New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 6, 1925, Page 10

By Earl Godwin 'HERE are two men in Washington who have made each President, from McKinley to Coolidge, lay aside the dig- nity of office and laugh immoderately. One of these men has a little the better of the other, for he made Cleveland laugh, thus clinching the championship in the presidential mirth-provoking marathon. They are not professional entertainers—in fact, one of them is a detective, the other a lawyer—nor are they known to any extent outside of the capital; but they are as much a part of Washington's institutions as the Capitol, and each of them has had a wider ac- quaintance among officials than any President. George H. 0'Connor is ‘he senior—the one who made Grover Cleveland laugh— and while he is accredited with more presidential laughs than any other man on earth, it is odd that for twenty-five years he has been working at a business that would kill all merriment for most men. He is the vice president and legal expert of a real estate title insurance company. Persons who have had to do with real estate and mortgages will im- mediately realize that George has a sti- fling job from 9 to 4. Probably there is nothing so far removed from clever quip and jest and the resonant ragtime as the business of ascertaining the merits of a real estate title. But arising from the cold ashes of this matter-of-fact bus- inegs is our merriest little entertainer who has kept Administrations laughing since the days about which you must ark dad The other member of the team is Matt Horne, twenty years a patrolman and now a detective for the Department of Justiee Matt’s physingnomy &hows that nature intended him to work as a policeman at least & part of the time; while his musical genius is apparent to any one who has heard him play accom- paniments for George. He has a most retentive memory, both for music and malefactors, and he can play on the head of a recalcitrant criminal with the same sprightly air that he uses on of a piano. Many a time ha the day cleaning up in W toughest distriets, only to rush to the station house to change into his evening clothes—the only suit of its k the force for many years—and ri to make merry at a party wh elect of the Nation were vou eould not move without j Senator. Furtherm Matt stopped by his superiors right was in the act of pursuing a crir answer a call for his piano playing by gome of our weary lawmakers HERE you have the team of 0'Con nor and Horne, laughmakers res idents, who made Presid Coolidge laugh so hard one night that he followed it up with an after-dinner speech that would have made Chauncey Depew en vious. Those who heard it it was the best after-dinner speech ev ered in Washington; t v by George O'Conr Matt Horne, wh hit just right, causing him to laugh very, very lou Unfortunately for the fun-loving public, that speech was not reported, for it would have changed the viewpoint of many who believe Mr. Coolidge lacking in humor. George O'Connor sings character songs. In the nineties he sang the coon melodies of the period, and later the ragtime songs which buoyed the boys through the Spanish War. There is nothing remarkable about his voice; nothing remarkable about his appear- ance, except that merriment radiates from him, and his smile is most infec- tious. He never appears to work hard over a song, uses but few gestures, has no tricks and no dance steps. He just gets up and sings, and for thirty years he has brought tears of laughter even to the faces of men so dignified they could be suspected of wearing their silk hats under the shower bath. He has sung the same songs repeatedly. For instance, George has sung “My Cousin Carus’” four times a week for at least ten years, and yet even tofay Washing- ton’s official community will arise en masse, demanding to hear it again. Both he and Matt are sick of the piece, but they cannot escape it. This rollicking Italian ditty first re- ceived official recognition when William Jennings Bryan arose at an entertain- ment and loudly demanded it from George. EORGE bagged his first President when a professional performer failed to keep an appointment at an entertain- ment graced by Grover Cleveland’s pres- ence. George was a high school youth, and he sang “The Bowery,” which was an antique even then, but Cleveland laughed and applauded, and George sang some extra verses as an encore Graduating from high school, George went to Georgetown University, where life was just one minstrel show and glee club concert after another. It was while practicing for one of these college shows that he ran across Matt Horne, who was practicing fancy stunts with a pair er-spangled Indian clubs, perhaps, of his subseque: a policeman’s baton. George's anist had not appeared and Matt hattered the pr g impression that William B. McKinley was a man of measured merrir formed at a Gridir given two weeks 1-bama Coor laughed along e reading wonders every one else. Any wherein the laughs lay George won- able to let enter were two and yet, with Gec Geor It makes almost any man feel a little “per when he tells a story or sings a song in such a way as to win a laugh, but here’s a pair, George H. O’Connor, at the left, and Matt Horne, at the right, who have made Presidents, from McKin- ley to Coolidge, laugh right out loud, and Washington will tell you that get- ting more than a chuckle out of Presi- now Sdward Douglas of the United Statc order, loving Futed 1 \ o Pre dent Coolidge is a job getown ge was admitted to p ipreme Court sometimes would play paniment for Georg George Roosevelt than most had time td get ou as 8 itertaining ly unknown Archie Butt, the Presi- dent’s wel ed aide, spying George 1 1 ed over to him In he v in the town; to see any one and sing m afraid to talk u've got to tedly announced the President, > President’s ing the ng, enti- te mis- t be kept from al levels, he in- nd e them anned hen it Wilson seratic t as the Golden From McKinley to Coolidge These Two Washingtonians Have Been Court Jesters; One Is a Detective, the Other a Lawyer—But They Make “Silent Cal” Laugh Right Out Loud! Gate leaped aboard trains in order to be in the flashlight picture with the man they had elected but had never known or even seen. Instead of a hundred guests there were eight hundred. By the time Woodrow Wilson's eight vears had come to a close, George had sung his way into the heart of the Ad- ministration to such an extent that mail was addressed to him at the White House. One day a politician named Walker went to Washington with the vague idea of calling on the President {o talk on general topics and get his name in the home-town papers. In other Administrations almost any one found it easy to gain ephem- ' eral fame by calling at the White House; but not 50 with Wilson. To see him a visitor must have had a solid reason, and Walker was con- siderably upset when the two Senators from his State informed him they wers utiterly unable to get him an audience. “Now, won’t I look fine back home?” wailed Walker to George at a small and select gathering one night. ‘“Here I swing the State for Wilson the first time she's gone Democratic in a blue moon and I can't even get a look at the man, What kind of Senators have we sent down here? Back home a Senator looks as big as a church; but down here they can't seem to get a pass to a free show. George said he would see what could be done. Next day he and Mr. Walker called upon Joseph Tumulty, the Presi- it's secretary. Tumulty did not want to be hothered at the moment, as he was listening to some stories told by a Jersey City Irishman: “The President’s in his office. You know him. Take Mr. Walker in your- self.” Try that, if you think it is easy. Yet George walked into the inner sanctum with Mr. Walker and had a long talk, the President being thus enabled to lay aside work on one of the most impor- tant documents of his career and listen to the detailed story of how the Republi- cans were licked to a frazzle in the Old Home State. Moreover, under the in- fluence of the O'Connor smile, President Wilson bade Mr. Walker to be sure to come in again the next time he was in Washington. George did not leave with Mr. Walker, but remained with Tumulty, who was expecting Big Bill Edwards, of New York City, and to him Tumulty introduced George in this fashion: . “Bill, 1 want you to meet Senator Sheppard, coauthor of the prohibition act with Congressman Volstead. It has just been discovered that there is a large &till on Senator Sheppard’s Texas farm.” Big Bill did not know whether to laugh or cry, and he compromised by inclosing George's small hand in his ex- tensive Princeton mitt and pumping it madly. “I am glad to meet you, Senator,” he said, and to this day he believes he met the other man who made the country dry. It was during the Wilson Administra- tion that Mayor J. Hampton Moore, of Philadelphia, who had known George well from his long term in Congress, invited George to go to the City of Brotherly Love to lead a Victory Loan mass-meeting. The Mayor had jress- agented George widely as the man who makes Presidents laugh, and there was a great gathering. George worked hard eelling bonds and singing; and in the midst of his efforts a loud and pleasant voice called from the audience: “Oh, George, sing ‘It Ain't No Dis- grace to Run When You Are Scared.”” It was Taft. He was at that time doing his war-time stunt as chairman of the War Labor Board and had dropped in the meeting on the chance of hear- ing his old pal sing. And George sang, with Matt Horne tinkling away at the piano—after which George sold another half-million dollars’ worth of bonds. URING the Wflson Administration a dinner was given by Republican Sen- ators to William R. Wilcox, chairman of the Republican National Committee. It was entirely political, and interesting because of the presence of many possi- ble presidential candidates, among them Judge Hughes and Senator Weeks. Consliderable joshing on this point caused George 0'Connor to rise in his place and point out a man who was receiving lit- tle attention: “I don't know what you fellows think about it,” he said, “but here is a new Senator, just elected, who appears to me to have just the kind of face that goes with the presidency.” It was Senator Warren G. Harding, of Ohio. He always said George had nominated him; and there was a lasting bond of friendship between them. Presie dent Harding liked to hear George sing “You May Be a Brother to All Them Folks, But You Ain’ No Relation of Mine.” Calvin Coolidge, while Vice President, took a liking to George when they met for the first time at a Massachusetts Society reception. George interpolated a line about Paul Revere and otherwise advertised the Old Bay State in a song he sang that night which tickled the Vice President, and from that time o2 he has been in good humor when George appears. “I didn’t know you were from Mase sachusetts,” he said to George. “I'm not,” answered this irrepressible singer, “I've been sick—that’s why I look this way.” Once President Roosevelt attended a dinner in New York where the enter. tainment was all that New York could give, but a White House aide had ime pressed George into service and ine sisted that he go over to New York in the afternoon, sing a couple of songs and take the midnight back to Washing. ton. After he had sung, George's friend and fellow townsman, Wilton Lackayes, the actor, took him to the Lambs’ Club, introducing him to James T. Powers and George M. Cohan: “You fellows think you're comedians,* eaid Lackaye, “but here's a man whe plays New York as a one-night stand." Copyrioht by Public Ledoer Company