Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 6

THE DECATUR DAILY HERALD February 12, 1909. 6 Slander on Lincoln's DECATUR Hekald. this stand-point. Abraham Lincoln is worthy of being classed with the great and good men which this or any other country has produced. Let us put him at the head of the procession of great men.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Mother Is Refuted Established October 6, 1830." Published by REV. DR. E. B.

HANDLE. IF I were called upon to express my opinion in regard to the greatest all-round man that this country has produced, the man who has probably rendered the greatest services to his country. I should select Abraham Lin THE HERALD-DESPATCH CO. g3T-239 North Matt SU Decatur, HI. What t'npt.

Noah's Passengers Did. From the Bohemian. Teacher And what do you suppos all the animals did during those 40 days in the ark? "Sraarty" Williams They Jest loafed around an' scratched themselves. "Sandy" Toole (disdainfully) Chuck ia. Smartyl What'd they scratch for, when there was only two fleas? coln.

If a man's greatness is to be de TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. By Mail in Advance. pally One year JJally Six months gnu Pally Three months 1.09 BT CAKRIER. Eafly Per week 10c ally Qae year In $5.00 TELEPHONE NUMBERS. all In the rights of every man regardless of the color of his skin.

He believed in civil and political equality, and In the practical workings of the Golden Rule. He believed In a free ballot and a fair count, and hated and despised all sympathizers with crime and oppression. Mn of Ills T)e Xeeded. We need more such men In public life today. for more men of the Abraham Lincoln type! If he were with us today, he would be a total abstainer and a worker in the local option movement.

It has been said: "That no age ever comprehends how truly It Is the product of other ages." No mind ever measures its obligations to other minds. We cannot tell how much we are indebted to Abraham Lincoln, for his spirit, his character, his life, his speeches, and his work. For 40 years the American people have studied his character, and praised his virtues, and the deliberate judgment of the country's thought gives to him pre-eminence above all others of the great and useful men who have served our country. He was dominated by the spirit that has inspired the real reformer of all ages. Any man can labor for that which he knows can be accomplished, and can move forward when everything Is moving In his direction.

But the really great man Is the man who, seeing that which ought to be accomplished, commits himself to It before the event Is certain; the man who risks his reputation and all on the cause which he believes Is right, but which has more enemies and mad opposers than friends and ardent supporters. Any man can support a cause after it has gained the victory and Is in power, but It taktes a great aYid good man to support a cause because he believes it is right, when it has many able and good men against it, and is far from being victorious. Viewed from rvew business Office 23 New Editorial Room 7., 221 Old Business Office 43 Old Editorial Room 42 Entered at the postoffice In Decatur, 111., as second class matter. Address A Wonderful Interest Is being manifested by Decatur women In Hitchcock's "new patented automatic, non-breakable boning." These corsets combine the excellent joints of the New Snug Hip, the long Directoire Skirts with great comfort and economy low, medium, or high bust, scientlficaUy selected and fitted to your form. They are padded and altered where needed to fill any peculiar feature of figure.

Other models: American Lady, Nemo, La Reine, Lyra, Bon Ton, etc, 45c, 69c to at Dry Goods stores 50c. $1.00 to $10.00. N. B. Refer to this add and get 1-10 of amount of purchase in china free.

HITCHCOCK'S MILLINERY AND CORSET SHOP. 155 N. Water "The Plume Store." jrommumeanons to xuE HEKALD, Decatur. I1L NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. In ordering change of address give both old and new addresses.

termined by his usefulness, he Is in no danger of being eclipsed, by any other man whose deeds have made him famous. His labors were prodigious, and yet he worked with an unconquerable "enthusiasm, to remove the cause that was dividing the North and the South, and to lay the foundation upon which future generations might build the greatest and most useful government the world has yet known. We are too close to this great man to fully appreciate the work he did for civilization. To me he appears as much of an instrument of Divine Providence as Moses, or Samuel, or David. No one can question that the rapid progress of the United States to its present exalted position is largely due to the character, influence, and contention for freedom for all people, of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln Excels AH Contemporaries. His aim was to preserve the Union, to make it politically powerful, to raise it in the scale of nations, to labor for its good rather than for his own private pleasures. And this aim he pur-' sued from first to last, like a giant of destiny, without any regard to losses, or humiliations, or defeats, or obstacles. Today is the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth, a year noted In history for the birth of babes who became great men, epoch-making men. Of those both in the year 1809 who achieved fame, are Gladstone, Tennyson, Darwin, Holmes.

Mendelssohn, Chopin, and our own Abraham Lincoln. It is not too much to say that Abraham Lincoln excelled them all, in the contribution which he made to free -ne iieraiu cannot undertake to return manuscripts sent to It unless accompanied by a two-cent stamp. No attention paid to anonymous REV. STEDMAX WRIGHT HAXKS. No.

8. dom and civilization. duty, and to make the world better. He was a true American, believing in -this nation and loving it. The fact that he was always anxious to avoids injustice showed the deep honesty and manliness of the man.

It is well to observe his one-hundredth birthday, for he was one of America's great men. Without Washington, a nation would not have been; without Lincoln the nation would not have been saved. No man ever came to the door of a ruler with a greater task before him, nor a more hopeless outcome. We look at the situation now in the perspective of history. But even at this distance, and with this advantage.

Its conflicting forces seem unmanageable. WU.it He Faced. There was the armed South, proud, confident, and tireless, determined to accept nothing but disruption. There was the border South, half unionist, half disunionist, but sensitive to any touch that turns the contest Into one for emancipation. There was the commercial North, prudent, thrifty, and timid, ready to accept anything but disunion.

There was -the abolition North, uncomprlsing and aggressive, to whom union with slavery was peace in dishonor. There was the great North and West, single-hearted and In earnest, who first and last were for the Union, for it without conditions; but who daily prayed at its million altars that the reunion would be unmanned by a single discordant note from a bondman's clanging chains." This is what Abraham Lincoln had to face, but he seemed to be the man for the hour. No other man In the nation was able to take hold of the Ship of State and guide It to safe harbor and permanent God saw that he was the man for the hour and called him to his great work. We admire him for his courage, his marvelous patience, and his kind heart which gave him power to deal with those so far below him In manhood. Few men have struggled for the ability to fill a high place as did Abraham Lincoln.

And he owed much to that knowledge which he gained so painfully and with such difficulty, and only an unconquerable purpose to help him. The Lesson of the Slave Mart. Charles Carleton Coffin tells us in his history that when Abraham Lincoln was a young man he built a raft for his employer, and took a cargo of produce down the Mississippi river to the market of New Orleans. After he had sold the cargo he and a fellow-boatman sauntered through the slave mart, where the southern planters had gathered to buy and sell slaves. It is said that black men and women and children were arranged in rows against the wall for Inspection.

The auctioneer proclaimed their good qualities as he would those of a horse or a mule. Some of the blacks were Christians. It is said, and their Christianity was proclaimed as among their good qualities, which ought to command a higher figure in the market; it made them more conscientious and trustworthy as workers. Again and again the hammer of the auctioneer fell, and husbands and wives were separated forever, and children were then and there doomed never again to look Into the faces of father and mother. That scene in the auction-room, it is said, set the blood of Lincoln on fire.

His lip quivered, and his voice choked in his throat, and he turned to his fellow-boatman and said: "If I ever get a chance to hit that thing I will hit It hard, by the eternal God." We all know what a tremendous blow he grave the institution of slavery. He believed in the Union and the Constitution. He believed In the United States of America. He believed in the development of our resources. He believed in the people of this country.

He believed In the dignity and elevation of labor. He believed that this nation ought to be independent of every other nation on the face of the earth. But he believed first and above Caroline Hanks, Hitchcock, a Massachusetts woman, is the author of an Interesting little book entitled ''Nancy Hanks, the True Story of Abraham Lincoln's fother''. The purpose of the volume has been to bring to light more facts about the girl wife of Thomas Lincoln, and to set at rest forever the charge that Abraham Lincoln's father and mother were not duly married. This charge was raised after Lincoln became president and was passed over lightly by his biographers, even La-mon declaring that no paper showing that the couple had been joined in lawful wedlock had ever been found.

The author of "Xancy Hanks" found both the marriage bond and the minister's certificate. Lincoln took after his mother's family and his close resemblance to the late Rev. Stedman Wright Hanks of Cambridge, often has been the subject of comment. The Hankses came of old English stock, and as is well known, the Lineolns were from an excellent family. CLIFFORD PLEDGER.

There passed away in a Spokane hospital yesterday one of the jioblest and sweetest of men. In his every word, and his every action Clifford P. Pledger glorified the llaster whom he served and illustrated the ideal life which he urged other men to follow. The catholicity of his character, his charm of address, his quiet humor, and his broad culture combined to make him beloved by those who knew him best and respected by those who had not an intimate acquaintance with him. His resolve to rise, his struggles for an education, the "straight, hard pathway" which he trod to reach the goal, his labors as a preacher and evangelist, tasks into which lie threw himself with a veritable fury of work, maka story that it known to many, and which should furnish an inspiration to hundreds in their fightr against what may seem an adamantine fate.

Cut down in the glowing health of youth before he had reached the zenith of his powers, Clifford Pledger had so intensely lived his life that the sum of his accomplishments was greater than that of most men who had rounded out the full three score and ten. So high were his ideals, so unceasing his toil, so successful his undertakings that one looks back on what he did. rather than forward to what he might have done. This is the tribute to him, that thousands even, who never felt the clasp of his hand, but who heard his voice speaking all the love that he bore for his fellow Xnen, returned that love and mourn him as a friend. V.

i i i 1 i 1 1 People's Column KNEW LINCOLN WELL. Great William N. Lanham Recalls McDaniels Will Case. A Man of the People. When one thinks of his utter destitution of malice, of his honest purpose to do his duty, of his freedom from ostentation, of his true humility of character, of his dauntless courage In the most trying circumstances, even when facing death Itself, of his broad patriotism that made It impossible for him to treat the Southerners as enemies, one must conclude that Lincoln was greater as a man than he was even as a President.

Therewas a universal quality about him that now seems to appeal to all humanity. Himself a man of the people, he had the democratic habit of mind and temper that has been seen in so many other great men, even though reared under institutions -that were not popular. His character was simple, and marked by that brave old wisdom of sincerity which Lowell found in him. He seemed to care nothing for glory, but was thoroughly devoted to what he believed to be right. It has been said that no one could go into the presence of Abraham Lincoln without being conscious of his superiority to all the men of his day.

Brilliancy which is a fine quality was not in him, and it is not often found in men of the supremest rank. The brilliant man is often erratic in Judgment, and is not serviceable, as a rule, in a responsible position, where cool judgment, and the ability to weigh matters, is required. And yet the more one studies the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, the more one is convinced that he had a great mind, not a mind that went to seed on one thing, but a well-balanced, all-round mind that could be trusted when Important matters were to be considered. Main Concern to Do His Onty. The fact that he had obtained a fine education without educational advantages, shows that he had a great mind which took to learning as a 'duck does to water." He was a servant of his country and of humanity.

His main concern always was to do his Editor of The Herald. Sir: Mir Lincoln in 1S60 and I have been with him and talked with him THE WHAT AND THE WHERE OF WINE. Two Montiecllo viueyard owners are on trial charged with selling liquor in anti-saloon territory, and in New York thirty cases of East Side dealers, who sell Avliat they claim is unfermented grape juice, are now awaiting action by Ih-e courts pending the decision of the Board of Health as to what is wine and what is grape juice. A chemical analysis will be made to settle the question. In this part of the country it is seldom that the anti-liquor laws bump up against the wine-making industry, which is generally associated with far away places like the pleasant land of many a time and have visited at Ins house.

The last time I saw him was the Sth day of August, I860, at Springfield at the old fair grounds. He rode out there in a carriage, and just as he passed inside the carriage was broken down by the crowds, pushing to fee him. At last he arrived at the plat PACKING Bv men who understand how. MOVING With padded vans and careful men. STORAGE In clean, well kept stalls.

HAULING 63 wagons appropriate for all classes hauling. DELIVERY Prompt service. Trunk cheeks called for. Old 320 PHONES New 520 form, where Doollttle, of A isconsin, was speaKing. inc etisei rushed on to the platform and broke I iLymee or bunny Italy.

WWinc like tobacco has been a theme for the poets, and the it down, uncoin saiu: "fip.nllemen. this is not my plat Terse maker has never had compunctions about naming his favorite brand. This fact probably has given foreign wines the prestige that they enjoy; at any rate many California champagnes are form I'm running on." He only spoke a few words and was taken back, to Springfield on horseback. I also was well acquainted with all noriiM in thp MrDanicls will case. old under the Irench label.

1 Lincoln was tne mam lawyer iur CRIMES OF MEANNESS. jauitm, uuuo i Their three sisters and their husbands ie meanness of some criminals passes understanding. The tried to brealc tneir iainer m. When the three girls got married they ftftfi nnippA which was all picture in the Lenox library in New York, known as "The Mother L-ffud Child" has been slashed from its frame and stolen, by whom, they were to receive. The three boys were to have the land, I think about 80 acres apiece, neir tauitrr, Decatur, 111.

335 E. Prairie St. nobody knows, btealing or mutilating valuable paintings appears to be coming more and more into vogue, and the chances are that the case of the first offender caught will not be dealt with solely on its merits, but in punishment will be made to serve as an example. Only a short time ago a thief broke into a print shop, and stole the plates for a work on which a noted scholar had devoted the best years of his life. A few of them battered and spoiled were found in a junk dealer's shop, an indication as to the destination of the majority of them.

The adjective "atrocious" has a distinct legal meauing. and atrocious crimes are punishable by heavy penalties. It would seem as if there should be specially devised punishment for crimes of meanness. iisfi f-sfl PLAY CENSORSHIP. to buy high grade shoes at such sweeping reductions as are offered in our GREAT AD JUSTMENT SALE Such bargains were never known in his day.

It is not often they are offered now. We are forced to it by a backward season, which threatened to leave many unbroken lines on our hands. We must have money, and have marked every pair of shoes in the house at a price that makes a genuine bargain. Theatrical managers like Daniel Frohnian and A. L.

Erlanger declare that they would favor a stage censorship to do away Avith the presentation of improper plays. Mr." Frohnian would have the censorship divided between three men of such breadth that they not be inclined to cross off a play because it had one regret-able incident. Mr. Erlanger thinks well of the plan, but does not suggest a method of putting it into effect. A few years ago the censorship idea was laughed at; today it 5s being adopted in many cities.

The results have not been wholly satisfactory for the reasons that standards differ in different communities. Representatives from the city government in one place might see nothing objectionable in a play, while a specially named committee in another city might bar it. Criticism which is not backed b3- official power is more than worthless in stopping a for it is doubtless true that press representatives of a play rather welcome the advertising feature of a denunciation. One method would be to have an intelligent commission pass ion a play and have its decision settle the question of its fitness once for all; another would be to encourage healthy demand for plays without racy lines or suggestive scenes. WILLIAM K.

LA XII A 31. liam McDaniels, had told everyone how he intended making his will. At that time It was one of the greatest cases' in the scate. The first time the case was tried the will was broken, and an appeal was taken to the higher courts and sent back for a new trial. At the second trial Lincoln spoke six hours and won the case.

As Lincoln and the three brothers were going down the steps of the court house after the trial, Lincoln said: ''Didn't I 'chink' it to them that time, boys?" These boys were all born and raised in Pickum Prairie. I was born In the suburbs. I knew the "Little Giant," Stephen A. Douglas, and heard his last speech, which was made at Springfield. WILLIAM N.

LANHAM, 1503 N. Wrater St. Decatur, 111., Feb. 11, 1909. $3.00 Pantent Colt But- $3.00 Tans, in Welt and g'u0 Johnson Bros, lot of Flor- ton, brown fcft I 0 McKav soles, good toes; Dongola stock heay shemiin Patent Leather cloth top sale price hQ 710 light solebluchcr -good style in lace $2.49 $1.98 $4.00.

Julian Kokegne, $3.50 Peters Dongola. $3.00 Florsheim Shoes sa.e price'. $3.48 MM $4.48 $3 50 Peters Patent Colt P'00 Queen Q11 All W. L. Douglas $3.50 Button and Lace plain solos' Pateut aud Sll0es in Kid Calf or $2.50 An extra strong and tin toe Ihft OC stocs' some cloth Patent Leather, in all lot in a variety of makes.

variet? ot Sg Z. SUBSIDIES. Divorce Leslie M. Shaw from the subject of politics, and what he has to say is well worth hearing. "We praise the sixteen American battleships that are touring the world," says Mr.

Shaw, "but what of the forty-seven colliers that are under foreign flags? At the first gun of war they would disappear. Japan can with her 500 merchant ships put 200,000 men under our flag in Hawaii in thirtj' days, while we cannot put 100,000 there in two years. Our powder mills working at their present capacity supply our ships with powder enough to last two hours of battle. If they worked to full capacity we could fight two hours every month. The trouble is we don't like the word subsidy" but we are subsiding agriculture by bringing in water to lands.

We don't call it a subsidy, Why Spare the Retailer? Editor of the Herald. Sir: I see in The Herald of the 7th inst. your article on the parcels post. Now I think there are other parties interested beside the mail order houses and the retailers, and these are the people who would be THE MIDDLE SHOE STORE served. Aow why should the majority of the people be discommoded for the benefit of a few retailers? Tours respectfully.

WM. H. HARTSOCIC Clinton, 111., Feb. 1909. These are figures and facts that there is no escaping, and they are not a credit to the United States.

Neither is it a credit to this government that if one wishes to go to South America, he can got there more expeditiously by going to England and sailing on a regular mail vessel than by securing passage on some tramp steamer that runs irregularly from New York to some point on the South American ports. War is a remote something for which it is well to provide, but upon trade and commerce depend to a large extent the prosperity of the country. It is only by a sj'stem of ship subsidies that other nations are able to dot the seas with their flags. frank HL Cole Shoe Company With Whiskers of WKbout. From the Boston Transcript.

Shall Lincoln's head on the silver coins be with whiskers or without? Probably a majority fthe American people would say the later, were it submitted to a referendum:.