Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-05-14

gave place to the highest respect.
knew then that, whatever his faults,
he had corresponding good qualities,
and that they must far outweigh his
failings.
know man who was elected to
Congress by means of misrepresenta-
tons regarding the official acts and
record of the incumbent. He died a
few years ago. He was graduate
Of one of the larger colleges. His
father was a farmer, who wrung the
means 70 educate the young man with
his own hands from the SOIL His
mother did the housework, set the
milk and made the butter, all with her
own hands, unaided.
They were old-fashioned, uncouth,
but by their sacrifices the son was
able to obtain an education. They
lived about fifty miles from the COL
lege They could not spare the men,
ey necessary to enable them to see
their son graduate, but they went to
the station to meet him on his re.
turn, after commencement They
wore their best, but the mothers
gown was not made in Paris and the
fathers suit was not cut to order
On the train with the young man were
many of his classmates. When they
reached the station where he was to
alight he caught glimpse of his par
ents. and fearing that his companions
would recognize these old-fashioned
and out-of-date people as relatives of
his. he alighted from the opposite side
of the train.
Do you think that in the estimation
of his classmates he gained anything
by this act? When he ran for Con.
gress he lost votes wherever the story
had been told. When in Washington,
after his election TO Congress, every
congressman who had heard it turned
his head when he met him If you
think that the world ever loses it's
respect for the boy or girl who re-
verses his or her mother, your sight
has been clouded your judgment it
at fault, your pride has wrought in
you folly.
That great preacher, Mr.. Sunday,
tells of young man who was sent
To college through the self denial and
sacrifice Of his parents. The gradua-
ton day approached. A gold medal
was offered as a prize for a certain
achievement. He entered j nto the
competition He felt that the prize
was within his reach; in fact, that it
was assured.
On commencement day his old
father drove into town, hitched his
horse to the campus fence and fed
him some oats, and while doing so
he was jeered at by group of college
boy He saw, among that crowd,
his own son. He was SO grieved that
he turned away without speaking, un-
tied his horse, got into his buggy and
started home. AS he did SO pro-
fessor approached and spoke with
him. He inquired If he was not plan
ming to stay and see his son gradu-
ate. The old man, with tremor In
his voice, said that he did not wish
to remain and have his son ashamed
of him.
When the time arrived for the
award OF the medal the young man
was ready to receive it, but to his
great surprise and CONSERVATION 1t
was given to poorly dressed young
man, a member of the class, whom
he looked upon with contempt.
The young man who received it re-
sponded suitably. He then leaped
from the platform and sought out an
old lady, dressed in calico, occupying
seat in the audience. He pinned
the medal upon her breast and told
her that it belonged to her rather
than to him, because she had made 1t
possible for him to win 1t. The audi
ence broke into applause as it recog-
nized in her woman who had been
doing washing for college students.
By this means she had helped her son
through college.
DO you think that this young man
lost anything in the estimation of his
classmates. because he was not
ashamed of his mother? But such
examples are not limited to everyday
life nor to everyday people. Nearly
every really great man has owed,
and has admitted that he owed his
greatness to the example and the
teachings of his mother.
You have all heard of and admired
the devotion of William Mckinley,
that most beloved of all presidents,
that most skillful of all modern poll
ticians, the greatest statesman who
has occupied the executive mansion
in recent years, to his wife. But his
devotion to her in no way excelled or
exceeded the love, the veneration, and
the attention which he gave his old
mother.
During the great crisis in affairs,
when the nation was in an uproar
over the declaration of war against
Spain, for which our country was but
i'll prepared, when means of trans
portation were inadequate, when sup
plies were short, and when soldiers
ere undiciplined, and all these emer-
gencies had to be met, when politi-
cal enemies were setting traps for the
president, when with mind so filed
with questions of worldwide import
~ H.