Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1892-07-21
BeIt,tnttt Chronicle.
PUBLIC OPINION.
CYRUS WEST FIELD.

New York Press.
An eminent American has passed
away, at ripe old age, it is true, but
under circumstances that have added
pathetic interest to the final scene. The
late Cyrus W Field well earned dis
tinguished place in Americas roll OF
fame. Indeed, his fame, like his work,
was world wide.
Morse invented the telegraph. Field
took the electric wire and bound it
around the globe, bringing within instant
communication the thoughts of men on
distant continents. The usefulness Of
such a work can not be measured, be-
cause the future can not be compassed,
and the work of Cyrus w. Field was for
every age to come, as well as the present.
Brilliantly successful in its prime, his
life was sadly clouded at its close.
Every one of his fellow countrymen
deeply regretted the unfortunate incl
dents which must have reminded Mr..
Field in his latter days of the uncer-
tainty of human happiness, even when
both fortune and fame have apparently
combined to crown with honor the
ripened years of an illustrious life.
Mr.. Fields career is eminently worthy
of study by American youth. He was
thoroughgoing American and belonged
to that type which has been and is the
leaven of the Republic, giving to the
nation those peculiar characteristics
which distinguish the people of the
United States from all others. 1t is
type which could only have been found
in America and under the circumstances
which attended the settlement and the
growth of the United States.
The men and women who came to
these shores to enjoy "freedOm to worship
God" were well equipped, not with this
worlds goods, it is true. but with those
qualities which are at the very founda-
tion of higher endeavor and achieve
ment- Their Puritanism, sn CT at it as
some may, was the acorn from which
has sprung the mighty oak that spreads
it branches from ocean to ocean. They
already possessed, when they came here,
the virtues without the vices of the
older world, and their experience amid
the rugged surroundings of the new
world strengthened them in fortitude
and confirmed them in self denial.
From such stock sprang Cyrus w.
Field.
This Young American took the world
as he found it. He did not stop to dis
cover faults in the structure of society.
He did the best that he could under his
circumstances, and aimed to better his
own condition in advancing the interests
of his fellowmen. He saw, with his
quick American brain, where both fame
and fortune awaited successful achieve
ment, and he grasped the opportunity.
In his experience, as in the experience
of most successful men, fortune did not
come at the asking. Years Of disap-
pointment, bitter enough to discourage
any one of less resolute purpose, followed
his first and briefly triumphant effort to
lay the Atlantic cable But Mr.. Field
was irrepressible, and the day at length
arrived when lasting success awarded
his indomitable efforts, and the world
bowed in homage to the evidence of
American genius.
Mr.. Field is dead; but his lifework
remains and will continue to extend in
usefulness as civilization advances and
men become more and more in reality
brethren, dwelling together in unity.