Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-11-24
BY Rotcrt HaIstead in the Minneapolis
journal.

printed countless thousands OF columns
about William Travers Jerome. re
has been before the public eye in THIS
city for several years, and every phase
of his life and works have been treated
by writer's for the press. one Woulu
thing h a Jerome had long since be-
come IAN old story for the EDITORS VIZ"
are always on the lookout for some
thing new But not so. TO-DAY what
ne saws and does is recorded at greater
length than the sayings n doinss OF
any other man, not even tne
president of the United states. III is
because Jerome, although he has been
ain oueration" for years, continues 10
.noske news as no other man living.
The newspapers n this, n con-
Time to dole it out-SometlmeS Whcie
pages in a single day-and by SO 40
Ing they supply a positive demand lot
the people always want TO KNOW WHAT
Jerome is saying and doing 1t Is prop
ably true that there is no mate ior
Jerome in the wide. wide world.
In many ways Jerome is like the
president Of the United States. Both
are amazingly impulsiVe. me pres
dent, a republican, has reached ms Hlsn
office through what some would call
stepping from one lucky stone TO an
other and having the courage TO hlake
the steps. The intimate trlenas OF
Jerome never question his courage OF
nhlltN- nut lHCN IedA4HE Gil"N az 49, -
fort to be n useful citizen he mas oeen
Handicapped because he is a democfat
of heart and q democrat i'll Sneech, ana
vet the democrats of ms day 40 not
dare to take him up as the r"epuplcails
did Mr.. Roosevelt.
The two men have long been gooo
friends. In the sense that they belong
TO the set of old K~nickerbocker fam
HES. and have ~Sympathies III common.
Both are Independent. The atmosphere
of their bringing up was very IiucIi
the same in their social surrouhoLnSh
The RooseVelts have multiplied ana the
Jeromes have decreased IN numbers;
Once upon a time the JeromeS hau
more money than they knew what 10
30 with. They were fond OF the race
track-onc local race course bears the
Family name. But the fortunes of the
Jeromes fell until, when the present
candidate for reelection as dlstflct
attorney was q young man, the means
were largely gone. The ROOSeNeitS
propertv increased in value. and even
after it's division the president had
N enough so that he might devote ms
life to golf If he chose to.
The two young nlen-Jcrome ana
So ACKNOWLEDGMENT to the same CLUBS
and were of the same Sacial circle All
er their graduation from college theN
started on different lines. Roosevelt
went west to grow up with the cOun-
FRY He was cowboy and hunter. Je-
rome stayed nearer home. He was O
of mechanics. He loved q shop where
he could work at the lathe or TINKER
with clocks.
It Is interesting to note that the pres
ident's Christian name, Theodore, was
selected by the immediate members OF
his family and that that Of the present
district attorney was the result or q
conference at a famous New York club,
between the father, Lawrence w: j.
rome, n William Travcrs, perhaps tho
most celebrated of New York wis.
Everybody knows fifty on a hundred
stories, alleged to have been TOLD o. the
suffering Billy" TraYerS. Ec end
the elder Jerome We're seated IN Yer
monicC's one evening. Jerome had lis
tened to "Billy's" suffering with "
rood deal of patience. lie could Eot
helm laughing. NobnIy ccu!H. But he
was anxious. The dOctD" hal tod min
that he might soon expect the si0-a
to visit his hime.
THE best s-s-story I owe" herd accU,
your f-f-f-a-t-h-e-r," TrINe"S vas !@E-
ing, was w-w-hcn h-h-2 cane b-S-'-C
from E-e-euTope a-a-na said re WE
Io-o-ones-ome W-Witn IUiT his N2!-t
He'd been so used 10 ~d-d-dukeS In isaG-
land showing hin tn W-Way i
b-b-b-bed that he thought lie o-o-ou-
ought to import q f-f-tc%.'
At this point there was the pea Of Il
hampagne cork and simultaneously
the arrival of a meSSergar VITA the
word that a new Jerome had been bow
the present district attorney OF the
county Of New York. The two club
men looked solemnly ut one aEother
Lifting their glasses they touched Their
and christened the baby In their ~!
fashion: william Travers Jerome
The good mother agreed 70 the name
today one of honor among men wac
live in the fashionable sections OF
81 Gotham: among the thousands WAC
have come from oppressed countries te
crowd the east side Of the c!ty, anG
among the others from all over the
81 United States engaged IN n lie ano
death struggle in the metropolis.
William Travers Jerome was edu,
Gated in New York and Loaey, SWitZer-
land. That was before the American;
had gone seriously into the work OF
making clocks. The standard watch
was that of switzerland. Every time
he could get away from school Jerome
was in the watch works. There ne
gained the knowledge which made hin
in after life known among friends ano
enemies as 1.-The clockmaker. Nh. Je'
rome has never repudiated the title. he
is proud of it. Another thing he learned
in Switzerland was that there was
~ something in the lives of workingmef
which ought to be of interest to him
He came back to America n was
graduated from Amherst college. anC
from the law school at Columbia uni
versity. Then he was admitted TO tbs
bar of New York. He Immediately at
tracted attention because Of the ag
gressive manner in which he conducted
cases he brought before the courts
The impetuosity that was a par o.
him was restrained for n while.
Jerome as an assistant district at
torney kept within pounds. The op'
~portunities began TO loom UP. He wa:
made an assistant counsel TO John w
Golf, later the recorder in the LeAov
investigating committee of 1894. HI
good work attracted he attention o
the City club, OF which he was al
early member, and he was elected judge
of the court of special sessions. TIL,
older members of that court were
amazed at the deep interest of theit
new member IN every suit brought be
fore It.
1T was in the days when Russian i'm
migrant girls were sold into the slav
cry OF the red light district" TIL
poolrooms and the gambling house
were thriving in the city. The yount
Judge took ii into his head. when n
saw that often there could be no evi
dence gathered which would prove suf
fcient for conviction, before his fellow
OF the bench, to seek evidence tina
would be convincing. His enemies sa.
he broke the law to enforce II.
With several of the young bloods o
the City club who had been attracts
wv -. La -..-o~a1fv he fOrVvnnd nN "a