The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-29

man Halls 1,S00-acre farm in Missouri,
and stated that he was the largest
farmer in the state. Representative
Johnson read the item and said in a
very serious manner, as though he
were dead in earnest:
1.-The item speaks volumes for Mis-
souri," and it has made a strong i'm
preston on my mind. 1t would be a
great benefit and blessing to North
Dakota If our bonanza farms could be
broken up into little holdings like that.
do not know who has the largest farm
in North Dakota. The Grandin farm
contains about 5000 acres and Dali
rymple has 10000 acres. recollect dur
ing the last congress my official duties
required me to advise the administra-
ton whether or not to remove a post
master, who kept the little fourth-clasS
Office Of Pickert, in Steele county. One
of the doubts entertained at the depart
ment was whether the old farmer was
financially responsible to handle so
much public money 1 found upon in
vestigation that the total receipts of
the Office was SOB a year, and that
most of the patrons were the hired
help Of the farmer postmaster. His
farm buildings had cost 800, 600, and he
had raised the year before 100000 bush
els of wheat. I did not recommend his
removal It is only fifty miles from
his farm to mine, in an adjoining
county. We had lived there ten years,
and yet I declare, 1 had never heard
of him or his little calf pasture of half
million-bushel-wheat farm until the
postoffice muddle came up. Nobody
out there considers the Pickert farm as
anything remarkable for size, and yet
think it would be blessing to the state
if it and all of the bonanza farms We're
broken up into little homesteads like
that of Halls in Missouri"
Congressman Hall, by the way, is
something of a joker himself He will
tell good story at his own expense
as soon as he will put the butt of the
joke on another. He says that when
very young man. and that was many
years ago." he Visited Kentucky on
some business in a place called Crab
Orchard.
''In a casual way" says Mr.. Hall,
81 became acquainted with a gentle
man I'll call Col. POindexter. The ac-
quaintance was no more, however, than
the merest introduction. On Sunday
morning, the next day after my Crab
Orchard advent, Col. Poindexter called:
81 feared you might be lonely, sir,
in strange place, and thought it
was as little as a perfectly idle man
like myself could do to call around
and entertain you, sir
ST thanked him, and he suggested a
walk
'''Col. Hall, SIR remarked my friend,
as we proceeded up the quiet Sunday
street, "'should you care to try a little
whisky this morning. I can recon-
mend some which 1 have in my office,
sir. kept it for myself and my par
ticular friends, sir
"'It did not strike me as the polite
thing to refuse, and, to tell the truth,
/ didn't care to say or do anything to
offend my country friend, Col. Poin-
dexter. didn't know how far he might
regard g. declination to drink his whis-
ky as an invasion of his honor. So
we turned into the colonel's Office. He
poured out a drink of whisky in an or
binary water glass. He filled 1t about
half. It was a tremendous drink. /
knew that: but was in Kentucky and
didn't care to impair my standing
with my friend. Col. Poindexter. SO
I nerved myself, raised the glass, and
the next moment had every drop of
it beneath my belt.
" Would you like another glass, sir p
asked the colonel, his face beaming
with evident pleasure at my appre-
Gle ton of his whisky.
Determined to make as good an i'm
preston as might be, 1 declined the
himself with a very moderate swallow
OF his medicine. Still, I could see that
I had completely mastered his good
opinion. He couldn't think better of
ne if we'd been friends from the era
Ale. AS we stepped into the street, he