The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-05-28

grew chilly. At this juneture, whom things
seemed about ~ hopeless - they could be.
Grants father offered him Job Of clerk in his
leather and saddlery store at 0alenA, the wages
to Be $50 . moath. He was glad to accept It.
The year 1850 fosnd Grant keeping the books
in the saddlefy store. EVERYBODY looked upon
him A. . failure In life, and It u likely that hs
himself shared this opinion. But soon aftsrward.
when the war broke cat. As vas led to hope that
II might Offer him some opportunity. His first
enoft tn this direction was to urge . relative to
furnish the small amount Of money nscessafy for
starting business OF selling bread to the milf
tary camp near st. Louis. Meeting with . rs
fusal be went TO Springfield. m. and asked Gov
ernor Yates to give him employment In some
capacity. It mattered not what The governor
favor. but finally directed that he be hired At g
day to do odd Jobs at Camp Yates
Little as he could have imagined 1t. however.
new day was about to dawn upon the fortunes
Of Captain Grant ~ he was then called There
was in camp At Mattoon . very unruly regiment
of volunteer' the rvsnty-nrst Illinois infantry.
which seemed likely to Be disbanded because Of
its unwillnsness to submit to discipline. Grant.
after all. was . West Pointer and any real knowl-
edge Of military matters was just then at q high
premium. He was asked II he cared to under
take the Job Of commanding the regiment in ques-
tion. and promptly accepted the offer. becoming
its colonel.
1t did not take him long to get the regiment
into shape Anybody who attempted to dispute
his authority was soon sorry for II. In July he
had orders to transfer his command to Alton.
The regiment refused to ride on the freight cars
provided for Its transportation, and he made the
men march all the way. He would not even al
low them to get aboard . freight train when one
came along.
Modesty was always marked trait Of this
military commander. When. some time before
the events Just narrated friend urged him to
apply for the colonelcy Of a regiment, he said:
Few men are able to command 1000 soldiers
and am sure am not one Of those" And yet
the day to arrive before very long when he
would command . million men. When asked,
three years later, What sort Of a man is
Grant," Abraham Lincoln replied: He 10 the
quietest little fellow you ever saw. He makes
the least fuss Of any man you ever knew. be
heve two or three times he has been in this
room quite while before knew he here.
It's about 80 all around. The only evidence you
have that he's in any place is that he makes
things git! Wherever he is he makes things
move"
In later years particularly after he became
president. Grant was careful about his attire but
during the Civil war he preserved that indiner-
ence to costume which had marked him while at
West Point In the vicksburg campaign he wore.
in place Of the usual military hat and gold cord,
an old battered "stovepipe." such the average
private soldier in his army would not have picked
up in the street In his mouth was always a
black cigar. and he seemed to be perpetually
smoking friend Of his in excuse, said Such
stovepipe Grants should be allowed to
smoke"
J. R. Ringwalt, author Of the Anecdotes Of
General Grant" says that he was never wounded
though he constantly and even recklessly exposed
himself. He not merely brave but insensi-
BILE to danger. OF his war horse, Cincinnatus, he
was devotedly fond On one occasion. while rid
ing through a piece Of woods in Virginia during
a brisk engagement, he and Colonel Dent were
obliged to cross a brook at a place where the
fire Of the enemy concentrated and mur-
derous. A piece Of telegraph wire had got twist