The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-14

hunting and fishing and developing the
 sturdy constitution that now enables him
 to work from early morning until far
 into the night, gathering statistics on | schedule K or preparing d welcome ad-
 dress for William J., erstwhile of demo-
 cratic fame and now of Lincoln, Neb
 It was in 1875 that the Underwood fam | fly returned to Louisville, Ky. again
 to take up ther residence in that city. l Oscar was then 13 years of age. He had
 gone to q preparatory school in St, l Paul, had received some education from private instructors and upon his return
 to Louisville he entered the Louisville Rugby school where he received what
 might be termed high school educa- tion. . ...i 1s ss.slsi !
 Training for the Law n The elder Underwood as lawyer often talked to the, son sof how some day he wanted him tos be q lawyer also As the boy grew older Re ofien discussed with his father law career, and through his fathers practice was brought into close touch with the professon r The boys. desires were so tempered by the father
 that when he grew old enough to be- gin 10 have ambitions he naturally thought of himself as entering the pro fession of law. He just grew up with that idea in his head and he never felt
 any inclination to change his mind about it.
 After completing his course at Rugby school the young man entered the Uni
 versity of Virginia and graduated from.
 that institution with the law class of 1884. l He returned home to Louisville and for
 a short time practced law with his fa-
 ther, being admitted to the Kentucky
 bar.
 Then it was that sthe young lawyer.
 made the move which probably more than
 any other one thing has tended to shape 1 his public career. He went to Birming- | ham, Ala.
 l An older brother. w. T, Underwood. | had heard about the booming little
 mountain town in Alabama where iron ore and coal were sticking out of the
 mountain sides. He went to Birnlnes ham and entered the fuipaee business. and when Oscar gfadtated from col lege he wrote to tic young lawyer that 1 if he would come to Birmingham he would help him secure a good clientele. Oscar went and was admitted to the Birmingham bar September l. 1884, form ling a law partnership, with James c. Garrett which was known as Garrett x Enderwood They had their offices in the little building then occupied by the F's'st, National bank of Rriningham, and al the spot wheregnow stands the great Bruwn-Marx skyscraper office building. 1 young Lawyer underwood didn't spring into the IiIneIigit.'he sddpt Win any sen sational cases. and he didnt display any extraordinary traits of genius. He just worked. He soon built up a reputation for honesty, tiforoughness and fairness. When young Underwood argued a case in court the matter was presented in. clear, concise manner He did not say one man was criminal and another man was a saint just because they were on opposite sides in. lawsuit and one hap pened to be his client. He was square. It fairly shone out of the man that he was asking for q square deal in square way and for square reasons. He made friends by the wholesale. and when he made one he never lost him. His mind and reas- oning powers were well balanced and he always based his arguments on cold facts and hard statistics and did not fly off into passionate appeals to sentiment.
 One of His Notable Cases e One of his most notable cases was won | a few years after he came to Birniing- ham, when single handed in the federal
 court at Huntsville, Ala, he took issue i with Chief Justice Briclel in a suit in- Volving large financial interests and 1 first Interpretation of new federal laws
 After long arguments which lasted sev-
 eral days Underwood won the case and from that time on was known as one of the ablest lawyers in the state.
 Soon after Underwoods coming to Bir-