Mexia Evening Ledger (Newspaper) - October 6, 1899, Mexia, Texas MEXIA NING VOL 5 NO 155 MEXIA TEXAS FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 1899 N P HOUX iED AND PUB An Historic llittle City Some Recollections of the Early Days of Abraham Lincoln's Town Lincoln 111 Letter the city of Lincoln cannot of haung the home of the president its residents are just 0 proud of their little city for in the fifties the prominent figure the mid- dle west was often on the streets and In the old courthouse he made many speeches and carried on a goodly share his practice The whole place is teeming with reminiscences and the j timers ho were here in the good old days like nothing better than to pre their memories full sway The first county of Logan county was Postville named for its founder sell Post in Post was followed by other pioneers and finally the little settlement became the regular ping place for the stages it being on tie direct road from Chicago to St Louis It being the county peat it soon arrived at the dignity of a house a rude two storied building Thich remains to this day and this ras followed by a jail of the type to be found in frontier towns guaranteed burglar pi oof Built of logs one foot hewed by hand it was strong to bold any criminal and cape was out of the question as the only entrance w as from a trap door in the ceiling the malefactors descending by moans of a ladder and then left iu a pit feet underneath an iron trap door The county seat was after- to Mt Pulaski and ever It was in the old courtroom where the man destined to become one of the greatest presidents we have Thinking he could better advance hie interests and supposing he could cape detection Brown gave Mr coin a very false view of his case This developed in the trial when Mr Lincoln vexed at the falsity of the man and caring only for the truth turned to him in open ing with considerable earnestness Brown what made you lie to me If I had known the truth in your case THE OLD COURTHOUSE FAMILIAR TO LINCOLN THE LAWYER ever known conducted several of his cases and by his known honesty won the hearts of the people As an tration of this latter the following in- FIRST HOUSE ERECTED IN SARA THE DIVINE AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS THE She Tells the Correspondent About Her Her Successes and the Many She Hopes Yet to Will Paris Letter see you at So ran a line from Madame to me and at 3 I was well on my way to the fashionable part Paris where the queen of the drama Sara the Di- as they call her in Paris lives Approaching Bernhardt's house through the tiny courtyard I saw hanging alongside the door a trig bunch of purple grapes and behind the grapes was the door signal In answer to my the neatest of French maids opened the door and showed me across to a very pretty square way with stairs leading up The way is used by madame as a reception room Scarcely had I seated myself when I saw a figure upon the stairs It was Bernhardt She had been standing upon the top step reading by the un- certain light of 9 colored lamp but as saw me she came down the steps with outstretched hands and a hearty I am so glad to see Of course she spoke French for Yet the room was relieved from by the similarity of the style of ornaments which all belonged to the pure French renaissance and were not scattered articles of virtu and bric-a-brac of nations I am ing said madame for in a few days I start upon my tour of the inces I shall play my ly for it is the success of my life Yes I like to play it There Is a novelty about it Shall I go to I hope so for I love your people They are so appreciative I could play tor them forever And now you must have a pen picture of Bernhardt She Is petite though so slight that you take her for taller than she is I do not think she is over live feet three She weighs about 145 pounds and her hair is a light shade of natural red It is curly and she wears It in a French coil from which ripples curl around her face Her complexion is pink and her teeth are white and even Her hands are the long slim ones of the artist but so delicate that you wonder how she could ever have handled the large figures which she will tell you that she modeled The Of that I cannot speak said but I shall play here next year in my own theater which I am ing now But my next That Is not decided yet Bernhardt can 136 haughty and there is just a suggestion of haughtiness as she speaks She has the habit of carrying the head well back and speaking with her eyes cast clown slightly yet looking down at you I would have advised you not to bring suit This unflinching regard for principle gave Honest Abe a ing among Logan county people which in after years was never lost Lincoln's fund of humor and his capacity for having thousands of dotes concealed about him is known ail over civilized America The old courthouse will pass into oblivion In a few years moie hut the memory of the great lawyer who afterward led the nation through its darkest hours will a sweet one The new town of Lincoln which now nab for its fourth ward is a busy place of twelve thousands re- plete with factories railroads paved streets electric car lines thing that goes to make a central town a desirable place of dence The first house that was ed on the town site in 1853 is still standing and is habitable And to add local color to this sketch when the cottage was visited by the artist he was met at the door by a dear little old woman with a most charming brogue After stating his mission she asked An might ye be was the answer And do you see me daughter Katy up C L SHERMAN Postville immediately lost prestige and when it was united to the city of Lincoln in 1805 numbered only 200 in- habitants The late Col R B Latham secured the right of way through county for the Chicago Alton and was promised by the chief engineer the location of a station He then bought the land on which is now the original town site of Lincoln on behalf of himself John D Gillet the cattle king of Illinois and Virgil of Springfield This was m February 1853 and the sale of lots took place in the following August grass was so long on the town site at that time that the organizers had to have it mowed to find the streets The town was named for Mr Lincoln then a prominent attorney in field and a warm personal friend of Gillett and Hickox Ho was among the number who came up from the capitol to attend the sale and Balked the site inspecting the lots pointing out those he would like to and in the next breath ting his inability to buy At that time he was of as a possibility but was popular with everybody in central Illinois and had already been given tie name of Honest Abe The courthouse where to tried many of his cases still stands aid in outward appearance is the same when he entered it with his green bag nearly fifty years ago But the in- ferior has been remodeled until there ls no semblance to its former self have been sold through what once the portals of been wagered on the tacks where he circuit riders once placed with their dusty boots and have been raised In the rooms of the jury But the memory remains stories of Lincoln the lawyer and Lincoln thp president are numerous as is Mr Lincoln had been employed by a Mr Brown to conduct a case for him and which was to be heard in the Logan county court Soured Ills Out The Paris Progres Medical a most remarkable recent case ing the of fright on the hair A vigorous peasant with abundant hair not yet showing gray saw his small child trampled under a horse's hoofs and was overcome by fright He trembled and had palpitations and a feeling of cold and tension in the face and head On the following day the hairs of the head beard and eyebrows commenced to fall in quantities so that after eight days he was absolutely bald In a few weeks a new growth of hair put in an appearance IN A NAVAL DRY DOCK The picture shows one of the dry docks at the Brooklyn navy yard The boat in the basin is one of the torpedo variety that was engaged m the battle her keel and the caisson or floating bulkhead which fits snugly across the sea side of the dock has been towed into position and when the water has of Santiago bay last year She has been sucked out by the great pumping gone into thia hospital as the tars engines then the naval doctors can call the naval dry dock These basins get down below the region of the water will usually hold anything from a line and find out what is the trouble to a common line and take the proper remedial tug When she has been tenderly ures The horizontal spars are the propped up on the blocks which have shores that prevent the vessel frori been fitted accurately to the outline of ovar OB Its Earnhardt floes not know English She has always declared that she would not learn it for fear it would spoil her French A charming idiosyncrasy truly and one that is appreciated by both French and English audiences It foreign stare says a well known critic would cling to their own language we should not be put to the mortification of hearing our own tongue murdered upon the stage Speak correctly or not at all should be the rule for public speakers But we Americans are so good I thought of all as Bernhardt's smooth musical tongue struck upon my ear as she came ward with both warm hands out- stretched She shook mine cordially and pulled me toward a culling one of the sort in which you face each other though sitting on op- sides You sec mp at a dis- declared madame ingly for I am alone My who has been visiting me is away and I like never to be alone This house was built for many guests and I am never without some one Your Oh said madame touching lace upon the gown as though she would place her hand upon her heart you mention the dearest and kindest fellow in the world I love Maurice and he loves me He is the most i of sous Every day he comes and many times some days to see how 1 am Am I lonely does not leave me Am I sad he brings me bright flowers and pets and books He is a darling Maurice As madame spoke she glanced the room which was filled with many beautiful objects perhaps the gifts of Maurice There were many small clocks for I learned afterward that she is very fond of and there vases and easy chairs and rugs new achievements and at me when many of us are counting our grandchildren she is counting thei eeds that lie before her for And she has grandchildren laurice is a great man of over thirty ut Bernhardt alone of all who ound her Is fresh and youthful You have heard how this woman years ago went on the stage at he Theater Franchise in a small part nd how she failure She was o thin so yet BO earnest hat the audience ridiculed her For en years she struggled then came ess In 1880 she was at the very height f her first fame and in that year statuary painted tor the alon played to packed houses toured America and set all Jaris gossiping with her eccentricities ne of these was to sleep In her coffin she continually decorated anew with handsome bits of lace and choice ilk for the becomingness of moment Her latest and greatest success is in he role of Hamlet the part which was layed by Charlotte Cushman with success and by Anna on with failure Other women have ried Hamlet and failed Ellen Terry predicted defeat though for he best AiM no one presaged ess But Bernhardt's Hamlet is the vonder of the century in stageland As I passed away from Bernhardt's lome I looked back Madame waa landing at the window her back to he pane The lovely long unbroken ines of her celestial blue robe showed hrough the glass and her clear red lair gleamed above Around her neck vas a string of many colored beads which supported I remember a As I looked madame moved and the long sinewy line of her figure passed out of sight Wonderful I said And a passer-by stopped and echoed my words Yes Bernhardt s ANNIE R RUD YOUNG WOMAN Loves While Another Sympathizes with Sympathy and affectation for a tain insect pest were openly expressed at a recent meeting of a in Philadelphia One feminine speaker declared that it was sinful to kill the unpopular bedbugs She said I caught two bedbugs biting ma hind the ear took them gently in my fingers placed them outside the dow and Dear bugs I love you but you must to return no more The bedbugs de- parted and never came back Another speaker made an appeal for to which she said led at least a brief and painful existence signing warrant when it took its first taste of human blood True Esoteric required that all windows and doors should be screened so sum total of animal might lessened A giddy girl sitting behind the speaker tickled her neck with the tassel of a parasol and the vicious slap this broad philanthropist gave at the supposed insect drew forth a ripple of laughter from the rather unbelieving part of the audience instead of up ft is a stage trick ver pretty and effective which gives dig That is Bernhardt's way You are very busy asked Oh dear yes What can I have promised to write my tions and experiences for a and to soon finish the book I hav contracted to complete my theater b the opening of the Exposition and tha means the earning of the necessar money for it Business reverses hav brought me low in money and I mus be active Then there is a new pla to select and rehearse and the com pany always needs much drilling Ah if it were not for Sardou what would I have Madame signed and bowed her head It was a dramatic moment Then a laugh burst from her lips for she is a creature of moods But that is nothing I am so glad that my lel is a success At that moment there was a sound at the curtains and the maid in a caller It was reception day and I knew that I must not take up too much of her time Come murmured aa I departed and then she stood up and held out both hands again and smiled upon me one of her wonderful dazzling smiles As I walked out into the uarm gust sunshine I pondered upon this woman who upon the set slope of life's mountain still re- tains the face and figure of a girl Ab- babyish in complexion ful in ejea and expression fresh in voice lithe as a cat and of all the strong qualities of manner this woman though over 55 is today the greatest living actress At the age when most of us are ing to settle down Into old age li GREATEST HUNGARIAN IST Maurus Jokai who at the age ot 79 is about to take unto himself year-old wife is the greatest Hungary and one of the most faT in Europe He is the author of 160 books twenty-five romances ot several volumes each 320 novelettes and six plays His books have had a sale of nearly a million copies in gary alone and his romances plays and many of his novelettes have been translated into every European guage Jokai was the founder of the new school of Magyar literature the literary pursuits of his race having bo- come partially obsolete The best known of his books to ii MAURUS JOKAI probably the Romance of the Next although his Poor Rich Man Is also popular The Hungarian t has also gained fame as an editor newspaper the Nation being the influential organ in Hungary his second matrimonial venture his first having been made fifty years when he wedded Rosa greatest of Hungarian actresses Many a woman carries to her some silly name her reading mother
