The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1920-03-23
John BARTON PAYNE
CABINET MEMBER
Ireat Lawyer, Brilliant Executive,
Never at College or Regular
School

" 2SNnTtON. NafCa 1T iitS
Ei.grc wears AGO, when he was a boy
oT ii, John Barton Payne, President
Wilson's new secretary of the inter
sor, paid his first visit to Washing
.een-
He and negro man had driven
.:sfG turkeys from his home town of
Orleans, Fauouier county, Virginia,
a distance of 60 miles, without losing
q bird; and he sold all of the tur-
keys at good price on the Washing
ton market. Out of his commissions
the little merchant adventurer bought
himself d shotgun. Had he earned
It? Just let anybody risk asking
hin that question now.
The circumstances of that first
sislt of the future jurist and execu-
tive TO the capital of his country are
themselves both interesting and
amusing. They are profoundly i'm
psessive in the light of what the boy
accomplished in later life. of what he
IS Today, and of what he may be to-
ruorcow-for who can tell how far
the impetus of such career will car
ry It?
Judge Payne's first trip to Wash
gngton was his first "big business"
exploit. in it's achievement he DEM
onstrated as an urchin the qualities
.ssac enabled him, without ever en-
seriing a college and with no regular
Schooling" whatsoever. to become
one of the greatest lawyers of his
slrs,e and brilliantly efficient gov
ernmental executive in period OF
acute national emergency. The man.
like the boy. has always been more
thai equal to every responsibility he
has assumed or encountered. And
The man, like the boy, has always
found a plenty of fun to temper the
seriousness of his work, however i'm
ao-1ant the work has been, he has
scaaf1 time to cultivate the academic
s.unlanities too, and in most illus
trjous fashion.
Long Story Briefly Told.
Bu1 to get back to the turkey
story. 1t would have delighted the
heart of Mark Twain if he had heard
II The story is long one, but
yuaee Payne is very sparing of words
.ana always makes a long story short,
4eve. when it is his own. 1t shall be
ses, down here as he told it himself,
rs well as the listener can repro
dzee it without any other aid than
Memory.
".sudge," said the correspondent,
..zaat is that story about your hav-
Ing driven geese to market in Wash
srg.an from your home in Fauquier
ssuuty, Virginia, when you were
boy"
~Geeser' exclaimed the judge.
How did you get the idea?"
He Jaughed heartily, in the midst
sf his endless affairs as chairman Of
tine Dnited States shipping board
'"They weren't geese. They were
turkeys, and there were 800 of them.
II viii tell you about it. Some
dealers at Orleans. where my father,
D1. Anos Payne, was a successful
physician, engaged a school teacher
named BAH, a negro, and me, in one
sof the years just after the war, to
,aake these turkeys to Washington and
sell them. l was only II years old
5Gt my father had confidence in me
and consented.
ave were on foot and so were the
turkeys. Ten miles day is their
xzarcssing limit.
LAS the first day was drawing to a
close, Mr.. Ball, the school teacher, in
sisted on making detour so that he
yugkt see his sweetheart, who lived
at town called Lear. AS we
brarGhed off the main highway, max
ing for Lear, the sun went down. The
EsrrAeys promptly went up into lot
Of convenient CHEEKY trees. They
had gone to roost and stayed there in
spite of an our coaxing.
'.Mr. Ball proceeded to his sweet
nearI's house. The negro and l
spent the night under those trees
guarding the turkeys.
Some" Supper, That.
"a the decline Of another daT we
were caught near an orchard. When
the sun set, the turkeys went up IN
the trees just as they had done be-
fore. We knew they were there for
keeps, and we decided to say all
might at the house of the orcahrd's