The Washington times., 1904-06-05


summoned TO the dingy old
courtroom by word of mouth
from office to office. They had respond
ed by overlooking into the benches set
apart for the jury and the desks used
by the clerks. until there was hardly
room for the newspaper reporters. One
Of their number. particularly noted
among them for grace of speech, was
presenting 10 the retiring justice, with
much eloauence and many compliments.
a costly and handsome silver bowl And
the object of all their interest stood
self-controlled and impassive before n
gloomy painting Of the first President,
himself as tall. as powerful Of frame
and as silent as the pictured Father Of
His Country.
No doubt. to the lawyers who heard
that eulogium that afternoon. the scene
was the distinctive glory of a notable
life. Surely, it was enough that man
had earned his way TO the front Of a
great profession, and had earned as well
the affection OF his associates In that
profession. Surely, no character could
receive a greater tribute than promo
ton from court OF justice 10 court of
justice with the applause Of those who
contended before him ringing clearly in
his ears.
Yet. had the man himself been asked,
he would probably have cited as the
greatest glory OF his life. a scene Of
the broadcast CONTRAST roadside home
on a little farm In North Carolina,
where a strapping young boy and his
resolute girl wife pored together far
into the night over two threadbare law
books. borrowed from a neighbor miles
away. There are eyes in this world that
see in perspective always; and the eyes
OF that Judge shining over the heads
OF those lawyers. were eyes Of that sort.
From Pioneer Days.
We are inclined. these days, TO think
OF pioneer America as a picturesque
legend The days when men broke viz
gin ground. when stumps fought the
farmer for title 10 the soil, when boys
were bound out" like temporary slaves,
even the days when townsman and
countryman stopped at their work to
hear with set jaws the last news from
1.-THE 'front.'" now exist for most Of us
only in books. But the country is full
OF men who tie that period and ours
together with their lives; and-maybe
selves-it is to be noted everywhere
that all the progress Of a new age has
not swept those men from their high
station among their fellows.
Out Of that day and that life came Jeter
Connolly Pritchard. printer, editor. State
legislator. United States Senator, justice
Bf the Supreme Court of the District
OF Columbia. and now justice OF the
United States circuit court for the
Fourth district
Not yet fifty years old, he has at
tanned 10 an eminence among lawyers
with which most men would be content
TO close their careers. With thirty
years yet to fight ahead he has made
his way within a single step of the
nations Supreme Court. He has done
still more than this: he has made this
progress-nct with the fair and open
advantages at the elbow of every law
student in the cOuntry-but against OBJ
stacles so discouraging and difficulties
so fixed that all the attachments Of his
mind pale before the achievements of
his Will.
Bound Boy, Chore Boy and Nurse.
One OF the Confederate sacrifices 10
the war left on their own resources a
widow and her four children. At the
close OF the war the eldest Of these
children, Jeter. was eight years old
For four years he remained with his
mother. Then he was bound out" and
delivered into the control Of a virtual
slave master
II happened this master was the owner
and editor Of a country newspaper, the
'Jonesboro Tribune-Herald." and the
bound boy" thus became a devil I'm
a printing Office. But he was not a
printer only, he was chore boy and nurse
besides. In the morning he tended the
horse and COW and worked I'm the garden.
In the day he did a mans work for the
'Tribune-Herald." In the late after
noon he relieved the editors wife of the
care Of the editorial babies. In the even
ing the horse and COW claimed him
again. At night. when the moon gave
light enough, he chopped wood for the
neighbors IN order 10 earn money to buy
books.
The life was not easy. There were two
things, however. which made II harder
than need be The first was that though
the young boy could read he could not
write, and no one made any effort 70
teach him. The second was that both
the editor and his wife were his bosses.
Striking Out for Manhood.
One day in midsummer the end came
out Of the clear sky. The assistant e1i-
tor had been put at clearing away bean
vines for a second planting. The editors
wife stood at the edge Of the bed. Word
led 10 word. In a moment the aditor-in-
chief was running TO the garden and
catching up bean pole. Maybe the boy,
who was not then fourteen, was wrong.
but the neighbors, who recalled the Incl
dent long afterward, always gave him
their sympathy
Neither the editor nor his wife struck
The bound boy. They had never done
50 before, and they were stopped from
doing so now by an old-fashioned. one
load pistol. held resolutely in "A big.
brown fist And that night a staIy1art.
muscular lad swung along the road
leading from the little town Of Jones'
bcro. by the side OF Roam Mountain. and
down into the village OF BakersviIle. I'm
North Carolina. thirty-flve miles away.
and beyond the reach Of the Tennessee
bound law"
Most OF the distance was covered be-
fore daybreak, while the road shone
white in the moonlight except where