Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-18
THE IWENTY-sEvENTH CONVENTION.
Dedicated by Shandy Mcguire, the Engine
Poet to His Colleagues.

Olu ather Time, the nOary Lnlel,
The heartless wretch keeps driving on;
Unmindful of our Joy OF grief,
he marks another Iwelve-month gone
Since last we met at Denver, where
We all inhaled pure mountain air,
And saw the glOries OF the skies
Resplendent in their changing dyes;
Where snow capped peaks look smiling dow
Upon that enterprising town;
Again we meet i'll numbers here,
10 scan the ledger of year.
Our orders progress to review;
And pledge our steadfast faith anew
Upon The altar of our love,
With confidence in heaven above.
Our lease of life is short at best,
Our sun is gliding down the west,
And, ere another year goes DER,
May set On the eternal shore.
We once were boys-tis long ago
Our hair could shame the Sable crow;
The locks OF some now growing old
Were once the shade of purest gold.
Alas! a change has come To stay,
The black and gold have turned to gray;
And some l see-in numbers small
Have not single hair at all
The men mean. each lady fair
Retains the color OF her hair
All through her lite. Perennial youth
Is her rewal d for love and truth.
The day of doom for many here
May dawn within the coming year;
Forbid it heaven! A widows prayer
FOf many more VIC well can spare;
We do not wish a fearful face
To look upon each vacant place
We've filled So long, at board and bed,
Lamenting Tor the darling dead.
This Lie is sweet, anu, mark me well,
Upon the earth we mean to dwell
So long as God shall spare our lives,
And not make widows of our wives;
So now, dear friends, how best To live,
And how we shall In future steer,
So men shall appreciation give,
a questions which have DrOuUlt harA-
Trans Rocky Mountain men have come
TO greet their brothers here from Maine;
Old Mexico sent northward some
OF long experience on the train;
Vancouver in the far Norwest
Has sent her wisest and her best.
From every sea, from every shore,
Where locomotive whistles roar,
There comes delegate along
To swell the legislative thrOng;
To labor for our future veal.
Old sores-if any-here to heal;
Old friends tn greet, new friends TO make,
To guard against each past mistake,
TO keep the vanguard III the fight
For Justice. self. respect and right:
For all that men on earth hold dear,
These mighty matters brought Us here.
Our good old ship of Brotherhood
Full many gale has bravely stood;
She shielded every faithful tar,
And never yet has lost SPAR
She floats to-day with canvas spread
From decks to every tOpmast head;
Still may she finat. My fervent prayer,
Is for the breeze to WOO her fair,
Upon the future course she'll steer.
III on new charts you shape it here.
Let self be deeply sunk from sight;
Remember but the general good;
Tread bravely on the path 1f right,
And lear not for our Brotherhood.
Right here my rhyming task should cease,
But visions Of delightful skies,
all 9 Him and
Now dawn before my frenZieu eyes;
And in prophetic mood 1 see
The birth OF brighter days to be;
When Capitals paternal 1--we,
Inspired by wisdom from above,
Shall stanch the wounds which Labor feels,
And listen To- all just appeals,
Which come in manly men along,
To seek redress from SrievouS wrong.
When Labor realizes, too,
Destructive tactics Will not do
To solve that mighty problem, which
Autagonizes poor and rich.
Cool heads and meditative brains
Must ever hold the driving reins;
And If they do. we'll hail the day,
For which we most sincerely pray;
When tiremcn and when engineers
Shall look on each as others peers:
When discord. down TO Hades deop,
Shall sink for an eternal sleep;
When selishness is pulled apart
From every God-created heart;
Woen reason rules with queenly sway.
And Justice at her SIDE is seen,
And calm contentment whiles away
The hours beneath bright skies serene.