THE KUSKO TIMES
A. X. Grant, Publisher, Sole
Owner and Editor.
Twice a Week:
Wednesday and Saturday
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Entered as second-class matter E'ebru
ary 1, 1922, at the Post Office at
McGrath, Alaska, under the
Act of March 3, 1879.
MCGRATH, ALASKA. OCT. 14, 1922
‘The Unknown Soldier.’
The Unknown Soldier has been a
symbol to his fellow fighters as well as
to the nation that did him the honoa of
burial at Arlington. To the former he
has seemed a debt aod a duty paid once
and for all by a nation. Meantime a
tribute which aims to express what the
nation felt in burying the Unknown
Soldier at Arlington is crowned with
one of the Pulitzer prizes. The writer
now emerges from anonymity as Frank
M. O’Brien, of the editorial staff of the
New York Herald, and receives the
prize of $500 “for the best editorial ar
tible written during the year, the test
of excellence being clearness of style,
moral purpose, sound reasoning, and
the power to induce public opinion in
the right direction.” The article was
published in the Herald on November
11, 1921, and is herewith reprinted:
That which takes place today at the
National Cemetery in Arlington is a
symbol, a mystery and a tribute. It is
an entombment only in the physical
sense. It is rather the enthronement
of Duty and Honor. This man who
died for his country is the symbol of
those qualities; a far more perfect sym
bol than any man could be whose name
and deeds we knew. He represents
more, really, than the unidentified
dead, for we can not separate them
spiritually from the war heroes whose
names are written on their grave
stones. He—this spirit whom we
honor—stands for the unselfishness of
all
This, of all monuments to the dead,
is lasting and immutable. So long as
men revere the finer things of life the
tomb of the nameless hero will remain
a shrine. Nor, with the shifts of time
and mind, can there be a changing of
values. No historian shall rise to
modify the virtues or the faults of the
Soldier. He has au immunity for whieh
kings might pra.v. The years mav
bring erosion to the granite, but not
to the memory of the Unknown.
It is a common weakness of humanity
PROFESSIONAL
Albrecht and Taylor
LAWYERS
Iditarod, Alaska,
and at
705 L. C. Smith Bldg., Seattle, Wash
Practice in all Courts.
to ask the questions that can never be
answered in this life. Probablv none
to whom the drama of the Unknown
Soldier has appealed has not wondered
who, in the sunshine of earth, was the
protagonist of today’s ceremony. A
logger from the Penobscot? An or
chaadist from the Pacific coast? A
well-driller from Texas? A machinist
from Connecticut? A lad who left his
hoe to rust among the Missouri corn?
A longshoreman from Hell’s Kitchen?
Perhaps some youth from the tobacco
fields, resting again in his own Vir
ginia. All that the army tells us of
him is that he died in battle. All that;
the heart, tells is that some woman
loved him. More than that no man
shall learn. In this mystery, as in the
riddle of the universe, the wise won
der; but they would not know.
^Vhat were his dreams, his am hi
tions? Likely he shared those com cdod
to the millions; a life of peace and hon
est struggle, with such small success as
comes to most who try; and at the end
the place on the hillside among his
fathers. Today to do honor at bis last
resting-place come the gmatest sol
diers of the age, famous statesmen
from other continents, the President,
the high judges and the legislators of
his own country, and rnaov rpen who,
like himself, fought, for the flag. At
his bier will gather the most remark
able group that America has seen. And
the tomb which Fate saved for him is,
instead of the narrow cell on the vil
lage hillside, one as lasting as that of
Ratneses and as inspiring as Na
poleon’s.
It is a great religious ceremony, this
burial today. The exaltation of the
nameless bones would not be possible
except for Belief. Where were Duty
and Honor, the "ell-spriDgs of Victory,
if mankind feared that death drew a
black curtain behind which lav noth
ing but the dark? So all in whom the
spark of hope has not died can well be
lieve that we. to whom the soldier is a
mystery, are not a mystery to him.
They can believe that the watchers at
Arlington today are not merely a few
thousands of liviDg, but the countless
battalions of the departed. *‘Tbo he
were dead, yet shall lie live”—there is
the promise to which men hold when
everything of this earth has slipt away.
All the impressive ritual of today
would be a mockery if we did not be
lieve that, out in an infinity which
astronomers can not chart, or mathe
maticians bound, the Unknown Soldier
aod the glorious dead whom we honor
in his dust are looking down upon this
little spinning ball, conscious of our
reverence. And when dooo arrives,
signal for the moment of silent prayer,
few of those who stand with bared head
head will lack conviction that the rites
at Arlington are viewed by other than
mortal eyes. Only in that spirit may
we honor the Unknown Soldier and
those who, like him, died for the lie
public.
Unknown, but not unknowing.
Late arrivals from Tacotna state that
Mr. and Mrs. Gus Guliiokson recently
opened their newly-completed hostelry
at that place. The upper floor is di
vided Into private rooms, every one of
which is reported to be occupied at
present. Downstairs Mr.-Gullikson has
a soft-drink emporium.
It is the intention of Mr. and Mrs.
Gullikson to have a formal opening as
soon as the trails will permit the at
tendance of their many friends.
Louis Gorman writes from Big river
that he is doing well in his new trading
post, also that Diamond Diok .Rhodes,
who recently purchased the . roadhouse
at that place, is settled and ready for
business, which will be plentiful as
soon as winter travel opens.
Ralph Dulac left this morning for a
trip up the Nixon.
Arrange to Spend the Night at the
Big River Roadhouse
Best possible meals. Private rooms.
New dog kennels, and the best of lower river fish
for dog feed.
Diamond Dick - - Proprietor
The wonder is how Kurope got-elong
in the old day6 when she could bunap
her head without howling for America
to kiss it.—Capper’s Weekly.
^Few people, however, ait up at night
figuring out a way to spend their share
of the sairingriB Hooted bo? Ged. Dawes.—
Springfield State Register,
y You see. Congress has done so nobly
that the country has decided that it
needs some of them at home foj? a
spell.—Dallas JNews.
■
I
s
Big,. River jf
i ^
General Supplies Fresh From thej
Outside 1
Furs Bought and Sold
Larson Roadhouse
> {Formerly The McLean, Tacotna.)
Best of Home Cooked Meals. TrampftAttention ,
New Dog Houses Under Construction.
. i
.. i mi n mi.
y
Mrs. Frank Larson - Proprietor
Geo. W. Hoffman
\
Pioneer Trader of the Kuskokwim Valley >
Napamute. Alaska
New Goods Have Arrived j
One of the best stocks ever • brought into the
Kuskokwim Valley. Yes, the; prices are right
LOUIS GORMAN
ALASKA RIVERS NAVIGATION
COMPANY
Operating Light Draught'Steamers
On the Kuskokwim.
4;
€apt. Wallace Langley, Manager.
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