The Mena weekly star. (Mena, Ark.) 1904-1977, 1912-05-09

- f'A'AAtAt hA0t itNNiaAlfA AflA ~
dead game sport. When ! use that
phrase do so by filling il as full
of practical human philosophy as
ii will hold Riley Grammar fully
exemplifled the philosophy of these
fugitive verses:
II is easy enough TO be happy, when
life goes along like song,
But the man worth while
Is the man who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the
years,
And the smile that is worth the
homage of earth
Is the smile that shines through
tears.
There are those who will con
denim him. They believe that to-
day he is reaping the benefit Of a
misspent life. There are those who
are dominated by medieval creeds.
These | am not addressing. They
are ruled by the skeleton hand of
the past. They fail to see the moral
side of a character lived outside
their puritanical ideas. Riley Gran
mans goodness was not Of a type
that reached its highest manifesto
tons in ceremonious piety. It
found its impression in the hand
clasp of friendship. 1t found its
voice in the word of cheer to a dis
couraged brother. His were deeds
OF quiet charity. His were acts of
manhood.
Riley Grammar lived in the world
of sport. My words are not minced,
because | am telling what | believe
to be true. 1t was the world of
sport, sometimes hilarity, some
times worse. He left the impress
of his character upon us all, and
through the medium of his iinan-
cial power he was able with his
money to brighten the lives of all
who knew him. He wasted his
money, so the world says; but did
Lit ever occur to you that the men
and women of such class upon
whom he wasted il are yet men and
women. A little happiness brought
into their minds means as much to
them as happiness carried into the
lives of the straight and the good.
If you can take one ray of sunshine
into the night Of life and thereby
carry a single hour of happiness
you are a benefactor. Riley Gran
nan did this.
God confined not His sunbeams
TO the nourishing of potatoes and
corn. His scattering of sunshine
was prodigal. Contemplate. He
filings the auroral beauties round
the cold shoulders of the North. He
hangs the quivering picture Of the
mirage above the palpitating heart
Of the desert. He scatters the sun
beams like myriad Of lakes that
gem the robe of nature. He spang-
les the canopy of night with star
Jewels and silvers the world with
the reflected beams from On high.
He hangs the gorgeous curtain Of
the Occident across the sleeping
room of the sun.
God wakes the coy maid of the
morning to step timidly from her
boudoir of darkness to climb the
steep of the Orient, TO fling wide
the gates of the morning and to
| trip over the landscape, kissing the
flowers in her flight. She arouses
| the world to herald the coming Of
her king, who floods the world with
effulgent gold. These are wasted
sunbeams, are they? | say to you
that the men or women who, by
the use Of money or power, are able
to smooth one wrinkle from the
brow OF human care, or to change
| one mans sob into song, or to wipe
away a tear and to place in its
stead a jewel of joy, is public
benefactor. Such was Riley Gran
1 nan.
THE time has come to say good
bye. For the friends and loved
ones not here, let me say goodbye
loId man. We will try to exemplify
the spirit of your life as we bear
the grief at our parting. Words
| fail me here. Let those flowers,
Riley, with their peialed lips and
perfumed breath, speak in beauty
and fragrance those sentiments too
tender for words. Goodbye