How Rollins Beat Henderson on Pronunciation.

Three good stories which illustrate aptly the entertaining character of Missouri campaigns have been resurrected by Walter Williams, Dean of the College of Journalism of the University of Missouri. One of them relates to the hotly contested race for Congress by James S. Rollins and John B. Henderson in 1860. Henderson's mispronunciation of a German name and Rollins' quick turn of a critical situation decided the election. This is the story as Dean Williams has printed it:

"Each candidate charged the other with being unsound on the slavery question, with having freesoil if not abolition sympathies and therefore unworthy of support. The district in which the campaign was conducted was largely proslavery, except in two counties-St. Charles and Warren, where there was a larger German, or Freesoil, element, Republican in sentiment, whose support was essential to the success of one or the other of the candidates. Therefore, the effort of both candidates seemed to be to conciliate and receive this independent or Freesoil vote, residing mainly in Warren and St. Charles counties. The effort was extremely dangerous, however, as both of them well knew, for either of them to go too far in the work of conciliation, lest they might be seriously prejudiced in the minds of the voters in other parts of the district.

"Maj. Rollins and Gen. Henderson had appointments to speak in the village of Marthasville. Henderson was too ill to be present. Maj. Rollins spoke with his accustomed eloquence. Among the audience was Frederick Muench, the leader of the German Freesoilers. At the close of Maj. Rollins' address Mr. Muench dined with Maj. Rollins and the two discussed the political situation. Mr. Muench frankly complimented Maj. Rollins on his speech, telling him he thought the Germans could safely trust him as their Congressman. This was the first meeting between the two and exactly what passed is not known. Both are now dead. A few days after the meeting Mr. Muench, without Rollins knowing anything of his intentions to do so, wrote a letter to a German Freesoil paper at Hannibal, in which he expressed a preference for Rollins over. Henderson, saying he believed the Germans might safely support him and that he had met him and found him a very interesting and persuasive gentleman.

"The letter to the Hannibal paper was translated into English, and for Henderson's benefit republished in a St. Louis paper which advocated his election, and on the morning of their joint discussion at Sturgeon reached there a short time before the hour of speaking. Rollins did not know it had appeared in print, but Henderson got hold of a paper containing it, and in his opening address made a terrific onslaught on Rollins for having bargained with the German Freesoilers of Warren and St. Charles counties to vote for him on the ground of the Freesoil principles. Rollins promptly jumped to his feet and defiantly denied it. Henderson responded: 'I will prove it on him; I charge that one Mr. Minch, a German, has written a letter urging the Germans to vote for him, and after he had an interview with Minch.' Rollins denied he knew any such man as Minch. Thereupon Henderson read the letter, somewhat to Rollins' embarrassment. Portions of the crowd hurrahed for Henderson, but Rollins rose with much equanimity, real or assumed, and said defiantly, 'Read the name of the author.' Henderson did it, 'Frederick Minch.' 'Spell it,' said Rollins, and Henderson spelled it,

'M-u-e-n-c-h.' Rollins: 'The name is Muench; not Minch; you can't play such tricks on me with impunity; you have changed his name!'

"About this time Henderson's hour expired, when Rollins took the stand and said: 'Fellow-citizens: You see the advantage Henderson is taking of you and of me; I denied I had ever heard of such a man as Minch, and he changed his name to Minch to entrap me into that denial. It was Muench, not Minch; I know him. He is a gentleman and a patriot and a man of sense, which I fear Henderson is not.'

"All the Whigs were satisfied and shouted for Rollins, and Mr. James Palmer, since deceased, one of the largest men in the county, and an ardent Henry Clay Whig, mounted the stand and shouted: 'Rollins is vindicated triumphantly. Henderson changed the name of the writer of the letter, and thus attempted to mislead our gallant leader, Rollins. No man who will do such a thing is entitled to the votes of Whigs or Democrats, and I now move that we all vote for Rollins.' And he put the vote and there arose in response a thundering aye, and Palmer, without putting the other side, declared it carried unanimously. Maj. Rollins was elected by 254 majority, and Gen. Henderson afterward became United. States Senator from Missouri."

Eugene Field's Introduction of Carl Schurz.

The second of Dean Williams' stories is of the embarrassment of Carl Schurz in one of his Missouri campaigns. Schurz was accompanied by Eugene Field as the correspondent of a St. Louis newspaper: "One night they came to a small town where Mr. Schurz was to speak. The hall was packed with an expectant crowd, but the presiding officer who was to have introduced Mr. Schurz did not appear. Finally Mr. Schurz suggested quietly to Field that he should fill in the part and introduce him to the audience. Mr. Field acquiesced readily enough. Advancing to the front of the platform, his hand pressed to his throat, he said, with a splendid German dialect: 'Ladies and Gentlemen: I haf contracted such a very severe cold that it is impossible for me to speak to-night, but I haf to introduce the great journalist, Eugene Field, to take my place. I am sure that you will be bleased and benefited by the change.'

"Mr. Schurz nearly had a stroke of apoplexy and it took him some time to explain the situation."

"Bully" Pitt, American Orator.

Of a once well known character, who promoted the gaiety of politics in Northwest Missouri, Dean Williams told this:

"When Judge Elijah H. Norton of the Supreme Court was nominated from the Platte County District for Congress on the Democratic ticket, Col. John E. Pitt, otherwise called 'Bully' Pitt, announced himself as an independent candidate against him. Judge Norton published a list of his speaking appointments in Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Atchison, Nodaway and Gentry. Pitt walked over the district and managed to be at every one of Norton's meetings, and he harangued the crowd either before or after Judge Norton's speaking. Pitt carried over his shoulder in a sack a half bushel of what he called onion seed. He told the people it was not necessary to wait until he got to Congress for their onion seed, as he carried a supply with him, which he doled out in small hand

fuls to the farmers. By some mysterious providence every farmer who planted the seed found himself in possession of a fine patch of jimsons.

"Col. Pitt was a notorious Whig. Yet, when there was not a single Whig in Platte County except himself, the Democrats elected him to the legislature twice. On one occasion he made a speech, such as it was, that was such an oratorical curiosity that it was published in all the newspapers from Maine to California. In that speech he spoke of the fact that as a Whig he had about as much show in the House, where all were Democrats, as 'a bob-tail bull in fly time.' In the same speech he indulged in poetry after this fashion:

"I love to see the green grass grow

Among the red May roses;

I love to see an old gray horse,
For when he goes, he goeses."

"Extracts from Col. Pitt's famous speech were copied in an article in Blackwood's Magazine as a specimen of American eloquence."

Rise and Decline of the Know-Nothings.

Know-Nothings were numerous in Missouri about 1854-6. They had many lodges. Wherever men most congregated, bits of white paper cut in triangular form were scattered frequently. They bore not a word in print, not a mark of any kind. The Missourian leaving home for business in the morning saw these pieces of paper lying about, seemingly without purpose. If he was a KnowNothing he knew at once that a meeting of the order was called for that evening. Recognizing a fellow member of the order and wishing to learn what was going on, he asked:

"Have you seen Sam today?"

That paved the way to the most confidential communications among members of the order. If the inquirer was a new member and not certain about the status of the one addressed, he asked in a casual tone, "What time?"

If the other looked at the sun or consulted his watch and made the answer, which the question seemed to invite, the interview ended. But the answer might be, "Time to work."

Then the first Missourian dropping his voice so that he might not be overheard, asked, "Are you?"

"We are," was the proper and assuring reply. After that the conversation proceeded on safe ground.

Sometimes the triangular pieces of paper were not white, but red. That meant danger. It prompted, on the part of those who had not been informed, more than ordinary curiosity about "Sam." When Missourians went to lodge on red notices they carried stout canes or some other form of weapon for emergency. One instruction given to new members directed them, when asked by outsiders about the principles and purposes of the order, to say, "I know nothing." From that came the name commonly applied to the movement and to the membership. The Know-Nothings were native Americans. Their political watchword was: "Put none but Americans on guard." The American party became strong enough in St. Louis to carry, two or three times, the municipal elections. The turbulent

among them started anti-foreign and anti-Catholic riots. For several years the lodges and the party organization devoted most attention to local politics.

The movement gained strength in all parts of the United States. Several state elections were carried by the native Americans. In 1855 a national organization was effected. In 1856 eight of the thirty-two States had native American governments. But when the Know-Nothings attempted to make a nomination for President, a division among them on the slavery question occurred. The Southern Know-Nothings nominated Fillmore. Many of the Northern Know-Nothings seceded and indorsed Fremont. After that national campaign, Know-Nothingism dwindled.

In 1855, the order attained its greatest strength in Missouri. Thousands joined, taking the first degree of "Sam." The candidate was first sworn to secrecy and then examined. To be eligible he must show that he was 21 years old; that he was born in the United States; that he believed in God; that neither of his parents was Roman Catholic; that he was reared a Protestant; that neither his wife nor he was a Roman Catholic. Having shown that he was eligible, the candidate was taken into another room and sworn into the order. He placed his right hand on the Bible and raised his left. He swore he would vote only for Protestants, native Americans and those who stood on the platform of America ruled by Americans. Then the password, the sign of recognition and the grip were given. General Grant, then a farmer in St. Louis County joined but attended only one or two meetings.

There was a second degree, into which the candidate was initiated when he had proven that he was loyal and deeply interested. This was conferred with much ceremony. At the conclusion the presiding officer declared solemnly: "Brother, you are a member in full fellowship of the supreme order of the StarSpangled Banner.”

A third degree was added after the success in the state elections of 1854. It was called the order of the American Union. It pledged the membership to stand against any division of the States. It aimed to suppress the agitation of the slavery question by either the North or the South. In six months 1,500,000 candidates had taken the third degree. The organization disintegrated more rapidly than it had grown.

Election Riots.

At the Fifth Ward polls in St. Louis, August, 1854, an Irishman stabbed a boy and ran into the Mechanics' boarding house. A Know-Nothing mob followed, smashed the windows and broke the furniture. Shots were fired. Other boarding houses in the neighborhod were attacked. The mob, increased to a thousand or more, marched to Cherry stret and continued the wrecking of boarding houses. It headed for the levee and met a body of Irishmen. In the fight two men were killed. The mob stormed and stoned buildings known as "Battle Row," on the levee. Doors were broken in and furniture destroyed. Thence the mob proceeded uptown, wrecking Irish boarding houses on Morgan, Cherry and Green streets. At Drayman's Hall, on Eighth street and Franklin avenue, the mob divided into squads and gutted several saloons, continuing this until the militia arrived.

Rioting was resumed the next day. The Continentals, while marching along Green street on guard duty, were fired on. Two of the militia, Spore and Holli

day, were wounded. Near Seventh and Biddle streets E. R. Violet, a well known and popular citizen, attempted to disarm a man who was flourishing a pistol, and was killed. At Broadway and Ashley there was a battle in which a saloon keeper named Snyder was killed. Three men were wounded. The rioting went on in various parts of the city until late that night. The third day citizens responded to a mass meeting called by the mayor. From the merchants' exchange they adjourned to the court house. A law and order movement was organized by popular expression and Norman J. Eaton was made the head of it. Before the day passed an armed force of seven hundred citizens had been formed under command of Major Meriwether Lewis Clark. The force was divided into thirtythree companies, each under a captain. It was composed of the best elements in the community. These companies went on patrol duty, covering the whole city. The regular police were withdrawn from the streets. Rioting ceased.

In 1855, Henry Boernstein was the most conspicuous of the “acht-undvierzigers" in St. Louis. That was the name bestowed locally on the fortyeighters the participants in the revolution of '48. Boernstein came to St. Louis. with a great variety of experiences. And he proceeded to enlarge upon them rapidly by his career in this country. He had received a university education in Germany, had served five years in the Austrian army, had written plays which were produced in European capitals, had managed grand opera in Paris, had been a newspaper correspondent. When the uprising occurred in Germany, Boernstein joined the revolutionists. He was forced to flee to America and after a short time became editor of the St. Louis Anzeiger. Almost immediately he introduced sensational methods. Again and again mobs formed to "clean out" the Anzeiger. Boernstein was daring. He carried on a theater, a hotel and brewery. He wrote a book which he called "The Mysteries of St. Louis."

In the organization of the German militia during the winter of 1860-1, months before President Lincoln was inaugurated, Boernstein was so aggressive that he was made colonel of one of the regiments. He marched with Lyon to the capture of Camp Jackson. Soon tiring of war, Boernstein obtained a consulship and went to Europe. He remained abroad and for many years was European correspondent for American papers.

Polk, Rollins and Stewart.

William Hyde wrote, thirty-five years afterwards, the impressions Trusten Polk, Robert M. Stewart and James S. Rollins made upon him as a newspaper reporter in the state campaigns of 1856 and 1857:

"Governor Polk was a college-bred man, having been graduated at Yale. He was 24 years old when he reached Missouri from his native State of Delaware, and was at that time a smart young lawyer. As a speaker he was polished and often eloquent, and at the bar he was a successful practitioner; but as a Senator the pages of history shed no great luster on his name.

"James S. Rollins, of Boone, was an old-time Whig in the days of that party, had been its candidate for governor at the time Austin King was elected in 1848, and before that a delegate to the convention which nominated Henry Clay for President. He was the Whig candidate for United States Senator in '48-49, and was a member of the legislature at the preceding session, and was well-equipped in every respect for a great campaign on the stump. Perhaps no more effective public speaker has ever raised his voice in Missouri than Rollins. Of magnificent intellectual attainments, splendid physique, superb address, imper