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

Yarns and Stories, by Alexander K. McClure 81put me in the army.'"The President looked up from his work and said, good-humoredly: 'I'mmaking generals now; in a few days I will be making quartermasters, andthen I'll fix you.'"NO POSTMASTERS IN HIS POCKET.In the "Diary of a Public Man" appears this jocose anecdote:"Mr. Lincoln walked into the corridor with us; and, as he bade us good-byand thanked Blank for what he had told him, he again brightened up for amoment and asked him in an abrupt kind of way, laying his hand as hespoke with a queer but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder, 'You haven'tsuch a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you?'"Blank stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, as if hesuspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lincoln went on:'You see it seems to me kind of unnatural that you shouldn't have at least apostmaster in your pocket. Everybody I've seen for days past has hadforeign ministers and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you couldn'thave got in here without having at least a postmaster get into your pocket!'"HE "SKEWED" THE LINE.When a surveyor, Mr. Lincoln first platted the town of Petersburg, Ill.Some twenty or thirty years afterward the property-owners along one of theoutlying streets had trouble in fixing their boundaries. They consulted theofficial plat and got no relief. A committee was sent to Springfield toconsult the distinguished surveyor, but he failed to recall anything thatwould give them aid, and could only refer them to the record. The disputetherefore went into the courts. While the trial was pending, an old Irishmannamed McGuire, who had worked for some farmer during the summer,returned to town for the winter. The case being mentioned in his presence,he promptly said: "I can tell you all about it. I helped carry the chain when