The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-03-30

press of his character to greater or
less extent upon those with whom he
was associated. | do not mean to
say that our brother had no faults-he
was mortal like all of us, therefore he
was not faultless--theTe are none OF
us perfect Above and beyond all of
his shortcomings. however, he was
possessed Of those characteristics that
go to make up the qualities in man,
which endears him to his family and
his friends. II remains for us to EN-.
ulate his virtues and his goodness, to
write his faults upon the sand, and
preserve his virtues upon the tablets
Of our love and memory.
Brother Otto f. Tappert was born
in Germany on the 26th day of Octo-
ber, 1852, and came to this country in
1866. At the age of eighteen he en-
tered the service Of the Standard Oil
company and remained with the one
employer in various capacities till the
| time of his death. He was one of the
| pioneer travelling statesmen of his com
pany, as loyal to his employers as he
|
high esteem was he held by his fellow
travelling men that at the time of his
demise he was holding the highest
Office in the gift of the United Com
mercial Travellers In this state, that
of grand counselor. And right here
let me say of Brother Tappert and the
men of his craft, the commercial trav.
lnlA hnt \ .t,lx
to a soldier. When on duty they are
under orders; in sunshine and in
storm, in good times and in bad times,
wherever you may go, in the sunny
southland, or in the northern climes,
on the rock bound coast of the Allan
tic, or on the wave washed shores of
the Pacific, on the mountain side or
in the valley, you will find the Amer
lean travelling man with his grip. He
is one of the best types of our citizen
ship, he carries the gospel of com
merce and of trade to the remotest
corners Of the world He is loyal
constant and true, to his family, his
country, and his employer One of
these was he whose remains now lie
before us. His length of service with
such an exactng employer speaks vol
umes for his ability, zeal and integ-
rity. And in worldly sense, the best
tribute | can pay him is to say, that
he was an American travelling man,
which In itself Is and should be a
badge of honor | know naught of his
enemies, but | do know his friends
are legion.
AS an instance of his loyalty and
devotion: Brother Tappert was elect
Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks at the time of its organization in
January 1901, and served in that ca
pacity up to the time of his decease.
He never missed but one meeting of
the lodge up to two weeks ago, and
that was on account of being showed
in at Oakdale. and then he called up
an officer of the lodge by telephone to
explain his absence. | do not know
how others may view the matter, but
it seemed to me peculiarly character.
istic of him that 1t so happened that
his last moments on this earth should
be spent where he loved so well to be,
that he should, in that place, where
he knew he had loyal and devoted
friends, calmly and peacefully drop
into his last sleep.
might. if would, go into detail as
to the good and kindly qualities of
our brother, and the social side of his
nature, but enough has been said to
indicate the kind of man he was. We
can not heal the wounds his depar-
ture has caused, but we can be to his
family, in a measure, a source Of com
fort, by reminding them that we as
well as they loved him, and that we
will cherish his memory as a sweet
remembrance. Their remembrance of
him as loving husband kind and
indulgent parent and an affectionate
years to come.
To his friends | need say nothing
for they knew him as man and neigh.
Dor, true and devoted friend. The
members of the several orders to
which he belonged, will always bear
him in mind as one of their efficient
and jealous co-workers.
Last night was the first time since
our lodge was organized that we have
met with the office of tyler vacant
and just before the session com
menced l was standing in the middle
of the room talking to travelling
man, who is member of our order
We were talking about filling Brother
Tapperts place. This travelling mar
is well known by all of you, he lives
here among us, and is a man whom
we have all learned to admire and re
spect. While we stood looking eact
other in the fact, I noticed tears glis
tening in his eyes, and he said to me;
"We can't get anybody to fill Otto:
place. Why, my dear Mr.. Robertson
Won neODle don't know Otto as we