Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1909-06-17

you agree with tnenh' naD tni' "SS
one with Kansas flavor tnat 10
worth reproducing;
Nineteen years ago a young man
of twenty-five, having graduated az
the State University at Lawrence ana
been admitted to the Kansas bar
boarded a westbound Union Pacific
train in search of good town 10
make a living in. He thought he
would 90 as far as Seattle. dropping
of at various towns en- route to
size the prospects up. He did not
travel in the sleep!ng-car, not yet IN
the parlor car. The first night, be-
tween troubled maps in the day coach
he got to talking with a travelling
salesman for moving machines VINO
showed him map Of Idaho, ana
told him that Boise was good likely
town for a young lawyer to settle IN.
The next night the man who shared
his seat in the day coach was pro-
fessional gambler, with a friendly
heart and quick and accurate know
ledge Of strangers, acquired In the
course Of his livelihood. He was, like
MANY of his class-setting aside his
profession-a good citizen, with all
the qualities Of likable man ana
hrother The gambler, too, told
young Borah that Boise was a good
town to begin in; also he said that ne
himself lived at Nampa, about TWEEN
ty miles away from Boise, and that
II the period of waiting for clients
turned out to be long and lean, the
Young lawyer should drop him line
1.-THE gambler was the only man VINO
did offer to lend the young man
money! So Borah dropped OH al
poise. not knowing one human being
of the four or six thousand who then
composed the town. After mucn
misgiving, he decided to stay; PROB
ably the governing reason was that he
had money enough to keep him IN
Boise thirty days, whereas, If he paid
his railroad fare to Seattle, he would
Mt have any money left at all. Dur
ing the early homesick and friendless
days he asked an old lawyer in that
town to hire him as a clerk, but the
LAWYER didn't want a clerk; and that
too, was fortunate, for it compelled
Borah to stake his future on his own
efforts altogether. About that time
in the town where the gambler lived
the telegraph operator a. the station
killed the Chinese cook at the hotel
The telegraph operator used to go 10
the kitchen at night after his work
was done to get a bite to eat. The
Chinaman did not like this variation
of the fixed order of things, and after
many quarreIs the murder resulted
The professional gambler, who had
been writing encouraging letters to
Borah every few days, sent for him
to defend the accused before tn local
Justice of the peace. At the hearing
the prosecuting attorney read the
complaint, charging the telegraph
operator witk murder. The justice
of the peace thought the charge
ought to be changed to manslaughter,
since it was only a Chinaman. the
prosecuting attorney explained that
he couldn't quite do this; that ne
would have to draw the complaint for
murder, but that If the justice wished
he could, later on, hold the defend
ant for manslaughter. The justice
| did more, for Cinnamon were MOI
highly thought Of in that community
He set the prisoner free, and the
lawyer for the defense got fifty dol
lars. That was william q. Borah's
first fee, and probably 1t looked larg-
err to him than any of the many
others he received from that time I'M
til he stopped practicing law to take
a place easily among the first four
of that generation Of United States
senators who are between the ages
Of firty and fifty,
The story in the above editorial
is its own justification, because It's
interesting and it's human, which are
the same reasons that Justly Tom
Lawson and the writings of William
Shakespeare. Moreover, the storS
: is not without usefulness to some
thousands Of young men who, thii
D week, are turning clear young eyes
from the quiet green of campus ane
college yard to ugly streets and harsh
city walls. We would not Willingly
g seem to share the flippant spirit !
I cynIcIsm and cheap humor in which
u it has become a newspaper conven
e tlonality to hand out advice to gradu
l. ates. Who can contemplate tina
! great body Of hope and enthusiasm
u without sympathy, and who has al
e Imagination which Is not touched b.