The herald., 1897-07-11
as to literally bring the very mountain

as to literally bring the very mountain
| tops to our doors.
"The financial difficulties aattendne
this enterprise have indeed been great
Adverse criticism made the placing Of
| ts bonds exceedingly difficult, while COM
mercial depression and financial strin-
gency seemed to bar the pathway OF
success. But nothing daunted, the bold
and courageous protector threw his pri-
vate fortune into the scale, and unaided
and alone for a period of two years
pushed forward this enterprise to sue
cessful issue, surmounting every OBJ
stacle in his pathway and overcoming
every financial difficulty; and in so doing
bravely won the right to be regarded
as one of the ablest financiers in the
land. P. NJ. GREEN"
I'VE are now here to celebrate the COM
pletion of the most perfect mountain
road in this country. and the only one on
the Pacific slope, the construction OF
which constitutes the crowning railroad
act for the Grown of the Valley Let
us hope that every individual who rides
over that road and enjoys its comforts
and conveniences will stop to imagine
and years of toll and labor incident to
it's construction. Let us. stop and imag-
inc what Prof. Lowe has been obliged
to do to build it. In that manner alone
can one gain the slightest idea of what
Prof. Lowe has accomplished. and in
that way they can the more cheerfully
and beneficially assist in making the
enterprise popular and profitable not
only to Prof. Lowe, but to every citizen
in the country. H. H. MARKHAM"
To-day we celebrate an event that will
do more to spread the name of fair Pas
adena throughout the land than amy
and all the achievements ever accom-
plished heretofore. ALI honor to Prof.
Lowe for it. o. WEED"
"We who know our distinguished d
townsman we'll, feel that the half has
not yet been done. We congratulate our
selves upon this fact; and Prof. Lowe,
we all expect to be with you at no dis
tant day in the future, at the dedication
of which shall be your memorial column,
the observatory from which the Galileos,
the Keplers, the Holdens and the Burn
name of the future shall look farther into
the mysteries of the heavens and bring
God and his handiwork nearer to men,"
&c. H KEYES."
Hon. A. G. Throop, whose name we all
love to honor, said, among other things,
the following: The building of great
observatory on the mountain summit will
follow if Prof. Lowe receives the right
sort of encouragement, and Pasadena
will lack nothing to make it the most re-
nowned spot on the face Of the globe"
ID he nv-ntfc c
complimentary and encouraging speech
es I quote the following from that made
by Col j. ]. Ayers:
THE poet tells us that some men are
born great, some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon them.
The gentleman we are met, here, to honor
is the architect of his own fame, and
through his own genius, his own pluck
and energy, he has achieved the distinc-
ton which we now so gladly celebrate.
Peace hath her victories no less re-
nowned than war; and the grand
achievement of our honored guest in
making the heights of the Sierra Madre
as accessible to the feeble as to the
strong will take it's place among the
most conspicuous of those victories. We
therefore send out to him our most ap-
preciative greetings and congratulate
him with warmth and admiration upon
his grand achievement. 1t is always the
fate of the men who rise above the level
of their fellows to become the shining
mark for the shafts of meaner
minds. Whoever climbs the ladder
of fame must expect envy to be
close behind him, trying to pull him
down. Our honored guest cannot hope
to escape from the common fate Of gen.
ius, be he can console himself with the
reflection that envy proves his right to
distinction, and say, with Childe Har-
old:
HE who ascends to mountain tops must
look to find
Their loftiest peaks most wrapped in
clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind
Must look down on the hate Of those
below"
I have frequently thought that this
Jealous element referred to in Col. Ayers
poem, which every community is more
or less cursed with, has had much to do
since our financial depression in dimin-
ishing the popularity of the enterprise,
coming from the fact that newspapers
will give credit and talk more or less
about persons who accomplish something
out of the usual line. The jealous ele-
ment looked upon this as a rebuke to
themselves, and their only hope to get
even was in pulling down the rising to
their level.
was so much encouraged by the gen.
eral appreciation of this work that had
full confidence, although the times were
hard, that we could place securities suf-
ficient to complete the other section of
the road to a point desirable for astro-
nomical and other scientific work; con-
sequently, the contract was let for what
is now known as the "Alpine Division" "
Finding money close began to still fur
ther tax my personal resources. The
times continued to grow worse, 80 that
found it necessary in order to prevent t
the stigma of a failure, by leaving the
road in half finished condition, to part
with my stock in one of Los Angeles
best banks, also stock in other banks and
bonds and stock of my ice manufactur-
ing interest; sold several valuable gas
interests and borrowed money on other
good paying gas securities, and finally
mortgaged many pieces of real estate,
including our home place. All this I
did, not for dollar Of personal debt,
but for the completion of work which
I thought would be by our people priced
above all other enterprises, being the
best medium through which this country