Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-13
OVR PEOPLE

rseir Three rre'a,l'ss .n".s..e
yessisn.
=. address to the University Lite
lASc,c;sties. AZ on June I'd. by Hon. j.
3. .Nsscalfe'
.r. soul il dead that slumbers,"
Il real. life is earnest" are
sAalr svoro one of the sweet songs of
afNn1 nhilosopher of old Cambridge,
1e "a there is no more sententious
hssss:s.,'aoohical thought than Is com
nasd in that short and pitby SEN
- that Life is in action.
Eos true this seems when yoa review
a. lives Of such characters as A's1an-
=, the Great, Caesar or Napoleon. such
- he vivid scenes and incidents mat
s.d the stormy careers OF those won
ss,sai heroes that either may De said to
80 lived the lives OF hundred men.
Irnterprise, Industry and Invention
:. ;nstly said TO be the salient features
samericgn life, and are distinctly pre-
s..;nent when brought into comparison
az the humdrum monotouy OF the
ss.sated. artistic and polished commn-
ss,ss Of Europe. All nations are nator-
siIs braye, and the people have deep
~ ssssrence, and a profound love for the
IA AZ their birth. and have IN com
- All other characteristics that make
sshs snm of human life but these
ssrss as they are manifested in the |
.5syseter of the American people, be- |
s,ms remarkable when brought into |
sostrast with the general life Of other |
s.s;ons. Under their expanding deyel- |
s.,,snt they have become the most |
sir;tful sources of our greatness as a |
.srnia and IL il sufficient to assert that |
sboss All other favoring facts, the vigor-
ors attitude of each, as they appear to- |
Ssy Il due TO the genius and govern |
,asntal system of American institutions. |
us,a Ia Ia be found that civil liberty as |
a. N be guaranteed in the accepted |
s.nsa of an ideal republic. Here are |
f,sedom of thought, freedom of action, |
.ntyammelled by aught save the pre- |
scribed rules of civil liberty, and the |
Individual and the people are left to |
eayvs ont. In their own way, from hu-
nan affairs their destiny.
That part of the history of America |
vhicb ia ordinarily termed the colonial |
neriod cannot be said TO enter into the |
Influences that developed these char |
sctsristics, further than serving to
mould and strengthen the sturdy man
hood which sought, amidst the primeval |
forests of America, the freedom OF
thouoht and action which the tyranny |
ar intolerance of their fatherland de- |
MED them. IL Is then the retrospect OF
but a little more than one hundred
Years over which we must cast our eyes
10 Justly estimate the genuine worth of
American character. One hundred
Years in a nations life is but a mere
mite OF time when compared with the
annals of the countries OF the old
vorld. and when We consider that IL ia
within the past half century that the
boIdest enterprises, the greatest evi-
dences of tireiess activity and wonder
ful invention have produced such bril-
liant results, we may feel justly
amazed. We may feel not only amazed,
bat also enjoy a profound national
pfide, that our success in these respects
has even extorted the reluctant admira-
ton of our brothers across the seas.
Certainly no other nation has made
greater advances in the practical i'm
proyements of the applied sciences
than have our own people.
IHt ti6GtTlB DEOpSftttS Va ntnOch W0tc
Rmarked six hundred years before the
Christian era, and electricity did not
become distinctive branch OF science
until about the 18th century, but It Is
within the past quarter ~ century
that the greatest practical results OF the
work and the researches OF principally
American scientists have made the lum-
mons fame of electricity a household
companion. Now even the beautiful
ships that have made the waters OF the
globe familiar, aye some that have
seen In our own splendid harbor, are lit
with the scintiliating rays OF electric
light. The practical development for
the benefit and comfort of mankind, OF
this unseen power, In but the question
Of q short time, for its discoverable do
main Is being constantly encroaehed
upon by the irresistible force OF the en- |
ery, persistence and invention of re-
sistless American thought.
II was native enterprise that could |
cay to the ocean, "Sweep on with thy
snllen roar between our kihsmen aud |
ourselves, and tell rs that naught but
the white winged messengers of the sea |
shall bear our greetings. but | will
pierce thy dark depths with the fire
from the 'thunderbolts of heaven, aud
convey cordial greeting or message OF
import through thy .profoundess depths
ffom shore 20 Shore"
The enterprising genius OF Robert
Fulton first subdued the mysterious
power Of steam. curbed its fierce ener
gies 30 that by human will II propels
traffic and commerce, against even the
forces Of nature. across the waters of
the globe. Transit from the most dis |
anf lands is thus rendered swift and
sure
TWAS the bold and fearless enter
prize Of home thought and energy that
stretched those mighty lines of iron
across the continent and drove the iron |
horse high amidst and beyond the
rocky ranges, with his burden of freight
and humanity.
II vas the busy brain of the Ameri- |
can designer, and the toiling hand of
We American architect, that construct |
"a the unsurpassed and unsupassable
ieat OF engineering science, the East
aivef bridge. Leaping over the river
WIN one magnificent bound, IL con-
heots. with It's busy stream of life that
passes and repasses over. like q throb-
o!ng artery, the heart of the great city |
VI New York with its most important
member, the almost equally great city
" btooklyn. ! have stood upon that
vonderful structure, and, as | gazed
apon the bronze tablet placed in one of
Ms giant buttresses. and read the
name OF John A. Roebling, Architect,
stnoneht how fittiuely the epitaph of
cn christopher Wren, in Sc. Paurs
usinedral, might be applied to the
sfeat engineer, For MY Monument,
Look Around Thee
That unqnenchable thirst for adven
sufuas enterprise surrounds, with ire
asuoie fascination, the great frozen.
Unknown, and seemingly, unknowable
world OF the Arctic. Aye, till far too
uach OF the warm blood of so manv
slAse hearts has had its current turned
aek upon its life-eiving spring and
sunReAled II at It's fountain head. while
~ eyinQ eyes OF the bold navigasors
saed upon what should prove their own
@onaments, as they loomed heavenward
vcniliine yet majestic grandeur.
while IN the main these enterprises
w neen undertaken by private ener-
80 they are of national benefit and 30
sss.aonai y renown, and living in the eve
= voc world, such instances ever shad.
tofth the perspective of that great
1eisant scene of national progress, of
cn superficial thought takes little or