Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-03-28

Daniel p. Slater. the New York may
IRIS messenger, is a herculean colored
nan. who has had a varied and inter-
esting career. He was born in Virginia
IF slave parents in 1856 says the Com
nercial, and when the war broke out
his parents and other adult slaves were
Kept in ignorance of the fact until the
emancipation proclamation was issued.
Then the entire slave household was
hurried off to Tennessee, where ulti-
| nately they obtained their freedom at
he close of the war. Daniels father was
4 very devout man and when his son
'eached the age of Is intended to make
| him preacher Dan. however did not
AXE kindly to the idea and ran away
rom home He got a position in hotel
rs waiter and from that job pro-
crossed by easy stages to Washington
ghere he became the body servant of
! the late Gen. John A. Logan. He has a
fund Of funny stories Of happenings in
! The generals household, in most of
which he personally figured. IT was his
duty to see that the generals supply Of
hose things which make for social hap
piness in the guest room of a United
States senator was never short. Daniel,
however, noticed that the finest whis-
zies were disappearing in an unaccount-
able manner and suspecting that the
purlo.ner of them was a fellow servant.
he determined to lay trap for the mis-
ereant. AS his duties took him away
from the house during a portion of the
lay, he thought the only way to detect
The culprit was to mix cathartic in
one of the bottles. This he did, and
placed the bottle in position which
made it easily accessible. 1t unfortu-
nately happened. however that Gen
Logan had arranged for meeting with
some of his friends that day at an hour
when Daniel was called away AS his
guests were partial to good whisky the
general treated them from his store,
and there being but one brand in the
cabinet he helped the gentlemen from
the first bottle which came t. his hand.
Always a keen observer Of men, Gen.
Logan noticed that his friends made
wry faces rs they drank the liquor He
then proceeded TO extol it's merits. told
it's age and how 1t came into his possess
sion. He then attempted to persuade
his friends to try a second glass They
unanimously asserted that 1t was the
best liquor they had ever tasted, but
protested against taking a second dram
on the plea that such extremely fine
goods should be preserved for future
generations Knowing his friends to be
men who rarely baked the second tum-
bier. the general was puzzled, and took
a sample himself.
by thunder, 1t has queer taste.
nc exclaimed.
At that moment Daniel entered the
room. His eyes fell upon the bottle and
he knew II was the one ne had dosed.
The CONSERVATION depicted upon his
face was observed by all and noticing
his manner, the general said:
whats the matter with this whisky,
MANI"
Dat whisky" retorted Daniel
Certainly. that whisky" replied the
general.
Did yo' drink dat whisky?" asked
Daniel
yes"
"All of 20 gemmen? ?"
what do you mean by asking these
auestions?" roared the general
well. / s'pose / must done gone ana
git anudder jon, den. / done dose dat
whisky to ketch a coon who's been
stealth it
Daniel was not compelled TO get an
other job, but Gen. Logan left orders
that he had better keep out of sight
until the recollections Of that good
liquor we're dimmed Ia his memory