The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-11-23
The Passing Of Our Bob"
From the Burlington Hawk-Eye.

III From the 6urlt
/ Robert Jones Burdette. soldier,
journalist, author, lecturer. preacher,
passed away at his home at Sunny
icrest,r Pasadena, California, at two
o'clock Thursday afternoon, November
10, 1914.
We call him "Our Bob" because he
was, and so recognized by the press
and the great reading public He be-
gan his career as humorist upon
the Burlington Hawk-Eye and was
known far and wide as "The Burling-
ton Hawk-Eye Man, He was pleas
ed with the designation, took pride in
it, and later in life secured place for
his son, Robert j. Burdett, Jr., upon
the editorial staff II have whim,
said Mr.. Burdette In q personal let
ter. ITO have my son begin his news
paper career upon the same paper
that his father did"
| But while the writer. who was as
ISOLATED with Mr.. Burdette upon the
editorial stan of the Hawk-Eye looks
/ back with pleasure upon those happy
days of beginnings, and will ever
cherish their precious memories, 1t is
with sadness that ne has come in the
closing days, forty years later. to the
task OF recording the passing Of his
old-time friend and associate. The
occasion demands the pen Of Burdette
himself to portray the emotions, the
Joy Of reminiscence, the sorrow OF the
philosophers. and the wisest of earth
have essayed tasks OF similar charac-
ter and occasion, yet the portrayal al
ways falls short of desire and effort.
The most indescribable phases of hui
man life are the most real. Drummondi
has said, love is the greatest thing
in the world; and so it is, but neither
pen nor brush has ever done 1t JUS
tice. We pause at the verge of the
grave, across which and into the far
beyond the vision of faith wings its
fight, but we cannot measure or
weigh or estimate faith, friendship or
any Of the qualities of the soul. We
mourn; that is we'll and natural. We
lift our faith to higher pinnacle, and
that is better.
When Mr.. Burdstte came to Bur-
lington to take up his work as city
editor OF the Hawk-Eye, its readers
began to take notice of a change Of
atmosphere in the local news columns
The news was still there, but it was
dressed up in new garb, quaint,
and yet natural enough style. 1t no
longer was prosaic record of events.
Glints of humor began to appear
among the reporters paragraphs, and
| when news was scarce, imagination
met the demand for copy not the
fiction that deceives, but the draft
uron the imagination that is oftener
nearer the truth than the staid, ortho-
dox recital of facts For Burdette's
writings were based largely upon OBJ
seryation, personal experiences, peo-
PIE he met, the events of the day.
These were the seed that fell in fer
! tile soil; genius developed the growth.
Soon. Burlington began to laugh.
| Here was something new in standard
newspaper work A few frowned;
| frowned because it was an innovation.
! What is new must be wrong. But aft
! err awhile the critics discovered under
| the humanizing influence Of Burdette's
| fun and pathos, that they themselves
were innovations: newer than their
| fathers and grandfathers, and that
they needed the harmless spice of
Burdettes humor to brighten and
| make more human, and therefore
more useful, their lives.
| Discovering early the real talent OF
| the young man, Mr.. Frank Hatton,
the editor and publisher of the Hawk
Eye, soon promoted Mr.. Burdette to
/ the dignity and enlarged opportunity
| OF a regular editorial writer and later
as managing editor, position he held
until he began his career in the lecture
field. While engaged in that more
profitable, but more arduous pursuit,
| he continued to correspond for the
Hawk-Eye under the pseudonym OF
Roaming Robert
Both his editorial writings and his
correspondence were largely quoted
| by the press of the United States and
Canada and gave the Burlington
! Hawk-Eye more than local reputa-
ton. In 1877 Mr. Burdette's first lee
ture was published in volume issued
| by the Burlington Publishing Com
pany, an organization formed by citi-
zens for that purpose The title was
I "The Rise and Fall Of the Mustache