The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1905-09-07
Joseph d Smith

ly, and was justified in doing so by a
desire to assuage the grief Of friends.
have written obituaries with a bleed
ing heart and tear-dimmed eyes, when l
have realized the poverty of words to
convey thought.
In regard to Joseph O. smith, into
whose benignant face | have looked for
the last time while clad in these earthly .
habiliments, feel more like taking nv
place in the mourning family circle than /
in attempting to put into cold type the /
feelings and sentiments of my sorrowful .
heart
Readily do l recall that morning,
thirty-six years ago when | first met
him in Augusta, representing as he then .
/ did the virgin county which has since I
gone forward with such rapid strides. |
He had won honors for himself and his !
regiment on the field of battle, but you |
never heard him boast of that. He was |
modest and retiring to an extent which |
seemed almost embarrassing to his |
friends who urged his candidacy for the /
various offices into which he seemed 10
glide with very little opposition, so pop
ular was he and SO well fitted for the /
places. Say what you will, modesty and /
true worth will win out in the long run,
while the brassy, the important and the I
domineering GO to the wall. Mr.. Smiths
career in the numerous and responsible |
positions in which he was placed by the
will of the people, is a vivid illustration |
of that fact.
Mr.. Smith was wise in council and I
management. He was conservative on |
doubtful and unsettled questions and
aggressive when he knew be was right. |
Under quiet and gentlemanly demean-
or, he possessed nature so strong and
robust as to enable him to cling to his
position and his friends, though the
enemy of mankind and all his cohorts of
evil might be arrayed against him. An
Interchangeable Republican, he ever
sought to bring his party up from the
mists ard shadows into which many of
its camp followers would selfshly keep
it, into the clear atmosphere of a high
principle. He sat at the feet of the
peerless James q. Blaine, the far-sight-
ed John l.. Stevens, the bold Hannibal
Hamlin and the astute Lot NJ. Morrill,;
and drinking in his politics from these
great leaders, he shared something of
their greatness and success.
Hn 70, Ii. i
They were linked to him by the ties of
mutual suffering and sacrifice, and
throughout his life he was one with
them in his sympathies hopes and as
prations
AS newspaper man he was essential
y safe and sane" not to be carried off
his feet by the waves of sensationalism
or by measures having no solid founda-
ton. He was the exponent of clean and
and wholesome journalism. Knowing
30 well as | did his processes of thought
and action, | don't believe be ever took
a position he was sorry for, or wrote a
paragraph he would have stricken from
the printed page. He never needed the
penitential season which most of us
journalists feel compelled to enter on
. account of our sins of commission and
omission. He was careful about what
be wrote, but when it appeared in print
it was there to stand. While his style
of writing was simple, his editorials had
had about them touch of genuineness
: aDd uhich or
and held the attention of the reader.
He was a genial, cultured, Christian
gentleman. He was particularly brother
y and friendly to those who were his
ntimates, and especially kind and help
full to those who were struggling with
the beginnings of their career. He was
q man of great evenness of temper,
never allowing an unpleasant or i'm
patient word to eacape his lips. He was
a man of most perfect self control, and
it had become part of his nature to
take the world as it is and his own
things as they come, after discharging
duties with patience, honesty and
fidelity to the best of his judgment and
ability.
But it was in the dear sanctuary of
a charming home that my friend was at
his best, as all true souls are, and here
those qualities of heart and mind that
made him the personifcation of good
ness itself we're fully developed and ap
plecated To the Christian church of
which he was an active member, he was
a living example of the Christ spirit
ana purpose, not standing in the com
munity as a critic and doubter but AS a
joyful and hearty believer. Heaven had
no surprises for this dear friend. His
earthly form, pathetic in its helplessness,
has been borne to its repose in the |
bosom of the common mother. But
when called To this supreme ordeal of
final earthly parting, we can consolingly |
reflect that
There ia no death What seems so Is transition
This lfe OF mortal breath
/ Is but suburb OF the lie elysian
| Whose portal we call DEATH.