Wichita eagle., 1889-02-17
REOUIESCAT IN PACE.

DR.. Sllas Bliss is no more, He has
fought the good fight, and after life's
fitful fever he sleeps to wake no more. AT
the age of eighty-seYen, like weary child
he sat down to rest, peacefully and
quietly fell asleep in his chair, and when
an attendant endeavored to awake him
discovered that his spirit had winged its
way to realms of bliss; to an eternal rest.
Father Bliss, as he was Familiarity termed,
was a character known to every man,
woman and child in this city. Of his early
life little is known. A son and daughter
in-law were the only relatives known here.
In 1874 the son operated photograph
gallery in this city on the lots now occu-
pied by the store of Innes & Ross. This
| gallery was subsequently removed to the
rear of the county buildings, where DR..
Bliss made his abode, soon filling it with
buffalo horns, tinware, paper, rags bones.
bottles and an assortment of terrestrial re-
fuse, only equalled by the old curiosity
shop described by Charles Dickens. His
daughter-in-law, frail, diminutive crea-
ture, cheerful and sparkling, favorite
with the old gentleman, became i'll and
died. The son went to Colorado and
has never has been heard of again.
Three score years and ten shall be the al
loted time of man. How many sentiments,
changes and mutations, hope, ambition,
anticipations, aspirations, may be crowded
in such a period? One bright spot in the
doctors life to which he referred with
pride was his early connection with the
American Dental association, having been
the first president of that society. How
many of our citizens, young, ardent and
full of vitality, with many years of life be-
fore them, have passed beyond the portals
since this hory-headed, bent and broken
vitalized clay has been in our
midst? Fifteen years ago the friends
of James McCulloch, then city attorney,
gathered together in the Methodist church
to gaze for the last time on the loved fea-
lures of this youth. But few days be-
fore rosy checked, radiant, full of anima-
ton, a bright future before him, the
healthy blood of Scotland coursing through
his veins, the uncertainty of life brought
him low, and Doctor Bliss, was one of
those who looked on this inanimated clay
passing from time to eternity. James q.
Hope, the then mayor, sleeps
in the land of the Montezumas.
Rev j. w Stockdale. who delivered the
sermon, Commodore Woodman, Capt W.
s White, Mike Zimmerly, w. G. Hobbs,
all present on that occasion and hosts of
others all have preceded him to that silent
bourne.
Alone in the world, with the weight of
years upon him, Father Bliss struggled
through life, never a murmur of COM
plant passing his lips. For seventeen
years he has never passed the bounds of
this city No regular church or prayer
meeting, no lecture or entertainment in.
the Methodist church, wedding or funeral.
could be complete without the central fig
ure of Father Bliss. His life was pure
and noble, modest and courteous, with
the innocence of childhood, content with
his surroundings. cheerful and grateful,
none knew him but to revere and respect
His life was one worthy of all emulation.
ike ripened sheaf of wheat he was ready
for the reaper. full of hope of a blessed
mortality: he was ready for the summons
which was delayed beyond the usual
fraii tenure of this worldly tabernacle.
Death is the port where all may refuge
find;
The end of labor, entry untorest,
Death hath the bounds of misery confined,
Whose sanctuary shrouds affection best.