The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-05
Ill EARLY LIFE.
Poor. but Of Good Ancestry, He
worked His Way Up

New York Letter in Philadelphia Press.
Hnl has the flavor of a New England
influence DEVELOPED IN places ,T anthsr wsa
OF the sternest Of New England quallty.
She was a Puritan throughout. ana It
rItanism which. with Hill, are inherent
and not cultivated. such as abstemiousness.
the desire only for plain living, correSt
bs received from his mother. His father.
who was OF Scotch-irish extracuon, VS.
even in his poverty, a man OF peIsIstenSe;
even Of obstinacy. OF grim VIII anu Sba
knew Hill in his childhood ana were ta-
miliar with his early associations ana nave
suaded that he inherited the stronger IN
tellectual qualities OF each OF MS parents
and that his own temperament Is an IN
usually felicitous blending or the pest tem-
peramental qualities Of his parents.
Hil was born of a poor carpenter an9
a mother who aid her own h~oussworN' anu
with her needle clothed her children. ana
his childhood was passed in a quaint out
quiet village in central New YORK. wherS II
did not seem likely that me grsat Iio1Id
penetrate and stimulate youthful amoitlon.
Bug the lad seemed almost by Intuition 10
have some knowledge OF the outer woI fo-
re could not have got IL from DOCKS, IoI
he had few. and his schooling was Almost
as brief as that of Lincoln. de may nave
overheard some of the village P1nr EiIimcre
Taylor and the Mexican war. he does not
know himself how the first notions OF Dol
tiles or the first .whisperings OF pohtical
Rnsiness men in this city to-day call 10
mind and tell with quaint Illustration OF
a Ia refoose "a lad who used to bring MOVERS
TO those VINO were kim 10 him. and VINO
was accustomed to gain a penny now ana
then by some childhke barter OF lruies ~
and was the most earnest-faced. solemn
hammered. wistful-looking little shaver 70
be seen upon those quiet streets, 80 quaIns
- DlooItnr An his glance and manner
that these men remember his queer httIe
looks and acts 10 this day; MI.
Clark. now vice president OF the New YORK
Central. then a young banker in Havana
thus remembers the boy.
Those who to-day find something or fault
with Hill for an aggressive and seli-as-
sertive manner might. perhaps. be dis
posed somewhat 10 pardon tnis lmpulslNe
trait If they knew how. when ne was a
knocks ard bitter experience TO learn the
lesson that a boy who begins with nothing
must fight his own way If ne is ever TO get
anything. Hill had learned the lesson be-
fore he was fifteen years of age, and ms
friends In these later days, in speaking or
times nlm ,n Asserts thai the first lesson of life
which he thoroughly learned was tndt the
man who will succeed must be self;reilant.
ing his way, he must therefore be ready
to give blows in return.
1t was an old New Englander, the son OF
a man who had drummed, they said, at
Bunker Hill, who once told Hill, accord
ing TO the tradition of the town. that II he
was going to get on i'm the world he must
not be too "complisaintary," and. he add
ed, II have been complisaintary all my
life: and have got more kicks than cop
He was a discerning man, who. being
a little pleased with the boy Hill. SAID 10
him when he reached his teens, David,
you ought to be a lawyer. Your habits
are good: keep them good and you VIII
make a success, think, If you 90 to prac-
tcing law"
Well. Hill worked his way through a
law office. and he had TO study and TO
work as well TO get along: But he was a
If the statutes had oeen faithfully OBJ
served. Elmira, whittier he went. was a
big world TO him in comparison with the
little village in which he spent his boyhood
days. Somebody once said TO Wagner.
How did you learn music. you who spent
so little time in the conservatories! ana
the reply was, II learned ii, not by read
ing lives of other musicians. but by hearing
it," So the young and penniless Hill learned
life not by reading, but by contact with IT,
He was a timid young man, too, although
he sometimes assumed that brusque man
ner which is often merely a mask for
timidity. Even when he had gone into the
broader field of State politics and was once.
while still a young man, called upon TO
preside over a convention, he stood before
the delegates half hesitating. half timic.
tremulcus. so that those who were neet
hir were disposed to think that he would
make but a sorry exhibition OF himself ana
would fail in that most dangerous or all
ways to fail the presiding over a political
convention. That has All gone. although
il is said that even to-day when rising to
speak in the Senate. prepared TO be de-
iant, repaired for black scowls of anger
from his associates. Hill is at first a little
tremulous. his nerves betray him Slightly.
Upon the morning of the day when he de-
livered the best of his speeches in the
Senate. the observant eye could not have
failed 20 detect a nervous manneriSm, the
unconscious picking up of books and toss
ing them down.. the fldgeting OF MS feet.
and some OF those other muscular activities
which are the handiwork OF nervous strain.