He often spent
much time, in the fall, speaking and writing to secure the election of
temperance men for county officers. The final effort by which he
succeeded in arousing a public sentiment strong enough to compel the
county officers to close the saloons, was a stirring speech he made at
a temperance meeting in Atchison, in the spring of 1885,
Some have thought that father was hard-hearted. Plain-spoken he
certainly was, and sometimes harsh in dealing with those whom he
thought to be doing wrong. He was so thoroughly in earnest that when
he thought a certain way right or wrong, it was hard for him to
understand that some other way might be equally right or wrong.
Naturally high-tempered, with a very excitable, nervous organization,
it was often a matter of wonder to me to see how much self-control he
exercised, under irritating circumstances. He sometimes lost his
self-control, and said things that would better have been left unsaid;
but when he saw that he had done so he was ready to beg pardon for the
offense.
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