Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-07-29
MOUNTAIN LAKE PARK.
Continuation fthe Assembly Pro-
gramme.
Pen Portraits Of the Distinguished Men
Present, with Brief Character Sketches
Of Those Figuring Most Promi-
nentlY in the Proceedings.
NEWS NOTES or THE GREAT CAMP.
.Sar cOrespondencs q tae Reqt.ter.

and professional convocation now enter
tanning the residents and visitors ut Noun.
tain Lake Park.
will pick them out at random, for there
are too many really great and distinguish
ed men in this assembly to crowd into
single letter; nor will it be possible to de-
scribe al. their great qualities Of head and
heart or review in detail the interesting Ca
reers through which many of them have
made national or worldwide regulations;
but very brief character sketch Of each
will enable me in the course Of time, and
in a series Of letters to give your readers a
formal introduction to all.
DIR. A. n. Sims,
Chancellor of the Syracuse University,
New York, shall have our first attention,
for be is seen quite as often as any other,
being kind of moderator at the auditorium,
and il not the most distinguished man on
the ground, is at least one OF the most
popular and the best loved by everybody.
He is also a great man, il We measure
him by his qualities of head and heart more
than by his reputation. 1t was Theodore
Tilton, ! believe, who has said that "a
mans character is what he is; his reputa-
ton what he is thought to be"
There are a great many men who have
made more noise in the world than DR..
Sims, but there are few who FL their sta
tons in life more effectively or have i'm
pressed their work upon men around them
in a more enduring and salutary way than
he.
In person he is rather large man. Of full
habit, face full of kindness and good
will, and one to whom you are irresistably
drawn as acquaintance develops While
one is never in doubt about his deep piety
and his elevated christian manhood, you
are equally assured that he is not OF the
long-faced, melancholy type Of christians.
He is full of good cheer, of the social
amenities, of laughable anecdote and adyer-
tiSes his religion by being one OF the hap
piest men in any circle he may be found.
At the same time his position is evidence
Of the high grade OF scholarship and cul-
ture to which he has attained. But he
does not, in the pulpit or on the platform,
make his attainments oppressive, or intict
an audience with heavy burdens, travelling
beyond their depth or shooting over their
heads.
His style, in its simplicity is the evil
dence of bis strength and culture. He can
bring great thoughts down to the compre-
henSion Of the simple. He aims not at or
atory but is always eloquent because al
ways clear and plausible in whatever sub
man to handle such convention as this,
10 introduce the speakers in a pleasant
style. to keep the audience always in good
humor by his little thrusts of wit and
pleasantly. His lecture, which concludes |
the course next week, will be one OF the !
most enjoyable among the many grand eff |
forts Of this occasion.
Rev. Thomas Guard.
o. Everybody wants to. know something |
about Thomas Guard.
Everybody who has ever heard Of him |
would like TO hear from him.
Everybody who has ever heard him wants
to hear him again and again.
Everybody who hears him is always sorry
when he is done.
His lecture at the auditorium this morn
ing, was an inspiration for life time.
He lifted his audience far above sublu-
nary things into the realms OF thought and
imagination 10 height that few beside
himself ever aspire.
How shall describe him? He is indie
There is no other man to COM
pare him with. There is only one DIR.
Guard, and while he is a recognized men,
Der Of the human family he has person
atty so distinct and completely his own as
to make all comparison misleading.
DIR. Guard is an Irishman-I had almost
said "rollicking Irishman," which in one
StDSt Is ldlllN uNSNAipNlNC Va bhC sOb
in another is misleading. When he came
to America, about ten years ago, he was
spare even to gauntneas in physique, and
being little above medium height, he
looked like ghost from starved tenant
~ in Erin who had fled from an exacting |
landlord and was looking for asquare meal,
Since that time he has fattened up lit
tie, and looks better. He has the style OF
person, though not the breadth Of frame of
naprxy Ward RaaNhar. hia hair limo
and tucked behind his ears, hanging loos-
ly down his back his eye is large, grey,
and prominent, lighting up his face with
varied expression, and although he impress
ses one as q man of some marked qualities,
a stranger would be at q loss to guess just
what they were, or what he was cut out for.
In character he is as simple-hearted and
honest soul as ever lived. Sitting on a
platform before a large congregation, some
years ago, while body of distinguished
men were on the platform, one of the
speakers made some playful allusion to the
size of DIR. Guards foot. The audience was
surprised and convulsed to see him jump
from his seat like boy, run to the side Of
the speaker, and begin to measure feet with
the speaker who had made the remark. The
incident illustrates the child-like simplici-
" and impulsiveness of his nature.
Another incident of which the writer was
a witness, will illustrate the manly, inAex-
ible honesty and courage of the man.
II was on the occasion of the assembling
of tie Baltimore Conference in the city of
Baltimore, a few years ago, which occasion
brings together all the ministers of that
section, as we'll as the chief talent and in
fluence of the church in all its relations.
The Confer ence had set apart q time for
holding a temperance meeting, as the Gus
tom is. Ii was the time when there was
one of the periodical temperance booms in
the country. The women were then max
ing that celebrated Temperance crusade"
in the West, and there was high state OF |
public feeling throughout the country.
There were several prominent speakers
on the programme for the meeting, but DR..
Guard was not one of them. They made
eloquent, Incorporating. teetotsl, total
abstinence speeches, and all of them en-
forced the rule that there was and could be |
no other position for a minister of the
Methodist church in preaching or practice
than that of total abstinence.
The audience was wrought up to high
pitch. They were ready for a crusade.
They were ready to crush any man, and es,
pscially any minister, who dared defend
any other position than that for which the
speakers had so eIoquently and dogmatical-
ly contended-of total abstinence on all oc- |
Casions and under all circumstances.
But one Of the speakers was absent, and
the large and eager audience was 10th to /
leave without the whole programe. The
chairman said il there was any one among |
the gentlemen occupying the platform
whom the audience desired to hear, they |
could call him out Immediately the cry |
went up all over the house for Guard, who |
was endeayoring to conceal himself on the |
rear of the platform. He shook his head,
andagain the cry was, Guard, Guardl Still |
he resisted and still the audience perse-
yered, until with the most reluctant man |
ner imaginable DR.. Guard came to the front |
of the platform, and then with the most |
solemn and impressive manner serious |
man could assume. he proceeded to say-to
say in the presence OF that audieuee-to !
say in the face of q sentiment that was
wild with antagonism to what he |
was about to ssy-that it was
with ineIpreSsible regret that he had been |
called out on this occasion. that he felt he |
was not in entire sympathy with what had |
been said and with what was manifestly the |
sense Of the audience-that he was an Irish |
man, and his fellow countrymen differed |