The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-06-26
OUR EXCURSION TO THE EDITOR.
IAL CONVENTION IN L. C.lOSAE-

kfeSs, now MRS. w. n. bates, OF Mem-
phis, Tenn, we started in the steamer
,Sheboygan for Milwaukee, on Monday.
the 10th inst. The weather was fine.
the steamer in excellent trim, and the
officers gentlemanly and oblging as ever,
so that the time on the lake passed rap
idly and most pleasantly until we reach
ed Milwaukee. and the Newhall House.
where we were met by old friends who
had preceded us from here, and with
whom we passed pleasant evening until
we left for the cars to go to our destina-
tion-La Crosse there we arrived in
due time, and found the Convention
already in session. ably presided over by
Pres't. Seymour. who introduced our old
and esteemed friend. Mayor Van
Steenwyk this latter gentleman deliver
ed an excellent address. welcoming the
fraternity and mentioning our presence
at La Crosse as the home of our beloved
and bonored Governor, spoke as follows:
Is it high tribute of grateful ac-
knowledement to yet more eminent
citizen of La Crosse, to the Chief Mag
istrate of our Commonwealth. whom we
all respect. aud to whom we all desire to
do honor, as to true patriot, brave
soldier, a true citizen and statesman
of high character and unsullied honor !;
clear of head and warm of heart, firm in
conviction and decided in action; the
friend and protector Of the rights and in
terests of the people? 2"
The address was happily responded to
by Vice President. Sam. Ryan, of the
Appleton Crescent.
Pres't. Seymour then delivered his
farewell address, commencing as follows:
In presenting this as positively my
last carefully prepared impromptu
farewell address," after serving you one
year as your Corresponding Secretary
and seven years as your Presidents
service covering one half Of the sixteen
years existence of this benifcent organi-
cation, permit me, at the outset, while
making thankful Acknowledgements for
repeated expressions of your favor and
good will, to inform you that this An
niversary terminates my official connec-
ton with the Wisconsin Editors and
Publishers Association which it has
been my sincere endeavor to serve faith
fully, unselishly and creditably. If
there is any honor in the position to
which your partially has SO often as
signed me, it has been sufficiently con-
ferred to satisfy the most ambitious
member of the Association and if it
is trust that involves labor, RESPONSE
bility, care and expense, an exemption
from further service may rightfully be
claimed. In making the arrangements
for some of our Anniversaries, 1 have
drawn so largely upon my personal
friendships, that it will require the rest
of my natural life to cancel the obliga-
tons incurred for favors received. Per-
NIT me to assure you that [ shall have
no compunctions of conscience in retain
ing my back pay against which
popular clamor has been so loudly ex-
pressed as to render it unpopular. if not
impossible to collect back pay" from
delinquent subscribers who are in ar
rears for their newspapers. Let us be-
ware Of !, giving bad examples to our
The whole address, well matured, and
delivered in the Presidents happy style,
we are prevented from giving in full by
want ofspace.
The usual annual financial report hav-
ing been read and adopted, Col. E. A.
Calkins, of the Milwaukee Neaos was
introduced and delivered the annual ad-
dress in graceful manner. speaking on
" Editing Newspaper as an Art. -
We have only space for his closing re-
marks, which were very practical and
highly instructive throughout.
The art of printing was invented
about the middle of the fifteenth Gen.
fury. Before that time, works of science
existed only in manuscript, in the libra
rles of mouasteries and of the men of
greatest wealth. When printed books
began to circulate among the common
people, the truths of science became
known to daring thinkers and specula-
tors, whose minds were inspired by Wis
ions of far-of islands and continents and
OF promontories jutting out into strange
oceans,
:" nose loan was Amber, and their gravel gold "
Then the Bible was translatedinto mod
ern languages, and the printing press
carried it everywhere. Its perusal ex-
cited, elevated and thrilled men minds,
and Its sweet, sad lesson of humanity
taught the noble and the great that
barbarlans who ate raw flesh in antipo-
dean wlldernesses were also their BROTH
ers. So the printing press, during the
four centuries which have elapsed since
it came into existence, has been the &C.
tive forco which impelled adventures
OF brands of scientific discovery, or in
quest of gold, or on pious missions to
the farthest pagan corners of both hemi-
spheres. Among the most humane Of
the sanity heroes who obeyed this i'm
pulse were the Jesuit fathers, who were
the first white men to follow the Indian
trails and winding water coarses of the
great Northwest. Their discovies of the
Upper Mississippi we to-day celebrate,
while claiming share of the glory of
the achievement, as one of the first and
ARREST fruits of the invention of the
printing press. While honoring their
work and lives we might profit by their
example. We may not, indeed, initiate
their bold adventures, their wild encoun-
tiers with dangers, their lot in voluntary
exile, their sacrifices, their suffering,
their peril of martyrdom. But we shall
be better men and better journalists if,
In our ways and opportunities, we emu
late the zeal. the courage, the confluence,
the fortitude. the integrity, the faith of
those Who, two hundred years ago, plant
ed the Cross of Christ on these savage
shores"
At the close of the address, the mem
bers were invited to witness the exercises
of the fire brigade, and which proved
the best and most interesting we have
ever seen. At signal given the brigade
started up State Street to the Court
House. In three minutes "the boys -
had ladder upon the jail and a large
stream playing on the Court House, and
in the same short space the two Hook
and Ladder Companies had ladders from
the ground to the top of the Court
House and Jail. If we had such a W ell
drilled fire department in Manitowoc we
should be willing to rely on that, while
we now depend on insurance.
At the re-assembling of the Conven.
ton we we're treated to the annual poem
by Mr. LEROY Irons. As we were ipfcrnn