The Bozeman weekly chronicle., 1888-07-04
BOZEMAN, M T., WEDNESDAY, JULY q, 1888
THE ANNUAL Address,
BY w. W. ALDERsoN.-
Mr.. President and members of the Mon

AS one of your members upon VIII ON
the lot has fallen to deliver some sort
OF an address on this, the occasion of
our Fourth Annual meeting, permit
me to say in all sincerity, that l have
so far been unable to divest myself of
the conviction that the responsible
task could and should have been COM
mitted to brighter brains and ADLER
hands. But, inasmuch as during an
unguarded moment, perhaps, yielded
to the courteous and urgent invitation
of our worthy President, Sutherlin,
and signilied by letter an acceptance of
the trust, am before you to-day if for
no better purpose than to show a de-
termination OH my part to fulfill that
engagement, however little may hope
to meet the reasonable expectations of
the members of the Association. The
thought occurs to me, however, that
my feeble and unpretentfous effort may
possibly at least serve one good purpose.
1t may encourage and stimulate some
members, whose latent abilities are
suppressed by diffidence, to assume re-
sponsibilities from which hitherto they
have been inclined to shrink. The
comparative failure of one may be but
the presage Of success for another; even
as our apparent weaknesses may sug-
gest to others their own innate strength.
We meet here to-day GO exchange
fraternal greetings. congratulations,
thoughts and suggestions under aus
pices the most favorable. Since our
last annual gathering it is painfully
true that one of the brightest and best
one of the most deservedly honored
for his goodness of heart, studious
habits, constant industry and distin-
guished ability-of our number, ]. E.
Hendcy, after manful struggle with
fate, has left us and passed peacefully
over to the other shore,
| Where sickness and sorrow, pain and death.
Are felt and feared no more"
But, with this exception, death has not
invaded the fraternal precincts of the
Association, nor has severe illness or
accidents interfered seriously with
either the labors or enjoyment of its
individual members. The courtesies
of every railroad in Montana have been
voluntarily extended to us and that,
too, with hearty generosity that be-
tokens appreciation for the useful Ia
bors and influence of the Montana
Press. And as if to make our Fourth
Annual gathering one of unalloyed
pleasure for the present, and of remark
able historic Importance to the future,
we are now being entertained with a
generosity and hospitality unexcelled
if possible, by any community with
whom we have had the pleasure OF
meeting on similar, previous occasions
and i'll city which, like magic, has
sprung up into prosperity and CONNER
cial Importance within the past two
years. and which now bids fair to be.
come an important agricultural and
stock center and the principal manu-
featuring city of the incsmparablt
commonwealth of Montana. These
with other manifestations Of favor ant
spontaneous good will, which we NIGH
mention, afford unmistakable evidences
of the peoples appreciation of the la
bors, influence and future usefulness
of the Montana Press, and should bt
the means of encouraging us in the re
sponsible and somewhat arduous worl
in which we are engaged. The past i.
replete with intensely interesting Incl
dents; the present is the noon station
of rest, recuperation and rejoicing
while the future spreads out before u
as landscape Of surprising grandeu
and beauty, rich in promise of useful
ness, the full fruition of honest toll an,
labor well performed.
''Yet. who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame's proud temple shine
afar?'
The history of the printing press, in
separately connected as it is and eve
has been with the profession of jour
nalism, is of surprising interest, no
only to those of us who are immediate
ly and directly identified with it, but t.
the millions of households and tn
thousands OF millions of interested an,
appreciative readers who daily enjo
its productive blessings. From tn
earliest dawn of history, men of activ
brain and gradually developing intell
gence have endeavored by some mean
to stamp or engraye what they deeme
their best or most important thought
upon material substances, either fo
the profit or amusement of other,
Either on tables of stone, clay or terr;
Gotta the primitive impressions wer
made and sacredly preserved. The
were rude and cumbersome appliance
for the preservation and transmissio
to posterity of existing history, b,
they served, in some way, to fulfill IL
ambitions and purposes of their gel
erations, and not few specimens
them have, in late years, been exhume
from the ruins and rubbish Of the pa
to cast glimmers of light upon anciel
history, which otherwise would ha,
remained in darkness and obscurit
The next step forward in the progrt
sion of human intellect and inventi'
: genius was the manufacture of pare
n ment, the invention of ink and the .
of writing on material that could
= easily folded or rolled into convenie
form for either filing or preserving
home or transmission abroad. Mos
is reported to have furnished the +
brew people with two tables of stol
containing the entire decalogue, writ
or engraved by the finger of God,
both sides of the tables. This "
probably about 1900 years before
present or Christian era. At that til
and perhaps long before then, the
! of writing on more suitable and pc
: able material was known in Egypt a
also in other Eastern countries, q
Moses, who was instructed in all
advanced learning of the Egyptia
was doubtless ready writer as wei
a profound thinker; for it is recor
CY that he wrote the entire law in n H.