Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1872-09-19
A STORY OF UNCLE ABE.

Clty, Dy ItS correspondent III this CITY.
Its told in connection with some re-
marks about the annoyances of the
Presidential question. After COL gratu-
lating the Messenger upon the fact that
it h IS kept aloof from headed political
discussion, and rejoicing that the Jews,
appreciate the presnt efforts of the Pres
dent to administer the Government
correctly, the writer remarks that it is
impossible to prevent deception being
practieed sometimes in connection with
appointments. He goes on to say:
All Presidents have been subjected
to the same annoyance, more or less
Mr.. Lincoln particularly 50, as the fol-
lowing story, es told to the writer by
our good Father Abraham himself
VIII illustrate.
When | 1irst entered upon my du-
ties as President" said Mr.. Lincoln.
grasping our arm in his peculiar way.
with one of his long, bony hands,
while ne ran his fingers through and
brushed back his shaggy black hair,
Il fully made up my mind to appoint
to office those only who knew to be
honest and whohad suitable ability. In
any event honesty should be the pre-
requisite, as the lack of little ability
might be easily made up by an honest
man endeavoIing to do his whole duty
conscientiously. While this. resolve
was fresh upon me there came to visit
me very old friend, a Baptist minis
ter, who had Travelled so fast that he
had not yet shaken the Illinois rear
estate of his capacious boots. SIC q
I" Why, what brings you here. Mr..
Snefie? (Which was not his name, but
il will do just as weH.) .a.
,c"" Well he replied, Il came down
here firstly to see you and get an old
fashioned shake of the hand. and sec
endly to say that the folks OF my con-
gregation are SO poor that they can
hardly afford me decent living, and
/ tnought may be you could give me
some sort of office that would pay me
better ~. - 49,
a"'Certainly,' 1 answered quickly,
for. / knew he was an honest man, and
was looking for stock of thae kind
Have you in view any particular
Office ?'1 - et.f ia2b - fs.-s.'
"sNo,' said the Rev. Mr., Shofe,
complacently; L would not know what
to select if you were to hand me list
to choose from =. lifsa.l fl
"'Nor L what to give you; but / tell
you who will help you out. You know
Colonel Chootsper, of your county. He
is now on duty in the Treasury Depart
ment. Go and see him; he is man of
resources, and will etyou out of your
| difficulty. Come back tomorrow and
report. ..a
'The next day, according to prom
ise, Shofie put in an Appearance and
said that the Colonel had recommend
ed him to apply for a certain position
10 the Revenue Department.
"tWhat is the salary p said I, while
signing in mechanical way "a pile of
commissions. 5.la5i
:" Two thousand dollars a year.
"'Well, do you think that enough !?
l may be able to do better for you,' for
knew he was an honest man, and
thought he might just as weil as not get
place where he could earn more mon
ey. ass
:" Oh, plenty, Uncle Abe, for that is
more than double the amount I've
been earning for years past.'
NOW i OCRtu 10 lIiuk, Sstlu our
Martyr President, "that / would have
to force him into place paying larger
salary, and where the Government
would have a corresponding return for
| MS valuable services, for | was more
than evcr--if that were possible-cOn-
vinced thit he was an honest man; but
1 finally concluded to give him his own
way, and he was appointed accordingly.
Of he went rejoicing, but / felt rather
mean at mys.one-hoTse gift to my good,
! honest, reverend friend.
b 'Three years elapsed, and the ankle
ties attending the war had onpletely
driven from my mind, for the time
being, the incident just related, when
my messenger. brought me in card
hearing the familiar name, Rev.
Adam Shohe,' and Immediately there
/ flashed across my mind all the circum-
stances attending my appointing him
to office. l directed him to be shown
in, and in walked, with creaky boots,
one of the best and finest dressed men j
had seen in many day. / recognized
his cOuntenancc at q glance, but it was
his marvellous clothes that troubled me.
They sat easily enough upon his
UOuHt Udb SOAlCbON vi ONuCA AAACS 0l0
not set so easy upon my mind, but
wherefore could not for the life of me
tell, if had tried, which / didn't
"sGood morning, Mr.. President p
no longer uncle Abe as before, said
he, in a sort of grandilOquent manner,
8 1 hope you are well and getting on
nicely
"sOh, yes,' said l, I'VE poor folks exc
out living after fashiOD;' intending
to give him the bit in his mouth, for
knew what an honest man he was-and
how much-I couldn't tell then exactly
how much, for had lost the run of him
we were indebted to him. sRg
"'Mr. President, Pve come to resign
SFeeling somewhat rs though l had
been struck by lightning, managed
to exclaim, IndeedP
g Yes. / felt that there are many
others deserving OF the place, and that
it is my duty to make way for them,'
90 WAS there ever such an honest
man as that?' said / to myself, chuck
ling over my own stupidity on the
clothes surprise. But said /, aloud,
Pm afraid you are not considering
yourself, friend Shofe, and that when
you go back to preaching you will be
as hard up as when you came here
three years ago. Hadn't you better
hold oh little longer, say year more
and let US both go out of Office tOgether?'
81 No, thank you. Pm going to-
Europe during that time, but hope tol
see you here, as President, when ! re-
turn and, after few more kind ex-
pressions, off went the Rev. Shofle.
"About a month after, one of the
reverend gentleman's neighbors paid
me a visit, and among other things re-
marked casually that had done pref
ty good thing for Shofle.' Yes ! re-
piled, 4 gave him $1,000 a year