Semi=weekly graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1895-1902, 1897-04-28

letter. I did not mean to intimate that
7 had to any extent been involved or
embarrassed by You nor yet to draw
from you anything to relieve myself
from difficulty My only object was TO
assure you that had not, as represented
by The Herald correspondent, charged
vou with an attempt to inye;gle me IN
to Kentucky TO do me violence. l be-
1ieve no such thing Of you or Of Ken
tuckians generally, and l dislike to be
represented to them as slandering them
in that way.
During the war Larue county--being
that part of Hardin county in which
Mr. Lincoln was bo11--sent Dr. j. Il.
Rodman. one of her citizens, to Wash
ington to see the president with a view
to having corrected the number OF men
demanded from the county under the
requirements of the draft. Not long
after reaching the White House and
sending up his card DIR. Rodman was
admitted, somewhat in advance OF his
turn, as he thought because several OF
those who still fingered in the ante
rooms told him they had been yainly
waiting to see the president for days,
but were unable to catch even glimpse
of him. In the course of the converse
ton Rodman informed the president
that q number of the citizens of Larue
county had sent with him to be present
ed to the president cane made from
timber that grew on the farm on which
the latter was born, but that he had
left it with jeweler i'll the city with
directions to put gold head with a
suitably engraved inscription on 1t. On
the following day, when the jeweler had
finished his work, he would bring 1t
over. "How viii L know" inquired
Mr.. Lincoln, "who the donors of this
acceptable gift are?" Rodman answered
that he supposed the names would be
engraved ON the gold headpiece. How
foolish CT me, laughed the president,
'.to ask that question. l am like the
Irishman who called for his mail at the
postoffice and when the postmaster ask.
ed his name with true Irish wit an.
swered, Faith and me name is on the
letter -
Dr. Redman says the president seem
ed to be in an unusually reminiscent
mood and made frequent inquiries about
the Cessmas, Brownfields Friends, Ash
crafts and other prominent Kentucky
families. Recalling few meager Incl
dents CT his beyhood, he inquired espe
cially after Austin Gollaher, one of hts
playlnates who by the ready and skill
full use of a sycamore branch claimed
to have saved young Abe from drowning
in Knob creek
How is the old fellow making it
now" playfully inquired the president.
"Tell him / would rather see him now
than any man living He played me
mean trick once, but you can assure him
when you see him that 1 have long
since agiven him. 1t was this way;
We 1ze out in the woods playing one
day and hunting for game Our most
dangerous weapon was a hickory club
or stick. had climbed up into tree.
and being more or less tired had braced
myself in the forks Of two limbs to rest,
leaving Austin below Sitting thus for
some time, looked down and beheld the
latter stretched out on the grass appar-
emily asleep. Beside him lay his hat,
| bottom side uppermost. l remembered
that [ had III the pocket of my little
coat hanging from limb overhead
papaw which | had picked up few
moments before and which was thor
oughly ripe. Knowing ii it fell to the
ground it was black and soft enough to
burst, l determined that rs Austin was
asleep to drop it into his hat Reaching
up l withdrew it from my pocket, and
holding it between my knees to get a
sure aim, let it fall 1t landed in the
very center of my playmate's hat, and
there was a bountiful scattering Of
! bursttd papaw inside and all around
it, In keen expectation of enjoyment I
rapidly descended but when l reached
terra tirma found that, contrary to my
supposition, Austin had not been asleep
at all and that while [ had been en-.
gagged in reaching for my coat he had
quickly transposed hats, and instead Of
praetieing a joke on him had carefully
deflled my own hat -
The period Of Lincoln's boyhood
spent i'll Indiana is fraught with the
greatest interest to the student of his
history, for it was these earlier years Of
his life that had their lasting effect on
the mind and temperament of this great
''mirthful and yet melancholy man. "
No better picture Of boys life i'll the
early days Of the west can be obtained
than the modest bit of autobiography
furnished by Mr. Lincoln to Jesse w.
Fell in 1859. 1t is one of those purely
Lincolnian specimens of terse and Wig
orous English. One seldom finds in lit
erature or history such concise and yet
forcible expression. We reached our
new home, he relates, referring to the
removal to Indiana. 'sabout the time the
state came into the Union 1t was u
wild region, with many bears and other
wild animals still III the woods There
grew up. There were some schools, so
called, but no qualification was ever
required OF teacher beyond sreadin,
writin and cipherin' to the rule of
! three. If straggler supposed to under
stand Latin happened to sojourn in the
neighborhood, he was looked upon as a
! wizard. There was absolutely nothing
/ 10 excite ambition for education. Of
course when / came Of age did not
know much. Still somehow | could
read, write and cipher to the rule of
/ three, but that was all. have not been
to school since. The little advance
now have upon this store of education l
have picked up from time to time un-
der the pressure of necessity. " How
modest the narrative of this early chap.