R. PHILIP L. HALL, of Mead, Nebraska, secretary of the State Banking Board, was born February 25, 1850, in White county, Indiana, where be resided until 1868, emigrating to Nebraska and settling in Douglas county, He attended the Omaha high school, and taught at Millard, Elkhorn, and vicinity until 1879, when he took up the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Harvey Link. He entered Rush Medical College at Chicago and graduated from that institution in 1883. He practiced his profession at Millard for a time, and removed to Mead, in Saunders county, where he has enjoyed professional success. In 1885 he was one of the organizers and became manager of the Bank of Mead, which position he held until appointed to his present office. Secretary Hall has a beautiful home and a happy family, consisting of his wife and three promising children. His wife, Helena B., is the daughter of his old preceptor, Dr. Link. Dr. Hall is a man of energy, integrity, and conservative business judgment, and will without question make an ideal officer in the banking department.

ENERAL PATRICK H. BARRY, of Greeley Center, is an old soldier who has earned the unquestioned right to his title. He enlisted in 1861 in Company E, Sixty-third New York Volunteer Infantry, of General Thomas F. Meagher's Irish Brigade. He took part in the battles of Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and Antietam, where he was so severely wounded that he was discharged from service in March, 1863. He re-enlisted in June of the same year, in Company A, Twelfth Massachusetts, and took part in nine notable engagements, among which were the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House. In the battle at Petersburg, General Barry was wounded in the right arm, and amputation became necessary. He was accordingly discharged October 28, 1864. After the close of the war he espoused the greenback cause, and was a member of the executive committee of that party in Massachusetts. In 1880 he moved to Greeley county, Nebraska, where he has since resided, and with his five sons owns and cultivates a section of land, In 1890 he assisted in organizing the independent party, and was elected to the twenty-third session of the legislature, serving with

credit as a member of the board of impeachment, of which he was chairman. He was again elected to the legislature in 1894, and at the close of the session the members of both houses joined in a petition to Governor Holcomb, which was concurred-in by the judges of the supreme court, for his appointment to the honorable position of adjutant general. His administration of the Nebraska National Guard has greatly advanced its efficiency in military science, and his work with our state troops has been highly complimented by the military board. At the expiration of his commission the governor promptly reappointed General Barry for the ensuing state administration.

RA J. AYERS, private secretary to the adjutant general of Nebraska, was born January 8, 1871, at Independence, Iowa. He grew up on the farm and was educated in the public schools of his native city, until he came west in 1887, locating near Valentine, Nebraska. At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of the United States government at Rosebud Agency, South Dakota. One year later he took to railroading, but soon abandoned that occupation to prepare for the public service. In 1890 he entered the Iowa Normal

and Commercial College, completed both the professional and commercial courses, graduating with honors. He afterwards graduated from the short-hand department of the Omaha Commercial College. He established an office in Omaha for court reporting and general stenographic work, and was the general manager for this state of the Duplex type-writer. Mr. Ayers has always been an ardent supporter of the populist party, prominent in religious and benevolent societies, and is president of Lincoln Lodge No. 1 of the Sons and Daughters of Protection. He has a great capacity for efficient work and will make his mark on his department of the state government.

IDNEY J. KENT, state commissioner of labor and industrial statistics, was born at Lambeth, London, England, July 29, 1855. He attended Bellville Academy, Greenwich, till ten years of age. His father was killed on the Great Western Railway in 1865, after which the boy struggled as an apprentice under joiners and stairbuilders, enduring brutal treatment until he ran away. After a year's labor as traveling journeyman, he embarked for the United

States, where he arrived July 29, 1872. Here he had varied experiences, working on the farm, railroading, studying the business of civil engineering, and working at his trade as carpenter and joiner. He joined the Knights of Labor and held various delegated and official positions. He was Secretary and master workman, and held office for several years in Carpenters' Union 149, and was for along time president of the Lincoln Central Labor Union. He was elected at Chicago in 1889 vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and joiners, afterwards becoming secretary and member of the general executive board of that order, which position he still holds. He has been general organizer of the American Federation of Labor for six years, has lectured in many cities, and has had charge of numerous labor difficulties. Mr. Kent was formerly a republican, but voted for Peter Cooper, and has been frequently honored by the labor organizations with political preference. He was elected as the labor candidate to the Lincoln Board of Education for three years, one of which he served as secretary. In the last campaign he had charge of populist branch headquarters at Omaha.