The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-19

ana gave unreSeEVe0ly 10 ms Work. l His tasks an judicial officer came i to be, It would now seem, beyond the strength of his slight frame, animated though 1t was by an indomitable spirit. And yet, in thus serving public inter ests he served his own also. There are those, and he was one of them, to whom ] hard work brings its daily blessing as a l barisher of sorrow. Melancholy is a foe to be expelled at any cost, and pre- | occupation is often the only thing that aVails to shut it out. Judge Townsend had his happy days He had his sad days, too, and he had occasion for them. Only those who knew him best were aware how often his pleasant smile and gay word only marked an en- | deavor to hide from others heavy heart.
 We cannot forget, as he could not for get, how twice, in recent years, the l shadow of death fell full across his path.
 For long also he had felt that he him self might be on the brink of the val l ley where it lies deepest. l do not | think he feared to enter it. It Is dying that such men dread, not death. It 1 was his happiness that this came to 1 him at last, almost unannounced. One day looking on this beautiful plain l and bay of ours from the heights of East Rock park; the next he was at rest, and taking up. it may be, such as | the God in whom he steadfastly bellev- | ed, may have to give his children in l some longer life.
 Attorney George Watrous, who was associated with Judge Townsend in the 1 firm of Townsend X Watrous, said: George D. Watrous
 To you, whose presence here gives mute testimony to your friendship and I love for William K Townsend, I, who also loved him, would add a few words ] to those that have been spoken in his memory and to voice our common sor- row.
 Before me are men who taught him and men who learned from him; men who were associated with and against him in the practice of the law; men who are engaged, as he was, in the ad- ministration of justice; men and wom- en who have known or been associated with him in all of the varied activities of his life And yet how few are we compared with the host of men and women who have known him, in many parts of the world, and whose hearts ache with sorrow at his death
 Though his achievements were many and well worthy of encomium, 1t is rather q sense of personal loss which has brought us together and which will dominate our thoughts tonight.
 In these few words there must of ne- eessity be much that Is personal, but that you must pardon me. cannot speak of him impersonally, and do not think you would wish me to. l wish to speak of him as your friend and mine.
 For seven years we were bound to- I gether by the ties of partnership in the practice of our profession, and the friendship there formed continued un- diminished throughout his life. The memory of 1t will be one, of my dearest possessions throughout my own.
 Our acquaintance began while was yet in college, some years before he be- gan the work of instruction in this school of law.
 When I came to the bar his person. ality his professional enthusiasm and standards of professional duty so ap- pealed to me that of all the members of the bar then in practice I most I wished to be associated with him In the practice of the law.a
 Fortunately for me, he acceded to Imy suggestion. and on May l. 1885, We began our professional life together, under the firm name of Townsend & Watrous, in the old Leffingwell build ling, which for many years before had been the home of the Yale Law school. The old sign of Dutton & Watrous stfll hung out in front of our offices. Neither of us wished to take it down, and 1t stayed there throughout.
 The memory of the enthusiasm of those first few days together is still vivid Many night we sat up till the early morning hours addressing our notices of partnership, as many a night afterward we sat up discussing knotty problems of law, of tactics or of ethics, With this same enthusiasm he plung- ed into his professional life under these changed conditions.
 Every new case. every new client, gave him new pleasure
 It would have been a revelation to many, who knew him but slightly if they could have known his capacity for hard and serious work.
 Ills light-heartedness, his love for a joke or a good story, his fondness for all honest pleasures, seemed tp many inconsistent with an ability to attack and master the profounder problems of professional work
 | A stranger sometimes looked askance, but for a moment only. This feeling was almost instantly dispelled, He in lsplred his clients with confidence and they became his devoted friends. Whether a case was won or lost, they felt that he had done his utmost.
 While in the work of the office he was Ipainstaking and industrious, 1t was in the court room that he was at his best. In oss-examination he was brilliant, and before jury his addresses, at once sound and sparkling, won many a verdict.
 His fund of humor was lnexhaustible and the hunor itself irresistible No matter how dry the subject of investl- Igation, or how heated the controversy, he never failed to enliven it and often brought enemies together and made them friends.