E. L. ABEL 135 LITTLE, BUT OH! MY "PREMIERES FUNERAILIES" (the first funeral) is the inscription on a touching piece of triple statuary in the north end of the Art Institute in Chicago. This same embodies Adam and Eve carrying in front of them the nude form of their son, Abel, killed by his brother, Cain, ready to deposit it in an open tomb and it commemorates the first murder. Abel is represented in the Bible as an ideal son. Those who believe in the re-incarnation of the soul may find some consola- tion in the reputation that Abel's ideal soul is now re-incar- nated in another Abel-the nonorable E. L., of Huron. Here is a little fellow - "little, but Oh! my," "abel" to hold his own with the best of them, whether in business, in pol- itics, in the literary world, in oratory or in debate. "Abel?" Yes; an "abel" man (phonetic spelling brings out the sense.) One of the first things a soldier must learn during actual warfare is not to flinch under fire. The same thing holds true in political warfare. The fellow standing on the "stump" firing his vocal musket at his hearers, who can withstand a return fire without flinching, is the fellow who will win. Such a political soldier is little E. L. Abel. For this reason he makes an ideal campaigner. He can go into the heart of the enemy's country, open a political meeting as a Republican Evangel, parry off the fiery darts of putrid iniquity hurled at him by his assailants, and come out of the melee undisturbed in body, mind or spirit. Abel is a lawyer by training, but a banker by profession. His legal training serves as a great help to him in business af- fairs, - not in getting out of trouble, but in keeping out. In discussing this matter in a letter to one of his friends (which mysteriously fell into our hands,) he said: "I have found, however, that we cannot always follow our bent. If so, I would be at the bar in place of behind a bank counter. When I should have started to practice law I simply 136 WHO'S WHO IN SOUIH DAKOTA could not get away from the necessity, and that immediate, of getting bread and butter to fill the mouths of a wife and baby, and I had not the nerve to risk their welfare upon my ability, knowing that they would suffer if I should fail to make good as a diciple of Blackstone in action." Illinois gave birth to Mr. Abel at Springfield, thirteen days after Abe Lincoln's elec- tion to the presidency in 1860. Having spent his boyhood dur- ing those strenuous days he became innoculated with a spirit of loyalty and patriot- ism that has lasted him through life. [photo - E. L. ABEL] His education was ac- quired in the city schools at Springfield, in the University at Carbondale, Illinois, and in the hard schoool of experience. Like many others he started out in life as a country school teacher, and like thousands of others have done, he used the teaching profession merely as a stopping stone to something better. During his odd mo- ments he read law, and in 1884 he was admitted to the Illinois bar. The next year he was elected city attorney. ADOPTED BY SOUTH DAKOTA Tired of "down east" methods and believing that the "golden west" held greater opportunities for a young man, Mr. Abel "pulled stakes" in 1887 and struck west. He settled at Bridge- water, S. D., and engaged in banking and in the practice of law. "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them," said an old sage long ago. Abel belongs to the latter class. Peculiarly enough, he has never been an office seeker, but since coming to this state, he has been almost constantly an office holder. Offices of various kinds have been clinging to his political skirts like a bull-pup to a bone. At Bridgewater they made him alderman, then mayor, and they kept him on the board of education for twelve consecutive E. L. ABEL 137 years. Governor Mellette appointed him trustee of the Sioux Falls penitentiary in 1888. In 1902 McCook county sent him to the legislature as state senator, and in 1904 they returned him with an overwhelming majority. For awhile he edited the Salem Pioneer Register. Then in 1905 he removed to Huron, and two years later he established the City National Bank at that place and became its president. Last year he was elected president of the board of trustees of Huron College. While in the state senate, Abel was a power for good. He hoped to shape our oil inspection law which has since been cop- ied by ten other states. He introduced and steered through the senate an anti-trust law that was a model. Corporations rushed on their lobbyists and defeated it in the house. MANY SIDED FELLOW It will readily be seen that Abel is a many sided fellow, a symmetrical man, if you please. We have already detected him to be a teacher, lawyer, banker, politician, and statesman. But this is not all, he is also an orator and a poet. Abel is one of the happiest combinations of literary ability and business instinct that we have ever had in the state. He has delivered the great- est number of addresses on the greatest variety of subjects of any man in South Dakota. His addresses are all literary jewels, clad in garlands of rhetoric, studded with diamonds of speech, and they sparkle and glitter before us at this time such a large collection of them that we feel at a loss, and utterly incompetent, to select for publication herein any one of them or any part of the same. Again it is scarcely necessary, for he has spoken during the past twenty- three years in every town of any size in the state. His style can readily be caught, however, from a couple paragraphs taken from his Memorial address before the Elk's Lodge: "The great mission of our order is to bring men nearer to each other and to develop more completely the brotherhood of man. Fraternalizing human hearts is the greatest and most im- portant duty each of us is called upon to perform, for love weaves into life the woof and warp of happiness, without which the heart is as barren as a desert. * * * * "The perfume of the flowers we place upon a brothers' coffin cannot reach back and bring solace to his troubled hours while 138 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA yet he trod the troubled path of life, and the tears we shed upon his grave can never heal the wounds we made in life upon his tortured heart. "Let us place our flowers upory the graves of our departed brothers, and mingle with them our sorrowing tears to give ex- pression to our grief; but while life lasts let us not forget to give each other every day the beautiful flowers of brotherly love and kindness, then when the cord of life is cut and some brother falls into that sleep from which no awakening comes, we can stand be- side the grave and place our flowers upon the coffln which holds his lifeless form, with a serene feeling of satisfaction in the fact that our floral offerings are but the emblem of those we gave while he was still our cherished companion in the pilgrimage of life." The heart and character and brotherly devotion of the man are amply set forth in the above paragraphs. But we dare not close without giving to our readers one of his beautiful, patriotic, inspiring poems. It should be reproduced by every newspaper in the state, and be published in our school readers. KNOW YE THE LAND? Know ye the land where the blue joint doth flourish, And cattle on prairies grow heavy with fat; Where the white-coated sheep in winter do nourish The grasses which cover the earth like a mat; Where the growing of wheat brings the gold from the east, Where people ne'er hunger but are ever at feast; Where the owner of sheep has a fortune in sight, And hard times are past while the future is bright; Where potatoes, rye, barley and long-headed oats Make the farmer's life easy in the raising of shoats; Where the cow's golden butter and the fruit of the hen Are the products which bring such large fortunes to men; Where the country is blessed with the richest of soil, And bountiful harvests reward man for his toil; Where bright gold and silver in profusion abound And beautiful jasper for building is found; Where churches in plenty raise toward heaven their spires And schools in great numbers furnish learning's desires; Where the song of the plow boy is heard early at morn As he goes forth to till the broad-acres of corn; Where the maid's rosy cheeks are the youth's wild delight While their beautiful eyes shine like stars of the night; Where matrons meet age with faces so fair E. L. ABEL 139 That they seem ever youthful, though silvered their hair; Where Hygeia's blessings are showered upon all And sunmer keeps smiling until late in the fall; Where winters are short and soon melt into spring; Where the harvest is crowned by Mondamin, the king; Where the flower of its youth to rescue suffering afar, Promptly respond to the call of the nation to war? Know ye he land? 'Tis the land which we love, Which hath been bountifully blessed by the Father above; 'Tis our fair South Dakota which nature has blest, Affording humanity a place of sweet rest; And today she invites the proud sons of the east To sit at her tables and partake of her feast. (Later.-Since the above was written, Mr. Abel has been nominated and elected Lieutenant-Governor of South Dakota; and, at the time of going to press his political star is greatly in the ascendency.) 140 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOYA THE STATE'S RIPEST SCHOLAR The Roosevelt of Dakota Wesleyan University- that round headed, enduring, philosophical, substantial educator, Dr. Samuel Weir. How the institution with which he is identified has learned to love him, the state at large to revere him, and the educational and theological fraternities of the whole nation to hearken to his learned advice. Dr. Weir was born at London, Middlesex county, Province of Ontario, Canada, three days after the firing on Fort Sumpter at the inception of the Civil War. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native province and in the provincial normal school. It is fre- quently said of a man, "He bas been given all that the schools of this country afford." More than that may be said for Weir; he has been given all that the schools of two continents afford. He finished his course at Garret Biblical Institute in 1887, receiving his B. D. degree. Two years later he received his A. B. from Northwestern; and in 1891, Illinois Wesleyan honored him with his Masters degree. Later he studied for one year in Boston University. Still dissatisfied with his preparation, he went abroad for study and travel. Plunging at once into the weighty philosophical course in the famous university of Jena, into its classic library of 200,000 volumes, into its 100,000 dissertations, into its 900 volumes of ancient manuscripts, he came forth in 1895 as a finished product of the school, and was honored with his Ph, D. degree, "summa cum laude," a distinction never be- fore accorded to any foreigner under the sun. He also did some work at the University of Leipsic [Leipzig?]. EXPERIENCE Applying a man's education becomes his experience. If he is alert, absorbs from his surroundings and applies well the theory gained, his experience soon becomes the most valuable part of his education. No man can long tread water in the current of life. DR. SAMUEL WEIR 141 He may presume he is merely standing still, resting, but shortly he will observe that the shore line opposite him is much nearer the falls than it was when he first ceased to struggle. Dr. Weir has never ceased the battle. His constant struggle onward and upward in the experience of life has broadened his education more than did his academic preparation. After graduating from the normal school in his native province, he removed to Michigan in 1884 and joined the Detroit conference of the M. E. church. This experience gave rise to his ambition to flnish his education. After his graduation from Northwestern in 1889, he accepted the position of professor of Latin and Greek in the Southwest Kansas College. A year later he was called to the pastorate of St. Paul's church, Wichita, Kansas, and before another year had passed he was elected to the First church, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Dr. Weir had been married in 1889 to Miss Caroline Voss. The altitude at Cheyenne so greatly affected her health that at the close of his first year of pastoral work at that place, he was compelled to resign and seek a new field. Accordingly he ac- cepted a temporary appointment as instructor in mathematics, Northwestern University. Frnm there he went to Boston to study, and from the latter place to Germany. Upon his return to America in the summer of 1895, after his graduation at Jena, he was elected professor of ethics in the school of pedagogy, University of New York, and professor of philosophy, graduate school of the same institution. He held these two positions for six years, and then resigned voluntarily, because he could not conscientiously endorse the administration of the school. The next year he spent as lecturer on education, University of Cincinnati. The next two years were spent as prin- cipal of the state normal school, Clarion, Pennsylvania, and the school year 1904-5 was utilized by him as honorary fellow, Clark University. In 1905 he was called by Dr. Thomas Nicholson, at that time president of Dakota Wesleyan University, at Mitchell, S. D., to organize the school of education of that institution. In January, following, he was elected vice president of the university and dean of the school of education, and entrusted largely with its educational administration. When Dr. Nicholson resigned, two years since, Dr. Weir was approached by a member of the board of trustees of the school, with a view to elevating him to the presidency. He declined it. A few weeks later, he was offered the deanship of the school of theology, University of Chattanooga. This he also declined. 142 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAK07A ABLE SCHOLAR When the fleecy-winged angel of life gently laid Baby Weir into his mother's lap, it gave to the world a thinker-a thinker, if you please, of the Emersonian style. A half century has passed by since Wilson wrote those immortal words: "Think for thyself! One good idea, But known to be thine own. Is better than a thousand gleaned From fields by others sown." This is Dr. Weir's creed. Original thought is his hobby. He does his own thinking; he in- spires his students to think. His extensive prep- [photo - DR. SAMUEL WEIR] aration, coupled with his broad successful exper- ience, has made him eas- ilv the ripest scholar in the state. As a student at Northwestern, he won the Gage debating prize; at Jena he was honored as no other American has ever been. Professor Woodburn, principgi of the training school, N. N. I. S., Aberdeen, S. D., who took some work in philosophy under Dr. Weir during summer school at the D. W. U., a few years since, said to the writer, "I didn't suppose we had a man like him in the state." RELATION OF TEACHER AND STUDENT The success of any undertaking must be determined by the results. Success is measured in achievement and not in dreams. Grant's tunneling under Richmond, although admirably conceived, was not a success, on account of its disastrous result; while the carrying of Missionary Ridge by his troops during the campaign DR. SAMUEL, WEIR 143 about Chatanooga, was a pre-eminent success, although not con- ceived at all. This principle holds true in all walks of life, especially in the teaching profession. The scholarship possessed by the stud- ents turned out by a teacher is the best evidence of his success or failure as an instructor. As President Cook of the Spearfish Nor- mal, with pardonable pride, points to the world-renowned Mayo Bros., surgeons at Rochester, Minnesota, as old students of his, so Samuel Weir, in taking a retrospect of his own life, finds con- solation in the living evidences of his success manifested by those who as students under his Socratic instruction, are today filling positions of honor and trust. Among these are Bishop Anderson of the M E. church: also Rev. Kirk Robbins, Greencastle, Indiana, successor to Dr. Hoagland, of Mitchell; Professor Karp of Syracuse University, and from fifteen to twenty others who have become noted. Among his students in philosophy, while profes- -or in the University of New York, were representatives of the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Congregational, the Baptist, and the Evangelical Lutheran ministry. He also trained two Catholic priests, and a Jewish lady, who has since won distinction as an author. The kindly esteem in which Dr. Weir is held by the alumni of Dakota Wesleyan was ably voiced in the large number of let- ters which he received from them this year on the anniversary of his birthday, April 15. These came from students of his scat- tered all over the world, including one from Ethel Shepherd- Carhart, Concepcion, Chili. The latter, in addition to its ex- pressed reverence for the doctor and its unreserved, outspoken appreciation of the influence of his life over hers, by reason of their classroom contact, is, within itself, a literary classic. It merits publication in full, but space forbids. The letters are all gems and they evidently impressed the Doctor with the fact that "It is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die." These young people write touchingly of the help they received from their loyal, philosophical instructor. Well they may. Here is a case that illustrates his work: When Dr. Weir waa instructor in mathematics, Northwestern University. Samuel Merwin, the present editor of the "Success Magazine." and of "The National Post," was a student in the institution. Although brilliant along literary lines, he was dreadfully poor in mathematics. It became evident that he was not going to be able to graduate. Where- upon Dr. Weir took him under his tutorage, in personal interest and as a special favor, with the result that Merwin graduated with honor; and today he is ably filling his mission on earth in the editorial world. 144 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA EDITOR Dr. Weir is the author of "Christianity as a Factor in Civ- ilization" (1893). He is also the contributor of numerous weighty magazine articles, and for the past four years, in addi- tion to his heavy work, he hns ably edited the department of education in the Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader, His diction, although not flowery and imaginative, is vigorous, compact, pol- ished and inviting. He furnishes practically as much original matter each week as do the editors of either of the state educa- tional journals each month. They supply subject matter for ten issues; he supplies it for fifty-two. CONCLUSION Mrs. Weir died many years go, leaving to her husband as a comforting heritage, a talented baby girl who will this year graduate from Northwestern University. On June 2, 1897, Dr. Weir re-married - the second Mrs. Weir being Miss Sarah Richards of Aurora, Illinois. She is a talented and accomplished musician, and at present one of the vocal instructors at D. W. U. In her birthday letter to Dr. Weir Mrs. Carhart refers to his wife as follows: " Scarcely less of a help and inspiration to me than yourself, has been, and is, the woman who is queen of your home. Among all the women in Mitchell, to me she is the most splendid em- bodiment of culture and grace and beauty." When Dr. Weir has finished the struggle, when his busy hands lie folded in silence across his manly bosom, when the deep blue eyes that now sparkle with intelligence and win him so many friendships are closed in endless sleep, the pastor who pronounces his eulogy will no doubt feel honored to proclaim, "The world has been made better because he lived." He is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi, and of the Phi Betta Kappa fraternities; also of the A. A. A. S. and of the N. E. A. Viewed from one angle, he is gentle, loving and com- panionable; from another, cultured, inspiring and philosophic; and from still another, pious, reverent, manly and good. If his soul were stripped of its earthly encasement, we doubt if a sin- gle spot could be found on it. Congratulations, Dakota Wesleyan, on having such a seer in education for your anchor. C. M. DAY 145 A STANDPAT EDITOR Standpattism is not necessarilv standstillism; it is simply loyalty to one's convictions, the execution of an ideal, regardless of clamor, the adherence to a policy - right or wrong. Jesus Christ was a standpatter of the first magnitude, and he got enduring results instead of temporary gain, Columbus was endowed with a similar nature. Washinvton revealed it, and Charlie Day, editor of the Sioux Falls Daily Argus-Leader, has it. Day is a man of mighty strong convictions, and he has the courage to express them. It matters little to him whether our wbole congressional del- agation, multplied farmers' conventions and what not are for or against Canadian rec- iprocity, Day is for it, and [photo - C. M. DAY] with him "Day" goes. Hav- ing taken his stand for it, no set of politicians can swerve him from his course. He'd pull down the Argus-Leader sign, send home the employees, turn the key in the door and shut up shop, if necessary, but change front-never! Yet Day is not stubborn; he is simply unyielding in his conviction of duty, And it is this very element in his na- ture, breathed into his editor- ial work, that has given the Daily Argus-Leader such prominence, such wide circu- 146 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA lation, and made it the leading daily of the Dakotas and one of the most influential papers of the northwest. Day is also a practical politician,-so much so that he will support after the primaries a republican ticket which he in whole or in part vigorously opposed before the nominations were made. In other words, he is a standpat party man. Wendell Phillips declared. "He who forsakes principle for party, goes down, and the armed batallions of God march over him." Phillips was a theoretical politician. Day, like President McKinley, is just the reverse, -a practical politician, McKinley said, "Young man, stand by your party and your party will stand by you." This is Day's viewpoint. He remains "regular" and stands pat for his party in the state and nation. DAY'S STYLE Day has a style of writing that is peculiarly his own. It is as simple as that of a school boy; yet as penetrating as a javelin. His recognition as an editorial writer seems to come from his power of simplification. In a general way he writes in short, terse sentences that fairly snap with life, and carry conviction to his readers. It is, in other words, simple individuality imparted to his work. Day is a man with a pronounced personality. This finds expression in his writings. His face is his trademark. His intense expression reveals his standpattism. His standpattism and his clear-cut, eloquent prose, command respect, and cause a larger percent of his subscribers to neglect the news and to read the editorial page of the Argus-Leader, when their papers are received than any other newspaper we have ever known. His editorial page discloses daily the incontrovertible fact that Charlie is a prolific writer. He expresses himself with equal elegance and grace on every conceivable subject that may interest the public minds. He never uses a big word, if a small one will suffice. His treatises of political, of social and of moral prob- lems, reveal alike his wide range of knowledge and his simplified manner of digesting his themes. Again, in his newspaper "debates" with other editors of the state, Mr. Day is always pre eminently fair, and he puts his crit- icisms of men and conditions in dignified language. His dispo- sition to give the other fellow a fair hearing, and his absence of personal replies to personal threats that are made at him by other papers, have won for him a host of admiring friends. Instead of using that ugly little word, spelled with four letters, that does so much to estrange men, he simply says "Editor So and So does the Argus Leader an injustice," and thus puts his replies on a high plane. C. M. DAY 147 For this reason the newspaper fraternity like him, and a few years since they elected him president of the South Dakota Press Association. BIGNESS One thing that everybody likes about Editor Day is the big- ness which he shows in giving up the free use of his editorial page to his enemies as readily as he does to his friends. Every few days, as is customary with a live editor, some one has a griev- ance at him, to air. Mr. Day invariably publishes these harsh things about himself just as freely as he does the kind comments that come floating along. It takes a patriot to do this. But the reader must not infer that Mr. Day is passive in his nature, or that he is too well balanced to err. Like the rest of us, sometimes he, too, acts on impulse rather than reason, and then something drops. One end of his editorial pencil is thor- oughly steeped in vitriolic acid; but fortunately for himself as well as for the public he usually writes with the other end. Not long since he deliberately accused Clate Tinan, editor of the Kimball Graphic-a newspaper man; - think of it! of dressing as well as Senator Gamble. Once again he got his pencil turned around and specifically stated that a certain Sioux Falls attorney who was a member of the South Dakota legislature, was not a statesman, whereupon the broken-hearted state legislature passed a resolution denouncing Mr. Day for such unfriendly and unjustifiable criticism. Of course this helped to advertise the Argus-Leader, and it brought Mr. Day a score or more of new subscribers. On another occa- sion Charlie inadvertently sharpened the vitriolic end of his edi- toral pencil, and then when he began to write he put on more pressure than he had intended, and he inflicted a Fifty-Thousand- Dollar wound in the right hyprochondrical cavity just under the diaphragm of a valiant Norskman at Huron, that caused the fel- low to believe he was suffering from internal peritonitis, appen- dicitis, atrophic cirrhosis of the liver, and gallstones-all at once. On this occasion Charlie would have been punished, if it had not been for a counter-irritant. While the wound was being dis- infected by the lamented Kittredge with paroxide of courtry- gen. (We must have medical terms to fit the remedy.) changing venue occasionally as the distressful days passed by coterie of long, pious faced politicians. signed a written agree- ment with this same valiant Norskman that if he would secure the nomination of several of their ring-leaders to good fat offices, they would, immediately thereafter, join hands with him in 148 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA bringing about certain political reforms which the injured Norsk- man desired -particularly the election Of postmasters and the dividing of other political patronage by a legally constituted committee, etc., etc., ad infinitum. The valiant Norskman kept his part of the agreement. But when the primary election was over, the signers of this sacred (?) political pact kicked over the traces, repudiated their part of the agreement, and in so doing inflicted such a painful wound in the Norskman's left hypochondrical cavity, just below his diaphragm, in such dangerously close proximity to the Norskman's big heart, that he forgot all about the wound inflicted on the opposite side by Charlie Day and so it gradually healed. But the other wound made by the broken pledge produced a running sore which is still discharging. ON THE PLATFORM It seldom occurs that a polished writer is also a good public speaker. Day is an exception - a combination. He can say more in five words on the Platform than some folks can say in five min- utes. Again, he is one of the readiest off-hand speakers in the state. He can sit at his editorial desk all day doing his regular work, and then in the evening drive out to some point in Min- nehaha county and fairly hypnotize a political gathering for sev- eral hours with his snappy argument. Mr. Day's services are also in demand among the state schools. Recently he delivered an able address before the students of our state university, and on Decoration Day of this year he was the orator at Geddes. June 15th, he delivered another patriotic address before the Lake Madison Veteran's association, at Colton. Charlie's combined literary attainments will yet bring him just recompense in the political realm. Here is a sample of his pointed talks. Speaking at a ban- quet held in Sioux Falls in honor of Senator Kittredge, during the eventful campaign of 1908, he said: "If Senator Kittredge isn't renominated at the primaries next Tuesday, I for one, will walk down the streets of Sioux Falls with my head bowed in shame." Kittredge was defeated; Day hung his head, but it was with fervent sorrow. Three years elapsed. Kittredge lay unconscious in a hotel at Hot Springs, Arkansas, awaiting the final summons to appear in Court. Day stood by his side, holding his limp fev- ered hand. And the greatest consolation of that trying hour to Mr. Day was the fact that neither he nor the Argus-Leader had ever forsaken the senator. Charlie's head was no longer bowed. C. M. DAY 149 in shame; but it remains bowed in grief. They were true friends. Day's ready wit makes him an ideal toastmaster. He acted in this capacity during the Roosevelt banquet, held in Sioux Falls. The Commercial Club of that city, the Elk's lodge, and other or- ganizations are continually pressing him into similar service. One evening, while attending an Elk's banquet at the Cat- aract hotel in Sioux Falls, Mr. Day was called upon to respond to the toast, "The Ladies," so we were told by one who was pres- ent. It was just about midnight when he arose to speak. He followed his subject for a few minutes, and then looking at the hands of the clock, said that the day observed as "Mothers' Day," was just approaching. Concluding his remarks, the speaker said: "If mother be living and with you, pay her some slight mark of respect which her old eyes will not be too dim to see and apprec- iate. If she be living and absent, write her a good cordial letter and let her know that you thought of her on 'Mothers' Day.' If she has gone-if her weary feet have climbed the 'silver stair- way of the stars.' let us give to her sacred memory the deep de- votion of a thoughtful hour; and let us here resolve, as man to man and Elk to Elk, to try to be as clean and brave and manly as Mother would have us be!" It was told us by our informant that when Mr. Day sat down, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. Then came an outburst of applause which made the banquet hall ring again and again. And a large number of those present, before they went home that very night, wired orders for flowers to be sent to their absent mothers the next morning; and several of them have never since allowed the day to pass unobserved. Charlie Day was born to win. In his veins courses blood of the Sons of Erin, the followers of Bruce and the descendants of good old Yankeedom. Dame Nature permitted him to draw his first breath at Sidney, Iowa, November 4, 1853. (He will draw his last one in South Dakota). Day's mother was a very charm- ing lady possessed of great literary talent, and she was also noted for her wit and humor. His father was Judge James D. Day, of the Iowa supreme court. Thus Charlie came into the world under the most favorable circumstances-came in, as previously stated, to win. At the age of twenty-three young Day struck westward. He landed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, twenty-five years ago, July 9, 1886, penniless. Discouraged? Never! He took a job the next morning on the Daily Argus, as news editor. He started in at $5 per week. Thus the first dollar he ever earned in our fair young rtate was with his pen. We predict the last one will be earned with his tongue. 150 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAK0TA But, as has been said a thousand times, you can't keep a good man down. The manner in which Charlie wrote up pink teas and other townfolk affairs, at once won him recognition. Young Day had ideas; he expressed them. His columns revealed originality. Almost before be knew it he was doing editorial work on the paper, as a side line. Day knew the value of saving. Every spare dollar, and some that he couldn't spare, were slipped into his worshipped savings bank. lwo years after becoming identified with the Daily Argus, he had saved up enough money to get married, and in one year more (1889), to acquire an interest in the paper. The next year, 1890, he and his partner, Tomlinson, bought the Weekly Leader, and merged it with the Daily Argus, -thus giving birth to the Daily Argus-Leader. Later, Day bought Tomlinson's interest. Five years ago the ownership was converted into a corporation with Charles M. Day as editor-in-chief and the leading stockholder in the company. He has done nearly all of the editorial work for fifteen yenrs. When Day took charge of the Argus-Leader, its total circulation throughout the country at large was only one- third of what it is today in the city of Sioux Falls alone; and its total circulation today is twelve times what it was when he as- mained control. This shows thrift. It shows that Day's fearless- ness in expressing himself editorially meets public approval, otherwise the public would not accord him this patronage. SOCIABILITY Charlie Day is one of the most sociable creatures ever created. He makes friends whereverhe goes, or with whomsoever comes. This admirable trait in his nature finds expression in many ways. For instance, unlike other editors of large daily papers who betake themselves into a closed room-one not infrequently locked -to do their editorial work, and leave with everybody around the shop explicit instructions that they are not to be interrupted except in cases of the most extreme necessity, Day does his editorial work in the open, right out in a room among his employees, where the public also has easy access to him; does it amid all kinds of in- terruptions, and never complains. Why? Well, because he's a social creature, and he enjoys the sociability of his fellowmen; besides, he likes to keep in touch with everybody. When Day succeeded to the editorship, the Kimball Graphic said, "Charlie Day is a man that the newspaper boys of the state will snuggle up to," and the prediction has come true. C. M. DAY 151 DAY'S FAMILY Two years after young Day landed in Sioux Falls, Don Cupid broke open his little savings bank, took out enough money to get Charlie a wedding license, a wedding suit and some furniture, and the young reporter on the Daily Algus set up housekeeping at once with Miss Annie Louise Davenport. Mrs. Day is a strik- ingly handsome lady with a Grecian cast of features. She is winsome in her mannerisms, stately and dignified in ber appear- ance; yet withal common and companionable. Charlie has more than once been envied by less-contented members of his own sex. Mr. and Mrs. Day are now closing the latter half of middle life. Like other people who have reached this age, they have already begun to live over again their own lives in the lives of their offspring, and to find their chiefest comfort in their child- ren -a son, Herbert James, aged 21, and a daughter, Miss Dor- othy, aged 18. Herbert graduated this year from the University of Missouri, and he is now taking his medical course. Miss Dor- otby also graduated in June from the Sioux Falls high school, being valedictorian of her class which consisted of fifty-nine members. No small distinction! Thus ends our review of the life of an Iowa lad who at ma- turity crossed the Big Sioux into Dakota; and who, through fru- gality, honesty, hard work and sticktoitiveness carved for him- self a niche in the hall of our state's proud fame where he will be revered for many years to come as the "biggest" editor in South Dakota newspaperdom. Here's a hand, Brother Day, of recognition and congratula- tion. Keep plodding! the hill-top is not yet reached. Destiny lies before you. 152 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA AN AGED GENERAL Gen. Conklin, of Clark, S. D., was born so long ago that nobody else living seems to know just when it was. Suffice it to say he was a large boy well along in his 'teens when the last one of the signers of the Declaration of Indpendence died. He thus becomes the connective link between two historical epochs, Conk- lin himself says it was somewhere between the hours of six and eight, on May 5, 1829, at Penn Yan, New York, that he entered life and gave notice to his proud parents that he was ready for his first meal. Think of it! John Quincy Adams was president of the United States and a colony of prominent revolutionary heroes were still alive. The general has actually lived through three complete generations who have come and gone. He was married in each of them and helped to produce the particular generation in which he was at the time living. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT The general has watched with keenest interest the develop- ment of our national history. During his life the Mexican, the Civil and the Spanish-American wars have all been fought-and won! He watched the spinning wheel and the hand loom give way to the modern factory; the cradle yield to the reaper and the latter to the twine binder; the flail superceded by the threshing machine; the top carriage supplant the stage coach and then both yield to the automobile; steam power giving way to electricity; the telegraph, telephone, cablegraph, wireless telegraphy and the aeroplane-all glide in and take their respective places in the on- ward march of our modern civilization. He was born before the first railroad was built in America. Today the country is per- meated by a mesh of railroads as intricate in their interlacings as the organs of circulation in the human anatomy. When he was a boy it took five weeks to cross the Atlantic. Now it takes GEN. S. J. CONKLIN 153 less than five days. He has tarried to see the north pole discov- ered, and then split in two by Peary and Cook for kindling wood; the south pole also located; and the western continent soon to be divided into two island empires by the Panama Canal. What an age through which to have lived! TRAINlNG FOR LIFE With General Conklin life has not been a bed of roses, or one long sunny dream. Left fatherless at the age of three, he was kicked out into a cruel [photo - GEN. S. J. CONKLIN] world to hustle for himself. At the age of twelve, some of his kind friends (?), taking advantage of the New York law, apprenticed him for five years to a shoemaker and tan- ner to learn the cobbler's trade, but they made absolute- ]y no provision for the lad's education. When he finally reached his eighteenth year, he went into business for him- self. Then he began his edu- cation. While others slept, young Conklin was burning tallow candies over his books in an old attic. Almost before we can comprehend it, we find him helping to organize the republican party in the state of New York and dab- bling in politics. The writer is well along in middle life, yet Conklin had stumped the east for four successive republican pres- idential nominees, before the writer was born. It was these early, experiences on the stump that caused the young fellow to determine to fit himself for a lawyer. He kept faithfully at it until 1857, when he was admitted to the bar and became one of the most successful lawyers in that state. WAR RECORD Harkening to the call of his country, in 1862, he laid aside everything to help save the Union. President Lincoln commis- sioned him an officer. At the close of the war he was assigned to duty for three years under the treasury department with head- quarters in Wisconsin. Later on he served four years in the re- construction service, with headquarters at New Orleans. 154 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAK0TA NEWSPAPER MAN General Conklin finally quit the military service, went back to Wisconsin and started a republican reform newspaper. But in 1879, seeing that the tide of emigration was westward, he packed up his newspaper plant, and with it headed for Watertown, South Dakota. He got out several boom editions of his paper. One consisted of 200,000 copies. It set forth the advantages of the new terri- tory in such a neat, readable, appetizing way that the North- western railway company bought 50,000 copies for distribution along their line of road. The president of the road wrote: "It was worth more for the purpose intended than any carload of advertising matter we have ever invested in." The Milwaukee company also bought 40,000 copies of the issue. Newspaper work was to his liking. Here he could unfold himself to the limit, so that as a person read his iconoclastic edi- torials he would fairly rise in his chair as he felt the tiny muscles of his scalp use his epidermis for a fulcrum and prick his hair on end. And the general took advantage of his opportunities. The old files of his paper still plainly disclose this truth. There was in this territory at that time a bunch of usurers. Conklin kept after these fellows relentlessly till he finally helped to drive them from the state. WRITER AND SPEAKER Again, Conklin is a prolific writer and speaker. It is doubt- ful if the state has as yet produced another man who can pin so many adjectives to a noun, indulge in such superlatively classical complex sentences, put into the imagination such vistas of thought, and lift the soul into such realms of comprehension as he. His style will at once be caught by reading the following extract from one of his arguments made in the court of Clark county: "Nature in her bountiful munificence has provided us with a safeguard against the monsters which a violation of her laws has brought into existence; as the morning light in the east warns us of the coming day, and the darkness at noontide of the approaching storm; so nature hangs out upon the face of man a record of the light or darkness that dwells within; with an indel- ible finger she traces upon the features of every living creature of our race the history of their virtues or their vices, whether the man is to be loved or admired or detested; advertises to the world whether he loves peace or contention; whether he strews GEN. S. J. CONKLIN 155 the highway of human life with flowers or with thorns; whether he lives to bless or curse his race. Look this man Hoskins in the face and tell me whether he makes peace or trouble in this world of ours: hatred, revenge, and all the evil passions which language can express hang out in bold relief from every feature and tell you why he has chosen dark- ness rather than light to commence this prosecution; why he crept to your home and roused you from your slumbers at mid- night to listen to his perjured deviltry. Go to the seven-hilled city of Rome, that summit of perfection in art, and search until you shall find the most accomplished delineator upon canvass of the human face and human character that the art world can fur- nish; employ him to visit all the great commercial centers and cities of the known world, and require him to descend into all the slums and dens, the hells of vice and infamy and human debauchery and crime chiseled upon the human face; then have him search out the condemned felons in all the jails and peniten- tiaries of the civilized world and study with care every shade and shadow of the emotions and passions that crime traces with indelible characters upon the features of its victims, from boyish innocence to hardened crime; then let the artist repair to his studio and there by years of patient toil have him paint one fiendish face, the character lines of which shall express all that is low and vile and licentious and dishonest and devilish that he has seen and studied and then bring that picture here breathing from every outline all that is loathsome, inhuman, dishonorable and infamous, and hang it upon a wall yonder for us to gaze upon, and it would be a thing of beauty, a paragon of loveliness com- pared with the face of this man Hoskins." STATE MILITIA After all, the proudest achievement in General Conklin's life was his organization in 1901 of the South Dakota State Guards (now National Guards). At the extreme age of seventy- one, Governor Herreid commissioned him Adjutant-General and assigned to him the thankless task of organizing the military forces of the state. The old guards had been absorbed by the First South Dakota Infantry, United States Volunteers, that served so valiantly in the Philippines. They had all been mustered out. There wasn't a semblance of a military organization left. Conklin rebuilt the establishment from the ground up. Within nine months he organized two regiments of infantry, 156 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAK0TA consisting of twelve companies each, and four troops of cavalry; held one state encampment of seven days, and two of five days each, and had but an inbignificant appropriation, $3,000, to do it with. An officer of the war department, commenting on his success, said: "The organization of the National Guards in South Dakota by Adjutant General Conklin is without parallel in the organiza- tion of militia in time of peace." REFORM But above all, the old gentleman loves to be referred to as a reformer. He seems proud of the fact that the reforms enacted in South Dakota and elsewhere within the past few years are nearly all measures advocated by him over a quarter of a century ago. He has been in every campaign since 1856, including the primary and the general election last year. He was twice a mem- ber of the Wisconsin legislature, fathered the Press Association of this state, and he is now president of the Clark County Bar Association, and vice president of the Clark Commercial Club. ENFEEBLED Early this year the General suffered from inflamatory rheu- matism, erysipelas and pneumonia, which was followed by a stroke of paralysis, leaving his entire left side helpless. Yet with the aid of electric massages, he has been largely restored to his former ruggedness. Recently he dictated for publication a complete history of the town of Clark. His memory astonished his townspeople. A great many had forgotten the details and the dates which he used, and it seems incredible that he should have remembered them. The old general has never felt assured of the hereafter. With him it has always been a matter of doubt. But incidentally, dur- ing one of his trips to Chicago, a few years since, he was induced to call on a spiritualist. At his request she called back the spirit of one of his former wives and asked her a question about some private family affairs that had been bothering the general for many years. Sbe gave him a direct reply. Since then the Gen- eral has been meditating. (Later.-Since the above was written and first published, General Conklin has adopted the Christian faith and united with the M. E. church. Congratulations! General.) DR. F. E. WALKER 157 A TACTFUL SURGEON The dictionary says a "walker" is one who walks. Not so with Dr. F. E. Walker, - he rides. He rides because he can af- ford it-, he can afford to because he has a large surgical practice, and he has a large practice because he merits it. After spending a few years in general medical practice, com- bined with surgery, and finding the latter class of practice his natural field of work, he decided to give his life to it. The first problem was the proper field. Offers were coming to him galore. Being a profound student, he figured out the place for himself-and he decided well,-HotSprings, S. D. ; not Hot Springs, Arkansas, or Missouri, or Arizona or any other state, but Hot Springs, South Dakota -- if you please; a city neatly tucked away in a spring-watered vale, 3,400 feet above the sea, in the picturesque Black Hills of Dakota; a city where Old Sol works overtime uncomplainingly, and voluntarily puts in an average of 363 full days each year; where the dry mountain zephyrs laden with the ozone of quakenasp and birch, are soft- ened by the wooing of a tireless sun; where the climate is so ideal that on Christmas morning, frogs and froglets, poised with spread-web feet upon the gieen water-cresses along the brooklet's sides, croak in endless refrains the same gargling chants which their progenitors have sung since the days of Adam; where the aged way-farer lies down to sleep and sees visions of plump- formed, ruby-lipped, satin skinned maidens mounting the Jacob's ladder of his dreams until his soul wells up with incantations of delight and he feels himself growing young again at Bethel's gate; where the mineral-water springs-fountains of eternal youth- comfortably heated in the hidden bosom of Nature's realm, send gushing forth in endless volumes their healing streams of life; where Eden-calm, sun-lit, brook-fed, grassy-terraced, flower-bedecked, treeful Eden-basking in the favored smiles of her Creator, opens wide her Hebean arms and says to the pain- weary sufferer, "Come in! Health and happiness are here." 158 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA Born at Grionell, Iowa, January 5, 1872, Mr. Walker rapidly rose to prominence. At fifteen years of age he graduated from the local high school; clerked for the next three years, and then spent five years teaching school and reading medicine. In 1895 he entered the Iowa State University, graduating from the med- ical department with the class of '98. The next year he held a position in the Iowa State Hospital for the Insane, at Independence. After practicing for a brief period independently at Bigelow, Minnesota, he re- moved to Worthington, in that state. In 1902, he estab- lished at that place the city's first hospital, gave up his gen- eral medical practice and de- voted all his time to surgery. [photo - DR. F. E. WALKER] His reputation as a sur- geon spread with his practice, until other towns began to bid for his services. The natural, as well as the commercial ad- vantages of Hot Springs, S. D., induced him to locate there in 1906, and accept the responsible position of head surgeon to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. MATCHLESS RECORD The first year (only five years ago), he performed less than one hunderd operations. Today he is peforming on an average of four major operations a day. Although engaged in surgery but a comparatively few years, he is now approaching the Five Thousandth operation that he has performed; and the hospital records reveal the incontrovertible fact that the mortality result- ing from his operations is only one-half of one per cent. Five things have no doubt united to bring about these phenominal re- sults: proper diagnosis, surgical skill, effective sterilization, good nursing, and the dry mountain climate of the Springs. The doctor is a man of exceptional poise. Although nervous as well as nervy, not a trace of it is ever visible in the operating room. Here he works with the precision and rapidity of an ar- DR. F. E. WALKER 159 tist. Not one false move is made; not a single stitch put in at the wrong place and then removed; not a word spoken and re- peated; it is genius personified. Walker, evidently fully appreciates the fact that the strain on his patient is in direct proportion to the number of minutes, which he or she is under the anesthetic. For this reason he nerves himself up for the act, and performs on a average, three operations while the average surgeon is performing one. This has been proven on several occasions when members of his med- ical staff were performing simultaneous operations in adjoinirg rooms. DIAGNOSING At an expense of $10,000 Doctor Walker and his staff have fitted up in the medical block two large laborettories with everv conceivable chemical and scientific apparatus known to the med- ical profession, for diagnosing the ailments of the human race. For this reason local practitioners-some of them heads of hos- pitals-within a radius of 500 miles, are daily sending people to Hot Springs, South Dakota, for physical examination. Many of these go back home for their operations. The great value to suffering humanity of Walker's organiza- tion is the fact that be has, all in one building -the beautiful stone medical block - twenty-two splendidly equipped office rooms. These are occupied by the specialists on his medical staff. One payment and one journey do the whole job. After receiving Doctor Walker's opinion, if the patient, or his or ber friends, desire the advice of a specialist, a member of the staff is called in and the sick one is given the benefit of expert knowledge with- out a cent of extra charge. Again this is a wonderful saving in the vitality of the patient. VARIED ABILITIES In addition to his surgical and professional ability, Doctor Walker is also a conundrum along many other lines. On the plat- form he is fluent, witty and entertaining. In the literary realm, he is one of the most prolific contributors of his profession, to the standard medical journals of the entire nation. In the mus- ical world he can sit up to a piano and trip off on its responsive keys an oratorio that will lift the music-lover's soul into realms of ecstacy and delight. As a physiographist, he is a walking en- cyclopedia of Black Hills climatic and geologic information. As a lawn tennis player, he has few peers in the west. As a man of general culture, his learning is broad and he could serve with dignity and honor as a lecturer on economics in one of our uni- 160 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA versities. Although crowded terribly with professional work he is, withal, one of the most companionable of men; yet not one un- acquainted with grief. Recently, be said to a friend "There is only one real trouble in life and that is death." The first Mrs. Walker (nee Daisy M. Barclay of Brooklyn, Iowa,) died in Min- neapolis in 1902. Four years later be was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Eckland of Worthington, Minnesota. At present the doctor owns in Hot Springs what is perhaps the most expensive and unique bungaloo dwelling in the state. In it he comfortably houses his little family, fondles his babe for pastime, and like Longfellow's "Village Smithy," of Cambridge, "He looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man." THOMAS C. BURNS 161 A LUCKY POLITICIAN Robert Burns represents Scotland, btit the name of Tom Burns suggests a neighboring isle. As the political history of Ireland for a decade is largely the personal history of Robert Emmett, so the political history of Mitchell and of Davison, county for a decade is largely the history of the up's and down's in politics of the tactful, clever, whole-souled, cheerful-losing Thomas C. Burns. Senators Kittredge and Gamble were standing before President Roosevelt, in his of- ficial office quarreling over South Dakota patronage. "I'll settle this dispute," said Teddy: "I will flip a coin heads up, Kittredge's first choice; tails up, Gamble's first choice: and so on until all the [photo - THOMAS C. BURNS] patronage atyou fellow's com- mand is disposed of. What say you?" "Agreed!" c a m e the united response. A pair of lips drew apart; a double set p3lished incisers, bicuspids, canines and molars, arranged in an elongated semi-circle, was revealed; the hand that unsheathed the victorius sword at San Juan thrust itself firm- ly in to a pocket; a silver dol- lar came forth in it--just one-one only not "sixteen to one;" but sixteen chances to one Tom Burns who was red-hot after re- appointment in the land office at Mitchell, might lose. 162 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA Tom's fate was hanging in the balance. Would the coin, when tossed by the hand of authority, come straight down, heads up, bounce up a trifle, fall back in its same position or? would it "flop?" (a thing Tom Burns never did in politics). Silence! "Here it goes, boys," said the president; and at that mo- ment the dear little piece of thin circular metal, so greatly loved and so bitterly lamented by Mr. Bryan, was tossed to thp. ceiling. Hush! "Ping"----"buzz"-----"down" A rush? Staring eyes strove to catch the result. "Heads up!" said Teddy. "I'll take Tom Burns for register of the United States land office at Mitchell!" exclaimed Senator Kittredge. Several years have now sped by into the irredeemable eter- nity of the past; the rapidly receding history of our rapidly de- veloping state is now being written by a new regime. The pro- gressive faction of the republican party is in power. "To the victor belongs the spoils." "Whose head goes next?" " Tom Burns!" shrieked out an insurgent." "Well, I dont' know about that," said the new boss in South Dakota politics. "Dog gone it, I kind-a like Tom. He's the hardest fighter and the best loser in politics that I ever knew. I believe we better be magnamious in his case and save him." "Well," said another, "we've got to get him out of Mitcbell and Davison county, somehow. Just look at the majority that county gave Kittredge at the June primaries in 1908 " "Wire him to come to Washington," interjected another. In a few hours Tom Burns was aboard a limited train, hurry- ing toward our national capitol. Two days later glaring headlines appeared in all the leading dailies of the country: U. S. LAND OFFICE At Mitchell TRANSFERRED TO GREGORY Tom Burns Retained As Register "Fortune favors the brave." It's true in war, it's true in love, it's true in politics, it's true everywhere: even nature hates a coward. Tom Burns is as shrewd a political fighter as any man who ever got tangled up in the game. Yet his methods are so manly that even his enemies love him. The greatest thing about Tom is that in politics, as in other things, his word is his bond. He never breaks faith with any THOMAS C. BURNS 163 man. He is either for you or against you; and, no matter which, you soon find it out. Sir Thomas, plain Tom, "Uncle Tom," or just Tom Burns, as the case may be (he doesn't care what you call him, so long as it is done with "heads up"), is a politician through heredity, environment, and voluntary servitude. When he entered life 'tis said the first yell he let out of him was "poll." (He had the "tics" in him at the time, but he could not quite bring them to the surface.) When he began to walk, as the story goes, he kept calling .pol, pol, poli, pol" until he so distracted his mother that she began to search for something to gratify his curiosity. She finally found it-some cards with men's faces on them, and T. C. has been "stacking" this kind of cards ever since. Tom Burns came to Mitchell about thirty years ago. The better part of his life has been spent in that city. There he has raised and educated his family. There he has woven himself into the home life of the whole community. Unlike most active politicians who are brusque and abrupt, and who isolate them- selves from the world, except to their lieutenants, Mr. Burns is very sociable, and he enters into the social life of his home town with his whole heart. He goes to church regularly, visits the sick, comforts the dying, encourages the living; and, as a result, is universally liked by everybody. You couldn't get mad at him on a bet. When he was about to leave Mitchell to assume his positicn in the land office which had just been transferred to Gregory, in Gregory county, the business men of Mitchell held a special ban- quet in his honor. A member of the supreme court, the mayor, the leading attorneys, the bankers and the preachers - all speeches of regret in his behalf, and overwhelmed him with tributes. Only now and then, only once perhaps in a generation, do you find a man of Tom Burn's temperament and influence. He is a man whom any community mightwell feel honored to claim. Long live Tom Burns! 161 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAK0TA AN HONEST MAN "An honest man is the noblest work of God." Sam Elrod is an honest man. When he was denominated "Honest Sam," he was at once elevated to the class of "Honest Abe." Governor Elrod is honest as a private citizen. He was honest as a public servant; b,)nest with his constituents, honest to the state of South Dakota and honest with our sister state of North Carolina. On Septembert 21, 1901, Simon Schafer of New York city, presented to South Dakota $10,000 worth of North Carolina bonds issued during Martin Van Buren's administration. To each of these ten bonds were attached fifty-eight interest coupons of $30 each. This made the total amount due on them, $27,400. The donor made a request that if the bonds were ever collected, the proceeds should go to our state university. That wizard on corporation law, Col. R. W. Stewart, today one of the high-priced attorneys for the Standard Oil Company, was employed by the attorney general of this state as special counsel to prosecute the claim. The Colonel waded in, tried the case before the United States Supreme court, and won it. Then the trouble came. Honest Sam ascended to the governor's chair. Here is @Nhat he did; recommended to the state legislature that they pass a special act giving it all back to North Carolina, less the expense of the suit. Following are a few things which he said about it: "We took it away from our sister state, North Carolina, simply because the law said we could. Might did not make right in this instance. If the state of South Dakota returns said sum to the state of North Carolina, it will do more to cement the states together than anything that has happened since the Civil War when the relations of the states were so seriously strained. "Morally, we have no right to one cent of this money and we ought to be brave enough and true enough to give it back. "This money was clearly intended for our university. She can use it, but it is tainted money. I would send this money back SAMUEL H. ELROD 165 to North Carolina for her university and appropriate a like sum for our splendid university. It will be no burden on our people." On April 3, 1906, another public-spirited New Yorker, the Honorable E. L. Andrews, offered to donate to South Dakota $50,000 more of North Carolina bonds, which with accrued in- terest, amounted to about $150,000. In declining this large gift, Governor Elrod said: "Your kind offer is declined for the reason that it seems to me to be against public policy and good conscience." So much for the honesty of Sam Elrod, a man who was never known to defraud or to attempt to defraud the state or a private citizen, out of a single cent. Elrod is of German ex- traction. He was born near Coatsville, In- diana, May 1, 1856; secured his early edu- cation in the rural schools, and then com- pleted h i s [photo - SAMUEL H. ELROD] scholastic preparation at De Paw, grad- uating with the class of 1882, and tak- ing his A. B. degree. In '85 his Alma Ma- ter honored him with his A. M. SELF-MADE Like many others who have won distinction, young Elrod came from the humbler walks of life and rose to prominence through self-exertion, rather than through influence. While at De Paw he did janitor work and as- sisted in the local post office evenings, in order to pay his way through school. 166 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA On June 22, 1882, he walked out of De Paw with a 17x22 sheep pelt under his arm, that told the whole story. Eight days later, with his boyish heart pulsating for a new victory, he stepped off the train at Watertown, S. D., and three days later, July 8, he was admitted by Judge Kidder to the practice of law. Catching a construction train headed westward, he climbed on and went to the end of the line - Clark, S. D. In fact he went beyond the end of the road, for he walked in the last half mile. But Sam had no rich dad to back him. He was dead broke. Something had to be done-and awfully soon. He got together a small pile of lumber, put up a typical western shack with his own hands, stuck out one of those little signs that make a young lawyer feel so wonderfully good in the region of his chest, did his own cooking and washing, and life's battle was on in earnest. The city of Clark was just being started. Emigrants were flocking in along the new line of railroad. They needed advice. Sam Elrod's services were in demand. The friendships formed between him and these, early pioneers have remained to this day as bonds of trust; and as a result Honest Sam has had about everything on the political map that he has asked for. They elected him postmaster in 1885, and two years later made him probate judge. He declined re-election to the judg- ship, but instead he went after the states attorneyship of Clark county, and got it-holding this office altogether ten years. However, in 1904, Sam Elrod's political stock shot skywnrd. He went to the Sioux Falls convention occupying a seat of honor beside the mighty Kittredge who was driving the old political machine now lying in the scrap-heap of eternal usefulness, licked his wary opponent, Coe I. Crawford, to a frazzle, and was nom- inated by the republican party as their candidate for governor of South Dakota. Crawford took his defeat good-naturedly, climbed onto the band wagon helped to elect Elrod, and then came back two years later and whipped Elrod to a frazzle. (We are not well enough informed on Rooseveltian philosophic slang to know what two frazzles equal.) THE UNDOING OF ELROD Two things conspired sort of automatically to bring about the defeat of Elrod and cause his downfall, politically: the mater- ial to be used in building our new state capitol, whether it was to be Indiana or South Dakota stone, and the enactment of a state- wide primary law. Elrod, as is characteristic of the man, took a decided position on each issue, and he was right on both. Still he went down to defeat before a lot of clap-trap that was a bug- aboo, but an eloquent thing for campaign purposes. SAMUEL H. ELROD 167 THE STONE ISSUE A new capitol building had to be constructed-and at once. The constitution prohibits the legislature from contracting debts beyond $100,000, except to repel invasion. Money was scarce. Bedford, Indiana, stone could be procured and shipped to Pierre for the construction of the new building0,000 less than Sioux Falls' granite, quarried in our own state, could be pro- cured for. Elrod, as head of the capitol commission, stood solidly for the Bedford stone. His opponents, for political purpose,, raised the question of "state pride" and of building it of stone quarried in our own state, regardless of cost; went before the people on this issue, licked honest Sam, who was up for renom- mation; and, then, lo and behold you! the fellows who led the fight, after they got into the saddle, turned right square around and constructed the building of Indiana stone. So that, as a mat- ter of fact, even his political enemies, when once they came face to face with the practical side of the proposition, admitted that honest Sam Elrod was right. THE PRIMARY Another thing that helped to put Governor Elrod under the rear wheels of the political band-wagon, was his state-wide pri- mary law. In his first message to the legislature, among a lot of negative things, he said: "We think there is no pressing need for the enactment Of a primary election law providing for direct nominations. * * * "Such a law is expensive both to the tax payers and to can- didates. If such a law is enacted, it will cost twice as much to make nominations as to conduct the general elections. Taxes are already too high * * * "Once such a law is enacted, the poor man * * * will be eliminated and the man of dollars will win, and too often he will be a weak and unqualified official." On each of these separate propositions - intrinsic parts of the whole -Sam Elrod was right. (1). No need for its enactment. Instead of enacting a state- vide primary, Elrod's administration enacted the "Honest Caucus Law"-the best, the least expensive, the safest and the sanest cau- cus law ever placed upon the statute books of ours or of any other state in the union. It was gotten up by Hon. John Holman, as- sisted by Judge Smith (now of the state supreme court) and other able legal talent. It was so honest and guarded the caucus so closely and so well, that the progressive element in the repub- lican party won every office in the state, and it is the only time 168 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA they ever did it. (This law was repealed two years later.) The results justified Elrod's position. (2). Expensive to taxpayers and to candidates. - A state- wide primary was passed two years later. Two primaries were held under it in 1908, one for delegates to the national conven- tion, and one for state and county officers. The first one cost the taxpayers of the state $52,000, and the second one cost them, $76,000; total for one campaign's nominations, $128,000, let alone the expensive election which followed. Now, for the candidates! Their sworn statements on file with the secretary of state should reveal the truth. From the standpoint of amounts expended Senator Kittredge heads the list with $1,368.78. Here are some more near the head of the class: L. A. Munson, $1,300; Wilbur Glass, $1,000; Charles Burke, $900; Crawford, Martin Browne and Vessey each over $500. In fact twenty-five republican candidates swore to a total expenditure of $12,403.90. The seven democratic, eleven social- ist, and ten prohibition, candidates did not file sworn statements. (The law seems to have been enacted for the regulation of re- publicans only.) They no doubt averaged $25 dollars apiece. In addition there were 636 candidates for the various county offices throughout the state. This does not include about eighty candi- dates for county commissioners. These fellow's sworn statements on file with the different county auditors show expenditures ranging from $15 to $500; and in one case $1,250. (The fellow was defeated.) (3). Poor man superceded by rich. -Nothing equals a state- wide (or nation-wide; we shall perhaps soon have one) primary in gradually taking the government out of the hands of the hon- est poor and placing it in the hands of the selfish rich. Wiscon- sin and Illinois were two of the first states to enact the state- wide primaries. Wisconsin got a $107,000 United States senator, and Illinois got a $100,000 one. The principle of the primary is right, but it will always prove a humbug until it places office- seeking on such a basis that it cannot be auctioned off. These statistics bave not been introduced herein for the pur- pose of reopening at this time a discussion of the merits or de- merits of the primary, but to vindicate the position on its opera- tion taken by Mr. Elrod. The recorded facts, as well as his prophecy, show that it produces a "government of the (rich), by the (rfch) and for the (rich)." ECONOMICAL GOVERNOR. Be it said to the everlasting credit of Mr. Elrod that he was SAMUEL H. ELROD 169 a sensible, economical governor. In his 1905 message to the leg- islature, he said: "I beg of you, pass no law that will make it necessary to in- crease taxes, rather set an example that will lead to tax reduc- tion. Create no new offices unless absolutely needed; they will be a drain upon the treasury which the tax payers ought not to be called upon to supply. We must keep the state progressive but at the same time we must administer her affairs with a scru- pulous regard for strictest economy. Conservative administra- tion protects capital and insures work for the laborer. * * * "In a word, this legislature, composed of business men, should keep appropriations within the revenues. You should manage this business intrusted to you by your constituents the same as you would your farm, your bank or your store. In plain and simp]e words, you should not contract debts without provid- ing the money with which to pay them." As a result of Honest Sam's economical policy, the state taxes in 1905, the first year of his administration, amounted to $879,829.22 In 1906, they amounted to only $442,804.76. Com- pare his two years with those of 1909 and 1910 when the state taxes for the first year were $1,279,081.24, and for the second year (the non-legislative year when they should have been cut in two) $1,345,899.62 For the years 1905-6, they totalled $1,322,- 633.98; while for 1909-10, they reached $2,624.917.86 or just double. And in addition to this showing, the charitable and penal institutions were so wisely handled during Elrod's admin- istration that, despite the small appropriation which they re- ceived, they turned back into the state treasury, at the close of his term, $46.628.11. AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN Sam Elrod is a man who has an ideal home life. Two years after locating in Clark, he had prospered so well that he slipped back to Coatsville, Indiana, and married Miss Mary E. Matsen. The Elrods have two children, one, a daughter, Miss Bar- bara, aged 18, who graduated this year from the Clark high school, and a son, Arthur Mellette Elrod (named after our first state governor), aged 14. The year of his graduation from De Paw, at Greencastle, Indiana, Mr. Elrod united with the M. E. church and he has since remained a devout and consistent member. Defeated for the republican nomination for Congress by Charlie Burke in 1898, defeated for governor by Coe I. Crawford, and again by R. S. Vessey, he has tasted the bitter with the 170 WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA sweet, yet he has always retained his poise and been loyal to his friends. When told that he could gain his political prestige by breaking loose from Kittredge, Martin, Burke, Herreid, et al, he cooly replied, "I have come up with these men, I am willing to go down with them." Sam has prospered immensely. Today his little shack has given way to one of the finest homes in the state, where he and his family reside and enjoy to the fullest extent the blessinzs of life. And he is charitable also. Not long since he gave $600 to one institution. Such has been the varied career of one of our state's worthy political sons. May the future crown him with a just reward! E. T. PEIRCE 171 A BLACK HILLS' PIONEER Frontier life in the Black Hills! - the latter seventies; the days when General Custer met his tragic death on the Little Big Horn at the hands of the wily Sioux; the days when many a west- ern ruffian who had violated frontier ethics, attended his own "neck-tie party," without questioning the invitation he had re- ceived, and died with his boots on, without the quiver of a mus- cle; the days when the red-skinned warrior fell upon white emi- grant trains and left tne latters' naked skulls to bleach in the hot mountain sun: the days when Wild Bill (Harry Hickok), the master gunfighter of them all, who, single handed and alone, armed with a shotgun, several revolvers and a bowie knife, killed in quick succession and almost in unison all nine of Jake McCandles' band of outlaws who attacked him, but who later lost his own life in Deadwood at the hands of a cowdardly cur, Jack McCall, who dared not use his gun in the open, but who slipped into a vacant room, stealthily opened an old door that led into the room where Hickok was sitting, and shot him in the back; the days when "Calamity Jane" (Mary Cannery), the most noted and adventuresome female dare-devil in all history, a woman who sought for Indian fights, lynching bees and ruffian mix-ups with a greater fiendishness than her contemporaneous frontiersmen hunted for gold, who camped on the trail of Wild Bill's slayer until she avenged his death, and who now lies in an almost un- marked grave beside that of Wild Bill amid the whispering pines on the sun-baked slope of White Rocks in front of the city of Deadwood, 5,200 feet above the sea - ah! these were also the stir- ring pioneer days of "Doc" Peirce. Peirce came to the Black Hills in February, 1876, and set- tled on a claim along French creek. He sluiced three days, got fifteen cents in gold and contracted rheumatism. Although an eastern lad by birth, Doe could handle a gun with the best of them. To act as sheriff in a western mountain