Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1902-03-14
lPIRIT OF THE PRESS
ACTS AND OPINIONS GATHERED
FROM CONTEMPORARIES.
ousAs FIRST PRESIDENT,

CuBAS FIRST PRESIDENT.
Tomas Estrada Palma Is sixty. six
ears of age. His father was wealthy
anter in the easternmost provence of
uba, and the son was we'll educated in
uba and in Spain, and became a law
er, with a view not so much to the prac-
ce of his profession as to the better
Management of the affairs OF a large
state. His patriotic sympathies led
i'm to active service 10 the ten years
fruggle for independence which began
b 1865 and ended in 1873, and early in
nat period he became a general in the
hsurgent army. Toward the end of the
rovisional government, a position
Which at least indicated the confidence
which he was held by the Cuban
eople. He was made a prisoner, taken
b Spain, at the risk of his life refused
swear allegiance, witnessed, in con-
equence, the confiscation of his estates,
nd some time after the final termination
f the struggle regained his personal
berty, at the loss, however, of his
,uban property and home. When he
oes to Cuba two or three months hence,
o assume the duties and high honors of
be presidency, it will be after an alb
ence of twenty-four years.
After his release, at the end of the Ten
FEARS War, Palma travelled in Spanish
american countries, and settled in Hon
Ruras, where he married the daughter of
he president of that republic and be-
Pame postmas ter-general. Subsequently
he came with his wife and one little
khild to New York, and saw an oppOr-
|unity to establish a school for young
people from the Spansh-American
countries. His institute was located in
he little town OF Central Valley, in
Orange County, n. Y, some forty
| niles from the metropolis. He has now
lived in Central Valley for eighteen
years, and his six children, five of whom
|were born there, have known no other
of Reviews.
AoOA
JULIUS j.. ESTEY.
In the death of Gen. julius j. Estey,
bf Brattleboro, Vermont loses one of
bier foremost and best citizens. Few
|men in the state took such an active
part in such Il diversity of Vermont
Interests. Of course. his life had been
mainly devoted to the extension and
of the tlourishing industry
which he had helped his father to MAKE
ia success. There was the one central
serious purpose of his purely worldly
and he succeeded in accom-
plishing it so thal in his latter years he
had ample leisure and comparative free
dom from the perpleXities of business
Meanwhile, day by day with the con
centration of mind upon industrial affair;
went also keen interest in the social
religious, and political life Of his home
town, county, and state. He was one o.
those active spirits that are not merely
content with "belonging" to some or
ganiZ4tion; he was bound always to dc
or to give his full share and, if need be
a little more, thar the organization
might prosper. He was one of the al
too few faithful souls that 60 miles Il
attend meetings to help bolster up dis
couraged causes, and often his CHEEKY
words and resolute example were
the means of inspiring fresh hop'
when there had seemed to be little left tt
hope for, His zeal and perseverance
helped to forward many IA movement fo
the good of the state and its people, anC
he was always conspicuous among thos
who could be "counted on when Yer
mont had need of her sons. TO hin
more than to any one other man is du
the uplifting of the morale Of the Yer
mont National Guard and the establish
ment of standard of sobriety in it
conduct and purpose in place of the old
time way when much that WAS prope
and more that was serious were sacri
feed to pleasure and display. He wa
prominently a public spirited man
generous with his services and hi
purse, always ready to unite with move
ments or ally himself with Influence
that were making for the public good
And yet he always avoided that some
what questionable name of performer.
Possessed of strong religious conviction