The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-27

any single attribute of his character.
would point out to his truthfulness. He
could forgive anything but a lie. Plain
and direct Of speech and purpose him
self, he could not tolerate deceit in
Others There was not single false
note in his nature. Falsahood was to HIN
a treason Of the birthright, poisoning
OF the sweet springs OF the understand
ing at the fount, un9afdorable IN The
sight of God or man. He so lived that
no one ever doubted his word, or aues-
toned his entire convieuon of any safe
ment he made He could indeed have
said to Truth: Though you STAY ne,
yet will I trust you" Truth was &c him
the pearl without price. the Immediate
jewel of his soul.
He was proud without ostentation; de-
voted where once he had placed his trust;
loyal, tender, true. When once he had
found a friend he rejoiced in all his sue
cesses and stood share and share alike
with him in his mistakes. The clack-
ing tongue of Evil Report found no audi
ence with him. If he believed in you, all
the world might turn against you-it
would not weigh down his regard by so
.
scale Whether an humble citizen or the
direct representative o fthe highest power
in the territory-ir private station or in
the seats of the mighty, he was always
the same plain, honest, unpretending
Sam
Such was the man I knew and loved.
whose loss we mourn today. My acquain-
lance with him had extended through ten
years, ripening, I believe, into an init
mate knowledge of his character. Back
in the early days" in the dust and
scromble and turmoil: in the times of
plebeian tents. when "shacks" were
aristocrats and the present habitations
of brick and stone were loudly pluto
Gratis. unknown save in the fanciful srchi-
lecture of dreams; when each and all of
US. Of necessity, -begat daily hustle to
acquire our daily bread, there first 1 met
and knew him.
These distinguishing traits of his char
acter then embodied him round about,
and he stood with a regal presence in my
boyhood's horizon. Our acquaintance,
there begun, blossomed into FRIENDSHIP,
and continued uninterrupted until the
day Of his death.
He has gone from us-the first to leave
this order-and has already solved the
mystery of which we so often talked and
guessed, but none in life may know. We
cannot part the curtains. We cannot roll
the stone away. Nor would we, if we
could. We accept the judgment of that
inscrutabIe Providence whose ways some
times seem SO hard to understand. We
know he was a good citizen, an honest
man, a faithful friend, and that such may
go down into the Valley of the Shadow
and fear no evil. But the full knowl-
edge of his worth does not relieve the
harshness of our bereavement. and only
accents our despair.
To his aged parents, to his brothers
and sisters and relatives and friends IN
the distant state where they have carried
him and laid his dust to rest, we say:
you must not be selfish with your sor-
row, for we would join with you. We,
too. loved this son and brother. We. too
cherish and revere his memory. May his
sleep be calm and sweet. But it is hard !
this sudden-going-th .vacancy-this !
silence. Through the intervening dis |
lance our love and sympathy go out to
YOU. and stands by his grave-side with |
you. to watch over his slumbers; and to-
gether. on this sad. December day, our !
tears are falling-falling." |