The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1910-04-14

IL sure to be impressed and Nv
IL II puzzled, If not actually II
IL 81 thrilled by the presence III
IL of blind in that Ill
IAjl droning citadel of feder Ill
aliSm; senator without II
power to see, the youngest member OF
the american house of lords" repre-
senting the youngest state in the III
Union. al
If the story of Senator Gore of Al
Oklahoma could serve no other pur- MI
pose than to illustrate how brave w
heart and persistent ambition can ny
overcome even the greatest difficult NM
ties in life it would be worth telling. NM
Loyalty to set purpose, maintained ANN
resolutely through 25 years of bitter NWW
struggle, raised this poor blind Ameri- WWW
can boy to seat in the most distin- NWW
guished lawmaking body in the world, WN\
although he sometimes lived on the W\N'
verge Of starvation. Nothing could MN
shake his determination to be SEN NV
ator He had no eyes, but he had NJ
tongue He had no money but he had /KNoz
courage. He obscure, but he had l MN
high ambition. He could not see the
world about him, but he had smile
to win 1t, perseverance to compel <
Its admiration and support =
A few months after Mississippi was
readmitted to the Union in 1870 Thorn. I
as Pryor Gore was born on an SO-acre
farm 80 miles from the nearest rail- (J
way S6V
Here the boy grew up among the
creeks and pines, stocky gray-eyed ,itt,s fol,
low. who could outrun any of his COMPANIONS
When he was six years old the village of WaltbaII
was established In the woods nearby and the
core family went there to live Young Tom at
tended a small school set among the trees out.
side of the village.
At the age of eight years the bovs left eve
was blinded by an accidental blow from stick
Ihree years later he was employed as a page in
the Mississippi senate and boarded at the house
OF senator j. q. George In Jackson. One day.
while playing with a crossbow, an arrow entered
MS right eye and destroyed his sight.
In spite Of his afficton young Gore managed
to stand at the head of his class in school and at
the age of II years entered a normal school
which was opened. Here he gradually became
totally blind. yet he mastered the high school
course.
While Gore was attending the high school his
closest companion classmate, Charles H.
Pittman. This youth used to read to him. One
day they found old volume of the Congress
sional Record. Going out to the stable, the blind
student would stand for hours while Pittman read
to him the speeches of the lawmakers at Wash
ington.
During that winter Gore and his sister taught
school for few months. All the while his moth
er. bedrdden invalid, read to him history, biog-
raphy and other subjects connected with his po-
litical plans. and he would sit by the bed
strange smile on his blind countenance, dreaming
and brooding and waiting for the day when he
might take part in the great battle of politics like
other men.
His great chance came in the spring of 1891
The Popuist movement was spreading rapidly
and he Joined 1t. In the state campaign for
Legislature to elect United States senator he
took up the of Barksdale against George
although boy he had lived in Georges house.
The blind orator shrank from no conflict He
even. debated with Senator Money, whose tongue
all frpf I4I Had
tically when told that his opponent was "a poor
blind schooboy" Senator Money declared that,
but for his antagonists blindness he would hold
him personally responsible for his words--a
deadly thing to say in Mississippi. Gore prompt
ly replied Let him then blindfold himself and |
will meet him."
In September of that year he went to the law
school at Cumberland university. Tennessee and
studied law for ten months. He of the
leading six students in class of Az This expe-
rience cost him 1891 and he returned to his Mis-
sissipp village with only rs cents in his pocket
in suit of clothes he had worn for IA months
He had almost been compelled to leave the law
school months before for the lack of suitable
clothing.
Yet his unquenchable ambition to reach the
United States senate grew more intense as the
difficulties of his situation increased
Cores father had taken up the practice of
law in Walthall and, returning from the law
school in 1892 the youth welcomed as an
assistant in the Office That year, too, he was
presidential elector on the Populist ticket at
tackled Grover Cleveland on the stump and carried
his county.
The practice of law was not an inspiring Occur
patton in Wathall. There were actually As law
yers in that small poor village. The blind advo-
cate tried a few cases.
After two years effort to earn living as
lawyer in the place Of his birth Gore decided
to go TO Texas
Having saved $40, he started in April, 1894,
for Texarkana, arriving there absolute stran-
ger with only $21 in his pocket He secured a
boarding house and promptly offered himself to
the Populist leaders for service in the approach
ing state and county elections His political
speeches brought in money enough to pay his ex
penses, but he found no chance to practice law.
In the winter he went back to Walthall and for a
year made another desperate effort to win success