''Abe'' Lincoln's Yarns and Stories - University of Macau Library

Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. McClure 258Lincoln added that he didn't see any other way to make things satisfactoryfor his client as well as the other.HELPED OUT THE SOLDIERS.Judge Thomas B. Bryan, of Chicago, a member of the Union DefenseCommittee during the War, related the following concerning the originalcopy of the Emancipation Proclamation:"I asked Mr. Lincoln for the original draft of the Proclamation," said JudgeBryan, "for the benefit of our Sanitary Fair, in 1865. He sent it andaccompanied it with a note in which he said:"'I had intended to keep this paper, but if it will help the soldiers, I give it toyou.'"The paper was put up at auction and brought $3,000. The buyer afterwardsold it again to friends of Mr. Lincoln at a greatly advanced price, and itwas placed in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it wasburned in the great fire of 1871."EVERY FELLOW FOR HIMSELF.An elegantly dressed young Virginian assured Lincoln that he had done agreat deal of hard manual labor in his time. Much amused at this solemndeclaration, Lincoln said:"Oh, yes; you Virginians shed barrels of perspiration while standing off at adistance and superintending the work your slaves do for you. It is differentwith us. Here it is every fellow for himself, or he doesn't get there.""BUTCHER-KNIFE BOYS" AT THE POLLS.When young Lincoln had fully demonstrated that he was the championwrestler in the country surrounding New Salem, the men of "de gang" atClary's Grove, whose leader "Abe" had downed, were his sworn political