Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-08
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
Bill Nye Pays a Delicate Tribute to
the Father of His Country.

Now that workingmen are clearing
away the scaffolding from the tallest
monument in the world, we are led to in
quire, who was George Washington He
was the father of his country for one
thing. He gave this country start that
it has never fully recovered from. He
was also first in peace, first in war, and
first in the hearts of his countrymen. He
did not take position on account of the
salary. At that time the pay was not
large, yet George attended to the work
we'll. He would get up before daylight
and work until late into the night. He
very seldom took holiday, and used to
work right on through the 22d of Febru-
airy as he did other days. George Wash
ington was different from some of our
modern statesmen in many respects. He
scorned to enter convention and Crap
pie with the delegates all day. He did
not seek to be President so hard as some
have since done. He simply placed
himself in the hands of his friends and
let nature take her course.
The more l study the character of
George Washington the more 1 regret his
untimely death. We need him almost
every day. If he could see how badly
his orphan country needs him sometimes,
it seems as though he would almost open
the door of the Mount Vernon smoke
house and come forth.
A very curious incident occurred in the
life of George Washington which now ap-
pears in print for the first time! 1t seems
that George was given a small Ratchet
by his father when a boy, and in an I'M
guarded moment the youth cut down a
favorite cherry tree belonging to his
father. On the return of the old gentle
man he discovered the act, and, calling
his son to him, asked how it occurred.
George did not know at first what to say,
but finally he looked bravely up in his
fathers face and said: Father, 1 cannot
tell lite. l did it with my little
hatchet."
I have often wondered that an anecdote
like this, concerning a great man, should
have remained so long unknown. am
indebted for the above facts to friends of
deceased.
The monument to George Washington
is deserved tribute to great man. 1t
is no SLOUGH of job to be President the
first time and pay off the help that it
takes to run such a government as this.
Let those who think it is easy to be Pres
ident try to write an annual message once
and see how their brains will throb. A
President must not only shine in society
and be able to stand on one leg and shake
hands with every 10-cent official in the
Union, but he must be quiet and gentle
manly in his home life and good pro-
wider in his household. Added to all
this, he must be able at glance to dis
tinguish between fotilla and recipro-
city. He must know howto spell at sight
and be able to sign his name SO that it
will look like birds eye view of stroke
of paralysis. He must be firm with for
eign powers, and still he must govern his
temper and avoid the unnecessary she'd
ding of other peoples blood. He should
be good business man, good states
man, gentleman and a scholar. We
can readily see that successful Presi-
dent cannot be picked up on every street.
Of course, he has a good deal of help, but
he alone is responsible. George Wash
ington was all that was great, but the
most successful thing he did was to quit
at the right time and to die before he
stopped over This is a powerful lesson
to some of our public men not to overdo
the matter of longevity. Long life is all
right in other walks of life, but in politics
it may be overdone.
George Washington attracted a great
deal of notice, even in his time. by telling
the truth. Think what curiosity he
would be now And yet truth is within
the reach of all. We may aecustom our
selves to almost anything if we begin
gradually and work our way up to it.
George Washington to-day would no doubt
be regarded as freak of nature, and yet
he told the truth without effort and with
out his notes. He used to entertain his
friends through the long winter evenings
by allowing them to tie his hands and
feet and then blindfold him, and on top
of all this he would tell the truth for hours
at time. He was what we call in science
an anomaly. But he had to give up at
last, and finally he yielded to the unequal
strain and death ensued. People who
contemplate political career with more
or less truth in it should see that they
have stronp constitutions To bppin with