The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-07-10

a good new story for her hard work-
ing husband But his natural taste Is
for Dickens, Thackeray and Scott. He
delights in the vigorous QUITO -door
atmosphere of The Scottish Chiefs.
jefferson is his favorite political writer.
Any book or article on agriculture or
cattle-breeding is sure to interest him.
His daughter, Mrs. Hale. is an ac-
complished musician and used to sing
in a choir at Kingston. The Judge
took her to Germany to study music,
but Mrs. Parker's health failed sud-
denly and her daughter insisted on re-
turning to the United States. Mrs.
Hale plays the piano for her father
and he occasionally sings. His musical
tastes are very simple and classical
compositions are apt to bore him.
After he has spent morning work.
ing on, his judicial opinions-hours of
grave concentration, when no one is
permitted to interrupt his quiet-and
when he is waiting for lunch, his sec
rotary, Arthur MacCausland. will sit at
the old piano, while the Judge in a
sweet tenor voice sings old-fashioned
ballads or hymns, II Feel Just as
Young as Used to Be-" only an Ar
NOR Bearer" Hold the Fort" and so
on.
1t is all very simple and natural in
that house And hospitality is the first
law. Indeed, the Judge carries hospi
tally 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 grandchu-
dren, with one or two guests, and per-
haps, a neighbor visitor, he Is the life
of the scene; gentle. dignified. helping
the conversation, but never forcing 1t
Ia rare gift in a man of strong men
tally.
A Day With Judge Parker.
It seems 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 at half past 6 o'clock in the
morning, takes his cold plunge. shaves
and dresses himself in thirty minutes.
His riding dress is brown corduroy
Jacket and breeches. cloth cap and
leather Ieggings. After 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 historic inter-
est and the Judge knows every house
and story. Now and an early
rising farmer sees him riding at full
gallop, talking to his horse and some
times throwing up his arms in sheer
excess of animal spirits.
After his daily ride, which he takes
whether in Albany or at Esopus. re-
CARELESS of the season, he dresses for
business and eats a hearty breakfast,
usually fruit, oatmeal porridge, beef
steak or sausages or bacon and eggs,
with buckwheat cakes, maple syrup,
hot corn bread and two cups of cof-
fee.
When breakfast is over he goes to
court for consultation. If he is in AL
bany, or works on his opinions, IL he
| is at Esopus.
His ordinary lunch consists of thin
soup tea without milk or sugar, fruit
and custard or pumpkin pie.
Then he goes to court and sits on
the bench until 6 o'clock, or, If he Is
on the farm. he divides his time be-
tween his cattle, crops and judicial
writing.
He always puts on evening dress for
dinner. That meal is generally made
/ p of soup and a roast, such as beef,
own killing-fo11owed by a salad and
fruit or pie. His one abomination Is
"buttermlk pap" a beverage which his
wife delights in. but seldom serves
when he is present.
The Judge usually drinks water with
his dinner. save when he has guests.
and then Mrs. Parker sets forth wine e.
He occasionally takes whiskey high
ball with his meal. Altogether he is a
~ q
after dinner. but never before.
sleeps Only Six to Seven Hours.
Notwithstanding the early hour at
which he rises and the steady vigor
with which he works, Judge Parker
does not retire before IL o'clock or mid
night. He sleeps soundly and is up
again. clear-eyed and smiling, at $3.50
o'clock He averages less than seven
hours in bed
To understand the Judges business
capacity and his common sense way of
dealing with difficult situations, it is
necessary to know how he saved the
Ulster County Savings Institution. In
September. 1891, this important bank,
which had deposits of $2,500,000 closed
its Adoors in consequence of embezzle-
mentS by the treasurer and assistant
treasurer of sums, which. with the div
idends due, amounted to 100000. This
wiped out the supposed surplus and
left the institution with a deficiency.
The usual action was taken by the At
torney General to wind up the businC\s
and distribute the assets and a tempo
rary receiver was appointed.
It was found that 1t was impossible
to wind up the affairs of the bank in
the ordinary way without substantially
destroying the market value of the real
estate of the bank This was so be-
cause the institution had invested about
S1500,000 in real estate mortgages.
one-half of which were on farms. To
throw so many farms on the market
would have caused q crash in their
values.
Among the trustees Of the bank were
Judge Parker. General Sharpe and
Judge Kenyon. Judge Parker was on
his farm at Accord when he got a hint
that there was something wrong. He
left his fields, hurried to Kingston.
made a quick investigation and had the
assistant treasurer lodged in Jail that
night.
| To save the 0epositors from loss
Judge Parker took the leadership. He
tried to get some strong institution like
an insurance company to take an as
signment of the mortgages. with some
local bank as discount agent. No in
stitution willing to take the assignment
could be found. 1t looked as If the
mortgages would have to be foreclosed
to pay the debt: which meant. de-
structidn of values and little assets for
the depositors, who were in a state OF
terror and confusion.