Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-28

"I do not know what he did after ne
went away to school, but l do Know tnat
J If he had any freshman stunts to DO ne
submitted squarely to the restrictions OF
| the upper-classmen, and when 1t came 10
| cane or flag rush I am sure he went
through the sophomore lines like q te!e-
gram He would have made a fine half
back at foot ball. for while he never would
have pulled down an opponent ana jumped
into his face with spiked shoes ne would
have taken patient pains to prevent his OPP
ponent from doing the like to him or any OF
his comrades.
In those early days he used to say that
he could do everything but saw wood and
work. and yet he was an Industrious boy.
Industry was his badge Of honor. He would
work sixteen hours on a legal holiday and
claim it was pastime. and every increase IN
the hours of labor decorated his face with
smiles 1t does not seem human, and yet it
was matter of good-natured gossip that
he at one time left a nice, soft sofa in a
dimly-lighted back parlor, with his best
girl by his side. to tackle hard Job, and
my friends, 1 could never forgive him for
that exhibition of Spartan virtue. but that
was because I was not interested in the
girl.
He was practical in all things. He never
believed in taking one rooster, two hens,
pencil and a piece of paper and try to figure
himself into wealth in ten minutes He knew
that pous fuss and feathers ofte-. signl-
fies nothing but fuss and feathers. for
understanding bantam hen may lay an egg
no larger than a peanut and make as much
noise about 1t as though she had laid an
elephant.
"As he grew older he discovered that II
you exchange checks with some men as a
matter of accommodation to them. and
they make their check payable next week.
that week never comes. He discovered that
of twenty persons to whom he loaned money
only eight returned the loans, and OF the
remaining twelve only ene-half continued
on speaking terms with him. and two or
these preferred to use the telephone. He
also discovered that to loan money that Is
capital, but to get it back again from some
men. that is labor and labor Of the most
uncomfortable kind And yet, my friends.
in it all and through 1t ALL he remained
the same kind, generous, patient and for
giving man, full of faith in and love of hui
manity.
II know these things are true, because
I spent my childhood and young manhood
with him in that old-fashioned town, where
bridge whist and pink teas are unknown,
and where they neverSSend a liveried serv
ant to drop pasteboard card in your door
way as a substitute for a personal visit
while you are living and then send negro
with an empty carriage to your frleral
when you are dead. When I think of these
things l sometimes feel like saying to him.
Come friend of my childhood let go
back to Holstead Corners, where we were
once so happy and so pure; where We troll
ed the beautiful river of our childhood for
the slver-breasted pickerel and the wary
wall-eyed pike; where We played marbles
for keeps on the commons and you always
kept the keeps: where WreStled on the
village green and my back always Rugged
the grass; where we gathered Farmer New
mans nuts without request and shook Dea-
con Diamonds plum trees at the proper
time, and at other times. you well
member, where pail of hot water never
brought a gopher out of his hole quicker
than we left the premises.
As a Peacemaker.
'My friends it was there that I saw him
failed to be good 1 have seen him use lots
of muscular Christianity in the final wind
up. There 1 helped him to assassinate the
venomous rattlesnake in his rocky lair and
dig that false weather prophet-the ground
hog-out OF his turfy home. and place the
bent pin where it would do the most work.
and tie the tin can to anything that had fur.
There l helped him to cut other fellows out
and ROB them of their best girls, but owing
to his good looks he always managed to
keep the angelic plumber There | have
heard him repeat chapter after chapter of
the Bible as easy as Silas Wegg used to
drop into poetry, and his knowledge of the
sacred Book from Genesis to the Aproca-
Typical Vision led some of the younger
boys to believe that he was entitled to an
ABB, Ph.D., LID. and DID. all in one
And yet, my friends, in it all and through
,
and happy spirit of which his hearts seems
natural habitat.
In later years 1 have seen him help more
young men to place and power than any
other person of my acquaintance. No good
cause ever appealed to him in vain. No
case of real distress ever turned from his
threshold without succor. This beautiful
city, of which We are all so proud, has felt
his uplifting influence and generous deeds.
Where the battle for civic virtue and re-
ligious advancement have ragged the fiercest
there you have found him the strong man
behind the gun. He planned and fought
with chivalrous valOr the battles of many
local institutions whose good was the COM
monweal of all. He founded two of the
greatest financial institutions in this city.
He served in a mastery way as marshal of
the civic divisions of two famous inaugur-
ais and made more brigadier generals in
shorter time than any other commander in
the history of the world.
Il know this is so because 1 am one of
the beneficiaries. and my commission
hangs proudly on my walls, where, some
day, when patriotism gets busy and the
Society of the Descendants Of the Roose
welt Inaugural Paraders has been organ
lied, it will stand framed parchment
proof that my children and their children
and chiidren's children are eligible to nsem-
bership, und mein Lebschen was whist du
noch mehr.
His motto has been and is. TRY to
make others happy" and l know of no
one who has met with wider success. His
life has taught us that if we aim at
nothing we will hit nothing worth hav-
ing; that if we worry about the future
we will borrow trouble; if we moan over
the past we will waste time and our
selves in the bargain, but if We seize the
present and make the most of it, as he
has done. we will make for success, for
the movement of life Is forward and up
ward, and the eternal step of progress
beats to that great anthem calm and
clear which the Master of the Universe
ever and forever repeats.
For these and many other reasons
friend of my childhood and friend of us
aU, we welcome you back from the land
of the pyramids, and from the home of
the Sphinx, and from the classic shores
Of the great middle sea. We welcome YOU
| in the name of this beautiful city, which
owes much to your energy and love of
| civic righteousness. We welcome you in
the name of the army of young men to
whom you have extended the glad hand
of hope and help. We welcome you in the
name of the many institutions of merit
you aided in establishing and have SO
faithfully helped to develop and main
tain. We welcome you in the name of
| the men you see before you every one of
whom is friend and a brother, and we
also welcome you in the name of a host
of others who would gladly have been
| here tonight to clasp your friendly hand
and bid you a cordial and soul-quicken-
1 AM frfa