The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1886-01-20
SENATOR
Traits of His Boyhood-Gambling With
His Father.

| Washington Cor. New York Tribune.
William Malone. the politician. il a
| figure the outlines of which have been
familiar to the country for several years.
| William Malone, the man, is known to but
| a small circle of intimate friends. In the
/ nuhlic mind his name will be associated
slwa VA with the movement which sought to
rid virginia O fBourbon rule. Amongthcse
who know him best he will chiefly be re-
membered for the qualities which made him
what he is to-day-one OF the few self-made
men whom the South has produced. The
history of Mahone's cary years shows more
plainly thar any subsequent period OF his
career does what sort OF stun the man Is
made of. There have been many self-made
men in this country, who in their youth
oyercame difficulties and successfully con-
tended against great odds. l need only
point to the lives of Lincoln and Garfield.
But there are few, if indeed any, who like
Malone, were called upon to rise superior
to the disreputable surroundings and the
evil associations of their W home. In
this respect, I believe, he stands alone
among the successful men of his day.
Mabone's father was a tavern-keeper at
Jerusalem, in Southampton county. Va,
when the future Senator was born. In the
early part of the century he had come from
Ireland, and for a time had been engaged IN
peddling goods from town to town. lie
was an irascible man, too fond OF the Dot
tie, l fear, and an inveterate gambler. His
wife died when still young, and left the boy
entirely in the care of his father. The tav-
ern was the resort of drovers and cattle
men from the West, who found it conven-
iently situated OH the turnpike connecting
Kentucky and the southern part of Ohio
with Eastern Virginia, where they sold the
stock to planters, who raised nothing but
tobacco on their plantations. In such
company young Malone grew up. His
father, instead of teaching him his gram
mar, instructed him in the rudiments OF
.sold sledge," '~seven-up' and ~'backgam-
mon." He 1901 found, it must be con-
fessed, an apt scholar in his son. "Bill'
became an expert in backgammon" and
there was not a man in the ~neighborhood
who could beat him at that game. The
elder Malone was rather proud OF this and
took his son around with him to country
fairs and race courses. where he would
match him against farmers and
pocket a good deal of money by exhibiting
his prodigy OF a boy. In the tavern, too,
the son exercised his skill against the pat
IONS of the establishment and, it need
hardly be said, never without being sue
CtSblul. VIGIL / OAO AOA6 "iAoSA uA6Aoo
father and son were left alone they played
against each other, but always for money,
Just to keep their hand in. Whether with
advancing age the old man lost his cunning
and no longer was a match for his son, or
his fondness for liquor got the better of
him, ! don't know. At any rate he found
day when the sun rose after a nights
play that he had lost everything he
owned in the world, his tavern. his barn, his
horses, the goodwill OF the place, every
thing to his son. Young Malone was gen.
erous, however, and gave his father an OPP
portunity to retrieve his fortunes. In fact
the old man shorty won back everything he
had lost, and for years SO the story goes,
and son continued to play cards
with varying success, the tavern passing
from father to son as the cards would favor
either the one or the other.
1t must nave been when he a about 16
years of age that a change anne over young |
Malone. The life that he led at the tavern,
in company OF his father and OF the cattle
drovers, began to weary him. He longed
for a different and, let it be said to his
for a worthier field of activity. The /
opportunity for a change was not long in
presenting itself. A lucky turn OF the cards !
him one day in the possession of the
and he determined to keep it. He
did SO, and on the following day he packed
his knapsack and started for Richmond on
loot, a distance OF seventy-ive miles. It
proved the turning point Of his life. He
severed the connection which bound
him to the old tavern forever. Though he
never returned to his home after this he
lid not forget his father. In fact
t was a lucky thing for the latter
that he had lost the tavern tc his
BOY. The passion for gambling had be-
comes SO strong in him that the tavern prob
would not have remained in his pos
session very long. What young Malone
lid in Richmond is well known. How he |
his appointment to the Lexington
Military Institute, how he was graduated |
With honors, how he became the Assistant |
Engineer OF the Virginia Central Railroad, |
what part he tool in the war, how he be- |
president OF a consolidated line OF |
'oad extending into Tennessee, and how he
ed the Readjuster movement in 1880 are |
Ill matters with which most people are |
familiar. 1t is simply chat phase |
of his early life which is comparatively I'M
known and about which Malone himself
speaks, but which more than any
hing else illustrates the mans character
hat | wish to speak about.