The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-07-04

About the only "shOOtin' iron he
could handle skillfully was the shoot
ing stick. and this is seldom deadly.
He returned from the campaign
in the Southwest, and welded the pen
more potently thar he had the sword.
Since that time until the present he
has been actively engaged in newspa-
per work in various capacities.
Naturally enough his fund of
Renaissance and anecdote is large.
In the prime of life he was a very
handsome man and took much
pride in a thick, long, flowing
beard, which reached half way to his
waist. 1t was silken, abundant and
beautiful. He had been in the Con-
federate army, was a Virginian, con-
Quoted a fearless democratic paper
and wrote and published vigorous
democratic editorials. This was a
hazardous practice in the sixties and
did not suit the so-called home guards
One day, while standing in a business
house, Dick Laurie, a big, hurley
militiaman of infamous memory in
that community, wantonly attacked
him, pulled the most of his beard out
by the handful and came near MUIR
dering him ON the spot. Since then
his beard, now snowy with three score
years and ten, has been thin and
struggling.
When hardly more than a lad, the
subject of this article frequently
visited Washington City and heard in
the halls of congress the intellectual
giants OF that day-Webster, Clay,
Benton, John Randolph of Roanoke,
and others. We have heard him say
that when Henry Clay was making
one of his great speeches, his towering
form seemed to reach higher and
higher as the Grafton progressed /; and
he yet remembers distinctly the pc
culiar use that the eccentric Randolph
made of that long bony finger Of his
in his moments of terrible sarcasm,
, ridicule and invective.
Some twenty years ago Mr.. Cald-
well joined the Presbyterian church.
He had been hlgh-roller in his day.
No man could sit longer than he with
boon companions around the social
table when the wine sparkled in the
tall bottles, and when jest and With
cism hoated out on the blue clouds of
smoke. Alas! hardly one Of those
companions is left in the land! Some
OF them went to the wars and never
came back again. Others endured
the mutations and vicissitudes of time
and died in the days of peace and
plenty. His uniting with the church,
even comparatively late in lite, effected
radical change in him. He became
one OF the most consistent Christians
of all the membership. He never
missed a church service, rain or shine,
became a leader in the Sunday school
and prayer-meeting, and has long been
one of the prominent officials of the
church His is a beautiful example
of what genuine conversion and Chris
tianity can and will do-for a man.
Fifty years ago he married the sis
ter of Mr.. L. H. Stahl, senior pub
Usher of the BoonviUe advertiser, him
self veteran printer, devout Chris
tan and one of the purest and best
men in Missouri. Mrs. Caldwell is
two years her honored husbands junior
and still retains traces of her remark
able g:rlhoOd beauty.
Together, in serene happiness, in a
lovely home adorned with pictures
and books and flowers, this aged couple
are spen ling their declining DAYS.
surrounded by troops of friends. The
sun isslOwIy sinking, the shadows of the
late evening are falling gently and
gradually, one bird is calling to anoth-
er in the dewy temples of the dusky
gardens, and the night is coming when
no man may work; but this delightful
old couple, who have stood the storm
and stress of a half century and who
have sadly and often seen the sod
heaped above the friends of their
earlier years, are solaceI and happy
as only true Christians can be.
MAY the day be distant ere they
must answer the final summons, for
their lives and influence are blessing,
inspiration and benediction to those
who enjoy their regard and compan-
ionship.