The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18


that celestial fire of animation which
attracts the gaze of the mob and
elicits the applause of the rustic. He
was in his youth a son of Mars. For
scarcely had he reached the age of
maturity when the thrilling bugle note
scenes of his native village to the
bloody field of carnage. He answered.
He enlisted with the 10th New York
volunteers. and was chosen first lieu
tenant. He marched with head erect
beneath the stars and stripes out upon
the fields of old Virginia. In the smoke
of battle he barred his breast to the
noble lance of the hero OF the south
Honest blows he gave and received in
the CRIME and sweat OF awful conflict
At night he lay among the dead, and
heard, while gazing wonderingly at
the stars above, the groans of those
who died. And on the morning, when
day stood tip-toe on the misty noun
tain top" he followed his leader again
to meet his enemy, the most chivalrous
enemy, he often admitted with un-
feigned pride, that mortal man ever
boasted of.
oiOAiCu HI Shifdhy VI
And grim visaged war smoothd his
wrinkled front" Mr.. Finch had come
to know the south. He gloried in the
! chivalry of the south. He glored
in the fact that the greatest Roman
whom he had helped to conquer was,
indeed, the greatest. He had learned to
love the heaven blessed land of Dixie
and he was perhaps among the first
to cross the boundry, following the
battle, and grasp the fallen and call
him brother.
With determination to make his home
in the land of Lee and Jackson, and
the heroes who had followed and suf-
fered with those chieftains, Mr.. Finch
travelled. He visited Europe, and on foot
passed from country TO country of the
old land across the sea. He saw with
a fine sense of understanding And
when he returned there was no other
man, perhaps, more thoroughly
equipped to write-to write plainly and
honestly.
He became joint owner of the Atlanta
Constitution, and there in the fourth
floor of the old building fronting
| Broad street, he served with Joel
Chandler Harris, Henry w. Grady, Wal
lace Reed e. p. Howell, Henry Rich
ardson and Others in making the Con-
stitution one of the greatest newspapers
of the south His love for Uncle Re-
mus enuuTeu until the END. When that
kindly spirit crossed the river Mr.
Finch was deeply grieved, and it is
possible that today the souls of these
great men are mingled to prove the real
fmpotency of death
Breadth of His Love
But it was not a characteristic of Mr..
Finch to love to exclusion the stars OF
a newspaper He was the friend of the
office boy, of the cub reporter and
the father by adoption of all the women
He listened with marked attention to the
boastings of the old reporter, so at.
tentively that the man VINO boasted some
times thought he had scored a deep im-
preston.
And on the Constitution, the younger
members of the force loved him The
lines at the head of this column, deep
and graceful and beautiful in their
| rhythm, and even lofty In their meaning,
We're written to Mr.. Finch by Frank L.
Stanton, and could not have been written
unless inspired by long tested friend
ship, a calm admiration for real worth
and .mert. and a love for kindly spirit
In 1886. on account of the il-heath Of
| his Oldest son. he disposed of his interest
in the Constitution. and with his brother,
Frank. engaged for II years in the pro-
duce business at Plainfeld, n. j. IN
| 1898, Mr.. Barrett persuaded him again
! date, Mr.. Finch until the moment of his
death, was editorial writer for The Age
Herald. On this morning, on which is
printed the Jubilee edition in celebration
of the twenty-ffth anniversary of this
| newspaper. there appears in another col
umn a learned and kindly article from one
of the most thoughtful pens which ever
wrote line in Birmingham.
Good Said Even in Life
A great deal that is good could be said
of the dead, but not more than was said
when he lived. For Mr.. Finch was one
of such nature tina, 20 know him was
to love him. His friends are grieved.
The women of The Age-Herald have shed
their tears. The men have of a sudden
grown grave and thoughtful. The little
office boy walks about his duties un-
thinking-his mind wandering far away
on the awful mystery of death.
And though the world despite the end
of great and good men does move on as
if unknowing--even though the giant
press OF The Age Herald has turned with
its rumbling sound, and even though the
reporter viii follow again the trail of
his beat, the memory of the writer will
still endure.
There is here the knowledge of a vacant
spot which will never be fllod There
is the Idle shears Ranging from the wall,
the empty chair before the silent desk.
| lie was great nsn and good. He was
| loved by those who knew him. His death
| has caused the falling of many tears
| lie died as he lived-brayely. He has
| crossed the river with all the courage and
confidence of the Immortal Jackson. and
| in Arlington beneath the flag of his
] country, his remains will lie cntombed
until the time shall be no more.