The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-04-17


ii. have passed through all the hard
ships of an American soldiers life of
those times. History will tell you some
things, but not one-tenth part of the
sufferings we had to endure. / have
helped to bury the boys in blue. / have
helped to dig pit holes in war times
when we had to place our brave boys
in boots, spurs and all. and in a coun-
try so hot as that is, we often had to
saturate a sponge with ether and fast
en- IL over our nose and mouth to be
able to perform the last ceremony for
our fallen comrades. / really believe /
could fill a volume with the incidents
and accidents / have passed through.
But for fear Of firing you, my friends.
1 will be as brief as possible. You will
find, ladies and gentlemen, by a peru
sal of history that what / do tell you
are facts, and facts are stubborn things.
AS l said before 1t is too late in the day
for me to stand here with a lie in my
mouth. L am an old Californian. / ar
rived in California in 1S49, around by
Cape Horn. Well do / remember when
i stepped out of a yawl boat at Rincon
Point. The first glass of water / drank
/ had to pay 20 cents for. The city of
San Francisco, California, was a city
of tents. L saw more money in sight
in As hours than / had ever seen in my
their shoulders. around their waist. and
to use a California expression, every
body was lousy with IL. At that tint
there was no railroad across the con-
tinent Mail arrived once a month by
vessel. / also remember of men getting
within 10 feet of the postoffice window.
and so anxious were they TO get news
from their wives or sweethearts, etc,
that chances to get to the window were
sold as high as 500.
l wish to return my thanks to Mr..
Speck for getting up this entertain
ment, and also the ladies and gentle
men who have so kindly volunteered
their services on this occasion. And to
be honest, l wish to remember the
sporting fraternity of Butte, for, when
three years ago laid in DR.. Whitford's
hospital with erysipelas and did not
know from one hour to another when
i should pass beyond the vale, those
gentlemen brought me the best the
market could afford and all the deli
cacies of the season. They even went
so far as to bring me clean new under
garments. / wish also to remember our
workingmen. especially the miners now
working under ground earning their
bread by the sweat of their brow. Take
away that element from our midst.
where would be our prosperous city of
to-day? Alas, no more. Where would
be our beautiful business places.
Where would your nice little cottages
be, your coy little drawing rooms and
your nice easy chairs. Instead of
marking upon your houses this prop
erty for rent" ii would be this prop
erty for sale" You shut down our
works and mines, and i'm 30 days you
could not meet your obligations. There
would be grass growing in your streets
IL you take this elment from our midst:
you would be standing on our hill
sides, looking down upon a once pros
porous and beautiful city; the wolves
would be roaming through the desert
ed streets with their midnight serenade
of bowling. The Indians would be
prowling through your city picking up
relics which you had left behind l
must not trespass further on your
time. A few words more and | am
done. / wish you to grant me one poor
request. Whenever the Supreme Ruler
of the universe in his infinite wisdom
sees fit to call me hence, that you will
place the stars of liberty on my casket,
that beautiful emblem with - bars up
on It, and the blue ground circled with
SO stars and each star representing
state, and please God that il may be 80.
for Montana, my home, deserves IL of
this our glorious union. Place a mark
ing stone at the head of my grave. and
inscribe upon it: Here lies a soldier
that has done his country some service.
well done good and faithful servant;
peace to your ashes" While / live /
will try TO deserve this at your hands.
Ladies and gentlemen, l again thank
you from the bottom of my heart.
Adieu.
My friends, place this in your scrap
book in remembrance of me.
Yours truly
Capt. j. c. shepherd.
Very little is known of the relatives
of the deceased, IL there are any liv-
ing. His father died in New York city
in 1856 and a sister. Mrs. ]. A. Penney
er. died in the same place about eight
years ago. Henry Il. Shepherd. the
only brother of the deceased, a brick
mason and contractor, lived in New
York up to about siH years ago. but
since that time nothing has been heard
of him though the captain wrote nu-
merous letters of inquiry and he had
concluded that his brother must be
dead.
The second and youngest sister of the
deceased, Mrs. Angelina Waltee, or
Voultee, when last heard of, some five
years ago, was residing with her
island, Louisiana. The daughter. a
niece of the deceased. was married to
Charles Jefferson, a son of the noted
actor. Joseph jefferson.
In compliance with the oft-expressed
wish of the old man he will be buried
in mis- Mexican uniform and his body
EMBODIED i'm the American flag The
funeral, which will take place at 2
o'clock Sunday afternoon, is being ar
ranged by Sol Levy. one of the best
and truest friends the old man had.
Just prior to the captains trip to the
midwinter fair at San Francisco. a
year ago, he made a viii in which he
distributed his poor, but cherished per-
sonal effects. among a number of
friends. A search was made yesterday
for the will, but Ii could not be found.