The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-07

But the greatest thing about Abra-
ham Lincoln was his God-g given hui
mainly" said a distinguished speaker
in commenting on the life and work of
of his nature that appealed directly 10
I the people, and it is the thing that
! holds him dear in their memory. The
/ quaint humOr of Lincoln. the keen
| sense of the ludicrous, and the never
| falling sympathy of the man Went
| straight to the hearts of all who knew
| him. The mere mention of the liame
/ Of Lincoln i'm an assemblage Of people
/ who knew him is sufficient to bring
! forth anecdote after anecdote. Some
one has said that there are only forty
| good stories in the world, and many
| people believe that Abraham Lincoln
was the author Of at least thirty-nine
/ of them.
There has probably been no man in
! public life in the United States who
/ could relate from his personal expert
! ence more humorous episodes, all with
/ a plainly drawn moral than could Mr.
Lincoln. He was never at loss for
| story TO illustrate point he intended
! to emphasize. and many Of his anec-
/ dotes brought out what he wanted to
! say so clearly that he did not take the
! trouble to point their relation to the
! subject in hand
The reason Lincoln could do things
! and say things was that he understood
/ human nature in all its varied lights.
/ bic knew men as perhaps no other great
man has ever known them. He studied
| humanity carefully and tempered his
! words to fit the person to whom they
! were addressed. As a story teller he
I was without an equal in his time Fol
| lowing are some stories told by ard Of
| President Lincoln that reflect this
| characteristic:
! When Lincoln first came 70 Wash
ington," said an old politician OF the
/ south ct went TO see him. so preju-
diced beforehand that no man with less
! genius could have overcome it. L left
/ that first interview his friend. No man
ever came under the charm of Lin
| coins personality without respecting
/ him, and, if allowed, loving him.
] "One day. after we had become fairly
/ good friends, ! told him of my early
| prejudice.
Mr. Lincoln I said, 4 had heard
! every mean thing on earth about you
never too fond of the pleasures of
| life
! ''AIr. Lincoln sat for a moment strok-
| ing his long cheek thOughtfully, and
| then he drawled out in his peculiar
| western voice;
That reminds me of something that
boy said to me when l was about 10
| years old.
! once in awhile my mother used to
/ get some sorghum and some ginger and
| mix us Up n batch of gingerbread 1t
| wasn't often and it was our biggest
! treat
One day I smelled it and came into
| the house to get my share while it was
hot. I found that she had baked me
/ three gingerbread men, and I took them
out under a hickory tree to eat them.
There was a family near us that
! was little poorer than we were, and
their boy came along as 1 sat down.
ABE" he said, edging close,
gimme a man.
"T gave him one. He crammed it
I into his mouth at two bites and looked
at me while 1 bit the legs from my
! first one.
q Abe" he said. gimme that
other'n"
II wanted it, but gave it to him.
and as il followed the first one / said:
You seem TO like gingerbread"
Abe" he said. earnestly, Il don't
s'pose there's anybody on this earth
| likes gingerbread as well as I do" and,
| drawing Il sigh that brought up crumbs,
Il don't spose there's anybody gets
less of it."
| And the old congressman said Mr..
! Lincoln looked as though the subject
| was ended.
The following story, which Was writ
/ ten b. Benjamin G.. Jayne. who during
the most Of the Civil war was the per
sonal assistant of Edwin NJ. Stanton,
| the famous war secretary, was told at
a Lincoln dinner last spring:
One day Lincoln sent for Jayne TO
| come to the White House. Ny boy. "
said he. there is letter I would like
you to look at
jayne picked up the letter and found
J it was from General Dix. 1t conveyed
the information that several federal
i prisoners had escaped from Libby pris-
/ on with the aid OF Abbie Green. q Wo-
man famous during the war. The let
ter also said that as the fact of Abbie' s
assistance was well known. she had
| heen obliged to flee from Richmond,
4 and even then was on her way 10
| Washington on the flag of truce boat.
Now. my boy said the president,
Il don't know what / should say to
/ any rascal who would steal that letter
and have q bin passed through con-
/ gress. to grant $4,000 to the relief OF
-Abbie Green"
Mp Jayne stole the letter. and the
| next day both branches OF congress
/ passed the bin to grant $4,000 TO Abbie