Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-05-23

! NV OWN FATHER is DEAD.

Il e K = b e. & 9 1
Icareer that an editor writes an obituary
With real sense Of what 1t means
when parent, wife or "a child Is
taken away from him he is made to feel
the pain. the sorrow. the intense desire
Ito explain andAthe impulse to make
amends, il, possible, for past neglect, all
Of which are eentered by somebody in
Ievery obituary printed or spoken. But
now II has come to me. My own father
lis dead, He was such a good father to
me that I want all the world to know
how good, yet it can not be explained
lin print. and I realize that lack the
Judicial poise of mind to present him !, q
AMMAN among other men.
TO the world Father was atrugged
lcharacter. No outward polish, but
scratch him with close acquaintance
ana he was found to be true and sound
| and kind. always kind, The countless
| poor people and widows and women
Iswho have been coming to the house
with real sorrow on, their faces tell OF
one who had been an adviser, a pro-
ltector and friend to them, have
lknown Of no event in his career as.a
lawyer which ever gave him a fraction
! al part OF the pleasure which ne De-
rived from driving to justice or thwart--
| Ing In purpose some human shark who
Twas preying upon defenseless people.
Always without fee for financial a "a
vice or legal protection, these eases
were seized by him with real pleasure,
He was just plain '.Dave" to everybody,
Including. the children. and they thus
addressed Him without Intending dis
respect, because their fathers called
him Dave" and they knew him and he
was their friend.
Father has practiced law In Grinnell
for twentynine years. During that
time he has been leader in his PRO-
lfession. but the jury trials which he
Ina. lost In all those years could be
Iscounted on the ringers Of one hapd. He
tried out every case In equity at the
bar Of his own conscience before he ac-
copied it. If he believed the client to
have Aweak case, he always advised
him to settle. II he was being asked GO
to give aid in doing wrong or unjust
thing, his client was told to get some
other lawyers When he was q part
owner Of this newspaper and entitled
to a mileage book bought with adyer-
|tising, have known him to return 4 the
book and pay his fare because he had
accepted clientiS case against the
railroad and wanted to be exactly fair
about it" 1t has always been a pro-
nounced principle OF ethics with him
that lawyer has not right to defend a
wrong If he believed in his own mind No
THAT the case offered him was wrong,
and Fathers principles We're always
lived out by him in precept.
Father was so good to his children
that they can never live to; repay his
kindness in fun, by what they do for
their own children, He lived for his
family. He began when we were young
to teach u TO work and to do right.
No family, was ever raised under more
intelligent or more persistent moral
teaching. When came to enter bust
ness he stepped forward and assisted
me to buy this newspaper when the
obligation meant his financial ruin II
n failed, yet he never, once faltefeda q:
hesitated. He wanted to do it. He
would have stepped off the dock into
eternity with just as little: hesitation
If he had thought that was the best
thing to do for US.
OF course, we are going to remember
only the good about him, since there g
was so much Of it to remember, but
there are other things which the public
is entitled to,know. Father. tho young,
so yeung to die, was an Iowa pioneer.
Settling on homestead -four miles
north OF Chester Center and east Of
Gilman. with his fathers family, as a
boy he broke prairie. drove twenty
miles and return for fence rails, which
he split himself. slept under snow coy
cred blankets. and endured the hard
ships of pioneer life. He had tremen-
idous energy, in fact literally worked
himself to death He worked his way,
thru college at Grinnell. worked out a
law course in an office In Chicago
worked from nothing to a competence,
and at the time Of his recent illness
superintended the operation Of five
farms as form Of diversion from his
office. For recreation at home he
worked in his garden and his flower
beds, where he nursed and grew and
knew by name 200 different species Of
roses, $500 tulips, and innumerable
flowers on a like magnitude. To stop
him was impossible. II action Jagged
on his farms or at the office, he would
throw himself on the couch and work
himself into frenzy of Intense, excite
ment over the leading current event Of
the day. the insurance exposure, the
Cummins campaign, the Chicago cleo
tion.. or the like. Father read almost
everything, current news and fiction,