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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 1909)
sir. 1 If BT IDA M TAK8KU A' i EliAiLA-M LINCOLN was II jmrt old wbrn Tbomu Lincoln (bis fathsr) decided to leave Indiana In the Spring- of 1830. The reason rnr.l Hanlu glvew (or this reicovol u a disease called the "aiKk-slck. Abraham Lincoln's mother. Ntrw1 Hanks Lincoln, and several of their relatives who bad followed them from Kentucky, had died of it. The cattle bad teen carried off br It. Neither brute nor human life seemed to be fe. i The place chosen for their new home u the Eans;amoa country in central Illinois. It was a country of s;reat re nown In the West, the name meaning "The land where there la plenty to .t." One of the family John Hanks, cousin of Lennis vu already there, nd sent them inviting- reports. The cvmpany which emigrated to Il linois Included the families of Thomas Lincoln, Dennis Hanks married to one of Lincoln's step-sisters and Levi Hall 12 persons In all. The party settled some ten miles west of Decatur, in Macon County. Here John Hanks bad the logs already cut for their new home, end Lincoln. Dennis Hanks, and Hall soon had a cabin erected. Mr, Lincoln himself (though writing- In the third person) ears: "Here they built log cabin. Into which they removed, and maJe sufficient of rails to fence ten ar-res of ground, a crop of sown com tipou It the same year. These are. or are supposed to be. tho rails about which so muca is being sAld Just now, though these are far from being the flrtt or only rails ever made by Abra ham." If they were far from being; his "first and only rails, they certainly were the most famous ones he or anybody else ever spilt. This was the last work ha did for Lis father, for In the Summer of that year (1330) he exerclsej the right of majority and started out to shift for himself. Xdncoln Start Ont Empty-Handed tVhen Lincoln left his home to start life for himself, he went empty handed He was already some months over 21 years of age. but he had nothing In the world, not even a suit of reapoJtable clothes; and one of the first pieces of work he did was "to spilt 400 rails for every yard of brown Jeans dyed with white walnut bark that would be neces aary to make htm a pair of trousers.' Hi had no trade, no profession, no pot of land, no patron, iio Influence. Two things recommended him to his neighbors he was strong, and h was a. good fellow. His strength mad htm a valuable la borer. Not that he waa fond of hard :iabor. "Abo was no hand to pitch Into 'work like killing snakes;" but when he did work. It waa with an ease and ef :(ectlveneas which compensated his em ployer for the time he spent In practi cal Jokes an d extemporaneous speeches. He would lift aa much as three ordi nary men, and "My. how he would chop!" says Dennts Hanks. "His axe Would flash and bite Into a sugartrea or sve am ore. and down It would come. If yTtu heard him fellln trees In a olearin', you wonld say there was three men at work by the way the trees fell.1 Standing six feet four, he could out lift, out-work and out-wrestle any man he came In contact with. Friends and employers were proud of his strength and boasted of It, never fall ing to pit him against any hero whose strenrth they heard vaunted. His strength won him popularity, but his good nature, his wit. his skill In de bate, his stories, were still more effi cient in gaining him good-will. Fsople liked to have him around, and voted him a good fellow to work with. Yet such were the conditions of his life at this time that. In spite of his popu larity, nothing was open to him but hard manual labor. To take the first fjob" which he happened upon rail splitting, ploughing, lumbering, boat ing, storekeeplng and make the most of It. thankful If thereby he earned his bed and board and yearly a suit of Jeans, was apparently all there was be fore Abraham Lincoln In 1830 when he started out for himself. - Through tUe Summer and Fall of TlTTtN a ft. lSHO and the early Winter of 131, Mr. Lincoln worked In the vicinity of his father's new home, usually as a farm hand and rall-spllttcr. Most of his work was done in company with John Hanks. Before the end of the Winter he secured employment which he has given an account of himself (writing again in the third person): "Durins; the Winter Abraham, to gather with step-mother's son. John D. Johnston, and John Hanks, ret resid ing in Macon County, hired themselves to Dennis Offutt to take a flatboat from Beardstown. Illinois, to New Orleans, and for that purpose were to Join him Qffutt at Springfield. Illinois, so soon aa the snow should go off, which was about March 1. 1631. the country was so flooded as to make traveling by land impracticable; to obviate which diffi culty they purchased a large canoe and came down the Sangamon River in it from where they were alt living (near Decatur). They found Offutt at Springfield, but learned from him that he bad failed In getting a boat at Beardstown. This led to their hiring themselves to Mm for 13 per month each, and getting the timber out of the trees, and building boat at old Sanga mon town on the Sangamon River, seven miles northwest of Springfield, which boat they took to New Orleans, substantially on the old contract." Sangamon town, where Mr. Lincoln built the flatboat, has, since his day. completely disappeared from the earth, but then It was one of the flourishing settlements on the river of that name. Lincoln and his friends on arriving there In March Immediately iegan work. There was still living In Spring field. 111., a few years ago. a man who helped Lincoln at the raft-building John Roll, a well-known citizen. Mr. Roll remembers distinctly Lincoln's first appearance In bungamon town. "Ha waa a tall, gaunt young man, dressed in a suit of blue homespun Jeans, con sisting of a roundabout Jacket, waist coat, and breeches which came to with in four Inches of his feet. The latter were encased In rawhide boots, into the top of which, most of the time his pantaloons were stuffed. He vore a soft felt hat which .had at one time been Mack, but now, as Its owner dryly remarked, "it had berni sunburned un til It was a combine of colors." Mr. Roll's relation to the newcomer GERMAN AMBASSADOR AND FAMILY ARRIVE IN UNITED STATES. mil) i u ifiinwmw w i ," wi't'.' w,-yivTtM ' .J"."!'"1,.. mi.J'!?wwit) M ,J ' '"I K , v.. . . PAT. : ) .. . . ' - . v j f I- ( 1 ' l . j I i " V v, -'V : , ? r - r . i-w y , . ' I M if - -cnj ' vr ' i L iii ii aiMiif m n t ii -t -rrr i - r-Th-iMin i- " H-iMrf.ini Photo Copyright. 190, by Geo. O. Bain. . tOl'XT VOX BERA'STORFF, VrTBJ AJfD DAUGHTER, NEW TORK. Jan. 9. (Special.) Count Johann von Bernstorff, the new German Ambassador to the United States, accompanied by his wife and daughter, arrived recently on the liner Amerika. This Is the Count's first visit to this country. The new Ambassador was born in London 18 years ago. He left for Wasnlngton Immediately. The Countess Bernstorff was born In New Tork. but has not been In this country for over 15 years. Her daughter has Just turned 20 years. and Is exceptionally beautiful. THE SUNDAY OREGOlSTATi", PORTjLAJTD. J ACTUARY 10, 1909. HE'liAD NO'TRADEfNO PRO FEJPION , NO JFPOT OP LAND, NO PATRON VVORU?vrSOT EVBNA REJPEGTABLr& JUIT OF CLOTHED i 4. soon became something more than that of a critical observer; he hired out to him. and eays with pride. "I made every pin which went into .e boat." It took some four weeks to build the raft, and In that period Lincoln succeed ed in captivating the entire village by his story-telling. It was the custom in Sangamon for the "men-folks" to gather at noon and in the evening, when resting m a convenient lane near the mill. They had rolled out a long peeled log on which they lounged while they whittled ana talked. After Mr. Lincoln came to town the men would start him to story-telling as soon as he appeared at the assembly ground. So Irresistibly droll were his yarns that "whenever nea end up in his unexpected way the boys on the los would whoop and roll off." The result of the rolling oft was to polish the log like I mirror. Long after Lincoln had dlsap peered from Sangamon "Abe's log" re mained, and until it had rotted away people pointed It out, and repeated the droll stories of the stranger. Hero of an Exciting Adventure. The flatboat was done in about month, and Lincoln and his friends pre- , NO INFLUENCE ,NOTHI NO J W pared to leave Sangamon. Before he started, however, he was the hero of an adventure so thrilling that he won new laurels in tho community. Mr. Roll, who was a witness of the whole exciting scene, tells the story as follows: "It waa the Spring following the TV-in ter of the deep snow (1830-31). Walter Carman, John Seamon, myself, and at times others of the Carman boys, had helped Abe In building the boat, and when he had finished we went to work to make a dug-out. or canoe, to be used aa a small boatvith the flat. We found a suitable log about an eighth of a mile up the river, and with our axes went to work under Lincoln s direction. "The river was very high, fairly , 'booming.' After the dug-out was ready to launch we took it to the edge of the water, and made ready to 'let her go, when Walter Carman and John Seamon Jumped In as the boat struck the water, each one anxious to be the first to get a ride. As they shot out from the shore they found they were unable to make any headway against the strong current. Car' man had the paddle, und Seamon was in the stern of the boat. Lincoln shouted to them to "head up stream' and "work back to shore.' but they found themselves powerless against the stream. "At last they began to pull for the wreck of an old flatboat,- the first ever built on the Sangamon, which had sunk and gone to pieces, leaving on of the stanchions sticking above the water. Just as they reached It Seamon made a grab, when the canoe captlsed, leaving Sea mon clinging to the old timber, and throwing Carman Into the stream. It carried him down with the speed of a mill-race. "Lincoln raised his voice above the roar of the flood, and yelled to Carman to swim for an elm-tree which stood almost In the channel, which tho action of the high water changed. Carman, being a good swimmer succeeded in catching a branch and pulled himself up out of the water, which had almost chilled him to death; and there he eat, shivering and chattering In the tree. "Lincoln, seeing Carman safe, called out to Seamon to let go the stanchion and swim for the tree. With some hesi tation he obeyed, and struck out, while Lincoln cheered and directed him from the bank. As Seamon neared the tree he made one grab for a branch, and. missing it. went under the water. An other desperate lunge was successful, and he climbed up beside Carman. Things were pretty exciting now, for there were two men in the tree, and the boat was gone. "It waa a cold, raw April day, and there was great danger of the men becoming benumbed and falling back Into the water. Lincoln called out to them to keep their spirits up and he would save them. The village had been alarmed by this time, and many people had come down to the bank. Lincoln procured a rope, and tied it to a log. He called all bands to oome and help roll the log into the water, and after this had been done. he. with the assistance of several others towed It some dlstarice tip the stream. "A daring young fellow by the name or 'Jim' Dorrell then took his seat on the end of the log. and It was pushed out Into the current, with the expectation that It -would bo carried down stream against the tree whero Seamon and Car man were. The log was well directed. ana wecx sit&ikui w iiw uw, uub .i.iu. . In his impatience to help hla frlands, fell M)7 J : Wsitt& m vWi;' w.,t vt .r: 'V 5 l a victim to his good intentions. Making a frantlo grab at a branch, he raised himself off the log, and it was swept from under him by the raging water, and he soon Joined the other two victims upon their forlorn perch. "The excitement on shore Increased, and almost the whole population of tho village gathered on the river bank. Lincoln had the log pulled up the stream, and securing another piece of rope, called to the men in the tree to catch It if they could when he should reach MARY ANDERSON MAKES 'nty tie,..,,. . JSW' : '- J ft 4r . MRS. V. DB NiiW TORK, Jan. 9. (Special.) Mrs. A. F. de Navarro, who was Mary Anderson, ..ie actress, arrived in New Tork recently for a brief visit, accompanied by her husband, her 12-year-old Bon, Jose, and her baby daughter, Maria Elena. Site has abandoned the stage forever and will not appear in America even for charity. TH& If 3 A y&sittZ2e, the tree. He then straddled the log him self, and gave the word to push out into the stream. When he dashed Into the tree, i he threw the rope over the stump of a broken limb, and let It play until he broke the speed of the log, and gradually drew it back to the tree, hold ing it there until the three now nearly frozen men had climbed down and seated themselves astride. He then gave orders to the people on the shore to hold fast to the end of the rope which was tied to the log, and leaving his rope in tho tree he turned the log adrift, and the force of the current acting against the taut rope swung the log around against the bank, and all 'on board' were saved. "The excited people, who had watched the dangerous experiment with alternate hope and fear, now broko Into cheers for Abe Lincoln and praises for his brave act. This adventure made qulta a hero of him along the Sangamon." AuVrentures With the Raft. The flatboat built and loaded, the party started for New Orleans about the mid dle of April. They had gone but a few miles when they met with another adven ture. At tho village of New Salem there was a mllldam. On it the boat stuck, and here for nearly 24 hours It hung, the bow In the air and the stern in the water, the cargo slowly setting backward shipwreck almost certain. The village of New Salem turned out In a body to see what the strangers would do In their predicament. They shouted, suggested and advised, but final ly discovered that one big fellow in the crew was Ignoring them and working out a plan, of relief. Having unloaded the cargo Into the neighboring boat. Lincoln had succeeded In tilting his craft. By boring a hole In the end extending over the dam the water was let out. TWa done, the boat was easily shoved over and reloaded. - The ingenuity which he had exercised in saving his boat made a deep impres sion on the crowd on the bank. It waa talked over for many a day, and the general verdict was that the "bow-hand" was a "strapper." The proprietor of the boat and cargo was even more enthusias tic than the spectators, and vowed he would build a steamboat for the Sanga mon and make Lincoln the captain. Lin coln himself was interested in what he had done, and nearly 20 years later he embodied his reflections on this adven ture in a curious invention for getting boats over shoals. The raft over the Now Salem dam. the party went on to New Orleans without A VISIT TO HER OLD HOME. 1 i srl 4 ,L.J..A..-.v. y.:t,.-. NAVARRO. 1 A r 7-zzzxsyJ5 ctopi-y trouble, reaching there, in May, 1531, an remaining a month. It must have been a month of Intense- intellectual activity for Lincoln. New Orleans was entering then on her "flush times." Cosmopolitan in Its make-up, the city was oven more cos mopolitan in its life. Everything was lo be seen in New Orleans in those days, from the ldlo luxury of tho wealthy Cre ole to the organization of filibustering Juntas. The pirates still plied their tradu In the Gulf, and the Mississippi River brought down hundreds of river boatmen one of the wildest, wickedest seta of men that ever existed in any city. Lincoln and his companions probably tied their boat up beside thousands of others. It was the custom then to tie up such craft along the river front when St. Mary's Market now stands, and ono oould walk a mile. It is said, over the tops of theso boats without going ashore. No doubt Lincoln went, too, to live in the boatmen's rendezvous, called th "Swamp," a wild, rough quarter, where rouletta, whisky and the flint-lock pistol' ruled. Lincoln Settles In Ji'ew Salem, The month In New Orleans passe swiftly, and In June, 1S31. Llnclon, and his companions took passage up the river. He did not return, however, In the usual way of the river boatman "out of a Job." According to his own way of putting It. "during tills boat-enterprise acquaintance with Oftutt, who was previously au entire stranger, he conceived a liking for Abra ham, and believing he could turn him to account, ho contracted with him to act as a clerk for him on his return from New Orleans, in charge of a store and mill as New Salem." The store and mill were, however, so far only in Offutt's imagination, and Lin coln had to drift about until his em ployer was ready for him. He made a short visit to his father and mother, and then, in July, 1S31, he drifted over to New Salem, where, as he says, h 'stopped indefinitely and for the first time, as it were, by himself." "The village of New Salem, the scene of Lincoln's mercantllo' .rtreer," wriies one who has studied th"'hlstory of the town and visited the spot where it ones stood, "was one of the many little townn which, in the pioneer days, sprang up along tho Sangamon River," a stream then looked upon as navigable and as destined to be counted amonff the highways of commerce. Twenty miles northwest of Springfield, strung along tho lift bank of the Sangamon, parted by hollows and ravine, is a row of hifth hills. On ono of theso stood this frontier vlllnge. New Salem, founded in l&a by James Rutledse and John Cameron, and a dozen years later a deserted village, is rescued from oblivion only by tho fuct that Lin coln was once one of its Inhabitants. Ilia first sight of tho town had been in April. 1M1, when the flatboat he had built and Its little crew were aetainea in tsiuim their boat over the Rutledge and Cam eron mill-dam, on which it lodged. When Lincoln walked Into New Salem, three months later, he was not altogether a stranger, for the people remembered him a the Ingenious flatboat man who. a lit tle while before, had freed his boat from water (and thus enabled it to get over the dam) by resorting to the miraculous expedient of boring a hole In the bottom. Offutt's goods had not arrived when Mr. Lincoln reached New Sulem; and L "loafed" about, good-naturedly tuklng a hand in whatever he could And to do, and In his droll way making friends of every- By' ohance. a bit of work foil to Mm almost at onco, which introduced him generally and gava him an opportunlty to make a nam, in the neighborhood. Jt was election day. The village school-master. Mentor Grahsm by name, was clerk, but the assistant was ill. Looking about for some one to help him, Mr. Graham saw a tail stranger loitering around the polling pluce, and called to him. 'Can you write?" "yes," ssld the arranges. "I can inako a few rabbit tracks." Mr. Graham e1der.tly was satisfied with the answer, for he promptly Initiated him; and he filled the place not only to the satisfaction of his em ployer" but also to the delectation of th loiterers about the polls, for whenevar things dragged he Immediately began "to spin out a stock of Indiana yarns." So droll were they that years afterward mon who listened to Lincoln that day repeated them to their friends. He had made a hit in isew umtiu, ..- and here, as In Sangamon town, n. . by means of his storytelling. CoivrlKht. 1008. by the Manure wpp Syndicate. Copyright, By a. 8. Mo- C'lur. Limited.) Modest Requirements. Chicago Record-Hora'.d. A ta!y lob thut pays me wall. A pleasant homo In which to dwell. A raincoat when It's ra'nliix; A liver that is always riftnt. -v A never-taimiK bppc"v. Ibe wit to say tutnss that are prism. And I will qu't comjiaiuras. A chance to travel now and thn. The friendship of my follow-rnen. The lucK t never siuinof; Tlalr tl.at will not forsako my licsd. A nose that never may turn .-ea. Sweet dreams when I crawl Into IfU, And 1 will never grumble, manner that the ladles like. The strength to. Knock out whi n I etrtke. A bright eun o'er uie snimr.E. A little richer every tluy. Youth that will never wear away. Three tlmea a year a raise of pay. And I will ceme repining To have that which I want without The Horrows of de-ay or doubt. A tona-ue that a never rurry: To be from worldly cares so froe That other men will envy me. To wake each morning filled with. alee. JLtxl I u-lU never worry. r