Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-11-04
Mr.. POLK'S BOOKS,
SOLD FOR OLD HORSE TWENTY
YEARS AGO.
Tho Commercial Agent OF the santa
Fe sends an odd Present to the
General Freish, Agent OF the Road.

Twenty years ago. j. ]. MulMnc, now
commercial agent Of the Santa Fc railroad
in this city. was superintendent Of the
Texas express company at Houston. He
had then never heard Of L. j. Polk. ;he
general freight agent of the santa Fc,
with whom he is now closely associated
Ia business.
There was at that time no law regulat-
ing the sale OF unclaimed express mat
ter, except the custom, which by general
conscut prevailed, of annually gathering
,p the old lots Of 'old horse" the desif-
nation given express matter which had
remained In the Office OF the company for
more than year, and selling them Mt
public auction. rhus it was that ON une
occasion Mr. Mulauc ordered sale at
Houston OF a lot Of stuff which had
collected there and in the various offices
throughout the state and been forwarded
10 the general office at Houston.
Among other things which were
knocked down to him IN this way hy
the auctionccrs, i. Il. Lubbock Il Son.
was q box of books, somewhat worn aud
much used. He did not pay q great deal
for them, but does NOT remember tho
price. Upon examination he found they
We're evidently the property OF young
gentleman lately from college who re-
lOoed In the noteworthy name OF l.ucins
j. Folk, Ii might he surniscd from the
illustriuus ,ugnumen that the IL stood
Tor jefferson. though this poin, IS still
mystery At Ony rate. The classical an
ncllation was sufficient 10 attract ajtun-
di0n 10 the graceful contour OF the dig
nilied and symmetrical name In It's en-
tifety, whether accepted simply ma ID
read in the school books, which ID riuiWed
as belonging 60 "Lucius j. Polk" or
with the conjecture of Jefferson added
y was made To read, "Lucius jefferson
fulk.' There was additional reason for
the conjecture that the middle nnme
might lie 'JuneNon,' Ia the fact that
soma uf the fly loves also contained
the name ~, W Polk" Il was easy IN
conclude from the appearance Of the
books that they had hcen handed down
from iathcr 70 son, and what else would
va. W. Polk be- than George Washing
ton iolkf Aud II the fathers middle
name was Washington" by an laws Of
family tradition, Ia Tho sclrrtiou Of
names, q was perfectly natural that die
some name should be- jefferson"
Besides ue name Of The owner
There was s0mhing of betrayal Of
slls youthful reflections ON the Hy leaves
index To his attuininpAtS Ia thp eOntnn. "A
OF the volumes, The books thpmsclyn,
were interesting, as showing that ths
owner had pursued rather a full course
NJ school The date lines Of the ingcrip.
lions attested that he had attended Tie
University Of Virginia, and tho Virginia
MllilFry Institute, as well as Brown
Acndgmy, nenr Nashville and school
ut 1.-The Brick Church at lynnvllr."
in Giles county, Tennessee, where MIA
instructor was Rev VIM, SlOldnrl
But there wrr' other Inscriptions equally
interesting, On the fly leaf OF chem.
isIy. hook was found. Dip deep ID
chemistry and II ia q useful sediment
hut on the opposite page he wrote. up.
apparently s0mr time afterwnrd:
bone"
In his Latin reader he wrote.
-, "Spcs, Fidrs, Labor" Hope. Faith,
Another place in tho same book np.
~. J Polk, Virginia Military Iust.
tutr 1873 Private ia II, coupiny, first
man in front rink
Then like other boys he wrote.
Don't steal this boob, my honest friend,
For fear the gallows VIII be your end.
The locks arc strong,
The powder IL good.
aud the devil with you
II You don't mind.
The verse is not good In either rhyme
or measure, but ilr author seemed TO
mean what hc said.
\ few years ago, after Mr. MulMno
had loft the express business 10 20 into
The service of The Snum l'e company.
the name "POk' came TO his knowledge
In connection with the management Of
the ArAnsls Pass railroad. Then he
remembered that the name In the school
hooks was the SAM rs that Of this new
railroad manager who WAS rising rap
Idly into prominence. When afirrward
Mr. l.. ]. Polk hrcamo general freight
agent Of the Gnlf. Colorado md Santa
Fc Mr.. Mullane wrote him about the mat.
ter Mr., Polk replied that II the name
was ihe same the books were probably
his, though he did not rcmenbcr them.