Evening journal., 1897-01-25
FRANKED FOR THEM.
A SOLDIERS STORY OF PRESIDENT
LINCOLN AND BOYS IN BLUE.

"Let this 90. A. LINCOLN"
Unless it has been destroyed there is
In a home in Fond du Lac county, Wis,
q soldier letter in an envelope bearing
the above words, signed by the great war
president
Frank King was a Lamartina boy,
fresh from the farm, and a character
our whole company took to kindly from
the first
When the army was campod in Vir-
ginia, near Washington, the winter Of
1S6l-2, it was common practice with
the soldiers, when they got a pass, to
visit the city to buy a package Of Ell
velopes and call at the capitol, send in
for their senator or representation and
get him TO frank them.
One of our boys came back to camp
in high feather. He had two packages
Of envelopes-one franxed by Senator
James r. Doolittle, now Chicago law
yer, the other by the late Senator L. q.
Howe, who succeeded Captain James as
postmaster general in President Arthur's
cabinet. For 20 years senators and mem
bers have been giving a good deal Of
their time to helping the soldiers with
their pension claims. If they have done
it as willingly and pleasantly as they
used to frank envelopes for the boys,
they must be pretty nearly angels
"You fellows. there. are making a
big blast over getting a couple of sena-
tors 10 frank your envelopes, said
Frank King. "Just you wait till you see
me come back from Washington with
the presidents name on some letter COW
ers -
Within q few days Frank King and
Harry Dunn, who for years after the
war was a Chicago business man, went
to the city. They called at the White
| House. 1t was easier to see the president
then than it is no& At certain hou-s
Of the day a soldier could reach the
chief executive with fully as much case
as a senatog can in these later years
King was the ringleader. Approach
ing the guard, he said: "We want to
see Mr. Lincoln. Please stand aside and
let us pass.
"Who are you, and what is your busi-
nessf"
''You tell old Abe we have charge Of
a regiment over on Arlington Heights
and want to SEQ him on an important
matter. He'll let rs ill.,.
where are your shoulder straps?"
eve Same over in our everyday
clothes. Come, we are in a hurry. Let
rs 90 in and see Nh. Lincoln.
The parley had attracted the attention
Of the president The door swung open
and the good natured chief Of the nation
smiled upon the cheeky young fellows
and bade them step right in.
"What can do for you, my meng"
"Mr Lincoln, / want you to franl
these envelopes. said King.
'Better get your congressman TO d'
that.
I'D much rather have you do it, Mr.
Lincoln. The folks at home would lik'
to sec your name On my letters.
"I'n lx oro Of them. Take the rest
TO your conrrcss-an. Who is hcg'
81 don't know.
"Where is your homeY
"Lamartine, Fond du Lao county
Wis.
"That is my friend Scott Sloan's dis
! tL4lAs 4 Ou ~ ~ 4fAAa 14ltA4i AAA " 4AA AZ
the rest Of them.
3 The president shook hands with thr
two privates, asked them to be brav'
3 soldiers and wished them a safe return
to their western homes.
Frank couldn't make his tentmate
believe that the president had written
"Lat this go. A. Lincoln. But the mex
| day he wrote a letter TO his father Th
= name of Lincoln was personally exam
ined by all of the neighbors
D In January, 1864. our regiment wa
D in Washington on the way home, having
re-enlisted-''v ''vcteranized, as the.
I called it, In conSlny with two other
/ / went to the White House The presi
dent shook hands with us, thanked U
for swearing in for three years more ant
p ! expressed the hope that we would hav
], nice visit on our veteran furlough.
5 "Mr. President, said Jones-E
r Jones--"you franked a letter for one o
the boys in our company, Frank King
= / wisi you would frank one for me. -
!. "Odd as it may seem, you are tn
= second soldier 70 make such reques,
n So both c-o Of the same company? Yer
l. well.
g on Ioucs' envelope he wrote "a
S Lincoln, President, " and as he hande
it back be asked what had become q
that other man who had asked him t
n pass a letter.
]. ''He was killed at Gettysburg.
il / shall never forget ths look Of SAD
t ness in the presidents face when th
> answer was given, and il had not disaI
l. peared when we left the room.
: Jones, what did you tell him abor
! King for? Did you see how it paine
. him?'
What did he ask about him for? d
you suppose l was going to lie to a ma
would die fort" was Jones indignar
= reply. Chicago Times Herald.
l. The Courts Decision.
o "You remember Howforth, who ma
= ried the woman who kept house for hii
( so long?"