Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-19
Elijah Kellogg Dead.


household word. his sweet and gentle
presence has so long been a benedic
tion in the section where his work has
been done. ana the pathos of his sim
pie and cOnSeo rated life has appealed
to 50 many hearts that Thousand
who have never seen this little old
man with tile modest bearing, the
Overlooking heart and the divine gift
Of eloquente. have counted him rs a
friend ana will feel in his death
personal loss.
First Of an writer's for boys Mr..
Kellogg broke away from the traditions
Of the old Sunday-school style Of
Juvenile literature in which the BAD
boy who goes fishing. sunday. meets
with sudden and overwhelming evil
dence Of Heavens awful wrath. His
characters We're human and their do
ings and surroundings We're natural.
Nor, on the other hand, was there
ever any tendency in his stories
toward that perncious class of ,ead-
ing matter which we always associate
with cigarettes and runaway boys
anxious to see life" His stories We're
as wholesome as they Were human.
and many thousands of boys have
been made better in heart and mind
from the perusal Of Good Old Times.
- T..ln oaI-
Rifle series. the Lion Ben series and.
best of all to the boys of the college
which Mr.. Kellogg loved 10 long nd
50 well. the Whispering Pine stories.
At IS Mr.. Kellogg was still writing
and q the time of his death had
partly completed 4 short story for the
forthcoming volume Tales of Pow
doin." 1t is of interest to know that
the story was TO deal with one of the
many cases in the old days when the
BoWdoin faculty sent erring students
down to his Harpswell home to profit
by few weeks of his company and
counsel.
But though his many books and his
two immortal orations. familiar to
every American school boy for the
past half century, have given him his
widest fame, they are not his greatest
works. His labors among the simple
fishing and farming people Of the pic
tufesCue old town where he chose to
spend his life cannot be summed up in
a paragraph by his eulogist or Diog-
rapher. Had he accepted any of the
alluring calls that came to him from
the great cities where his fame mad
gone. his name would doubtless be
placed along with those of Beecher
ana Brooks as a pulpit orator. for he
had that power within him. But he
remained in the forest shadows by the
Harpswell shore, where he felt his
duty lay. and who shall say his choice
was not the better one?
The writer remembers one little in
cident of Mr.. Kellogg's later years
which shows we'll his character and
clitomizos. as it We're his life work.
1t was at the centennial of Bowdoin
College in 1894 where Mr.. kellogg,
much against his viii. was one of the
after-dinner speakers in the great
tent on the campus. Famous alumni,
statesmen. generals. authors and tdu-
Gators were there, each receiving his
need of applause as he arose and
spoke. But when President Hyde
late in the afternoon. spoke the name
of Elijah Kellogg and the old man
stepped hesitatingly to the front of
the platform such an ovation awaited
him none other received that day.
The 1900 alumni around the tables
sprang to their feet, and from tables
and chairs shouted their tumultous
welcome. cheering and cheering again,
the oldest of them boys again in the
presence of the man whose hold 'ipon
all hearts was so strong. 1t WAS i
thrilling sight and the man in wnose
honor was all this demonstration Of
affection ana respect stood there
bronzed skin as he waited an oppor-
tunity of being heard. And when he
spoke it was quietly and easil; at
first mainly in a vein of Renaissance:
then as he spoke of his love for the
college. it's great work and the duty
of its sons toward it. he arose to a
plane of eloquence unequaled in all
the speaking of that June afternoon
and seldom heard by any in that grea t
gathering from all over the Unlon
His gestures, his tones, his at
titude and his flashing eyes were
those of inspired eloquence His
peroration was something Won
derfully inspiring and it carried his
auditors into q demonstration which
exceeded in ardor and length that
which welcomed him. Before the ap-
plause and cheers had died away, The
orator, avoiding the congratulations of
those upon the platform, had modestly