The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-09-18
APPS FOUNDATIONS
Deaths Of Fricnds Make h G
Philosopher Sad.
Three Died OH the Same Day. Colonel
and Mynapp Koore and Dr.. Goe-
tchius. All Coed Friends
of His

o like a butterfly N thoughts
fit from flower to flower feeding upon
the ev~er-changing mental foods. Some
tunes they soar 10 heaven or nestle
among the stars, but their home i
here among our people. cur friends
and kindred and the concerns OF our
daily life. Who has not wondered
how he came to be thinking of This
thing or that and traced it back 10
something wholly irrelevant. but
leading on by shadowy lines. But a
little while ago / was sadly thinking
about the sudden death of three more
OF my rood friends-frienGs whom |
loved and everybody loved who know
thera. Mr. Moore. of Auburn: Colonel
Mynatt, of Atlanta. and DR.. GOctchius.
Of Rome, left us on the same dan.
They We're good men and the world
was made better by their presence.
was thinking especially about DR..
GOetchius. the preacher. whose Jour
ne,E and destination was 50 suddenly
changed. for he had bought his ticket
for Fallulah Falls, there to spend his
vacation. and was to take the tram
at ) O'Clock. lie rose from his bed
at ; and at , he was dead and his
spirit soaring h~eavenward. Then |
thought about Mrs. Barbauld's lines
that fit SO well:
Life! we have been long together
IN pleasant and in cloudy weather.
lis hard to part when friends are
dear.
Perhaps twill cost a sigh or tear
Then steal away-give little warming;
Choose thine own time,
Say not goodnight, but in some
brighter cline
Bid me good morning.
hen ! ruminated about that won
derful Oma How she was the first
to write story books for the children
and hymns for the church and how
her life was spent in the schoolroom
among the children that she loved.
And then | recalled that beautiful
hymn that she wrote:
"Iiow biest the righteous when he
dies,
When sinks the weary soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes.
How gently heaves the expiring
breast
And then I thought Of the words
of BALKAN, upon which the hymn was
founded. oh. may | die thedeath Of
the righteous and may my last end
be like His" And this reminded me
of those other words Of Balaam:
What hath God wrought?" That was
the first message sent over q tele-
graph wire. 1t was sent from Wash
ln9tOn TO Baltimore by Miss Anna
Ellsworth, the daughter of the com
missioner Of patents. She had been
very Kind to Professor Morse and ne
had promised that she should send
the first message. This was sent on
, the gath of May, 1914, and two days
later the second message was sent
from Baltimore to Washington, an
nouncing that James X. Polk had
been nominated for president. l re
member all this, for | was in college
then. But still the people were in
c%redulous and waited for the mail
train to bring the Jews. Then | runi-
mated on the hard lot Of great inven-
tors. and TOW Morse spent all Of his
!, small estate and received but little
encouragement, being SO utterly poor
that he had to go without fOod at
times for tw~enty-four hours, and how
;, he pleaded with Congress for three
! years in vain for an appropriation to
! help him perfect and build a line to
5 Ea~ltimOre-and how at the very last,
) when he was in despair and had
given up all hope, Congress did at mid
r night, on the last day Of the session,
pass the bill for $50. 900 and Anna
i-Ii9NoI Til tdllit ItiilIiliS U MN III tt
; lighted haste and tcld him the good
: news. What an agonizing life he had
S led all during these three years, for
he had been refused help at home and
had been to England and to France
in search of it and found it not. Now
just think of it. After he had built
ms first line and his success was es-
; tablished he offered his patents to the
United States fer 100000 and it was
! refused and he was constrained to sell
! to private parties, an invention that
soon came to be worth one hundred
] millions. But, he died full Of years
: and full of honors, and even France
made him q donation Of 100000 francs.
: What q wonderful man-perhaps the
greatest all around man that ever
lived-fOr he was a painter Of dlstlnc-
ton and renown. the pupil and the
of Charleston was his best friend and
patron and has now his portraits OF
Monroe and Lafayette. lie was a
sculptor, an architect, a philosopher
and a poet, and would have reached
the top in all had he not become 50
absorbed in Harvesting the lightning.
! AS a matter of course he was kept III
[ litigation several years and other par
t ties tried to steal his invention. but
the supreme court OF 1H1 iHlttt
J, States did finally affirm everything
o that he claimed. He died in 1872 in
his eighty-first year.
| Here my thoughts rested for a
: while and then returned to Dr.
! GOetchius and the many o~therfgriends
: who have zone before and have LETT
= me almost alone. How fondly Our
minds cling to the friends of oui
youth-our schoolmates and college
0 Imates-and every now and then We
e hear of another who has dropped on
4 of line. and like the barber in a bar
! Der shop, old Father Time whispers
next" My dear old friend jim War.
:. rem still lives to greet me when
! come. and so does Chess Howard ano
Dr.. Alexander and his brother and
! Evan Howell. Then | recalled tbs
grand and beautiful words of ingalls,
$ spoken in his eulogy on Senator Beck
0 The right to live is. in human est
s nation, the most sacred. the most IN
: violabIe, the most inalienable. The
4 Joy of living in such q splendid anC