The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1914-12-13
4 PROBLEM
BY BILLY MURPHY.

4 & y
Thomas e. Killeen it was who
propounded the; question, and 1t
was Thomas ID. Killeen who had to
answer it. why Is It that cham
pions never haze sons capable Of
perpetuating their grcatness?"
Mr.. Kll1een is a gentleman OF
wide travel and considerable cuI-
ture. Hesis eminent in sport and
IN business. 1t was interesting re-
Gently. to hear him answer his own
question.
.The great. II cryptic George
Meredith. novelist, had a tailor for
Q grandfather" said Mr.. Killeen,
He figures as the great NAL In
Evan Harrington That master
piece OF irony turns out to be moth
ing but, Meredith's scariAcation OF
his own snobbery. In order to dis
guise this fact OF the tailor grand
father, biographers OF Meredith
went to the gentle extreme of sup
posing that Meredith's grand
mother had child by some noble,
man that she palmed Off on her
tailor husband. Isn't that beauti-
full and chivalric? II is. 1t Is so
beautiful that it's pity Meredith
could not have given play to his
comic spirit upon the subject. Mere
dith. It is supposed will lose caste
! now that the great fact is known.
1t was while cogitating of Mere
dith that the thought occurred to
me that great men never have great
fathers.
ALL FAMOUS MEN ARE
BORN OF GREAT MOTHERS.
Il do believe and contend.
4 however. that all great men had
n great mothers.
1T has always been a favorite
theory of mine. that it's the moth
ers. not the fathers. who make men
great. John l.. Sullivan has no
children that fill the eye; Bob Fitz-
simmons has a son whose mother.
Rose Julian, was as great an ath-
lete as the New Zealand wonder,
but 1t is not OF record that the lad
y will be a fighter or an acrobat of
distinction.
Going further back into the rec
ords of famed fighting men, we
note that Samson left no descend
ants able to perpetuate his name.
Goliath of Gath was childless, al
though there We're few men in
those days who did not leave few
sons and daughters.
David was an ancestor of note
md a handy man in u free fight,
but aside from Absalom. who
showed a good deal of spirit when
he slew some of his brothers, be-
cause Ajoinidab did not treat
lamar weir mono of them were
fighters.
Solomon. the chief of the sons
of David. was too wise to fight with
the sword. He preferred matri-
mony and membership in the
league for Civic Building.
DAYS or STIRRING EHAS
FURNISH NO EXCEPTIONS.
Moses was a fighter as well as a
lawgiver. but he left no sons ca
pable OF shifting the Philistines. 1t
is.the same with Joshua and Gideon.
and most of the other warriors Of
stirring eras.
Even the Olympian heroes were
not capable OF Transmitting their
proves to their sons. Hercules
was a bonny man. but he left not
n scion who was able to WELD his
club.
Alexander the Great had faith
err, who was renowned as fighter.
but the strain seemed to run out
in Alexander. Richard Occur de
Lion left no fighting sons. Henry
" II.
who killed Hotspur, and estab-
iished himself as n man at arms,
left an heir who was child when
he was 60 years old.
Edward " was valiant knight
( and his son. the Black Prince, was
no amateur with a lance or a battle
*. but the majority of the fighting
kings Of the Middle Ages left sons
who were not able to cope with tn.
sons OF men Of less renown.
The immediate descendants Of
William the Conqueror were no,
renowned for personal proves. al
though one of them was fond of
the chase and was killed while
hunting.
y The descendants of Charlemagne
WeIS uoI Soou HSutInS men and so
far as known, Charles MI of Swe-
den and Peter the Great of Russia
and Romulus. who founded Rome.
and killed his brother Remus for
laughing at the job, were not faith
ers Of husky boys. Buffalo Bill
has no sons to carry on the old
trade OF fighting and scouting, and
Prof Bill Clark is childless.
Gen. Fred Grant was the son
of miGnty warrior. but the best
he was able to do was to walk, or
was it ride. in the front of parcel
Of men who were equipped for
fighting.
CASE OF OLD BILL CLARK
{ AND MIR. OWEN MEREDITH.
As for the hero of oyster Bay
and San Juan Hill. none of his
progeny have shown signs OF cat
ing 'em alive. AS with rlen. so It
THERE VIII pl