Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-22

all the old chestnuts from the joke
books of two continents and several
centuries had been attributed to Lin
coin since his death, when his first col
league asked. DO you get many letters
about Lincoln. Uncle joe?
Get letters about Lincoln / should
say ] do. and they are mostly letters
that would make a preacher swear. 1
had one this morning from a man who
is. no doubt. sincere. but who hasn't
enough sense to respect the dead. I
suppose he is the kind of fellow who
would stick his advertising card on
| the hearse at a big funeral if he got
the chance
The first part of his letter was meant
to be fattering: ] was probably the
only living man who had been init
mately acquainted with Lincoln, who
knew him like brother. and could
tell the present and future generations
just what kind of a man Lincoln was,
what he thought about and longed for
in his efforts to make the people bet
ter and happier. etc. etc Then he
suggested that owed it to the memory
of Lincoln and also to the welfare of
this and all coming generations to
write Gown just what Lincoln would do
if he were now in the White House.
That was laying a pretty delicate re-
sponsibility on me. and | was about to
drop the letter into the wastebasket
as the product of a man misled by the
\
would do if he came to Chicago. Then
my eyes caught a postscript which
read: I know you are very busy man.
and. not desiring to take too much of
your valuable time from public duties,
have prepared a letter which I think
embodieS your views on the subject.
and | will merely ask you to sign and
return to me for publication in my
book on "Lincolns Temperance Views
as Given to His Contemporaries
That postscript aroused my curiosity
as we'll my contempt for the assur-
ance of the writer; I read the two
closely typewriter pages which fol-
low just to see what this author would
make me responsible for as the views
of a man who has been dead for half
a century. l don't think | finished the
reading before | was so mad / wanted
to kill somebody. and l tore the whole
manuscript into as small bits as I
could without breaking my finger
nails"
What did he propose to have you
say about Lincoln. Uncle Joe?"
What did he not propose to have me
say" Why. he must have taken the
prohibition sermons of Billy Sunday,
Capt Hobson Sam Small and all the
other radical prohibitionists in the
country. combined all their radicalism
and told it on Lincoln by my author
tty.
81 think he started Lincoln with wings,
just let loose from rose jar in
conservatory where all was pure
as in the Garden of Eden before the
and gentle life as child and youth,
gradually developing him into just
such Soody-goody man as the Sun
day school stories made saints out of:
and then he put in quotation marks
words Of Lincoln just as if he was sup
posed to have taken them down from
dictation. They would have made Lin
coin return to earth to avenge the
lying sinner who sought to gain pub
licitS through the accident of having
once or twice spoken to him more than
fifty years ago. 1t gave me creepy
sensation to read the stuff. and my only
relief was to swear and tear the paper
into small bits possible. No,
the writer of that letter was not an or
binary known villain or crank escaped
from the criminal ward of an insane
asylum. He is A professional writer
who makes money by such trickery. I
think he has Rev in front of his
name. and he may have brought him
! self to believe some of the balderdash
that is from time to time printed about
Lincoln. Many people have been led
to believe that Lincoln was responsible
/ for lot of stupid and unprintable sto
ries which Lincoln would not have lis
| tened 10. much less have told Just
' now the fad appears to have gone to
the other extreme of making Lincoln
! responsible for lot of so-called moral
| fads which. III a way. is worse than
| the other. because IT is a part Of a
propa eanda using l.incoln'S name to
| advertise all sorts of specialtieS which
! had not been invented when he was
alive. But what made me mad was to
| have this faker take me for a chump
! who would sign his advertisement just
| the get my name in print. Great
: Jehosa phat, that could be suspected
| of that. or that | hankered to see my
| name in print.
| Then ~ ncle Joe" made signs of tear
! ing something other than letter.
| When get home late at night and
| o,.a,-.. one Is he'd | sneak intn the