Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-11
Sunday Morning Talk.
A Man and His Echo.

| One of the earliest and most vivid rec
| elections of boyhocd days is in connec-
| ton with a visit to farmer uncle, VINO
| took me where l could hear a famous
echo. AS he threw his powerful voice
against the cliffs a number Of yards away.
back 1t came to him. repeating almost
| instantly and with wonderful clearness
| his exact words. 1t seemed to my boyish
| fancy a emarkable thing that there could
be such a reproduction of human tone
after Il had once left the lips. But since
then have heard other echoes. some or
| them quite noted ones. and l have come
| to apprehend the laws Of sound govern
ing their production. But an echo is still
/ to me one of the most interesting and
suggestive of natural phenomena.
AS 1 have gone on in years. 1 have
been fortunate enough to encounter the
echoes of human lives that have trans
mitted something Of their personality to
me long after they have vanished from
| the earth. The first was the echo OF a
| soldier uncle who tainted under the rays.
of the fierce southern sun, giving his life
for his country just as truly as If he had
fallen In battle. when charging the foe.
/ was but a wee baby when he marched
brayely away with his regiment. and, of
course, he never Influenced me personally,
but in the forty years since he met a SOL
dier's death echoes OF him have been re-
peatedly coming to my ears, In the album,
dant testimony of his surviving comrades
to his manlineSS and kindness in camp
and on the march, in the tributes to hts
sterling Christian character from men
who worked at the same carpenters bench
and in the veneration still felt for him in
the church of which he was a modest and
devoted member.
In college the echoes Of men who had
preceded us resounded through the
dormitories and recitation rooms. Fig
ures that we never saw became real to
the eye OF the imagination as we learned
about the athletic prowess Of this man,
the scholarly achievements of another.
the rare personal charm and influence Of
still another. Every great school has Its
splendid traditions of men who wrought
nobly In student days and then went cut
to live useful and honorable lives.
AS 1 have resided in one community
after another, / have always heard about
former residents who had died CT moved
away before / came. but who were still
held In affectionate esteem and whose
absence was continually mourned. They
were invariably the progressive. public
spirited men who could be relied on in
emergencies. who helped to initiate and
carry through undertakings bearing on
the public welfare, who were not always
scheming to get what they could out OF
their fellow citizens. but to contribute all
they could to the happiness and prosper
ity OF others
What a splendid thing it is to leave
behind you such an echo that the Scrip
ture will be literally fulfilled. He being
dead yet speaketh." The tone quality Is
perpetuated in what others say and think
about you. 1t pervades the region to
such an extent that those who come after
us cannot help discovering intimatians
here and there Of VIII we were ana what
We did.
What cheer there is also in this thought
for those OF us who feel that our lives
nIisbinp much But we are to be judged
not simply by the impression we make
today, but by the echo that VIII come
back days hence to those VINO may never
co. ,s In the flesh THAT man stood for
the right when Ii was unpopular so to
do ..That woman gave herself most pa
tfently and unsparingiy for her children
.sThat man was never too busy to bo
kind" So the echoes will come back in
one form and another. Much depends on
the man. The echo Of Judas 1scariot's
life still reverberates in the caverns and
the tombs of human life, while the echo
of Jesus Of Nazareth is like the pealinn
Of sweet bells at eventide.
Pie PARsoN.