The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-02-09
BRAHAM

A BRAHAM LINCOLN, in
"a childhood, as in manhood,
MW possessed a great heart Of
AVA love. l have been told by
- those who knew him as a
IIN child in LaRue county, Ken
IIU lucky, where he was born,
S that he never threw stones
wv at ~songbirds, or at birds of
pretty plumage, and that he
never failed to intercede in behalf of
the dog that was being kicked by its
master, says Rogers Gore, ~picturing
the life of the martyred president as
a boy. Little Abe" as he was known
by his limited number of neighbors
and acquaintance, was fond of dogs.
Austin Gollaher, Lincoln's playmate,
who died at Hodgenville in LaRue
county, told me the Lincoln family had
more dogs than they could support,
and that most of the dogs had fol-
lowed Little Abe home at various
times. Lincoln's favorite dog was one
he found upon the roadside with a bro
ken leg. He carried the dog home in
his arms and set the broken limb, land
that dog" said Mr.. Gollaher, was the
best rabbit dog Abe ever had"
While trapping in those days was a
necessity, young Lincoln disliked 1t be-
cause it caused suffering to Gods
creatures. 1 learn this story from the
traditions in LaRue county. Tom Lin
coin, Abraham Lincoln's father, was
fond of trapping. Besides finding much
sport in the vocation he provided meat
and furs for his family. His traps
were scattered along the south fork of
Nolynn river, and, of course, his son
Abraham knew just where each trap
was located. Little Abe" believed it
an objectionable sin to catch too much
game, and he frequently visited the
traps and liberated some of the game
before his father could make the
rounds.
Austin Gollaher related O story to
me about a visit he and Abe once made
to Tom Lincoln's traps, when they
were caught In the act of liberating a
red fox from one of the snares. Tom
Lincoln came up, Mr.. Gollaher said,
just as Abraham was about to cut the
cord which was looped under the fore
feet of the fox. To avoid the whipping
Abe knew was Forthcoming, he and
young GOllaher made for tall timber.
Mr.. Gollaher said that Little Abe"
never was whipped when Mrs. Lincoln
was present to make intercessions.
"And for that reason" said Mr.. Cola
her, 1--WE endeavored to reach the Lin
coin cabin in advance of Tom Lincoln
for the ordeal"
Undaunted When Lad In Woods,
In taking an indirect route the boys
were lost In the woods. I'VE spent
the entire day." said Mr.. Gollaher, ain
trying to find the trail, but to no avail.
l gave up in despair, but Abe neither
showed fear nor discouragement, and
was persistent in his e%ndeavors to find
a way out of our troubles. Evening
was advancing too rapidly to suit me,
and 1 was becoming thoroughly panic
stricken, but the strong heart of Abra-
ham was apparently undaunted. Abe
rebuked me for my faint-heartedness,
and said: Why, Wen sharpen a pole
and climb a tree, and 1.-The wolves can
not get us; we can punch their eyes
out when they rear up or the trunk
Of the treep But just as the last
streak of daylight was going out l
heard a voice, and with all my might
I yelled: Here we are! Shut your
mouth said Abe, that's pa, and he'll
whip me- Sure enough, it was Tom
Lincoln, but Mrs. Lincoln was with
him, and Abe did not get the whip
ping"
Lincoln's wit developed early in life.
/ have been told that when he was a
mere child his retorts blazed from his
droll tongue in a manner that always
made the offender vince. A man by
the name of Woodson once kicked
little Abe's" lame dog; the dog re-
taliated by biting the fellow on the leg.
Woodson then decided that the dog
should be killed, and in the presence
of Little Abe" made known his decree.
my leg is already swelling" said
Woodson, 'and l am afraid 1t will have
to be cut Off" "If that's So" retorted
Little Abe" I'm sorry my dog did
not bite you on the head"
Austin Gollaher rescued Lincoln
from Knob creek, a small river in the
vicinity of the Gollaher home. Upon
this day Mrs. Lincoln had paid a visit
TO Mrs. Gollaher, and while the moth
ers were at their knitting the little
CONS went fishing. In attempting to
cross a footing little Abe" fell into