Memorial to Henry Clay Twice Struck by Lightning

1910

At Lexington, Kentucky, Shattered by Electric Bolts

Lexington, Ky. — It is a singular coincidence that lightning twice in succession has destroyed the statue erected in the cemetery here to the memory of Henry Clay. Years ago the people of Kentucky, proud of the greatness of Henry Clay and his distinguished public services, erected a handsome memorial to him in the cemetery where his ashes repose. In 1903 lightning shattered the statue crowning this memorial and steps were soon taken to repair the statue. A new one was placed in position the past summer. Before it could be dedicated lightning again destroyed it.

This elemental action seems typical of the life of Clay himself. He was one of the commanding figures of his time, distinguished as a statesman, orator and diplomat and greatly admired by millions of Americans. His one great ambition was to be president of the United States, but his prospects, even when most promising, were always shattered, just like the statue on the top of the imposing shaft, which a grateful state has erected in his memory.


Boastful Men

Men are inclined to boast, yet, according to statistics, three out of four are buried at somebody else's expense.


Heroes

Hero worship cannot be eradicated from humanity. It is well that it is so. It is a splendid thing to have heroes in history as definable ideals. It is a great thing to have also some living heroes as great ideals of our dally lives. But, above all, it is supremely important for us to keep before our minds the divine Master as a perpetual ideal. Looking up to him we grow toward God. — Rev. Oliver Huckel, Congregationalist, Baltimore.