Western Newspaper Union from Wichita, Kansas • 3

illllil till Mil Ill, qi.lt, L.IilKliiriiUlIiUUUm.lqui.. r- -0 Birthplace of Great President to Be Converted Into Public Park Earth cary Pale brow too white for traceries of pain. Frail hands too soft for this worlds thorn and rude. Unearthly eyes beneath whose drooping lids There lay too much of heaven shining through. Pale, weary feet that strove to keep the road.

But longed across the poppy fields to roam; Then God looked down saw anguish in her eyes. And through a poppied sunset led her home. Archibald Sullivan, in Appletons. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. This man whose homely face you look upon, Was one of Natures masterful, great men; Born with strong arms, that unfought battles won, Direct of speech, and cunning with the pen.

Chosen for large designs, he had the art Of winning with his humor, and he went Straight to his mark, which was the human heart; Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent. Upon his back a more than Atlas load, The burden of the commonwealth, was laid; He stooped, and rose up to it; though the road Shot suddenly downward, not a whit dismayed. Hold, warriors, councilors, kings! All now give place To this dead Benefactor of the race! Richard Henry Stoddard. WHERE LINCOLN GREW MANHOOD LANDMARKS ASSOCIATED WITH TOG EMANCIPATORS! EARLY LIFE IN KENTUCKY AND INDIANA GRANNYS By JOSEPHINE A. VAN TASSEL BRUORTON (Copyright 0 February 12, 1909, the Kentucky farm where Abraham Lincoln was born, will, if all goes well, be dedicated to the American people as a national park.

Its 110 rocky acres in the heart of the Blue Grass state have been purchased, and an association has been organized to restore its many natural beauties. The log cabin in which the future president was born was recently- rescued from a cellar at College Point, Long Island, where it had been igno-miniously dumped after traveling about the country as a show. With imposing ceremonies, it was carried back to its native soil, and restored to the very spot where Tom Lincoln, the father, put its rough timbers together. On another part of the farm, as an antithesis to the hut, and as illustrative of the height to which the son attained from such a humble origin, it is planned to erect a memorial structure which will be an exact reproduction of the White House at the time Lincoln lived there. Within its walls will be preserved all the available historical treasures associated with his name and fame.

The date chosen for the dedication of the Lincoln farm is especially appropriate, for it marks the 100 th anniversary of the birth of the martyred president. Prominent Americans from the north, south, east and west are expected to be present at the exercises. President Roosevelt has ac- PROPOSED LINCOLN February 12 of every year the mind of every American loyal cil izen Is momentarily turned to the thought that upon that day, just so many years Abraham Lincoln, one of the world's greatest men, was born. Some merely give the celebration a thought, but those who have made the life of Abraham Lincoln a study, and those people who live in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois look upon the birthday anniversary as something more than the mere passing of a milestone. Each of these states claims a right to being the home of the man who has made for himself an immortal name in the history of the world's greatest men.

Historians say that Lincoln was born in Hardin county, Kentucky. In fact, he was born in La Rue county, which, however, is a subdivision of Hardin count-. Chroniclers continue with their biographies and say that he, together with his father, mother and a sister, went to Indiana and entered a claim to a piece of land in Spencer county. As a matter of fact, he entered a claim to a piece of land in Warrick county, but which has been set aside and named Spencer countv. The Lincolns went to Indiana in 1S16, the same year that Indiana was admitted to the union as a state.

He entered a quarter section of land, built a log cabin and lived there until 1830. It was known that Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham Lincoln, was in poor circumstances. To say that Abraham Lincoln was the son of a poor carpenter and farmer gives an Insight into hard conditions that little Abe had to face when he was a youngster. When he went to Indiana he was just Lincoln DIED 1865. It is to be built on the Lincoln farm, and will be an exact reproduction of tho White House at the time Lincoln lived there.

It will contain all the available historical treasures associated with Lincolns name and fame. Granny turned pale and dropped the newspaper, with a sudden exclamation that caused Martha Jane to jump up from her seat at the breakfast table and run around to her quickly. Whats the matter, mother? she cried, anxiously. Are you ill? Granny disliked to be ailing or to have anybody think she was ill. She sat up straight again perfectly straight and ldoked at Martha Jane severely.

I'm never ill, Martha Jane, she said stiffly. "Well, whats the matter, then? said the daughter, still more anxiously. When mother gives way even for a minute. she told her husband afterward, theres sure to be something dreadfully out of kilter! Her mother stared straight ahead and did not answer for a full minute. Then she said In a voice which she vainly tried to make firm: The water has broken through into the Santa Rosita mines.

Oh, my sakes! cried Martha Jane, picking up the paper with trembling hands. For years grannys small savings had been invested in the Santa Rosita coal mine, and though her investment did not bring her a fortune, there was enough to clothe her, pay her board, and give her a little spending money. And now it was all gone, swept away by that awful wave that had carried death and destruction into the mine, and granny could be independent no more. Martha Jane looked the paper all through to see If the report had not been contradicted: but no, there it was in black and white. For a day or two granny was a life tie more quiet and thoughtful, though she appeared as cheerful as ever.

Her beautiful old face had lost its faint color, but it was just as sweet, and the paleness only set off its wonderful clearness and delicacy. Eleanor Rossman openly commented on it when she ran in to ask Mat-tie Folsom, Martha Janes oldest daughter, to walk down to the Rowl-. lng club with her that evening. Mrs. Benton, she said, I wish you would tell me what you do to keep such a wonderful complexion at your age.

It must run in your family, for Mrs. Folsom and Mattie, too, have the same beautiful skin, and such wonderful coloring. No, Im not flatter- lng a Mattie. We girls have always admired your complexion and Ive been trying to get up courage to ask you what cosmetics you use. Mattie laughed outright.

Cosmetics! she cried. Why, I never used such a thing in my life. Granny always says, clear water and fresh air are the only cosmetics a girl needs. But surely, Mrs. Benton, said Eleanor Incredulously, you must use something to keep such a wonderful complexion at your age.

Granny opened her mouth to speak, and Eleanor added quickly: Dont think I want to coax any secrets away from you, Mrs. Benson. But just look at my skin coarse and rough as a nutmeg-grater, and the more cosmetics I use the worse it gets. Why, mamma was speaking about it the other day, and ahe said shed give a hundred dollars to find out what made you three women have such beautiful complexions. Granny tried two or three tiqies to apeak.

At last she said timidly: 'Miss Rossmore, do you think your mother would be willing to let you coaie to me every day for luncheon and and pay a little for my treatment." Oh, I know she would, Mrs. Benton, cried Eleanor, positively. Ill tell her about it this very day. Good-by, Mattie. The next morning granny received a note from Mrs.

Rossmore, and that afternoon from six other ladies of her acquaintance, all eager to put their daughters under her care. When the cirls arrived they looked curfously at the table, which was daintily' set in the old-fashioned way with the entire meal placed on it at once. Granny looked the ideal hostess of colonial days as she sat at the head of the table her fine, soft wavy hair drawn back over a cushion, and her slender, erect figure looking more youthful than ever in an old-fashioned short gown. There was a small bowl half filled with rich creamy milk set at each plate, and granny smilingly helped each of her guests to a generous table-spoonful of hasty pudding. Then mattie removed the bowls, and a pea-soap was served, followed by roast chicken and brown bread and butter.

These In their turn were superseded by a pudding, whose principal ingredient must have been eggs and eggs and more eggs, if one judged by its rich golden color. Every plate was emptied, and no one refused a second belping. Eleanor said smilingly as she passed her plate: You are more than good to us. Mrs. Benton! I feared we should have but Lenten fare, and I really dreaded to come for fear our luncheon would be all cereals and not even a suspicion of a After that a glass of foamy, acid drink was passed to each.

The flavor was peculiar hut pleasant. Then granny said deprecatingly: "Now I must ask you to eat as little candy, cake and rich pastry as you hurried to Hodgenville in the fastest conveyance he could hire. On reaching Hodgenville the New York man asked that the auction be held as arly as possible, and he bought the farm for $3,500 about a quarter of an hour before the whisky man arrived. The restoration of the log cabin to its native state was a spectacle as imposing as its consignment to a cellar in New York was inglorious. It was placed on a special car and escorted back to Kentucky by a squad of Kentucky militiamen.

At Philadelphia, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Altoona, Pittsburg, Columbus and Indianapolis it rested under military guard. Got ernors and mayors met it at various railroad stations and paid tribute to the life that began within its rough timbers. When the special train on which it rode crossed the Ohio river from Indiana into Kentucky, it was met at the Louisville station with military honors. Col. Henry Watterson and Adlai E.

Stevenson made the chief speeches of welcome. The cost of making a park of the Lincoln farm, of erecting the memorial hall and of carrying out other plans is being met by popular subscriptions sent to Clarence H. Mac-kay, treasurer of the Lincoln Farm association. Other officers of the association are Joseph W. Folk, president; William H.

Taft, Cardinal Gibbons, Samuel L. Clemens, August Belmont and Lyman J. Gage. The movement to preserve the MEMORIAL BUILDING. scenes of the earliest years of Lincolns life has revived unusual interest in all the associations of his youth.

The graybeards of Hodgenville, the hamlet which is situated about two miles from the Lincoln farm, ever since they were aroused by its sale at auction, have been telling many a story about Little Abe, when a lad-; about Tom, his father, and Nancy, THE HUT IN WHICH LINCOLN WAS BORN. This log cabin was removed from the Lincoln farm, in Kentucky, and carried about the country for some time by a showman. Later it was dumped ignominiously into a cellar in New York city, from which it was rescued and restored to its native state. his mother. Abe lived on the farm, they say, until he was four and a half years old, when, because of the scant produce of its 110 acres, the family was forced to move to a house in the village, where Tom Lincoln barely supported his family by working at odd jobs as a carpenter.

There they lived until the boy was nearly ten, when the Lincolns moved to Indiana. Lincolns Own Epitaph. Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who know me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower when I thought a flower would grow. Abraham Lincoln. reached out over all the country because it was his country, and he wept for the sorrows of the South as sincerely as he joyed in the triumphs of the North.

Had he had his own way he might have been the savior of a united country without the shedding of brothers blood, and when he fell the assassins bullet sped as straight to the heart of a stricken South as it did to the heart of her once unyielding foe. Lincolns Sad, Strong Face. Nobody knows how Lincoln looked as a boy. The winning ungainliness of his early youth can be only imagined, or built up from a study of the earliest pictures of him that have been preserved portraits which show him to have been a strong-featured youth with a certain appealing sweetness in his face and with an almost grotesque resemblance to the Byronic type in that emphatic curve of the chin, high forehead and great deep eyes. Sample of Lincolns Honor.

It is said that the British ambassador, unexpectedly calling upon President Lincoln at the White House, came upon him just as he was polishing his shoes. Astonished, the ambassador said: Why, your excellency, in England no gentleman polishes his own shoes! Well, whose does he polish, then? laconically asked the great leader of the hation as he went on with his task. Philadelphia Bulletin. Fighting Joe You can have all you want! Hours ten to four every day. Bring your own ambulance.

Personal Column of hie London CARROTS can possibly content yourselves with. The girls laughingly promised to abstain and made ready to depart. As they went out granny gave each one a jelly tumbler, filled with beautifully clear, amber jelly. The girls looked at one another knowingly. Mother said she was sure she would give us a cosmetic of some kind, whispered Tessy Thompson.

Mrs. Benton must have overheard her, for the delicate old face flushed faintly. Please eat that just before going to bed, she said emphatically. The girls stared. Must we eat it all? asked one at last.

Will it be very bad to take, Mrs. Benton?" cried another. Granny smiled. You shall judge for yourselves, she said, taking up the tumbler meant for Mattie; opening it, she passed it around. There were murmurs of approval from every one.

My, I shall not mind eating that. Every day the menu was varied a little, but it was substantially the same. Sometimes a delicate fish or choice game was substituted for the chicken; but there was never any meat. However, there was always a pudding or entree of that peculiarly flavored yellow stuff, and there was alwaj-s a glass of acid drink at the close of the meal, nor was the pretty tumbler of delicious jelly to be taken home ever omitted. But the latter, though always of the clear amber color, never tasted twice alike, it semed to the girls, and they never tired of it.

At the end of six months the im provement in the general health and appetite of grannys patients was wonderful, and as to the complexions, even Tessy Thompsons muddly, bilious skin was beginning to turn a clear olive, which greatly rejoiced her mothers heart. At the end of that time Marie Win-terfields mother decided to go to Europe for a year, and she offered granny a large sum of money, on condition that she sold ser secret. Granny at Whispered Her Secret Into Mrs. Win terfields Ear. first shook her head decidedly, but Mrs.

Winterfield promised never to reveal it and to make the stufT with her own hands for Maries use alone, so granny at last consented to the proposition, and whispered her secret into Mrs. Winterfields eager ear. Carrots, my dear madam, she said. Nothing but carrots grated and used as flavoring, sometimes in a common custard pudding, with enough nutmeg or almond flavoring to disguise the taste, or in any entree of any kind. And the jelly? queried Mrs.

Winterfield. Chicken or beef or lamb, flavored with carrots. And the acid drink, carrots again! No, said Granny smiling. That was the juice of a whole lemon with a level teaspoonful of common cooking soda dissolved in it, and a little water added. But Marie never would eat carrots before! expostulated the astonished Mrs.

Winterfield. And she wont eat them now, interrupted granny, if you tell her about them. Mattie dislikes carrots, too; she says they make her ill. So this is the way her mother and I have contrived in order for her to take a sufficient quantity to make her complexion pure and clear, and give it the peculiar delicacy of coloring which can be obtained in no other way. Granny still has her lunch parties as the girls call them; but she sets several tables now instead of one, and there are always girls anxiously waiting for vacant places.

And though the water has long since been pumped out of the Santa Rosita and the mining stock is again paying a good dividend, granny does not watch the mining reports any more. She knows that there is no longer any fear of her being left dependent in her old age; and that coal is nowhere near so safe an investment as carrots. tle through each load and, my word for it, rats and mice cant staythere. A pound of sulphur will be sufficient to preserve a large barn of corn, and is good for stock and will not hurt the corn or bread. Forest Republican.

A Difference. My dear sir, I can show ideal investment in ground. Don't want ideal ground. I'm looking for real estate. Baltimore American OLD GMWIWSPWCZE new structure that now adorns the beautiful little town, stood in the very spot whore the new one now stands, in tlie center of a large court square.

It was a frame building; the architecture was, to say the least, very novel. A ditch, two feet wide and tw-o feet deep, was filled with smoothly hewn logs, on which was built a stone wall IS inches high. This furnished the foundation ttpon which the building proper rested. The building itself was never entirely completed. It was weather boarded, but neither plastered nor lathed.

It remained in this condition until 1836, which was after the Lincoln family had moved to Illinois. It was capable of holding only a hundred people and could only be used In the summer. In the night the cattle which grazed about town w-ould go there for shelter. Such was the structure where President Lincoln received his first impulse to become a lawyer. Here it was that he received his first rudimentary practice in pleading cases that afterward aided in making hint the lawyer of the reputation he had It was to attend court in this rudely constructed building that the young man walked 20 miles from Lincoln City to Boon ville, Ind.

He was an ardent listener and the lessons that he painted upon his memory at this place are the ones that inspired the great man to become the lawyer he afterward became. And, from this fact the little town of Boonville claims the distinction of furnishing to him the material that aided In his after success. To claim so great a distinction if it could not be verified would be false and unfair; but from the history of young Lincoln while, he was a visitor here attending court, and from the assurance that he received the knowledge he did, which Inspired hint to be- come the lawyer he did, it is anotner laurel for the little city in southern Indiana. Shortly after the assassination at Abraham Lincoln a picnic party from the little town of Dale went up to Lincoln City to the Lincoln farm and spent the day. The excitement was so high at that time that old people as well as young went to the farm and enjoyed themselves visiting the historical places in and about the Lincoln farm.

The cabin was still standing and but a short distance up on the hillside was a marble slab that marked the spot where the good mother of Abraham Lincoln lay beneath the sod. While there the picnickers went through the cabin where Lincoln saw his mother pass away and from which place he returned to Kentucky to get a minister to come to Indiana and bury his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. A few old relics were found, among them being an old knot maul and an old fashioned mouldboard plow, both of which had been left there when the Lincolns moved to Illinois. The old plow was brought outside and an old man by the name of Gabriel Medcalf stood between the handles while one of the party caught a picture of the old Lincoln cabin. The old man carrying the pole was Joseph P.

Haines, better known as Pncle Porter Haines. The picture of Lincolns second log cabin was made from the original taken at the time this party went to the home along In the seventies. Lincolns Manysidedness. There were many angles in Lincolns character. That which he showed in the telegraph office was the personal, homely side as distinguished from the business, political or literary side.

The cipher operators saw him at close range and in his most anxious hours, amid the excitement of groat military movements, with their attending horrors; the clash of arms, the carnage of the battlefield, the groans oj the dying and the tears of loved ones. We also met him in the calmer but no loss trying hours of patient waiting for the slow development of wide-reaching plans for the preservation of the union. From David Homer Bates' Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, in Century. I Do the Best I Can. 1 do the very best I know how the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.

If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If He end biings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would makj no Abraham Lincoln. Abraham BORN 1809 TO all but a few certainly not more than a score, perhaps not more than a dozen it is news that Abraham Lincoln was hit by a bullet fired by a Johnny Rob in battle. The histories do not record it, nor the biographies. Those who saw the occurrence thought little of it at the time, so pressing was the work they had In hand, and the president is not known ever to have mentioned the Incident.

Concerned only with the welfare of a sundered nation and its suffering millions, and least of all with self, it is probable that no thought of the experience recurred to him at anytime in the period of stress and anxiety and important occupation that followed another bullet, less honest, that took away his life. On the morning of July 12, ls64. a young lieutenant colonel of the Sixty-fifth New York volunteers, standing just outside Fort Stevens, one of the series of forts that completely surrounded and guarded Washington, saw President Lincoln walking fearlessly among his soldiers, discussing the conditions and circumstances of the then impending attack upon the city by Gen. Early and his confederate forces, while a battle raged outside the breastworks. Watching with the curiosity of a soldier who had seen his president only twice before, the colonel was alarmed when he saw- him hit by a bullet, which had sped through the air from the camp of the enemy.

That young officer was William P. Roome, who was adjutant-general and chief of staff to Maj. -Gen. Upton. Sometimes Col.

Roome has thought of writing to Lincolns biographers and telling them of the incident, but he procrastinated, not considering it a matter of sufficient importance to Interest them. Lately, however, noting the renewed interest In the minutest details of the life of Lincoln, he believes that Americans would like to know the facts. When the bombardment of Sumter was in progress Walker, the confederate secretary of war, making a fiery speech at Montgomery, declared: The flag which now flaunts the breeze here will float over the dome of the old capitol at Washington before the first of May. That boast appeared in the same issue of the newspaper that printed President Lincoln's call for troops, and intensified the fears for the security of the capital already great because of the probable secession of Virginia and the doubt as to the position of Maryland. President Lincoln realized how much depended on his holding Washington.

The loss of the capital doubtless would result in European recognition of the confederacy; the spirit of the North would be broken, despair would follow, discouragement, defeat. So he bent his first efforts to defending the seat of government front those who would set up there a new nation not conceived in liberty. His deep anxiety in those days before the troops arrived and when Beauregard's army was said to be approaching, will be recalled by all who have read the story of the war. After the arrival of the Seventh New York regiment of dandies, who dined at Delmonico's before departing and the Massachusetts and Rhode Island regiments of fanners, mechanics and tradespeople, the capital was in no danger until the attack of Gen. Early, when the incident of Col.

Roontes story occurred. When the fortifications were thrown up around the capital Lincoln knew of every detail of the work, consulted with the men in charge, informed and advised them. It was, therefore, no occasion of comment when he left the While House on this July 12 and walked among the soldiers. They stood, ready for action, behind the wails while from the plain below came the sound of conflict. Gen.

Early's own story of his movement upon Washington shows the situation in the confederate ranks on that day. He had approached Washington from the north. Having heard that the outer works were feebly manned, he meant to take them by surprise, but before his first division could be brought up, he says, he saw a cloud of dust In the rear of the works and soon a column of men in blue filed into them on the right and left. Then skirmishers were thrown out in front, while an artillery fire was opened on the confederates from a number of batteries. Onr skirmishers were all thrown to the front.

wrote Gen. Early, driving those of the enemy to the cover of their works, and we proceeded to examine the fortifications in order to ascertain if it was practicable to carry them by assault. They were found to be exceedingly strong and consisted of what appeared to be inclosed forts for heavy artillery, with a tier of lower works in front of each, pierced for an immense number of guns, the whole being connected by curtains with ditches in front and strengthened by palisades and abattis. The timber had been felled within cannon range all around and left on the ground, making a formidable obstacle, and every possible approach w-as raked with artillery. Thus it would seem that President Lincoln incurred little danger on the day when he went about within the fortification walls.

But that he was in some danger is shown by Col. Koome's story. WHEN LINCOLN WAS KILLED. Long Night of Black Friday in the War Telegraph Offices. I remember the long night of Friday, April 14, that black day in our countrys history when the hate and cruelty embodied in four years of bloody war culminated in one stroke of madness, aimed at the life of one who himself had only "charity for all, with malice toward none.

Although I was on duty in the cipher room that evening, 1 have no distinct remembrance of anything that occurred prior tot the moment when some one rushed into the office with blanched face, saying: There is a rumor below that President Lincoln has been shot in Fords theater. Before we could fully take in the awful import, other rumors reached us, horror following fast upon horror; the savage attack upon Secretary Seward, and the frustrated efforts to reach and kill Vice-President Johnson, Secretary Stanton and other members of the government. An hour of this awful suspense, and then we received word from Maj. Eckert, who had gone quickly to Secretary Stanton's house in street, and from there with the secretary to the house on Tenth street, opposite the theater, to which the president had been carried after having been shot by John Wilkes Booth. This message merely assured us of the present safety of Stanton, while confirming our worst fears concerning the president.

A relay of mounted messengers was at once established by Maj. Eckert, and all night long they carried bulletins in the handwriting of Secretary Stanton addressed to Gen. Dix, New York city, which were at once given to the press and sent over the wires throughout the country. The awful-ness of the tragedy hushed us into silence. As the hours slowly passed, hope revived fitfully as some sentence offered faint encouragement that the precious life might, perhaps, be spared to complete its chosen work; but at about 7:30 a.

April 15, the tension gave away and we knew that our beloved president was gone from us forever. Lincoln Easy of Access. When in the telegraph office Lincoln was more easy of access. He often talked with the cipher operators when alone with us, frequently asking questions regarding the dispatches which, looking over our shoulders, lie could see we were translating from or into cipher, or which had been filed in the order of their receipt, in the little drawer in our cipher desk, where the copies were placed face down, the latest on top. There were many times after the first Bull Run fight when Lincoln remained in the telegraph office till late at night, and occasionally all night long.

From David Horner Bates Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, in cepted the invitation to make the principal address of the day. Had the farm not been purchased when it was for a national park, it might even now have been the site for a distillery. Because of a spring on the farm, famous throughout Kentucky for the purity of its waters, a wealthy Louisville whisky manufacturer had sought to buy the property that he might advertise his product in some such way as this: LINCOLN RYE Made from the PUREST MALT, combined with the crystal waters of the famous LINCOLN SPRING, which gushes out of the rock within a few feet of the place where Abraham Lincoln Was Born. Visit our distillery at Lincolns birthplace and See and Taste for Yourself. (All genuine Lincoln whisky shows portrait of Lincoln drinking from the spring.) As it happened, whisky helped defeat whisky.

When it was publicly announced that the long drawn-out litigation in which the farms title had become entangled was at last ended, and that it would be sold at auction on August 28, 1905, the Louisville distiller sent a representative to bid it in, no matter what the figure. The agent got as far as Eliza-ibethtown, some 12 miles from Hodgenville, where the auction was to take place, and, as it was Sunday and the sale was to be held in the afternoon of the following day, he put up at a hotel and took things easy, intending to drive over to Hodgenville the next morning. But although the trains do not run in that part of Kentucky on Sunday, the bottles do, and the whisky man drank long and often in the barroom. Here he made the acquaintance of a young man from New York, who had come to buy the farm for its preservation as a park, and who is now secretary of the Lincoln Farm association. On learning the purpose of the man from Louisville and noticing that the tide was coming in, the New Yorker got up at daybreak the next morning and TO LIVE IN MEMORY FOREVER.

Lincolns Birthday Brings to Mind the Greatest of Our Great. HE birthday of of Abraham Lincoln! But if one day is his birthday, the other 364 are his life-days and his influence days. We discuss politics. Our neighbor closes the argument: For, he concludes, as Lincoln says The minister in the church speaks of patriotism. Lincoln is there.

The nation adopts this or that policy; it is defended or condemned in terms of Lincoln and his policy. The influence of the man is with us always not only on February 12, but every day. Yet it is wholesome that we should remember days like this day. We live so fast. Great events crowd one upon another.

We are sated with a wealth of sensations. That which aroused the burning interest of the nation yesterday is to-day forgotten while we rush to rend the veil that hides tomorrow. We have made life so ephemeral, like that of the little goldenwinged moth, that it is born at sunrise only to die at dusk. So it is healthy that we should stop a moment or two and think, sometimes, of our great men, our noble souls, our heroes dead and gone. Troublous times have a way of creating unusual men.

So was Abraham Lincoln created. As simple as a child, unselfish, free from every taint of arrogance or egotism, as a friend unfailing, as a foe fearful, as a patriot unflinching, he had a heart that seven, and remaining In Indiana until 1830 he spent 14 years of his life In Indiana, or until he was 21 years of age. It is useless to relate the idle tales of his boyhood; but when he verged into manhood and imbibed into his character those qualities and those traits that led up to his greatness, this part of his life is interesting. It is well understood that if Lincoln had done as other boys of his day he would have achieved only small things. But he did not do as the young men and boys of his day, and the ways of his early manhood are still interesting to young America, who strive for success and do things.

Lincoln saw hardships, had meager clothing, coarse food and no advantages of securing an education. All who knew him agreed that he was unlike other boys. He was not fully understood, doubtless holding his real character or disposition in reserve for his Intimate friends only. He was not fond of work, but whether from sheer laziness or because he was fonder of mental exercise in reading or otherwise is not clear. He enjoyed books and is known to have borrowed much of the reading matter of his neighborhood.

After 1820 Spencer county had, at Rockport, Its county seat, a public library of several hundred volumes of the standard works of the day. Thomas Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln were at Rockport at ledst two times during the year, blit the name of Abraham Lincoln does not appear as a borrower of books at the library. The field from which Abraham Lincoln could glean knowledge in that neighborhood was very limited, though he borrowed every book that he could get. During Abraham Lincolns 16 years of life in Indiana he had read and reread this list of literary and historical books over and over again. His good, nature among Lincoln City people was not unnoticed; all agreed to his honesty and good nature.

Questions of dispute and petty differences were at first submitted to him in a joking way, and later on in a sincere way, until he was complimented for his honest and just way in settling disputes and differences. He was told more times than once that some day he would turn out to be a lawyer. Having read all the literary books and what few there were of law in and around Boonville, Lincoln heard of the court at Boonville. He resolved to go down to that place, 20 miles distant, and learn what he could in the real court, which was in session there several times during the year. The court house in Boonville, then a small hamlet of less than Joq inhabitants, in strong contrast to the beautiful SULPHUR DRIVES AWAY RATS AND MICE.

Here is a farmers mode of ridding his premises of rats and mice: If you sprinkle sulphur on your barn floor and through your corn as you gather it there will not be a rat or mouse to bother. I have done this for years and have never been bothered with rats or mice. I have some old corn in my crib at present and not a rat or mouse can be found. In stacking hay or oats sprinkle on the ground and a lit.