The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 14, 1897, Page 17

ING, MARCH 14, 1897. \¢OME incidents, hitherto unpub- O lished, in the life of Abrabam Lin- coln are tod by Rev. William { dist preach- er, of Santa Monic: r. Stevenson has been en ling for over uis pastorate at near neighbor of Lincoln. Most of the occurrences here related came und personal observa tion and were the veriod just pre- ceding the time that Lincoln became President. I don’t think there are more than six oreight men of near & e now living who were among s intimate asso- ciates between 1850 and 186),” said Mr. Stevenzon to tue writ few days ago. “Of the lawye this number I am }\ ave Milton Hay and nited Staies Senators Sheiby M. Cul- m and John M. Pa'mer. nes Harlan, with whom I attended coilege in 1844, is L of Li fi He was Secretary e to recall the on neoin’s Int ) one exception Lincoln was the t melancholy man I ever knew. His t g seemed 1o spring frof t to throw off the sorrowful in his nature, The fact that be was sad yet cheeri place about for a prac- gfa County, before the tbe party Besides Lincoln phen A. Douxlas, was aiterward ap he United St was later the ndidate fo ent, Stephen atworney, and Lyman adandy, and who in - 1 voted al of President Andrew k on in the impeachment proceedings. In going to Postviile the party had to Tro Creek, which, when they got nesr it, was found to have overflowed its d the approaches of the ige. » was the only man in the party with th- road to the ’said e, ‘we can get bridee all right, but we shall have m our horses to d If we doso hout removing our clothing we will sorry_appearance when we get to Postville. The only thing for us to do is for each man to strip, roll iis clothes into a bundle and tie it to the back of his s coaches and noted ‘ present a shoulders.” This advice was followed. It mu¥t have been a sight to behold. There was the tall, lank form of Lincoln, the corpulent figure of Douglas, the tall and fleshy Davis, all-sized Logan and tne tall and dudish Trumbull. Having made these el ate preparations for a | wetting, the s of the party started across the intervening overflowed 1and, a quarter of a mile wide, on their way to the bridge. At the deepest place the water about reached the horses’ knees, and the travelers found they nbad failen victips to one of Lincoln’s cleverly laid pranks. [t was many years before they heard the last about ¢ ing Salt Creek. I recail one instence in particular in which Lincoln resorted to his characteris- method of illustrat a point. He tic | was giving me a comparison between | Senator Blank, who had a bombastic | style of expression, and Representative | Blank, who was plain spoken. ‘Senator | Blank,’ said Lincoin, ‘would say, “thatis | ‘erand, gaydy and imposing,’ as hissa- | tanic majesty exclaimed when he adorned | his candal appendage with the cerulean | tints of the imperial heavens.”” But Rep- | resentative Blank would merely remark: ¢ Isn’t that pretty,’ as the devil said | when be painted his tail sky-blue.” ’ | “Anexample of Lincoln’s sense of honor | was <bown me in a certain land deal. At one of the Government land offices in | Tllinois some of the best sections were | falsely recorded as ‘entered.” The man in charge of the office, after getting nearly thirty thousand acres thus disposed of | died sudden: His confidential clerk offered to sell the land to a syndicate, which combination offered Lincoln a share of the stock if ue would act as its attorney. Yot knowing of the false entries, but ng the business might drive some tlers from their boldings, Lincoln de- | clared: “I wouldn’t dispossess an honest | man of a foot of land for all the money there is in it.” It was explained to him that no bona-fide settlers were to be dis- turbed, and then he engaged in the enter- I was employed to make examina- as to whether certain partz of this land appeared on the Assessor's books. Lincoln went to Washington and inter- | viewed Commissioner Thomas H. Hen- | dricks of the General Land Office(afterward | Vice-President). Hendricks said the land could only be entered by public sale at the Illinois office. A date for such sale was | fixed, but somehow when that t!me arrived most of the land had been taken, “The candor and clearness with which | Lincoln presented his statements in mak- z & speech were remarkably convincing. witnessed an 1nstance of this kind one | time in court in Springfield when a post- | master was ontrial. He had been arrested | by a postoffice detective, as inspectors | were known in those days, for piifering | money frcm letters. The jury had been | chosen and the evidence beard. The case | was a strong one against the man. The | prosecuting attorney made his speech, then Lincoln spoke for the defendant. | ‘Gentlemen of the jary,” said he, ‘Iam not going to be so positive as to my client’s innocence as the prosecution has been | certain of his guilt. In fact if you believe | what he says you no doubt think the de- fendant guilty. I will notsay whether I | think him innocent or guilty. But, gentle- | men, you are not here to judge this man | by what I believe or you believe, nor by | what the prosecuting counsel says. You | are here to judge him by the law and evi- | dence, ana I can convince you in a few | minutes that there is nothing in either to | convict this man.” | “Lincoln’s candor gained the confidence | of the jurors and when he had analyzed the evidence and expiained the law they | were ready to believe everything that he had said. It took the jury but twenty minutes to find the defendant n ot guilty. “A remarkable feature in Lincoln’s life which I think his biographers have over- | looked was that almost from boyhood he seemed to know he bad a great workt to perform. There was in lllinois a Metho- dist preacher named Peter Akers. He bad formerly been alawyer, and was ad- mitted to the bar at the same time and place with Henry Clay, whom he closely resembled. Akers was & man of profound scholarship and surpassing eloguence. He was a pronounced abolitionist. On [RECOIL [ECIIONS R OET— e EsIN(D certain occasions this became his absorb- ing passion, and, no matter what the subject, the abolition idea would find ex- pression. 1n 1843, three years before the Mexican War, Akers spoke at a camp- meeting at Chatham, Ill. Lincoln was preseat. Akers took up the question of African slavery and announced it as his conviction that the South was conspiring to extend the areu of slave territory and to that end weuld precipitate war with Mexico over Texas. He declared it would require a personal conflict and that slavery could be wiped out only by a cruel, bloody War. “Ag Lincoln and Stephen Logan were re- turning from this gathering to Springfield, Logan asked Lincoln what he thought of Akers’ address. “« never heard anything that made such an impression on my mind,’ an- swered Lincoln. ‘1 believe Dr. Akers’ pre- 7 % A : T pl A, 3 4 Now ——————————.» = dictions will be verified and I feel that in some way I will be connected with that tinal conflict.” ‘“‘Another incident in this connection occurred in which, while talkng with Lincoln one day during the period of his farnous debates with Douglas, I remarked that he might not succeed in his campaign for the United States Senate. *¢I’m not ranning for the Senate,’ re- plied he, using his customary unpolished style of expression. ‘I'm hunting for big- ger game.’ “From what Lincoln told me personally I may say that he believed slavery ought not to be extended and that when con- fined in certain limits its death doom was sealed in some way or other, he didn’t know how. I think it wasin response to the promptings of such a belief that after he became President he was constrained tosay: ‘If tosave the Union I mustsave slavery, I'd doit. It to save the Union I must destroy slavery, I'd do that. The preservation of the Union at all hazards and at any price.’ “In the scores of speeches I heard Lin- coln make I never but once knew his effort to be a weak one. On that occasion he had been announced to speak in Paris, Ill. It was in the fall of 1858, I think, and was within the period of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Douglas was ill and Lincoln was to speak without him. While on the tzain going from Springtield to Paris to attend the meeting L iell into conversation with astran er, who on acqueintance proved to be Owen Lovejoy of Princeton, IlL Lovejoy was a noted abolitionist of the most pronounced type, but one of the most eloguent speakers I ever heard. At his request I promised not to reveal his name. When we arrived at Paris we found that Lincoln had telegraphed that he would be delayed in arrival. I con- ferred with the committee in charge of the meeting and said there was a man who, if they would not reveal his name, would speak while they were waiting for Lincoln. “The committee thought strange of it, but consented. Mr. Lovejoy was intro- duced as ‘a man from Northern He spoke on the Missouri compromise and other current topics. His splendid appearance, his fine voice and his wonder- ful command of language, with his great personal magnetism, carried his hearers | up and up till their attention was most in- | tense. He spoke for nearly two hours. Every eye was fastened on him and every ear was listening to his voice when, in conclusion, he said: ‘Button your coats and. hold your hats till I tell you who [ am. I am the great abolitionist, Owen Lovejoy.’ “The audience was astonished beyond measure. The sudden descent from the seventh heaven to which it had been borne in the flights of his oratory caused excla- mations of surprise such as I shall never forget. Lovejoy’s audience had ideas of its own on the abolition question, and his | name was by no means popular in that section. That it was Lovejoy whose speech had so charmed the Iisteners seemed almost beyond their belief. +Soon after that Lincoln came on the platform and explained his delay. He said he haa had nothing to eat since morning except one or two pieces of pie, and be didn’t feel like making a speech. He attempted to make an ad- dress and it was a failure—yet not a failure, but only a weak effort. After the heights to which it had been carried by Lovejoy’s matchless oratory and the sud- den descent when he revealed his name, the audience was in poor condition to be affected by Lincoln’s remarks. But this was an excepiion. While Lincoln’s hear- ers were not always convinced that he was right, they never doubted his sin- cerity. “I was a caller at Mr. Lincoln’s house the next morning after his nomination for President. While I was there a com- mittee came in to extend congratulations. to Mr. Lincoln tnat there would be & great many people calling to pay their respects during the weeks to come, and the com- mittee would like the privilege of stocking his ceilar with wines for use during that period. «¢I have never yet! Mr. Lincoln res plied, ‘had a drop of liquor in my cellar, and I never shall.” *On that same morning after Lincoln’s nomination Jesse Dubois (father of the present United States Senator from Idaho) asked of Mr. Lincoln, “How do you feel?” P11 tell you,’ said Lincoln, relapsing into his habit of telling a story to illus- trate a point. ‘I feel very much like I did on a certain ocgasion at Ottawe. You sea Jim Matheny and 1 bad gone there to ate tend the Supreme Court. We arrived in the nightand found the hotel full save one room in which were two beds. We were told that one of them was occupied and that we would have to sieep together in the other. We consented, and in due time retired and fell asleep. In the mean- time Enoch Moore (who was a dwarf) had finished his day’s dutiesasgrand jurorand come up. You know he treads as softly as & cat and he didn’t disturb us. Latein the night there was an alarm of fire. I sprang out and, without lighting a candle, grabbed the first pair of pants [ got h.1d of. I pulled them on and iound about tour feet of my pedal extremities naked. Itold Jim somebody had cut the legs off my pants. Just then Enoch Moore stuck his head out and exclaimed: *Mr. Lin- coln, I guess you’ve got my trousers.” Now I feel justas I did when Ihad Enoch Moore’s trousers on.” “The idea of long-legged Lincoln trying to don short-legzed Moore’s trousers con- vulsed his hearers with merriment. “Lincoln did very lttle reading. At the time of his death I was one of the preachers who addressed the people at the memorial services held at Quincy, Ifl. I dwelt more especially on the life and pub- lic services of the martyred President. After the services a committee informed me it was desired to have my address printed, provided a certain statement I had made in it be omitted. “‘What is it? I asked. ‘1t was your declaration that there was probably no public man who had done as little reading as hada Lincoln,’ was the reply. “I insisted that what I had said was only the plain truth, but the members of thescommittes thought otherwise. I told them to write to Mr. Herndon, who had been Lincoln’s law partzer for twenty- tive years, and see what he had to say about it. They did so, and he replied thatmy statement was correct. ;s “I once heard Lincoln say that he scarcely ever read a newspaper through. He said he would glance over a vaper, ses if there was anything he particularly cared to read, and, having finished such articles, would throw it aside. Bat although Lincoln was not a wide reader he wasa great thinker. His grasp of a subject an:d the way he would consider it in all its bearings was something wonder« R. ful.” GREENWOOD. ————— An ordinary man can say everything that any occasion calls for with a vocabu« lary of 1000 words. Of these he generally uses only 400 or 500, using the remainder when an 1dea out of the usual line of thought occurs to him. Most of us, being only ordinary men, seldom draw upon the One of the members, as spokesman, said surplus 500 words. g\'[’.l {. Rikert, known as the woman A miner of Tuolumne, has been vis- friends hers and at Redwood City. or fourteen vear< steadily has she been pecting and developing different prop- erties, and in that time she has discovered some of the most famous mines of Cali- , from one or two of which aearly 00.000 has been taken. Among these mines is the rich Alhambra of Calico, widely known as part of the Silver Odessa combination. s was a great silver mine, but Mrs. Rikert does not mine for silver alone, but for other minerals, and 2 has succeeded. She discovered the great borax mine at fterward managed by W. T. Cole- . m Alvord and Jerome Lincoln, who purchased it, she received a large sum, though nothidg like what the property is worte now. This mine now has the largest works of any borax mine in the world. Mrs. Rikert has also been singularly successful in mining for gold. Sne was one of tne fir:t who went to the new Alamo diggings in Lower California 4 few years ago, where she developed valuable propertie "The woman miner who has had such a remarkable experience has also discovered and developed the Pino Bianco gold mine near the Rawhide in Tuolumne County, which now shows an enormous ledge of quariz and from which she confidently beieves millions of doilars will be taken. She is bere now in relation to the mine. 1t seemus probable that sha will reatize a large fortune from it. rt told the strange story of ppened to go inio mining, ves- terday for the first time. She isa South- ern lady and has that dishke which many of the South have to being promi- nently thrust b.:fore the public. Never thelesss, she feels that her career as a miner has made her a subject of pullic interest. Thousands of people bave heard of her nitherto as Mre. Townsend. It was #is Mre. Townsend that she discovered ume of the great mines in Calico. She as then a widow and it is since th n that r marriage with Mr. Rikert bas taken plece. 8.e has a white pony named Snow- flake, and with this pony and equipped with the outfit of a prospector the womun miner goes forth day after day to prospect and 1o direct the work on mines she has NG the vast few days Mrs. A. whatever she hasdirected her attention | ROMANTIC CAREER OF sight more picturesque is to be seen in the Sierras. The lady is tall, has dark, sometimes flashing eyes, and has the enunciation which teli Her story is of signal ‘interest. It in cates fully what she thinks a woman can do in the fiela of mining. “I am the daughter of a cotton planter near Vicksburg, and was early taught | how to ride a horse, shoot and do many of the things which only a young lady’s brothers are supposed generally to do,” said she. “My father was a wealthy planter and owned slaves. Of course he was identified with the Confederacy, as I was, but that is another story. Perhaps it is enough to sav that my people were the Klines, of Mississippi, well known and conuected by marriage with nearly all the noted families there. As Annie Kline I will be recalled for the part I took in the war, as will my sister, for we were both imprisoned, though for nothing that we or any of our families regretted. I think sometimes when I am worth $2,000,000 or §$3,000,000, I may write a book and tell all about this. “Well, fourteen years ago, when things had cbanged around a sreat deal, I came to the new mining camp of Calico, deter-' mined to make a fortune if it was to be done. To tuis end 1 began to carefully study mining. It was a very ricn silver camp and Isoon learned to find mines by the outcroppings and to make tosts of the ledges which I had found. . 1 assure you I am very much more particular when I go out to prospect than many men are who go to look for indica- tions. Often where men walk the ground I stop and stay a whole day, examining particularly every part of the ground, chopping away brush and using pick and shovel freely. It was while prospecting in this way thav I found the famous Alhambra mine, which proved to have such a large body of rich ore. This mine was bought by the tate W. W. Stow of ihis City and became a purt of the great Silver Odessa, of which everybody has heard. This is one ot the most celebrated of all the mine at Calico, Ialso discovered and developed several other good mines there. “Among the mines was the enormous borax mine. bought by William Alvord where her eurly life was spent. | and Jerome Lincoln and manazed by Wil liam T. Coleman. Itsoutput sinceitcame already found and is developing. No into the hands of Alvord and Lincoln has MRS. A. K. RIKERT. 'THE WOMAN MINER OF T been increased year by year until now the works erected on it are the largest of any either in Europe or America. “At the time of the rush to the gold fields of Alamo'I and my daughter were among the first to go there. As Mr Townsend I had become well known in | Calico, and many of the miners believed for my successes that luck followed me, in short that I was a mascot. They often wanted me to make locations for them. I was two years at Alamo and.did pretty well, securing some good property. “However, hearing of the interest that was being taken in the minesof the mother lode, and wanting, like the typical pros- pector, to be in on the rise, I came three years ago 1o Tuolumne County. We struck it just in time and got in belore the rush. We drove all the way from Alamo to Tuolumne in a little wagon drawn by two ponies. “Going eight miles west of Sonora, near Columbia, and only a short distance from the Rawhide mine, I came across the Pino Blanco, then idle, ana we bought itcheap. It was before the boom and we had all the advantages which such opportunities pre- sented. *The claim had « little old tunnet run on it and some suiface diggings. The mine was all grown over with a kind of | greasewood. Through this croppings + were found on investigation to extend over a space 160x410 fest in exient. I be- gan a new tunnel east of the apex of the hiil At 63 feet we tapped the ledge. Then we ran west and crosscut for 66 feet, and have not got through yet. [tisa solid quartz ledge. The ore has been carefully tested several times, by spreadiag a piece of canvas and carefully picking out ore all over the face of the workings. It has been found so satisfactory that millions SOULFUL SONGS OF AN AMERI The Vanished Voice. There stood a tree beside his boyhood’s door That faced the west and often, just before The sundown, seemed transfigured with the light That flooded in and keen upon his sight Burned images of flame. And irom the tree Fluted a nameless bird so goldenly He seemed part of the sunset and the sky. The listener has listened for that cry | 0Of loye and longing many & weary time And heard it never, nor can mortal thyme Encompass all its sweetness; could the place, The bomely homestead and the subtle grace Oy youth return, the magic moment when The western sun shows hcaven to earth- doomed men, But transiently, perchance the chanting bird Would ba there, 100, perchance his voice wero heard. The listener listens vainly; song is rife still in the world, stili love illumines life; But he would give the all of after years, Its triumphs, wisdoms and revealing tears, To list that little bird-soul from its nest Leap into lyris rapture, sink to rest, Youth in the air and sunset in the west. RICHARD BUBTON. e o The Phantom Ship. A LEGEND OF CASTINE. The fort stands on the sightly hill Engirt by bays and the wide salt se 1ts earthworks soft with the grass a- ‘And the gold of flowers, its bastions low. How tranquil Tfme doth work his will On stormy heights of history1 Of yore the British ensconced them here, 0:d battle dogs in their rig of red; But the Yankees came, and who might cope With the men afire with freedom’s hope? A vanquished foe, with & victor's cheer At their very heels, the red-coats fied. \In a pit deep dug in mother earth, Tu & transient prison nigh the wall, Left bebind was a drummer lad; Clean forgotten him they had And his petty fault and his ways of mirth: No comrade stayed for to heed his call. | Buried alive there, he and his drum! Tireless he beat it, a reveille Would wake the dead, but no living wight Was near to succor by day or night; He prayed that even the joe might come Before he hud starved himself away. In vain; when the patriot band marched there : In after days, and the rampant scaled, They found his drum-head broken through With the hapless blows, and tho drummer, t00, L'fe-spent; what once was strong and fair Shrunk 1o a thing whereat men paled, RICHARD BURTON. A Potion. How brew the brave drink of Lite? Take of the herb hight morning-joy, Take of the herb hight evening-rest, Pour in pain lest b.iss should cloy, Shuke in sin to give it zest; Brew them all in the heat of noon, Cool the broth beneath the moon, Tnon down with the brave drink Life, RICHARD BURTON. Richard Wagner. 01d deeds, old creeds, for centuries dead, rise out The grave sud swarm beside the storied Rhine; The thunders of the heaven are girt about With the silver zones of melody divine. RICHARD_BURTON. GAN BARD. Song of the Sea. The song of the sea was an anclent song In the days when the earth was young; The waves were gossiping loud and long, Ere morials had found a tongue; \ ‘Tne heart of the waves with wrath was wrung Or soothed to n siren strain, As they tossed the primitive isles among Or slept n the open matn. Such was the song and its changes free, Such was the song of the sea. The song of the sea took a human tone In the days of the coming of man; A mournfuler meaning swelled her moan, And fiercer her riots ran; . Because that her stately voice began To speak of our human woes; With music mighty to grasp the span, Life's tale and its passion throes. Such was tlie song ua it grew to be, * " Sach was the song of the sea. The song of the sea was & hungry sound As the numan years unrolled; For the notes were hoarse with the doomed and drowned, Or choked with & shipwreck’s goid;. Till 1t seemed no dirge above the mold So sorry 8 story said As the midnight cry of the waters old Calling above their dead. Such is the song ana its threnody, Such is the song of the sea. The song of the sea is a wondrous lay, For it mirrors human life; 1t is grave and great as the judgment day, Itis torn with the thought of strife; Yet under the stars it is smooth and rife ‘With love-lights everywhere, When the sky has taken the deep to wife And their wedding day is fair— Such is the ocean’s mystery, Such is the song of the sea. RICHARD BURTON. are estimated to be in the mine. Wehave a five-stamp mill, but it is only used for gsampling. A great mill is now what is needea. One other good property in | which my daughter and I are interested | is the Mascot. ~In my vrospecting I go forth fully equipped for what I have to do. I take my little white pony Snowflake and am gone all day. Sometimes I drive, but as often I ride in the saddle. I carry a small pick, a fire-shovel and a hatchet. If I find a place where I want to scrape the broken stone or dirt away Iuse the shovel, and if I find brush in the way the hatchetis handy to cut it off. “The pony Snowflake I brought with me from Lower California. Bhe came all the way from La Paz, and I may say is invaluable to me in my latter-aay pros- pecting. ©1 early learnsd to make tests of all kinds of ores. I learned this because I did not want to depend on anybody else. I wanted to acquire my own knowledge | and be my own judge. I use both the | blowpipe and hornspoon for tests, and | they are vastly better than simply assay- | ing, being more accurate and in every way more satisfactory. I know no reason why a woman may not learn mining, and make asgreat a success of it as any man. Tue informa- tion is open to all. Ithink a woman may be as good a prospector, and even better, than a man, for she is more discriminat- ing and particular. In all my experi- ences in the so-called rough mining camps 1 have always been treated with great courtesy by the miners.” Mrs. Rikert and her family live com- fortably at the Pino Blanco. Asan in- stance of a seli-reliant woman the country has probably no one to surpass her. Over the Pacific Coast she is known by the significant title of the Woman Miner, by reason of tne great mines which have been found and developed through her efforts. Franklin’s Desk. One of the most valuable interesting pieces of furniture in Philadelphia is owned by Dr. Roland G. Curtin, and has a place of honor ia his office at 22 South Eighteenth street. It is Benjamin Frank- hin’s desk, the very one he used for twenty or moére years and at which he did most of his writing and in which he kept most of his papers. UOLUMNE.” two tiers of ample English oak drawer . and two drawers in the middle. There are two fronts, making both sides alike. The wood is the finest solid mahogany, the brass work is hand made and the desk was evidently intended to last for genera- tions. A great stack of letters and old newspaper clippings tell the story of the desk. After the death of Dr. Franklin it came into the possession of the well-known Philadelphia exchange brokers. One let- ter is very curious. It is from Kev. Edwin Town, to whose uncle it was bequeathed by Mr. Whelen. That letter is to William Bradford, a member of Councils in 1857, after the desk was placed in Independence Hall and attracted great attention. Init, aiter exploding the theory that Dr. Frank- lin and Mr. Whelen had private transace tions which led to the possession of the desk, Mr. Town says: “I shall continue to believe as I have for the last forty years, that the desk was abso- lutely the property of Dr. Frank. lin and that Mr. Whelen Sr. came into possession of it either before the doc- tur’s death or soon after when a part of .his effects were disposed of, 1ncluding the old desk, which Joseph Carr, formerly of Bartram’s Garden, the errand boy of Dr. Frankliin at the time of his death (1790), is positive he remembers as occupying a place in the chamber on the right of the entrance hall of t e doctor's mansion, which stood at that day on the ground now occupied by Franklin Pace.” Dr. Curtin got the desk from one of the present members of the Town family. It bas been estimated that it may be 150 years old. fflcted With Drops. “Speaking of nervous diseases,” re- marked a well-known specialisi yesterday, “did you ever hear of a person afflicted with the ‘drops? No. Well, it's a most remarkable complaint. Of course, it has its technical name, but it 13 commonly known as the ‘drops.” The patient's nerves may be all right in every other re- spect, but should he be carrying a bundle or parcel of any kind and you should sud- deniy cry out, ‘Drop that!” he would drop it as though it was a hot brick. He could no more help it than he could fly. Cases of this kind are very rare in the West, but th roughout the East there is something in the climatic conditions which makes 1t is big and broad, with a flat top and 910 disease comparatively common.”