Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1906-10-31

he kept tile Office in Mr.. Hilps store,
Mr. Hills partner, McNamar, having
been absent since 1882. He held the
place until late in 1886, when New Sa'
lem partially disappeared, and the Of
fee was removed to Petersburg. For
little while before his own appoint.
ment he is said to have acted as deputy
postmaster under Mr.. Hill.
The mail arrived duly once week,
and the labors of distributing and de-
livering 1t were by no means great.
But Mr.. Lincoln was determined that
the dignity of the place should not suf-
fer while be was the incumbent. He
therefore made up for the lack of real
business by deciphering the letters of
the uneducated portion of the commu-
nifty and by reading the newspapers
aloud to the assembled inhabitants In
front of Hills store.
One Of Lincoln's Jokes.
But his easy good nature was some
times imposed upon by inconsiderate
acquaintances and Mr. Hill relates one
of the devices by which he sought to
stop the abuse. Zone Gilmore Johnson.
an ignorant but ostentatious, proud
man. used to go to Lincoln's postoffice
every day-sometimes three or four
times a day. If In town-and inquire.
Anything for mep This bored Lincoln,
yet 1t amused him. Lincoln fixed
plan-wrote a letter to Johnson as COM
ing from a negress in Kentucky, say
ing many good things about opossum,
dances, corn shuckings, ETC.; Johns,
come and see me, and old master won't
kick you out Of the kitchen any more!
Elmore took 1t out, opened it, couldn't
read a word; pretended to read 1t, went
away and got some friends to read it.
They read it correctly. He thought the
reader was fooling him and went to
others, with the same result. AT last he
said he would get Lincoln to read it,
and presented it to Lincoln. 1t was al
most too much for Lincoln, but he read
it. The man never asked afterward,
Anything here for meT"
1t was in the latter part of 1884 that
Mr.. Lincoln's personal property was
sold under the hammer and by due
process of law to meet the judgment
obtained by Van Bergen on the note
assigned to him by Radford. Every
thing he had was taken, but it was the
surveyors instruments which it hurt
him most to part with, for by their
use he was making a tolerable living
and building up respectable business.
This time however, rescue came from
an unexpected quarter.
When Mr. Lincoln first came to New
Salem he employed woman to make
him pair of pantaloons, which, proba-
bly, from the scarcity of material, were
cut entirely too short, as his garments
usually We're. Soon afterward the wo-
mans brother came to town, and she
pointed Abe out to him as he walked
along the street. The brothers name
was james Short.
"Without the necessity of a formal
introduction" says Short, I'VE fell in
together and struck up a conversation,
the purport of which l have now for
gotten. He made a favorable impress
sion upon me by his conversation on
first acquaintance through his intelli-
gence and sprightliness, which impress
sion was deepened from time to time
as l became better acquainted with
him."
A Great Corn Husker.
This was a lucky impression for Abe.
Short was fast friend, and In the day
of trouble sure and able one. At the
time the judgment was obtained Short
lived on the sand ridge, four miles
from New Salem, and Lincoln was in
the habit of walking out there almost
daily. Short was then unconscious Of
the main reason of Mr.. Lincoln's re-
markable devotion to him. There was
lady in the house whom Lincoln se-
cretly but earnestly loved. If the host