Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-02-16
in MEMORY OF LINCOLN.
The Bar and German Alliance Garry Out Programs in
Honor of One of This COuntry's Greatest Sons.

LducOin anu Ills lime was the
theme of Louis Marchetti He began
with the slavery days. which were the
beginning of Lincoln's career. The
republican party, opposed to slavery
gained the aseendency in 1860 through
a division of the democratic vote on
Bell and Breckenridge 1t was thus that
fate placed the reigns of government
in the hands of Lincoln and gave him
power TO work out problems then con.
fronting this government.
In choosing the subject Lincoln In
tluences. A T. Nreutzer said he did 90
because the early training of Lincoln
had always appealed To HIM All of the
traits Of character, steadfast purpose
integrity. honesty, man!iness, etc
which dominated the presidents career
he learned at his mothers knee. Though
he was deprived of a mether's care al
the early age OF 9 years he had learned
from her 10 lisp Thy Father who art
in heaven Her teachings had been al
impress on his memory through life
The railsplitter'S early days were full OF
toll and hardship. The little family
lived in hut SKIP feet in size, with
dried leaves for beds. His struggle for
an education was told There were no
public or travelling libraries n those
days and the trials of this man ought to
be an object lesson for every boy ami
girl of today to profit by.
Lincoln as an Orator was the sub
iect chosen by & d. Jones. Down to
the famous Lincoln Douglas debates
very little had been heard of the rail.
splitter as an orator. In COMPRESSION
a campaign in his district he made one
speech which brought him to the fore.
Douglas promised to answer it, but
never did. Ii was unanswerable
Douglas had found his master in oratory.
Then began that celebrated series OF
debates between the two, first from
separate Platforms then from the same
platform. There were no railroad ac-
commodatlOns in those days and people
had TO drive To the different towns To
hear these debates. They came from
miles around. They were the most
memorable debates in the history of the
continent. The people of the East at
that time knew little of Lincoln. They
thought him an overrated man He was
invited To speak in Cooper Union hall,
New York. Ou that night his over six
feet of stature was clothed in i'll fitting
clothes. He was bent, his black hair
disheveled and he appeared gannt and
uncouth looking. His opening remarks
we're not impressiug aud his hearers
thought they had made a mistake u
coming out to hear him. Then he
Strengthened up and got down to busi.
ness. And such a speech Nothing like
it had ever been heard in New York
before. The newspaper reporters who
tried to take" it were, like the rest of
the audience, so carried away that they
forgot their mission and failed to take
notes. Thus he gained a foothold in
the estimation of the people of the East.
From that time on the name of Lincoln
as mastery of oratory was proverbial.
The secret of his success as an orator
was that he spoke direct. He spoke
the truth as he saw it, in such a con
vincing way that people realized that
he was honest in his purpose. Consid-
ering the fact that he had little educa-
tional training his success as an orator
is remarkable.
Jos. ID. Taylor gave a reading, John
Burns at Gettysburg" by Bret Hart.
Mr.. Taylor is somewhat of an clocution-
ist and on this occasion he furnished
very pleasing and entertaining number
on the program.
The tenth number was a tableau, "A
United Country's Tribute to Her Dear
est Son" The North was represented
by Mrs. Clara Howard, the Sonth by
Miss Helen CLARK 1t was very pleas
ing picture. When the curtain was
drawn up a pedestal was shown with a
bnst Of Lincoln on it, In the base was
a transparency showing a picture of
lincoln A laurel wreath was placed
around his figure. Then curtain in
the loft OF the stage was drawn up, dis
playing another transparency, with the
legend. Lincoln is dead His name is
immortal"
Anton Mehl acted as chairman and
made the announcements.
Taken as a whole it was a very fitting
tribute TO one who will always be re-
the world over as one of the
most perfect types of men this or any
other country ever produced. During
the day, flags were displayed from flag
poles on public buildings. stores and
AT private homes. The banks were
closed.