Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-03-14

Frsn the Bulletin, Of Yesterdsy.l
The announcement made the other day, OF
the retirement Of the "Memphis Enquirer
from the ranks Of living, eysr-actiEs Journal
ism, and its subsistence into The bosom OF the
Memphis .iUGlanehe, is suggestive-to us-of
many reflections and memories, Of mingled
pleasure and sadness. It is as IL a part Of our
selves had ceased to be, and we cannot let
it pass on to the oblivion that awaits all or
binary human endeavors, without something
more than merely the announcement, copied
into our columns, Of its late proprietor and
conductor. 1t has been part and parcel Of the
growth, increase, prosperity and glory Of Mem
phis, and its obsequies shall not lack, at our
hands, the tribute Of Justice to its memory.
The Memphis Enquirer was founded in the
spring Of 1896, by our old friend. and for many
years co-laborsr in the editorial harness, F. S.
Latham, Esq. In 1888, just about now TWEEN
! ty-four years ago, we FIRST landed on this bluff,
to consummate an engagement with him,
which, by making US a sharerin bis enterprise,
has bound us, ever since, with the destinies OF
Memphis. Al, those weretbe "good old times,7
when life was young, and The spirit of the town,
too, not vet arrived at the dignity Of "boots and
breeches," was in harmony with the Jocund
hopes that lay In the futurel Nesting around
the "Mouth of WOLF" and numbering not ex-
ceeding two thousand inhabitant, all OF whom
were known to and trusted BY each other, we
doubt if Memphis will ever see again the state
Of society which bound together, as in a band
| Of brothers, the Memphis Of near a quarter Of
a century ago. We never did know-we
have in vain tried to analyze-whst it was
that made of the inhabitants Of that dsy, such
d~evotees to their home but certain it is
whether from the influence Of the big river
that rolled before them every day, or what
not-that not even the Fiorentine was more at
tached to his fair and goodly city, where all
| the arts combine to render human life a glory,
than have been those people Of Memphis
whose active life goes back to the period we
have mentioned, a quarter Of a century ago
In all that Memphis was, and is now, the
Enquirer has borne no iDeonsidsrsble part,
az an adjunct, promoter and advocate. It
saw The fret plank road projected and aided in
opening up the thOroughfsres which make ac-
| feasibility to the Memphis of to day, a reality
that was to the Memphis OF a quarter Of a
century ago fable and a dream Of the far-off
future. It stood as midwife in the aecouch-
ment Of the first, and the last, Of the railroad
projects which, in their prosecution, greatly by
its aid, have made Memphis one Of the main
centers Of INSTRUMENTATION within the
Mississippi Valley. Wing to the backbone,
and taking its full share in the blows given
and received, in the grand old times when par
ty politics had something Of mind in them, be-
cause there were then "giants in the land' to
give shape and color to the political affairs Of
the nation, It nevertheless had an eve ALWAYS
to whatever could promote the local interests
and make known to the world at large the
local advantages of Memphis. Many =
goodly fortune now enjoyed BY persons who,
from non-residence, or from apathy 70 the pub
lie veal, or sheer stingy meanness to help pro-
mote it, owes no uncomfortable portion Of its
bulk to that faithful old Memphis journal.
How the times change, and how we do
change with tbeml When, in March, 1888,
we arrived here 10 company with our old
friend, the last proprietor Of the Enquirer, we
found as an attaehe and writer for it, B. F.
Dill, Esq, then an elegant, slender, handsome,
retiring young gentleman, but recently emapel-
pated from college life and Law school Of his
native Georgia. We were his successor as
associate Of the Enquirer, and we well remem-
Der the regret we experienced in the loss Of bis
urbane and attractive society, when he faded
off into Mississippi, where, in the course Of
years, be became infected alike with mstri-
mony, State rights, and width Of girth, to re-
turn sf-er awhile to plague US with bis Demo-
cratic and hre-eating notions, as one Of the
proprietors and editors Of the APPEAL.
We speak Of it and its Influences, know
ingly; for, from the period we have mentioned,
In 1888, up to 1885, with a brief inteFFegnum)
we were part and parcel Of j., and can attest
its potency in promoting and stimulating the
] EEAEA ~ - ~ VI 9AAAE II AANa
named date, it has passed through several
hands, and has undergone a number Of muta-
tions 10 its political character. Yet in all
these phases OF its life, it possessed a ho'dupOn
the public heart, that nothing but long years Of
acceptable ministration can impartto a public
%lourral. Men Of to-day had grown up familiar
with it, and chung to it as they finger about
the old church where they received baptism,
and learned first to repeat the commandments.
It is, at lsngth-from private and domestic
preoccupstions Of its proprietorLsmong the
things that were, being swallowed Up in the
fiery and iupetu0us .fuGlaBehe. We shall miss
it's familiar old face with a feeling Of regret,
for there was linked with it many memories
which, Though mournful, are yet sadly sweet.
We shall lose, in no longer casting our eve
over the years Of trs age, the d~ialplate that
daily reminded US Of the miles Of time we were
receding from the dear old "Long Ago. tits
a link broken in the chain that connects us
| with the Pasta monument brok,n down sf
what we have been.
But "let the dead past bury It's dsad.D In
chronicling its demise, we take occasion TO
tender TO its proprietor, DR.. Borland, our earn
est hope that the domestic causes which have
induced his retirement from it, nav not be OF
grave or long continuance; and that, in what
ever direction bis future pathway in life NAV
be directed, it may lead to prosperity and hap
Dinesg.