The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-02-22


WsslllIlD 81 those Il, who outclas ss
~ ed him in Statecraft. |
40 never won u baltic (for Trenton was
mly d skirmish, tho honors We're about
zen at Monmouth, and tho French al
lies helped To do tho trick at Yorktown. |
"a never put forth state paper of great
mportance, and he made no discovery
IN the field Of knowledge. And yet he
will always stand peerless and alone as
Ana perfeCt American and rs one Of Che
,randest and most heroic figures on the
oaces Of human history. The world has
never seen his superior, and, without at
tempting to forecast the possibilities of
tbe future, it is safe to say that 10 one
will ever attain, in tho estimation Of
men, the place held by him. He will al
vaysrsnkas first in peace, first in war
and first in the hearts Of his country
men,
And the explanation of all this is
simple. From his earliest boyhOod he
was a perfect American. 1t has been
aid that no man is hero to his valet,
but Washington was an exception to the
ruth Precious few characters can stand
microscopic dissection. A close scrutiny
reveals spots on the sun, but there was
no Flemish in the character Of Washing
Ion. Those who studied him tho most
closely, whowere admitted to his inner
most intimacy, found their admiration
grow with their knowledge. There Is no
test to which he can be subjected from
which he does not emerge like pure gold
from the fire.
In boyhood he displayed the traits
which are the most admirable in the
youth of today. Hewas truthful, manly
and an athlete Of prodigious attain
nents IN these times he would have
fgured had he chosen to do so, as the
star player on the champion baseball or
football team. He easily would have
covered the most skillful golf player
with confusion, have left Zimmerman
behind on bicycle and distanced the
feetest of sprinters If we can conceive
The DEGRADING thought, he would have
taken ono Of the big pugilistic cham
pions of the dayin his right hand anc
the other in hts left aud ended theil
yawping by crncking their heads to
eether. When bnt boy, he stood many
atimo on the sltre of the Potomac anc
hurled stoneSto the opposite bank;
feat which i,otpne person in ten thou
sand can perform today, Ben FRANKLIN
was tho only man in America who coul'
swim so we'll, and Nathan Hale, TIT
martyr, alone could equal him III jump
ing. In wrestling bouts, running ant
horsemanship mono of his friends coul
approach him.
} He bounded upon the bare back of tn
vicious colt, whose eyes shot fire an
whose every nerve was a-quiver wit
deviltry, and began a fight with tho IL
sernal beast.-a fight which meant ii
death of one Of Them, and Washingto
did not die.
He scorned meanness in every forl
and always played fair. When the oth'
boys fell into q fierce wransle and WEI
about to fly at each other, his decis't
soothed the angry passions. What
said was accepted without protest, #
the painting lads knew that young Georl
Washington was always right.
And what nerve, what grit, he hat
He could tramp thousand NH
through the dismal woods, buffet Il
crunching ice when he was knock
from tho raft into the Allegheny, plun
through the snow, sleep in the wint
forest without fire with his carmen
frozen stiff, look calmly in the face
the treacherous Indian who fired at hi
when only few PAGES away and tn
pull Gist away when he was throttll
the red devil and compel him to let
misereant go. He feared not to expo
himself to the bullet and tomahawk
Braddocks slaughter and proved
many battlefield of the Revoluti
that he knew not tho meaning Of p
sonal fear.
Few men were more often exposed
death than he, and he was never wour
ed. Is it hard to believe that heav
held him under its special protect
until the work mapped out for him
do was done?
The one impressive fact about Wa
ington is that ut no other time III
history of our country has the success
q great cause ceutered wholly III
man.
We might have lost every officer W
figured in the war of 1912 or with Nj
leo and the end would have been
same, In the tremendous civil war
" Grant. Sherman, Sheridan, Thorn
Meade or any or all of q score of 9th
had never been born, the Union wo
{ have lived. There were heroes wait
/ to step into their places, and the RAJ
held men capable Of being develop
into as good leaders as they.
|N Rut tkora ,vap OWL, $50 U,eh;v, ~