Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-06-29

SOclale OF rOWules, VINO was IN the
habit OF pacing Cincinnati thorough
fares accompanied by a band Of
roughs on whom he could depend for
both protection and assault.
big Bill" Taft stirred to the verge
OF frenzy by the attacks upon his faith
er's character decided to put an enc
to the cabals. but instead of having re-
course to the processes of the law, ne
cast aside his judicial training and
marched into the sanctum of editor
Rose with FIRE in his eye.
Taft demanded a retraction of the
slanderous statements printed in
Roses paper. Rose refused. Hot words
passed and big Bill and editor Rose
engaged in a personal encounter.
Both were men of great physical
strength and determination. They
fought all over the office. The tide OF
victory favoring first one and then the
ether, In the end, however, Taft best
ed the editor and administered to him
such a terrific thrashing that he beg
ged for mercy. This young TAFT
agreed to grant if he would leave Gin
ennati at once. Rose, beaten into
submission, met this requirement and
left the town that night His paper
has never since appeared upon the
street
This incident illustrates the rugged
determination hidden beneath the
Taft semblance If geniality He is
primarily fighter and though possess
ed by nature with a kind and genial
disposition likes nothing better than
to be in the heart of melee. This
passion OF young Taft to do and con-
quer, coupled with the judicial train
ing of his father and his mothers de
sire that he should follow in the foot
steps of his ancestors, won him away
from what might have been a strenu-
Gus life in business, or perhaps the
army, and led him to seek a livelihood
and fame through serving his coun-
try.
In 1880, soon after his fight with
Rose, he was called to public office
where he has been in one capacity or
another ever since. First he was as
sistant prosecuting attorney of Ham
ilton county. Here he rendered signal
service by helping to drive out the old
Campbell ring, whose influence had
long dominated Cincinnati's Court
House.
In 1881 he became Collector OF In
\. Dc i
trict and demonstrated the same abil-
ity that he had showed in the law. A
year later he resigned that office and
went back to the practice of his pro
fession, joining in partnership with
II. G. Floyd. his fathers old partner
In 1883 he bacame assistant county
solicitor Two years later, Governor
Foraker appointed him judge of the
Superior Court to succeed Judson
Harmon, who had resigned to enter
President Cleveland's cabinet.
In 1886 Judge Taft married Miss
Helen Heron, daughter of the Honor
able John w. Heron, of Cincinnati.
1t is said by those who knew Judge
Taft at that time that the young mans
ambition looked forward to a career
in the judiciary His home training,
his years of preparatory education and
his personal tastes. together with his
natural endowments, all eminently fit
ted him for such a course in life He
was the possessor of what is known
as judicial mind" that rare pbysic-
al attribute that is adept at both an
alysis and synthesis.
So great were his abilities on the
bench that when his Hrst term grew
to close he was triumphantly elected
for another period. Already, how
ever his ability had attracted outside
years of the five year term for which
he was elected when President Har
rison asked him to take the difficult
post of Solicitor General OF the United
States.
Mr.. Taft accepted this position in
1890 Here he was associated with
Joseph Choate, and other giants of
the law, and acquitted himself with a
brilliancy that demonstrated clearly
10 his contemporaries a faculty involv-
ing not only wide learning and ire
mendous application, but the power
of clear and forteful presentation OF
argument. During his term of office
he handled the seal fisheries contro-
versy with Great Britain and tariff
case in which the law was attacked on
the ground that Speaker Reed had
counted quorum when the bill pass
ed the house. Both of these cases he
won.
1t was during his Solicitor General
ship that Taft became acquainted with
Theodore Roosevelt. The acquaintance
ripening into a firm friendship only
broken during the last four years.
In 1892 Mr.. Taft was sent back to
Ohio as Judge of the Sixth Federal
Circuit. He spent seven years on the
Federal bench, his tenure of office be-
ing generally recognized as an APP