Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-03-04
CHANGED
HIS SPEECH
An Old Newspaper Man Tells a New
Story Of Abraham Lineoln's Cam
paign Days.
REFUSED TO USE INFORMATION
Honest Abe" Would Not Take Ad.
Vantage Of Printers Mistake to
Aid His Own Case.

A correspondent of the Progressive
Printer gives the following story of
Abraham Lincoln which seems never
to have found its way into print be.
fore:
"On Sunday night, August 22. 1858.
left Chicago where l had been en-.
gagged for about three years on the
Chicago Tribune. to take up my resi-
dence in st. Louis. A few typo
friends came over to the old Alton de-
pot to see me off. Having a half hour
or more to wait before the train left,
we naturally fell into politics as some
were Douglass Democrats and some
Lincoln Republicans. 'Squatter So
vereignty' was the theme and the
discussion was hot, if brief. All of us
had worked tnat Sunday on the
speeches of Douglass and Lincoln, de-
livered at Ottawa the day before,
which was published in the Times
(Dem.) and the Tribune (Rep.), each
from a report furnished from its own
stenographer. In those days no dali.
les were issued in Chicago on Sunday
morning. The comps worked on Sun
day to get out a Monday paper, large
ly because most of their readers OBJ
jected to taking a paper prinetd on
Sunday-forgetting that the bulk of
the work on a Sunday morning paper
Is done on Saturday, and most of the
work done on Monday morning pa.
per is done on Sunday.
ITO return to the discussion of the
typos: In the heat of it one of them
asserted that the Times had perpe-
trated a mean trick on Lincoln Ly
alterations, after his speech had been
put in type as reported, by which SEN
fences were made incoherent or mean
ingless, and the grammar doctored to
make him appear i~iliterate. | asked
him how he knew mat. He replied,
know It! Why | had several takes
on it that took me about as long to
correct the revise as to set them In
the first place. My first proof, which
was read by copy, was clean, only
now and then a typographical error
This statement was c%orroberated by
another Times compositor, who said
his revise was as lad as the other
mans, and others were of the same
sort. This last speaker is still alive,
according to a recent group of old
printers published in the Inland Print
er for December. The alterations
we're made in the editorial rooms ami
the names were given Of the censors.
They are all dead now and it cen
best not to mention them.
The incident above referred to
comes in in this way: On arriving at
Bloomington 1t was in the gray of q
clear morning. had, as did the 9th
er passengers, doubled up as best |
could for some rest in my seat. There
were no sleepers on any railroad in
those days, | think; certainly not in
the west. The testing of wheels by
the yardman's hammer at Blooming
ton wakened me from an uncomfort-
able nap and my neck seemed twist
ed into kinks. Looking forward saw
a very tall, stalwart man, quite plain
ly, though not shabblly dressed, as
he came leisurely back towards the
rear of the car-in the right sea. CT
which on the rigut hand side, l had
spent a most uncomfortable night
looking from side to side for a seat
not taken by a reclining occupant.
It was Abraham Lincoln, though I did
not know 1t at the time. AS he near
ed me | hitched over to make room
and remarked | reckon, Mister. this
is your only chance Thank YOU
he replied, that seems to be the
case.' As he sat down | came to the
conclusion that my seatmate was a
farmer, and remarked that ne must
have gotten out early to catch the
train. He replied, The fact is, | did
not have to get up this morning. for
did not go to bed last night Then
he explained he had been up the road
attending a political meeting. On
the idea that he was a farmer asked
about the prospects Of good crops, val
ne of land, ETC.. to which he gave such
apt replies as to make me believe
that he was a mighty intelligent farm