The Winchester news. [volume] (Winchester, Ky.) 1908-19??, 1909-01-25


his way home from the war came his
experience as surveyor. Washington
was also surveyor. which is not the
only way in which the two great
est of our presidents were similar
Their characters and religious views
tailed in many particulars. In build
they were both tall and athletic
Washington was a famous wrestler.
never having been thrown. it is said.
When this was called to Lincoln's at
teItion he musingly said:
1t is q curious thing but that is just
precisely my record when l was a youth.
L could outfit any man in Illinois, and
never was thrown. If George were around
now / should be pleased to have tussle
with him, and 1 rather believe one of the
plain people of Illinois would be able to
keep UP his end against the old Virginian.
If this country is the modern Pales-
tine and we are the chosen people to
carry forward the gospel of liberty,
then Washingt-l Was our Abraham
and Lincoln our Isaac. Where is our
Jacob to complete the trinity and give
the nation it's peculiar character of de-
mocracy and spirituality for the ages?
The manner in which Lincoln took
up his work as surveyor reveals two or
three of his most prominent charac-
teristicS. When he was approached
with the proposition to become dep
uty county surveyor he was splitting
rails as usual. but whether they we're
real mythical or political is not stated
AS the surveyor was Democrat,
while he was a Wing, he refused un-
less he could talk as he pleased. This
was promised. He then objected that
he knew absolutely nothing about sur
veying. Here was an actual obstacle.
There are numberless offices that are
filled by men who know nothing OF
their duties, but to survey land, find
old corners, lay out towns, settle
boundary disputes and do the other
things that fall to the loo of a sur
veyOr require more than political pull
and dignified front. Lincoln was one
of those men who know the features
of the goddess Opportunity whenever
she happens their way, and it did not
take the penniless ex-sOldier long to
recognize her physiognomy in this Of
fer. One of the secrets of Abraham
Lincoln's success was that he was in
tenSely ambitious, and another was
that he grabbed every chance which
he could Overtake. 1t did not take him
many minutes TO make up his mind
that he would accept that job as sur
veyor and that he would learn the
duties in the shortest possible time
his mental equipment would permit.
Now, any one who knows anything
about surveying can comprehend just
how difficult proposition this was for
a boy who had had less than a years
schooling, and that under men who
knew more about switches than they
did about books. However, Abe went
at the task in deadly earnest. 1t was
a night and day job with him, and IN
a few weeks-I am really ashamed TO
say how few-it was accomplished. :
Lincoln, Esq, eX-farm laborer, was u
full fledged surveyor, AID, moreover,
was a good one. He laid out several
towns, found lost corners and tod
numberleSS farmers just how much Of
the United States of America Gpper-
tanned to them and theirs. Lincoln
was as popular as a surveyor as he
had been in other lines. The fame of
his stories went before him, and his
advent in q community was an event
to be barbecued and fttingly celebrat-
ed. Good story tellers were in as
great demand in those days as good
novelists are now, and there were
more of them.
There are those who say that Mr.
Lincoln did not like physical work
Possibly this is true. TO be perfectly
honest. l never saw many men who do.
There are times when 1 am not en-
amOred of it myself, although / never
admit that fact to my wife. There
are also soldiers who do not enjoy be-
ing shot at, but who grit their teeth
and stay by it. 1t was so with Lin
coin. Whether he liked physical labor
or not, he never shirked If a thing
was to be done he did it and, better
still, did not leave it in a slipshod or
slovenly state. And as for mental Ia
Dor, he did love that. He worked rap
idly at anything and generally accom-
plished as much as two ordinary men
in the same length of time. Once i'm
merSed in a subject. he was all there
and stayed until it was rooted out to
the last fiber. He knew the three Sc
cretS of efficient MISREPRESENTATION,
mental comprehension of the task in
its every detail and thcroughneSs in
accomplishment. 1t Was physical
impossibility for him 10 do thing in
halfway manner. Whatever he had
to do he did worthily of abraham Lin
coin. He seemed to have a lurking
consciousness that he might be q great
man some day, and he did not want to
leave anything behind him that would
not measure up to that future stand
ard. Indeed, it is on record that he
expressed himself to some such effect.
have seen men work that would have
been helped by the same conscious
ness or any other consciousness except
that of the quitting hour.
Lincoln was a good laborer despite
the fact that he did not like IT. He