169. What President worked on a ferry-boat when a young man?
In 1825, Abraham Lincoln, then in his seventeenth year, was employed by James Taylor for nine months at six dollars a month to manage a ferry-boat which plied between the banks of the Ohio and also of Anderson Creek.
170. What general shot a wolf in her den by the light of her own eyes?
General Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame, once had a famous encounter with a she-wolf that had for several years preyed upon the flocks and cattle of the neighborhood. Having discovered her den, he entered it alone by creeping into a narrow opening, and shot and killed the wolf by the light of her own glaring eyes as she was advancing to attack him. This adventure, which gave him a wide reputation for courage, took place near Pomfret, Conn., when Putnam was but twenty-five years old.
171. What did the Indians suppose the ships of Columbus to be?
They supposed the ships to be huge white-winged birds, and the Spaniards to have come from heaven.
172. What President never attended school a day in his life?
Andrew Johnson, on account of extreme poverty, never received any schooling, and at the age of ten he was apprenticed to Mr. Selby, a tailor in Raleigh, N. C. A gentleman was in the habit of visiting the shop and reading to the workmen, generally from “The American Speaker,” and Andrew became intensely interested, especially in the extracts from the speeches of Pitt and Fox, and determined to secure an education. From a fellow-workman he learned the alphabet, and from a friend something of spelling. Thenceforth, after working ten or twelve hours a day at his trade, he spent two or three every night in study. After his marriage at Greenville, Tenn., he continued his studies under the instruction of his wife, with whose aid he learned to write and cipher, while pursuing his trade as before by day.
173. How was Napoleon paid for the cession of Louisiana?
He was paid $11,250,000 in six per cent. bonds, payable fifteen years after date. The price paid for Louisiana was $15,000,000, but one quarter of this was due to American citizens for French depredations upon our commerce.