The Washington herald., 1909-03-07

I u
/ all my life." he added in seriousness, '-and
1 praise heaven that 1t has been neces-
! sary.'
Tell me- said. about some Of your
| battles as a boy. Did you ever have 20
fight when you were teaching a country
| school?"
| once. Senator Burrows replied. as he
/ sat down and again lighted his long thin
! cigar. - big-boned and loud-tallxing
youth Of seventeen had a revelation.
which he voiced in prophecy, that 1t was
his duty 10 whip me and TO run the school.
He sat himself down among the girls one
morning and began a discourse which
was more or less personal to myself.
understood, as well as lie. that the hour
had come Walking over 10 him, I wrap
ped the fingers Of ~ left hand in his
long hair and with the fingers Of my right
hand I clutched the collar or his coat. 7
had pitched hay and chopped wood and
| my grip was pretty good Lifting him OF
the seat turned him once in the air and
| then let go. He hit the wall ten feet away
and W mt down in a lump. Pretty soon
he pa sed a trembling hand across his
eyes and looked up. His knees were wob-
bly, but by and by he could walk. After
that he sat at his own desk, meeker than
Moses and purring like house cat"
You were born in a long cabin on
farm in Northwestern Pennsylvania I
said
Yes, on the side OF hill in Erie Coun-
ty. My father built a new house when
was a child which I thought 10 be re-
markably commodious and elegant. Even
when we moved into II with out belong
ings-there were ten of US In the family,
seven sons and a daughter-it seemed en-
tirely too large and oppressively lonely. I
/ went back to look at the old house sever
al years ago, keeping its stately proper
! tions In mind as I had always remem-
bered them. but I couldn't find H. I saw
a weather-beaten little hut OF one and
| half stories. with three rooms downstairs
and an unfinished attic was distressed
and amazed 10 learn thai Il was the i'm
posing palace Of my childhood.
MY six brothers and myself worked on
the farm and attended district school in
the winter. The favOrite pleasure resort
I OF all the people I'm that region was
CCep abyss which was called the gulf A
very narrow path. made by the rains Of
many seasons. and called the Hogsback.
ran into the chasm. We boys used 10
/ play on the path at the risk OF our limbs
and lives, and 10 the distress Of our par
/ ents. An eccentric character in the vii
I lage Of North East. not far or. an
noUnced that he would repair on q certain
1 day 70 the Hogsback and die. in the pres
I ence Of all those who cared TO leave their
| work and witness the unusual event He
/ dug grave near by and made other nee
/ essary preparations for giving up the
ghost. I saw the grave. or what remains
] or il, when I returned on the occasion i
spoke Of 10 look at the old house The
man spent a busy and cheerful day on
the HOgsback. Toward evening. however.
he withdrew. saying he was sorry % dis
appoint the big crowd. but manifestly he
I had blundered in his arithmetic Ny
father had been a sSeptic on the PROPOSE
ton right along, and bet with my brother
/ Rome. who was Optimist enough to risk
/ his only sheep on the result"
Your name" I said is Julius Caesar
and the brother Of whom you speak is
named Jerome Bonaparte Was your
father a student Of history?''
No; our good mother was. 7 have de-
/ tested highfalutin names and titles all my
life. have invariably parted my hair on
the side. and have been plain Mr. Bur
rows ever since coming 10 the Senate II
was mistake to tag Rome and me the
way they did
The performance on the Hogsback was
one Of the really great events Of my boy
hood" Senator Burrows said, resumlng
the thread Of his narrative. We talked
about II for months. dating events upon
il, just as If it had been q big wind or
killing frost. As an entertainment il beat
the raising OF barn or a house. although
on such an occasion there was much
noisy JOY throughout the day and several
fist fights late in the afternoon among the
men who got drunk.
In course Of time my father sold his
farm and moved to Grahamville a very
little town in the same county. We now
lived in a magnificent residence. consist !
ing OF a large main building and two
wings, decidedly gorgeous / also hunted
for II when l went back, and found a mis-
erable hOvel with a tUmble-dOwn shanty
at either end. Ny father had a tract Of
timber in which his seven sons reRaled
themselves with axes when serious work
was slack. He also had an interest in a
tannery. I am glad 10 say that he was a
pushing and thrifty man, feeling his own
need Of an education and wanting his
sons 10 go 10 school He belonged to a
]
the other whenever II met.
1T was while living at GrahamviIle that
1 heard Daniel Webster speak We got
up at o'clock in the morning hitched
four horses to hay wagon, and started
for Erie. thirty miles distant On the
way Rome and sang some verses about
James K. Polk and the uncertainty Of his
movements, the OnloOkers not knowing
exactly whether ne was walking forward
or coming back A tavern keeper brought
out his shotgun, at a trough where we
watered our horses. but we stood our
ground and sang all the louder recol-
/ lect that a swarthy man made a speech.
and that is all I remember Of Daniel Web
ster. But there were forty yokes Of oxen
/ hitched TO wagon in the parade. and
can see them yet. switching their long
! tails. leaning away from their yokes, and
! walking pigeon-toed.
I'VE left Grahamvillo and bought
farm in the famous Nineteenth district
Of Ohio, which was represented in Con-
gress by Joshua r. Giddings. and at a
later day by James a. Garfield. and which
was also the home Of Senator Benjamin
r. Wade. the furious abolitionist We
were very poor. Money was scarce. Mar
ANto NtlS ATN anu ldA apart. 4 arm prod
ucts had TO be traded 10 merchants for
calico and other goods I got a little mon
ey by peeling apples and drying them in
the sun. l MIXED five COWS twice a day
and walked three miles to an academy at
kingsville. One winter 1 did chores at a !
mans house for my board. Then I got
room at the academy, sweeping the
building and ringing the bell for my tu-
ition. My mother gave me a bed and a |
box stove. and did my own cooking.
on Wednesdays we had rhetoricals- A |
teacher named Drake seemed TO take
pleasure in criticising and humliating me |