The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-07-07

clear up the leaves or stubble. His
cheeks glow, his eyes shine, and he
swings his arms like a boy, drinking
i in great drafts of the pure air or
| whistling a merry tune
None of his eight farm hands knows
half as much as he does about the
| trees the crops, the cattle, sheep, pigs,
chickens, turkeys or ducks. Whether
in the peach or apple orchard, in the
| COW pasture, barn or sty, he is the
master of all in knowledge as well
as in energy He will ply his pitch
| fork or put his shoulder under heavy
load with the best of them, and it
| is a good man who can keep up with
him. He is modest enough, save when
he stands among his great Red Polled
cattle. the pride of his heart. Then
he swells with conscious comradeship.
for they are like h1m-olg, strong ana
genuine. There is no finer sight in
| that part of the country than Judge
Parker in the middle of his herd, call
| ing to his great bulls and laughing as
| they come to him.
rage house, built on the judges plans.
In the storage house are apples, pears.
| cider and all manner of good things
| to eat mostly the product of Rose
| mont Thrift, orderlineSs and ener-
getic management are everywhere in
| evidence.
of the austere chief judge reveal them
| selves To his wife, the inspiration
of his mature life, he is always like
| boyish lover. To his venerable moth
er he is the dutiful son, smiling at her
stern sermons on temperance and hui
mility, but proud of her noble charac-
ter.
He takes his little redheaded grand
1 son by the hand and swings around
the veranda with him like another
| child. He catches up his baby grand
| daughter Mary in his arms and dances
up and down the wide hall, Whistling
the while. And when his name is
mentioned to her she always purses
her rosy lips and tries to whistle.
| He drives his family to his son-in-
| laws church at Kingston every Sun
/ days and sings heartily. SO that stran-
gers in the congregation are apt to
turn their heads. Nor does he forget
to have his domestic servants. who are
Roman Cath olics. driven to their own
church regularly.
The judge is a Vestryman in the
Kingston church and. although a man
| of very moderate means, he is prob
| ably the wealthiest man in the con-
gregation. He is the practical pillar
| of the church and takes an active in
terest in its charities, its cooking and
sewing and dancing schools, its physi-
cal culture class and its basketball
games for boys. He is also a con-
tributor to the funds of the local or
phan asylum and is one of the man
ayers of the Kingston city hospital.
His neighborly usefulness is to be
seen on all sides. He is even the
freight agent of a steamboat company,
so that the little private dock on his
farm may be used for the conve-
nience of the community, and there
the fastest steam boats of the Hudson
touch on their way to and from New
York
Likes Magazines and Novels.
He is a confirmed magazine reader,
delighting in such periodicals as Har-
per's and the Outlook. He seldom
reads poetry, but is fond of good nov
els. Mrs. Parker is always on the alert
working husband. But his natural
taste is for Dickens. -Thackeray and
Scott. He delights in the vigorous
out of door atmosphere of THE Scot |
lite political writer. Any book on ag-
riculture or cattle breeding is sure
to interest him.
His daughter. Mrs. Hale, is an ac-
complished musician and used to sing
in choir at Kingston. The judge |
took her to Germany to study music. |
but Mrs. Parker's hearth failed sud-
denly. and her daughter insisted on
returning to the United States. Mrs
Hale plays the piano for her father.
and he occasionally sings. His must
cal tastes are very simple and CLASH |
cal compositions are apt to bore him.
After he has spent a morning work
ing on his judicial OpinionS-hourS I
of grave concentration, when no one
is permitted to interrupt his quiet
and when he is waiting for lunch his
secretary. Arthur MacCausland, will sit
at the piano while. the judge in a
sweet tenor voice sings old fashioned
ballads or hymns, Il Feel Just as
Young as I used to Be-" "OnIy an Ar
NOR Bearer" Hold the Fort and
so on
It is all very simple and natural in
that house. and hospitality is the first
law. Indeed, the judge carries hos
pitality to an extreme. All his neigh
bors are his friends. When he sits
at the head of the long mahogany
dining table with his wife, mother;
brother. daughter, son-in-law and
grandchildren, with one or two guests
and perhaps a neighbor visitor, he is
the life of the scene-gentle. dignified.
forcing it. a rare gift in a man of
strong mentality.
Day With Judge Parker.
1t seems a small thing to write
about a mans private habits, yet they
throw some light upon his character.
and, in the case of this farmer chief
judge, who has shrunk SO long from
public notice, a description of his or
binary day is suggestive of his type
Nothing in the life of a candidate for
president is unimportant.
He rises usually at half past
o clock in the morning, takes his cold
plunge, shaves and dresses himself in
thirty minutes. His riding dress is a
brown corduroy jacket and breeches
cloth cap and leather leggfngs. At
ter taking a cup of coffee without
sugar he is ready for his ride.
Then he mounts his big bay saddle
horse and rides at hard trot for
an hour over the country roads. The
whole region is full of historical in
terest, and the judge knows every
house and story. Now and then an
early rising farmer sees him riding at
a full gallop. talking to his horse
and sometimes throwing up his arms
in sheer excess of animal spirits.
After his daily ride, which he takes.
r., A =, ct Il
gard1esS of the season, he dresses for
business and eats a hearty breakfast.
usually of fruit, oatmeal pOrrldge,
beefsteak or sauSages or bacon and
eggS- with huckMheat cakes mamie l.