Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-07

laugh. He talks freely and he tells a good
story. He is man of ideas, and after he
has passed through the apprenticeship
which the older Senators make all young
men undergo before they permitted to
do much in the Senate chamber he will
probably show himself to be one of the
ablest and most influential men of that
body.
A Family of turner's.
asked Senator Thurston to tell me some
thing about his ancestry. and especially as
to where the name Thurston came from.
He replied: Il don't care much about
genealogy. l think It Is more important to
know what a man is than what his
ances yors have been. AS for Thurston, the
name is Scandinavian. 1t originally meant
Thors-ste.n, which. translated, is, l believe.
the son of Thor. My ancestors came from
Scandinavia to England. They emgrated
to America about 1886 in the little ship
Mary Anne. and the first Thurstons landed
at Newburyport. Some OF the family took
part in the revolutionary war, and they
were, believe, very respectable people. BY
the time my father appeared on the scene
they had drifted as far west as Vermont.
and 1t was in that state that l was born.
What did your father do. SENATOR" l
asked
He was a farmer. as his father and
grandfather had been before him. There
were, in fact, seven generations of farmers
in my line before my father tried to make
a living out of the poor land on the YER
mont mountains. He added. however, the
tanning of leather to the tilllng of the soil.
and in time he saved a few thousand dol
lars. This he took with him and went west
to invest it in real estate and to grow up
with the country. l was just seven years
old at the time we left Vermont. We first
settled at Madison, Wis. and thence went
to Beaver Dam, where by a series of I'M
successful investments my father lost all
he had"
How One Boy Got an Education.
where did you go to school. Senator?"
IT had hard time to get an education"
replied Senator Thurston. Il went to the
common schools at Madison and Beaver
Dam, and afterward worked my way
through a small college in Wisconsin The
most Of my schooling was during the
spring and fall. My summers and winters
were devoted to work.
What kind of work, Senator?'
IAN kinds" was the reply. Il did any
thing 1 could get to 90. l worked with my
father on the farm, and remember / once
made lot of money making a fence. 1
got IL cents a rod. and l have made as
high as forty rods day, which any fence
maker will tell You is pretty good work.
The fence was of boards. The posts had
to be sunken in the ground. and four boards
nailed on to them and another board on
top. The pos is, iE order to be of an even
length, had to be sawed off IN most cases
after they were set. l made considerable
in this way. but the chief part of my income
came from hunting and fishing, which 1 car
ried on in the winter"
The Struggles of a Young Lawyer.
How did you come to study law"
Il can't tefi that" replied Senator Thurs
ton. when 1 was quite a small boy I said
was boundto be two things. One was to
be lawyer and the other was to go to the
United States Senate. 1 suppose my father
put the law idea into my head. At least, 1
studied law as soon as got out of school
and was admitted to practice at Beaver
Dam"
ator?'
Yes" was the reply. at was justice of
the peace case. A man had been arrested
for whipping a boy. The prosecuting at
torney was called away and he asked ME 10
try it. When the town learned that l was to
plead the case they crowded about the Of
flee. The Justice complimented me on my
speech, but he gave the verdict to the other
side. This was so with nearly all the cases
of my earlier practice. l lid not seem to
succeed, and it was a long time before
made anything to speak or.
How did you happen to go to Omaha?"
81 wanted to find a new city and grow I'D
with it," replied Senator Thurston. ct took
a map of the United States and studied the
towns of the west, wavering long time be-
had then 5000 people. and finally chose
it."
How much money had you when you got
there?"
Just forty dollars, which I had made
grading wheat?
THAT was not much to start out life with,
was it, SENATOR" said I.
at seemed a great deal then" replied the
man who is now getting more than four
hundred dollars a month from Uncle Sam.