The Lincoln Story Book: A Judicious Collection of the Best Stories and Anecdotes of the Great President, Many Appearing Here for the First Time in Book Form
History
The Lincoln Story Book: A Judicious Collection of the Best Stories and Anecdotes of the Great President, Many Appearing Here for the First Time in Book Form
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Anecdotes
The tree was at a convenient height, and Carman caught on and swung
himself out; but the icy water chilled him to the bone. But he was safe
for the present, seeing which the captain called out to the other to
let go his pole and let himself be carried down to the tree, also. If
he hung on in the open there much longer, he would become stiff and
unable to swim. The man managed to reach his mate, and the two were
joined at the tree.
The manager of the rescue found a log and, attaching a rope, rolled it
into the stream, with the help of others who had arrived on the scene.
They towed it up some distance to get a good send-off, and a young
daredevil got on it with the intention of being floated down to the
tree, where all three would become passengers and be drawn home. But in
his haste to do so, Jim Dorrell raised himself off his log by the
branch he grasped and, along with the other unfortunates, made three
men to be saved.
When the riderless log was hauled up inshore, Lincoln mounted it to
make the next cast in person. Having an extra rope with him, he lassoed
the tree and soon drew the log up. Cold as they were, the three men
dropped down and straddled beside him. At his orders the men on the
bank held the rope taut, so that the log, allowed to swing off freely,
slung around with the current to the side, and the four were
disembarked. This made Abraham the hero of the Sangamon River among the
boatmen.
(Narrated by John Rolls, of New Salem, a witness.)
* * * * *
LINCOLN'S FIRST DOLLAR.
As in all farming communities, where the only movement of currency is
when the crop comes in and the debts accumulating during the growth are
settled and the slight surplus spent, the Indiana pioneers little knew
"extra" cash. To obtain it, the men used their off hours in guiding
intending settlers, assisting surveyors and prospectors, felling and
hewing trees, and horse-trading. Another source of income out of bounds
was to send a stock of produce down the river to sell or barter for the
Southern plantation produce. As there was talk at home of furnishing
their house, Abraham bethought him of this resource. His father
consented readily to any notion that might result in gain, and his
mother, though believing nearly two thousand miles of water travel
onerous, allowed her "yes." Besides, the young man, by excessive work
on their place, had piled up a goodly stock of salable stuff. Abraham
had only to make a boat. It was small, merely to hold the "venture" and
his hand-bundle of "plunder" for the trip and land cruise at New
Orleans. Western country boys who had seen the Crescent City talked of
the exploit as the Easterners of seeing Europe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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