Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-03-18
#iseellaneuas geadina.
BLIND SENATOR GORE.
Wonderful Record Of His Struggles
Aaainst Difficulties.

About thirty-five years ago a little
blind boy of eight used to sit In a
humble cottage In the tiny illage OF
Walthall, Miss, and listen with the es-
pecial intentness Of the blind to the
reading Of his mother and sister.
A few months previous an accident
had transformed him from a sturdy,
gray-eyed chap to helpless youngster
doomed to darkness.
The boy was Thomas Pryor Gore,
and now he Is United States senator
from Oklahoma, and one Of the fore
most members of that body.
For several winters after the loss OF
his sight, the little fellow used to make
his way to and from school, which was
three quarters Of q mile away from his
home. He had set his mind resolutely
upon an education, his ambition to rise
| in the world had become burning
obsession with him; he became child
Of introspection, and the gravity OF his
thoughts reflected in his sightless face
earned for him the sobriquet Of the
governor" 5.fr :.Es'. .
At high school Senator Cores clos
est companion was boy named
Charles II. Pittman, who used to read
to him. One day. they found an old
volume Of the Congressional Record.
The boys repaired to the stable, where
the blind student would stand for
hours while his friend read to him the
speeches Of the legislators at WASH
ington.. a.,sA Y
Senator Gore can recall the moment
when the ambition to be a United
States senator entered his breast, new
er to leave It.. .r1" ~."b
+ On one occasion Gore. struggling
young lawyer, debated with Senator
49,. tx1e nf
terror q to all Mississippi and who
smiled contemptuously when told that
his opponent in debate was a poor
blind school boy. The senator declar-
edfthat had 1t not been for his antag-
onists blindness he would have. held
him personally responsible for his
words. sig i ~ .r
Il TO this Gore promptly replied: Let
him then blindfold himself and I will
meet him." -G .alt e a',
One day, when the fortunes Of the
young man were at their lowest, 1t
seemed as though he had come to star
vation. At this juncture an old negro
woman paid 81 which she owed him.
That saved the situation. His for
tunes began to mend. ~"
He came to Oklahoma with his
father in 1901, driving 45 miles. Bret
Harte never wrote a stranger tale
than his life in the new territory. His
father became a. notary public in the
tented city The blind SON, attired in
an alpaca coat, colored shirt and slouch
hat, used to walk up and down through
the motley crowd waving his hand
and shouting: Here's where you ger
your papers out! Here's where you
get your papers outl". At night he
slept on the ground. t..n
Things moved fast in the new COM
munity Soon Gore was campaigning
for the senatorship, though he was
moneyless, or practically so. One day
he was walking the street with his
head bowed, wondering whether after
all his terrible struggle he must be
starved out of the political race.
Somebody touched him on the arm.
It was friend, Thomas Dunn, bank
er. He felt something slipped into his
hand as Mr.. Dunn whispered into his
ear, Pay this back when you can."
It was $50, and IT made him q sena-
tor, for 1t turned the corner.-New
York Evening Sun. ': -