Evening star., 1935-12-23

EhDGIb AOs LOOcs
take a horse over hurdle by having
an attendant signal distances with
buzzers and bells, and used similar
system in target practice.
On the Senate floor he was so vitri-
olic in his attacks on President Roose-
welt that Vice President Garner once
ordered him to conduct himself ac-
cording-to the rules" On another oc-
casion Senate leaders struck from the
Congressional Record his reference to
the President as "megalomaniac"-
q lunatic who fancies himself exalted.
Schall's life was one of many OBJ
stacles, and blindness was the greatest
of them all. His courage after losing
his sight through an electric shock
shortly after he had begun the practice
OF law, won him national recognition.
Born on n Farm.
Born on June 4, 1877, on farm near
Grand Rapids, Mich. his mother gave
him into the custody of a wealthy
family after his father died. He ran
away, however, and joined a circus,
deserted the circus when it reached
Chicago, and with a bundle Of news
papers and shoeshine box, he Joined
the army of Chicago newspaper boys
He subsequently worked his way
through college, obtaining a bachelor
ofs arts degree at the University of
Minnesota, where he was a consistent
prize winner as an orator.
He married Margaret Huntley of
Minneapolis in 1902.
Troubles came early. As a youth in
Chicago. his living was makeshift. He
slept where he could, frequently atop
an ironing board in laundry on cold
nights.
Won Free Scholarship.
A free scholarship he won by his
scholastic ability helped him through
Hamline University, and he sawed
wood to earn money to put himself
through the University of Minnesota
He played professional base ball TO
increase mis- meager earnings.
1t was while a first-year student
at Minnesota that he took third place
in the northern oratorical contest, a
league of several States. On that oc-
casion he wore a 81 suit. He wore a
81 suit the next year and took second
place. The third year he appeared in
full dress and won first honorS. The
dress suit was loaned him, incidentally,
by DR.. Richard Burton Of the uni
Versity.
Miss Huntley sat in the audience
that last night, charmed she said later,
by Tom Schall's oratorical ability.
Two years later they were married.
Early in their married life, when he
seemed to have worked up a lucrative
practice, be became blind. He was
lighting cigar from a patent lighter
and received an electric shock that
paralyzed his optic nerves.
Wife Became His Eyes"
1t was then that Mrs. Schall be-
came her husbands "eyes." She went
to work, and later went to school to
become a lawyer SO she could help
him in his duties. During this time.
when they lived in Minneapolis and
Excelsior, Mimi, Mr. Schall stumped
for friends seeking Office, and in 1912
he was an unsuccessful candidate for
Congress on a progressive ticket.
Aided by his wife in 1914, he was
nominated for the House of Represent
| atives, and in 1915 he was elected
as an independent. later becoming a
Republican. In 1918 he was reelected
as a Republican by a $4,000 majority;
in 1920 he was returned to the House
by a $4,000 majority, and in 1924 he
defeated Senator Magnus johnson,
Farmer borite.
Out OF this election grew one of
Mr.. Schall's hardest fights in his
political career. Johnson contested
the election. charging violation of the
corrupt practices act. After investi-
cation b. the United States Senate
the Minnesota State Senate, and a
Minnesota grand jury he was exon
| Grated of charges that he had ex-
torted money from bootleggers on
promises Of immunity from prosecu-
ton.
In 1918, during the World War, Mr..
| Schall was sent to France to investi-
gate conditions for the Government
While returning on the transport
Mount Vernon. the ship was tor
| pedoed, but the transport struggled
$50 miles to safety in Brest. Mrs.
Schall later was awarded a decora-
ton for her bravery at the time OF
the threatened disaster.