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Show When Mr. McAdoo Ran a Railroad Down in Tennessee WILLIAM G1EB3 JIcADOO, Secretary Secre-tary of the Treasury and Director General of Railroads, has many friends in Chattanooga who are proud of hi3 career, he having at one time practiced prac-ticed law there and developed a propensity pro-pensity for doln? thinifs In the public Interest. Henry M. Wlltce, attorney and author, wit and was, probably knows more about "Bill" McAdoo's actjyitiPrj In that city than any one else. "WlH.se is always willing to talk about ye auld lane syne, and when ap. proaciied by the writer made a cloan brea.st o It, it were. "Why, dog----one it. I know all about Bill McAdoo," h- .taid. "Don't you remember when l,"1 operated a hcrd;c line here?" The story fc')"i that Mr. Mr-Adoo. vliile a budding barrister, conceived :i,e ida of HtaMihini? some mode "f transportation for the people of Chattanooga- Thir was In the early eighties and before the advent of horse-driven horse-driven cars. To carry out his project McAdoo had built a vehicle which he ailed a. "hTdio," something never he-fore he-fore nn In the city, and construct rd on the ord'T of an old 1-Jnllsh harrsom -i.b, p&f'-erirH entering from the bark. A regular route was et.-iblihed. tmd everything would piobably have rone well with the enterprise but for the HN'rmifnrt to which the j.snn-grn j.snn-grn wre objected wiK'n the herdlo 5.1 1 ;- a bad nla'-e In tho very bad .;t'lB which rxn-.'ed ;j t that time. ' l told that the vehicle bnhb'Tl ;i and down o vlol'-nfly when It .n foul of o. tut or tttono that tho ' sz-4r of the lady par-rnTN was A'rjriifd fturaln'-t th co'-f,. and that a loud outcry went up among the members mem-bers of the "100" against the project and it was boycotted by the gentler tex. Mr. McAdoo soon tired of his venture ven-ture and finally wished It "on to Sam W. Divine, a local railway promoter. Divine afterward saJd that the failure of the enterprise was entirely due to the bouncing qualities of the herdlc, laughingly declaring that his own wife's br-it hat had been ruined and she refused to patronize his line. Another story told on Mr. McAdoo Is that while practicing law in Chattanooga Chatta-nooga lie borrowed the entire library of Attorney J. T. Lupton, now a wealthy medicine manufacturer, and has not returned It until this day. This library conslt'-d wholly and In part of the Code of Tennessee one hook. On one occasion, while Mr. McAdoo was d"puty court cU-rk for Hamilton County, Attorney Wilts'?, then city attorney, at-torney, had a very important rase Involving xvharf property and had h'-on required to furninh a good atid sunio!nt Indemnity bond. Wilts'", him.f a young rn.'i n at that time, de-ujd'-d that he would d'-rnons-t rat e tho populaxily of his lawsuit and proceeded pro-ceeded to round up alt the members of the civic bodies and prominervt citizens citi-zens ho could find to slt:n the bond. At laef, feeling thai ho had a for-loldnlile for-loldnlile tii iav of : !;ii"rn, h wild to Mi-A don: 'T.ill, I'm gelfiiif dain filed chavlng bondsmen mound town and Im-Ij.jvh I ill r st In ease r il: hei ' " "Oh. no. Mi-tny," M' loo Is .'tal1 to have replied. "It Is very irnpor taut that yon get every mnn you can on this bond." naively adding. "You r-"e I recelvo a dollar for every name you add to tho list." "Tou don't get another durn dollar dol-lar from me," exclaimed Wilt.so, as he left tho courthouse. On another occasion, -hile Mr. McAdoo was operating the street car system In Knoxvllle, Wlllre. then assistant as-sistant I'nited States District Attorney Attor-ney for Kast Tennessee, often came into pleasant personal relations with the now famous American. Ono day Wlltse told McAdoo that he ought to give him a pa;.s over his street car lines, as he was a frequent visitor to K'noxvllle. "I will have that in mind," McAdoo is reported to have said, but the pans v.-aa never forthcoming. Then, meeting Wiltso on a ktroot later, McAdoo talcl (or Iglnatlng a pun): "Henry, have you ever been out to Oloseo Lake? That's a place yru our;ht to-see." ";.'o," replied Willse, "you nevor g.no me a pass over your darned old street car line." Then, says Wlltse. McAdoo carried him and a fileni, tl.ey had met on Iho i.t reel to Ihe car barn and. Introducing lh"Ui to n conductor, Instructed the conductor to carry Wiltso OJid his companion to the lake.. The trip mum made, hilt the visitors did not leave the car to view Hie lake for tin) reason, in explained, McAdoo had provide.! for their t ran .pol l. r, Ion out l.ui rr ::lo-'!e-! to ;;ivo them u pass lor Ihe return trip. ( n still (inollier occasion McAd'to nnd Wiltso wero coining to Chattanooga Chatta-nooga from Knowille on tho same train, and as McAdoo lived on the outskirts out-skirts of tho city and near the railroad rail-road he decided that ho would leave tho train near his home and keep from walking back from tho station, lie mid to Wlltse: "I am going to make one long lenp." at the same time di king up his valiro. "Don't you know this train Is running run-ning llko tho devil and that you will break your neck?" "Wlltse rcmon-1 rcmon-1 1 rated. "Shucks," replied McAdoo. "I enn get off all right. Watch me." "Well," hald Wlltse. "I'll send the Coroner out when I get to town." McAdoo went out on tho platform but returned In a few in uutes. "What's tho matter?" asked Wlltse. "Why, what you said about the Coroner Coro-ner got on my nerves." replied McAdoo, Mc-Adoo, who came on Into tho city. Ah u young attorney Mr McAdoo had quite a repulation lis nn after-dinner after-dinner speaker, and It is told of him that when Crover Cleveland was elected elect-ed rresldent the Mist time ho delivered deliv-ered an address at a bani-uet at a local hole! that is still nunomborcd by thoso present. |