The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-10-09
HARRIS ADDRESS AT
SCHMELTZER'S FUNERAL

1
Harris at the funeral of ]. M
Schneider last week that it is giver
in full below. After a breif historica
sketch of the lie Of the deceased Mr.
Harris said:
THAT is one story of the life Of
Jacob Schmeltzer. 1t is the easies
one TO tell. There are others who have
story-a beresved father. berefi
widow, an orphaned son-but these haC
best be left in the realm of sacred
mystery where they belong.
81 would like to tell my story-ths
story of friendship. He was one oi
the first men met in Hood River. He
made me feel at home. | was raised
near where he lIved we had many
mutual friends, yet We had never met
before. We were not thrown together
a great deal: there was nothing out oi
the ordinary in our relations, yet thers
was something about him that made
him stick in my thought and affec.
tion. | confess a deep sense of per.
sonal loss. would not eulogize hin
if ! could. do not wish to make him
seem to be anything he was not.
81 think our personal stories would
run very much the same. If cannot
console you in your grief,I hope | may
be able TO comfort you somewhat with
the thought that if we saw much OF
good in him God must have seen more.
Our love would not call him back. We
resign ourselves to the will of the
Heavenly Father. Our selfishness
would, doubtless, wish him back, but
let US, in the houI. remember him and
forget ourselves Suffice to say, he
died too soon for everyone except him
self.
There is larger story we con we'll
tell. Every life d measured by the
size of the stage upon which it acts.
He wove his life into the lives of
man5J Our loss is corporate loss.
We are organically related. We oper-
ate upon each other. Our lives are
lived in concert. Jake helped to
keep US up to concert pitch. In busi-
ness we have lost a faithful, ardent
worker; our homes have lost worthy
advocate; in fraternities you Odd Eel
lows have lost an odd fellow in deed
and in truth, you Knights of Pythias
have lost Damon; you councillors for
the city's COED have lost a conscieQ.
tious fellow worker. We are minus a
simple life. Our loss is great. The
pathos of it is as the prophet said Of
old: The righteous man dieth and
there is none laying it to hoart and
men of kindness are gathered without
any considering, that frCn the face of
evil, gathered is ttD righteous one. He
hath entered into peace. they rest on
their beds each one going straight for
ward. Let US today be more than
witnesses to the mere fact that we
sustain a personal loss. Let us recog-
nize our need of such men in private
and community life and see to it that
we may be found in the paths to which
our sense of loss points US.
LET Us rejoice, then, in the fact
that mat which makes our sense of
loss so keen is the very thing that
makes this an occasion op glad corr
graduation. Our loss was once our
gain. That which was and is most po-
tentiaf remains. The removal of the
physical presence of our brother but
accentuates the poyep of his embodied
spirit. If the great lifo Of Jesus, the
Prince of Life, means anything to the
world il is that the powm Of love,
gentleness, kindness and gDod will is
ever stronger than the powers Of arm
and arrsies. The universe is keyed to
mortals and it would have born tt19
most unnatural thing in all Gods ur0-
vers if such life as He lived coufd
have been snufRd out by the Roman
soldiery or kept within the tomb by
stones and mortar seals. Riehte0as-
ness. love, justice, are eternal.
Wherever they abide there is immor-
tality.
"There is no private goodness in this
world. The strength of every man en-
ters into the strength of others. 1t is
easier to be true since Paul Revere
lived it is easier to be kind and merci-
ful since Grace Darling ministered to
others; it is easier to stand for God
and country since Abraham Lincoln
batted for the right. We'do bnt httlGo
but the Titles of each life and genera-C
tion are the increAents that mark
progress. As truly as we are the heirs
of the past we are the heirs of what
our brother has left and the RESPONSE
biilties of the trust are upon uSN The
bSgt Of his life remains. We bury
yery httle after oall-only the fleshy
easket of his spirit. Let us know that
I" A good man never dies
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands and honest eyes.
If smiles or tears 6e there
Who lives for you and me-
Lives for the world he tries
To help-he lives eternalIy
A good man never dies.
" Who bravely lives to take
His share of toll and stress,
And, for his weakSQfellows' sake,
Makes eveU burden less
He may, at least, seem worn
Lie fallen-hands and eyes
Folded-yet, tho we mourn and mourn
A good man never dies.
'Our concern is TNNt so much about
him with whom we have been called to
part-our concern is about ourselves.
What are we? What are we doing?
Let US ask:
If you and today
Should stop and lay
Our life work down, and let our hands
fall where they will
Fall down to lie quite still
And if some other hand should come
and stoop to find
The threads we carried, so that it
could wind,
Beginning where we stopped; if it
should come to keep
Our life work going-seek
To carry on the good design,
Distinctively made yours or mine,
What would it find?'
LET our sorrow, then, be turned TO
joy. Weeping may endure for a night,
JOY cometh in the morning said the
Psalmist. 1t is not the promise of in
terchange-mere compensation; not
that God will, after. the rain, send the.
or after the downs of life
send the ups. 1t is the promise of |
possible transformation our very vale
of misery may become we'll of water
springing up into everlasting life. |
Much as we regret this experience, let |
Us use it to test the power of our
Heavenly Fathers love; sad as this
event is, let US capitalize it and there
al Al