Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-02-09

territorial government. the police pow
er of that government could meet any
exigency. was the marrow OF his
answer.
w should like to know more about
your reasons Mr.. Lincoln's friend
went on. for believing that you had
put Steve Douglas betwixt the devil
and the deep sea" Because" said
will have no use for a candidate who
dares to carry water on both should
ers. n the party will be rent to the
bottom, as the northern fragment will
accepted no other man but Douglas
With hat he abruptly changed the
it further. With all his free and ia
miliar geniality there was hat in Lin
coin which at once imposed silence
and difference when he chose. Such.
in substance, are the main incidents
which the writer recalls.
The firmness and resolution that lay
under the tender sympathies and kind
ness of MIR. Lincoln's temperament
were a%bundantly illustrated during
him such a salient figure in modern
history. Such a characteristic car be
displayed In trifies as we'll as in crit
ical affairs. 1t is such 2 trifle that
came automatically within the writer's
ken. 1t had indeed more quality in its
y AAeAAA iiRh OdSll-
ing big events. 1t was the experience
Of a near relative. who had official
business at the White House IN 1863.
He had been appointed b. the gov
ernor of his state to act as it's legal
representative in strengthening out a
certain tangle. relating to the state
a-pportionment of troops under the
CONSUMPTION of that year. There had
been much correspondence with the
war department. in which the imper-
ious temper OF Secretary Stanton. who
always tended to ride rough shod over
all opposition. and who resented what
seemed to be the slightest Interference
with his will, had been almost insol-
emily displayed. He had absolutely
refused to permit any adjudication or
even to discuss it. Governor
B~uckinghaE's instructions to his
commissioners We're to refer the whole
question directly to the president. Mr..
Lincoln's strong sense of equity was
widely recognized. 1t was also believed
that no man in the cabinet had so much
influence over his chief as the great
war minister. and it was with some
misgiving that the two Impressions
were balanced in the scales. The truth
seems to have been, as shown by all the
memoirs of the war period, that Presi-
dent Lincoln saw in Stanton the man OF
men in a most onerous position to do
things. and to get them done by others;
| a man, who had no patience with fail
I ure: a human dynamo who never ran
down. and kept the immense war ma
chinery humming with his own electric
energy. Such an invaluable instrument
as this was permitted so much license,
sometimes verging on insolence, that
| other officials who ook on sometimes
marveled at the presidents patience
! with the American "Louvois.' But If
Lincoln knew Stanton, Stanton also
knew Lincoln.
The state commissioner was most
courteously received by Mr.. Lincoln,
who vas satisfied with the elucidation
Of the affair. He endorsed his opinion
on the papers. n Mr.. F., with a card
of introduction. proceeded with them
to the war department. He made his
business known with its latest creden-
tails. but Secretary Stanton burst into
a furious TRADE against his chief for
interpreting in matters whereof his
knowledge was nil, stormed up and
down his office for half an hour. and
metaphorically kicked his visitor out
with a curt refusal. A second call at
the White House etched a stern wrin-
kle over the presidents habitually kind
yes, now, however, with a little blaze
in them. as he received the report Of
ment he laughed. Snatching a pen he
wrote one short word, Must under-
scored three times, and signed IA.
Lincoln" on the document enevelope.
Perhaps Mr.. Secretary will be a
little more civil his time. Come back
again and let me know. I'll tell you a
story then, which Stanton knows all
about he said, with a squeeze of vice.
like knuckles.
The secretary glanced at that one
word, at once irOned all resentment
from his face. which became one of
\ fc coinotiv1 Or nnron1oonpay H. - $50
down from his perch like Captain
SCOTS Coon" The necessary BUSH
ness was adjusted in 10 minutes. The
writer's relative. however, missed the
Stanton story over which Mr.. Lincoln
had chuckled. as circumstances pre-
vented another interview With the
president.
The last living vision Of Abraham
Lincoln was the most vivid n thrill
ing of all. 1t is strangely linked in
memory by a sinister trife with that
final glimpse Of the murdered body as
it lay in the capitol, around which
surged the threnody. the noise Of the
lamentation ola mighty nation" which
cried:
% fallen at length. that tower OF
Which stood four square to all the
winds that blow"
The reelected president lowered be-
fore a vast throng OF hushed and rev.
erent listeners in the delivery Of his
second inaugural. hat masterpiece,
which in its e%xaltation was almost
lyrical. charged like the immortal
Gettysburg speech with the highest
tension of human emotion. This was
the figure. az Of some mighty ARCH
angel. trumpetng a message OF grief
dashed triumph which was heard
around the world. resonant above all
the clamor Of that worlds events and
still ringing nSthe pages OF history.