The Washington herald., 1909-04-04

plication thereof in actual achievement
consequently can never be uninteresting
or conventional
In appearance he suggests war, bal
ance. and imagination-bOdy. mind. and
spirit. His face is without color. his
brilliant hair Is turning gray and his
eyes are as clear and dark blue as
prairie sky in midsummer. I asked his
stature. Several years ago" he replied.
Il was six feet three and half inches
tail. I haven't measured since, because !
fear that am still growing" His legs
are surprisingly long. straight, and slen-
der; his waist is as slim as boys, and
his shoulders and back have no sign Of
the legendary stoop which hackneyed de-
scription gives TO the consecrated scholar.
In a silk hat and frock coat. made in
the latest fashion. he IS a graceful. youth
full and elegant looking personality.
A flight from the United States to a
foreign country while yet boy, a ride
to ST. Louis. ever since HIS home. in an
immigrant train, the reading Of a little
book which opened TO him a notable ca
ton that it is every citizens duty 10 be
an energetic politician. a refusal 10 ac-
cept pay from the Standard OIL Company
for labor performed. a picturesque service
as a deputy sheriff during a strike Of
workingInen. and the management Of Mr..
Taft's campaign IN the West epitonize
a part Of Mr.. NageTs life in brief head
ings and reveal his instincts and char
acter. The unique facts OF, his personal
history turn biography into the charm
and suppress Of good fiction.
You were born IN Texas" said 10
him. why do you live in Missouri"
You have called up a singular story. -
ne answered. MY father. a physician
and a graduate Of the University Of Ber-
lin. and my mother, the daughter and
granddaughter OF clergymen IN Prussia
settled in Colorado County Tex. among
a community of other Germans There
had been oppression at home. Coming
10 America. actuated by the motives OF
the PUritans, my parents went into the
wiids where government would have little
chance to find them
We lived at the edge Of the woods
Beyond Us were vast reaches of prairie.
From the window Of my bedroom I saw
wolves and deer. A wildcat was killed
near our house, and rattlesnakes frol-
licked in the high grass. Ny father
owned some land and a few cattle, but
his business was medicine. We moved
by and by to the next county. because
the nearest school was ten miles from our
home
I was eleven years old at the begin
ming of the war between the North and
the South. Ny father was a Union man.
His practice took him long distances day
and night One day my mother was walk
ing nervously back and forth across our
porch. 1 fear she said at last. that
something has happened 10 your father.
But the bears, / replied, can't hurt
him.
y am not thinking Of bears she an
swered. but OF men
Il realized for the first time then the
peril OF our situation. Some Bohemians
went into hiding to escape military serv-
Ice took them bottles Of medicine and
messages at night from my father Sixty
Germans attempting to escape from that
part OF the country were overtaken and
ali but one were silot where they stood.
Offering a feeble defense.
Confederate soldiers came to our
house and ate pecans and hickory nuts
and joked with my father about his
Union sentiments We were not afraid
OF them. There were other dangerous
men, however. in the neighborhood. We
lived in considerable terror until Novem-
ber 1853 My mother. one evening. told
me that. my father and I were to leave
the country next day I NaS fourteen