The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-10-11

what was then called a western col
= lege. and which Is now a great uni
versity. Young Hagerman had at that
time all the rural embellishments. a.
mong which was an overload of power
ty.
+. that they were self made men. that
were born of poor and humble par
ents, and became great over every
obstacle, but poverty, indeed, be-
came their best asset and greatest ad-
vantage. Most of the intellectual
giants of the world were nursed at
the breast of poverty. Most of those
who have climbed highest on the lad
der of fame began on the lowest
round. They were reared In the sraw
matched cottages of Europe. and in
, the log houses of America. They toll
ed in factory and field, and their
young lives were passed in the smoke
and dust of labor. This boy had not
been sent to college. he had practical
ly escaped from home. where his life
had been one of unceasing toll. At
| nine years of age, when other boys
We're at school, he was making win
dow sash by hand. When business in
| creased enough to require nachin-
| cry he ran the steam engine as fire
man and engineer when he was four
| teen. At seventeen we find him in a
/ Touring mill, and he was so useful
that he could not be spared 10 attend
/ school except for a month or two al
a time. Through all these discourage
ments he kept alive firm determine
| tion to have an education and go
| through college.
| Lincoln learned to cipher on a
| wooden shovel by the light of a log
| fire. 1t might he said that Hagerman
| did the same thing by the light of
/ furnace door.
At nineteen il was his good fort
une to attract the attention of a sis
ter of Mr. f. B. Ward, the king OF
the Lakes" This good woman was
| lovingly known as 'Aunt Emily" ami
| Hagerman has added the appellation
of THE Lords Amounted" Through
| her advice and announcement ne de
| cided to attend the University OF
| Michigan. If he could get in. and ev
| cry minute he could steal from sleep
or work was spent in preparing him
| self with no teacher.
! He entered the scientific depart
ment of the university in October
/ 1857, and failed in examination for
| entrance in everything but geography,
| but with his keen mind and MS in
| dustry all conditions were quickly re-
| moved. and he soon stood high in his
class. and this marked the end of his
! /
| mates that he was absent from the
! class for months at a time. and few.
| if any. knew why. but the fact was he
had run out of money and was clerk
! ing on small steamboat that ran
between Buffalo and Detroit for $40
a month. But he had taken his text
,tSooks with him and appeared at ev
cry examination. and passed higher
than those who had more money but
7 Ix-c I4%o .;,1., .;1x,,
His financial condition then was some
what different from what II was TWEEN
| ty years later when the stock he held
! in one enterprise alone shrank in
+, value in one month more than 81 100
900.
During his undergraduate days ne
was not attracted to athletics as
| most college men are; he was too
| busy for that. but ne was known as a
man of bright intellect. strong charac-
| ter, and unfiagging industry. On the
most important occasion that came
| 20 his class he was chosen as one OF
| he speakers and his theme was
Thinkers /" and Actors" which SHOWS
The trend of his mind at that early
day
He not only stood high in his class
IS t'lt was a prominent member of
| rhe leading literary society and was
regarded as a formidable opponent in
iebste. believe the essays he pre-
Dared for this society. and other
themes required in the college course
foreshadowed the great skill of the
pen which he used in later years with
an effectiveness few could equal
recall an occasion when the topic
for discussion in this society was on
The respective merits of Wellington
and Napoleon. Out of this debate there
came about a fight between Hagernan
and a classmate of British birth.
need not say that the result of the
battle was a reversal of that of Wat
| arloo. From that time on Jim" Hag-
er7nan was known as the fierce AMI
able champion of Bonaparte- This ad-
!, niration for the great soldier contin-
ned all his life. and the shelves of his
, library were crammed with Napol
comic works, and marble busts of Ma
poleon adorned the walls of his home
He had in his possession manuscripts
and edicts with signatures place1
there by Bonapartes own hand. I am
} inclined to think that Mr.. Hager-
mans enthusiasm for this great char
acter was not so much on account OF
the many and well nigh impossible
victories he won on the battlefield, "a
. because he was the author of the
l"Code Napoleon" one of the high
water marks of craftsmanship. He ad
; mired him because no climate, river
Ior mountain could bar his way. be
| cause he was the builder of bridges
. and arches and great highways. In a
: word, because he was the architect oi
, an Empire. I have thought that ny
: friend lost sight to a degree of the
: fact that to do this his hero made
IAN Europe run red with blood from