The Progress., 1892-12-24

Holman is an economist, but no such econ
omist as old "Blue Jeans" Williams used
10 be- He was an economist with very
large Y. A story told of him to this day is
that when he came To congress and became
chairman OF Lie committee on accounts ne
had an investigation made OF the number
of towels used in the committee rooms
The laundry bills were so large that he
was looking for some way In which tn cut
them down When he found that i've
towels per day were issued to one commit
tee room "Blue Jeans" lifted his hands In
holy horror and exclaimed:
s'rhe idea of those fellows having five
towels day down in that committee room
Out I'm Indiana we would think man
crazy who throw money away like that.
Why, my whole family gets alcng week
with only one towel among emf
Though threescore and ten. Judge Hol.
man keeps up his work rs IL he were in his
prime. lie works all day at the Capitol,
bent over great masses Of figures and scrib-
bling away with a stub of lead pencil.
Every one of the almost countless figures
which appear In the book Of estimates and
the great appropriation bills IL as familiar
20 his eyes ns his own fingers. Some one
has said that Holman has rubbed these fig
ures for a,qunrter Of century till they
have become round shouldered and gray
like himself, or like old type that has worn
out and is only fit for the melting pot
But lust the same he has saved the gov
ernment good many millions of dollars ir
his time, ard will live to save II many
more.
He has never fallen into the modern ant
somewhat luxurious habit Of dictatinl
letters and other matters which have to g
on paper to stenographer. He believes
In the old fashioned style Of writing every
thing out with pen OF pencil. When b.
goes home from the Capitol he takes lo
Of work along with him, and even pore
over columns OF figures ON the street cars
AT home he spends his evenings writinG
letters and fixing up his bills. He rarel.
goes to the theater never accepts invita-
tions 10 dinner, and his only dissipation
Is soda water, which he consumes In mod
crate quantities How he can go on yea
after year working like this, month in an'
month out, and at seventy look and nc
like man OF twoscore Is mystery to me
1 Another remarkable old man In our Car
itol IL Justice Stephen j. Field. He hs
Just written an opinion OF the suprem
'hs~o VIII W utNn W ui-'otl ~ w
o. the greatest decisions ever promulgate
by that body II was the Lake Front cas-,
IN which the city Of Chicago and the Ill
noss Central railroad were fighting fc
cwnershipo OF a thousand acres Of psrtl
. submerged land right in the heart Of th
western metrcpolss-land worth $500, ,00o {
<p'oW an acre. and perhaps half milliol
After the court had taken vote ON th
case the chief justice assigned the work
writing the opinion Of the majority to in
uce Field He did not shrink from II
task.
Though seventy-six years old. an
though the case was one involving n,
only millions Of dollars, but complex an
difficult principles Of law, the old ma
tackled IL with the arior Of law studep
He ransacked hundreds Of English an
American reports. waded through reau
q briefs and cords Of printed argument
and sat down and wrote in q style oh
nomenally clear and strong IN opinion