The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-07-11
MEN AND THINGS IN BOSTON.


To the Editor of the EAGLE
As almost all Americans look will
respect and pride to Boston, it has oc
Cured TO me that few lines concern
ing men and things might be of interes
to some of the readers of the EAGLE
especially to those who have not seen
this famous city. To proceed at once
and somewhat in chronologic order,
come first to the Fourth.
This day, the Fourth" was both
visible and audible;-visible in the re-
markable and praiSeworthy suspension
OF business as means Of recognizing the
occasion. All Boston stood still, i. e., bust
ness Boston; vet all was in a whirl.
| Pedestrians, carriages, and street cars
were all on the move, and in every di
rection and seemingly to every place
boat races, base ball, museums, picture
galleries, picnics, yacht and steam
boat rides, ETC., ETC., almost beyond
mention. No man, nor any dozen men
could take it all III. EVERYTHING seemed
| full even to surfeit. These were some
of the visible things.
Some of the audible things Of which /
knew most about were: o. The ever
! recurring, irrepressIble tire-cracker. This
beat anything l ever heard in this line.
Beginning on the evening of the Sd and
continuing till midnight of the 4th, it
was in all places-yards, streets, alleys,
avenues, and in all forms and degrees of
loudness, till one is ready to conclude
that if this is an expression of patriotism
every man and boy in Boston must, on
the day before, have taken a sea-bath at
the foot of Plymouth Rock or broken off
a chunk of Bunker Hill monument and
was carrying it in his pocket as a source
of inspiration. To be serious, | didn't
expect staid and solid old Boston to in
dulge SO extensively in this cheap mode
Of demonstration.
The second audible thing to me was
the Grafton of Josiah Quincy, ESQ.,, de-
livered in the Boston theater before a
audience. (Mr. Quincy is Of the stock
Of the revolutionary Quincys.) To
attempt to give an analysis of this finish
ed and mastery Grafton would be out Of
place here. Its theme was the Coming
Peace" It's style was clean, concise and
forceful; it's massing of facts wide and
scholarly, and its argument coherent
and convincing, proving clearly that the
world is moving on to universal brother
hood and peace. The speech had much Of
the same trend of thought as the famous
fourth Of July Grafton of Charles Sum
ner, delivered nearly half a century ago
and entitled "The True Grandeur of Ma
tions," and in my humble Judgment, this
speech is worthy TO take rank close
along side of that. Such speeches as
these are among the educational forces
of Boston. Men can't listen to such
without feeling their uplift. Large ideas
uplift men and put them on higher
planes Of life and purpose. Such this
speech. Yet in the face of all this, and
"oration" as it was, it was not an ora
toric effect. It was simply read in a
quiet voiCe-withOut emotion and with
out gesture l mention this as charac-
teristic of Boston, She would bear this,
while newer and less cultured cOmmuni-
ties would not Speaking oratorlcally
thought dominates with her, but with
many other parts of the country feeling
dominates. Each speaker must know
his territory, i. e., his audience. But
versus this fine Grafton the reading of
the Declaration was the poorest l ever
heard; words mispronounced. repeated,
recalled-with voice OF narrow range
and poor moduIation. Such read
ing would not pass muster
in some schools l know in
Wichita This is the more noticeable
in a city Astounding in schools of elocu-
ton and oratory. l dwell upon these
minor matters OF speech for the benefit
of my students, who | believe are gen
orally readers of the EAGLE.
Space admits of notice of only one
more point now, namely, appearance of
the people. Among several character
istics, / notice a QuiCkness and elasticity
of movement, and connected with this,
and doubtless partly causal OF it, a well
preserved and erect physique. This led
me to specializing as to the cause OF this
reservation-this youthful look. Ny
thinking led me to the conclusion that 1t
was due principally 10 three causes,
namely, sea breezes, GOODNESS or GOODNESS
of climate, and conservatism. And her
step is necessary to see how conservatism
enters here. It's thus, as l see it, Bos-
ton, including all of New England. Is
known 10 be strongly conservative. This
operates in this way: Most
Of these BoStonians were born young
and being conservative. they naturally
hold on to former conditions, namely.
their youth. VIII this explain II: II
not, YOU eXplaid Yours truly.
GEORGE ". HosS.
Boston. July s.