Evening star., 1945-01-28
Fifty Years Ago
Charles A. Dana, famous editor of the
New York Sun, was the founders day

Charles A. Dana, famous editor of the
New York Sun, was the founders day
speaker at Cornell Uni
Dono on versity. and The Star for
Freedom January II. 1895. carried
nearly two columns of
the text of his address. In part, he
said: 'The value Of the free press is not
now sufficiently appreciated in this
country. 1t Is only some particular cir
cumstance, some unusual occurance,
that can make 1t rise clearly before the
eyes of us all. I don't know that can
state it with sufficient distinctness, but
in my judgment the highest function Of
the press is that it forms the final bar
rier which stands between the people
and any gross wrong that may be at
tempted by dominant party or by q
ruling public favorite. If such a cir
cumstance should ever happen, and God
grant that it may not, the mission of
the press, lifting its voice in. defense of
the Constitution and in defense of the
spirit of liberty, will be recognized, and
the free press be appreciated as the
defender of the public welfare, of the
Constitution and of liberty ITSELF"
Ever SO often the City of Washington
is disturbed by some minor yet infinitely
pitiful tragedy which oc-
Pothetic ours in what may be called
Footnote Official life" A case in
noipt uac that uyhicb uoc
referred to in The Star of January 18,
1895. as follows: "Asheville, N. C.-Miss
Mary G. Stevenson, the oldest daughter
of the Vice President of the United
States, died at the Battery Park Hotel
in this city at lis O'Clock this after
noon. Her father and mother and two
sisters surrounded her bedside when the
end came, the only absent member of
the family being her brother, Lewis
Stevenson, who Is at the bedside of his
sick wife in Bloomington, Ill Miss Stew
enson, who was in her 22d year, was
taken Ill with a severe cold while at Bar
Harbor, Me-, with her mother and sisters
last summer. The attack developed into
pneumonia of severe type, which seri-
ously affected her lungs. For
the past 10 days she has been slowly
sinking, and 1t was when the decline be-
came most marked that Vice President
Stevenson left Washington and hurried
to her side" Living until June IA, 1914,
the young woman's distinguished father
concealed his bereavement and in his
final years devoted himself to the writ
ing of a modest volume on Something
OF. Men I Have Known" which tells lit
tie of his own career, but as the Die
tionary of American Biography says
Reveals well his natural modesty, his
capacity for friendship and his great
personal charm"
An Associated Press dispatch dated
Washington, January 18, 1895, and
printed in The Star for
for the following day, told
rhn,;tv how: The Star, 'the lead
ing newspaper of this city,
gave a pound party : for the benefit
of the poor of the city, who have been
suffering severely this winter Every one
was asked to bring a pound of something
useful. The response was most generous,
over 100 wagonloads of provisions being
contributed OF this, four loads were of
flour, and the rest was nearly all of
substantial and nourishing character. A
few persons sent golden English pounds
sterling, others pounds of copper cents.
Many articles were brought in private
carriages, occupied by fashionably
dressed ladies, but the greater part were
from people of moderate means, some
of them poor people themselves. -.
The food viii be distributed through the
regular charity organizations of the
city,"
Press agents In the gay nineties were
not exactly blushing violets. The Star
for January 10. 1895,
Bond Leader printed this proof
Appreciated Of the enthusiasm.
volubility and whole-
hearted sincerity of one of them: John
Philip Sousa and his peerless band will
appear at the Grand Opera House to-
morrows night. Mr.. Sousa is a rare
illustration of born leader, and to his
personal magnetism. allied with the in
dividual talents Of the bands members.
can be traced the surprising excellence Of
the organization. The band comes here
fresh from great and renewed triumphs
at the St Louis Exposition and Manhat-
tan Beach and Is playing in superb form.
The playing Of Sousa's stirring marches
BY this band Is totally unlike the play
ing OF any other band, inasmuch as the