4BETS HOOSIEB. HOME-
fT WAS ALMOST" AS PRIMITIVE
AS AN INDIAN HUT.
Were It Not for Ilia "Second Mother"
the Immortal President Would No
Doubt Jfave Lived and Died an Illit
erate Kail-Splitter.
Tinbirthday anniversary of Abraham
Lincoln furnishes occasion to IS. I. Lewis ,
R-riling in the St. Louis < Jlobc Democrat ,
lo discuss-the Linroln family in their
tarly home in Lincoln City , Intl. The
ficnirc he draws is far from pleasing in
fciany particulars.
"There are many histories of Lincoln , "
ie writes , "many stories of his boyhood
ind tales of his privation in early life ,
lut still , after reading all of them , when
jne enters this little village and stands
iurrounded by the landmarks < jf his earl >
Says , another and more interesting story
lhan any that has been published conies
| o a visitor. Lincoln City is lost away
6mong the hills of Spencer County inac
cessible almost to the traveler. It did not
boast of a name until after the poor boy
nrlin spent his boyhood from 7 to 21
fears here had become [ 'resident of the
talion and tool ; hU place in the brightest
pages of the world's history. Then peo
ple down 't the county seat' began to
refer to the settlement as Lincoln City ,
ind now it has a recognition on mo > - > t
maps of Indiana. Here , on a knoli , lies
buried Nancy Hanks. Lincoln's mother.
Over there in a forgotten grave lies Sally
Btsh , his step-mother and guiding angel ,
ind all around are the landmarks ot in
terest , each referring to a story of his
toyhood days.
"It was along in the early part of the
rear 1SJC a few month , * before the
StaleMS admitted to tinUnion that
Thomas Lincoln , Nancy Hanks Lincoln
and their children.
Nancy Hanks , aged
9 , and Abraham ,
aged 7 , appeared at
the mouth of An
derson creek , on
the Kentucky side
othe Ohio river.
Nancy and Nancy ,
Jr. , sat in the rude
frontier wagon , in
which were packed
fiARAH MNCOI.X. all of tljeir earthly
possessions , except an .old cow , which
Thomas and the son drove along behind.
JThey crossed into the wilderness of lu
diuna and drove north into the Indian
land. Fifteen miles back from the Ohio ,
they found a knoll , and there they stop
ped and made their home. This ground
Is Lincoln City of to-day. Thomas was
a carpenter , and he managed to build a
log cabin. Lie did not take the trouble ,
however , to cut in windows. lie
biade three three-legged stools and a ta
ble by turning a broad slab. Hat surface
up , and putting in four sticks as legs.
I'here was a bed made by poking poles
Into cracks in the logs , and supporting
the other ends in forked sticks. Over
Uie-e poles were laid whip-sawed boards ,
and over these leaves , and then be.ir and
deer skins and old clothes. This , with
the exception of a Dutch oven and a
skillet , was the entire household equip
ment.
"As he is remembered here. Thomas
Lincoln was anything but exemplary. lie
was lazy to a ver.great degree , and spent
all of his time fishing and hunting. He
only cultivated a half dozen acres of
land and his wife and children did all of
the work. ITe was too lazy , or indispos
ed , to provide his house with necessities ,
and Abe , who slept in the loft , had to
mount to his perch by pees driven in the
walls , because his father was too shiftless
to make him a ladder. And with all due
credit to Nancy Hanks , it must be ad-
j4 c V
e
t
f Iih
fSK 5r
it
tln
w
f.
tla
la
tl
tld
tlfn
L.IXCOL.N S INDIA VA UOMK.
t (
uiittcd that she was little better than the tl
father. They ruled their children by tlh
harsh methods , they were not cleanly h <
and they had never cared for better w
things. Therefore , Abraham , when he w
was 9 years of age , had not learned to
read or 'figger , ' and his sister , two years
his senior , had not fared better. It was
possibly a good thing for the nation , as
well as the boy , that , when he was 8
years old , his mother sickened and died.
The father and son whip-sawed lumber
and made a crude box into which the
corpse was placed. Twenty settlers gath
ered at the Lincoln cabin and carried the
collin to a hillock in the virgin forest and
lowered her to her lasr resting place.
There was no one present who was capa
ble of 'saying a few words , ' and that
was deferred for some months , and then
performed by an itinerant preacher.
AVoiuaiiVlio Made His Character.
"Thomas had been a widower thirteen
months , when he took a notion to go over
to Kentucky and see the folks where he
had lived. There he found a widow ,
Sally Bush Johnston , an old sweetheart ,
who had married Johnston , his hated
rival. He again proposed and was ac
cepted. Thomas was not only the great
est story teller of his section of southern
Indiana , but he had a poor regard for
Ihe truth , at times , and he won his sec
ond wife by exaggerating his estate in
Indiana to palatial proportions. Sally
was a woman of sterling qualities. She
had been surrounded with the utensils of
civilization a bureau , a clothes chest , a
table , chairs with backs , white table and
bed clothes , knives , forks , and cooking
pquipme'nt Thomas insisted that she sell
these and get the money , telling her he
bad all that was necessary. But she saw
different and loaded them into a wagon
* nd they started for Indiana. When she
krrived at Lincoln City and saw her fu-
hire home she was heartbroken , and
Mien she saw ill-kempt and ill-fed Abe
Ind Nancy she cried. Her own three
thildreii were la striking : contrast. When
r " ? ' '
? *
ss
J ' fff fvt & A" > * X
' ' . > ' -
MI .jj f ; . . * ; ; |
I't ' f T\V . * - . - _
MONUMENTS TO
LINCOLN AND
MIS MOTHER
y < SxJxSfc < 8vJxxSxfc < 4V $ > < ? > < ! ! WJ > < ? wS < fe < ! & < S
Lbe saw the chairs , the knives and forks
nd other furniture unloaded , his eyes
tood wide open , for he had never seen
nything like it before. Sally Bush was
natural enemy of all chaos and disorder ,
tossed the old dirty household effects
ut , made Thomas cut windows into the
rails and put a floor in the cabin. She
, -ashed the walls and put the five chil-
ren to cleaning up the premises. She
) ok charge of Abe and Nancy , and
i light them the first principles of clean
ness and rare , and love took * he place
f harsh words , and ill treatment. The
reat oul of the awkward , ignorant boy
pened to her and the friendship which
illowed filled his whole life. He has
id of her : 'She was the woman who
r t made me feel like a human beinir. '
"Sally clothed Abe and Nancy cleanly ,
nd as well as her limited finances would
ormit. and nut them in school. They
rent four miles to
chool and had to
aIk. The boy road-
y grasped the iu-
tructiou given , and
rithin him were
orn the ambitions
rhich mace him
'resident. After all
he influences of
hose high in polit-
al authority , af-
c-r all of the ac-
uiremcnts of the
lan himself , after
11 that might be
o n s i d e r e d are
, -eighed , it becomes
vident that it was
his woman , with
ier ruling by love , LINCOLN KAVE.
or meat fund of organizing and raanag-
jg powers , that gave to the world one of
s greatest men. Had it not been for her
lere i.s little doubt that Lincoln would
ot have risen higher than the illiterate
ood chopper.
"Abe was within two months of being
1 3ears old when he accompanied his
ither to Illinois and became a rail split-
> r by force of his poverty , and Inter a
iwyer by constant n'mht study. Thomas ,
ie father , had showed improvement un-
L > r the management of Sally. It was here
lat Lincoln built his flat boat and went
- > wn the Mississippi to New Orleans and
rst b'-held slavery , and It was here ,
hen he returned home , that he gave ut-
rance to 'If I ever get a chance to hit
lat ( slavery ) , I will hit it hard. ' It was
* re he clerked in a general store : it was
ire that he first told his stories , and it
as here that the Lincoln of history
as molded. Here and there are ihe de
caying landmarks of bis boyhood life.
The last time he was here was when en
route to Washington to occupy the place
which the people of the nation had elect
ed him to. He came to see Sally Bush ,
and she would have gone with him if she
would have listened to him. The eyes
of the nation were on him at that mo
ment as they were never upon n Presi
dent before or since , but still his heart
was centered in the little cabin. He had
paid off the mortgage with the first
money he had ever saved , and he sent
her money as long as he lived. "
Coarsealentines. .
Many a sensitive child's feelings have
been hurt by receiving a coarse valentine
ridiculing , it may be , some infirmity or
fault the child is faithfully trying to over
come. Miss Harrison , in her mothers'
class in this city , urged mothers to dis
countenance in every way that they could
the buying or sending of coars ° , vulgar
caricatures known as "comic valentines. "
"The right attitude. " said she , "of the
child is that of reverence or looking up.
All that takes the bloom off of life in
jures the child's growth. Comic valen
tines are not only coarse and low , but
they give wrong , exaggerated impressions
of life to the child , and thereby injure his
intellectual growth as well as his spirit
ual fineness of fiber.
"To prevent a desire for them , begin by
telling die story of the life of the man
who was so good and true and unselfish ,
whose aims were so high and whose pur
pose was so noble that after his death
the people who had known him or who
had known of him loved to speak of him
as St. Valentine. Next show how it grad
ually became the custom to send little to
kens of affection , messages of cheer and
of remembrance by way of celebrating
this saint's birthday. See that the desire
thus aroused finds outlet with the child
in the right Kind of valentines purchased
and made. Let him scud them to Ihe
people he loves. The valentines which
are made by the child are. sis a rule , more
healthful than those that are purchased
by the mother for him. "
Miss Harrison then showed several
pretty w-\s . of folding and cutting the
old-fashioned valentines used in our
grandmothers' days.
"If this plan is carried out , " continued
she. "I think you will have little need to
forbid the purchasing of the coarser arti
cle. The incongruousiipss of the thing
will show itself to the child. Remember
that the grotesque leads into the coarse ;
the coarse into the impure ; the impure
into the obsr-me " Western Rural.
CUPID UP TO DATE.
Snld Cupid , tills .rear
I know what I'll ilo.
I'll show the "old fossila"
A new thing or two.
I'll h.iRfp me nml purchase
An "niitomoluihblu , "
Tln-n Valentine's day
I won't have the least trouble
In making the rounds
Of each house In the land.
Where smoldering uoart-lirca
Need to be fanned.
I'll have everything new ,
My own toga as well ;
Oh , I tell you , my l > oy ,
I'll be nothing but swell.
Now , poor "Santa Clans"
Can sit on the fence ,
For I'll make his old sleigh
"Look like thirty cents. "
And when I'm not using
My "mobile" myself ,
It won't be put up
Nor laid on the bhelf.
But I'll rent It to folki
Who want to go 'Tidin' . "
Though mv price will bo
Ou a scale that Is blidln' . "
To nny old frenk
Who says love Is a snare ,
I'll let It. I s'pnso.
Rut I'll "soak him for fair. "
And whenever I lot
To a charming voung maid ,
I'll Just take a kiss
And feel more than repaid.
Now , all yon good people ,
On Valentine's day ,
Just keep your eyes open
Along the highway.
And take care lest your hearts '
Dun Cupd ! ma3 * steal
As he whizzes along
In his automobile.
-Globe-Democrat.
Curious Old Tr.ulition.
There is a curious old tradition that the
birds select their mates on St. Valentine's
day , which is more interesting in the at
tention accorded it than in itself. Shak-
speare in hig "Midsummer Night's
Dream , " makes Theseus say when he
suddenly stumbles upon the quartet of
lovers asleep in the wood :
St. Valentine Is past !
Begin these wood-birds but to couple now ?
One of Chaucer's stanzas pictures Na
ture reminding the "foules" of her inex
orable laws :
Ye know well how , on St. Valentine's day ,
153 * my s-tatute and through mv governance ,
Ye do choose j'our m.ate .
Dr. Donne also has indited an ode to
St. Valentine :
Hall Bishop Valentine !
All the nir Is thv diocese.
And all the chirping choristers
And other birds are thy parishioners.
Thnu marryest every j-ear
The lyric lark and grave whispering dove.
The sparrow that neglects her life for love :
The household bird and his red stomacher.
Thou mak'st the blackbird speed as soon
As doth the goldfinch or the halcyon.
St. Valentine , as a hierophant of the
heart , has no more devoted disciple than
our ancestors.
The very children in the country towns
of Enirland decorate themselves with
holly wreaths and true lovers' knots and
move in processions , from house to house ,
singing :
( Jood-morrow to yon , Valentine ;
Curl your locks as I do mine-
Two before and two behind
Good-morrow to you. Valentine.
The Golfer's Valentine.
Where'er 1 look , whate'er the plae * '
Mine eyefc aie stymied by thy face !
What ( ' r I try to do the while.
My stroke is foozled by your smU ; !
Where'er I walk , I can't disguise ,
Mjsteps are b'inkercd by thine eyes !
Some days when thou art kind to me
My heart is lofted gloriously.
Dtit when , nla * . ! I have thy frown.
'Tis topped a.ici sinks , and sinks deep down.
Sometimes , when listening to thy mirth ,
I'd try to loft the whole glad earth ,
And make each mortal on it see
How sweet life's fair green is to me.
Ah , Phyllis , dear , my soul's so wrapt
To think of thee. I'm handicapped !
But on my knees 1 beg the joy.
Of being just thy caddy-boy.
Two Tip are we upon this day
Let's seek the priest with one to play !
Or. if 'tis medal play , 'twill do ,
Were we to make it one off two !
Harper's Monthly.
Good Advice.
To a man who offered him a case ot
doubtful merit , Lawyer Lincoln wrote :
"Yes , there is no reasonable doubt but
that I cangain your case for you. I
can set n whole neighborhood at log
gerheads ; I can distress a widowed moth
er and her six fatherless children , and
thereby get for yon $ GOO , which rightfully
belongs , it appears to me , as much to
them as it does to you. I shall not take
your case , but I will give you n little ad
vice for nothing. You seem a sprightly ,
energetic man. I would advise yon to tr ;
your hand at making § ( iOO some othei
way. "
THE GOD OF THE MONTH.
THE STORY OF A STEW.
L HARLOW works In a down
town book couceru and makes a
pretty fair salary wet-kly. The
trouble with Hurlow has been that for
something over a year past he spent
more than the stipend which the big
publishers' bookkeeper poked into his
envelope e\ery Saturday night. Al
was born with several ire.ne.rous streaks
in him , and as be approached adoles
cence be developed an inclination to so
generosity one better or worse , and ac
tually to throw money away. Harlow
is good-looking and there never was
a generoi's man who lacked friends.
The girl , in young Ilarlow's set all
thought it's a question what they're
thinking now , though that be was just
about right. They gauged him p.-rlup.s
by the candy , flower and theater ticKCt
standard. It it be not ungallant even
to hint such a thing it may be put down
right here that the young women in Al
Ilarlow's set played the young fellow
for literally more than the young fellow
was worth.
If must not be supposed for a minute
that there were not many matrons who
were ready to declare that Alas go
ing at too swift a pace , although not
one of them was found ready to tell
her daughter that it were wise that a
hint be thrown out to young Harlow
that American beauty roses in Decem
ber were too costly a gift to be sent to
one young woman twice a week. There
was only one of Al's set , and she was
only in the set on occasion for the
other girls declared her rather prim
and finicky who had the courage born
of a conviction that Al was developing
spendthrift habits , to tell him frankly
one day that neither she nor her moth
er thought it right for him to send as
he did occasionally the expensive hot
house blossoms and the equally expen
sive bonbons.
Al took this in good part and way
down In his heart he thought that Mary
Johnson was saying just about the
right thing , and that the saying of it
was prompted by a delicate considera
tion for his own good , as well as by an
equally delicate understanding of the
propriety of things.
If Harlow did spend more than his
salary he stuck close to business in the
book establishment , and one day he
was promoted to a better position and
to more pay. an advancement that gave
him a very comfortable income. Al sat
down one night to figure it up. II is
debts scared him. He thought to him
self that by rigid economy for a year
he could square up , but he was not of
the kind to settle down of his own free
will and accord to any economy , let
alone that of the rigid kind. All the
girls in the set knew of Al's advance
ment , and most of them thought of it
EIS meaning just so many more chrysan- !
tbemums and so many more chocolate !
caramels. There were many of them , j
too , it must be said , to whom this adJ J
vancement gave to Al a new value. As j
fi matter of fact , the majority of them
began to set its cap for Al. It must not <
t > e supposed , however , that a great bur- !
len of sense lay with the majority. It
: -ould not bring itself to forego the
pleasures ot the sweets of candy and i
the scents of flowers simply because ]
me of its members hoped to lead the 1
spendthrift to the altar. "Let him <
? peml. " said the girls. "When he does ]
jot married be can save moue3' . pay his j
lebts and become a model for the com- >
uunity. " > i
'
Mary Johnson did not like It when Al
showed a tendency to keep on running 1 1
ilong the road which has a big finger i
> ost marked "Ruin" standing all along , :
be way. There wasn't a grain of selfa
shness in Mary Johnson's nature. She t
iked tho young fellow and she hated i
0 see bin ) go the way that leads to a j
rre.-it big precipice. r
All the set. Al and a lot of other s
oung fellows included , went to St. *
Jives' Church. Most of the members t
> f SI. Dives were so rich that they S
ould have each chipped in enough
, -ithont m'ssing it to make unnecessary
he holding ot a church fair for the
lenetit of the poor of the outlying dist ' :
i-icts of the parish. They gave a church ' v
air , however , and the young women o
repared to play , as sadly enough they t <
Iways do at church fairs , the parts of p
arpies. n
'
The girls held a meeting before the tl
, iir and planned a campaign. Each d
ue had a little book in which the viet <
iics were toput down their names , T
ay a quarter for the privilege and tl
ius secure one chance in 4,000 of win
ing a tidy or an impossible whisk In
room holder. One of the girls said that is
should be a matter of conscience g ;
ith them all to make as much as they n
> uld. and then she added : "Every girl n
1 this bunch must make Al Harlow ri
.iy 50 cents a chance , because he'll do ti
and never wink. It's in a good cause , b
on know , and he's easy , and we must it
-t all we can. The other boys will 01
'
and for quarters , but they are not In ri
10 easy class with Al. " j c <
In that moetinic they laid plans that > al
carried out Avould come pretty near ol
inpletin ? the financial undoing of Al- ci
rt Harlow , book publishers' man.
.ary .Johnson was there and'she de-
nniced the scheme as "a shame. " The
her girls looked at each other as much
to say "O , but isn't she artful ? "
Hie fair wa < on. Al Harlow had
rarht tickets for all sorts of things and ' fe
paid three prices therefor. He had j UJ
id 1 postage each on letters In the'
- office and had paid 50 cents each
i a dozen attempts to hook a penny
hictlo from out the "fish pond. " Now
happonod that Al had been obliged to w
- k late at the book shop and he had
ne to the fair without bavin ? taken
nrr.cb as a bite of food. Hg was jn
young , active and healthy and he was
as hungry as a bear. After he had
parted with a large part of his finan-
' cial substance he said within the hear
ing half a dozen of the girls and sonic-
| what thoughtlessly : "I'd give $5 for
something to cat. "
"You shall have it. " they said ID
chorus : "sit down.7'
They pushed him into a chair by a
table which was close to the door ot
the fair kitchen. Al had seen his youns
men friends eating for an hour past
He knew that they had paid only a dol
lar a head for their dinners and that
they were having each a substantial
meal. He hoped that his five dollars
would bring him something solid , yet
appetizing. The six girls to whom he
had imparted knowledge of his hunger
disappeared into the kitchen. There
they talked louder than they knew and
Al heard every word.
" \Vc'll just give him the regulation
church fair oyster stew , " said one
voice. "It'll be a good joke and he's
too easy to say anything , and there'll
be just 54.95 clear profit' '
"Splendid , " sane : a chorus. Then Al
heard another voice. He recognized it
as that of Mary Johnson. It was a
voice softer and with a better modu
lation than any he had heard. Perhaps *
it was what she said that made him
think this , but he thought it neverthe
less. "That's not only a shame , girls. "
said Mary , "but it's mean. Because Al
trios to be good-natured and does
things for us all Is no reason why he
should be imposed upon and made to go
hungry. "
"Mary. " said another voice , "you are
ill ways spoiling our fun. "
Then there was silence. In a tew
minutes six young women escorted In
a watery oyster stew and put it down
[ -IICV TALKED LOCDKi : THAN THEY KJTEW.
ivith not even so much as a cracker on
: he side. It was indeed a regulation
liurch fair stew. It had one oyster ,
i miserable , attenuated , pale little
: hing like all oysters that are sacrificed
'or charity. Mary Johnson was not
miong the onlookers as Al ate. When
le rose from the table he said : "Good
light , " and left. Not all the irnpor-
tinities to buy a carnation for only $4
iucceeded in holding him longer.
Two weeks later tho young women
net in the parish house to make the
inal accounting of the financial end of
he fair. They had made a lot of mon-
y. As Mary Johnson held out her
iaper of accounts to the treasurer the
Iris saw something on her hand and
'ith one accord they screamed : "Mary ,
rhere did you get it ? "
On r n cn-ia"omont finger of Mary's
and ' . . : ; : t i v oM circle holding
i a golden c. sp . magnificent pearL
lary blushed a moment and then with
glad look that betrayed something of
riumph , replied : "It's my engage-
lent rins. Al Harlow gave it to me
osterday. The p arl is a beauty , is it
otV Partridge & Co. . to whom Al
lowed it , appraised its value at $2,000.
1 found the pearl in that plate of oy -
; r stew , for which you charged him
" Chicago Record-Herald.
Dowry of Brides.
In almost every country but America
iere are restrictive conditions in force
ith regard to the marriage of armj\
Hcers. In Russia especially is thisW
i l > e found , as no circumstances will
rmit the marriage of an officer under
IB age of 23 , and not even between
tat and 28 years , unless the bride's
) wry is a sum sufficient to allow him
> keep his money for his personal use.
he limit of this dowry is fixed by
ie government
In the Austro-Hungarian array the
imber of officers authorized to marry
limited by a fixed proportion in each
ade. and when these totals are
ached further marriages are prohib-
ed until vacancies occur in the mar-
3d ranks. The Italian army regula
rs fix the limit of a bride's dowry ,
it the law Is frequently broken , for
has been recently estimated that
ily about one-eighth of the mar-
iges have occurred under the proper
nditions. The
other seven-eighths are
tended with all the inconvenienciea
a marrige not recognized by the
ril law. ,
I > efined.
Little Elmer ( who has an Inquiring
ind ) Papa , what is conscience ?
Professor Broadhead
Conscience , my
n , Is the name usually given to'the
ar we feel that other peoplevill find
out Harper's Bazar.
To S-lect B-rom.
she The angels sent me ma two twin
bies last night.
3e ! Has she picked out the one eba
mts yet ?
Some people alway look dteap-
inted.
