The Washington herald., 1909-06-27

it on the roof and at the sides with sod
10 make it warm.
Right here let me tell YOU the story
/ OF a young man who had come with us
I from our former home in Iowa. He en-
tered a quarter section Of public land not
/ far from where I lived. The law re-
/ quired him TO provide a habitation, but IL
didn't specify the kind. the size. the
shape. or the cost-al of%these matters
/ depended on the means. the skill and the
strength Of the settler habitatiOn
simply meant. in a loose sense. a place
/ in which 20 live. ] gave the young man
a piece OF board seven feet long and
sixteen inches wide. a spade, and an arm
ful Of hay. He dug a shallow trench
I In the prairie and lined il with the hay.
That was his habitation. AT night he
would lie down in the hole and pull the
board over him. From that humble be-
ginning. made in honesty. but without
a penny came a prosperous citizen and
a man OF family.
Railroad Followed Them.
AT first" Senator Johnson said. in
continuing his personal narrative. I'VE
were twenty-five miles from a railroad.
Within six months the tracks OF a new
line were so near 20 my front door that
had 10 move my house One winter a
passenger train with thirty-hve men and
one woman ran into a snow bank and
stalled right on the edge Of my farm.
Mrs. Johnson, with the help OF the
woman. cooked fOr.the men-fed them on
pork and corn meal sandwiches three
times day and read them classical
literature in the evening Pioneers must
be resoureeful, self-reIiant. and generous
toward one another. II something breaks
I hsarr 20,
though they have only d hatchet or
hammer
4 remember that I had a car load OF
/ household furniture and grain coming
from Iowa The nearest station was
many miles distant which meant long
slow haul with a yoke OF oxen. I used
oxen altogether in those early days. In
deed, I was an OK driver when elected TO
Congress, being one OF the last men in my
region TO depend entirely on mules or
horses. Near a corner Of my farm there
was prairie slough, out OF which freight
engines took water with a siphOn. When
my car OF furniture and grain stopped
on It's way 70 a station a long distance
of we ripped open both doors and IN
loaded It in twenty minutes. After the
tank Of the engine was full Of water the
train went on. I speak Of that incident
simply to show that the pioneer soon
learns to watch for opportunities and in
stantiy TO recognize them when he sees
them He battles with nature all the
time and there is a lack OF everything
that he really needs in his work or busi-
ness. Why. hadn't money for my taxes
and the authorities went through the Gus
tomary form OF auctioning of my land
20 the highest BIDDER"
Never Lost n Day.
"And now said. after twenty-seven
years. how are you situatedgT
Il have 100 acres OF good land 200
acres under the plow and 100 acres in
meadow and prairie for pasture Ny
house contains thirteen rooms. and there
are stalls in my barn for 125 horses and
cattle have herd Of Jersey cows and
number Of Percheron horses. but 7
have never been a stock breeder Some
years ago I built a grain elevator for my
own crops. After I voluntarily left Con-
gress. IL 1899. I added the buying of
wheat TO my regular occupation as 4
farmer never lost a single day in an
Of the eighteen seasons was engaged in
the business"
How would YOU explain your success
as a money maker?' I asked.
Il cannot say that I have been either
a successful farmer OF a man of bust
ness At college 1 was an average stu
dent / have never supposed 7 was any
more than an average farmer. At no time
in my life have I considered that making
money was the object Of my existence
DO you believe that a millionaire is an
undesirable citizen?"
L am entirely without prejudice against