Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1908-01-22
in MEMORIAM
Burleigh County Bar Asso.
citation Pays Tribute to
Alexander Hughes
Resolutions Appropriate to
the Occasion Are
Adopted

There was a. large attendance at
the court house Tuesday afternoon,
the occasion being the memorial SER
vices in honor of the late Alexander
Hughes, for years resident of this
city and prominent member of the
Burleigh county bar The local bar
association had prepared resolutions
and these were presented to-the court
at 2 o'clock by Judge Newton of this
city, who spoke as follows:
May 1t Please the Court:
This assembly is representative OF
the high esteem entertained for Gen.
eral Alexander Hughes by his friends
and neighbors and by his professional
associates.
1t emphasizes the depth and SINGER
ity of the regard in which his mem
DRY is held and appreciated. Though
he has answered the last summons,
and the record of his life is closed
for all time, he is not forgotten. All
are united in this final tribute to his
memory and worth.
The existence of this court and the
continuance of its bar may be mea-
sured by the years of generation of
men, and yet we sadly recall that
there have been other occasions when
the court turned aside from its Or
binary business in recognition of the
end to which all are fastening There
have been other sessions of the court
from which some familiar form was
absent and some familiar voice was
missed.
Today General Hughes is not pres
ent, his voice is hushed forever In
their stead there is present the snad-
ow of great loss, and words of sor.
rowing are heard. He has passed to
the unseen. Death, ever memorable,
again, pursuant to the law of nature,
has claimed his own.
But it is pleasant to remember that
the pages of memory whereon are in
scribed an account of the life SO sud
denly closed are still open.
The record of life well spent is
not written in sand, but engraved up.
on a rock and imperishable The
gracious and worthy deeds men do
while living, live after them and en-
courage to higher aims and nobler
ends.
It is thus that from the lives of
men whose tolls are ended and whose
voices are no longer heard, we gather
inspiration and guidance along the
way to the portal of that mysterious
change from the mortal to the i'm
mortal. Thus the absent ones still
live and teach by the force of exam
pie. There is a useful and lasting
lession to be learned from the re
membrance of him whose life we now
recall. He had accomplished much,
and by individual effort and force OF
character
My acquaintance with General
Hughes commenced soon after he re-
moved to Bismarck late in the year
1888. Though living here, his bust
ness pursuits and public duties seem
ed to require his presence at other
points for much of the time for two
or three years thereafter. In 1886,
however, he sought to be elected to
the Territorial Council and was sue
cessfu1. 1t was during the session in
1887, and the succeeding years that
our acquaintance grew into a friend.
ship lasting until his death. | came
TO Bismarck an entire stranger, and
heartily welcomed his confidence and
felt honored by it, and it is pleasant
though sad, on this occasion, to recall
his disinterested and steadfast friend
ship.
We were frequently engaged in a
professional way in the same litiga.
tion - sometimes together on the
same side and sometimes on opposing
sides.
Before the court he was always
alert and diligent in pursuit Of his
clients interest. In the prosecution
or defense of an action, he was even
more than his clients cause. He Of
ten illumined a contention to a de-
gree that obscured dissent and left
his opponent hopelessly lost in the
encircling shadows. He was thor
oughly grounded in the fundamental
principles of law and equity, and
easily recalled them for use as the
occasion demanded. He was, there.
fore, bold and aggressive in attack
and steadfast and firm In defense.
Indeed, / never knew him to be taken
by surprise upon a question Of law,
or to be stampeded by any array
against him. II overcome, as in the
nature of things sometimes defeat
could not be avoided. he went down