CANNON 



1158 



CANOE AND CANOEING 





movable carriage and which fires a projectile 

 of greater caliber than one and one-half inches. 

 In the article ARTILLERY (which see) a descrip- 

 tion is given of the various kinds and sizes of 

 modern cannons or guns, as well as of the 

 methods of manufacture. See, also, MACHINE 

 GUN. 



CANNON, kan'un, JOSEPH GURNET (1836- 

 ) , an American legislator and politician, ex- 

 cept for two intervals of two years each a mem- 

 ber of the Federal House of Representatives 

 since 1873, and its Speaker from 1903 to 1911. As 

 Speaker he per- 

 fected the system 

 which he had 

 helped Thomas B. 

 Reed to install in 

 1890, the system 

 which made the 

 Speaker in prac- 

 tice the absolute 

 master of the 

 House. Through 

 this system he 

 exercised an in- 

 fluence on legisla- 

 tion which can 

 with difficulty be 

 over-estimated. 



Cannon was for years one of the most pic- 

 turesque figures in public life. Very tall, thin 

 and angular, yet wiry and seemingly weather- 

 beaten, his was a figure to delight the cari- 

 caturist, and in the days of his greatest power 

 his features, more or less exaggerated, were 

 familiar to every newspaper reader in America. 

 He is famous as a wit and a story-teller, yet on 

 occasion he can be most uncommunicative. 

 His humor, his unconventionality, his blunt- 

 ness and his ability to make personal friends of 

 his bitterest political opponents are well 

 known. On his eightieth birthday, in 1916, the 

 House of Representatives celebrated in his 

 honor, as evidence of the esteem in which he 

 is held by the members. Though he was born 

 in the South, at Guilford, N. C., his home for 

 over half a century has been at Danville, 111.; 

 there everybody knows him as "Uncle Joe." 

 This title accompanied him to Congress, and as 

 "Uncle Joe" Cannon he is known to millions 

 who have never seen him. 



Cannon was admitted to the Illinois bar in 

 1858, and only three years later was elected 

 to his first public office, state's attorney of 

 Vermilion pounty, of which Danville is the 

 county seat. This position he filled with abil- 



JOSEPH G. CANNON 

 For more than a generation 

 a leader in the American 

 Congress. 



ity until 1868. He became a member of the 

 House of Representatives in 1873, and was re 1 - 

 elected without interruption until 1891. During 

 this period he gradually became one of the 

 leading Republicans in that body, and from 

 1889 to 1891 was chairman of the committee on 

 appropriations. Like many other Republicans 

 he was defeated for reelection for the term 

 1891 to 1893, but in the latter year again took 

 his seat. He was again chairman of the com- 

 mittee on appropriations from 1897 to 1903, and 

 was then chosen Speaker. 



Cannon perfected the system by which the 

 Speaker controlled legislation, and he ruled, 

 it must be said, with no uncertain hand. He 

 appointed all committees, and he himself was 

 chairman of the committee on rules, which 

 determined the methods of transacting business 

 in the House. A movement to change the 

 rules, and especially to remove the Speaker 

 from the committee on rules, began soon after 

 Cannon became Speaker, and was finally suc- 

 cessful in 1910. Thereafter the Speaker was 

 not a member of the committee on rules, and 

 that committee itself is chosen by a caucus of 

 Representatives, not by the Speaker. While 

 it is true that Cannon's conduct as Speaker 

 was chiefly responsible for the revolt, he was 

 merely carrying out a system which he be- 

 lieved to be right. That there was little per- 

 sonal feeling against him was shown by the 

 speedy failure of an attempt, made at the 

 same time, to remove him from the Speaker's 

 chair. When Congress met in 1911 the Demo- 

 crats were in the majority and elected Champ 

 Clark as Speaker. Cannon failed of reelection 

 in 1912, and was not in Congress from 1913 to 

 1915, when he was again elected. W.F.Z. 



CANOE, kanoo', AND CANOEING. A 

 canoe is a long, narrow boat, of light weight, 

 designed to be propelled through the water 

 by paddles". Canoes are made in many sizes 

 and patterns, each of which is best for a certain 

 purpose. A canoe, for example, which will ride 

 easily through river rapids may be too heavy 

 and slow for use in quiet lagoons and lakes. 

 For all ordinary purposes, however, a fourteen- 

 foot canoe, with a two-foot beam, is very serv- 

 iceable. Its weight should be as little as possi- 

 ble, the average being from forty to sixty 

 pounds. As a general principle the lighter the 

 canoe the more expensive it is. One advan- 

 tage of a light canoe is that it may be easily 

 carried by one man from one lake or stream 

 across a stretch of land to another watercourse. 

 The best canoes cost as much as $100, or even 





