3rd try from the original post at 7 am! Hope it makes it this time! Sandi The trial was held in the courthouse, and the lawyers insisted that I sit on the judges bench, to which I entered a feeble demurer, but finaly took a seat on that august bench, with fear, and inwardly some trembling. My recolection that there were five lawyers on the side of the plaintiff, and one, who was the most consumit petifiger, that I ever knew for the defendant. In consummit meanness and intrig he outstriped the character represented by Dickens in his David Copperfield. Of course he objected to evrything, and the first day was consumed in ruling on his objections, but finaly we struck a note that precipitated a cricis. I ruled that the defendant should answer a certain question, and Link told him not to ansere it, which placed me the defendant in contempt of court, and much as I hated it but there was nothing for me to do but to send him to jail, which I did and adjurned court, so that the defendant might enjoy a short period on quiet meditation. It was fortunate that judge Moore came to town that evening, and got into the case, and his influence seemes to have had an immediate effect, as in an hour after his arrival the defendant promised to be good if I would let him out. The next day he came into court, and answered the question, and many more, and the case was given to the jury, who in a short tiem returned a verdict against the defendant as charged. I did not feel a bit good over his trial. I felt that I had been badly treated, the more so that on account of the fact that some of my best friends had taken part in the farce that had humiliated me to some extent, but I will say that I finaly got most of the business. All of the lawyers but Link brought me their business, so that my docked contained many hundreds of cases when my term expired. I will also say that I do not recall a case in which I was reversed by the upper courts. The fact that I received much business from all over the county emphasized my reputation for being a faire minded and impartial Judge. The latter part of 1879, I applied for a pension. Up to this time I had refused to make any movement in that direction. I went into the army with patriotic motives, and with no expectation of reward in any way of a pension. I had taken the stand that the government should pension all of the baddly wounded soldiers. In fact the soldiers generally gave no thought to this matter when they enlisted, but we did expect, and were given to understand that we would get land warrants, as had the soldiers of other wars, up to that time. In Feb 1882 my claim was allowed, and I drew pay that amounted to about $2,400, which was almost a godsend, as we were baddly indebt. On getting money I commenced to look around for a new location, and my love for the west came upon me with much force, as two of the boys were already there. I naturally drifted back to Iowa, where I had formaly {formerly} lived. I bought some lots and built us a small home. The winter of 1882 - 3 my old lung trouble was revived, from which I suffered greatly. With the advice of an old fool doctor I made a trip to California, where I received some benefit as to my lungs, but suffered from other army diseases. I remained in Cal six months, and then returned to Iowa. Out of money and out of a job, but I was fortunate in securing a position as local editor on one of our city papers "The Republican." Though entirely unacquainted with the work, I will say that I suceded reasonably well. While in Cal I had attracted considerable attentin as a correspondent of another city paper. While my earnings were not by any means lucrative, I was able to get through winter reasonably well. My second son Albert had secured a position as a grocery clerk, and he contributed liberaly to the support of the family, otherwise our living would have been seriously curtailed. In the spring of 1884, my name was presented to the people as a candidate for Mayor. Relatives and people who had formerly known me circulated the information that I had served for several years as a police justice in another state, which in the face of the fact that the encumbent of the mayor's office had proven a great failure, gave zest to my candiancy. I never asked a man to vote for me, or neglected my duties as an editor for a single hour, but my friends were active, as was shown when the votes were counted, which tallied my name two to one against my opponant. A vacancy occured in one of the justice offices, which was handed to me, which enabled me to see my way out of the woods again. That I was acceptable to the people, the fact that I served them as their mayo for Seven consecutive years and as justice of the peace for fifteen years, fully proved. Our children having left us we concluded to move to Omaha where I erected a home. In my new home I was able to be out of doors doing light work in the improvement of our home, raising fruit, and vegetables, and flowers, my health was greatly improved. In some way it semed that I had been fated for the justice office. I had not been in my new location but a short time till I was again inducted into office. Human beings at best are lyable to do some very foolish things but when they get old, if left to their own volition they are liable to make some very grave mistakes. My health again gave way and we concluded that a northan climate was too seveir for us, and having a granddaughter who was a tubuculosis invalid, we concluded to go with her to Florida, and having a brother at StCloud we naturally drifted to that place. Where we landed about the 9th of December 1909. The grandaughter failed utterly in about six weeks, and we sent her home to die, but having acquired some property there we had to stay. We had sacrificed our furniture, and there and as we had invested the most of our surplus money we would necessarily have to dispose of our holding{s} there in ordre that might refurnish our house in the north. It was rather a sad plite for two old people to be cought in, and much moreso when we both found that we could not stand that climate. My wife's health utterly failed, and on the 6trh of Sept I had to hurry her north, and I remained to dispose of my property. I had hard work to pull th{r}ough, but managed to keep on my feet till about the 24th of December, when I was luckey enough to sell out at a reasonable figure, but fearing to come north in the middle of the winter, I remained in Florida till the 16th of Febuary 1911, but did not reach home till the 23rd of March. I was very sick on the road, and remained in bad physical condition till the middle of summer. I found my wife sick in bed, which made the outlook for me very gloomy indeed. My Son's wife - R. B. Carter died on the 16th of June, which was a sad event for all of us. To us for the reason that we had arranged to make our home in his family. But we met the responsibility bravely, and lived rather hapily to gather, till the last of October when it appeared when it appeared the responsibilities were to{o} great for people of our age, and we broke up. My wife going to our daughter for the winter, if not permanently, and I to my son Albert's house to remain till I could make some disposition of our property. It has been rather a sad experience for people of our age, but it is one that most old people have to mete, some of them in a much worse way, and it is possible that we ought to accept the situation with commendable resignation. People of our age live largely in the past, and the conditions that have obtained in the social relations of life, are ever reoccuring to them. The difference in that life, and the one that we enjoy now is radically different as night and day. In our earley days we lived for the future, but now the great majorty live for the day that they know that is theirs. The whole social fabric is a giddy whirl, and a farce. There is very little that is real, and substantial. Eat, drink, and be merry is the slogan that resounds from evry cornner. People go to the theatres and pay their money to hear trained people act the fool. The cronic devotees spend their hard earned money, and get nothing for it. Nothing is remembered by them, they realize that they have been fed on the chafe, and they have no regard for it. The world has produced a few artist{s}, but the great majority are simply amitures, who keep in the lime light by the exercise of small wit, and the exhibition of gaudy dress, but little of that. There was a time when men and women held their auditors spellbound by their logic, and the eloqquent way in which they were able to present it, but now they can rarley get a respectable audience, unles the embelish the logic with a superabundent amount of vaudiville acting. What the harvest will be we can not even conjecture. We know the fate of Rome, and Carthage, and many other grand civil{iz}ations that have past away, as it were, amid a whirl of social acting and excitement. The inteligence that produced these grand results was crouded out, and trampled under foot, and when that was gone ther was nothing left to build upon. Wise students are predicting already that our grand civil{iz}ation will pass away, and our cities will take their places with the dismantled principalities of Asia. These thoughts will be clased as the vaperings of an old man whose proper place is with the human discard. I take it that it is the duty of evry man and woman that is born into the world should strive to leave something behind them that will be a benefit to future posterities, but unfortunately the great majority of them are remembered onley by a few associates that knew them for a short time. My politics have been radicaly along republican lines. My first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincolon, of which I am very proud, and I have voted for evry republican president since. I have never seen anything in the other parties that appealed to my sense of justice, patriotism, and statesmanship. During my lifetime the democratic party has left nothing on our National statuts that showed either wisdom, or commendable statesmanship. I am surprised that the oposite party has survived so long, and maintained a power that would indicate that there was force enough to recomend it for a bare possible supremicy, and yet while it has not made a record of good accomplished, in the way of legislation it has exzerted a power that compelled the prevailing party to put forth its best men for office. I do not believe that it is possible to organize a great party that is absolutly pure in all of its parts. I believe that it is absolutly necessary to the perpetuation of our free government. Where the carcase is there will be found the vulturs, and it is not unreasonable that a party long in power should draw to it more than its share of these political potentialities that have appeared in this country during the last fifty years, that to the victor belong the spoiles, and it was understood that the successfull party should reward its henchmen, whether qualified or not, for the position assigned them, and it generaly occured that there were more applicants that positions to be filled, and new places had to be provided. I have known this to oddure in my own party, but being the rule in politics, men of otherwise sturling integrety condoned the wrong by shutting their eyes to the astounding fact. Fifty years ago, the people received their political inspiration from the leading politicians, and invariably waited for them to dispense the political gospel for the ensuing campaign. This principal prevailed more radicaly in the south than it did in the north. In the south ignorance was bliss, and it was folly to be wise, which was tought from the pulpit, and all political rostrums, which the ignorant people believed and practiced, and it was through this pernitious influence that the leaders in the south was able to prosecute the rebellion to the extent that they did. Very wealthy people in the south ignored, and condemed the newspapers. I remember to have heard a slave owner boast that he had never allowed a newspaper to enter his house. Even now, as I observed in the south, while sojurning there during the last two years, thousands of people never read a newspaper. The progress that has been made in throwing off the spoiles system, and other pernitious influences has been brought about by the influences of the newspapers that have been so widely distributed over the entire country, and the day is neare by when the voters of this country will decide all political questions at his own fireside. My ancestors were all old line whigs, with one exception, and he was considered a kind of political "misfit" by the ballance of the famalies, and all able bodied men were in the union army. In my earley boyhood, and manhood days my political ideals were Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, from speaches I invariably made my selections for declamitory distinction at our debates, and memories, and would possibly cut small figure in our political arena of this day, and age. Like George Washington, who was able to controll the military destinies in his day. In comparison with Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Sheridan would fall below some of our brigade commanders in the late civil war. To some I understand that such a comparison, is more than presumptious, but the facts remain, and are demonstratable. As to my religious views, and experiences: I will say that at this time my creed, so to speak, is very broad, and takes in evry thing that makes men and women better, morraly, religiously and intillectualy. Mother was the most profoundly concientious christian charactor that I ever knew, or read of. She was a firm believer a providential interfearance in the affares of mankind and could make a divine application of evry condition that the human race is called upon to indure. If dire misfortune overtook any one, she belived that it was a provedental interfearance in our behalf. Her lot in life was, from earley womanhood, attended with the most adverse circumstances, and conditions, all of which she bore with christian resignation, and fortitude. There was not a shadow of deceit, or discimulation, in her conduct, or social intercourse with those who were fortunate enough to come within her influence. In evrything that she said, in the way of conveying information, she invariably qualified her statement, with I believe, or have been told that it is the truth, and she taught me never to be absolutley shure that evrything that I said, when coming to others, was possibly true, and so firmly did she implant this principal in my mind, that even now I often find myself somewhat handicapped in imparting information to others, and I have been criticised by some of my family, for hesitency, in arriving at conclusions. I remember that in my earley boyhood, I invariably qualified any statement that I might make, with "I believe that is so", and I remember that I was frequently laughed at, on account of that expression. I never knew anyone to speak illy of her, in fact evry body love her for her pure christian character, and lovable disposition. When she died, those who looked upon her dead face saw a halo, that to them appeared angelic, which was so apparent that people who saw it, were lothed to leave a presence that appeared so divine. Language failes me to discribe her pure character as I saw and felt it. to be continued next week -Sandi