The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-19

qata about the individual voters at each precinct has brought results, and he now has card index system which puts him In touch with large percentage of the voters of his own party He maintains press bureau in Washington, another In New York, and heads one himself in Lincoln.
 MT. Bryan Is a man of intense religious convictions. He is the son of silas Lii- lard Bryan, who prayed three times day no matter what was on hand to en- gross his attention. It is said that as Judge he was known to adjourn court until he could have his noontide prayer. Silas Bryan was born in Culpeper county Virginia, and as might be expected from that fact, he was a Baptist. How Will liam came to be a Presbyterian does not seem to have been told by any of his biographers. It is said that the father. who was something of politician and was once a democratic candidate for Con- gress, upon one occasion placed William on a table at the age of F, to make a speech before n political convention. At first the audience laughed, but later ap- plauded, when they saw that he had in him the real germ of an orator.
 Mrs. Bryan In a sketch she wrote of him, says that the pockets of his first trousers were always filled with bread that he was a child with a relentless appetite. She says that his only adven- lures were those of rabbit hunting. and that these are the only tales of boyhood exploits that he has to tell his children. Mrs. Bryan further says that his smile is not so expansive as it used to be; that the rounded cheeks keep it from spread ing so far as it once did. She recalls hear ing man say during the 1896 campaign that that man could whisper In his own ear" but this she loyally puts down as an exaggeration When MT. Bryan as- sumed the titular editorship of the World Herald, country editor predicted that he would not be much of a success, since he could not smile on paper
 Mr. Bryan is a lawyer According to The Green Bag, Washington, William Henry Harrison. Taylor and Johnson were the only Presidents who were not lawyers, though 1t might be well to add Grant to that list. The first case which MT. Bryan got was at Jackson Vllle Ill. It was before a justice of the peace for the collection of an assumpsit debt, of $44. with a ratio of cost and in- terest to his fee of about Is to l. His first case in Lincoln, Neb., was during the holidays in 1887. He was very sucess- full in damage suits against railroads and other cases where sympathy was a fac- tor. An early case at Lincoln was a divorce suit which has become rather fa- nous for the big alimony he secured for
 
 favorite legal maxims has been that Flaw that shocks equity Is reasons murder"
 AS MT Bryan Is a leader in the move ment to refrom political campaigns it is interesting to note what he considers the legitimate expense of political campaign. In discussing his defeat In 1896 he says that the republicans were better off Tn funds for the legitimate expenses of the light. These he sums up as the expenses Tor the circulation of literature, the trav- cling expenses of speakers, the securing or preliminary polls, and the getting of the vote registered and boiled
 MT. Bryan can illustrate a point about as well as the next man. In describing hide-bound partizan, he says he is the sort of man, who, when asked if he would vote the democratic ticket, replied: No, thousand times no. Why, I would rather so to sea in boat of stone with sails of iron, oars of lead the wrath Of God for a gale, and hell for my port"
 In Congress MT. Bryan was rather a re- markable figure. He broke a long prece- dent by getting on the ways and means committee during his first term in the House. He was watchful and careful of the interests of his constituents and it Is said that he got more pensions for the old soldiers of his district than all of his predecessors together. In everything that pertalned to the tariff and money MT. Bryan could be relied on to be in the midst of the fight. One of his strongest efforts, outside of the political fights he was in, was to provide a base for the monument to Gen. William T. Sherman, which stands at the south front of the treasury building in Washington. He was successful in this effort His opponent when he ran for Congress the first time was silver republican. After MT Bryans first term he was charged with lack of loyalty to silver, in that he had not apparently done anything in its be- half. He answered this by getting statement from the democratic members of the coinage committee that he had been assigned to tariff work, and that this occupied his whole attention. The plea won, and his second term was de- voted to the interests of silver
 Those who were with MT. Bryan when he went a-soldiering declare that he was the ideal reglmental commander. He was deeply interested in his men, and "bring- ing complaints to him through the proper channels" had no sympathy from him. He did not like such red tape, and he wanted his soldiers to feel free to come direct to him when they had a real grievance, only asking them to make sure that their troubles were real before they came. As result, he had the deepest affection of his men. When any of them were on the sick list he was always to be found, when opportunity permitted, visiting them and giving them words of