The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-01-03

OF sympathy. When they. reached the
open air, Mr.. Wells asked the prisoner
| If he has anything to say. Strengthening
himself more boldly than when he had
! answered Here John Brown answered
| in tones loud enough for the bystanders
/ to hear:
THE ball is now pu, in motion and
will never stop until every negro is set
| free
| Then, looking up at the clear sky ana
taking a deep breath of the fresh morn
ing air. he remarked TO his guard as
calmly as il ne had been On his way to
his place OF business:
"A beautiful morning
| There was still no sign of any penitence,
and he seemed in fact, to be more inter
ested in the multitude which had gath1r7
ed to witness his death than in the awful
| fate which was awaiting him. As they
walked Oh they came to the soldiers line1
up in front ranks. ana here again. within
| thirty feet of the galIows. John Brown
showed a forsetfulness of his own fate
| in his remark as he surveyed them:
"A fine display OF soldiery." With that
remark he was turned over TO the exc
| cutioner, and as he assembled the platform
he was again asked if he had anything
| to say before his death. He turned to
! face his audience. and, with the assur-
ance of a public speaker, repeated again
\ the sentence:
The ball is now put in motion and will
not stop till every negro is set free.
Those were his last words. Mr.. Wells
recalls him the most imperturbaie
| man he ever saw.
| However when one studies the condi-
ton of the country during the admins
traton of President Buchanan, John
Browns rash act in taking UP the cause
! of the negro as he did does not seem
strange. He was just the nan to be used
as a TOOL and had sufficient ballast to
keep him from going to extremes. AT the
time the whole country was in feryor or
| excitement. both north and south
Through Chief Justice fancy the supreme
court had declared that slave owners
might take their slaves into any state IN
the Union without affecting their rights.
/ In the north this act was regarded with
disfavor, for they took it that slavery
was by this act national and TO longer
! 4
garded only as a special act of property
protection in every state. Then the fusi-
tive slave law was enacted, and in the
north personal liberty bills were passed
securing for slaves when arrested, the
right of trial by jury.
| In the hearts of the Northern people
| there was sympathy for the south. but in
! their enthusiasm for the south they were
very dangerous. One of the widest OF
these schemes was the Underground
railroad which was instituted by John
| Rankin in Ohio and carried on by him in
order to enable fugitive slaves to escape
! into the north His house was known
as the Grand Central Station of the I'm
foreground Railroad" John Brown was
co-worker with John Rankin. and such
others as William Lloyd Garrison, Lyman
Beecher. Theodore Parker and Levi Cof-
fin. They We're all agtating the question
in their various ways. while Harriet
Beecher Stowe in her 'Uncle Toms
! Cabin. was adding her snare of fuel to
the flame, which had burned in the brain
| of John Brown until he was worked up to
a perfect frenzy. He had been through
| many exciting scenes in Kansas and il IS
not unnatural that he should have been
unduly enthused over the question of
slavery. In the height of his excitement,
he was led to seize the United States ar
senal at Harpers Ferry which he did in
a most daring manner, and thus ended
the career of John Brown. His death and
| execution then suggested the song, John
Browns Body Lies a-Mouldering in the
Ground. which was sung all over the
country"
| J. II. Wells relates this experience with
John Brown in a most graphic manner.
and is a gentleman well preserved, pos
sessing a fire memory. He served first
i'll 1S47 in the Mexican war. and then in
1859 during the John Brown disturbance
and in 1851 in the Civil war He was in
the first battle OF Manassas. when the
Confederate army gained its great vic
tory, but after the first year OF the war
Mr.. Wells was sent home to manufac-
ture artificial limbs for the Confederacy,
and followednthis line of work until the
close OF the war. He is a native Viz
ginian. but has made his home in Ar
/ kansas for the past twenty-five years.
He is prominent citizen and religious
worker of Newark, liberal in ffs views.
and still patriotic AMI loyal to his coun-
| try. 1t was a great source of regret
that he was too old to serve in the Span
ish war. but he encouraged the youth of
his town and vicinity to volunteer.
At this tine il is well II study the life
of John Brown, and this interview with
Mr. Wells brings up a question upon
which grave Issues today are hanging.
We in the south are threatened by the
same danger which threatened our fore
fathers in the days OF John Brown. The
negro question is being agitated just as
it was then by people who have never
known the negro and are ignorant of his
real character There is a problem con
fronting us grave problem. the only
race problem" from which we need have
any fears and this is: How shall we cool
the ardor of the unenlightened en,husi-
asst? We are In more danger from men
like John Brown than from the whole ne
gro race. II We can free ourselves from
men OF this type. we may be sure the ne
gro Will dwell in peace and harmony.
minus all ambitions that lead up to social
equality.
THE CHRISTMAS TREE