The Nenana news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1916-1918, 1917-02-24
HEROES PAST AND PRESENT

tIInVLU nUt INV ! NkUINt
When Napoleon crossed the Alpine crags,
With the tri-colored flag in advance,
The wind from old Splungen tore her
into rags;
The emblem most dear TO France.
But above the din of torrent and wind
Was the roar of all avalanche, sweeping,
And many solder was hurled so unkind
To the canyons below. slowly freezing.
But bark! What was heard from the dim
depths below?
The taps of drum, reveille beating;
Where boys mangled body. half COW
cred with snow,
Slowly deaths door is greeting
No hope of rescue, his fate calmly met
His bones left to bleach i'll the canyon.
Tho heroes have died, heroes live yet,
And hero will claim our devotion.
Old Nero on Rome's lofty palace at rest,
While the city by flames was devoured,
Calmly his Tyre he played on his breast
AS the sparks of the flames DER him
showered.
What cares hero of meeting his doom?
He's calm when facing Hell's fury;
HIS SpliIt 10 oilSit, tho Sui louhoSo ~
gloom,
Vale of tears becomes blaze of glory.
On Nenana dark streets, at sixty below,
While the peaceful Nenanates slum-
bered,
Hark. A bell tolled signal, its NEAL
ing we know
And all men from their beds volun-
TERED
They COPIED with the FIRE; how, later III
tell,
But the price! all humanity staggered
Heroic Dethlefsen, to the hot jaws of
He'll,
His name lies with the rest of the
martyred.
He tolled at the bell regardless of mitts
And with bucket toiled til the morrow;
Fierce Jack Frost neer danipened his
grip
But plunged the scene into sorrow.
The Legion of Honor, the great Iron
Cross,
Have been pinned OH breasts far less
worthy;
Not destroying but by saving. he suf-
fered loss,
Sacrificing both hands for the many.
So here's to our hero and his dutiful wife,
Respect and deep sympathy from us;
We pledge you our sympathy to the end
of this life,
| Success and true love is our chorus.
And when Old Nenana's thing of the
past
And most of US parted forever, ...
The embers of friendship will shine to
the last,
And the hero of Nenana S first FIRE.
What we saw at the fire I'll tell you in
brief,
(But don't let the truth hurt your feel
ings;J
A fire is just like can of corn'd beef,
Rotten, but good while you're eating.
There were buckets and tin pans, all
:. sizes and shape,
Hustled to the scene of excitement;
Axes, extinguishers. all things but red
tape,
And no one adorned in refinement.
Men without stockings, some without
shoes,
One man in his night shirt was run
ing;
One glimpse of these ginks would cure
the blues
If shown on the movies some evening.
l saw saw in the hands of Curtis,
! Saving away at lamp;
Billy Gagnon with his apparatus
Fearing the fire would get damp.
Roy Dbuse doused bucket of water
Plump, into Mike Meagher's face;
He feared this cigaret smoker
Would draw all fire from the place.
heard old Jim Momb mumbllng,
With both hands rubbing his nose;
And Bailey tried vainly to couple
His socks to freman's hose.
The house was all topsy-turvy.
And everyone rooted like pigs;
A pick in the hands of Big Leckie,
| And an AK in the hands of Tom Riggs.
When to it's zenith rose the smoke and
the fire,
And excitement froze everyone's snout,
In mushed Doc Smiths Chesapeake ter.
| rier,
He sneezed! And the fire went out.
R. c. MORRIS.