The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-06-29


phrase the work doae at Marathon and
Thermopylae. placed the laurel wreaths OF
earth lasting glory upon the broWs Of Mil
tiades and Leonidas. To the cool courage
Of the warrior, the courage that glints from
the unshrinking eye, that makes the mus
cles steel, the nerves adamant, the heart
remorseless, the brain a beacon fire of light
ming force, the whole mental and physical
organism consonant resolve to win re-
nown by conquest or by death, there is
granted need of homage awarded to No
other phase of human existence.
1.-The thunder Of the captains and the
shouting" occupy a foremost place in all
records both sacred and profane. The
student triumphs alike with Joshua be
fore the walls of Jericho and with Azure
Ian leading Zenobia in chains For the
destruction of the great Syrian city or the
humiliation of the Palmyrene kingdom
the obliteration of a people or a race
there is left but a passing regret. Sorrow
and sympathy seldom join hands with ad-
miration and admiration bows rarely save
to the successful. Napoleon after Solferino
and Napoleon after Sedan are quite differ
ent creatures in the view of a world that
measures its adulation by results.
Very recently resident of Chicago, Mr..
H. H. Kohlsaat, gave form to the thought
that homage is due as well to the every
day strivings of an honorable man as to
the mighty deeds performed under the
search light of a nations eyes. Recogniz-
ing the inestimable worth of Gen. Grants
public services, and acknowledging the fit
ness of the military memorials erected to
the dead soldiers memory, he still felt that
due prominence had not been given to one
period of a remarkable career. So from
his private purse he has appropriated funds
for the erection at Galena, Ills, of statue
dedicated to Grant. the citizen, the hum
bic, valiant, accomplishing toiler of the
tannery, the woodward and the farm, who
thought it no disgrace to follow any legiti-
mate calling that would provide the means
of existence for his loyal wife and their
brood of little children.
The idea has it's merit, and a large one,
too, for it seems time that an enlightened
civilization should learn more fully the
beauty of the assertion that peace hath
her victories as well as war" and recognize
that in a sense Grant, the civilian of the
west, and Lee, the Virginia professor, were
of equal worth with the generals who
played the mighty game Of battle in the
bloody mazes OF the Wilderness, and that
duty ranges wider on the arena of daily
toll than on the tented field.
| have been led along the line of thought
indicated above by circumstance that in
itself would seem to present the remotest
possible connection with the proposition
advanced-the painting Of the great bridge
which connects the cities of New York and
Brooklyn. The work was begun the other
day, and Will be completed probably by tbs
end of July. 1t involves the careful scru-
tiny and conservation of every strand and
cable on which the immense structure de
ponds for its integrity and endurance as a
whole; the sharp prying of II pick at each
doubtful point; the exposure OF any defect
however small at the places where the
cross strands join, and finally the appEca-
cation in liberal quantities of q weather de-
flying paint that will keep rust and frost
from wrecking any part of the bridge,
which must be strong in all it's details
properly to bear the burden of the pedes-
TRANS, wagons and trains that constantly
cross from end to end.
In the bare description the task seems
simple one, but in fact it involves equal
peril with that surrounding a soldier on
the skirmish line. Looking ND the other af-
ternoon from the forward deck of Fulton
ferry boat, the big bridge appeared to me
combination Of beautiful lines and grace
full tracery. But hero and there tiny blots
were displayed whose presence carried with
it the suggestion of flies caught in the web
of giant spider, The blots moved up and
down and from point 70 point with
curious incertitude of action One of them
suddenly exhibited itself in silhouette from
the top of e tower nearly 500 feet above the
waters surface, and a moment later could
be seen strangely cA1sing to the upper
side of one Of the main cables, those huge