文档介绍：THE WAYS OF MEN
THE WAYS OF MEN
Eliot Gregory
1
THE WAYS OF MEN
CHAPTER 1 - "UNCLE SAM"
THE gentleman who graced the gubernatorial arm-chair of our state
when this century was born happened to be an admirer of classic lore and
the sonorous names of antiquity.
It is owing to his weakness in bestowing pompous cognomens on our
embryo towns and villages that to-day names like Utica, Syracuse, and
Ithaca, instead of evoking visions of historic pomp and circumstance, raise
in the minds of most Americans the picture of cocky little cities, rich only
in trolley-cars and Methodist meeting-houses.
When, however, this cultured governor, in his ardor, christened one of
the cities Troy, and the hill in its vicinity Mount Ida, he little dreamed that
a youth was living on its slopes whose name was destined to e a
household word the world over, as the synonym for the proudest and
wealthiest republic yet known to history, a sobriquet that would be
familiar in the mouths of races to whose continents even the titles of
Jupiter or Mars had never rated.
A little before this century began, two boys with packs bound on their
stalwart shoulders walked from New York and established a brickyard in
the neighborhood of what is now Perry Street, Troy. Ebenezer and Samuel
Wilson soon became esteemed citizens of the infant city, their kindliness
and benevolence winning for them the affection and respect of the
community.
The younger brother, Samuel, was an especial favorite with the
children of the place, whose explorations into his deep pockets were
generally rewarded by the discovery of some simple "sweet" or home-
made toy. The slender youth with the "nutcracker" face proving to be the
merriest of playfellows, in their love his little band of admirers gave him
the pet name of "Uncle Sam," by which he quickly became known, to the
exclusion of his real name. This is the kindly and humble origin of a title
the mere speaking of which to-day quickens the pu