The Washington herald., 1913-07-27
RSHERMANRELATESEA EARLY STRUGGLES

"Some strange chance put the autobiog
rapby Of p T. Barnum iuto my tenn
porary possession. 1t was interesting. al
recall, but not particularly uplifting
Still II was humorous when 1t wasn't
egotistical and was a relief from the solid
contents of Goodrich's ponderous history
/ may have read other books. but only
the two I have mentioned linger In my
memory. The Statutes Of Illinois were
TO come later.
Did Ills 1hinkinE ON . Fence.
LIT is impossible now to say what
made me think about reading law as
the phrase then went in the country.
There is a watershed in every region
from which the rain flows In one OF two
directions. The top of fence was where
/ did much Of my planning and reflect
ing, though. possibly, it was no more than
dreaming. Moreover. the fence gave me
altitude from which to make obserya-
.tions. On the morning Of which I am
thinking, the fence must have acted
as a Watershed for my purposes. l know
/ looked over the prairie and then into
the woods and concluded that agricul-
ture offered little opportunity for getting
rich I'm that part of the country
n II had gone on rainy days to the house
of the Justice Of the peace and heard the
trials of minor civil and criminal cases.
1t was the only entertainment 1 had, ex-
cept following my father when he was
tracking animals in the forest. I heard
the lawyers talk. saw them pound their
fists into their palms and listened in mute
wonder when they referred to the stat
utes.' Also had seen the justice reach
across the table toward thick lemon
colored book and heard him say: Here.
LET me look at the statutes
"Cogitating on the fence on that event.
full morning. my thoughts turned to the
law and necessarily in that connection to
the statutes. Now, what were the stat
utes? had been following a thrashing
machine for three days and had So hidden
under the feather bed in my bedroom.
The next time / go. to town. said to
myself. I'll get the druggist to order me
q copy OF the statutes
"The statutes came. i opened the vol
ume boldly, was but sixteen years old.
you understand. and was very limited in
knowledge and experience. The statutes.
to my grief, were filled with meaningless
words and sentences ] rightly supposed
they were Latin. So l purchased Latin
grammar and took 1t to the corn field.
where / studied il in a fence corner while
the horse with which was plowing rest
ed a few minutes at tho end Of the row.
hedlZ1ng was L
studied the Latin grammar with great
enerky and with enthusiasm. Presently 1
reached the point where l could teach
district school Then one summer I set
out for McKendree College. at Lebanon.
on the opposite side of the State and not
far distant from St. Louis had 81
earned by hard labor in one way and an
other"
"It was rather a hazardous undertake
ing" I said, considering the amount Of
your capital"
'I didn't Think So" Senator Sherman
replied II had learned TO work and to
depend on myself. Each day at that
time OF my life was expected TO take
care of itself. The future gave me little
concern. would get along. felt. II
there were a COW to milk or a horse to
curry in Lebanon. ! obtained board for
$50 a week. Samuel H. Deneen. father
Of Charles S. Deneen. until recently Gov
ernor Of Illinois, was member of tho
college faculty. When he learned my
story he got me a district school three
miles from Lebanon. I taught. worked
on farms In the neighborhood, and at
tended college when there was an oppor-