The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-07-16

|Bln!R sskk4nHtA st1s q, Useful CnEeeFS =
it.1sntS or t1D Personal F,rfeIitl Of & Mi
the l1ndS lis sEirgInia lin n 4 IS G
MI fCG u Bhilo Hoo &
81 Sf $zllon TO Further the. 4, NJ !. 81 =:
)Afle s&s Isl $,2 '9fssS & N ~
Tsss tr q S;otlpeF WaS dust, inS the prtme
,;otl lifessF III 4. years ot Cd. 8
sF y as p tiYefs0ffs 'lortd a, hut Was tak4
sn tp Tsnne when but 4, hoy. 2se-,
tnG bereft 9t parents, heEMta grated to-
Indianapolis, I where by sdlnts or nis
own EFFORTS, &hs went through the
common and high schools. Era q uas
Ting with hohors In 1889 Short
alter Z. ward y ha was appointed to 5:a
,caark kship I'm the rail way faAiI saf-
.yics; and roaa IT'D the. pos;ti Ion az rhisf
selsgl pf hiA 1. srn Isl1 baEWX Xsil:
dpSiis and T TouisyiiIs II Ii ;i E'fn' t1s
meantime, !, In: n:5connections with 9th
ers. he established the Indianapolis
tColored World, which Is still In ex-
lstence. Fer q brief period he man
aged the Baptist Watch Tower, a re-
ligious publication. Believing; great
" I'M the possibilities OF the illustra-
TED newspaper as an advance agent
OF the history OF the new Negro, ;he
founded In 1888 at INDIANAPOLIS, the
/ Freeman. the first Negro paper In the
country making a speciality OF por-
traits of noted persons and cartoons
OF current incidents. The Freeman
at once sprang into national promi-
nence, and ut twice the price charg-
ed for the average colored journal to-
day, 1T attained a wonderful circuia-
ton and made a mint of money for
Its ffounders,apd was power In the
arena OF news and opinion. IN 1888,
however, Mr.. Cooper moved to Wash
1ngton and established the Colored
American, which, in measure, du-
plicates the record Of the Freeman,
and achieved a popularity unprece-
dented In the national capital, said
TO De newspaper graveyard" In
recent years, Mr.. Cooper has been
employed in the District service, and
In 1907 touredo the south as a spe-
Feial'-a agent of s the censpa bureau In
charge Of religious statistics. Mr..
4 3Gc0psr had several ambitions pro
3ects tn yfey when stricken BY bia IA
,talillness, and had he ttaea *hes would
have undoubtedly gegpada rith har~
vest from the plenft ude or prod ucxiye
seed he had sown. # e. - - r '.$ y -
He; leaves wife, siaer, brother,
and a host Of friends in every state
In the Union to mourn his loss. "Ed''
Cooper was a genial soul, and his
name was q househofd word, ire
spective OF rice, wherever Negro
journalists was known. u.
Auditor iTyler's Tribute
AT a gathering Of the pall-bearers
and personal friends OF Mr.. Cooper,
Immediately following the return
from the cemetery, :! this beautiful
tribute was presented by Auditor Ty-
ler and subscribed to as the unani-
NOUS voice Of the gentlemen present.
Mr.. Tyler's estimate oftthe deceased
"a poem III prose-zeyoking fervent
expressions of APPROVAL, was as fol-
lows: '. ,..,.,...>' ... -
Last Thursday, just as the sun
was creeping up the zenith OF high
noon, the spirit Of Edward Elder Coo
per quit mortal body and entered the
unseen, undiscovered and the un-
movable eternity. the Visit to which
balks not only reasoni. bat science,
leaving it only to blind faith and rev.
elation to 80 much as hazard o guess
as to what lies beyond.
In the death--~no, we Will not saw
death, for who knowsI-but more an
propriate--in the passing Of Edward
T.. Cooper the Negro fourth estate
witnesses the going OUT of a light
that shown brilliantly for many
years--an. energy that helped to
make it possible for Negro journal
ism's high estate todayss Cooper>was
really more OF q friend to Others
than to himself. He;sharbored no
malice. The same gr$cious smile
and companionable spirit he had for
friends and foe t44iilk he. Life WIS too
short for. him to cherish hatreds. The
future was too problematical for him
TO premeditatedly and yyaciously make
enemies. He may have erred. No
mortal man is perfectl
He seemed to think it was his
mission to- spread printers ink over
men----to make big Negroes greater,
mediocre Negroes of some conse-
quence, and little Negroes worth no.
ttcing--by a liberal use Of printers
INK. After all, there are really more
Negroes In Gooper's debt today than
there are Negroes to whom he is in
debted. ... -
He worked as best he could with
tools he had.t He builded as best he
could with the material, he had. He
labored as best he could with the
opportunities he had. He succeeded
as best he could with the environ
ments that hedged fimsabout. And