Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-02-15

A1o AoAooAouSh "oo oi1O vi
who paid tribute to the memory of the
late Congressman Harmer of Pennsyl-
vania on the 9th inst. After referring
to Mr.. Harmer's work during his thirty
years of service, Mr.. Hansbrough said:
Mr.. President, it is not for mortal man
to peer with absolute certainty into the
great beyond. We can only speculate
as to the future. The mystery of death
has bafhed the centuries, and it seems to
have been decreed that we may only
hope. That cratic chanter of impromp-
tu measures, Walt Whitman, has said:
tsIf is. as great a marvel to be born as to
die" and yet since these events are of
daily occurrence, we have come to regard
them more OF less stoically. Beyond the
joy in the family circle incident to a new
human arrival the great world is IN
moved. Because we do not recognize
the genius of the man while he is yet in
the cradle there lies a veil of mystery
over the daily life of the world which
lends an alluring glamour to the COM
nionest existence.
Our neighbor is a good citizen, a kind
husband and an indulgent father. We
ssee. him each day and are inclined, per-
haps, to criticise his lack of philosophy
when he stumbles upon the stairway or
misses the street cal. Alas, one day.
which has been just like any other day
To us, it is reported that he is ill, and we
are moved to grant him one moments
sympathetic thought. A mutual friend
mentions him with affection and another
recounts some sacrifice, some patient,
noble deed of heroism. 1t is then that
his real worth is revealed and recogniz-
ed, and he is at once transformed to q
new and higher estimation-our neigh
Dor is a hero. And when he has passed
away there is a clamor of plaudits and
%eulogistic tongues that must have been
wholly lost while he lived. Our neigh,
Dor was in truth a great a W. shall
hear nothing now of his lack of philoso-
ply, but only of those things which
rightfully contribute to his renown
Thus, in the hearts and consciences oil
the living, are erected the monuments to
innumerable dead. AS. John Tabb, in
his terse little poem, SC beautifully says;
Their MONDAY never knows
'3. What names immortal are:
lis night alone that shows .s-
How star SURPRISES star.
/ speak today in memoriam of the
death OF a congressional neighbor and
friend. / would be glad of the gift OF
the magi, who are supposed to have the
power to enchant with words
that stand out like living presences, for
then might hope to do justice to the
memory Of Alfred Harmer.
For those who were nea him that
mourn his loss there must be some con.
ISOLATION in the measure. of recognition
which his associates here, who mourn
with them, accord to the noble virtues
81 his life. Among those virtues was al
abiding faith III the integrity Of man
kind. He WIS q true patriot, a consist
ents believer insthe superiority of oul
form of government and the greatness o
our common country This being true
wecan not doubt his complete conf
denee id the Deity. g
Death, which he SO we'll understood to
I1ethe chief inheritance Of man, mus
have come TO him as q sweet benedic
lion, D his was q ~WelLspent life. Will
natures like his am sure there b,
no regrets. They would not stay. Their.
is somewhere a poem which celebrates
he city III the living and paints II i,
filled with pleasure and Joy perpetual
Within its wide walls never any died
eafter b time its inhabitants one b,
one stole SWAY and climbed over TIL.
wall into the land of athe blessed boor
nj death So ut last II must come tous
al boom How grateful it must have
been and what d privilege to our FRIEND