The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-03-04
"DEATH LOVES A SHINING MARK"

"DEATH LOVES A SHINING MARK"
At 1915 last night Mrs. Kate Murdoch Hull,
| eldest daughter OF Colonel and Mrs. VI. VI.
| Murdoch, and wife of Bion 3. Hull of this
city, yielded her immortal spirit to the gen
erous God who gave it, after painful illness
which has extended over a period OF nearly
two weeks. The notice of the funeral and the
details of the arrangements viii be given in
due time.
My daughter is dead" This was the
! solemn message that came over the wire to
the reporters at II o'clock last night. They
were the words of Colonel Murdoch, but
the voice was not recognizable. The words
were laden with sorrow; they were faint
and full of anguish, and had all the APP
| pearance of being impeded by that peculiar
lump in the throat which ali tender
hearted men are afflicted with when their
hearts are torn and rent by the death of
ones they love. Did death ever claim a
daughter from you? If it has, you will
| Immediately appreciate the sad feelings of
the afflicted father who has Just
witnessed the flight from this world,
of as sweet and noble and
tender, and loving and seraphic a
spirit as ever occupied tenement of clay.
Colonel Murdoch has applied the balm of
coincidence to thousand afflicted parental
hearts during his editorial career, but now
when his own needs this blessed balm so
much, who can give it? One tries who is
conscious of his woeful inability. And
then there is Mrs. Murdoch, the mother.
Who can condole her over the loss of her
beautiful first born? And then there is
the poor husband, who can stay the gnaw-
ing Of the sorrow of him who has been de-
prived Of a companion, who was an AMI
mated ray of sunshine in his household?
What words of cheer and comfort can be
said to dispell the murky and dismal cloud
that obscures the horizon of the future?
They are all stricken with grief, and who
is it that can blame them who knows the
great loss they have sustained.
Kate Murdoch Hull was as fine speci-
men of womanhood as ever lived. She
was reared in this city since her early girl
hood and there has always been halo Of
pleasant memories encircling her name.
There was no woman more beloved by all
classes than she was and no one
more worthy of love. Her heart
was full Of tenderness and sym
pathy and no one was so poor
and lowly as TO escape this tenderness
and sympathy. A fine evidence of the
esteem in which she was held was mani
tested by the side of her dying bed last
night when party poor colored women
who knew her since she was a girl, deluged
the sacred couch with their tears She
was noble woman too. She would not
admit that any woman was above her or
any woman below her in the eyes of God
and before the law. She was benevolent
woman and thousand instances could be
cited where she made great personal sacri-
fees to help a human being in distress.
She was charitable woman and never
uttered an unjust word or permitted
others to do so when it was within the
scope of her power, against fellow mortal.
AS a daughter she was the very per-
lection of love; AS wife she was
the embodiment of love and duty. During
the last several months she was joyous in
anticipation of being a mother and her
only regret before death was that her child
could not be saved at the cost even of her
own life.
1t is sad to contemplate her death. 1t is
impossible to contemplate it without the
eye becoming dimmed with tear. Who
beautiful form of this flower of her sex
would be lying cold in death today. Then
she was the very picture of health and
happiness and of JOY aud ambition;
today she is dead and gone and
nothing remains of her but pleasant
of what she was and sorrowful
of what she is. She was
still in the morning of life with the bright
rays of the easteIn sun falling full upon
her, and before the remorseless and relent-
less and cruel and cold hand of death had
marked her for his own, her life was full
of promise.
As tender a flower rs has ever been
nurtured in the couservating of life has
been cut down in its fullest bloom, and as
gentle, and noble, and tender, and joyous,
and generous a heart as ever beat in the
breast of woman has ceased to throb. The
whole community loved her aud every stage
in her painful illness and suffering has
been watched with an anxiety that. was
terrible by the entire community. The
Judge beaconed from his bench to the re-
porter to come near him yesterday and |
asked him how she was and a heavy sigh |
escaped from his heart when he was told |
that she could hardly survive the setting |
IF the sun. The mortar mixer leaned on |
his hoe to inquire after her condi- |
ion and be, too. sighed to think that |
40 hope was left for her. Every |
body heard of her noble traits and every |
body makes her death his individual loss |
There is righteous God in heaven and |
odav Mrs. Kate Murdoch Hull stands |
before Him in all the purity of her soul |
'eceiving a bright crown of glory. This is
he hope of the afflicted hearts and if the |
blessed spirit which has departed does not |
'ealize the full fruition of that hope, |
Who can say that life is worth living?