Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-04

an expert in detecting an error or false.
hood In other people. That is one Of the
secrets Of a gTeat lawyer.
Quaint Notions.
It was one Of his ideas in hygiene that
fruit should not be eaten after nightfall, and
therefore he commanded the occupants of
his household to observe this rule. The
idea provoked a great deal Of merriment
among the youngsters, who thereupon took
delight in concealing apples IN their beds
and eating them Immediately before going
to sleep. on one occasion, the Judge had
his suspicious aroused that his orders were
not being obeyed in this particular and he
unexpectedly burst into the room
while several Of the children were
about to 60 to sleep. They gasped
at his appearance and tried to conceal
among the bedclothes the apples they
were eating. They were fairly caught, but
the Judge suppressed a broad grin, and
left the room Immediately, saying, Il ad-
wise you to keep the rest OF them until
breakfast"
In all essential things he was adamant;
in things desirable, but not vital he had
the softness and sweetness Of a rose.
A d. Mt sixty.
Of three nephews bearing his name, the
~favorlte was James b. Grant, one of the
governors of Colorado, and founder of the
Grant Smelling company, which in years
past controlled the Omaha smelling plant.
The Judge educated this nephew as a min
ing engineer at Cornell and Frelburg, Ger
many, staked him in several mining pros
poets that failed, and furnished the capital,
some 4 ,OOO, with which James opened the
first smelter in Leadville and made a for
tune for both. An extraordinary circum-
stance in his life was that when he was
past the age Of sixty years he went to the
Boston institute Of Technology and took a
course in ~metallurgy, placing himself on
an equal footing with the other students
and reciting with them. This required, Of
course, several months. Afterward, when
one of his. friends inquired why he did
this extraordinary thing, he stated that in
the course Of his dealings with his nephew,
James b. Grant, while they were operating
a smelling property at or near Leadville
that gentleman politely informed him that
he knew little or nothing about that bust
ness and that it would be to their joint
interests if he would return to Davenport
and devote himself to his chosen occupa-
ton of practicing law. He said he could
not stand to have any nephew Of his say
that he did not know all about any bust
ness in which he was engaged.
Public Activities.
In 1871, after he had emoved to Iowa,
he was elected a mi of the house Of
representatives of the Fourth Iowa terri
torial legislative assembly, and in 1874 he
was elected delegate for Scott county to
the first constitutional convention, and in
1864 he was the sole representative of that
county to the second constitutional conven-
ton of the territory, and 1t is hardly neces-
sary to say that in both conventions he
rendered noteworthy services He was ap-
pointed by Governor Chambers Of Iowa,
against his protest, prosecuting attorney,
and in the year 1s47, after the adoption of
the constitution under which Iowa was ad-
mitted into the union, he was elected a
judge of the district court of Iowa and
served during his term Of five years, de-
upon the stage of life as a legislator was
in 1862, when he was speaker of the Iowa
legislature. He had now tasted all the
sweets OF official position, and being full
of the expanding energy OF his day and
generation, and realizing the great de-
mands of the time in the great west, he
set himself to do a much greater and more
enduring work as a man. He returned to
the practice of his profession, giving spe-
cial attention to railroad cases. He also
became personally and financially inter-
ested in railroad enterprises, and was the
first president Of the Chicago g. Rock
Island Railroad company.
From that date, during some twenty odd
years, he devoted himself with unremltting
energy to his professional and business
matters, and had at one time the largest
practice Of any man in the United States
- 80 $500 u W.T.
ington. He made at one time in a railroad
case a fee exceeding 100000.
) Wise Saws, and Sayings.
No record Of Judge Grants career woult
; be reliable or honest which did not take
account Of some Of the infirmities OF his
Z chal acter. The very celebrity of his menta
| operations made him sometimes intoleran'
L of dullness or sloth in others. He was full
} of wise saws and sayings and tried to con,
, fine his life to them, but temptation otter
beset him. One of his main maxims was
that "civility and politeness cost nothing
r and pass current in all the markets of the
| world" which he often quoted in his office
, and at home. Another one Of his firm be
liefs was that cheerfulness and good humol
should always go with a good appetite Il
! the family table. He insisted that Their,
; should be good humor and merriment al
I ways IN ms IaInlly at meal times. Never
theless, he could not always control his
temper, and on one occasion, when hl
nephew, Whit M. Grant, was found by hin
. having a hot alteration with a man, h
/, called the young man aside after the affair
was over and said: son, a soft answer
r turneth away wrath. You should not hav,
scolded that man, but let him think he wa!
, having his own way" A few days afte1
a that the man with whom the nephew haC
. had the alteration came back and had al
angry dispute with the judge about tn,
a same subject-matter. Judge Grant lost hi
: temper completely and knocked him down
: whereupon the nephew, who could not re
sist the temptation to have a laugh at hi
= uncle's expense, approached him and said
r Uncle, why didn't you try the soft answer
a on hlm?' The judge Immediately regaineC
3 his composure and laughed, saying, Yes
, yes, 1 should have done So" He was
3 constant reader Of the Bible and Otter
quoted II, but, like most other men, hC
was not quite able to live up to its pre-
cepts.
! In the year 1880, realizing the commence
7 ment of the decline OF his powers, Judg
a Grant moved to California, taking up resi-
4 dence in Oakland. where he passed away