voured by mosquitoes the night before and wished a bar up in his room. The clerk was highly indignant, as mosquitoes have ever been considered as prejudicial to the prosperity of a place as malaria. He said if the places the stranger showed on his nose were mosquito bites he must have gotten them in Louisville. Seeing it was useless to argue further, Mr. U went to a dry goods store to buy a bar. The proprietor showed him several pieces of goods, and finally asked, " For what do you want it, sir?" "To make a mosquito bar," was the answer." "Then, of course, I have nothing to suit you," said the shopkeeper, " for we have no call for it, as there are no mosquitoes in Lexington." The stranger became angry then, but after he had ex hausted himself, the proprietor said, " Oh, well, sir, you are mistaken, that is all, and if you will just step around to Mat Johnson's office he will tell you there are no mosqui toes here." It is said : " Mr. Johnson was one of the most notable instances of that character which is crude, raw, awkward in youth and only reaches perfection in mature age. For five years he sat in his law office without a single client, but all the time he worked hard, studied and polished himself until he became a grand man." William T. Barry was an accomplished law yer and chief justice of Kentucky. He was postmaster general under President Jackson. In 183 5, he was appointed minister to Spain, but died while on the way to that country. George B. Kinkead was a man of splendid attainments. He graduated second in his class at Transylvania University in 1833, and was a partner of Garrett Davis. The present bar of Lexington has a num ber of able members. Among them are George B. Denny; Charles Bronston, a fine lawyer, who was commonwealth's attorney; John Shelby, a splendid man and an able lawyer; Judge Jere Morton, who was judge of the circuit court for years, and of the
common pleas; Soule Smith, a fine writer and lawyer; George B. Kinkead, a brilliant man; Robert Thornton, who is a son-in-law of the late General Preston and a man of ability; and Judge H. M. Buford. James B. Beck, former United States senator, was a man Kentucky delighted to honor. He was a man of powerful build, of great strength of mind and body, and a speaker of uncommon power. He was one of the ablest lawyers of his day. He went to Congress, term after term, from the Ashland District (Henry Clay's), and then to the United States Senate. He was a Scotchman by birth, and his first case was given him by an Irishman who had crossed the ocean in the same ship with him. This Irishman made money rapidly, and watching Beck, as he worked on a farm by day, and studied by the light of a tallow dip at night, became interested in him and persuaded John C. Brcckinridge to take him in his law office. One day, Mr. McGarvy, the Irishman, went to the office to have them bring suit against a corporation for which he had been building a road, but both General Breckinridge and his partner, Judge Bullock, told him it was impossible to re cover. Mr. Beck was sitting in the office reading, so turning to him Mr. McGarvy said: "These old lawyers know too much, will you take the case?" He did so and won his first fee, which is said to have been a very liberal one. William Rogers Clay was for three years private secretary to Senator Beck. He graduated from the law department of the University at Washington, carrying off the honors from a large class. Senator Beck prophesied " a brilliant future for young Clay." He is superintendent of the Lex ington public schools, has a large law prac tice, and is attorney for the Bluegrass Build ing and Loan Association, one of the largest corporations in Lexington. He is a man of fine natural gifts and rare culture, possesses a pleasing and attractive person, and is an
