The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-18


has reception days. Captain James
qrartermaster at Fortress Monroe. had
beer dismissed by Mr.. Stanton, secre-
tary OF war, for a technical violation
OF the regulations. Stanton refused to
near any explanation in defense, and
the president was appealed to. asked
II could be of any service in Washing
ton and upon an affirmative answer, |
| went at once. l tried TWO days TO get
ac1nittance, but hound cabinet 1neet-
inss or members OF congress occupying
al the time. by the third cay the ante
room had become full of people wait
ing to See the president, men, women
ana boys, white and colored. L had by
th-S time maze the acquaintance of the
doorkeeper who said TO me that he
thought II l would wait a few minutes
the whole crowd would be admitted;
Tor that was the custom of une presi-
cent whenever a crowd like that was
there II there was no cabinet meeting,
or anything of that kind, he would let
! tnem all In at once. in lew minutes
the door was opened and the crowd
poured in, men, women and boys. l
did not count them, but There were
surely 100. AS soon as I entered the
room l cast my eyes over il and saw a
seat which, if could reach, would en-
able me to see and hear all that took
| place. | secured the coveted seat and
| saw and heard the applications CT all
the crowd and heard Mr.. Lincoln decide
| their cases. The president patiently
heard all they had to say in his good
natured kindness and wisdom were so
manifest that all could but admire the
unerring judgment and humanity with
which they were all dismissed.
nave regretted that l did not write
out at the time the cases as disposed
OF, for many of them have been for
! gotten, but l have a distinct recollec-
ton of the following:
One woman, well dressed and digni
fed, made application for a pass
through the lines to Richmond, and
gave as a reason that her sister was
assistance. The president asked her
if her sister had no friends in Rich
mond. 'Oh, yes, but she would like to
be with me-" The president brought
out the truth, that her home was in
Richmond and she had left, as we
thought we could see, because she
thought herself safer in Baltimore. The
president saw, as we all did, that she
was intensely rebel, and he said he
guessed she would be safer in Baltimore
than in Richmond, and he had no doubt
her sister would be cared for; but, he
said, with that peculiar indication OF
being amused that all who knew nam
will recall, 81 don't know but L would
be willing to compromise with you
l don't know but / would be willing 10
give you pass to Richmond II you Will
promise not to come back again with
Indignation, not only in her face, but IN
every wrinkle of her dress, she strode
out of the room.
A young lad presented himself Ia:
well, my lad, what do you wish!
He wanted TO go to West Point HOW
old are you?" On his answer tie pres
ident said, laying his hand on the lads
shoulder, oh, they won't receive You
at West Point. You are not ora
enough" The bpyfs countenance
showed great disappointment. Mr.. Lin
coln asked him where he lived ana
what he was doing. He gave his resi-.
dence and said he was fifer in a GER
tain regiment. How long have you
heen with the regiment? Ever slnce
the war commenced" The president
said. grasping the boys hand, go oach
to your regiment and do your duty' a.
7 know YOU will, and when you are ol9
enough come back here and VIII SEM
Won to West Point" That seemed 10
sdd several inches to the lads height
and he left with proud step
man presented himself with
nacl.asre Of papers as thick as his arm,
which he began to open. w nat can L
do for you.'' was the greeting of MT
Lincoln. The answer was tha'- ne
wanted to get an appoin tment as pay
master in the army. ON, SAID the
president, ~ have more paymaS-eis
than / have any use for. need money
much more than l need Daymas-eTs.
After a. little conversation he closed
the interview with, III tell you what
/ would like to do. I would like 10
trade some paymasters for some
money"
A woman wanted her son hardened
He had been courtmartialed for carry
ing percussion caps. cam phor and such
articles across the Potomac TO the
rebels, and sentenced TO be sho-
Among other papers presented by MS
mother was a letter. The president
commenced reading it aloud. a gen
tleman seated by my side said to me
that was his usual method; he would
read paper in such cases aloud. lie
read the first page. and then turned to
the signature, and said why, this is
from Mr. naming prominent
citizen of Maryland. Yes" was the
response. A man standing by said
THAT can't be so for he is dead" Mr..
Lincoln laid the letter on his knee,
and with a very slight flash of humor
on his face said, We'll, suppose ne
is dead; wouldn't a letter from dead
nan be worth more than one from
living one?" After listening very pa
tiently to the plea. of the mother and
some friends who had evidently
brought her along to help them, he
said TO her. Now. madam l do not
think you are treating me fairly. Your
son has been tried by a sworn court,
and convicted upon the testimony of
sworn witnesses of giving aid and COM
fort to the rebels by furnishing them
with percussion caps and other things,
which they must have and can't make,
and has been found guilty; and now
you ask me TO set that verdict aside
without any evidence at all, but just
as a. matter of humanity and kindness
to you. I do not think that fair, and
while l would Ike 10 crafty you l
suspect If l should do so 1t would not
be two weeks before he would be doing
the same thing again, and L am not at
all sure but that is just what you
would like to have him do"
There were some disloyal persons in
the room, but large part were his
friends, and their expression showed
plainly tna1 they realized and recog-
nized the kindlinesS and wisdom of
Nir. Lincoln in the decision of all the
cases.
Finally. they all left but two,
young woman and myself She beck
oned me forward. and l saw wanted
the last chance at the president. 1
shook my head and she went forward.
Upon being addressed, instead of re-
plying she produced q tablet and pencil
and commenced q conversation with
the president in writing, proving to be
u mute. She occupied more than half
an hour, and when she left arose and
went forward and was met with