Evening star., 1936-11-04
T Ohm NANCE GARNER-better
known to his friends as Cactus
Jockn-lopp has heen one Of the

Ohm NANCE GARNER-better
known to his friends as Cactus
Jack"-long has been one of the
- more colorful Of political figures
in Washington.
Reared in lowly circumstances In
Red River County, Tex. he has ridden
the range as q cowhand, clerked in a
general store, played semi-professional
base ball. published newspapers, served
as county judge and represented his
Mexican border district in Congress
until his election in 1882 as Vice Presi-
dent.
Not until his elevation into what he
terms high society" four years ago
did he forsake definitely his rule
against silk hats and other ''finery."
News photographers recall that when
they appeared at his hotel to photo
graph him for the first time in top
hat and tails he noticed q grin on the
face of a cameraman with whom he
had long been friendly.
Hey" he called to the photographer
wipe that grin of your face, or, dad
gum it, I'll 60 back and take these
burned clothes off"
Has No Social Aspirations.
He has never been comfortable In
dress clothes and probably never will
get used to them. He prefers the wide
brimmed old campaign hat Of his be-
loved Texas, and the boots and
breeches that 60 with 1t. He has nc
social aspirations.
Vice President Garner will be 81
years old on the 22d of this month
He was born in log cabin at Blossom
Prairie, Tex, the son of John Nance
Garner and Sarah Guest Garner
His parents were poor. Schooling
in those days was expensive and
young Jack received only q meageI
education In primary grades of q
country school, supplemented by what
his mother taught him at home.
At 16 he was forced to 60 to work
to help support himself and family
He obtained job as handy man in his
uncle's country store at Detroit, Tex,
but the earnings were very slight
Later he picked up q few dollars now
and then by playing semi-professisnal
ball. He has always retained an inter-
est in the national pastime" and Is
q frequent visitor to Grifith Stadium
A yearning to take up law as q pro-
feSSion led him to begin reading Law
in the office of two friends, M. l.
Sims and w. L. Wright. He applied
himself diligently to his books, read
up on all legal cases he could find
and was rewarded with admission to
the bar in 1890.
Entry in Politics Was Failure.
Politics in Texas in that era was Of
the rough-and-ready type that ap-
pealed to Cactus Jack" He decided
to take fling at it, but his first ven
ture was dismal failure. Running
for city, attorney Of Clarksville, he
went down to defeat and apparently
took the loss so much to heart that
he pulled up stakes and moved tc
Uvalde.
There he joined q law firm con-
Quoted by Tully Fuller. Garner be-
came partner and the firm made
money. Some of his profits Garner
invested in the Uvalde Leader, Z
weekly newspaper. The newspaper
business drew his attention from Law
after . while and eventually he be.
came editor and publisher of the
Leader.
His knack Of making friends soon
gained him q wide following in Uvalde
When q county judgeship became
vacant before expiration Of the regula,
term, Garner was appointed to hold
the ONCE until an election could be
held. He ran for the post and was
elected without difficulty.
When he ran for reelection a.
county judge. however. his politica
fortunes failed him. but he did not LOSE
heart in his ambition to embark on 8
political career. He proceeded to seel
election as q member Of the State
Legislature in 1898, and this time lucl
smiled on him.
Proposed Division Of State.
+ His two terms as State legislator wor
him no great fame, although he pre.
cipitated widespread discussion with ,
proposal to split Texas up into fiv,
States. As chairman Of the Reds
tricting Committee by the Legislator,
to increase the number of congressiona
districts in accordance with the 100,
census, he created q new fifteenth dis
trict along the Mexican border. Hi
friends Immediately began to boom hin
for representative in Congress from
that district. He was nominated b,
acclamation in 1s02-and nominatio,
was tantamount to election.
Garner first appeared on the floor o
the House in November, 1908. but nttl
notice was taken Of the event there .
the time, nor did he attract attention
for some time. He rarely arose to 20,
anything in the halls Of Congress. HI
quietly looked after the interests Of hi
constituents. however. and they re
wsrded him by re-electing him reg
ularly thereafter. Eighty per cent o
his constituents were naturalizet
Mexicans who swore by him. year II
and year out.
lis said that duI1ng his flrst eigh
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