Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-07-31

common serge, which belongs to no man,
but to all mon. Logan is our great volun-
teer. 30 they have named him, and so he
Will be known, when we are forgotten.
Whatever Is heroic, they can make classic.
The profession OF arms is an inspiring
one. There is a luster upon II, which In
every age has attracted chivalric spirits,
and made tlern happy 10 be it's ornaments
and its exemplars. fhe scholar, whether
IN business, In politics. or in war, is almost
always superior TO his unframed rival.
Grant and Sherman and Sheridan illus
trate the advantage which a country pos
sesses that has In it's service men instruct
ed In military knowledge. But a pus-
slant natien, such as came into the medi-
tations of John Milton, when 1t rouses
ltselr from sleep, vaults Il scholastic
rules, and puts men into Its ranks, little
regarding the methods which are taught
In schools. Science has always found its
way into moving columns, Caesar and
Marlborough and Frederick were great
commanders; but those who read with
lead men, and that battles. however
planned, are usually determined by the
pam courage OF the rank and file.
In calling him the great volunteer, we
nave, unwittingly, done injustice TO Do-
gan. lie was not a mere fighter. He had
the rare genius of leadership. Ask those
VINO served with him, and they well an
swer. Men whom Logan led never turned
back" Only q comprehensive mind can
take events as they come and mould them
at its Will, as II they had been ordered in
duNd1ce. REGIMENT, DrlRaue, dlNlSlOD,
corps. army: these are the steps he took,
and never tripped or faltered.
The real proof Of genius is the manner in
winch nigh responsibilities are met. Abb
raham Lincoln, In the school Of Sanga-
mon, was hardly a prophecy Of him who
became the foremost man OF all this
world. Galena and Appomattox are wide
apart, but Grant spanned them. The law
Of growth rules, and only those who "a
rise to occasion are great. Measure Logan
by this unfai.ing test and he becomes CO.
lossal. Emerson tells, in a familiar line,
how Michacl Angelo wrought in a sad
sincerity" but SO, IN truth, does every
man., who, In the stress or duty, builds
domes, or carves statues, or fights bat
ties.
Let Us zee Logan under the light that
reveals motives and deeds. Tn summons
that came in the spring Of 1861, found us.
az snch q always does, unpre-
pared. Peace is never quite ready for
war. 1t was the month of flowers:
"When. ~proud-pied AprN, dressed in all his
trim,
Hath put q spirit Of youth in every
thing"
The seed was waiting to be dropped into
the earth; the sun, swinging round TO the
north. was calling every field and farm TO
the oft repeated, but never comprehended
mystery OF a new birth. TIL blow fell
while we were welcoming the buttercups,
and It gave such a hurt as we had never
felt before. II was cruel, beyond all our
~imaglngs. for It seemed 10 write failure as
the end Of everything for which we had
hoped. Thus IT touched our pride as well
as our affections. More than all, II brought
the deepest grief 10 those who were best
able TO realize its latent meanings.
John A.. Logan, only 30 years OF age, was
already a striking figure in our national
politics. He sat in the house of repre-
sentatives, that body which touches the
people at every point. and in II lie was a
Tribune. Himself t~riumphantly- re-elect-
cd. the preceding autumn, he had seen his
party beaten. his adored leader, Douglas,
defeated, and, what to him was Infinitely
worse, his country hopelessly drifting into
civil war. In those sad dave, every heart
had its own sorrow. No one can doubt