Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-07-25
MIR. JoHNsoN's RESPONSE.
Popular Former Woodmen Attorney Is
Deeply Touched.

Popular Former Woodmen Attorney Ii
Deeply Touched.
As Mr.. johnson arose to reply he
was greeted with an ovation that
attested to the. genuineness of
the feeling toward him on
the part of those present. The
former general attorney of the
Woodmen order was visibly touched
by the incident, and in opening his
remarks, VIII CHI were enthusiastically
eloquent and feeling, notwithstanding
that he was unprepared, Mr..
Johnson said that when he was
invited out to the Tower to spend a
social hour, possibly the last he would
enjoy among friends here, he had no
suspicion that such a design was
lurking in the hearts of his Rock ISL
and friends as had been manifest
Acts of Kindness, oft and sincere, had,
the speaker said, kept words of indi-
vidual thanks constantly upon his
lips. but to those who had conceived
this generous thought and carried it
to conclusion, he could say that if
the lips failed. the heart was over
flowing with sentiments that no words
could adequately express. Although
the people of Rock Island as a strang-
er, yet it had been as neigh Dor, aud
that feeling of neighborly kindness
never failing, had cheered- and en-
couraged him and formed about him
attachments 10 which he would always
cling. You have exemplifed to
me- he said, 1.-THE beautiful teachings
of the order, which the lapse of time
or the intervention of miles cannot
destroy" An occasion such as this,
Mr.. Johnson said, presents a better
and grander evidence of the true
virtue of the order of Modern Wood
men than all the millions that it
can scatter in pecuniary blessings,
great as those blessings are. For this
shows the beautiful friendship, the
brotherly love that permeates this
order from center to circumference.
1t shows how we may rely upon each
other in sickness and in sorrow, and
how safely we may trust our mater
ial interests to the hands of our
brother men as well as to our own.
The order of Woodmen gets its
strength from the great body of the
common people, and hence these ex-
emplifications of the orders teachings
tvpify how secure we all are in the
great heart of the common people. Mr.
johnson assured his Rock Island
friends that wherever his duties might
hereafter take him, he would always
have warm spot in his heart for the
Modern Woodmen OF America and the
people of Rock Island, and he would
cherish the hope that the headquar-
tiers building would stand for centur-
les as monument to the pluck aud
perseverance of the citizens of Rock
Island, as well as to the principles
represented in the noble order, to
whose enterprise its erection was due
Above and beyond the great intrin-
sic worth of the gift that had
been made him, Mr.. johnson said
that he would ever treasure the
spirit that it represented, and in con-
Guiding Mr. johnson again spoke his
gratitude.
Other Remarks.
Following Mr.. Johnson there were
brief, but appropriate, remarks by
Hon. William McEniry and w. b. McIn-
tyre, who were introduced in turn bv
Chairman Maucker. the former going
into the history of the removal ques-
ton and its legal and statutory features,
and the latter talking in humorous
vein- Both were heartily applauded,
aud at midnight the happy occasion
was at an end, a special train brin g