The Irish standard., 1904-07-23
from them by combinations or by in
dividual selfishness."

skirts of Raltimore-the same house,
by the way, where his cousin, Senator
German, was born-he was taken at
the age of one year to the town of
Woodstock, Md, on the line of the
Baltimore and Ohio, and there his
boyhood was passed. Going to school
winters and working on the farm of
former Gov. Howard, of Maryland, to
support his mother till he was nine
teen years of age, no one would have
thought it likely that at this present
age he would have been worth $780,
100000 and would be selected as the
candidate for vice-president Secur-
ing position as brakeman on the
railroad. he worked his way up by
his enterprise and thrift till he became
freight conductor and manager of all
trims running on all the road. One
day there was a great wreck on the
line and the manner in which he
cleared the track and set the trains
i'll motion again attracted the atten
ton of his superiors. After that his
promotion was rapid, and in 1868 he
married Miss Kate BantZ, daughter
of Il famous Maryland judge.
AS he told me the story of his life,
and came to the name of this sweet
little girl who had been his helpmeet
and companion through the long years
of his activity, there was momentary
haze in the clear dark eyes and the
least little trcmor in the firm voice.
For the mother of his children and
the comradc of life spent as much
time in guiding the welfare and labor
of others as he did himself. "Since
she died. in 1902" he said, Il have
been trying to finish the work that we
planned together She loved the val
Icy and the people down there rs much
as l did, and the gloom that settled
over the countryside when she went
away proved that they returned it ALL"
His eyes wandered to the neat little
brick Davis Memorial hospital, shin
ing among the trees of the village and
perhaps he was thinking of the face
that, painted in oils, smiles hopefully
upon every patient that enters the in
stitution and joyously upon every one
that goes away cured. When your
correspondent visited the hospital Il
little boy Of seven, who had come
down from the mountains twisted and
warped by hip disease. and was now
going away straight and strong and
buoyant after being cured, stood with
his little straw hat in his hand in
front of the picture of the motherly
And then turning to me he said with
his Southern drawl and Virginia ac-
cent: "She's the lady what come hyer
and kissed me, leaning ovah my bed,
that first night after the operation,
when 1 was crazy like and they was
al sorts of critters lowering ovah my
head"
During the war Davis was true to
the Union cause. devoting his energies
to furnishing the government with
supplies. He did a great deal to keep
the western portion of the Old Domin-
ion true to the flag. At the close Of
the war, realizing the immense posi-
bilitics of this vast region at the head
waters of the Potomac, he began to
buy coal and lumber lands to collect
the friends who afterward built the
railroads with him and to lay the
foundation for this thriving COM
munity Of workers. In 1866 he was
in the legislature, and in 1871 entered
and remained in the United States
senate till 1881. His thorough work
in the latter body brought from james
G. Blaine one Of the most hearty COM
mendations to be found in his book,
'Twenty Years in Congress" His life
is we'll known to the country at large
by now, but the human, personal side
Of the man proves to be still more in
teresting.
Full of the milk of human kindness,
rs enthusiastic as boy, gentle as a
woman and indomitable as steam ell
CINE when anything is to be accom-
plished, he is worshipped by his chill
dren and grandchildren and is held in
the midst of personal interests by thou
sands Of people throughout this coun-
trysidc whose prosperity is part and
parcel Of his own.
To-day, having sold the West Vir-
ginia Central, with it's long string Of
coal mines, to the Wabash road, he is
busy building new road from
Charleston, w. Va, to Elllins; is PLAN
ming to push a line through Virginia
to the sea; is owner Of 100000 acres
of untouched coal lands and as many
more acres Of spruce timber that be
speaks pulp and paper mills for his
empire; is planning hundreds Of
schemes for the development Of the
countryside; has untold interests in
concerns ranging from hundreds Of
miles on every side; works from day
light to darkness and far into the
night, and finds time to stop and talk
with the farmer folk, white and black,
who come trooping up to Graceland to
congratulate their hero upon his NOM
ination for tho vica-nresidencv