The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1913-02-13

himself had a vast fund of homely
stories and a genius for telling them
just where they fitted in. In many OF
these stories that have been handed
down, We find not only humor, but q
searching wit, and the strong common
sense that distinguished Lincoln. Dur
ing the war an Austrian count applied
to him for a position in the army, told
of his nobility and high standing. No
man cared less than Lincoln for that
kind of a recommendation, and lay
ing his hand on the counts shoulder,
he said kindly, as though the other
had been confessing some misfortune:
Never mind; you shall be treated
with just as much consideration, for
all that"
A young man who was somewhat
~dandyish and eXtravagant in his dress,
was appointed as consul to a South
American country. On his way to
the White House to thank the Presi-
dent he met a waggish fellow who
assured him that the place he was
appointed to was such a terrible place
for bugs that they would fairly leave
nothing of him. This so Mortified the
new appointee, that, instead Of thank
ing Lincoln, he told what he had
heard about the bugs. Il am informed,
Mr.. President" he said, that the
vermin could eat me up in a weeks
time" The President glanced at the
others fancy apparel. well, young
man." he answered., eff such a thing
happened you would leave a mighty
good suit of clothes behind"
A business firm had occasion to ask
information of Mr.. Lincoln as to the
financial standing of one of his neigh
bors in Illinois. Lincoln's letter in
reply said: 81 am we'll acquainted
with Mr., and know his cir
cumstances. First of all he has a wife
and baby; together they ought to be
worth $4,000 to any man. Secondly
he has an Office in which there is a
table worth $3.50, and three chairs
worth, say, $1.00. Last of all, there is
in one corner a large rat hole, which
will bear looking into. A. Lincoln"
Many of these stories show Lincoln's
deepest character. When he was but
nine or ten years old his mother died.
At the time their home was in Spencer
county, Indiana, a county then so
sparcely settled that there was no
minister to be had to preach the fun
eral sermon. But Abraham, young as
he was, could not rest until this was
done, and three months later, through
his efforts, a preacher was brought all
the way from Kentucky to hold religi-
Gus services. That mother was never
forgotten, and after he had become
the foremost man of the nation, he
said: "All that l am, and all that l
hope to be, l owe to my mother" Com
pared with the advantages which the
poorest have today it was but little
that she could do toward giving him IN
education, but she did that little well.
She taught him to read the Bible, and
he became familiar with that greatest
of books. Later on she managed to
such as Pilgrims Progress, Aesop's
Fables, Robinson Crusoe, and similar
masterpieces, and his intimate &C
quaintance with these, no doubt, did
much toward forming his simple, d.
rect style of thinking and writing.
Doubtless, it was of that mother he
thought on one occasion during the
war, when, visiting an army hospital,
he came to the cot of a soldier boy
whose end "a plainly near. Drawn,
perhaps, by the visitors kindly face
and manner, the lad asked: Wont
you write a letter to mother for me?"
The President called for pen and paper
and, sitting down, wrote a long letter
as dictated to him. When, finally, he
arose to go, the dying boy, as if feel
ing that the presence of this nan
would comfort him at the last moment,
looked at him %appealingly and begged:
Wont you stay with me? l want to
hold on to your hand" So Mr.. Lin
coin, though, many things had to be
attended to by him, took the boy SOL
dier's hand, and for two hours sat
beside him as though he had been his
father. When the young life had
ebbed away he folded the white hands
together and left the hospital with
tears streaming down his cheeks.
These are but a few Of the many
stories that serve to show the great
President as he was in daily life, and
none show him as other than a man
TO be admired and loved. And so
would repeat, for anyone to know
what he did, why he did it, and why
he was great in the noblest sense of