The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-02-10
~ :! 94D Sls9 =
rom The journal Rnreau, colorado Building,

From The sJearnal bureaus, colorado Building,
1 Washington. We sl& ss4ss IL
Il szW7aasslIfngton, EEebs Ex-senator
tK11ute Nielsen of Minnesota is the only
SeandinAyian eyer seledtedESto the
United States senate Incidentally, it
may be stated that Mr.. Nelson is per-
haps the hardest working member of
the senate; &at, any, rate, there can be
no question thatsfle. puts in more
hours per day at senatorial labor than
any of his colleagues. He reaches his
committee-roomz each morning not
later than 8 O'Clock, and after staying
at the capitol all day, he goes home
for dinner, and usually returns in the
evening: ~
Senator Nelson is a man Of simple
habits. Early in life he learned the
Virtue of hard work. In his later
years this work has become more a
pleasure than anything else, and
when he says that he doesn't mind it,
he really means it.
AS the. only Scandinavian in the
senate he is appealed to for all sorts
of aid. Because he is a Norseman,
others of that blood feel closer to him
than they do to their immediate, rep
resentatives Gin congress, and, accord
i1tgly they pour their troubles into his
letter. t-'@'' - :. - 50 "
He enjoys being helpful to his
count try M ND EFF erta too
great which will render them salts
factory service. But all this involves
tremendous expenditure of energy
and time. Carrying this outside work,
in addition to his regular duties, there
are not enough hours in the usual
working day for his purposes; but he
burns the midnight oil freely: z
s., Enjoys Hard Work:
I'VE Who 7 make Emo zpretense to
genius, but are mere plodders, must
work more hours each day than your
really brilliant man. said Senator
Nelson recently. L am good dig
GER he added. "and have been at 1T
so zlong thai. / realty. enjoy it, @
But doesn't your outside CORE
| spondence account for good deal of
your extra work.. he was asked:
sob, yes, he replied; but What Of
that? If 1 weren't busy at that,
should be busy at something else
Here is a story that gives a fair idea
of the penalty imposed upon Senator
ENelson for being the only Scandina-
Wan in the upper house.
! . A young man Of good Norwegian
family, educated for the ministry,
abandoned his faith. and after Sc
ries of escapades at home, came to
the United States, where he enlisted in
( the union ar1ny,.as private in a. GER
/ tain New York regiment. He left a
wife and SEVERAL children behind him,
and aged parents, but be wrote socca-
sionally,- and so NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. were
! known until ,sass53ptittI SSS, when the let
ters,.: ceased he,ReI1e atea,' efforts were
made to trace him for thirty years or
/ more, but without results;s a2nat :.
Finally, Senator Nelson was APP
pealed to by the relatives inzNorway.
He. learned thru General Ainsworth,
chief Of the record and pensionl Of
flee of>.the war department, that: the
young man was. desperately wounded
in an engagement in Virginia, was
taken captive and died soon Rereaf-
ter in a Confederate prison. The next
thing was to SECURE q pension for the
widow. After figuring up the sew.
eral allowances due, it was found: that
the total was about $4,000. This was
Eallowed, and Senator Nelson had the
pleasure of forwarding the amount tc
| Norway.
Wrote in Norwegian.
Senator Nelson carried on a Xolu
minous correspondence in Norwegian
with the dead soldiers relatives. Thi:
was not easy, for the senator, altht