however, a candidate for Congress that year. Early in the campaign he said: "Our boys are going to lose; I am going to withdraw." He withdrew. His prediction came true. The "boys" with whom he had trained, lost; but O. L. Branson had withdrawn in time to save himself 44 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA for future days. He says he is out of politics except to repay his friends for their support in the past. Nonsense! A new story will be written inside of ten years. BIOGRAPHICAL Mr. Branson was born in Whiteside county, Illinois, Feb- ruary 3, 1861; moved to Iowa with his parents wbo settled at La Moille, Marshall county in 1868. A few years later the fam- ily removed to Manning, in Carroll county, where his parents still reside. His early days were spent on a farm. At the youthful age of fifteen he became a teacher in the public schools of Carroll county, and at eighteen, he was elected principal of the Arcadia schools. In 1885 he was elected cashier of the Rawlin County Bank, in Atwood, Kansas. This position he held for two years. He then organized at Atwood a bank of his own, remaining at the head of the institution four years. During these six years in Atwood, he spent his nights reading law, and he was finally ad- mitted to the Kansas bar. Later he removed to Osmond, Ne- braska, where be engaged in banking and in the practice of law. His marked ability as a trial lawyer soon won attention, and despite the fact that he only used litigation as a side -line, his legal practice soon became so large that it demanded all of his time. At the high tide of his success he left Osmond to come to Mitchell, South Dakota, where he bought the controlling interest of the First National Bank, yet when he left Osmond he turned over to other attorneys for trial thirteen cases in district court, besides all of the smaller cases which he had listed up. Had he remained active in the legal profession he would no doubt today be one of the conspicuous legal lights of the country. One of Mr. Branson's leading traits is his ability to make friends. and to hold them. He is never too busy to be inter- viewed and he is always ready to shake hands. As be takes you by the hand you can instantaneously feel the pulsations from him great heartstrings vibrating through your whole being. At once you feel the magnetism of an abiding friendship. When you start to leave, he invariably accosts you with the appeal, "Don't be in a hurry! sit down and stay awhile longer." Blessed - thrice blessed, is any man with such a temperament! Enviable record! Noble manhood! Illustrious statesman! - South Dakota will ever be proud of him and she will continue to honor him. C. H. BURKE 45 A STEADFAST REPUBLICAN When the good people of our state, who remained at home, heard that a few young up-stars in attendance at the Republican state convention held in Sioux Falls in June 1906. had actually hissed Congressman Burke when he arose to speak, and that John Lockart had been compelled to rise up in the midst of the tumult and plead for a higher expression of citizenship, they said quietly to themselves "If we ever get a chance, we'll right that wrong." The chance came. Mr. Burke became a candidate for congress again in 1908. The public righted this wrong at the June pri- maries of that year; they righted it again at the primaries this year, and they will right it again in November. Mr. Burke is a born vote-getter. He knows nothing about the tricks of the average politician in this regard. He gets them on the strength of his past record, on his ability to assimilate good hard work, on his political consistency; in fact they just sort o' come to bim. Any man who would hestitate to vote for Charlie Burke, either doesn't understand Mr. Burke, or else he has a grudge at himself, commonly known as "political dyspepsia." Charlie's political career is not at an end in South Dakota yet. Oh! no; not by any manner of means. In a large number of states, the capital thereof is not the metropolis. It is true in New York, in Illinois, in North Dakota, and in a long list of other states. It is equally true in South Dakota. Every state capital wants a senator or a congressman, so does every metrop- olis. There is a lot of good political prestige goes with a sen- atorship that is worth looking into. The capital of South Dakota has a congressrnan - The metropolis had a senator. She delib- erately threw him overboard. Today, Sioux Falls' loss is Huron's gain. Nevertheless, the time may not be far distant when the city of Pierre will be clamoring for a senator. If she does, keep your eye on Charlie Burke.