The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1885-02-16

Dcuhnt OF MS HE hhu bhies-
The anclents watched nlong the shore,
TIL ripe red moons TO waning wore,
And twinkling a. n sail-wlnRcd star,
The nrRonnut was seen afarl
II sails full OF the favorlng breeze,
II lightly cut the tabled seas,
Aud to the shores of clnssic Greece
In triumph brought the Golden Fleece.
our mythlc historyH annals tell
That Greece her treasure guarded well.
For would her might aud power decrease,
II e'er wis lost-her Golden Fleece.
In modern times, bright arposios
Set sail upon Inventions seas.
Ambitious Jasons sailed and tossed
Ou rOughcncd waves their ships 80
Hut near i've hundred years ago.
Dat from the shores of Ments, We
Another Rrgonautc ship
Set sail upon its hopeful trip.
This expedition met success
The Golden Flcccc-the Printing Press.
Was brought aboard the ArRonAut
The patient ship OF work aud thought.
The world was moving slowly on.
The spirit OF advancement gone,
And plunged In medieval gloom.
Religion wopt beside the tomb
OF conscience and brave Progress chained.
All learning, art and science wnned:
Hack Ignorance with dcspot rule,
Condemned each snge molly fool
Grim war upheld u sccptrc red.
And millions Ut his orgies bled.
But with the advent of the press,
strong dospOt rule grew less aud less;
Whom naughty monarchs learned to read
Their yassalcd thoughts were speedy freed
The flame of science kindlcd bright.
Aud art attained noble height;
Sweet Peace rose up TO bravely bar
The march Of Lydra-hcadcd war;
Diplomacy good lessons taught,
And kings In words their battles fought.
II We contrast our present light.
with the grandcst of rrns bright,
In ancient times, whore empires great
Arose IN grandeur, and in stato,
In brilliant pomp. and splcndOr rare.
Spread ruin and conquest everywhere,
Aud then. like tabled dreams of light,
Fell crumbling In n single night!
II we contrast, we soon will md
Whit giant strides the human mind
Has made from medieval night.
To learning and to progress bright.
Great Caesar In his conqueror's tent,
where foaming cuuricrs came and went
Impatient waited for the news,
OF battles that his troops might lose.
No paper with dispatches late,
brought the account of victories great.
Won by the Roman legion brave,
ON battle field or surfy wave.
The anCicnts, with their boosted might,
with all their learning and their light,
with all their power and grandeur blcst
had not the glorious printing press.
The learned mon in Greece of old
Philosophers whose words were gold,
Had only autographs to write
ON waNcn tablets, cold and white,
When Plato's genius grand, sublime.
Made Grccinn hearts to beat In rhyme:
when all II multitude vast, hung
Upon his words, as bees upon
The crimson roses. swOOning red
with nectar, that their hearts have blcd
No stenograph reporter there,
To take his lectures down with care,
No morning daily paper bright,
To give his brilliant thesis light.
In our own country. well we know,
Two hundred years or so ago,
when news was scarce and papers few,
How little our ancestors knew
Howpreiudices old and strong,
Maintained their cast.iron sway so long,
And very loath were they to lose
Their nnrrow-minded, binsed views.
In our own State, the press and thought,
mighty power of good has wrought
The press has turned the suruing tide
Oi emigration to the wide
Unculturcd tracts of fertile land,
Spread Ger the State In areas grand,
Instead of Texan pralres Wide,
There re thriving towns on every side
Aud thro the forests, flying sparks
From whirling locomotives marks,
Tho course OF many thousand miles
Oi railroad, thrO the Texan wilds
Bright homes Of afiluencc and taste
ny elegance and culture graccd
Replace the huts and novels crude
Used by the frontier hunters rude
The irunricr tragedy of gore,
| The border drama, Is no more
But on the stage grand tragic plnys
SAD stories tell of Olden days,
And great Shakespcnrcun kings and queens
/ Live DER again their famous scenes.
IN temple to the muse of song,
] Refinement, wealth and beauty throur
! To hear the prima donnas thrills,
| Her roulndcs ana stacCutO rills
| The chorus grand, the ballet bright.
Az. Az clad In sea-toam, mist and light
| The Lone star is not far behind
| IN WORK OF science, art and mind.
! ANA TO It's bright, progressive press
It's rapid march we proud confess.
| Sweet Galveston, our Venice bright.
| Accortls the Press welcome light
| Her Eui-rimmed shores II pean sing
And foam bells of glad welcome ring,
ANA as her azure, billOwy stars
Are flung upon her sandy bars,
a, glad voice comes from out the hay
The stately ships will come one day
From every port of Europe greet,
To the New York OF the Empire State!
Ana peer OF any port ut sea,
our Galveston Will one day be-"
The future Of our glorious State
Depends upon Its Journals great:
The pencil-pushcr's graceful skill
IAN all our mammoth pruirics MI
with thrifty farms and thriving towns.
Ana all our streams with factories crown
The mngnet steel Of progress turns,
To whore the Prcss-thc North star burns,
Dur countrys corner stone firm rests,
pom mammoth printing press
And our cOuntry's banner floating free.
| Defiant on the land and sea,
iins all its naughty glorious stars
| Enblnzoned ON the column bars
" paper grand, colossal, vast
TO freedoms winds eternal cast
At the conclusion of the recitinp {
the poem, Rev. Mr.. Briggs stepped uT
on the platform, and in a fitting speec
presented Miss Guillot with handsom
pyramid cake from the ladies of Calves
ton.
As the hour of . O'Clock had now n,
rived and the business of the meetin
was encroaching upon the feasting tim,
the motion was carried without a dis
ssentlng voice to adjourn to the Beac
hotel to partake Of oysters and fish, an
the register at this hotel revealed III
fact that but few were absent. Afte
this feast the crowd separated, a nun
Der attending ball at the rink and otl
ers the reception and ball given at IN
residence OF Mr.. Wallis, whose gran
mansion was thrown open to the visit
ors, and the generous welcome and no,
pitable manner received here was III
GROWING feature of the whole.
Thursday. Feb. IL, Third Day.