Evening star., 1901-09-19

i
| Twice or oftener an hour, Il mattered not
/ who were present, he W I'D excuse himself
and step across the ham TO his wife's room
and return in minute or two. This, to
mind. I have seen the same thing occur
Of ,hs distinRuished tser Wonderful raI love y
unexampled faith{alness But why dwell
the ruthless aasn assassn 0m ana Wy Ds
| today bow in hiffhble> Submission, unable
to understand GSeat and good was Presi-
| dent Mckinley as citizen and friend He
| was man In whom there was no guile-one
| pure in thought, ,'~orpfand speech honest
| in purpose and noble in character. One
whose private liff might well be emulated
| and we ask, Why was he taken? We know
not now. but we Shall know hereafter.
| Gen. Ellis Spears Address.
| William Mckinley as a soldier was the
| theme of an address by Gen. Ellis Spear.
Gen. Spear said, in part:
II were simply to recite the bare out
| lines Of the history Of President McKin-
1ey's military service, might perhaps bet
| ter read what has recently appeared in the
| public prints and is known to you ALL So
| far as am aware he has left no record OF
personal "reminiscences Of that service.
He enlisted in June of 1861 at the age OF
seventeen years. as a private in the I'D
| Regiment Of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After
| ten months of service, when less than eigh-
| teen. he was made sergeant. Five months
| later he was commissioned second lieu
tenant for gallant conduct at the battle Of
Antfetam. Four months still later he was
promoted to be first lieutenant, and in July
| 1864, he became captain all in the same
| regiment. For gallant and distinguished
| services at Fishers Hill and Cedar Creek,
not much later, he was commissioned
| major by brevet To this rank he had
| risen in three years Of continuous active
| service in the field. in the same regiment,
among comrades and under officers who OBJ
! served his conduct and knew his merit.
We are told that he never lost day from
| duty nor was absent from any engagement
| in which his regiment took part.
| This Is a good record, surely. A boy, un-
der twenty-One years of age. volunteer
| utterly without previous military instruc-
| tion or training, he bore like veteran the
| hard fare and harder marches, the expo
| sure to heat and cold, the malaria of
camps and the strain and stress OF thirty
battles and skirmishes, and SO bore him
self. was of such character and strength
| and discretion, that he Is found, after this
severe trial, fit to command men in battle
| and camp. at an age when most youths are
at school.
But the paragraphs which recite these
brave acts of his military service must be
read between the lines. What it means for
| boy of seventeen, loaded with soldiers 8
L
paigns. to march and fight in company
with strong and mature men, and to dare
and bear as much as they and all that men
can endure. and to face wounds and death
In a war such as that which began in 1861
| you who are fathers and mothers, with
| boys Of that age, can somewhat compre-
| hend.
| From what we have learned Of his char
acter and high and noble spirit we may be
| sure that to him it was no mere love OF
adventure which impelled him nor even
military ambition, but rather love of coun-
try.
He was in thirty battles and skirmishes
What does that mean? Let those attempt
to tell who saw the surgings back and
forth. the deadly struggles. the wreck and
| the 10000 killeu and wounded on that hot
September day at Antietam, where this
boy Of eighteen won his first commission;
| or those who charged with him In that
''whirlwind battfe'' AL Winchester. or at
Fishers HILL or stood with him on that
| long and doubtful but finally decisive day
| at Cedar Creek. where he won his brevet.
The heat and strain, the fierce excite
ment. the hot haste. the shouting and up
| roar. the stern determination and sickening
| fall Of men here and there, all in that
great and complex tragedy which we call
battle, nobody can adequately describe; but
| in all that he had many times borne him.
self wen before He had q attained the years
At such an age, ana with able and de-
| himself in rank, It is not surprising that he
did not rise 10 higher command. Indeed 1t
would have been stfIlo more remarkable II
he had so risen. Perhaps. also. those finer
and higher qualities Of mind and heart
afterward SO conspicuous and which made
him SO honored and leved. were not wholly
compatible with, and excluded the fercer
traits. and that consuming fire which mark
ed his great commander In the valley.
Fortunately his extreme youth, and per-
haps lack Of intense military ambition. for
| bade the development Of military at the
expense OF civil qualities and high military
eminence. The duty of the soldier was
ended. and happily is not so often Of the
first Importance. Those of the statesman
were destined for many years Of the high
est character and service
But he did his duty perfectly and al
ways. The quality OF this perfect service
Is the same whether the man carry mus
ket or wear stars.
And when the war was over what
strong foundation was this military expert
ence for the future efforts of such q mind
and heart, and for the future fame of those
high achievements TO which he at once ap-
piled himself. For he was not one Of those
who, having served their country well,
thereafter lived in satisfied consideration
of such services as sufficient for the re-
mainder Of life, but at once, forgetting the
things that were past, turned his face to
new duties and achievements, as Col
Roosevelt advised his men on their muster
out.
Part Of what would attempt to say here
find thousand times better said In that
beautiful poem of Wordsworth entitled
The Happy Warrior" part OF which l
read:
Who is that happy warrior
whose powers shed round him In the common
strifes
Or mild concerns Of ordinary life
a constant influence peculiar grace;
But who, II he Is called upon to face
some awful moment to which heaven has Joined
Great issues good bad for human kind,
Is happy as lover, and attired
With sudden brightness like inspired"
Who is this Happy Warrior?
The ideal OF the poets our hearts tell us
represents well him who so sereneiy faced
death at Buffalo, and whom the nation
mourns and buries today at Canton.
Major Horace L. Piper made the con-
Guiding address OF the morning paying an
eloquent tribute to William Mckinley as
statesman.
BIG CHICAGO FIRE.
A Disastrous GOnhaGratfon I'm the
Wholesale District.
CHICAGO, September 19.-Ffre In the
four-story and basement building at 1882