The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1900-07-07
KAY MONUMENT,
UNWILLING CEREM ONlES
ON THE FOURTH.
be"ulfui Monument Erected in Brook
view cemetery, Near Rising Sun, In
honor OF John A. Kay, A Cecil County
BOY VINO Was a Victim of the Maine
Disaster.

Disaster.
Inc handsome monument to the memory
OF John A, Kay, of Rising Sun, the brave
Cecil county boy who was one of the ylctiroa
OF the Maine disaster, was unveiled in Brook-
view Cemetery, near Rising Sun on Wednes-
aay' Inc monument was erected by public
subscription through the .nstrumentalitv of
the Kay Monument Association.
The line OF marce formed in Can+ra so,,o..
hlsinS sun, at two O'Clock, and headed by
the Nottingham Silver Cornet Band, pro-
ceeded to the cemetery. Howard BRYANT
ESQ, of Baltimore, was the orator Of the
day.
Ihe ceremonies were interspersed by music
by the band and a vocal quartet.
list OF all who contributed 70 fine srnd
together with copy of the resolutions.
adopted by the Kay Monument Association
at their meeting held May 8, 1898. were en-.
closed in the leaden box under the monu-
ment.
MIR. Hanson II. Haines, as president of the
Kay Monument Association, presented the
monument to the family of the deceased in n
Speeeh IN winch he referred touchingy to the
young man who lost his life aboard the
| battleship. Rev. David L. Shaw, pastor OF
the West Nottingham Presbyterian Church.
accepted the monument for the family and
was followed by Howard Bryant, ESQ.,, OF the
Baltimore Bar. who was the orator OF the
occasion.
The monument is OF white marble and
stands lGs2 feet high, being 4 feet 6 inches
at the base. Inscribed upon the shaft is the
following: "ln memory of John A. Kay,
machinist, who was lost with the United States
Battleship Maine, In Havana hqrbor on Feb
ruary Is, 1885, Erected by the citizens Of
Cecil and adjoining counties as a tribute to
his heroism. John A. Kay" in block letters
stands out prominent on the second base.
LIFE OF JOHN A. KAY.
John A. Kay, one of the many brave
sailors who lost their lives on the ill.fated
battleship Maine. in Havana harbor, while in
the discharge o. their duties, was native of
Cecil county, and son Of Mr.. Alex. b. Kav.
Rising sun. He was born July %, 1871, in
New Jersey, and two years later moved to
this county with his parents, his father being
superintendent Of Ihc Cecil Paper Mills.
Young Kay attended the public schools in
early life aud, taxing 4 four years course at
the Friends Normal Institute under Prof.
Overholt graduated at the age OF lG years.
He Immediately began his apprenticeship in
the shops Of Moore Il White, Philadelphia,
as machinist. Kay was always willing to do
whatever was assigned him; if there was any
night work required ho was always the first
to do it.
After mastering his trade and spending a
short time on ono Of his fathers farms, he
enlisted rs assistant machinist on the Maine.
in August, 1895. His time would have ex-
pired in August, 1898, when he expected to
return to his home in Risiqg Sun, his parents
desiring to have him closer to home, as his
visits were always so short and uncertain.
He was young man Of rare good habits,
not being slave Of tobacco in any form, nor
ever using intoSicant5 OF any kind. He was
Il member OF the Methodist Episcopal Church
ana belonged to various secret organizations,
such as the Odd Fellows and the Order Of
| United American Mechanics.
KaJ's remains were Inferred at Havana, in
being impossible to have them brought home.
THE ORATOR or THE DAY.
The orator Of the day was Howard Bryant,
ESD, OF the Baltimore Bar, who in the course
of his address said:
| "To live and not to die i, the natural de-
sire OF US all, but to the young, with the
world and the future, with its alurements
and hopes, life and not death is most dear.
| Ambition to become great in this or that
| sphere OF life, is part of mans nature, and
| how to attain qualification is the great dues-
tion that few indeed are able to answer.
| Equal rights and common opportunity for all
| have been the spurs Of ambition and the
motors of progress. Some aspire to wealth
some to henors some to power, some to
| badness, but all to some one or the other.
| To many life's struggle is over and their end
| is not yet attained, and failure and not sue
cess has fallen to their lot; while others have
been more fortunate and their worldly ambi-
tions are apparently gratied. To my mind
to live is not absolutely essential in order for
one to become great in the estimation Of his
race or nation. Greatness is but question
of degree which may be measured in death
as we'll as in life.
"When our young friend and neighbor,
John A. Kay, met death while in the dis
charge of his duty, in the defense of his
country, aboard his nations ship, he, then
and there, together with his companions,
became great, and this recognized and
demonstrated by these exercises and the.
erection of this beautiful shaft, which hope.
will stand here bathing the flight OF years as
monument to one of Cecil countys sons,
who, brave, gentle, manly and conscientious
in life, became, because OF an honest dis
charge of his duty, great, in the love of his
people, by his death.
"And may the young men OF this county
and State, when recalling these scenes and
this slab, recollect and know that there is no
surer or safer road 10 greatness OF whatever
kind than conscientious discharge OF a duty
imposed, and that virtue and truth will be
rewarded either in life or Death and that
sometimes, In the estimation of ones people,
It may he grander to die than to live."