Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1902-03-21

years of well-directed effort, His par
ents were poor and Mount Vernon,
which owed its name more to patriot
ism than any other distinctive quail
lty. was a settlement of limited op-
portunlties The picturesque Lacka-
wanna valley, rich in Indian traditions,
was also rich in anthracite and this
latter brought the grim coal breaker,
in which boys of very tender years
picked slate" with fingers that often
bled from contact with the "dusky
diamonds" whose edges were as keen
as broken glass.
It was at this occupation that Louis
Arthur Watres began the realities Of
life as a little bread-winner going to
work with a cheerful heart in the first
light of the morning; returning home
when his toll was done, with face and
clothing blackened by coal dust, but
cheerful still as he met the anxious
mother who rejoiced in his safe re-
turn, unmaimed by the machinery of
the screen-room, where children we're
often crushed IN those days by the
ponderous rolls which sometimes
ground up the coal and the slate pick
ers with equal impartiality Such hard
environment has invariably been the
portion Of the nations best at child
hood.
Colonel Watres is a direct descend
ant of the illustrious James Otis, of
Massachusetts, the famous revolu-
tionary statesman, whose great speech
against the Writ of Assistance
prompted John Adams to say: "Otis
was a flame of fire. American indie
pendence was then and there born. "
Otis is was who fired the first torch
Tor liberty. He was the first 6ppor-
snt of the stamp act; the first vindi-
GATOR of the rights OF the American
colonies, and not only wrote and
alked, but rendered service for
American freedom with a gun in his
hands
HIS EARLY HOME LIFE
In addition to the proud heritage Of
patriotic ancestry It may justly be
laid of Colonel Watres that genius
rocked his cradle. His mother, the
well-loved and gifted Stella of Lacka-
wanna" enriched the literature of the
region with the products of her brain
and pen, and in the war period stirred
many a heart to noble deeds for
country with the uplift of her patriotic
writings, which are pervaded by origi.
nality, power and great beauty of ex-
preston as the published volume Of
her poems well attests. Thus, while
his boyhOod was poor in worldly
wealth, it was rich in inheritance. pa
triotic inspiration and the refining
graees Of a model American home,
made happy by a kind father, and a
gentle. talented mother.
In those days Louis A. Watres divid-
ed his time between the coal breaker
and the public school He obtained a
position in a grocery store at Arch
bald, and later moved with his par
ents to Scranton, where he attended
the public school for two years. un-
iii he reached the age Of 16. This
ended his school days, and he has
been working ever since. He found
employment In the Scranton postofice
where he became assistant postmas
ter. He was next employed as book
keeper in the Merchants and Ne
chanics Bank Of Scranton, and be
came teller Of that institution; was
afterward deputy marshal Of the may
or's court Of Scranton; then city clerk
and subsequently elected cashier OF
the Scranton Savings Bank and Trust
company, a position which he filled
for hve years.
Law AND POLITICS.
Colonel Watres studied law with ths
late Hon. John Handley, and Ia 1877!
was admitted to the bar of Lacka.
wanna and Luzerne. He was county
solicitor Of Lackawanna from 1881 Il
1880. and IL 1882 was elected as a Re
~-