The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-10-12

prediction fulfelled, it still would have
given him the keenest atisfaction ii she
could have lived until her prophecy was
wholly verified. After her death Miss
billions brother sent Senator N elson a big
parcel, which, when opened, proved to be
newspaper clippings concerning hlnl
which she had been years in collecting.
When she was !16 he heard that at AL
bion seminary, which was conducted by
Seventh Day Baptists; a boy could get an
education withoutmoney. He at once set
out. on tramp Of 16 miles to see about
it. Prof. A. r. Cornwall, who was as-
sistant principal Of the school, told him
that he would assure him work enough
to pay for. his room rent, tuition, and
books if he could manage the rest. SEN
ator Nelson says he often laughs when
he thinks Of the picture he must have
presented when he appeared before Prof:
Cornwall as one of the new students.
Every garment he had on was homespun
as well as home made. The wagon,
drawn by pair of old oxen on which was
a wood chest containing his belongings,
| wood to keep his room warm, and enough
cooked food to last him week, was also
home made, having sections of Big logs.
with holes in the center, for wheels. In
the two years that he attended Albion
Seminary, he says he did not have, all
told, $40 in spare cash. a.
When the war broke out, Senator Mel
son, with 20 Of his fellow students, en-
listed. He served three years, was woun-
ded, taken prisoner at Port Hudson, and
came out a corporal. He then finished
his seminary course, read law in Senator
Villas Office in Madison, was admitted to
the bar and elected to the state assembly
of Wisconsin before he was "a years old.
Senator Nelson's first nomination, which
as often happens, was equivalent. to an
election, was peculiar. He knew nothing
of politics, and when the secretary OF
state, who was a warm personal friend,
proposed that he should try for the nom
ination as an assemblyman he told him
he did not know how to go about it. The
secretary assured him by promising that
if he would get the delegates of his own
town of Deerfield he would do the rest.
This he undertook to do and accomplish
ed. There were, As votes in all, and on
the third ballot he received 19 and his
opponent %, while the rest were scatter
ing lie made up his mind he would
cover his defeat by absence, but, as it
was with Frederick the Great, he was re-
called just as he was getting away to find
his forces victorious. While he was
member Of the Wisconsin assembly, to
which he was returned second term,
he assisted in electing Matt Carpenter to
the United States senate.
The failure Of bank IN 1859 left him
with, as he says, nothing but wife and
baby, "a borse and buggy, and few law
books The summer of 1871 he went to
%o1 Of 4 t1ovonHrio Hic
first office in the state was attorney of
Douglas county. He was afterwards
state senator presidential elector in
1880, one of the regents OF the State Uni
versity, and was elected governor Of Min
nesota in 1892 and reelected in 1884. s@ss
The only sport which Senator Nelson
enjoys is fishing, which is one reason he is
fond OF what is known as the minnesota
Park region" where the beautiful lakes
abound with the young black bass and
where he has his country home. This
home, which is on farm little more
than mile from Alexandria, a. charm
ing little town Of 5000 inhabitants, is
simple and unpretentious, as is Senator
Nelson himself in all he does and says.
In spea king of his fondness for fishing he
says:
Just strong pole, a line, hook and bait
is ali want, and like it quite as we'll
when the fish don't bite as when they do,
for: am fond of thinking when am fish
ing and I do not care to be interrupted
too often.
A great believer in the genius of hard
work, Senator Nelson is indefatigably in
dustrious.. He is just now devoting him.
self to the history of finance. He has a
prodigious memory, a way of putting
things into a few brief, forceful sentences,
and to converse with him on this subject
is to gain, in a very brief space, a clear
idea of the different financial systems that
have obtained and are now in operation
throughout the world. Unlike the large
majority of people at the present time,
Senator Nelson is not so much interested
in the gold and silver question as in
changing the paper currency Of the coun-
try, which he believes to be one Of the
most important of present issues.