"Louder."

A few days ago, Larkin, of Fayette county, was making a speech in the house of Representatives of this State, when one of his Democratic friends betook himself to interrupting him with cries of “louder,” “louder.”  Standing it until he thought forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, Larkin turned about and glanced slowly around, his eye at last rested upon his annoyer, when he exclaimed, “I should think the gentleman’s ears were long enough to hear almost anything.”  The “assembled wisdom” at once exploded in a violent fit of laughter, and the Speaker’s hammer fell several times before order could be restored.  It is superfluous to state that Larkin was not again interrupted and that the cry of “louder” is less frequently heard than before.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 15, 1862, p. 2