Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-02-24

ficctions he wrote as follows: when
I look back to the earlier and middle
periods of my life aud now In my old
age think how few are left OF those
who were young with me I always
think Of a summer residence. At a
bathing place when you arrive you
make acqunintanccs and friends Of
those who have already been there
some time and who leave In few
weeks. The loss IL painful. Then you
turn TO the second generation, with
which you live u good while and be-
come most intimate. But this goes also
and leaves us alone with the third,
which comes just * we are going
10 do. ! have been esteemed one of
fortunes chief favoritrs. Nor will !
complain or find fault with the course
my life has taken. Yet truly there has
been nothing but toll and care, and |
may say that in all my scvcnty-6ve
years | have never had month OF
genuine comfort. II has been the per-
pctlial rolling of stone which | have
always had TO raise anew" All. sad
testimony that! And yet II Is not any
sadder than many of us can give. When
we have lived for selfish or worldly
ends we can truly say we have not had
month Of genuine comfort We know,
as Goethe should have known, that tho
only true life. the only happy life. is the
life of Christian self sacrifice and the
life that is lived with God When a
mans doctrine of life Is simply TO eat,
drink and be merry. he may eat and
drink. but he will always miss the mer-
ry aftermath.
Does Death End AIt
There is another reason why we re-
volt at the idea Of humiliation ut the
grave. In our past career Of selfish
ness and sin we may have evolved
quite Il string of logical arguments to
prove that death doth end ALL" We
may have read many works of a Vol.
taire. Hume. u Bolingbroke. a Glib.
bon or Paine. We may have even
argued ourselves into believing that we
We're right and that when q man died
he simply died and that was the end of
him. But some few years ago we had
all our humiliation theories knocked
endwise. This was the way II happen
ed: Death came TO you. not rs an I'M
known quantity. but In II terrible form.
II came and knocked ut your door and
said: open. ! want that mother.
want Your sister | want your wife.
want your child" And rs Death walk
ed away with your dear one you called
out, "Oh, Death. is my darling child
dead forever" And away OFF In the
distance you could hear your dear one
call back: II am not dead. | am liv-
ing again. Believe me, am living
again" Is not that statement truef
Deep down in your heart do you not
feel that the spirits of your loved ones
are alive today though their bodies are
moldering IN the grave.
Oh. how quickly the sudden appear
ancc of death can shatter the conclu
sions we have built up by years OF
painful theOriZing, hlu this fact H.
Illustrated in remarkable way some
years ago when was visiting the ere
matory OF Pittsburg in which city
was living ut that time | was taken
into vaulted room where quite a
number Of tin cans. each about the size
Of two quart pail were standing
around on shelves Each one OF these
tin cans contained the ashes of Il hui
man being. Some had more ashes In
them than others. The older man is
the more his cartilages ossify and
therefore the more incombustible ma
tcrlal there is left IN the retort of the
George W. Ferris of the Ferris wheel
of the Chicago Worlds fair. who died
only few months ago" said my guide.
Yes. yes | answered. Il knew OF
him. lie had been In my church OF.
ten" And here are the ashes of Mr.
So-and-so and these belong to the child
OF So-and .so." mentioning names which
were household words In the western
part of Pennsylvania. Then my guide
gave me one of the most dramatic ac-
counts have ever heard He descrlb-
ed Emma Abbott. the great American
sOngstrcss. descending the same steps
| descended and standing just where
| WAS standing. After she had care
fully examined the crematory she said,
Some day am coming here 10 be
turned into ashes" Then she Slightly
raised her skirts and began To dance
around the room. and rs she danced
she sang. and she kept on singing I'M
Ill she sang herself out of the door.
And within twelve months" said the
man, ''her dead body was brought here
ana committed 10 the flames. Yes. her
body was burned in yoader furnace"
Believed In II Only In Theory.
After my guide had been speaking
thus 10 me for over an hour | said to
him: do You believe In cremation?
What is your own private opinion in
reference 10 III" He stopped a mo-
ment and then he slowly said: II be
live in 1t IN theory. But theories, no
tt..,. 4. Al.