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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36785-0.txt b/36785-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52dc094 --- /dev/null +++ b/36785-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3467 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. Barrett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Treading the Narrow Way + +Author: R. E. Barrett + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36785] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREADING THE NARROW WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + By R. E. Barrett + + Boston + THE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING CO. Inc. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + Copyrighted 1917 + By R. E. BARRETT + _Rights Reserved_ + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + PREFACE + +The chapters in this book are not based on fiction, they are not drawn +from imagination, they are not gems that come from culture and learning, +but are gleaned entirely from the rugged school of life, and are for the +purpose of cheering the down-hearted to a realization that a good life +has its just reward, that through continued combat every temptation, +obstacle and evil will vanish if a strict observance of God’s law is +kept in carefully treading in the narrow way. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + DEDICATION + +To that dear teacher who urged me to go to school when I was past twenty +years of age, and helped to mold in me the true principles of honor. + +To a fine Judge on the Bench whose many fatherly talks to poor +unfortunates, whose feet had slipped from the narrow way, who helped me +to obey and respect the law. + +To a splendid intellectual lawyer, one of God’s clean home men, whose +guest I have been at many intellectual feasts, to him I owe the +avoidance of the saloon and learned the intrinsic value of sobriety. + +To my two eldest sisters, one sister-in-law, and my devoted wife through +whom I learned the desperate struggle and what it means to live clean. + +To a poorly paid self-educated minister to whom I am deeply indebted for +the first introduction to my master. + +To these in the major part, and a few others, God bless them all, I owe +whatever I am to them, to these dear people I affectionately dedicate +this book. + + R. E. B. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. Early Footsteps. 9 + II. Getting the Backbone. 21 + III. The Two Paths. 32 + IV. God’s Intention Man’s Prevention 46 + V. The Sadness Behind the Vale 61 + VI. Gratitude. 71 + VII. Just Poems. 87 + VIII. Sallie’s Loyalty. 112 + IX. Sunshine. 117 + X. Temperance. 133 + XI. Every Day Philosophy. 145 + XII. Glimpses from the Past. 158 + XIII. Hopes That Exploded. 179 + XIV. The Weary Traveler. 196 + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + +TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + + + +EARLY FOOTSTEPS. + + +Robert Emmett Barrett was the soothing and patriotic cognomen my father +fastened upon me when I first opened my eyes and I looked him squarely +in the face. I say my father named me and I honestly think he did. The +first two-thirds of the name proves my contention and opens the book +wide enough that the reader has no trouble in discerning the nationality +of my father. Mother was an English woman and I knew it the first time +she called father “Arry.” If mother had had her equal rights in naming +me, I might have been a Gladstone; but somehow or other father +monopolized mother’s half interest and she finally became disgusted and +told him to name me any blooming thing he wanted to. If mother could +have foreseen this savage war across the orient, I believe, she would +have handled the center name, but the way it stands I wouldn’t shoulder +a gun for England and I can’t use my undeveloped oratory against +Ireland, and I am about half persuaded to let them settle their own +troubles. It being no fault of mine that I am half Irish and half +English, I let it go at that and get along with everybody the best I +can. It’s hard to separate the halves from the whole, and so, from a +perpendicular standpoint, I give the Irish the top half and the English +the bottom half; I’d rather let the English have the running half +anyway. + +So far the name Emmett hasn’t done me much good, I’ve only used it nine +or ten times since I had it, thrice at political speeches, a couple of +Fourth of July addresses, once on Decoration Day, once at a church +wrangle, and a few times when I was mad. I find it doesn’t help me much +on bank cheques, they get turned down as quickly with the Emmett signed +as without it. If the name is ever going to do me any good I wish it +would hurry up and be a progressive or I will be compelled to think +father was impartial and talked mother out of her rightful one-half +interest. + +After the ordeal of naming me had been fairly or unfairly dealt with, I +was told I was a free born American citizen and some day I might be +President and have absolute dominion over the blue room, where I suppose +the chief executive goes when he has the “Blues.” I never considered +this encouragement very seriously, for, as I have read in some almanac, +there is only one chance in eighteen million, the odds are against the +slim chance and it’s sort of a blue skim milk proposition or a church +raffle affair, and if it’s the only time that opportunity is going to +knock at my door I don’t think I’ll be at home, I’ll let Wilson do the +best he can and let some live Republican Progressive have my chance. + +If Wilson would only hurry up and get the Government to make those loans +they’ve been talking so long about and loan it, at about four per cent, +to citizens like myself, irrespective of names and nationality, and not +have the principal come due too quickly, but in periods, like twenty +year franchises, I believe he ought to have a second term; but if he +doesn’t get some loans placed pretty soon I don’t know what hard working +men like myself are going to do. + +The only thing I ask Wilson to be careful about when he loans the money +is the rate. I don’t want to see the rate on loans as high as it was +during Cleveland’s second administration. + +I borrowed eighteen dollars in 1894 to settle up a partnership fanning +deal with a Methodist preacher. It seems that outside of the banks no +one had any money, and you had to call on the gentleman banker, get down +on your knees and have tears as large as pullet eggs rolling down your +hollow cheeks, if you succeeded in your desires. Somehow the bankers +knew they had a good thing; they not only got the fat and tallow but +they stripped you clear to the bone. + +The eighteen dollar note was dated August 28, 1894, and read in part; +“With interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum”; and from here on +comes the craftiness of the banker: He interlined thus: “From January +18, 1894, if not paid when due.” On October 23rd the same year I paid +ten dollars on the note; September the 11th, 1895, six dollars; and +December the 5th, 1895 the final payment and accrued interest was eight +dollars and twenty-five cents, making a total of twenty-four dollars and +twenty-five cents on a loan of eighteen dollars for one year, three +months and seven days. What was the rate of interest charged? That +banker is retired and worth a hundred thousand dollars; hadn’t he ought +to be? + +To borrow money under that rate you needed the health of a bear, a +cataract of energy, a colossal mind, unlimited self-respect, boundless +self-confidence, all impregnated with an iron honesty. That kind of +interest makes me feel like the investor, who bought some unseen land +from an honest real estate man, and, when he went to look at his +property he found it submerged in water. The real estate man told him it +could be irrigated, but he had no idea it was susceptible of such +profuse moisture. After he gazed at it a while he said “Instead of +buying this land by the acre I should have bought it by the quart.” He +probably has an unrecorded deed, I have the paid note in my possession, +I feel proud I got it paid; but my pride halted suddenly when I got it +paid and in all these years it hasn’t advanced much for men who can take +a nickle and make it into a dollar so all fired quick. Some time I’ll +frame that note with a glass on both sides of it. + +Coming back to the early events. I was born beneath the shadows of the +Rocky Mountains where the placid and sleepy Platte wound leisurely +through the broad meadows and sleeping undeveloped valleys and had +abundance of God’s elixir before the day of the great reclamation +projects that sapped its mountain waters. + +Because I mention the Platte here, don’t get me mixed with that other +fellow that has made the Platte famous and was until recently holding a +cabinet position on an underpaid salary, he’s no relation of mine and I +never knew him until he ran for President. He did the opposite from what +I did and took that one slim chance, made three strikes and fanned; I’m +glad I let it alone. + +When I was six years old and my parents still said what I should do they +took Horace Greeley’s advice and went a hundred and six miles farther +west. At their destination there was no buildings except the section +house, depot and a little building that sheltered the hand car. The +entire population was not over a baker’s dozen. I don’t believe there +was a quieter place on God’s footstool. + +One good thing about those days was the taxes; I think a week’s +compensation on the railroad would pay the taxes, County, State and +Municipal from 1887 to 1890. How we have progressed in taxes since then! +Especially Colorado. + +In this little dreary place where I had no associations to lead me +astray I took account of my surroundings. I was away out there on the +barren plains where the grass curled and burned under the blazing sun, +where foliage was scant, where the lonely cactus and prickly pear +awaited the step of man to imbed itself and cause more pain, no trees or +flowers to whisper words of encouragement, no cheerful forest or shady +dells, nothing at all to cause the deeper emotions of a queer nature to +assert themselves. Nothing but the broad miraged prairie stretching as +far as the eye could see. + +No cooling breeze to alleviate the pain on a youthful face or the faces +of those careworn early pioneers who blazed the way for future +generations, who would erect homes, till the soil, plant trees, and +endeavor to further promote civilization, until succeeding generations +would reap the pleasure and peace that was purchased through these +sacrifices and hardships of their forefathers. We owe to the pioneers +such a vast debt of gratitude that we never can pay the the principal +with no interest attached, and it’s a different kind of interest than +four per cent a month. + +After I had grown to manhood and my lot had been cast in other places it +was over fourteen years before I saw much of the old scenes, but when +returning to the old places I noticed great changes. The town had grown; +few of the old places were left and the old haunts and nooks were hard +to find. + +A dreary and quiet sadness steals over one when looking at his boyhood +and manhood earliest recollections, and as I glanced at the old scenes I +stood and looked longingly, earnestly and lovingly at the old familiar +places. There was the locust grove I helped to plant two decades ago; +there was the little stream after which the town was named: there was +the old pump which so many times quenched my thirst; there was the exact +spot where dearie said the joyful word; there was the old house where +our first baby was born; there was the farm patch I used to plow, and +the meadow where I pitched the hay. All seemed different and as the +pathos of the change surged in my breast I walked away longing for +something I couldn’t get, and would never get again. + + + + +GETTING THE BACKBONE. + + +About the year 1889 when I was seventeen years old I commenced on the +lowest rung on the railroad ladder and went to work on the section. I +was frail physically, and must have been the same mentally, for I never +got beyond the third rung. I worked in the days when you spoke for the +spring job the preceding fall, and then often your application met +failure. In hard times when jobs are few the fellow that has them is +blessed with unusual longevity, and whenever some one did pass beyond, +his demise was railroad talk for a long time. + +When you consider that all through the central west, which had a few +years earlier been homesteaded after several repeated crop failures, +almost the entire population were looking for employment and the only +cash job in the country was a section job, you can realize how desirable +and prized a position it was. + +I don’t remember how it came that my application was slumbering all +through the cold winter with a large number of those half-starved +homesteaders who hadn’t raised anything for so many years, received +recognition in the spring; but it did and I got one of the plums. + +The first time I pumped a hand-car I fully realized the Lord had made no +mistake by taking out one of the ribs and leaving the backbone whole. If +you ever pumped a hand-car I will pass from this painful mode of travel +and let you refresh your own memory and backache. + +I got along pretty well, when the “Boss” wasn’t nervous that the road +master would come along and want to borrow another fifty dollars on his +word without interest, everything went nicely. When weed cutting time, +came I gritted my teeth, held my back as straight as I could and whacked +away. Besides the excruciating pain in the back that made you feel like +you would like to give one long piercing yell, throw your shovel away +and run for town, there was the additional pain of seeing the “Boss” +sitting on the hand car resting his back. He had the advantage and the +authority! I must keep at it and cut the weeds or the wheels of the +locomotive would slip, the traveler couldn’t resume his journey, all +traffic would stop, and down would go the railroad stock and let out all +the water. + +It would have been a blessing if the water could have been spilled by +some patent process where the weeds were to be cut, but, monopolies +monopolize and if the Lord didn’t see fit to have the rain fall in +September instead of June no one was to blame, except Grover Cleveland. +The Republicans said the country always went to the dogs and dried up +when the Democrats elected a President. I was too young then to know +much about statesmanship and I wouldn’t want to say for repetition +whether or not the Lord and Cleveland were working together or +otherwise, but I do remember some one was mighty stingy with the +moisture. + +If you, my dear reader, have never had the privilege of cutting weeds +for a dollar and thirty-five cents per day for three weeks in succession +then, for all that’s good and beautiful, take my advice and let the Jap, +Greek, or Italian have your place and do the mowing. Either of them can +get better wages and any of these dark-skinned brethren will do as much +in three days as the white man would in one day and cause the pale face +no extra exertion. + +The pain in the back caused from close association with a shovel from +seven o’clock to twelve o’clock and from one o’clock to six even now, +over twenty years afterwards, almost makes me break down and give vent +to my feelings in a more noticeable manner than my friend Taft when he +was informed that he had carried Utah. If you have ever been tortured +with lumbago, you have a slight knowledge of what races up and down the +back of a weed cutter. When he bends down he can’t get up and when he +gets up he can’t get down. There you are! Humiliated, suffering and mad, +knife blade sticking you whenever you move, but you must or bust. You +are a free born American citizen but you must lose sight of the special +endowment when you are cutting weeds. The constitution may be back of +you, but just at present you have got to get back of your own +constitution and a “darn” good one too, or you’ve lost your job and that +dearly beloved stipend of thirteen and one-half cents an hour. + +Being on the low rung of the railroad ladder is the same as in all other +departments, the man at the bottom gets the low wages, needs the good +back and carries the heavy burden. He don’t need much brain; he is told +what to do; how to do it and when. He’s told when to go to work and when +to quit. Brains would be a nuisance and, if he had any, he wouldn’t be +working on the section. Time has proved that, and the Dago takes his +place. + +What became of the Irish, Swede, German and Bohemian section men of +twenty-five years ago is more than I know. Extempore, an increase of +brains did something for him and you don’t find him tramping ties with +the Dago. But the man at the low rung hasn’t much choice; he can work or +quit. His job is always in jeopardy as he couldn’t save enough in a year +to loan out an occasional “fifty” to smooth the feelings of an over +auspicious road-master. He’s at the bottom and whatever falls goes down +to him and in an undignified way he must carry the whole load, for it +can not go lower. The general manager can ease his feelings on the +superintendent, and he on the road-master and the road-master can growl +at the section foreman, but when the section foreman dumps the whole +putrid, half-boiled mess on the unlearned day laborer you can see the +urgent necessity of a fine piece of choice workmanship in the middle of +the back. You seldom see a man with a front like a wash-tub turned +edgewise working on the railroad. There is no room for him! You must be +able to see your feet if you cut weeds, and have a stomach that can say +“Hello” to the backbone at nine fifteen A. M. + +When the winds used to tear loose from the nasty bad lands of South +Dakota and come tearing over the semi-arid plains for three days in +succession at a velocity of sixty miles an hour it seems the Lord could +have improved on man by giving him a gizzard to grind up the accumulated +gravel that had been beaten into his daily bread. It came pretty near +taking the hide off from me to keep pace with those hungry homesteaders +who were afraid of losing their jobs and existence. + +I am glad that I had the backbone. The term is applicable in two ways. +One is the acquisition of a resilient mechanism in the center of your +back, starting at the base of your brain and running down to a certain +point or as far as is necessary, and the other is a priceless stamina, +determination and a square deal. I am not sorry that I acquired some on +the railroad; its a good thing to have in the every day affairs of life. + +I hardened my backbone when I worked on the steel gang a few years +afterwards, and, if there is such a thing as a steel backbone, I claim +some right to its possession through low remuneration and dirty cabbage. +Keen retrenchment policies make better satisfied stockholders and also +make wages that would embarrass a bumble bee if he were buying a pair of +leggings and expected to pay for them. + +It takes unlimited backbone for a congressman to vote “Yes” on the +prohibition amendment and turn down the easy money of the brewers. It +takes backbone for a president to cast custom aside and step into the +halls of congress and demand that the party pledges be kept. It takes a +better backbone to enter the same halls and take a determined stand on a +cause that means better citizenship. It takes backbone if the minister +ousts the liberal paying hypocrite who is helping to kill the church +with his pocketbook. + +It takes backbone every day you live and if you don’t use it in the way +it was intended you can’t tread the narrow path and expect to slip into +heaven without being recognized. You may do it on earth but you must not +try it where you are known. It takes backbone to be a Christian, the +earnest conscientious kind, that can lay all jealousy aside, all +prejudice and hatred and give the offender a square Christian deal. +Unless you can do these things you CAN’T be a Christian, the kind that +Jesus told us to be. The other kind is a sham and an out-and-out sinner +is far better. True Christianity will not allow one individual to do +another of the slightest wrong. The conscience of a real Christian will +not allow any ill feeling or the harboring of malice. You know it’s +wrong, your conscience reminds you of the wrong and unless you remove +that kind of Christianity you can never receive the fruits that come +from the narrow way and be a successful Christian. You know yourself if +you are a sham so why try to fool anybody and carry a false label. + + + + +THE TWO PATHS. + + +Don’t forget the warning of the Saviour when he says: “Enter ye in by +the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth +to destruction, and many are they that enter thereby. For narrow is the +gate and straitened is the way that leadeth unto life, and few are they +that find it.” Travel the path that becomes shining gold, the one that +grows lovelier, the one where you are never alone: You’ll need the +friend of this path when the heartaches and trials are hard to bear. +Don’t chance the other path and sell your soul for pleasure, wealth and +damnation. + +The journey of life, be it one of success or failure, closely resembles +two paths. When we reach the age of accountability we must of our own +volition choose one of these paths. Where the paths commence to fork out +and go in separate directions we see a sign spread clear across the +entrance and it says: “I am the way, the truth and the light.” We study +this for a long time and then go to the other side and on the same sign +board it says: “Though your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter +than snow.” We are young, full of life and can’t really understand what +it means but we are ready to start on life’s pathway and there are only +two paths to choose from. + +We look around and see the broad, open path with no restrictions, filled +with the aroma of choice flowers, we meet social companions, have gay +parties, they tell us of the pleasures they are enjoying. From this +survey and study we note that the broad path looks cheerful and +inviting, the narrow one seems straight ahead as far as we can see. + +We can notice that the crowd seems to be going the broad way. People in +all conditions of life, well dressed, prosperous looking people of +wealth and affluence, and the ordinary working people in their customary +garb. They look happy and contented, and we decide to take the broad +way. + +We didn’t notice, until after the start, that the course has a +descending grade and we get a long distance on the way before we call a +halt. We have seen a great many things that are not elevating and we +conclude that after we go a short distance we’ll turn back, start over +and take the other path, and though the things that looked so inviting +at the beginning are losing their attractiveness. + +The demoralizing things we see are pitiful. There is a poor fellow +reeling with drunkenness. MY! hear that vulgar, profane language coming +from the foul mouth of that young man. There’s a party drinking wine, +laughing boisterously and telling stories that are very improper for +ladies and gentlemen. There is a poor girl in a calico dress that seems +to be alone; her face looks sad and she seems to be watching and waiting +for someone. There is a pitiful story in her once pretty face that would +cause you to weep if you knew it. + +Look at that old man with a gray beard; he has been a powerful man in +his day, his well built physique tells that. He’s a man of more than +ordinary intelligence, his features show fine breeding. He must have got +on the wrong path from not noticing the sign board, he seems out of +place here. I thought so. He is turning back! My! how he stoops as he +commences the ascent. But he is sticking to it. There he is telling a +younger man of the mistake he made and is trying to persuade him to +accompany him back. Well, isn’t that splendid! They’re both going back. +It must have been that last remark that the elder man said to the +younger man that persuaded him. “Lo, I am with you always even unto the +end of the world.” + +There is a whole crowd about to start back; are they going? No, they +listen to that well dressed fellow over there smoking a cigarette, and +holding up that beer bottle and he has influenced them to go a little +further. It must have been that last remark he made when he told him +there was going to be a beer drink and a free dance at Switzers that +persuaded them. + +They go on and on; they are commencing to look ragged and worn out; the +roses have flown from their cheeks: their eyes are no more full of +lustre and keenness; the gray hairs are showing, the step is not so +firm, but still they go on. Now they are old, they have lived so fast +and reckless that they haven’t hardly got the strength nor the +inclination to start to climb that long hill that took forty years of +the best part of their lives to descend. It seems an impossibility and +they do not desire to consider it. + +Look at that poor woman over there. Listen to the poor soul as she is +down on her knees and the tears are falling like summer rain. Listen to +her broken, sobbing words. My, isn’t she the most pitiful, dejected and +forlorn looking creature you ever saw! Hear her as she sobs “Lord, I saw +the sign but oh I was so foolish, I didn’t heed it but I remember it and +dear Lord hear me, I’m old, feeble and poor, I am friendless and I have +sinned and broken Thy laws. Oh take me as I am. Amen.” + +Who is there beside the blessed Jesus that can pick up this poor +unfortunate daughter as she now stands before the bar of sorrow and +despair awaiting her dues? She was given and entrusted with a pure and +innocent life in infancy but she was frivolous and sought after wealth, +power, position and the many other transitory and fleeting things. She +took her clean, innocent life and so soiled and stained it that it would +be unrecognizable to any one but he who gave it, and now, when it is +filled with barrenness, she comes to her maker with her wasted life, +when in all candor and sense of fairness she could expect nothing in +return, but he says to her “Though your sins were as crimson they shall +be whiter than snow.” + +Then we see the other path that was trod by the bleeding feet of the +lowly Nazarene. We know the anguish and pain he suffered; we think of +the fiendish death he died that he might say to a sinful people; “Come +unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” + +This narrow and straight path may not be so beautiful at the beginning +as the broader one. We think if we follow it all joys and pleasures are +gone. But what a mistake, for each day that we travel, it becomes +prettier, the flowers are sweeter, the trees are greener, the skies seem +bluer. We find temptations and trials but we have some one to lean on, +and there is a sweet peace and enjoyment known only to his followers. It +makes it easy to pass the saloon and enter the church. The Lord is in +that little church and his servant there knows every man, woman and +child for miles around. See them cluster around him; he loves them; each +day he lives he does some one a kindness. He listens to your sorrows and +heartaches; his joys are your joys and never a word or thought but one +of goodness and kindness has he for anybody. He looks tired today; he +spent an all night’s vigil at the bedside of a sick friend. Did you see +him when he stopped and caressed that little girl who had broken her +doll? It meant something to her and he has won her everlasting +gratitude. See him talking to that young fellow over there who is +wavering and unable to decide which path to take. Notice his warm and +friendly attitude and see, he has won his confidence and has got a +promise from him. See that sweet-faced, light-hearted maiden, he has +just come from her home and she has consented to lead a better life. + +Look there, will you! He is helping up that poor man whose feet slipped +from the narrow way and he is taking him home to the broken-hearted +wife. See the sadness on his dear old face as he gives what comfort he +can to the poor woman; he’s back again the next day and is talking to +them both. “Yes,” they said from now on they’d cling close to the +marriage vows. Don’t they all look happy and pleased. There he is again +talking to a poor man who has been unsuccessful, he worked hard, lived +pure but went too heavily in debt and can’t meet his obligations. Worry +is making him sorrowful and shortening his days, but the dear pastor +with his hand on his shoulder and his warm words of sympathy has a +telling effect and the heavy clouds are leaving his countenance and as +they part, each understands the other. The cordial, glowing hand-shake +is given and both have received good. There he goes again; he’s just +married a young couple and is advising them, he is telling them not to +be down cast when a snag comes along but to work together, tread the +narrow way, keep faith in God, and He will bless and prosper them. + +There is pain in his heart today; he has just come from the home of +broken-hearted parents who have laid away in the silent city their first +born. In his great love for them he has told them about Jesus, the +sorrowful life he lived, the great pains and heartaches he endured, and +he did it all for them. As he leaves they love him as a father and a +sweet peace has descended upon them and the wound commences to heal. + + And so it goes, day after day, + He’s telling some one of God’s narrow way; + He’s planting some flowers where flowers should be; + He’s smoothing the path from dull misery; + Here a kind word, there a good deed, + He’s doing his best to meet every need. + +The greatest need in keeping in the narrow way is in sincere and earnest +prayer accompanied by a tenacious faith, is the only source that leads +to the full and sweet companionship of the blessed Jesus. The every near +realization, what God can accomplish for us fulfills the truth that the +ever listening ear of a just and righteous master has ample succor for a +burdened and heavy heart. Faith without something to justify its +establishment, though it be ever so great, is in reality groundless and +contains no true merit, but honest prayer for honest motives and coming +from a desirous heart is the great medium through which sinful mankind, +so prone to err, is brought into a close relationship with a wise and +prudent God, a God who willingly compensates every effort whose basis is +a true and unselfish heart. + +Trust God fully at all times and pray with such sincere, fervent and +unselfish motives as is only needed to replenish a pure and unspotless +desire. When prayer is answered, as God sees fit to answer, we can +discern its force and effect in our hearts from the knowledge and fact +that a change has taken place and a deep feeling of keen satisfaction +has fully satisfied a craving want. If this were not so the prayer alone +without any manifestation from a true and living God, would be +worthless. A long composition of nicely polished words spoken to an idol +could in no wise be called a prayer. The densest mind could surely +realize that no sympathy lies in anything not able to comprehend a +feeling. Silence would be better and is more valuable. It is better to +keep still than to say something that would cause some one to err or +stumble. + + + + +GOD’S INTENTION MAN’S PREVENTION. + + +God’s handiwork and its beauty is manifest wherever the eye rests. The +towering mountain peaks, the great boulders, the babbling brooks, the +peaceful valleys, the green grass, the beautiful flowers, the shady +dells, all speak of his master hand. The moon-beams playing on the still +waters, the sunshine streaming through the golden clouds, the perfect +poise and artistic shape of the trees growing on the mountain side among +the jagged rocks where the hand of man never trained or cultivated them. +There they stand as sentinels waving to and fro by the gentle breezes +and tell of His wonderful works. The wild flowers growing side by side +in the shady dell, each a different color, whisper His wonderful plan. +The little brook dancing and playing in and out among the deep chasms +chiseling its narrow passage among the granite, jumping over big rocks, +rolling little pebbles, it steals here and there until it spreads out on +the great plains and fertile prairies into a rushing river hurrying on +its way to the ocean. The beautiful sun-set casting its long stream of +golden beauty over the western sky mocks at the skillful artist when he +tries to imitate its marvelous shades and tints. The moon breaking +through the silvery clouds and showering the heavens with beauty and +grandeur rests its glory on the evening dew, and the millions of +diamonds glitter and glisten in a splendor and elegance far beyond the +hand of man. The many stars hanging like precious gems upon a great +pedestal twinkling and sparkling tell the same story of His wonderful +handiwork. + +God was not satisfied with all these marvelous things and, though they +are perfect, good and beautiful He must surpass them. He must have a +crowning effort to all their glory. So to defy imitation He brought +forth His masterpiece and called it man. The incomparable and +unsurpassable, the grandest achievement of his architecture. In his +wisdom He provided everything for his needs and comfort. Sunshine to +warm him, darkness to rest him, trees to shade him, give him fuel and +shelter, birds of song to cheer when weary with labor, flowers to +beautify, soil to produce whatever he sowed, rain and sunshine to mature +it, meats of all kind to nourish him, fruits, fishes, grains, honey, +milk and everything necessary for his growth and sustenance, He made him +pure, clean, strong, and beautiful, just a little bit lower than the +angels. He furnished man everything to start with. It was no disgrace if +his hands were blistered and dirty if they were stained by honest toil, +he fought hardships and privations, he was the hardy pioneer blazing his +way for home and country, raising his children near to nature’s heart +and cleanliness. He gave to posterity strong, hearty, rugged men and +women, he lived honorably, his labor was rewarded and he died ripe in +years as a fitting tribute to his great achievements. + +Time rolled on! Years became centuries! Methods changed and the great +plan of God was lost. + +Greed, avarice and monopoly commenced to steal the bread from the +infant’s mouth; the keen and bitter struggle for existence is in full +sway; the great land of liberty and opportunity no longer can put forth +her boast and call and call for him to come, build homes, prosper, live +well and accumulate. + +What changeful conditions today from then! We boast of our great +enlightenment and yet we are like the drowsy cat under centuries of +domestication. As soon as the raw meat is put before us all the +centuries’ training is cast aside and we are ready to do acts of +barbarians. Instead of being able to arbitrate and handle all questions +of war through peace tribunals we cast aside the brotherly teachings of +the great book, increase the standing army, build more warships, enlarge +the navy, and be ready for war, ready to shoot our brother, ready to +destroy his home, leave his children penniless and fatherless, a widow +to struggle and mourn, posterity to be enfeebled, a gigantic debt to +stagger many generations unborn, a country bankrupt and all teachings of +love and better citizenship disgraced. + +No wonder our people are discouraged and feel we are slipping away from +the preamble of our great Constitution! If this age and this country can +not handle all questions, national and international, and extend the +fullest measure of brotherly love where peace is needed; what age or +country can? + +I think it may be America that will be called upon to lead other nations +and have them cast aside their war preparations and prepare for peace. +In every crisis through which this country has passed we have been +fortunate, thank God, that the right man has always been found. We have +had our Washingtons, Lincolns, Websters, McKinleys, Wilsons, and +hundreds of others and in every instance when some great problem has had +to be solved, either in this country or abroad, in either science, +statesmanship, literature or art, no matter how perplexing, difficult or +intricate, American brains and ingenuity, in the vernacular of the day, +has brought home the bacon, Swift’s premium, if you please! + +I have always felt deeply sorrowful for the man who studies long and +ardently with a bowed head resting upon his hands. His whole soul seems +to be calling for the fine sympathies that can only be rendered from the +loving teachings of the Nazarene. He is calling for the tender affection +that is keenly necessary to right him just before that sullen burning +wave of despondency casts him into utter gloom and sorrow. O +Christianity! Christianity! amid wealth, society, culture, influence, +peace, advancement, laws, legislators, and boasted liberty where art +thou? + +Visit the parks of any cities, towns or small villages and you can find +sitting on the benches man after man who is unable to solve the problem +of an honest existence. There he is, honest, clean, and worthy of good +citizenship, unable to find labor that will keep him an honor to +society. What will become of him in this land of boasted opportunity and +liberty? Plenty for all; but monopolized and organized until the +laboring man is almost ostracized. Look at his countenance, clear cut, +manly and open, haggard, yes, but from what? From worry, loss of sleep, +lack of food, responsibility of a family without funds, etc. But withal +you find no look of dissipation, no odor of liquor, no foul language, +and still with all these excellent qualities of meritorious citizenship +he is sinking. How long will he stand it? + +Were you ever in a condition of this kind when any way you turned you +were outfigured. How long can a man have a thorn like this continually +getting deeper and deeper into his flesh before he will make a grasp for +it, and endeavor to release the pain? Where is the cause? What is wrong +with our wide heralded economic system? This condition being true of the +man with a family how alarming to the young man of today without a +family? Show me any incentive or inducement for the common ordinary man +of today without funds to cause him to establish a home and rear a +family under the grand old Stars and Stripes, and I’ll show you a man +that loses worse than a bankrupt in the finer sense of the word. + +Without the establishment of homes this nation can not stand. No matter +how frugal a man is, no matter how economical his habits you can give +him the most promising part and he can not marry and rear a family +because at every angle he is beaten. What is he going to do? Free land +is almost gone, food stuffs are high, all his needs are expensive; how +can he make it? Every line he wishes to enter is crowded! Reason for +yourself and see if this is not true. + +When you talk of large families, who raises them but the poor people and +this will soon be eliminated. If the poor man raises one child he is +doing more than his duty to society than the rich man. The expense is +such a night-mare and horror to a common, ordinary and honest man to +provide the necessaries of life for his family that I sometimes shudder +and feel sorry that I caused children to be born, fought for a home, +paid my debts, and lived clean. I wouldn’t want to do it again for my +country, and I love her as I do the man of Galilee. + +I fear America is no longer another word for opportunity as was said by +the beloved Emerson, unless she helps him to establish homes on the +public domain by loaning him money at a low rate on long time periods +and keep him at work and help him along and not foreclose when he is +doing his best to win. He’ll win, give him a chance. + +What Emerson said may have been true at an earlier period it was so +intended, but the plan was lost sight of and the great greed for wealth +was accomplished to the detriment of the majority who have been obliged +to make their living with their hands. It is a sad fact but true that +there is a revolution slowly kindling in the breasts of the laboring +class of people against capital; God grant that in some way the fire can +be put out. + +I have sometimes thought what’s the use of living. The sorrows and pains +outnumber the joys by a large margin. You slip down the hill of pleasure +without any exertion, but to climb the mountain of morality is a +gigantic task, for every step is a struggle, and after you have fought +and won nine-tenths of the journey one misstep and you slip to the +bottom and the whole climb is before you again. It’s fight, fight all +the time, continually and forever! It robs you of nature’s rest, steals +away your ambition, stirs up hatred towards those in easy circumstances +and causes conditions of unrest and strife. + +Is life worth the gigantic struggle to overcome the perplexing +difficulties and endeavor to live honest and clean and not slip down the +path of despair where the great majority seem to be going. I say it is! +“For, what do you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own +soul.” + +Let your mind ponder over the story of Lazarus picking up the crumbs +from the rich man’s table and you must conclude the starving beggar +gained uncomparable joy and satisfaction to the rich man’s torment when +the two men’s lives were carefully weighed on the scales where God +predominates and not the sugar trust. It pays! It pays in a thousand +different ways! + +There is something to a man that lives an upright life in the church and +in the world. He is a valued asset to any community, he may be poor but +he has character, and this is something money can not buy. It takes a +good life to make a man. A fellow that is rich and lives solely for the +pleasure of his money is not a man. + +One time I mused thus: If it could be so, just for the shortest duration +of time, while temptation was the strongest and the fierce conflict was +raging, if I could be blind, absolutely blind till the strong temptation +had passed and then let me see again and have my first sight catch the +last glimpse of the golden sun as it dipped behind the western horizon, +leaving behind a long stream of golden beauty stretching out in its +grandeur to kiss the evening sky; even if a scene like this could erase +the temptation and the blindness prevail during the surging of the +conflict, how could my faith be increased by not having the moral +courage and strength of character to withstand the evil? It’s the +casting aside of temptation by the sheer strength of the will power that +makes the struggle easier, the way grow brighter, and the victories +grander. If God would allow such a condition once, we, in our weakness, +might ask again and again and instead of growing stronger we would grow +weaker. It is the heroic fighter who has won his laurels when the +bullets of evil whizzed all around him that you like to go up to and pin +the medal on. + + + + +THE SADNESS BEHIND THE VALE. + + +A life of self-denial and sacrifice is the grandest object the sun +shines on. There is nothing under the azure skies of heaven so worthy of +true merit as the pure, unspotted and unselfish heart of a sacrificing +mother. How my heart aches for the poor, worn and tired mother whose +whole life is confined in four walls with three or four children, laying +claim to her entire time and attention. You do not find these kind of +women saturated with society; they are not fanatics on woman suffrage +nor are they riding through the streets in a limousine with a +good-for-nothing yellow-nosed pup sitting beside them. In common decency +how can any woman with any affection or mother love center it upon such +an object as a despicable, worthless pug-nosed cur. If it was a dog like +a Shepherd, St. Bernard, Newfoundland, and many others, there would be a +little better taste shown, but when it is confined solely to the mongrel +whelps and Teddy bears I think it is high time to pick up the Bible and +read the thirty-second chapter of Isaiah from the first to the twelfth +verse inclusive. Lord, but it is pitiful to see such things committed +when there are thousands and thousands of poor little homeless girls and +boys starving to death for some one to love them, give them a home and +then see a poodle woman and her poodle dog go rushing by. + +For a long number of years I have had the pleasure of being acquainted +with one of God’s self-denial mothers. If this earth contains anything +sweeter and the next world anything better the mind of man so far hasn’t +been able to conceive it nor the Bible to reveal it. In her early +womanhood and all through her life she has been frail, small-boned, +short of stature, delicate, and very unmuscular. Her’s was not the +physique to struggle as she has against life’s tremendous battles, but +she took up the burden cheerfully, looked every difficulty in the face +squarely and openly and lifted her voice to the ever-listening ear and +overcame every obstacle with gentleness and love. When heartaches, pains +and sorrows seemed so heavy that human endurance could no longer stand +the strain and tension, she would, through the channels of her wonderful +self-control, step from beneath the heavy clouds of trials and sorrows +out into the sunshine of God’s holy love and stand master and conqueror +of every trial. The loyal battles she has swept with victory are worthy +of such praise and eulogy that the human mind can not find words choice +enough to meet it. + +Poverty with all its worry can not engulf her, for she has that faith +that there will be a way provided and she determines, and the mountain +is seen moving in the distance. No time to partake of many pleasures is +her lot; she must study her every day cares, rear her children, school, +clothe, and provide for them. Many times a tear stands where joy should +be. It is beyond all understanding why her cross should be so heavy when +every atom of her strength has been used to make the world better, but +no matter how heavy the load is, how painful the head might ache, or how +discouraging the teacher, the present every day conditions must be met +and the sooner begun the sooner ended. Every minute is occupied or the +accumulation of wasted time makes the burden heavier. + +The hands work and the mind works. Neither can rest and accomplish the +needs, and while the hands iron and bake and wash, the mind is occupied +on what the hungry mouths demand, and how an old coat or vest or an +under garment can be made into an article of service. + +These are the kind of women worth while; these are the kind that more +than do their part in sustaining a great government. Her lot is not a +pleasant one, but she hands down to posterity a better and more +substantial foundation for better government than any class of women in +our nation; her life is an open book where the entries are made on each +day’s pages. On page after page you can see where the tears have fallen, +where the struggle has been so keen and bitter that hope had almost +fled; but turn the page and you will find renewed hope. The +ever-listening ear has heard the words bathed in grief and the answer +came, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” How a +few dollars from some good-hearted philanthropist would ease the way for +this poor little struggling woman. Why is it when she has reached the +point in life where she should expect the most the least is at hand? She +has passed the thirty-eighth mile post, with the odds strongly against +her. The system is torn down more rapidly than it can be built up. +Everything seems to combat against her and endeavor to overwhelm her, +but sorrows, discouragements, trials, hardships and heartaches with +their utmost collective strength have not been sufficient to thwart or +encompass her. Every one has been defeated, the cost has been gigantic, +it has stooped her shoulders, chiseled deep creases in her brow and cast +snow among her locks, robbed her of comforts due her and strewn old age +where youth should be. The sad face still smiles and with an +unconceivable determination she meets every foe in the great battle +field of life and crushes them. + +She does it from close application of that wonderful story of love that +is found in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew from the +third to the twelfth verses inclusive. The greatest solace to aching +hearts the world has ever known. The struggle would have never been met +and conquered if she had depended on her own strength, she needed a +higher source to guide her and in every struggle the lowly man of +Galilee stood beside her and when the cross became so heavy that she +stumbled and was ready to fall, his loving arm was ready to shield and +sustain her. + +With all her pains and trials there came into her life one night the +greatest sorrow of all, and although the load she had carried far +overtaxed her strength she had to bear another and heavier one. Her +little sweetheart boy of nearly two years old came toddling in one day +with the cruel marks of a fatal sickness on his sweet little face, and +after three days and nights of long vigil the tired mother laid down to +rest, and as she slept on a pillow bathed with tears the pure little +innocent soul was gathered into the arms of angels and carried away. +Years have passed, but the pain lingers and when the thoughts go back to +the silent form in the little white casket the tender heart of this pure +woman is so engulfed in sorrow that it seems it is entirely beyond all +human endurance and patience. It is then this still, small voice she has +known so long, again speaks and says: “Come unto me all ye that labor +and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” + + * * * * * + + How her dear heart did ache when the death angel trod + And took back her boy to his maker and God; + No sorrow nor pain nor heart aches nor tears + Are ever more known where he takes these small dears. + + There is something so sad in the valley of death, + When the heart stops its beat and there’s no longer breath! + That angels must come to ease up the pain, + And open the soul to let the tears drain. + + How long are the years and how many it takes + Before there is peace from the burning heart aches! + The home is so lonely so silent and still + There is something gone out that nothing can fill. + + His little things stand where he left them one day, + The little toy dog all ready for play, + The big choo choo train and the horse he called Bill, + All wait for the hand that is silent and still. + + + + +GRATITUDE. + + +Few people care to listen to your sorrows, trials and burdens if you are +not succeeding. If you succeed, everybody is grabbing for the stock no +matter how well filled with water it is. They point with pride at the +successful man as he saunters by; he can do a great many things that are +shady, but on account of his success and prominence they are hushed up +and never rise above a whisper; he’s dined and wined; gets cut prices on +everything he consumes; rebates from the railroads and special +privileges in the churches. But take the poor fellow that each day’s +debts eats up his pay roll and we never hear of his fine qualities until +we read his obituary. + +If you will take a few leisure moments and look up the meaning of the +word “gratitude,” you will find that there are few words that surpass it +in quality, love and kindness. It clusters near the soul and is properly +a virtue. In this life it is very hard to be misunderstood and +undervalued by those we love, but this too in the journey from the +cradle to the grave we must learn to bear without a murmur, for it’s a +tale often repeated. + +Any one who has given their time, talent and attention serving the dear +people, either as a Town Trustee, member of the School Board, Mayor, or +any of the petty offices of small towns and villages, used his best +judgment in endeavoring to meet every issue honestly, fairly and +squarely, wins for his gratuitous services the everlasting displeasure +of his constituents. + +No matter how hard you strive or how honest you may be there come up +little intricate issues where there is no middle course and no matter +what stand you take some people charge you with graft and dishonest +motives. Any one who can serve for one term and is so unfortunate and +foolish as to accept another, has acquired a character so colored that +it takes from ten to fifteen years in our best Sunday Schools to wash +out the stains. + +Don’t ever feel elated or think you are popular because you are elected +and people call you alderman, for the first thing they will do will be +to slip out that pleasant, sweet sounding word “Alderman” and put in +“Grafter” with the thumbscrews set. They’d call you a grafter if they +personally know the treasury had been depleted for fifteen years. My, +the pleasures of a gratis councilman! + +I have heard of people losing their minds for long intervals and then +suddenly regain them and I have often wondered if they had been favored +with an aldermanic pleasure and the mind commenced to slip into space, I +wonder if when the cog alderman appeared if it wouldn’t cause such a +jolt that it would clear the whole mental atmosphere. Perhaps there is +one redeeming feature and if it wasn’t for some consolation the pictures +and scenes would be so indelibly impressed that you would be able to +recall them long after you’d said “Amen.” + +The spirit of revenge and retaliation were never very deeply imbedded in +my make up. The seed being lightly sown I used the harrow instead of the +cultivator and got it out. I am glad I did; it has helped me to get a +good night’s rest instead of fondling and caressing discolored orbs that +might have come in sudden contact with solid and knotty obstacles. + +I bought a small business one time from a devout Presbyterian; I had the +greatest confidence and trust in him, which I had a sad right to have. +If false colors are carried we must find it out because they carry no +notice to warn us. Well, anyway, he spread the tempting menu of his +careful preparation in great shape. He was pleasant, courteous and very +entertaining. The way he figured up the invoice you’d thought +mathematics was his specialty. His tongue kept pace with his pencil and +after everything was figured up he brought up the “Bonus Good Will” part +and I really thought he was letting me do him a favor by giving him one +hundred iron men. You see I wanted his good will along with everybody +else’s. + +I am glad I learned about this “Good Will” business. All told “Good +Will” and “Bonuses” have cost me nine hundred and thirty-three dollars +thirty-three and a third cents. Don’t try to fool me on “Good Wills” +again; they’re a drug on the market, very unsaleable and unpopular to +your humble servant. + +After I paid the “Good Will” price and everything was agreeably settled +I started in with my maiden business. Going through the bags and some +other stuff in the back room a few days afterwards, I discovered bags +invoiced and paid for at one hundred pounds shy. “Shy,” I said, and he a +Christian! This taught me that there are eighty and ninety pound +Christians. The loud smelling, decaying and life moving gunny sacks +contained prepared meats for poultry. I quit in disgust and went into +the front department; a fellow stepped in and said, “How is business?” +and I answered “Rotten.” A frank acknowledgment of a painful truth. + +Other things ran about the same; the horses were sold as unblemished, +sound as a dollar, etc., and mind you, he a Christian and ministers +dropping in every few days and talking and planning how to increase the +congregation. My, I’m glad I used that harrow! When I sold out the +business, I marked down experiences one thousand dollars. I felt pretty +blue after I had lost the thousand bones I worked hard to get, and it +used to be when I got the blues I eased my mind with graveyard poetry; +pardon me for inserting it here. + + If I should die tonight how few would care; + Perhaps some heart would ache, some one somewhere, + Some might cast a lingering look, a tear + And tremble with emotion at my bier, + But before many days would pass away, + Before my silent form would turn to clay, + I’d be forgotten and alone, + And not a heart to ache or moan. + Oh! this bitter, lonely life’s a snare, + The kind friends you hear so much about are rare. + Some may mean it in their hearts but feign + And measure men by dollars not by brain. + +A friend came to me one time and said he was in pressing financial +straits and asked me to loan him fifteen dollars for two weeks. I +granted the request and the loan was made. I thought I was familiar with +the calendar and knew when two ordinary weeks ended, but those two weeks +were the longest I have ever known. Fortnight after fortnight passed and +no end came. Long and endless weeks of this kind might be all right for +the man facing the electric chair, but they had no solace for an +individual anxious to get married and needing the husky “Simoleans” to +furnish a cage for his waiting bird. + +One day I met the overdue biped and I said, “How about it?” I was young +then and I thought I could glide in as easy this way as well as any +phrase I had in my limited vocabulary. “Well,” he said, “I’ll tell you +what I’ll do. I know you are about to plunge in the matrimonial sea and +I have a proposition to offer you. I have a good standard make of organ +that I don’t need and if you will give me forty-five dollars and forget +about that previous fifteen we will call the transaction closed and drop +the curtain.” + +“All right,” I said, “here is your money.” + +That organ may not be in existence yet, but it’s in my memory fresh as +ever. I couldn’t play it, for it was all I could do to carry a tune when +it was tied in a bag. I had no wife to play it and I couldn’t keep it +and get married, I was in a desperate condition one day when I walked +into a hardware store, that is a store, you know, where they keep ware +that is hard, frying pans, dish pans, bread pans, etc., you know what +those things are for. “Well,” I said to the village wit behind the case, +“I’ll trade you that organ for enough household paraphernalia to cook +with, take care of enough viands and stuff or whatever you call it, to +keep two people about to start out together; each now separate and apart +but very anxious to be united.” “Agreed,” he said, “hand over that list +you’ve got with the articles on and I’ll have them ready in a short +time.” + +Funny, isn’t it, how the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb, but how +about the one ready to be shorn when there isn’t even a zephyr blowing. +Well, the deal was transacted, exchange made, and that is how I got my +household goods when I married dearie. The financial report read like +this: Actual cash in organ, sixty dollars; actual worth, forty-five +dollars; second actual value in organ, forty-five dollars; actual value +of pots and pans twenty-five dollars, experience and pleasure of making +a two weeks’ loan, thirty-five dollars. This was not putting a premium +on “Bliss” for a fellow just getting ready to carry the matrimonial +load. + +The weight would have been some lighter if that weasened faced Dutchman +had not worked off on me a left handed frying pan for a right-handed +bride, and was so extremely liberal on the good deal he had made that he +threw in a second hand mouse trap when the new ones sold six for a dime. +This was the first time I saw tears in my wife’s eyes. The fountain was +opened and they flowed freely. Those tears were trivial to the tears +we’ve in shed later life, but those first tears moved me to almost +unconsolable grief and the emotion caused a flow of poetry. It’s not +very long and will not tire you much, so I will slip it in here as a +filler. + + Cheer up, little darling, + You know my love is true, + And nowhere in this great big world + Is a sweeter girl than you. + I have loved you always + Trust me fully, dear, + Let me be your shining star + I’ll sparkle when you’re near. + And all along our pathway + We’ll never pluck a thorn, + But will pluck the roses + In life’s dewy morn, + Roses are more fragrant, + They’ll give us better cheer + And the thorns we’ll cast aside, + They are worthless, dear. + +When I was a County Clerk and exceedingly busy pushing the quill over +the big records, a M. E. Minister came in one day and accosted me with +that word that arouses confidence. Brother, he said, we are figuring on +a short order annex to the church, (remember that word SHORT?) and we, +of course, couldn’t slight you and if you will kindly donate as +liberally as possible the Lord will bless you abundantly, for you know +he loves a cheerful giver, and etc., and etc. Well, I responded. When +you get your subscription list in these parts drop in and I will help +you. + +I know what an annex to some of the churches without or with cook stove +means. It seems nowadays, as the prophecies are being filled, some +churches deem it necessary to feed the stomach before the soul, +realizing, I presume, a full stomach is a twin brother to a big heart. +They beg the food and the utensils to serve it in from uncheerful givers +and then dispense it cautiously and sparingly, the more sparingly the +more money for the Lord. When the ice cream is served they forget all +about scriptural measure of “Heaped up and running over” and run it +under. If one dish of scriptural measure can be stretched into four +dishes of worldly measure, there is forty cents instead of ten. High +finance, you see! I’ve often thought a society of this kind that would +squeeze down the measure on ice cream procured at a minimum cost, would +bear watching if they were running a milk wagon with a pump near. If any +one else gets money in this way they call it an unearned increment. What +would Jesus call it? I really would be afraid to express my thoughts at +that kind of a meeting for fear they’d request the parcel post. + +In a few days the brother dropped in and hoisted from his inside pocket +the subscription list and handed it to me. I glanced over it casually, +as is natural in such cases made and provided, to see who were the +cheerful givers. After concluding what I thought was a liberal donation +and really beyond what a man of my means should give I put down forty +dollars and handed the paper back to him. The ungentlemanly gentleman +took it and looked at it and said, “Well, we expected much better than +this from you.” You know what feelings ebb and flow within you when you +get a snub like this. I could feel the Irish blood chasing the English +blood at a hazardous speed, but I said nothing and was glad again of the +early use of that harrow. + + + + +JUST POEMS. + + + The Dog. + + Of all the beasts beneath the sun + There is no other, not a one, + That clings to man in sweet and bitter + As faithful as the canine critter. + + When fortune smiles upon its crest + And all your toil is richly blest + The loyal dog is near at hand + For slightest duty or command. + + When poverty comes stalking in + And you have lost your precious tin, + The good old dog is just the same + In dire distress or glittering fame. + + In tattered rags or spick and span + He has a truer heart than man, + And when you meet most keen defeat + His sympathy is there to greet. + + When you are old and had your day, + With feeble limbs and head of gray, + And angels come to take you home, + The good old dog is last to roam. + + He’ll watch beneath the stars at night + Beside your grave a sadful sight, + And wait and wait for many a day, + When faded flowers have blown away. + + A dog’s great love is most sublime, + It lingers near the word divine, + And intertwines from him above, + For dog turned around is God and love. + + * * * * * + + The Booze. + + Oh the ones who drink the booze, + You can tell it by their flues, + The torrid heat within flames up the nose. + At first they’re moderate drinkers, + And become the same as thinkers, + And what a sight for pity ere the close. + + Chorus. + + The booze, the booze, + Any way you choose, + No matter how you figure it you lose. + + How many homes that suffer, + When they shelter such a duffer, + Whose presence causes heartaches, tears and blows, + But you can always tell ’em + If you can’t then you can smell ’em, + But if all the signs should fail you there’s the nose. + + If you only take a drop + You know you’ll never stop, + Don’t you realize that dynamite explodes, + Better take an inventory, + Before you’re blown, no not to glory, + But to where they ignite quickly, Jimmy Rhodes. + + What’s the matter with your clothes, + Or do you for artists pose, + Don’t you ever meditate or think + There’s enough loam in your hair + To rob an acre bare, + Take an invoice before another drink. + + Stop, my friend, don’t be a slave, + Do not fill a drunkard’s grave, + Be a man from birth until close, + Come to him, the Galilean, + He will make your future clean, + He’s the one to take the add from off your nose. + + * * * * * + + What’s the Difference? + + It matters not, so some folks say, + Where rests the form when ’neath the clay. + There is no choice when the heart is still, + Some always say and always will. + + This may be true when we’re forgot, + And aught remains to mark the spot, + But a silent stone that stands all time, + With letters cold to tell mankind. + + Some may not care where rest their bones, + In foreign lands or near their homes, + Where tender hearts can shed the tear + And bathe the roses on the bier. + + I’d rather rest ’neath shady trees, + That beautify and kiss the breeze + With velvet grass spread over the plot, + With lilies and forget-me-not. + + * * * * * + The Steering Wheel. + + ’Twas a party blithe and gay, + On a joy ride as they say, + Gliding many miles away from home. + Midnight long was by + They were coming in on high + When suddenly there was an awful moan. + + The steering wheel went wrong, the papers said, + One was badly injured, three were dead. + The same old story neatly woven in a tale, + The sadness of the scene behind the vale, + And not a line or word to make you think, + What had put the wheel upon the blink. + + The verdict of jury, so they say, + Said the steering wheel was loose and had too much play; + But by chance some people looking around, + Some real and newer evidence was found, + ’Tis evidence you find and seldom fail + If you let the ribbon bottle tell the tale. + So in the name of justice, as I feel, + Why not exonerate the wheel. + + * * * * * + + Such High Taxes, Gee-Whilaker. + +Meadow larks, as you have undoubtedly noticed, warble many different +songs. They sound like this to me: One says, “Here is your homesick +girl.” Another, “Light the light, it is gone down.” Another, “Here is +your English preacher.” Another, “The smeeking smock bird,” and others, +from which the following poem is written, say, “Such high taxes, +Gee-whilaker.” + + As I stood in the yard of our high taxed home, + And filled my lungs with pure ozone, + My eye went wandering far and nigh, + And I saw a meadow lark flitting by. + + He flew to a post for a moment’s rest, + And gazed a while both east and west, + And then soared on, going higher and higher, + Till he perched way up on the court house spire. + + From a bird’s eye view of quaint renown, + He sized up the modern Julesburg town, + The stand pipe built on the court house square, + Is an old eye sore with a record rare. + The power house hid from the passer by + Must been for economy, heat or pie? + The city sewer, electric lights, + Cement side-walks and high school sites, + Was picturesque and nice to heed, + But sad for the one that held the deed. + + He raised his head as he ceased to note, + And out from the depths of his golden throat + His voice did peal as he said with a whirr, + Such high taxes, Gee-whilaker. + + * * * * * + + To the Mrs. + + I am going to take a kiss, + And I know it’s not a miss, + But before I miss my kisses, + I will take them from the Mrs. + + Kisses from the dear old Mrs. + Are the sweetest kind of kisses. + But if the Misses kisses, + Then there will be kisses Mrs. + + Just as long as Mrs. kisses, + There’s no trouble with the Misses + But let the Misses kisses + And something’s doing Misses Mrs. + + * * * * * + Don’t Procrastinate. + + Don’t wait till tomorrow, + For joy or sorrow, + And miss the golden today. + For every minute, + Your heart’s not in it, + There’s something slipping away. + + ’Twas Jesus who said, + ’Ere his spirit fled, + On the cross at Calvary, + That he who had hope, + Need never grope, + For the better things to be. + + So don’t never worry, + And fret and flurry, + For things that’s not for you, + But hammer away, + At life’s forge today, + For things that are good and true. + + * * * * * + Sister Mary. + + Mary, I know not who + Has a truer heart than you. + Your’s a life that does excell + For doing every duty well. + + In this world of woman kind + A purer life I couldn’t find, + If I looked my life time thru, + I would bring the crown to you. + + I am proud to tell you, dear, + Your’s has been a life of cheer, + Where every hardship, trial and sorrow, + Was sweetly met before tomorrow. + + May God’s blessing sweetly rest, + In a life so richly blessed + With kind words and cheerfulness, + For every heart that knew distress. + + * * * * * + Yes. + + ’Twas underneath the columbine, + Where dearie said she would be mine, + My heart rejoiced at that glad word, + The sweetest one I ever heard. + + I’ve wondered many times since then + How one word changes lives of men, + Some it makes and others breaks, + And others know they’ve made mistakes. + + It gladdens some and saddens some, + It opens up the way to rum, + It fills the pen, the cells of jails, + It wags the tongue with many tales. + + It fills the lawyer’s purse with fees, + It crowds the courts with quick decrees, + It to the drug store many guide, + It fills the graves with suicide. + + It pulls the trigger of the gun, + It breaks the heart of many a one, + It causes pain where joy should be, + It fills the home with misery. + + It joins the short unto the tall, + It never heeds old wisdom’s call, + It clasps the hands of slim and stout, + And makes a mess beyond a doubt. + + It breaks the dishes on your head, + It makes you wish that you were dead, + It mixes father with the son, + It has no end when once begun. + + It’s no respecter of your right, + It gets you out at dead of night, + It makes its scars and many a whelt, + It makes you cuss T. Roosevelt. + + It makes the Irish like the Dutch, + The black the brown the squaw and such. + It causes if the truth would tell, + A thing on earth you all know well. + + So with all wisdom I’ll confess, + Before you tackle this word yes, + Have these professions up in G, + Lawyer, preacher and M. D. + + + * * * * * + The Lay of the Last Hen. + + ’Twas yesterday the deed was done, + That made my heart feel like a ton, + When cruel fate held its sway, + And robbed my hen of her last lay. + + The sympathy swelled in my breast, + For my old hen so long caressed, + Who stood by me for many years, + Thru joy and sorrow, mirth and tears. + + When times were hard and crops were light, + There was to me no sweeter sight, + To get that egg and let it melt, + Underneath my gnawing pelt. + + The tariff never worried her + She did her duty at one per, + Wilson, Taft or Roosevelt, + Never had a cause she felt. + + She built the muscle in my arm, + She paid the taxes on the farm, + She kept the wolf from strolling in, + She clothed the kids from Kate to Win. + + She always let the whole world know, + With joyful song in rain or snow, + That she’d performed a duty neat, + That man himself has never beat. + + I couldn’t help it, I’ll confess, + The tears flowed freely, more or less, + When that dear form was tenderly laid, + Beneath the elm tree’s pleasant shade. + + Here’s to the hen upon the nest, + That keeps the table, fills the guest, + Builds up the system, ne’er regrets + And brings results whene’er she sets. + + * * * * * + The Dear Old Hod. + + When I’ve labored hard all day, + And the supper’s cleared away, + There’s a joy before I nod, + When I load my dear old hod. + + As the smoke curls in the air, + Chasing from me life’s dull care, + I can lean far back and think, + And put the worry on the blink. + + Here’s to thee, Missouri cob, + Many years upon the job, + Your’s a mission not all bad, + If you ease the load on dad. + + * * * * * + Dear Old Kate. + + I know I stayed a little late, + The last time that I courted Kate, + I had a speech I wished to try, + And how the hours hurried by. + + The question that I wished to pop, + Would never let me have the flop, + My cheeks would burn, my throat get dry, + I was nearly hot enough to fry. + + I guess I tried a dozen times, + I drilled myself in all the lines, + But when I reached the vital point, + The whole blame works got out of joint. + + It made me mad and also sad, + I felt like going to the bad, + I’d practised long, out in the trees, + Just how to face her on my knees. + + I’d hold the bough as Katie’s hand, + And with the best at my command, + I’d bare my soul with pleading tears, + For her to join me all the years. + + I guess I never would have won, + If Katie hadn’t just for fun + Heard my appeal with silent feet, + And said, “Why, sure, you dear old sweet.” + + + * * * * * + Tim. + + Once I knew a man named Tim, + Thought a mighty lot of him, + For his goodness, heart and mind, + Were of such a loving kind. + + Never heard him boast or tell, + Of the things he’d done so well: + Lips would kinda set with tension, + If his past you’d slightly mention. + + Kinda made his face look sad, + Maybe some great grief he’d had, + But he’d pass it off and say, + Kinda looks like rain today. + + Wasn’t much past fifty-nine, + Led a life serene and fine, + Lived just on the edge of town, + Liked to have the folks look round. + + Greatest chum of little tads, + Liked to humor all their fads, + Fixed their wagons, made them trains, + Soothed their many cares and pains. + + Made no difference to Tim, + If you’d never heard of him, + He would always say, “Hello,” + Said his mother taught him so. + + Worldly goods he hadn’t much, + Never seemed to care for such, + Said he liked the Master’s way, + Of doing things for just today. + + Dear old Tim took sick one night, + Thought his spirit would take flight, + But we all just hurried in, + And it helped revive old Tim. + + Said it made him awful glad, + Wished a larger house he had, + But we all said, get well, Tim, + Couldn’t lose a man like him. + + + * * * * * + The Business Man. + + Here is to the business man, + Who does the very best he can, + And pays to each their honest debt, + And don’t forget it makes him sweat. + + He labors from the morn till night, + With brain and muscle in the fight, + To keep his head above the stream, + When finances are not serene. + + He’s to the one you always go, + When life has pained you with a woe, + You know his purse is always free, + To lessen grief or misery. + + You toss on him most carelessly, + The gratis job of town trustee, + And then you pass around the word, + He’s just the man for the school board. + + He helps to school your girls and boys, + He shares with you your pains and joys, + He helps to pay the preacher’s bill, + And aids the churches with good will. + + He has to pay his bills when due, + But if he asks the same of you, + You think your credit’s met his fears, + And let it run along for years. + + You let him long and look and look, + At your account upon the book, + And you’ll admit if you are frank, + He pays your interest at the bank. + + If he would say and tell you true, + When your account has long been due, + That ten per cent was charged to you, + You’d swear until the air was blue. + + If he helps you, then why not him, + And don’t keep sending off your tin, + But give it to your home merchants, + And keep the gloss from off their pants. + + + * * * * * + Falling Snow. + + There’s something in the falling snow, + That brings back years of long ago, + That makes you think of younger days, + Behind a span of gallant bays. + + The frosty air, the rosy dames, + The secrets and the loving names, + Of days gone by long years ago, + Comes back today with falling snow. + + The laughter pealed o’er rocks and trees, + The songs re-echoed with the breeze, + Of merry rides so bright and gay, + Are chasing thru my mind today. + + The biting air with keen delight, + Puts crispness in the appetite, + And mother’s pies of golden hue, + Soon faded like the morning dew. + + And how I wish I could today, + Turn back the years the youthful way, + And drive the bays and see them go, + And blush with youth midst falling snow. + + + + +SALLIE’S LOYALTY. + + +That’s Sallie over there in that potato patch. She has been endeavoring +to tease from mother earth enough tubers to supply the family through a +long winter. Nature in this and many other instances has been unkind. +The rain waited too long and the one supply of food that fills so large +a place are small as marbles, nevertheless this dear soul laboriously +gathered them and is carrying them, pail at a time, and storing them +away for a long, cold winter. Though the tubers are small and puny, she +has a way of cooking them with such marked success that they would +tickle the palate of a king and he’d be passing his plate the second +time. + +Sal does the housework, the buying of supplies, cares for the chickens, +plants the garden, does the sewing, picks up the paint brush when +necessary, and does about everything that anyone can do. She is past +fifty years of age, most of them hard and bitter years. They have not +been the kind of years where the goal has been worth the trials and +bitterness. The streaks of silver are beginning to show in her dark +hair, she is small in physique, clean limbed, lithe, resourceful, +determined, and intelligent. Her schooling in the practical side of life +is an attainment any one should be proud of. She is one of the most wiry +and courageous women that has ever lived such a grand and noble life and +kept the sad, dreary and lonely part locked up in her unselfish heart. + +Behold her as she is, one of God’s purest gifts! Her life is clean, +wholesome and grand and of such a sweetness and beauty that mocks to +scorn any imitation of the artist. For eight long years she has cared +uncomplainingly for the aged, widowed mother as her almost sole +benefactor of aid and cheer in the home. She has sacrificed, schemed, +planned, worked, and struggled in a way that is worthy of our greatest +financiers, diplomats, or statesmen. She has fought within her own heart +far greater battles and carried away the victory to a more deserving +reward than many a soldier on the battlefield. She has denied herself in +order that she might give the fullest measure of devotion to a dear old +mother who is slipping slowly, slowly to that great home of rest and +comfort. + +God bless you, Sallie, in your old age, when the silver streaks no +longer glisten in your hair and it is all turned to the whiteness and +purity of snow; when your poor, tired aching limbs from their long years +of toil no longer yield to quick response, when time chisels its deep +furrows in your brow and your keen eye loses its lustre and grows dim. I +hope God will reward you with the choicest gifts of his kingdom, and +when the final summons is made and you stand in the open doorway of his +love, bathed in the purity of the sparkling dew in the evening time of +life, may the sweetness of your character come wafting gently in the +fulness of its beauty and dwell amidst all that is holy, sweet and +sacred. + + Dearest Sal, you’re growing old, + But there never can be told, + The great jewels you possess, + In your life of righteousness. + + I would love you just the same, + Had you reached the highest fame, + For you have a heart so true, + There would be no change in you. + + You have done all duties well, + Better than my tongue can tell, + I would love to ease your way, + And turn your winters back to May. + + I have but one life to live, + But for you I’d freely give, + I’d go down that lonesome valley, + If ’twould help you, dear old Sallie. + + + + +SUNSHINE. + + +In endeavoring to entertain you in this chapter I wish I might have the +wit of a Nasby or come Nye the Mark; but not having the brilliant +talents of either of these illustrious wits who cracked the ribs of so +many people I hope you will bear with me patiently as I proceed to give +to you some rays of sunshine I have been picking up for the last twenty +years from all classes of people. + +A fellow said to me one time I’ll tell you a panacea for every ailment. +I have taken it for years and you don’t need a skilled Pharmacist to +compound it. This was the simple remedy: Trust in providence and keep +your bowels open. I thought it was a pretty good prescription and if +applied carefully you would never have appendicitis or a good many other +complaints. Of course, he said, some people ask too much of providence. +I hardly think it fair to ask the Lord to furnish you the land, the +patch of potatoes, a pail to put them in, a spade to dig them with, and +then get down on your knees and in funeral tones tell him you are out of +spuds and would like a mess for dinner with the jackets off. Don’t ask +too much. + +It is better to whistle than to groan. It will make some heart lighter +to hear you whistle than to groan. If you can’t whistle a tune sizzle +something through your teeth, there’s cheer in it for some one. No +matter how worrisome, difficult or perplexing the problem is, don’t +worry or brood over it. Whistle if you can, sizzle if you can’t. It will +keep you from getting meloncolic; colic that comes from something +besides eating too many Colorado watermelons with the accent strong on +the water. + +I’ve known people whom you’d think from all appearances they hadn’t a +care in the world, the sunny side was always exposed and unconsciously +they would be dropping encouraging words, doing kind deeds, lending acts +of assistance, and doing everything to lessen the other fellow’s burden. +They didn’t tell any one that they didn’t know where their breakfast was +coming from, but somehow or other they would get hold of some patent +breakfast food and eat it in its native state if no cow was at hand and +then they were all right until the next meal, luncheon, I believe is the +proper society word. + +It never pays to be stingy with eulogies or encomiums. A little praise +has caused many a breast to heave with gladness and chase away gloom. +The cost is small, thank God it’s outside of the trusts. So don’t be +backward in using it at every opportunity you meet. If the sermon is +good, go up and tell the semi-paid man behind the pulpit, it won’t kill +him. He may be surprised, but keep at it until he gets used to it. If +brother or sister so and so has made a misstep and you are an unbeliever +or not, don’t break your neck in rushing to your neighbor and ah, ahing +it all over town. Let two thoughts get into your head at once and let +the better thought prevail, and instead of helping stain the character +of a poor unfortunate, make it your business to use your good advice, if +you haven’t any then keep still. + +When a church member steps from the narrow path, why has everybody such +a sudden interest? Why does it cause such a loosening of tongues? The +Bible says, “he that is without sin among you let him cast the first +stone.” If any one but Jesus was without sin why not advertise it. Give +it to the Post and use the red letters on the front page. The way I look +at the parable quoted by Jesus is that if a stone is thrown some one has +to throw it, it may be thrown with intent or carelessness, but in either +event the stone has been thrown and some one will be struck, so the best +way is not to throw the stone, if you have to throw something, go into +one of the leagues and then don’t throw a stone. Throw a baseball, but +don’t hit the umpire. + +Wherever you can place a rose where a thorn has been, do it. There is +both fragrance and class to a rose, something sweet, cheerful and +pretty; but the fellow that can find any redeeming qualities in a thorn +is not the person that can stand inspection. Where could you put him +where he would be an improvement? You can’t progress unless you make use +of the things progress is found in. Pluck the rose every time, leave the +other alone. + +Don’t wait ’till it’s time to erect the tombstone before you pay tribute +to your dear friend. One small flower is worth more to the living than +tons piled on their caskets. Some poor fellows never get tomb stones, +head stones or anything to mark their graves. How much better you feel +if you have never put a pebble in any one’s path as an obstruction to +their progress than if you had been rolling boulders and now see your +mistake. You can’t afford to do it. Pay your little tributes all along +the journey of life. Be as careful dropping pains or sorrows as you +would dropping pearls. + +Don’t wait ’till your father, mother or wife dies, then lie about them +on their tombstones. You only have one father and one mother; be careful +and think some before you pour out any derogatory statements or cheap +invectives concerning them. Your wife is entitled to a great many +compliments you never gave her. The reverential words on the slab in the +cemetery isn’t going to fool any one, and have them to believe, as you +would wish, that you did the fine thing, when really you are to blame +for stealing from her about twenty years of her life time. You’ve caused +hollow cheeks where roses should have been and you stole many pleasures +from her and enjoyed them all by yourself. Too much swine in your nature +to make people think you were sincere in your profuse epigram on the +tombstone. + +So many people think they are endowed with a peculiar and special sort +of wisdom and are able to fool their fellow men so successfully that +they try it on the Lord. Here is where they make a fatal mistake, for +the Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made countenances. The +newspaper’s most clever ads are no comparison to the clean, open ads the +Lord puts on faces and the clear unfrosted windows where you can look +far into the soul. + +You can’t break man’s laws without being detected. If you are a sneak +criminal, inebriate, crook, lascivious, immoral or any other of the +degrading types in the category of a false man, the warning is openly +and clearly displayed on your countenance. You can’t fly false colors +and succeed, for sooner or later you pay the penalty to the last +farthing. When you hear the remark “I don’t like his looks,” there is +something shown in the countenance to verify the statement or no +accusation would have been made. Be a man and your face will do the +advertising. + +Don’t be afraid of censure or criticism or let it keep you from helping +the fellow that is down. God gave us religion for that purpose. It’s +something to use every day in the week and not a specialty for the +Sabbath; the more you use it the brighter it gets. Anything you don’t +use and keep polished loses its usefulness and becomes rusty. Use it +whenever you can and you’ll be surprised the confidence you gain in +people’s hearts. It’s the greatest purifier in the world, that’s why God +gave it to us. He knew what he was doing. It’s the only thing in the +world that will lift up the fallen woman, the drunken man, the horse +thief, the blasphemer and all others when every hand is turned against +them. It’s a panacea for every evil. It’s the only thing that will take +humanity with all their sins after they are entirely forsaken and down +at the threshhold of hell and make them better. It will take them in the +eleventh hour when they come sneaking in at the back door with +characters stained as black as night and every law has been +transgressed, but as they plead piteously for forgiveness, their +petition is heard and all their sins are blotted out and the Lord gives +them another chance. He stoops down in his great mercy and love and +gives them that peace beyond all understanding. He raises them up and +helps them reach for the cross when no hand is extended to help them. + +At every opportune chance laugh long and heartily, nothing is better to +cheer and comfort, and while it is doing the other fellow good you are +getting the cheapest medicine on the market for your digestive organs. +Try it after you eat some boarding house pancakes an inch think. You +have lots of things to smile for. There is always some one else worse +off than yourself. You see them everywhere. If you have a large family +your neighbor has a larger one. If you have none at all pity your +neighbor who can’t figure out some way to get rid of his mother-in-law +without losing his wife. If you are able to hobble around, have a heart +for the fellow in the wheel chair and the fellow that has to stay flat +on his back and never sees the sun rise. + +There are two kinds of sunshine; one is entirely dependent upon the +individual and the other was inaugurated shortly after creation. Each is +necessary to fill the divine plan. While one kind is periodical in some +people, the other is always at hand unless clouds intervene. God’s +sunshine is unexcelled and is a marvel in itself for warmth, beauty, +cheerfulness and grandeur. The rising and falling of this wonderful +orbit body is said to start and finish the work of man, as he was +supposed to labor and scheme from sun to sun. + +This plan may have been popular and proper before the day of the +multi-millionaire, but the time is too short for the present day man, +and in order to pay the necessary obligations to exist the twilight at +both ends must be consumed and then reach in and grab several hours of +darkness. The housewife may have to sew and rock the baby and prove her +contention that her work is never done, but it’s up to the Governor, the +old man, Dad, or any other name you may call him, to keep the flour in +the bin, coal in the bucket, shoes on the children, and an endless +number of other things. He’s the lad that must fix it up with the banker +when the note is renewed. He must through some devised method dress the +kids in schools as good as his more prosperous neighbor, or there’s +snobs and tears. He must provide something besides the proverbial soup +bone that one neighbor could borrow from another through the winter +months. He must buy the latest books, procure lyceum and chautauqua +tickets, pay the preacher, the ice man, the milk man, the water man, +light man, and dig continually for charity, and thus you see the sun to +sun theory has the bottom torn out of it. + +Dad is never still long enough for the birds to build nests in his +goatee and set three weeks. If he slackens up you notice a visible +reduction in your pancake pile. The Lord didn’t make the suns far enough +apart for dad or some other people. I worked for a farmer one time that +used to start out with a handmade sun about two-thirty A. M. and never +ceased till ten P. M. The meals always bothered me; I couldn’t tell if +it was breakfast the next morning or two suppers. If God’s sunshine +meets man’s sunshine and the two mix properly, you’ve got an individual +that is a continual pleasure, one whose existence is exhilarating. He +whistles and sings and smiles and laughs and gets out of life everything +that is good, and everybody likes and knows him. + +I was never so ashamed in my life as I was one time when I had encased +in my left cheek a quid of tobacco the size of a hen’s egg. I was +carrying on nonchalantly a conversation with a depot master, and the +saliva was gathering so rapidly, it wasn’t long before I could only +grunt. I always disliked to ruin a floor with expectoration and was also +embarrassed by the presence of the agent’s boy, a little fellow of four +years, but my mouth was so full and my cheeks so inflated that leakage +was starting and I was forced to eject it or swallow it. I chose the +former and let it go. It sounded like the distant booming of guns and +the space required to contain it on the floor was unbelievable. If its +dimensions didn’t cover a foot square outside of the innumerable +rivulets in every direction, I’ll buy my wife a twelve dollar Easter +bonnet for a Christmas present. The little boy looked at it and said, +“My, that’s a big one!” I sneaked out crestfallen, abashed and ashamed, +but didn’t have the sense to quit for some years afterwards, when the +preacher said something about the ashes to ashes and dust to dust. + + + + +TEMPERANCE. + + +The cause of temperance is one that has been close to my heart for +twenty years. Taken from the logical standpoint of protection to the +home, sound saneness, improvement in morals, an enhancement of +citizenship, it is the second paramount issue of the age. Take away +liquor, stop the traffic entirely, and you reduce seventy-five per cent +of crime. The empty whisky-bottle is the greatest curse that ever +existed. When it is standing filled in front of some bar-room mirror, it +is harmless, but when it is empty it signifies that it has been drank by +somebody and has been the direct cause for all that has followed. + +Trace it up and you will find sorrow, misery, heartaches, remorse, +disgrace, shame, humiliation, want, poverty, destroyed homes, cruelty, +hatred, anger, revenge, and murder. Rags, vulgarity, dishonor, wasted +lives, and deceit. Ruined sweethearts, broken-hearted wives, disgraced +parents, and hungry, shoeless children. Disease, filth, white slavery, +prize fights, tangoes, rottenness, and shame. Keeley cures, jails, +penitentiaries, poorhouses, brothels, cabarets, and insane asylums. +Thieves, robbers, safe blowers, beggars, pick-pockets, delirium tremors, +and death. Leave it alone! + +Some people say there is no harm in it; there isn’t if you leave it +alone. You can take a loaded revolver and lay it alongside of a +well-filled whisky bottle and they will get along side by side +peacefully as long as time exists. Each one separate and apart are +harmless; but let a sane man come along and drink the whisky, pick up +the revolver, and what happens? Every nationality without distinction to +race or color, Irishmen included, will run for safety. + + * * * * * + +A well-educated young man with brilliant prospects, neatly attired, +attractive, and of fine, honorable parentage, was passing a saloon one +day when a friend standing in the doorway invited him in. He had never +been in a place of this kind in his life. His parents had taught him, +friends advised him, and a sweet faced girl had warned him. Conscience +told him to decline and go on, but, like millions of others, he heeded +the invitation and stepped in. “Come up and take something,” the tempter +said. “No,” he said, “I never drink.” “Come on,” urged the tempter. “It +won’t hurt you.” “NO,” he said; “it’s beneath the dignity of a true +gentleman and it would break my mother’s heart.” “Ah, come on, don’t be +a kid,” he urged, and still the boy said no. After continued and +repeated solicitation he finally yielded and drank his first glass. + +Alas, the fatal mistake was made. Years of careful training were swept +aside. Hopeful aspirations of his mother when she looked on his innocent +face in the cradle were all for naught. Solemn advice from a kind father +was lost sight of, and the deed was done. That first drink fired his +brain. Others were taken and his eyes shone, the house treated, and the +once quiet, manly lad was loud and boisterous. Self-respect was cast +aside and foul utterances flew fast and thick from a once clean mouth. +The end came. He reeled in drunkenness and fell to the floor in a +gibbering drunken stupor. He was put to bed and when sober he felt the +shame and remorse so keenly that he was at the point of self +destruction. He thought of his mother, his father, the dear little +sweetheart, and his friends. He was so afraid they would all hear of his +ignominy that he kept secluded. He couldn’t bear to face them, tell all +and start anew. + +The humiliation was more than he could stand and he slipped farther and +farther down the steep and rapid descent to hell. Back in his cheerful +and once comfortable home a dear old mother sat waiting and watching +year after year the lamp was kept burning. A kind old father sat with +bowed head thinking and thinking. A dear little girl was weeping and +weeping, and still he didn’t come. Where, O where was he and why didn’t +he come? Alas! how sad as he sank lower and lower. Drunken brawls were +common, nights spent in revelry very often; the dissipation was telling, +his once clean countenance was haggard. His step was languid, lethargy +was settling upon him, and his whole being was repulsive. His character +was no longer clean and a thing of beauty. Brothels caught him and God’s +penalties were discernible for the violation of his laws. Decent men +shunned him and pure women scorned him, but still the light was kept +burning. The mother watched, the father waited, the sweetheart prayed, +and the friends yearned; but down, down, down he went. Even dogs hurried +by him, the filth and disease was nauseating. + +The years sped quickly and there he is clear down at the bottom, an +object of disgust and scorn. Behold him, beneath the mass of stale and +putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and penniless vagabond. Beneath the +most loathsome and foul degeneracy conceivable; even beneath the filthy +sewer. He lay on a bundle of rags in a drunkard’s hut. As he moaned and +groaned, an old friend passing by heard him, stepped in and stood +looking at him. With tears streaming down his cheeks the boy looked up +and said, “my life is ebbing, I am at the border line, my career is +wasted; I am a drunken, despised and worthless sot, friendless and +alone. I can see nothing ahead but the blackest despair. Oh my poor old +mother, my poor old father, my dear little sweetheart, My Sav—oh—oh.” +Another spell grasped him and as he tossed and shrieked and moaned, +grappling with the demon, writhing in mental anguish, terror clouded his +countenance, his eyes rolled, his limbs jerked, the mouth dropped open, +the tongue protruded, he clutched until the blood trickled from the torn +flesh, a loud, gurgling, terrifying scream, and he was dead. Died with +the delirium tremens caused by the rum demon. As the old friend wiped +away the tears and stood looking at his pitiful form he noticed in one +of his torn and ragged pockets a slip of paper. He pulled it out and +read: + + Listen, friend, today, + To what I have to say, + Don’t let temptation sway + And miss the narrow way. + + When you are young and gay + And anxious for the fray + Be ready to say “Nay” + And tread the narrow way. + + The debt I have to pay + As here near death I lay + Wouldn’t hold so much dismay + Had I trod the narrow way. + + Oh tread the narrow way + And never miss a day + Ask Jesus how to pray + And tread the narrow way. + +How can America, the foremost nation of the world, that has long boasted +of liberty and advancement, allow the liquor traffic to continue when +the condition it causes are so critical. It is stealing away her brains, +increasing her crime, lowering her moral standing, demoralizing her +citizenship, and giving to posterity a weaker race and causing such +poverty, misery and unhumanitarian distress. Can this enlightened nation +afford its continuance and let it remain when it has a grasp so powerful +that it is endangering its very vitals? Can America, with her +unsurpassed institutions of learning, her brilliant and scholarly +statesmen, her great mineral and agricultural wealth yet unfound and +developed, allow a traffic so alarmingly demoralizing as to let her +constitutional principles decline? Can she sit still, under her broad +and world famed methods of progress, and allow such a traffic, that +devastates from every source, for a revenue wrung from women’s tears, +that is so rapidly depreciating her citizenship. Is she prudent? Is she +applying the Christian principles of her constitution to obtain revenue +from a traffic so nefarious and debauching? If she realizes the danger +ahead why delay an amendment that enhances citizenship and principle. + + America, ’tis thee I prize, + ’Twas underneath thy azure skies, + Where heaven’s light first met my eyes. + + I love thy thrift and enterprise, + To me beloved and so wise + Thy name is one I idolize. + + Thy blood did purchase liberty, + To make this land so great and free, + And quench forever tyranny. + + Oh may thy name forever be + Embraced within a righteous plea, + That lessens pain and misery. + + It is for thee that I will fight, + When’er thy cause is for the right, + For none but these e’er use thy might. + + I’ll heed your call with keen delight, + But should I fall before the night, + Let freedom’s flag be my last sight. + + + + +EVERY DAY PHILOSOPHY. + + +Look out for the man whose face shows it pains him to say “Good +Morning.” + + * * * * * + +Never be afraid to trust the man whose dog meets him with a bound. + + * * * * * + +The mad rush to join the appendicitis club and sing in the choir +invisible has lost its popularity, both for the good of posterity and +the pocket book. + + * * * * * + +Some people take a great deal of liberty with the English language, when +they speak of work. + + * * * * * + +Stick to the boys who borrow a five occasionally and pay it back; rather +than the fellows who love you like a fly does molasses when your roll +would choke a lazy mule. + + * * * * * + +It’s cheaper to buy your coal from your regular dealer and take short +weight, than to steal it from the railroad and pay court costs. + + * * * * * + +It’s an ice cold fact that the fellow who is continually condemning +others’ faults and pointing with pride to his own great meritable +achievements, is not entitled to a premium for sincerity. + + * * * * * + +It’s often the sour, surly looking man that goes down in his pocket and +gives you his last quarter, when hunger is beating a fast tattoo against +your breastworks. + + * * * * * + +Because a man joins the church and becomes a pious and strict respecter +of Sunday observance, don’t cast all caution aside and let him sell you +gold mine stock on Monday, unless you know something about the mine. + + * * * * * + +Some men tell you the wonderful things they have done from the corner +store dry goods box and then let their wives earn the living over the +wash tub. + + * * * * * + +Many a man has nearly grasped St. Peter’s hand, when his wife’s razor +edged tongue drove him clean down to perdition. + + * * * * * + +The fellow who is always harping hypocrite and hurling cheap invectives +against the church isn’t the man to arouse confidence, the only one he +helps is the devil. + + * * * * * + +Take away profanity from some men’s conversation and you haven’t enough +left to know what they said. + + * * * * * + +When a man buys an Auto or a Ford on credit and lets the whiskers grow +on his coal bill they say he’s got the fever. I don’t think it could be +the brain kind. + + * * * * * + +If money and whiskey would lose their influence in the courts, juries +and legislatures would go to sleep and jail doors rust on their hinges. + + * * * * * + +When the Lord turns his X rays upon the people, the churches will fill +so rapidly that Easter bonnets and dress suits can be picked up +anywhere. + + * * * * * + +I know a wealthy man by the name of Moore who never was satisfied. + + * * * * * + +Obituaries are not a safe guide to the real truth. + + * * * * * + +Recollections become dim on the witness stand. + + * * * * * + +It’s better to faint in the arms of truth and die in poverty than to lie +for the lap of luxury and die disgraced. + + * * * * * + +A drunken man’s breath is preferable to the wagging tongue of a gossip. + + * * * * * + +Any man could live with a woman who has the patience to bathe in a wash +tub twenty-one inches in diameter for seventeen years without +complaining. + + * * * * * + +Marry in haste and repent in alimony. + + * * * * * + +It’s a sad fact that many a man has missed his calling and there is +elegant material for day laborers among the professions and vice versa. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn’t for $$$ a great many people would be wearing the stripes. + + * * * * * + +Some men are so economical they go without socks to buy whiskey. + + * * * * * + +If some women were better cooks there would be less dyspepsia and fewer +divorces. + + * * * * * + +If too many cooks spoil the broth, could too many church denominations +spoil the man? + + * * * * * + +The longer you use the Christ-like religion the better you like it and +the better it makes you. + + * * * * * + +The man who makes careless remarks about women does not possess the fine +attributes of a gentleman. + + * * * * * + +If religion cost money, how some church members with bible names would +grab for their purses when the lights go out. + + * * * * * + +Religion and sympathy cost nothing, but you’d think they were diamonds +the way some people use them. + + * * * * * + +The first marriage is for love, the second for convenience, and the +third a cold business proposition. Don’t try for a four-bagger. + + * * * * * + +The cleanliness of the tea towel is a safe criterion to a good +house-keeper. + + * * * * * + +The great jewel “Consistency” cannot be bought with money. + + * * * * * + +Some people are so hard hearted, onions would have no effect at a +funeral. + + * * * * * + +If you don’t like the taste of life’s medicine, be your own doctor and +change the ingredients. + + * * * * * + +If some weak-kneed marshals and sheriffs would do their duty, there +would be less bootleggers. + + * * * * * + +Some women join the ladies’ aid and use the lemon extravagantly. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman can hardly keep from yelling “Hallelujah” when her husband +dies. + + * * * * * + +If some mothers don’t spend more time with their children and less with +politics this country will be over-run with pick-pockets. + + * * * * * + +If all mis-mated marriages were suddenly annulled, it wouldn’t take an +expert mathematician to count those left in wedlock. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn’t for their money, thousands of women would leave their +husbands. + + * * * * * + +Whiskey has killed more men than all the surgeons. + + * * * * * + +Lay the rod on the child before he gets too strong. + + * * * * * + +Better be a lady waiting than marry a sot. + + * * * * * + +Honesty stops millions from becoming millionaires. + + * * * * * + +Women born in Alaska seldom get married; too long in cold storage. + + * * * * * + +The undertaker’s sympathy never interferes with his profits; he gets the +last crack at you and you can’t kick. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman, who never had an extra pair of hosiery at home, loses +sight of economy, after her marriage, and plunges into extravagance so +heedlessly that her husband gives up in discouragement. + + * * * * * + +Live within your means, but don’t borrow money to do it. + + * * * * * + +Spend your money when you are young, if you want to spend your old age +in the poor house. + + * * * * * + +Put a strong proviso in your deed before you turn it over to your +children, if you expect to buy your own tobacco. + + * * * * * + +The boy who criticizes his father’s depleted finances on account of +hardships and honest failures, should be bodily removed into the open +air with the same amount of clothes he had when he was born and let the +thermometer show forty degrees below zero. + + * * * * * + +A court or jury that will convict a man for stealing a ten cent soup +bone and acquit the man who made thousands by going into bankruptcy +ought to have a steady stream of hot tar running down their aesophagus. + + * * * * * + +Many a rock-ribbed democrat votes for a Republican, if there is +something in it. + + * * * * * + +The tramp, with his back against the water tank, studies as hard on his +side of the problem of existence as does the fellow with greater +resources, who is up against it. + + * * * * * + +The man who can fulfill the bible by taking the slap on both sides of +the cheek is seven parts lamb and one part Irish. + + * * * * * + +The difference between a cackling hen and a cackling woman is, one +cackles when she lays and the other cackles all the time she don’t lay. + + * * * * * + +Trust in God but look out for everybody else. + + * * * * * + +The man that totes a whiskey blossom on the end of his flue carries a +cheap add for the devil. + + * * * * * + +Don’t worry over the sport that can smoke twenty cigarettes a day. + + * * * * * + +The girl that marries the man to reform him has a SAD lesson to learn. + +A good excuse saves lots of lying. + + + + +GLIMPSES FROM THE PAST. + + +I most humbly beg your pardon for inserting here a short address to a +Republican Convention when I was aspiring to the office of County Clerk +for the second term. The chairman having instructed the secretary of the +convention to cast the entire vote of the delegation for myself, I +addressed the convention as follows: + +Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Convention: Accept my profound thanks +for the splendid manifestation of honor that you have conferred upon an +humble individual like myself. I wish to impress upon you the political +principles I outlined to you briefly two years ago, are the same today +as they were then. I would rather be defeated honorably, squarely and +honestly than to be successful with a tarnished character obtained +through disreputable methods. I realize, as do all intelligent reasoners +withholding myself to be the humblest among you, that character is +something that is not acquired while we sleep. It is a constant every +day struggle, a life-long battle. Take away our character and what have +we left. + +I desire to say to you gentlemen that during my lifetime I have been +intimately acquainted with labor in its most aggressive form. I know +what it is to stand between two shining bands of steel under a scorching +July sun. I know what it is to stack hay under a sultry and oppressive +heat. I know the loneliness and privations that comes to one who has +tended stock in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I fully realize that +these different pursuits require grit and determination, they are the +hardest kind of labors, but I can say to you in all candor that I have +never worked harder in my life than in the past two years endeavoring to +serve the citizens of this county in the capacity of clerk. + +If I have been competent, if I have been faithful, if I have done my +duty, that is not for me to decide. You are the judges of these +conditions, if you think I have, then I ask for your support and +influence. You are a body of men from all parts of this county; if each +one of you will work for the best interests of the party I see no reason +why we should not be successful at the polls. The campaign this year is +short; I wish to say for myself that I will not be able to get around +much. The duties of my office for the past six weeks have been very +strenuous and will continue so to be for some time to come. The state +board of equalization were late in sending their report and not only +being late, but were unkind, and raised the valuation on several of our +taxable properties and this makes extra work for the clerk, so I trust +you will be like the turkey in the tall tree and keep one eye open for +the boy from Lodge Pole. + +There has happened in my short career as an American citizen a good many +things that I have felt elated over and proud of. I am proud that I am +an American citizen, born under the stars and stripes and belong to a +nation second to none. I am proud I was born in a state whose brow is +bathed by the mighty Missouri and upon whose bosom flourishes the most +productive crop of the union. But if there is one thing that I am +prouder of more than any other, it is the fact that I belong to a party +whose motto is principle and good government, and whose loftiest aim has +always been to make America the ideal nation of the world. I thank you. + +I will here relate an incident that happened when I first encountered +experience in her knee breeches, I have termed it a fighting, explosive +nauseating cough remedy. I would prefer calling it an egg nogg; but +there is one extra ingredient that disfranchises the egg and in a +peculiar way leaves the nogg there in a somewhat embarrassing condition. + +When I was a youth, I had some peculiar traits in my makeup. My main +instruction was received from that old professor, experience, and day by +day I gained some valuable knowledge in the school of hard knocks. Being +of a peculiar turn of mind I had implicit truth and confidence in all +mankind, and on account of this trait I have often met with misplaced +confidence. + + +For instance, the “Bonuses” and “Good Wills” heretofore related. I had +contracted a bad cold of tenacious irritability down near the little +hamlet of Paxton, Nebraska, while performing the menial labor of an +every day workman on the renowned line of the Union Pacific. The work +being accomplished was known as bucking steel. Through climatic +conditions of contraction and expansion the rails on one side had gained +from nine to twelve feet over the rails in the other side. The side that +was ahead was being pulled back to the point opposite the other by a +locomotive attached to a large cable. Some said this strategic work +swelled the premium of the water soaked stock; but this contention is +left to philosophers and those who study economic problems, as to +whether or not the corporation was ahead rails at Omaha or short at +Ogden. + +The days were exceedingly warm, it being in the autumn of the year. I +lost more perspiration than was due me and along toward evening, when +old sol was getting ready to retire and also largely due to a scant +wardrobe, a chilliness would steal over my spare physique. The ride home +from the work in the evening, on flat cars, at a hurried speed, caused +the night air to condense in the locality of the throat. Nature not +doing her part, I tried to assist her in removing the obstruction and, +as soon as the speed of the train would allow, I shot from the car in a +mad race for the boarding house. Being sure footed and fleet, I was +generally first at the wash basin, erasing from my countenance +Nebraska’s productive soil and leaving what the water didn’t loosen on +the old fashioned long rolling boarding house towel. These repeated +conditions day after day commenced to tell and the slight cold became a +hacking cough that embraced more forcibly than a Dutch lassie reared on +eastern corn. + +After the work was completed, the men were returned to the various +localities. Upon arriving safely at my destination, I went to the home +physician. “Doc” when not incarcerated in the county bastile for +dispensing a compound familiarly known as whiskey but better known to +home residents as hades corked up in a bottle, prescribed, from his oft +water stock. (I pause for a scalding sensation felt on my cheeks.) Poor +Old “Doc” is sleeping beneath the sod. + +Constant concoctions bringing no relief, I was at last listening to a +well meant prescription from my co-laborer Dick. He said his remedy +would give unwavering satisfaction to ailments like mine. I don’t think +his remedy would stand the pure food law test; but when you get to +clutching you’ll clutch anything. So I listened to the unlearned +pharmacist and keenly assented and he started to compound two well known +ingredients in equal parts. One ingredient was controlled by that +magnetic dollar chaser, John D., and the other was controlled by nobody, +it did the controling, i. e., oil and whiskey. I’d cover up this last +ingredient and give it a better concealed classical standing but +ignorance is bliss and there you are. This carefully prepared drink, my +friend said, should be taken five minutes before breakfast. So according +to directions I hoisted the tin cup and down went the fluids. Just +enough oil in it to make it slip quick, and you had it before you really +knew it. + +It is now twenty-three years since I swallowed that conglomeration and I +can’t hardly pass a home one-gallon kerosene can full or empty without a +keen desire to kick the bottom out of it, but you have to be careful +with other people’s property, whether it’s mortgaged or not. No matter +how keen or fertile your imagination may be you can’t realize a dose of +this character unless you taste it. Take the minutest equal parts of +each, mix them, drink them and be convinced. Was I sick? Of all the +great guns of all our wars, Civil or uncivil, I will take my oath before +any judge of common jurisdiction, sitting as a court of record and say I +WAS. + +The only recollection I have of the breakfast menu was the two hard +boiled eggs and a faint remembrance, as I was leaving the table, of a +fruit picture on the wall tipping up and down. That was the first time I +ever saw anything inanimate acting so. Mercy, the taste of that oil and +the remembrance of it, mixing in a place the size of your fist! Think of +that rip-roaring, sizzling tobacco flavored, ingredient, trying to slip +one over on that kerosene and knock out those two hard-boiled, well +matured, boarding-house eggs. I say in all candor, I don’t blame John D. +for watering the oil. Water it more, John, it will be milder to take. I +went through the oil belt in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and all the rest, +I visited all the stills, illicit, and otherwise of Kentucky, Tennessee, +and Colorado; and as soon as brother Pat could get me to my room and my +head out of the window I hoisted the hottest fluids and food stuffs ever +contained in the stomach of man or beast. I have always felt sorry for +those eggs on account of their age. + +I must take a short glimpse here of a peculiar incident that transpired +under my roof between two men of the cloth. One was a M. E. minister and +the other a seven day advent. The advent had been staying in town for +several weeks and I became fairly well acquainted with him and his +estimable wife, and he asked me if they might have a few meetings at our +home in the evenings, and I said certainly and he came. Both he and his +wife were scholars, well cultured and refined and we enjoyed listening +to their version of the scriptures. How the M. E. minister came to be +there one evening is still a mystery to me, but I think some one of his +parishioners must have told him that Satan had entered our home and he +had better intervene and see if he couldn’t extricate us from the wary +gentleman’s clutches. + +The evening entertainment was progressing nicely and the advent man was +in charge of the machinery, when suddenly the M. E. man took issue with +him over his version of one of the scriptural passages and quick wit and +repartee was fast and furious. The advent was the superior in scriptural +knowledge and the way he got the other fellow in the meshes and so +completely tangled him up is an event that can never be erased from my +memory. The M. E. man was nonplussed, red of face and angry; and so +ungentlemanly as to let all the fireworks in his dignified Sunday nature +explode and told the cool, calm advent that teachings of his kind should +be in hell. You may lay this excitement to anger, being worsted, or +anything you like, but I think the gentleman he came to remove from our +home entered him one hundred per cent strong. Why he was on his feet +with his Methodist fists clenched, ready to fight, and if it hadn’t been +for the soothing, pacifying utterances of his good wife saying, “John,” +“John,” I don’t know what would have happened. The other fellow laughed +at him and I really think if the worst had occurred he would have given +the angry man a fuller meaning of the Bible and turned the other cheek. + +I think if an Advent says Saturday is the Lord’s day and should be +observed on the Sabbath, the Methodist says Sunday is the day, and some +other denomination says Friday is the day, I’m willing to be convinced. +It beats having the Fourth of July come on Saturday, and if I had enough +money so I needn’t work I’d say let seven different denominations have +seven different days, and no matter which home I observed I wouldn’t be +left out shivering in an undershirt. Something peculiar about church +denominations, all of them headed for the same place, but each one +anxious to route you. One tells you they have the old travelled road, +founded on the Bible, another a different way, founded on the Bible, and +others another different way, also founded on the Bible. I conclude the +best and surest way is to be a Christian and read the Bible, live it and +let God show the way. Sunday churches or Saturday churches carry no +guarantee that you’ll reach Heaven. + +Before I invested in “Good-wills” and “Bonuses” and other losing +investments, I would occasionally take my family for a little trip on +the Los Angeles limited and rub against the aristocracy and the +diamonds. Years before when I was a day laborer on the same road over +which this elegant train glides, I thought to travel on such a goddess +of beauty was a luxury only for wealth and culture, and a pleasure +unequaled, but hope beats eternal in the human breast and as I had lived +largely on hope for over thirty years, I finally said hope can go to +blazes, the opportunity is here and why not embrace it. + +Well, it is certainly a big taste of wealth and affluence to settle in +cushions a foot deep with all the wrinkles eradicated for once in a +lifetime by a well filled stomach of the choicest viands in the culinary +art. And oh the lofty thoughts as you settle down in the deep upholstery +and listen to the clicking of the rails as you speed away on this +overland beauty. There is a peculiar feeling under your vest as you +notice the well groomed man, the well groomed woman, the sparkle of the +electric lights and the glitter of the diamonds. Elegance everywhere. +The very height of ingenuity. Then when you enter the dining car with +its rosewood finish, tastily decorated tables, superb linen, and cast +your eye over the choice menu and have the black gentry all attention +and ready to care for your smallest want, you may feel as I did, pretty +classy company for a boy from Lodge Pole. Of course there are snubs here +and there, you find them everywhere. They are in a class that is well +known for nineteen hundred years. They took the leading part in the +crucifixion of the Nazarene. We can’t exist without having them, and if +you will notice in any walk of life, there is a pain for nearly every +pleasure, with corns and bunions thrown in. + +As a hunter I never received any distinction and am forced to admit as +such I am an entire nonentity and failure. My father owned a rifle which +was the only one of its kind in our community for years and years. Its +early history I am unfamiliar with and never learned it. It was in his +possession when I was born and I suppose it was the gun he carried on +the hand car for protection when the Indians were numerous in the latter +sixties. At some time it received a broken stock and ever after its +being repaired it was known as old splice. For many years when the old +year died and the new year was born, old splice spoke forth at its birth +and its missile of death generally lodged in the tail of the railroad +wind mill. + +Old splice was the type of one hundred years ago, when people weren’t +killed as quickly as today, the loading was slow and gave one chance to +escape; I remember brother Pat used it to shoot a dog that he had tied +up with a rope. He took steady aim, pulled the old fashioned hammer and +fired. When the smoke cleared away the dog was running with the fullest +capacity of its limbs. The ball had cut the rope. + +I never shot old splice but once and I’ll always remember the incident. +A chicken hawk had been tormenting the poultry for a long time and I got +bold and reckless one day, grabbed old splice (some one had been kind +enough to leave it loaded) and sallied forth bent on destruction. The +hawk was soaring high in the air but didn’t seem to want to descend any. +Old splice was supposed to carry half a mile and as I knew this was not +the distance from the gun to the hawk, I concluded to test out old +splice and see if the prowess of the old fellow had been exaggerated. I +had heard some one say you must get down on one knee, as an attitude of +respect, I presume, and hold the stock solidly and lovingly against the +shoulder. I did both of these things and fired. I felt my head strike +the ground so amazingly quick and hard that it confused and startled me. +I knew I was committing no crime and couldn’t account for such harsh +treatment. At first I thought the bird might have struck me in the face +and, it coming from such a height, would cause a terrible compact when +one body met another, but I abandoned this idea, as no hawk was anywhere +above or below. Then I thought I might have torn some planet loose, but +this was an asylum idea also. Then I thought some one may have overfed +old splice and made him bilious. I afterwards learned this was true. The +miscreant still lives. + + + + +HOPES THAT EXPLODED. + + +If it wasn’t for the word hope this would be a dreary world for the +fellow who plans and builds in the future. It rises and falls in every +human breast. Some have an over abundance, and others lack in not having +enough. It arouses buoyancy and encouragement to see one who reaches +toward hope and almost succeeds but doesn’t get quite a firm enough grip +to fasten the goal securely before he has to let go; but no matter how +hard the fall, or how often, he’s up and trying again. Discouragement or +complete failure never causes a faltering step or gets time to fester +with despondency before keener activity revives the energy and the +shattered hope is rehabilitated and again swells the breast so full +there is nothing to do but try again. Bless the hopeful man or woman. +Some can’t stand the fall, they go down clear to the bottom. Defeat and +despondency chain them fast. + +In the year 1896 when Bryan was preparing his famous oration “The Crown +of Gold” that was so ably delivered and well received and which was the +leading factor in opening up the road for him to the White House, I +commenced scheming and planning on patentable ideas. Nineteen years of +hard thinking has brought no visible financial returns and so far the +patent attorney is the only one who has received toll. I never entered +the field thinking I had any latent ingenuity like Edison, Westinghouse, +Ford and many others; but I had hopes, as long as I could pay the +attorney and the filing fee of the patent office. + +My first application for a patent was an adjustable track wrench that +met complete failure after a year’s pendency. I thought I had a good, +practical, economical, and convenient wrench, but after the said period +of time elapsed my attorney informed me it was rejected by the chief +examiner on account of prior similar claims already patented. Of course +you must not get confused and wonder why he didn’t tell me this before I +filed the application. If he had the self-explanatory portion of the +scheme loses its self respect and puts the attorney in a bad financial +light, which I would dislike to do. However, the discouraging news was +so cool and saddening at this first attempt that it froze my ingenuity a +decade and a quarter, and then hope rose again and I called once more on +the dormant faculty and changed attorneys. + +After due diligence had persevered and I had stood the condemnation of +my wife, who said I was getting absent-minded and hard of hearing, I +sent in my application duly witnessed and sworn to, along with the +necessary stipend that makes the wheels buzz in the attorney’s head and +swells that seven millions of profit accrued in the patent office from a +good many fellows like myself. Nice to help swell this big profit for +some day when this accumulation becomes large enough our wise custodians +of this fund may transfer it like ordinary Town Council men do when one +fund gets too far ahead and pay off the national debt. My second +application was an improved index and a device of meritable convenience +over present ones, so I thought. It has been pending two years after +failing ten times before the chief examiner, who doesn’t seem to have +the courtesy to allow it. + +While the invention was safe and secure in the government vault, I was +rash enough to go into another irrational period and get out a computing +device for the busy coal man to aid him in rapid accurate calculations +and do away with the old time method of having coal swell so sixteen +hundred pounds was a ton; not really a long ton but a short ton. This +wonderful invention hatched in the brain of an ordinary man, lingered in +Washington one year and a half, and was then rejected. I wouldn’t care +for having it rejected, but I’d like to have the rejectors use a milder +word, one that doesn’t rankle so much and stir up the mean things in +you. + +Well, here are two great inventions for the betterment of the race +denied, and from the way the attorney wrote in his last tribute of love +to me, the third is hanging over the precipice and is ready to fall +among its ancestors. + +I had hopes when I invested in the last two ideas, my total +expenditures, including postage on a voluminous amount of +correspondence, was $141.28, and this is how I disbursed the interest on +that amount:—I calculated conservatively that the two inventions would +net me $50,000. Here she goes! To my father-in-law, for giving away his +daughter to me, for which I have never paid, $1,000.00; to two +sisters-in-law that favored my suit, $1,000.00 each; to a brother-in-law +that did the square thing by me, $1,000.00; to my oldest brother, who +continually hammered me when I was young and smaller than he, $1,000.00; +to a younger brother, whom I could hammer, $1,000.00; to my four +sisters, $1,000.00 each. Ten thousand of the iron men at work. The next +$20,000 I put at interest in Colorado, where it is easy to get a ten per +cent rate. This would bring me in $2,000.00 a year to live on, and by +being frugal I might be able to smoke a five cent cigar occasionally and +let the corn cob pipe have a chance to dry up some of its nicotine. The +next $10,000 went to old people who have nearly reached the summit of +their lives, but on account of the feebleness of their limbs, poor +eyesight and a meagre pocketbook, the final ascent overtaxes their small +reserve of strength and with want and sacrifice being in the majority +they can’t quite make it. To these aged and needy people I would give +$500.00 cash. This amount would render their last days comfortable, free +from worry and care. That helps twenty old couples, forty people that +are worthy and needy. The remaining $10,000 goes from my pocket in ready +cash to people met every day, people whose countenances have rigidly +printed thereon a silent appeal for sympathy and help. A meal to the man +suffering from the pangs of hunger; $50.00 to a woman making her living +over a washboard and fighting a losing fight against poverty to rear her +brood; $100.00 for a present and a Christmas tree to poor little +children who never have the pleasure of unwrapping a doll or any kind of +a toy; $5.00 to a laboring man looking for work; $10.00 on a +subscription list to help a poor widow bury her boy; $25.00 to the man +in the pulpit preaching straight from the shoulder; $10.00 for a +railroad ticket to take a girl home who expected work in the city but +didn’t find it. And so goes the remaining $10,000, here a little and +there a little. I think I could gladden more hearts with this last +$10,000 than the great man who spent millions in libraries and free +reading rooms throughout the country. With all due respect to him, the +man in overalls and the girl who must work are the ones who need +literature the worst, but the struggle for existence is so keen they +haven’t time to read books and they feel humiliated and unwelcome in +their everyday garb mingling with the better dressed people. The +well-groomed man and woman of today, in a large sense, doesn’t apply any +too closely the ethics of the Galilean and would rather not mingle with +the less fortunate people, so the conclusive thesis is there is no +congeniality between the two and the primary object of helping the +fellow who needed it most is a failure. But alas, the $50,000 is still +behind the capitalist and must wait for hope to rise again. + +Not feeling satisfied but that there was plenty of loose coin waiting to +flow to me, I took up the pleasant but unprofitable part avocation of +composing songs. I had a Washington music firm write the music, +copyright the songs in my name, do the advertising, and remit one-half +the proceeds to me semi-annually January 31st and July 31st. I was very +careful to set out specifically the remitting part in our contract. Each +song had its own peculiarity and sentiment to touch the public pulse, +which so far has been untouchable. The first song, “A Tear Drop Always +Glistened in His Eye,” was to fasten itself on the hearts of the people +like “Annie Laurie.” “When the Silver Moon Light Sparkles on the Lake” +made its bow to the public; I hoped lovers with emotion would go wild +over it and would know a good thing when they heard it. If they had such +a feeling the emoluments failed to show it. The third song, “Anna, My +Anna,” was short and jerky for the happy-go-lucky class of people that +fell so in love with “Casey Jones.” But it seems this class wouldn’t +respond either, and leaves me with the entire stock on hand with an +expenditure of $90.00 trying to get the people to sing. I find them more +unresponsive than the preacher when he says let everybody sing, and a +few who gave their best years in the Lord’s service lift up their +cracked voices in earnest endeavor to lead the sheep, and the sheep, +lambs and all go astray. My share of the profits has been ten one cent +postage stamps, just the ordinary kind, the common kind you can get from +every postoffice in the country. And the trio which failed to receive +public recognition I laid away where moths and rust doth not decrease +their earning power and neither do thieves molest them. Three more hopes +decently but sadly buried. + +There is also intertwined and resting sweetly in slumberland 175 shares +of Cracker Engle Gold Mine Stock at twenty cents per share and twelve +years accrued interest. I had the customary notice before I bought that +the stock would advance rapidly in price and if I invested without +hesitation and without investigation I would have the benefit of the +first and early advance. I hearkened to the alluring honey literature +and sent a U. S. money order, something whose face value couldn’t be +questioned. I wanted to be absolutely sure I’d get the stock. I got it +all right. I have such faith in that stock that I can go anywhere and +leave it behind unlocked doors and it never strays away. + +A home boy succeeded in getting a patent on an improved table. He +incorporated under the laws where Wilson was governor and then invited +capital for manufacturing purposes. He styled his invention “The Great +Western Improvement Company” and sold seventeen shares at the flat sum +of $5.00. I learned a little from the crack at the Cracker Eagle and did +not fly so high and only took the $5.00 worth. It’s comical now, to me, +how the inventor and promoter explained how his table was superior to +the common ordinary everyday table that’s been in use so long. It had a +hollow holding receptacle in the center and he said after the meal had +been stowed away and nothing was left but the dishes and flies, the +housewife could, if she felt so disposed, elevate a handle and the +soiled dishes would disappear and the table would have an inviting +appearance. He said it was especially fine when conversation had been +brisk and company or peddlers were seen coming; all that was necessary +was the quick jerk of the ever-ready handle and down out of sight went +the dishes, flies, napkins, and everything untidy and untasty. I was +looking for votes when this investment was made and while the votes may +not have had an equal value I let it go at that and put away the stock +for my grandchildren. Another share of stock in the Campbells’ Farming +Association at a cost of $5.00 brings my get rich quick investments to a +finis. The only other stock I ever had was bank stock. I invested +$1,500.00 in a State Bank in Nebraska. I didn’t lose on this deal but +the money would have paid better on a straight five per cent rate. + +Nothing would have done me more good and brought a keener satisfaction +than to have had a nice remuneration from some investment that I have +made. My wife called me what the bible says she shouldn’t so many times +that it seems to look like I am really a bigger one than she said I was, +and if I could have changed her mind by laying before her eyes a nice +portly check for $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 it would have been such an +agreeable surprise not only to her but to myself that we both would have +enjoyed it, and especially myself if I could have pulled it over. But if +hope don’t come again I will have to let that excellent pleasure be like +Mathewson’s speedy one and fade away. + +A lad of the average type at twenty-one has a great deal of stored up +energy; he has the muscle bank and the brain bank from which to get his +necessary resources, and a great many lads think Dad is a back number +and he sees where the old gentleman was short on gray matter, and all +advice is lost on this sort of boys. I was never conceited this way, in +fact I think somebody else got nearly all the gall that should have been +mine. If a fellow holds his own in these days, no matter what party is +in power, Democratic or Republican, you need your full allowance of +gall. The lad that thinks that the governor’s gray matter is not as +profuse as it should be, but he, through some unknown force, grabbed all +that was coming to him and part of dad’s might read the following verse +and the conclusive portion of this chapter and apply it from a stand +point of ordinary horse sense: + + When Johnnie Jones was twenty-one + He said my farming life is done, + I’ll pack my duds and say Good Bye + And to the city I will hie. + I’ll show the ones who think they’re it + That Johnnie Jones has got the grit + To make a name that will be felt + Like Astor, Gould or Roosevelt. + +It makes the pain come home when you look back from fifty and realize +that a man at twenty-one is a darn big fool, at thirty still a fool, at +thirty-five a little foolish, and at forty he still has some, at +forty-five wisdom breaks in gently, and at fifty he stands on the +threshold of learning ready to apply and absorb, and at sixty he’s a +valuable asset to his community and country. + + + + +THE WEARY TRAVELER. + + +Something has been gained and our life has not been futile if we can say +we owe no man and there is no obligation through which we have passed, +financial or otherwise, of which we are ashamed. We may not have +acquired honor, wealth or position but if we have lived up to the +teachings of the plumb and the square, we have a record that will stand +the closest investigation when we knock for entrance at the pearly +gates. If we can stand with our whole soul bared before our maker and he +sees that chastity and the sweet purity of any girl or woman has never +been trespassed upon we have acquired something that brings smiles to +angels’ faces. If we have stood firm when temptations surged and tossed +and clamored and we met them and conquered, we have through our moral +force a better right to the precious gems of God’s kingdom than those +saved in the eleventh hour. If we have never repeated unwholesome +stories or spoken slightingly of another’s character or said +disrespectfully something that we knew untrue, then we have lived well. +Each day’s battles must be fought alone and leave tomorrow’s till they +come. Never tear down character, it is the choicest gift in the universe +and constitutes life’s work. Remember a pure woman or a pure man is the +noblest work of God. Don’t let your footsteps slip from the path of +virtue but plant them firm and deep in the path of righteousness. Keep +away from people whose thoughts are degrading, and never harbor foul and +indecent language. Make it your most earnest desire to avoid using +profanity and vile utterances, an immoral epithet has a clinging effect +which takes years to erase, and those that emulate and make us better +takes determination and purity. + +I am now approaching the half-century mark. I can look ahead a few years +and see the fiftieth mile post. In all the years that have past and gone +I can recall none where my conditions and prospects are so alarming, +serious and discouraging as at the present time. I have a peculiar +ailment in my left side that has baffled the medical fraternity and +caused extreme anxiety to myself. I have endeavored with courage and +determination to exterminate it. I have tried assiduously physical +culture, osteopathy, dietics, Christian science and medicine. I have +consulted freely and often the great physician and all so far have +failed. With treatment at Hot Springs thrown in as good measure. The +surgeons say an operation is the only hope through which they can +discover the cause and eliminate it. I dread operations like I do “Good +Wills” and “Bonuses.” My wife had one and the doctor in charge said she +would be a well woman in three weeks, but those three weeks were worse +than that two weeks’ loan. They stretched into six long, bitter years +and were the direct cause of an outlay of money in excess of three +thousand dollars. Glad again of the early use of that harrow, for there +was surely a gross violation of the truth on the part of the surgeon. On +account of dearie’s precarious health I was forced to try a lower +altitude, and this not being sufficient it was necessary to try the +balmy, sunny air of California and sojourn there among the orange +blossoms and the singing birds for seven long months. This caused me to +give up my position of clerk that netted me in my four years’ labor the +tidy sum of ten thousand dollars. + +Today as I stand looking at that fiftieth mile post I realize in the +vernacular of the day “I am up against it.” My money is gone, my ailment +bothers me, I have a family to provide for, and the wolf stands on the +threshold with his mouth open and his long, gaunt body in readiness to +make the jump. In some way I must appease five empty stomachs from +consuming five back bones. My investments were bad. I tied up +thirty-five hundred dollars in a partnership lumber business, fifteen +hundred dollars in a home to shelter my loved ones, and the rest went +for food and clothing. I struck a highly modern town with all the +up-to-date conveniences, property depreciated fifty per cent, business +was stagnant, interest kept gnawing, and taxes went skyward. The two sad +mistakes I made was: first, to visit the office of the County Treasurer +and learn about the taxes; and the second was to stay out of business +unless we had enough money to pay for it and keep to the leeward of that +ten per cent interest, but I didn’t and so much more for experience, the +grandma of teachers. + +I do not lack courage and determination but knowing and being able to +see that fiftieth mile post causes a shudder and slight touches of +despondency. I think my training is more than is alloted the average +man. I have been a day laborer on the farm, railroad and hay field. I +have worked for a large number of task masters and I failed to remember +when I was ever criticised for not keeping up my end. I have held a good +many positions of trust such as census enumerator, section foreman, +extra gang foreman, county clerk, clerk of the district court, +abstractor, town trustee, and member of the school board. + +The first time I was a candidate for county clerk I ran on the +Republican ticket. I am not telling this in any spirit of the braggart +but as a sample of confidence. In my old home precinct I received one +hundred and twenty votes out of one hundred and thirty-two, and in the +precinct where I worked as section foreman I received forty votes out of +forty-eight, and this had always been a strong Democratic precinct. My +opponent was a strong candidate and entirely familiar with political +tactics, an old scholar in the school. But when the votes were counted I +received the certificate of election and laid down the tamping bar and +took up the pen. I could have established a precedent and been elected +again but dearie’s health would not permit and I declined to run. + +Some say the hand of fate guides our destinies and it was so to be, but +I am at a loss to understand why it should so be. I have lived clean, I +have always met my obligations with the strictest honor, no marks of +dissipation, inwardly or otherwise, have scarred my form and thank God +he nor any other can find any danger signals that can isolate me from a +free transport to the narrow path. I have been economical, conservative +and kind and I think I have done my very best. I have treated every one +with the closest application that can be unravelled from the ten +commandments and the additional commandment established through Christ. + +All through my married life I have been attentive to my wife and in any +room of our mortgaged home you can see many tokens of affection that she +has received. I have endeavored to lighten her domestic burden and +almost every Monday morning for the past twelve years I have been the +propeller at the washing machine. Hundred of times I have arisen between +the hours of three and four and wended my way to the family kitchen and +waded in on the soiled linen. I never sneaked out the back way to avoid +using the tea towel on waiting dishes. I can use the broom, duster and +make the beds. I can scrub, polish the stove, cook the steak, and +perform almost the entire category of domestic needs; but when it comes +to baking I would rather face the cannon’s mouth (a silent one like in +the city park in Denver) and die like a martyr. I have often acted as +maid. I recall once when I was a maid my wife was bed fast for three +weeks. We lived in a strong church town, somewhere near eighty per cent, +it seemed nearly all were Christians but during dearie’s sickness there +was not a single Christian woman or suffragist came to see her, offered +her services, or was in any way interested. I am sorry this happened in +this broad land of boasted Christianity and civilization. Some of these +same Christian ladies never failed to appear when the dues for foreign +missions were bordering on delinquency or when some rations were needed +for a church spread. + +I believe in doing good and giving cheer. You can always notice a gleam +of pleasure in your wife’s face when you give her a box of candy, a +dress, a dish, or some little token, and how she clings to the missiles +of love that you may have penned on scraps of paper, chunks of wood and +other things. They always speak for something I think meritable. I think +the pathway of dearie can be made more cheerful if she is remembered +daily and not all in one chunk at Christmas time, and then let her wait +for another twelve months. I never feared I would kiss my wife too much. +I kiss her more now than when I courted her and they are just as sweet +as ever. It helps to keep the love light in her eye. + +I have three fine children. I am not conceited about them; other people +say they are good. I have done my best to raise them well. Two of them +are in the County High School, the eldest a girl of sweet sixteen and +the other a noisy boy of fourteen. The remaining one is a baby of two +and one-half years. I must leave these three children and dearie and +look for employment. You can realize how pleasant it is to be separated +from them. How sad it is to kiss dearie and the others good bye and have +the many cute sayings of a strongly attached baby ringing in your ears, +not only through the dreary, lonesome days but long after the shadows +fall. + +Such is life with its pains and sorrows. They come to us all and while I +may think my road is rougher than is allotted the ordinary individual I +suppose others think the same. The one great consolation I have is that +dearie is almost a strong, well woman, and that is worth all I have +passed through and I would gladly undergo it again for her. I must be +getting ready, the colonists reduced rates of our liberal hearted +“S-T-E-E-L” railroads is near the finis of the twelve-day limit. The +parting is at hand. I kiss the loved ones good bye, cling tenaciously to +my second-class ticket, guard well my pneumatic pocket book with its +ragged puncture and try again in pretty California among the salty ocean +breezes, the cheerful flowers, the fragrant orange blossoms and the +shady pepper trees to find work and health for those I love. GOOD BYE. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Treading the Narrow Way + +Author: R. E. Barrett + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36785] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREADING THE NARROW WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + By R. E. Barrett + + Boston + THE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING CO. Inc. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + Copyrighted 1917 + By R. E. BARRETT + _Rights Reserved_ + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + PREFACE + +The chapters in this book are not based on fiction, they are not drawn +from imagination, they are not gems that come from culture and learning, +but are gleaned entirely from the rugged school of life, and are for the +purpose of cheering the down-hearted to a realization that a good life +has its just reward, that through continued combat every temptation, +obstacle and evil will vanish if a strict observance of God's law is +kept in carefully treading in the narrow way. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + DEDICATION + +To that dear teacher who urged me to go to school when I was past twenty +years of age, and helped to mold in me the true principles of honor. + +To a fine Judge on the Bench whose many fatherly talks to poor +unfortunates, whose feet had slipped from the narrow way, who helped me +to obey and respect the law. + +To a splendid intellectual lawyer, one of God's clean home men, whose +guest I have been at many intellectual feasts, to him I owe the +avoidance of the saloon and learned the intrinsic value of sobriety. + +To my two eldest sisters, one sister-in-law, and my devoted wife through +whom I learned the desperate struggle and what it means to live clean. + +To a poorly paid self-educated minister to whom I am deeply indebted for +the first introduction to my master. + +To these in the major part, and a few others, God bless them all, I owe +whatever I am to them, to these dear people I affectionately dedicate +this book. + + R. E. B. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. Early Footsteps. 9 + II. Getting the Backbone. 21 + III. The Two Paths. 32 + IV. God's Intention Man's Prevention 46 + V. The Sadness Behind the Vale 61 + VI. Gratitude. 71 + VII. Just Poems. 87 + VIII. Sallie's Loyalty. 112 + IX. Sunshine. 117 + X. Temperance. 133 + XI. Every Day Philosophy. 145 + XII. Glimpses from the Past. 158 + XIII. Hopes That Exploded. 179 + XIV. The Weary Traveler. 196 + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + +TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + + + +EARLY FOOTSTEPS. + + +Robert Emmett Barrett was the soothing and patriotic cognomen my father +fastened upon me when I first opened my eyes and I looked him squarely +in the face. I say my father named me and I honestly think he did. The +first two-thirds of the name proves my contention and opens the book +wide enough that the reader has no trouble in discerning the nationality +of my father. Mother was an English woman and I knew it the first time +she called father "Arry." If mother had had her equal rights in naming +me, I might have been a Gladstone; but somehow or other father +monopolized mother's half interest and she finally became disgusted and +told him to name me any blooming thing he wanted to. If mother could +have foreseen this savage war across the orient, I believe, she would +have handled the center name, but the way it stands I wouldn't shoulder +a gun for England and I can't use my undeveloped oratory against +Ireland, and I am about half persuaded to let them settle their own +troubles. It being no fault of mine that I am half Irish and half +English, I let it go at that and get along with everybody the best I +can. It's hard to separate the halves from the whole, and so, from a +perpendicular standpoint, I give the Irish the top half and the English +the bottom half; I'd rather let the English have the running half +anyway. + +So far the name Emmett hasn't done me much good, I've only used it nine +or ten times since I had it, thrice at political speeches, a couple of +Fourth of July addresses, once on Decoration Day, once at a church +wrangle, and a few times when I was mad. I find it doesn't help me much +on bank cheques, they get turned down as quickly with the Emmett signed +as without it. If the name is ever going to do me any good I wish it +would hurry up and be a progressive or I will be compelled to think +father was impartial and talked mother out of her rightful one-half +interest. + +After the ordeal of naming me had been fairly or unfairly dealt with, I +was told I was a free born American citizen and some day I might be +President and have absolute dominion over the blue room, where I suppose +the chief executive goes when he has the "Blues." I never considered +this encouragement very seriously, for, as I have read in some almanac, +there is only one chance in eighteen million, the odds are against the +slim chance and it's sort of a blue skim milk proposition or a church +raffle affair, and if it's the only time that opportunity is going to +knock at my door I don't think I'll be at home, I'll let Wilson do the +best he can and let some live Republican Progressive have my chance. + +If Wilson would only hurry up and get the Government to make those loans +they've been talking so long about and loan it, at about four per cent, +to citizens like myself, irrespective of names and nationality, and not +have the principal come due too quickly, but in periods, like twenty +year franchises, I believe he ought to have a second term; but if he +doesn't get some loans placed pretty soon I don't know what hard working +men like myself are going to do. + +The only thing I ask Wilson to be careful about when he loans the money +is the rate. I don't want to see the rate on loans as high as it was +during Cleveland's second administration. + +I borrowed eighteen dollars in 1894 to settle up a partnership fanning +deal with a Methodist preacher. It seems that outside of the banks no +one had any money, and you had to call on the gentleman banker, get down +on your knees and have tears as large as pullet eggs rolling down your +hollow cheeks, if you succeeded in your desires. Somehow the bankers +knew they had a good thing; they not only got the fat and tallow but +they stripped you clear to the bone. + +The eighteen dollar note was dated August 28, 1894, and read in part; +"With interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum"; and from here on +comes the craftiness of the banker: He interlined thus: "From January +18, 1894, if not paid when due." On October 23rd the same year I paid +ten dollars on the note; September the 11th, 1895, six dollars; and +December the 5th, 1895 the final payment and accrued interest was eight +dollars and twenty-five cents, making a total of twenty-four dollars and +twenty-five cents on a loan of eighteen dollars for one year, three +months and seven days. What was the rate of interest charged? That +banker is retired and worth a hundred thousand dollars; hadn't he ought +to be? + +To borrow money under that rate you needed the health of a bear, a +cataract of energy, a colossal mind, unlimited self-respect, boundless +self-confidence, all impregnated with an iron honesty. That kind of +interest makes me feel like the investor, who bought some unseen land +from an honest real estate man, and, when he went to look at his +property he found it submerged in water. The real estate man told him it +could be irrigated, but he had no idea it was susceptible of such +profuse moisture. After he gazed at it a while he said "Instead of +buying this land by the acre I should have bought it by the quart." He +probably has an unrecorded deed, I have the paid note in my possession, +I feel proud I got it paid; but my pride halted suddenly when I got it +paid and in all these years it hasn't advanced much for men who can take +a nickle and make it into a dollar so all fired quick. Some time I'll +frame that note with a glass on both sides of it. + +Coming back to the early events. I was born beneath the shadows of the +Rocky Mountains where the placid and sleepy Platte wound leisurely +through the broad meadows and sleeping undeveloped valleys and had +abundance of God's elixir before the day of the great reclamation +projects that sapped its mountain waters. + +Because I mention the Platte here, don't get me mixed with that other +fellow that has made the Platte famous and was until recently holding a +cabinet position on an underpaid salary, he's no relation of mine and I +never knew him until he ran for President. He did the opposite from what +I did and took that one slim chance, made three strikes and fanned; I'm +glad I let it alone. + +When I was six years old and my parents still said what I should do they +took Horace Greeley's advice and went a hundred and six miles farther +west. At their destination there was no buildings except the section +house, depot and a little building that sheltered the hand car. The +entire population was not over a baker's dozen. I don't believe there +was a quieter place on God's footstool. + +One good thing about those days was the taxes; I think a week's +compensation on the railroad would pay the taxes, County, State and +Municipal from 1887 to 1890. How we have progressed in taxes since then! +Especially Colorado. + +In this little dreary place where I had no associations to lead me +astray I took account of my surroundings. I was away out there on the +barren plains where the grass curled and burned under the blazing sun, +where foliage was scant, where the lonely cactus and prickly pear +awaited the step of man to imbed itself and cause more pain, no trees or +flowers to whisper words of encouragement, no cheerful forest or shady +dells, nothing at all to cause the deeper emotions of a queer nature to +assert themselves. Nothing but the broad miraged prairie stretching as +far as the eye could see. + +No cooling breeze to alleviate the pain on a youthful face or the faces +of those careworn early pioneers who blazed the way for future +generations, who would erect homes, till the soil, plant trees, and +endeavor to further promote civilization, until succeeding generations +would reap the pleasure and peace that was purchased through these +sacrifices and hardships of their forefathers. We owe to the pioneers +such a vast debt of gratitude that we never can pay the the principal +with no interest attached, and it's a different kind of interest than +four per cent a month. + +After I had grown to manhood and my lot had been cast in other places it +was over fourteen years before I saw much of the old scenes, but when +returning to the old places I noticed great changes. The town had grown; +few of the old places were left and the old haunts and nooks were hard +to find. + +A dreary and quiet sadness steals over one when looking at his boyhood +and manhood earliest recollections, and as I glanced at the old scenes I +stood and looked longingly, earnestly and lovingly at the old familiar +places. There was the locust grove I helped to plant two decades ago; +there was the little stream after which the town was named: there was +the old pump which so many times quenched my thirst; there was the exact +spot where dearie said the joyful word; there was the old house where +our first baby was born; there was the farm patch I used to plow, and +the meadow where I pitched the hay. All seemed different and as the +pathos of the change surged in my breast I walked away longing for +something I couldn't get, and would never get again. + + + + +GETTING THE BACKBONE. + + +About the year 1889 when I was seventeen years old I commenced on the +lowest rung on the railroad ladder and went to work on the section. I +was frail physically, and must have been the same mentally, for I never +got beyond the third rung. I worked in the days when you spoke for the +spring job the preceding fall, and then often your application met +failure. In hard times when jobs are few the fellow that has them is +blessed with unusual longevity, and whenever some one did pass beyond, +his demise was railroad talk for a long time. + +When you consider that all through the central west, which had a few +years earlier been homesteaded after several repeated crop failures, +almost the entire population were looking for employment and the only +cash job in the country was a section job, you can realize how desirable +and prized a position it was. + +I don't remember how it came that my application was slumbering all +through the cold winter with a large number of those half-starved +homesteaders who hadn't raised anything for so many years, received +recognition in the spring; but it did and I got one of the plums. + +The first time I pumped a hand-car I fully realized the Lord had made no +mistake by taking out one of the ribs and leaving the backbone whole. If +you ever pumped a hand-car I will pass from this painful mode of travel +and let you refresh your own memory and backache. + +I got along pretty well, when the "Boss" wasn't nervous that the road +master would come along and want to borrow another fifty dollars on his +word without interest, everything went nicely. When weed cutting time, +came I gritted my teeth, held my back as straight as I could and whacked +away. Besides the excruciating pain in the back that made you feel like +you would like to give one long piercing yell, throw your shovel away +and run for town, there was the additional pain of seeing the "Boss" +sitting on the hand car resting his back. He had the advantage and the +authority! I must keep at it and cut the weeds or the wheels of the +locomotive would slip, the traveler couldn't resume his journey, all +traffic would stop, and down would go the railroad stock and let out all +the water. + +It would have been a blessing if the water could have been spilled by +some patent process where the weeds were to be cut, but, monopolies +monopolize and if the Lord didn't see fit to have the rain fall in +September instead of June no one was to blame, except Grover Cleveland. +The Republicans said the country always went to the dogs and dried up +when the Democrats elected a President. I was too young then to know +much about statesmanship and I wouldn't want to say for repetition +whether or not the Lord and Cleveland were working together or +otherwise, but I do remember some one was mighty stingy with the +moisture. + +If you, my dear reader, have never had the privilege of cutting weeds +for a dollar and thirty-five cents per day for three weeks in succession +then, for all that's good and beautiful, take my advice and let the Jap, +Greek, or Italian have your place and do the mowing. Either of them can +get better wages and any of these dark-skinned brethren will do as much +in three days as the white man would in one day and cause the pale face +no extra exertion. + +The pain in the back caused from close association with a shovel from +seven o'clock to twelve o'clock and from one o'clock to six even now, +over twenty years afterwards, almost makes me break down and give vent +to my feelings in a more noticeable manner than my friend Taft when he +was informed that he had carried Utah. If you have ever been tortured +with lumbago, you have a slight knowledge of what races up and down the +back of a weed cutter. When he bends down he can't get up and when he +gets up he can't get down. There you are! Humiliated, suffering and mad, +knife blade sticking you whenever you move, but you must or bust. You +are a free born American citizen but you must lose sight of the special +endowment when you are cutting weeds. The constitution may be back of +you, but just at present you have got to get back of your own +constitution and a "darn" good one too, or you've lost your job and that +dearly beloved stipend of thirteen and one-half cents an hour. + +Being on the low rung of the railroad ladder is the same as in all other +departments, the man at the bottom gets the low wages, needs the good +back and carries the heavy burden. He don't need much brain; he is told +what to do; how to do it and when. He's told when to go to work and when +to quit. Brains would be a nuisance and, if he had any, he wouldn't be +working on the section. Time has proved that, and the Dago takes his +place. + +What became of the Irish, Swede, German and Bohemian section men of +twenty-five years ago is more than I know. Extempore, an increase of +brains did something for him and you don't find him tramping ties with +the Dago. But the man at the low rung hasn't much choice; he can work or +quit. His job is always in jeopardy as he couldn't save enough in a year +to loan out an occasional "fifty" to smooth the feelings of an over +auspicious road-master. He's at the bottom and whatever falls goes down +to him and in an undignified way he must carry the whole load, for it +can not go lower. The general manager can ease his feelings on the +superintendent, and he on the road-master and the road-master can growl +at the section foreman, but when the section foreman dumps the whole +putrid, half-boiled mess on the unlearned day laborer you can see the +urgent necessity of a fine piece of choice workmanship in the middle of +the back. You seldom see a man with a front like a wash-tub turned +edgewise working on the railroad. There is no room for him! You must be +able to see your feet if you cut weeds, and have a stomach that can say +"Hello" to the backbone at nine fifteen A. M. + +When the winds used to tear loose from the nasty bad lands of South +Dakota and come tearing over the semi-arid plains for three days in +succession at a velocity of sixty miles an hour it seems the Lord could +have improved on man by giving him a gizzard to grind up the accumulated +gravel that had been beaten into his daily bread. It came pretty near +taking the hide off from me to keep pace with those hungry homesteaders +who were afraid of losing their jobs and existence. + +I am glad that I had the backbone. The term is applicable in two ways. +One is the acquisition of a resilient mechanism in the center of your +back, starting at the base of your brain and running down to a certain +point or as far as is necessary, and the other is a priceless stamina, +determination and a square deal. I am not sorry that I acquired some on +the railroad; its a good thing to have in the every day affairs of life. + +I hardened my backbone when I worked on the steel gang a few years +afterwards, and, if there is such a thing as a steel backbone, I claim +some right to its possession through low remuneration and dirty cabbage. +Keen retrenchment policies make better satisfied stockholders and also +make wages that would embarrass a bumble bee if he were buying a pair of +leggings and expected to pay for them. + +It takes unlimited backbone for a congressman to vote "Yes" on the +prohibition amendment and turn down the easy money of the brewers. It +takes backbone for a president to cast custom aside and step into the +halls of congress and demand that the party pledges be kept. It takes a +better backbone to enter the same halls and take a determined stand on a +cause that means better citizenship. It takes backbone if the minister +ousts the liberal paying hypocrite who is helping to kill the church +with his pocketbook. + +It takes backbone every day you live and if you don't use it in the way +it was intended you can't tread the narrow path and expect to slip into +heaven without being recognized. You may do it on earth but you must not +try it where you are known. It takes backbone to be a Christian, the +earnest conscientious kind, that can lay all jealousy aside, all +prejudice and hatred and give the offender a square Christian deal. +Unless you can do these things you CAN'T be a Christian, the kind that +Jesus told us to be. The other kind is a sham and an out-and-out sinner +is far better. True Christianity will not allow one individual to do +another of the slightest wrong. The conscience of a real Christian will +not allow any ill feeling or the harboring of malice. You know it's +wrong, your conscience reminds you of the wrong and unless you remove +that kind of Christianity you can never receive the fruits that come +from the narrow way and be a successful Christian. You know yourself if +you are a sham so why try to fool anybody and carry a false label. + + + + +THE TWO PATHS. + + +Don't forget the warning of the Saviour when he says: "Enter ye in by +the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth +to destruction, and many are they that enter thereby. For narrow is the +gate and straitened is the way that leadeth unto life, and few are they +that find it." Travel the path that becomes shining gold, the one that +grows lovelier, the one where you are never alone: You'll need the +friend of this path when the heartaches and trials are hard to bear. +Don't chance the other path and sell your soul for pleasure, wealth and +damnation. + +The journey of life, be it one of success or failure, closely resembles +two paths. When we reach the age of accountability we must of our own +volition choose one of these paths. Where the paths commence to fork out +and go in separate directions we see a sign spread clear across the +entrance and it says: "I am the way, the truth and the light." We study +this for a long time and then go to the other side and on the same sign +board it says: "Though your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter +than snow." We are young, full of life and can't really understand what +it means but we are ready to start on life's pathway and there are only +two paths to choose from. + +We look around and see the broad, open path with no restrictions, filled +with the aroma of choice flowers, we meet social companions, have gay +parties, they tell us of the pleasures they are enjoying. From this +survey and study we note that the broad path looks cheerful and +inviting, the narrow one seems straight ahead as far as we can see. + +We can notice that the crowd seems to be going the broad way. People in +all conditions of life, well dressed, prosperous looking people of +wealth and affluence, and the ordinary working people in their customary +garb. They look happy and contented, and we decide to take the broad +way. + +We didn't notice, until after the start, that the course has a +descending grade and we get a long distance on the way before we call a +halt. We have seen a great many things that are not elevating and we +conclude that after we go a short distance we'll turn back, start over +and take the other path, and though the things that looked so inviting +at the beginning are losing their attractiveness. + +The demoralizing things we see are pitiful. There is a poor fellow +reeling with drunkenness. MY! hear that vulgar, profane language coming +from the foul mouth of that young man. There's a party drinking wine, +laughing boisterously and telling stories that are very improper for +ladies and gentlemen. There is a poor girl in a calico dress that seems +to be alone; her face looks sad and she seems to be watching and waiting +for someone. There is a pitiful story in her once pretty face that would +cause you to weep if you knew it. + +Look at that old man with a gray beard; he has been a powerful man in +his day, his well built physique tells that. He's a man of more than +ordinary intelligence, his features show fine breeding. He must have got +on the wrong path from not noticing the sign board, he seems out of +place here. I thought so. He is turning back! My! how he stoops as he +commences the ascent. But he is sticking to it. There he is telling a +younger man of the mistake he made and is trying to persuade him to +accompany him back. Well, isn't that splendid! They're both going back. +It must have been that last remark that the elder man said to the +younger man that persuaded him. "Lo, I am with you always even unto the +end of the world." + +There is a whole crowd about to start back; are they going? No, they +listen to that well dressed fellow over there smoking a cigarette, and +holding up that beer bottle and he has influenced them to go a little +further. It must have been that last remark he made when he told him +there was going to be a beer drink and a free dance at Switzers that +persuaded them. + +They go on and on; they are commencing to look ragged and worn out; the +roses have flown from their cheeks: their eyes are no more full of +lustre and keenness; the gray hairs are showing, the step is not so +firm, but still they go on. Now they are old, they have lived so fast +and reckless that they haven't hardly got the strength nor the +inclination to start to climb that long hill that took forty years of +the best part of their lives to descend. It seems an impossibility and +they do not desire to consider it. + +Look at that poor woman over there. Listen to the poor soul as she is +down on her knees and the tears are falling like summer rain. Listen to +her broken, sobbing words. My, isn't she the most pitiful, dejected and +forlorn looking creature you ever saw! Hear her as she sobs "Lord, I saw +the sign but oh I was so foolish, I didn't heed it but I remember it and +dear Lord hear me, I'm old, feeble and poor, I am friendless and I have +sinned and broken Thy laws. Oh take me as I am. Amen." + +Who is there beside the blessed Jesus that can pick up this poor +unfortunate daughter as she now stands before the bar of sorrow and +despair awaiting her dues? She was given and entrusted with a pure and +innocent life in infancy but she was frivolous and sought after wealth, +power, position and the many other transitory and fleeting things. She +took her clean, innocent life and so soiled and stained it that it would +be unrecognizable to any one but he who gave it, and now, when it is +filled with barrenness, she comes to her maker with her wasted life, +when in all candor and sense of fairness she could expect nothing in +return, but he says to her "Though your sins were as crimson they shall +be whiter than snow." + +Then we see the other path that was trod by the bleeding feet of the +lowly Nazarene. We know the anguish and pain he suffered; we think of +the fiendish death he died that he might say to a sinful people; "Come +unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." + +This narrow and straight path may not be so beautiful at the beginning +as the broader one. We think if we follow it all joys and pleasures are +gone. But what a mistake, for each day that we travel, it becomes +prettier, the flowers are sweeter, the trees are greener, the skies seem +bluer. We find temptations and trials but we have some one to lean on, +and there is a sweet peace and enjoyment known only to his followers. It +makes it easy to pass the saloon and enter the church. The Lord is in +that little church and his servant there knows every man, woman and +child for miles around. See them cluster around him; he loves them; each +day he lives he does some one a kindness. He listens to your sorrows and +heartaches; his joys are your joys and never a word or thought but one +of goodness and kindness has he for anybody. He looks tired today; he +spent an all night's vigil at the bedside of a sick friend. Did you see +him when he stopped and caressed that little girl who had broken her +doll? It meant something to her and he has won her everlasting +gratitude. See him talking to that young fellow over there who is +wavering and unable to decide which path to take. Notice his warm and +friendly attitude and see, he has won his confidence and has got a +promise from him. See that sweet-faced, light-hearted maiden, he has +just come from her home and she has consented to lead a better life. + +Look there, will you! He is helping up that poor man whose feet slipped +from the narrow way and he is taking him home to the broken-hearted +wife. See the sadness on his dear old face as he gives what comfort he +can to the poor woman; he's back again the next day and is talking to +them both. "Yes," they said from now on they'd cling close to the +marriage vows. Don't they all look happy and pleased. There he is again +talking to a poor man who has been unsuccessful, he worked hard, lived +pure but went too heavily in debt and can't meet his obligations. Worry +is making him sorrowful and shortening his days, but the dear pastor +with his hand on his shoulder and his warm words of sympathy has a +telling effect and the heavy clouds are leaving his countenance and as +they part, each understands the other. The cordial, glowing hand-shake +is given and both have received good. There he goes again; he's just +married a young couple and is advising them, he is telling them not to +be down cast when a snag comes along but to work together, tread the +narrow way, keep faith in God, and He will bless and prosper them. + +There is pain in his heart today; he has just come from the home of +broken-hearted parents who have laid away in the silent city their first +born. In his great love for them he has told them about Jesus, the +sorrowful life he lived, the great pains and heartaches he endured, and +he did it all for them. As he leaves they love him as a father and a +sweet peace has descended upon them and the wound commences to heal. + + And so it goes, day after day, + He's telling some one of God's narrow way; + He's planting some flowers where flowers should be; + He's smoothing the path from dull misery; + Here a kind word, there a good deed, + He's doing his best to meet every need. + +The greatest need in keeping in the narrow way is in sincere and earnest +prayer accompanied by a tenacious faith, is the only source that leads +to the full and sweet companionship of the blessed Jesus. The every near +realization, what God can accomplish for us fulfills the truth that the +ever listening ear of a just and righteous master has ample succor for a +burdened and heavy heart. Faith without something to justify its +establishment, though it be ever so great, is in reality groundless and +contains no true merit, but honest prayer for honest motives and coming +from a desirous heart is the great medium through which sinful mankind, +so prone to err, is brought into a close relationship with a wise and +prudent God, a God who willingly compensates every effort whose basis is +a true and unselfish heart. + +Trust God fully at all times and pray with such sincere, fervent and +unselfish motives as is only needed to replenish a pure and unspotless +desire. When prayer is answered, as God sees fit to answer, we can +discern its force and effect in our hearts from the knowledge and fact +that a change has taken place and a deep feeling of keen satisfaction +has fully satisfied a craving want. If this were not so the prayer alone +without any manifestation from a true and living God, would be +worthless. A long composition of nicely polished words spoken to an idol +could in no wise be called a prayer. The densest mind could surely +realize that no sympathy lies in anything not able to comprehend a +feeling. Silence would be better and is more valuable. It is better to +keep still than to say something that would cause some one to err or +stumble. + + + + +GOD'S INTENTION MAN'S PREVENTION. + + +God's handiwork and its beauty is manifest wherever the eye rests. The +towering mountain peaks, the great boulders, the babbling brooks, the +peaceful valleys, the green grass, the beautiful flowers, the shady +dells, all speak of his master hand. The moon-beams playing on the still +waters, the sunshine streaming through the golden clouds, the perfect +poise and artistic shape of the trees growing on the mountain side among +the jagged rocks where the hand of man never trained or cultivated them. +There they stand as sentinels waving to and fro by the gentle breezes +and tell of His wonderful works. The wild flowers growing side by side +in the shady dell, each a different color, whisper His wonderful plan. +The little brook dancing and playing in and out among the deep chasms +chiseling its narrow passage among the granite, jumping over big rocks, +rolling little pebbles, it steals here and there until it spreads out on +the great plains and fertile prairies into a rushing river hurrying on +its way to the ocean. The beautiful sun-set casting its long stream of +golden beauty over the western sky mocks at the skillful artist when he +tries to imitate its marvelous shades and tints. The moon breaking +through the silvery clouds and showering the heavens with beauty and +grandeur rests its glory on the evening dew, and the millions of +diamonds glitter and glisten in a splendor and elegance far beyond the +hand of man. The many stars hanging like precious gems upon a great +pedestal twinkling and sparkling tell the same story of His wonderful +handiwork. + +God was not satisfied with all these marvelous things and, though they +are perfect, good and beautiful He must surpass them. He must have a +crowning effort to all their glory. So to defy imitation He brought +forth His masterpiece and called it man. The incomparable and +unsurpassable, the grandest achievement of his architecture. In his +wisdom He provided everything for his needs and comfort. Sunshine to +warm him, darkness to rest him, trees to shade him, give him fuel and +shelter, birds of song to cheer when weary with labor, flowers to +beautify, soil to produce whatever he sowed, rain and sunshine to mature +it, meats of all kind to nourish him, fruits, fishes, grains, honey, +milk and everything necessary for his growth and sustenance, He made him +pure, clean, strong, and beautiful, just a little bit lower than the +angels. He furnished man everything to start with. It was no disgrace if +his hands were blistered and dirty if they were stained by honest toil, +he fought hardships and privations, he was the hardy pioneer blazing his +way for home and country, raising his children near to nature's heart +and cleanliness. He gave to posterity strong, hearty, rugged men and +women, he lived honorably, his labor was rewarded and he died ripe in +years as a fitting tribute to his great achievements. + +Time rolled on! Years became centuries! Methods changed and the great +plan of God was lost. + +Greed, avarice and monopoly commenced to steal the bread from the +infant's mouth; the keen and bitter struggle for existence is in full +sway; the great land of liberty and opportunity no longer can put forth +her boast and call and call for him to come, build homes, prosper, live +well and accumulate. + +What changeful conditions today from then! We boast of our great +enlightenment and yet we are like the drowsy cat under centuries of +domestication. As soon as the raw meat is put before us all the +centuries' training is cast aside and we are ready to do acts of +barbarians. Instead of being able to arbitrate and handle all questions +of war through peace tribunals we cast aside the brotherly teachings of +the great book, increase the standing army, build more warships, enlarge +the navy, and be ready for war, ready to shoot our brother, ready to +destroy his home, leave his children penniless and fatherless, a widow +to struggle and mourn, posterity to be enfeebled, a gigantic debt to +stagger many generations unborn, a country bankrupt and all teachings of +love and better citizenship disgraced. + +No wonder our people are discouraged and feel we are slipping away from +the preamble of our great Constitution! If this age and this country can +not handle all questions, national and international, and extend the +fullest measure of brotherly love where peace is needed; what age or +country can? + +I think it may be America that will be called upon to lead other nations +and have them cast aside their war preparations and prepare for peace. +In every crisis through which this country has passed we have been +fortunate, thank God, that the right man has always been found. We have +had our Washingtons, Lincolns, Websters, McKinleys, Wilsons, and +hundreds of others and in every instance when some great problem has had +to be solved, either in this country or abroad, in either science, +statesmanship, literature or art, no matter how perplexing, difficult or +intricate, American brains and ingenuity, in the vernacular of the day, +has brought home the bacon, Swift's premium, if you please! + +I have always felt deeply sorrowful for the man who studies long and +ardently with a bowed head resting upon his hands. His whole soul seems +to be calling for the fine sympathies that can only be rendered from the +loving teachings of the Nazarene. He is calling for the tender affection +that is keenly necessary to right him just before that sullen burning +wave of despondency casts him into utter gloom and sorrow. O +Christianity! Christianity! amid wealth, society, culture, influence, +peace, advancement, laws, legislators, and boasted liberty where art +thou? + +Visit the parks of any cities, towns or small villages and you can find +sitting on the benches man after man who is unable to solve the problem +of an honest existence. There he is, honest, clean, and worthy of good +citizenship, unable to find labor that will keep him an honor to +society. What will become of him in this land of boasted opportunity and +liberty? Plenty for all; but monopolized and organized until the +laboring man is almost ostracized. Look at his countenance, clear cut, +manly and open, haggard, yes, but from what? From worry, loss of sleep, +lack of food, responsibility of a family without funds, etc. But withal +you find no look of dissipation, no odor of liquor, no foul language, +and still with all these excellent qualities of meritorious citizenship +he is sinking. How long will he stand it? + +Were you ever in a condition of this kind when any way you turned you +were outfigured. How long can a man have a thorn like this continually +getting deeper and deeper into his flesh before he will make a grasp for +it, and endeavor to release the pain? Where is the cause? What is wrong +with our wide heralded economic system? This condition being true of the +man with a family how alarming to the young man of today without a +family? Show me any incentive or inducement for the common ordinary man +of today without funds to cause him to establish a home and rear a +family under the grand old Stars and Stripes, and I'll show you a man +that loses worse than a bankrupt in the finer sense of the word. + +Without the establishment of homes this nation can not stand. No matter +how frugal a man is, no matter how economical his habits you can give +him the most promising part and he can not marry and rear a family +because at every angle he is beaten. What is he going to do? Free land +is almost gone, food stuffs are high, all his needs are expensive; how +can he make it? Every line he wishes to enter is crowded! Reason for +yourself and see if this is not true. + +When you talk of large families, who raises them but the poor people and +this will soon be eliminated. If the poor man raises one child he is +doing more than his duty to society than the rich man. The expense is +such a night-mare and horror to a common, ordinary and honest man to +provide the necessaries of life for his family that I sometimes shudder +and feel sorry that I caused children to be born, fought for a home, +paid my debts, and lived clean. I wouldn't want to do it again for my +country, and I love her as I do the man of Galilee. + +I fear America is no longer another word for opportunity as was said by +the beloved Emerson, unless she helps him to establish homes on the +public domain by loaning him money at a low rate on long time periods +and keep him at work and help him along and not foreclose when he is +doing his best to win. He'll win, give him a chance. + +What Emerson said may have been true at an earlier period it was so +intended, but the plan was lost sight of and the great greed for wealth +was accomplished to the detriment of the majority who have been obliged +to make their living with their hands. It is a sad fact but true that +there is a revolution slowly kindling in the breasts of the laboring +class of people against capital; God grant that in some way the fire can +be put out. + +I have sometimes thought what's the use of living. The sorrows and pains +outnumber the joys by a large margin. You slip down the hill of pleasure +without any exertion, but to climb the mountain of morality is a +gigantic task, for every step is a struggle, and after you have fought +and won nine-tenths of the journey one misstep and you slip to the +bottom and the whole climb is before you again. It's fight, fight all +the time, continually and forever! It robs you of nature's rest, steals +away your ambition, stirs up hatred towards those in easy circumstances +and causes conditions of unrest and strife. + +Is life worth the gigantic struggle to overcome the perplexing +difficulties and endeavor to live honest and clean and not slip down the +path of despair where the great majority seem to be going. I say it is! +"For, what do you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own +soul." + +Let your mind ponder over the story of Lazarus picking up the crumbs +from the rich man's table and you must conclude the starving beggar +gained uncomparable joy and satisfaction to the rich man's torment when +the two men's lives were carefully weighed on the scales where God +predominates and not the sugar trust. It pays! It pays in a thousand +different ways! + +There is something to a man that lives an upright life in the church and +in the world. He is a valued asset to any community, he may be poor but +he has character, and this is something money can not buy. It takes a +good life to make a man. A fellow that is rich and lives solely for the +pleasure of his money is not a man. + +One time I mused thus: If it could be so, just for the shortest duration +of time, while temptation was the strongest and the fierce conflict was +raging, if I could be blind, absolutely blind till the strong temptation +had passed and then let me see again and have my first sight catch the +last glimpse of the golden sun as it dipped behind the western horizon, +leaving behind a long stream of golden beauty stretching out in its +grandeur to kiss the evening sky; even if a scene like this could erase +the temptation and the blindness prevail during the surging of the +conflict, how could my faith be increased by not having the moral +courage and strength of character to withstand the evil? It's the +casting aside of temptation by the sheer strength of the will power that +makes the struggle easier, the way grow brighter, and the victories +grander. If God would allow such a condition once, we, in our weakness, +might ask again and again and instead of growing stronger we would grow +weaker. It is the heroic fighter who has won his laurels when the +bullets of evil whizzed all around him that you like to go up to and pin +the medal on. + + + + +THE SADNESS BEHIND THE VALE. + + +A life of self-denial and sacrifice is the grandest object the sun +shines on. There is nothing under the azure skies of heaven so worthy of +true merit as the pure, unspotted and unselfish heart of a sacrificing +mother. How my heart aches for the poor, worn and tired mother whose +whole life is confined in four walls with three or four children, laying +claim to her entire time and attention. You do not find these kind of +women saturated with society; they are not fanatics on woman suffrage +nor are they riding through the streets in a limousine with a +good-for-nothing yellow-nosed pup sitting beside them. In common decency +how can any woman with any affection or mother love center it upon such +an object as a despicable, worthless pug-nosed cur. If it was a dog like +a Shepherd, St. Bernard, Newfoundland, and many others, there would be a +little better taste shown, but when it is confined solely to the mongrel +whelps and Teddy bears I think it is high time to pick up the Bible and +read the thirty-second chapter of Isaiah from the first to the twelfth +verse inclusive. Lord, but it is pitiful to see such things committed +when there are thousands and thousands of poor little homeless girls and +boys starving to death for some one to love them, give them a home and +then see a poodle woman and her poodle dog go rushing by. + +For a long number of years I have had the pleasure of being acquainted +with one of God's self-denial mothers. If this earth contains anything +sweeter and the next world anything better the mind of man so far hasn't +been able to conceive it nor the Bible to reveal it. In her early +womanhood and all through her life she has been frail, small-boned, +short of stature, delicate, and very unmuscular. Her's was not the +physique to struggle as she has against life's tremendous battles, but +she took up the burden cheerfully, looked every difficulty in the face +squarely and openly and lifted her voice to the ever-listening ear and +overcame every obstacle with gentleness and love. When heartaches, pains +and sorrows seemed so heavy that human endurance could no longer stand +the strain and tension, she would, through the channels of her wonderful +self-control, step from beneath the heavy clouds of trials and sorrows +out into the sunshine of God's holy love and stand master and conqueror +of every trial. The loyal battles she has swept with victory are worthy +of such praise and eulogy that the human mind can not find words choice +enough to meet it. + +Poverty with all its worry can not engulf her, for she has that faith +that there will be a way provided and she determines, and the mountain +is seen moving in the distance. No time to partake of many pleasures is +her lot; she must study her every day cares, rear her children, school, +clothe, and provide for them. Many times a tear stands where joy should +be. It is beyond all understanding why her cross should be so heavy when +every atom of her strength has been used to make the world better, but +no matter how heavy the load is, how painful the head might ache, or how +discouraging the teacher, the present every day conditions must be met +and the sooner begun the sooner ended. Every minute is occupied or the +accumulation of wasted time makes the burden heavier. + +The hands work and the mind works. Neither can rest and accomplish the +needs, and while the hands iron and bake and wash, the mind is occupied +on what the hungry mouths demand, and how an old coat or vest or an +under garment can be made into an article of service. + +These are the kind of women worth while; these are the kind that more +than do their part in sustaining a great government. Her lot is not a +pleasant one, but she hands down to posterity a better and more +substantial foundation for better government than any class of women in +our nation; her life is an open book where the entries are made on each +day's pages. On page after page you can see where the tears have fallen, +where the struggle has been so keen and bitter that hope had almost +fled; but turn the page and you will find renewed hope. The +ever-listening ear has heard the words bathed in grief and the answer +came, "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted." How a +few dollars from some good-hearted philanthropist would ease the way for +this poor little struggling woman. Why is it when she has reached the +point in life where she should expect the most the least is at hand? She +has passed the thirty-eighth mile post, with the odds strongly against +her. The system is torn down more rapidly than it can be built up. +Everything seems to combat against her and endeavor to overwhelm her, +but sorrows, discouragements, trials, hardships and heartaches with +their utmost collective strength have not been sufficient to thwart or +encompass her. Every one has been defeated, the cost has been gigantic, +it has stooped her shoulders, chiseled deep creases in her brow and cast +snow among her locks, robbed her of comforts due her and strewn old age +where youth should be. The sad face still smiles and with an +unconceivable determination she meets every foe in the great battle +field of life and crushes them. + +She does it from close application of that wonderful story of love that +is found in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew from the +third to the twelfth verses inclusive. The greatest solace to aching +hearts the world has ever known. The struggle would have never been met +and conquered if she had depended on her own strength, she needed a +higher source to guide her and in every struggle the lowly man of +Galilee stood beside her and when the cross became so heavy that she +stumbled and was ready to fall, his loving arm was ready to shield and +sustain her. + +With all her pains and trials there came into her life one night the +greatest sorrow of all, and although the load she had carried far +overtaxed her strength she had to bear another and heavier one. Her +little sweetheart boy of nearly two years old came toddling in one day +with the cruel marks of a fatal sickness on his sweet little face, and +after three days and nights of long vigil the tired mother laid down to +rest, and as she slept on a pillow bathed with tears the pure little +innocent soul was gathered into the arms of angels and carried away. +Years have passed, but the pain lingers and when the thoughts go back to +the silent form in the little white casket the tender heart of this pure +woman is so engulfed in sorrow that it seems it is entirely beyond all +human endurance and patience. It is then this still, small voice she has +known so long, again speaks and says: "Come unto me all ye that labor +and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." + + * * * * * + + How her dear heart did ache when the death angel trod + And took back her boy to his maker and God; + No sorrow nor pain nor heart aches nor tears + Are ever more known where he takes these small dears. + + There is something so sad in the valley of death, + When the heart stops its beat and there's no longer breath! + That angels must come to ease up the pain, + And open the soul to let the tears drain. + + How long are the years and how many it takes + Before there is peace from the burning heart aches! + The home is so lonely so silent and still + There is something gone out that nothing can fill. + + His little things stand where he left them one day, + The little toy dog all ready for play, + The big choo choo train and the horse he called Bill, + All wait for the hand that is silent and still. + + + + +GRATITUDE. + + +Few people care to listen to your sorrows, trials and burdens if you are +not succeeding. If you succeed, everybody is grabbing for the stock no +matter how well filled with water it is. They point with pride at the +successful man as he saunters by; he can do a great many things that are +shady, but on account of his success and prominence they are hushed up +and never rise above a whisper; he's dined and wined; gets cut prices on +everything he consumes; rebates from the railroads and special +privileges in the churches. But take the poor fellow that each day's +debts eats up his pay roll and we never hear of his fine qualities until +we read his obituary. + +If you will take a few leisure moments and look up the meaning of the +word "gratitude," you will find that there are few words that surpass it +in quality, love and kindness. It clusters near the soul and is properly +a virtue. In this life it is very hard to be misunderstood and +undervalued by those we love, but this too in the journey from the +cradle to the grave we must learn to bear without a murmur, for it's a +tale often repeated. + +Any one who has given their time, talent and attention serving the dear +people, either as a Town Trustee, member of the School Board, Mayor, or +any of the petty offices of small towns and villages, used his best +judgment in endeavoring to meet every issue honestly, fairly and +squarely, wins for his gratuitous services the everlasting displeasure +of his constituents. + +No matter how hard you strive or how honest you may be there come up +little intricate issues where there is no middle course and no matter +what stand you take some people charge you with graft and dishonest +motives. Any one who can serve for one term and is so unfortunate and +foolish as to accept another, has acquired a character so colored that +it takes from ten to fifteen years in our best Sunday Schools to wash +out the stains. + +Don't ever feel elated or think you are popular because you are elected +and people call you alderman, for the first thing they will do will be +to slip out that pleasant, sweet sounding word "Alderman" and put in +"Grafter" with the thumbscrews set. They'd call you a grafter if they +personally know the treasury had been depleted for fifteen years. My, +the pleasures of a gratis councilman! + +I have heard of people losing their minds for long intervals and then +suddenly regain them and I have often wondered if they had been favored +with an aldermanic pleasure and the mind commenced to slip into space, I +wonder if when the cog alderman appeared if it wouldn't cause such a +jolt that it would clear the whole mental atmosphere. Perhaps there is +one redeeming feature and if it wasn't for some consolation the pictures +and scenes would be so indelibly impressed that you would be able to +recall them long after you'd said "Amen." + +The spirit of revenge and retaliation were never very deeply imbedded in +my make up. The seed being lightly sown I used the harrow instead of the +cultivator and got it out. I am glad I did; it has helped me to get a +good night's rest instead of fondling and caressing discolored orbs that +might have come in sudden contact with solid and knotty obstacles. + +I bought a small business one time from a devout Presbyterian; I had the +greatest confidence and trust in him, which I had a sad right to have. +If false colors are carried we must find it out because they carry no +notice to warn us. Well, anyway, he spread the tempting menu of his +careful preparation in great shape. He was pleasant, courteous and very +entertaining. The way he figured up the invoice you'd thought +mathematics was his specialty. His tongue kept pace with his pencil and +after everything was figured up he brought up the "Bonus Good Will" part +and I really thought he was letting me do him a favor by giving him one +hundred iron men. You see I wanted his good will along with everybody +else's. + +I am glad I learned about this "Good Will" business. All told "Good +Will" and "Bonuses" have cost me nine hundred and thirty-three dollars +thirty-three and a third cents. Don't try to fool me on "Good Wills" +again; they're a drug on the market, very unsaleable and unpopular to +your humble servant. + +After I paid the "Good Will" price and everything was agreeably settled +I started in with my maiden business. Going through the bags and some +other stuff in the back room a few days afterwards, I discovered bags +invoiced and paid for at one hundred pounds shy. "Shy," I said, and he a +Christian! This taught me that there are eighty and ninety pound +Christians. The loud smelling, decaying and life moving gunny sacks +contained prepared meats for poultry. I quit in disgust and went into +the front department; a fellow stepped in and said, "How is business?" +and I answered "Rotten." A frank acknowledgment of a painful truth. + +Other things ran about the same; the horses were sold as unblemished, +sound as a dollar, etc., and mind you, he a Christian and ministers +dropping in every few days and talking and planning how to increase the +congregation. My, I'm glad I used that harrow! When I sold out the +business, I marked down experiences one thousand dollars. I felt pretty +blue after I had lost the thousand bones I worked hard to get, and it +used to be when I got the blues I eased my mind with graveyard poetry; +pardon me for inserting it here. + + If I should die tonight how few would care; + Perhaps some heart would ache, some one somewhere, + Some might cast a lingering look, a tear + And tremble with emotion at my bier, + But before many days would pass away, + Before my silent form would turn to clay, + I'd be forgotten and alone, + And not a heart to ache or moan. + Oh! this bitter, lonely life's a snare, + The kind friends you hear so much about are rare. + Some may mean it in their hearts but feign + And measure men by dollars not by brain. + +A friend came to me one time and said he was in pressing financial +straits and asked me to loan him fifteen dollars for two weeks. I +granted the request and the loan was made. I thought I was familiar with +the calendar and knew when two ordinary weeks ended, but those two weeks +were the longest I have ever known. Fortnight after fortnight passed and +no end came. Long and endless weeks of this kind might be all right for +the man facing the electric chair, but they had no solace for an +individual anxious to get married and needing the husky "Simoleans" to +furnish a cage for his waiting bird. + +One day I met the overdue biped and I said, "How about it?" I was young +then and I thought I could glide in as easy this way as well as any +phrase I had in my limited vocabulary. "Well," he said, "I'll tell you +what I'll do. I know you are about to plunge in the matrimonial sea and +I have a proposition to offer you. I have a good standard make of organ +that I don't need and if you will give me forty-five dollars and forget +about that previous fifteen we will call the transaction closed and drop +the curtain." + +"All right," I said, "here is your money." + +That organ may not be in existence yet, but it's in my memory fresh as +ever. I couldn't play it, for it was all I could do to carry a tune when +it was tied in a bag. I had no wife to play it and I couldn't keep it +and get married, I was in a desperate condition one day when I walked +into a hardware store, that is a store, you know, where they keep ware +that is hard, frying pans, dish pans, bread pans, etc., you know what +those things are for. "Well," I said to the village wit behind the case, +"I'll trade you that organ for enough household paraphernalia to cook +with, take care of enough viands and stuff or whatever you call it, to +keep two people about to start out together; each now separate and apart +but very anxious to be united." "Agreed," he said, "hand over that list +you've got with the articles on and I'll have them ready in a short +time." + +Funny, isn't it, how the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb, but how +about the one ready to be shorn when there isn't even a zephyr blowing. +Well, the deal was transacted, exchange made, and that is how I got my +household goods when I married dearie. The financial report read like +this: Actual cash in organ, sixty dollars; actual worth, forty-five +dollars; second actual value in organ, forty-five dollars; actual value +of pots and pans twenty-five dollars, experience and pleasure of making +a two weeks' loan, thirty-five dollars. This was not putting a premium +on "Bliss" for a fellow just getting ready to carry the matrimonial +load. + +The weight would have been some lighter if that weasened faced Dutchman +had not worked off on me a left handed frying pan for a right-handed +bride, and was so extremely liberal on the good deal he had made that he +threw in a second hand mouse trap when the new ones sold six for a dime. +This was the first time I saw tears in my wife's eyes. The fountain was +opened and they flowed freely. Those tears were trivial to the tears +we've in shed later life, but those first tears moved me to almost +unconsolable grief and the emotion caused a flow of poetry. It's not +very long and will not tire you much, so I will slip it in here as a +filler. + + Cheer up, little darling, + You know my love is true, + And nowhere in this great big world + Is a sweeter girl than you. + I have loved you always + Trust me fully, dear, + Let me be your shining star + I'll sparkle when you're near. + And all along our pathway + We'll never pluck a thorn, + But will pluck the roses + In life's dewy morn, + Roses are more fragrant, + They'll give us better cheer + And the thorns we'll cast aside, + They are worthless, dear. + +When I was a County Clerk and exceedingly busy pushing the quill over +the big records, a M. E. Minister came in one day and accosted me with +that word that arouses confidence. Brother, he said, we are figuring on +a short order annex to the church, (remember that word SHORT?) and we, +of course, couldn't slight you and if you will kindly donate as +liberally as possible the Lord will bless you abundantly, for you know +he loves a cheerful giver, and etc., and etc. Well, I responded. When +you get your subscription list in these parts drop in and I will help +you. + +I know what an annex to some of the churches without or with cook stove +means. It seems nowadays, as the prophecies are being filled, some +churches deem it necessary to feed the stomach before the soul, +realizing, I presume, a full stomach is a twin brother to a big heart. +They beg the food and the utensils to serve it in from uncheerful givers +and then dispense it cautiously and sparingly, the more sparingly the +more money for the Lord. When the ice cream is served they forget all +about scriptural measure of "Heaped up and running over" and run it +under. If one dish of scriptural measure can be stretched into four +dishes of worldly measure, there is forty cents instead of ten. High +finance, you see! I've often thought a society of this kind that would +squeeze down the measure on ice cream procured at a minimum cost, would +bear watching if they were running a milk wagon with a pump near. If any +one else gets money in this way they call it an unearned increment. What +would Jesus call it? I really would be afraid to express my thoughts at +that kind of a meeting for fear they'd request the parcel post. + +In a few days the brother dropped in and hoisted from his inside pocket +the subscription list and handed it to me. I glanced over it casually, +as is natural in such cases made and provided, to see who were the +cheerful givers. After concluding what I thought was a liberal donation +and really beyond what a man of my means should give I put down forty +dollars and handed the paper back to him. The ungentlemanly gentleman +took it and looked at it and said, "Well, we expected much better than +this from you." You know what feelings ebb and flow within you when you +get a snub like this. I could feel the Irish blood chasing the English +blood at a hazardous speed, but I said nothing and was glad again of the +early use of that harrow. + + + + +JUST POEMS. + + + The Dog. + + Of all the beasts beneath the sun + There is no other, not a one, + That clings to man in sweet and bitter + As faithful as the canine critter. + + When fortune smiles upon its crest + And all your toil is richly blest + The loyal dog is near at hand + For slightest duty or command. + + When poverty comes stalking in + And you have lost your precious tin, + The good old dog is just the same + In dire distress or glittering fame. + + In tattered rags or spick and span + He has a truer heart than man, + And when you meet most keen defeat + His sympathy is there to greet. + + When you are old and had your day, + With feeble limbs and head of gray, + And angels come to take you home, + The good old dog is last to roam. + + He'll watch beneath the stars at night + Beside your grave a sadful sight, + And wait and wait for many a day, + When faded flowers have blown away. + + A dog's great love is most sublime, + It lingers near the word divine, + And intertwines from him above, + For dog turned around is God and love. + + * * * * * + + The Booze. + + Oh the ones who drink the booze, + You can tell it by their flues, + The torrid heat within flames up the nose. + At first they're moderate drinkers, + And become the same as thinkers, + And what a sight for pity ere the close. + + Chorus. + + The booze, the booze, + Any way you choose, + No matter how you figure it you lose. + + How many homes that suffer, + When they shelter such a duffer, + Whose presence causes heartaches, tears and blows, + But you can always tell 'em + If you can't then you can smell 'em, + But if all the signs should fail you there's the nose. + + If you only take a drop + You know you'll never stop, + Don't you realize that dynamite explodes, + Better take an inventory, + Before you're blown, no not to glory, + But to where they ignite quickly, Jimmy Rhodes. + + What's the matter with your clothes, + Or do you for artists pose, + Don't you ever meditate or think + There's enough loam in your hair + To rob an acre bare, + Take an invoice before another drink. + + Stop, my friend, don't be a slave, + Do not fill a drunkard's grave, + Be a man from birth until close, + Come to him, the Galilean, + He will make your future clean, + He's the one to take the add from off your nose. + + * * * * * + + What's the Difference? + + It matters not, so some folks say, + Where rests the form when 'neath the clay. + There is no choice when the heart is still, + Some always say and always will. + + This may be true when we're forgot, + And aught remains to mark the spot, + But a silent stone that stands all time, + With letters cold to tell mankind. + + Some may not care where rest their bones, + In foreign lands or near their homes, + Where tender hearts can shed the tear + And bathe the roses on the bier. + + I'd rather rest 'neath shady trees, + That beautify and kiss the breeze + With velvet grass spread over the plot, + With lilies and forget-me-not. + + * * * * * + The Steering Wheel. + + 'Twas a party blithe and gay, + On a joy ride as they say, + Gliding many miles away from home. + Midnight long was by + They were coming in on high + When suddenly there was an awful moan. + + The steering wheel went wrong, the papers said, + One was badly injured, three were dead. + The same old story neatly woven in a tale, + The sadness of the scene behind the vale, + And not a line or word to make you think, + What had put the wheel upon the blink. + + The verdict of jury, so they say, + Said the steering wheel was loose and had too much play; + But by chance some people looking around, + Some real and newer evidence was found, + 'Tis evidence you find and seldom fail + If you let the ribbon bottle tell the tale. + So in the name of justice, as I feel, + Why not exonerate the wheel. + + * * * * * + + Such High Taxes, Gee-Whilaker. + +Meadow larks, as you have undoubtedly noticed, warble many different +songs. They sound like this to me: One says, "Here is your homesick +girl." Another, "Light the light, it is gone down." Another, "Here is +your English preacher." Another, "The smeeking smock bird," and others, +from which the following poem is written, say, "Such high taxes, +Gee-whilaker." + + As I stood in the yard of our high taxed home, + And filled my lungs with pure ozone, + My eye went wandering far and nigh, + And I saw a meadow lark flitting by. + + He flew to a post for a moment's rest, + And gazed a while both east and west, + And then soared on, going higher and higher, + Till he perched way up on the court house spire. + + From a bird's eye view of quaint renown, + He sized up the modern Julesburg town, + The stand pipe built on the court house square, + Is an old eye sore with a record rare. + The power house hid from the passer by + Must been for economy, heat or pie? + The city sewer, electric lights, + Cement side-walks and high school sites, + Was picturesque and nice to heed, + But sad for the one that held the deed. + + He raised his head as he ceased to note, + And out from the depths of his golden throat + His voice did peal as he said with a whirr, + Such high taxes, Gee-whilaker. + + * * * * * + + To the Mrs. + + I am going to take a kiss, + And I know it's not a miss, + But before I miss my kisses, + I will take them from the Mrs. + + Kisses from the dear old Mrs. + Are the sweetest kind of kisses. + But if the Misses kisses, + Then there will be kisses Mrs. + + Just as long as Mrs. kisses, + There's no trouble with the Misses + But let the Misses kisses + And something's doing Misses Mrs. + + * * * * * + Don't Procrastinate. + + Don't wait till tomorrow, + For joy or sorrow, + And miss the golden today. + For every minute, + Your heart's not in it, + There's something slipping away. + + 'Twas Jesus who said, + 'Ere his spirit fled, + On the cross at Calvary, + That he who had hope, + Need never grope, + For the better things to be. + + So don't never worry, + And fret and flurry, + For things that's not for you, + But hammer away, + At life's forge today, + For things that are good and true. + + * * * * * + Sister Mary. + + Mary, I know not who + Has a truer heart than you. + Your's a life that does excell + For doing every duty well. + + In this world of woman kind + A purer life I couldn't find, + If I looked my life time thru, + I would bring the crown to you. + + I am proud to tell you, dear, + Your's has been a life of cheer, + Where every hardship, trial and sorrow, + Was sweetly met before tomorrow. + + May God's blessing sweetly rest, + In a life so richly blessed + With kind words and cheerfulness, + For every heart that knew distress. + + * * * * * + Yes. + + 'Twas underneath the columbine, + Where dearie said she would be mine, + My heart rejoiced at that glad word, + The sweetest one I ever heard. + + I've wondered many times since then + How one word changes lives of men, + Some it makes and others breaks, + And others know they've made mistakes. + + It gladdens some and saddens some, + It opens up the way to rum, + It fills the pen, the cells of jails, + It wags the tongue with many tales. + + It fills the lawyer's purse with fees, + It crowds the courts with quick decrees, + It to the drug store many guide, + It fills the graves with suicide. + + It pulls the trigger of the gun, + It breaks the heart of many a one, + It causes pain where joy should be, + It fills the home with misery. + + It joins the short unto the tall, + It never heeds old wisdom's call, + It clasps the hands of slim and stout, + And makes a mess beyond a doubt. + + It breaks the dishes on your head, + It makes you wish that you were dead, + It mixes father with the son, + It has no end when once begun. + + It's no respecter of your right, + It gets you out at dead of night, + It makes its scars and many a whelt, + It makes you cuss T. Roosevelt. + + It makes the Irish like the Dutch, + The black the brown the squaw and such. + It causes if the truth would tell, + A thing on earth you all know well. + + So with all wisdom I'll confess, + Before you tackle this word yes, + Have these professions up in G, + Lawyer, preacher and M. D. + + + * * * * * + The Lay of the Last Hen. + + 'Twas yesterday the deed was done, + That made my heart feel like a ton, + When cruel fate held its sway, + And robbed my hen of her last lay. + + The sympathy swelled in my breast, + For my old hen so long caressed, + Who stood by me for many years, + Thru joy and sorrow, mirth and tears. + + When times were hard and crops were light, + There was to me no sweeter sight, + To get that egg and let it melt, + Underneath my gnawing pelt. + + The tariff never worried her + She did her duty at one per, + Wilson, Taft or Roosevelt, + Never had a cause she felt. + + She built the muscle in my arm, + She paid the taxes on the farm, + She kept the wolf from strolling in, + She clothed the kids from Kate to Win. + + She always let the whole world know, + With joyful song in rain or snow, + That she'd performed a duty neat, + That man himself has never beat. + + I couldn't help it, I'll confess, + The tears flowed freely, more or less, + When that dear form was tenderly laid, + Beneath the elm tree's pleasant shade. + + Here's to the hen upon the nest, + That keeps the table, fills the guest, + Builds up the system, ne'er regrets + And brings results whene'er she sets. + + * * * * * + The Dear Old Hod. + + When I've labored hard all day, + And the supper's cleared away, + There's a joy before I nod, + When I load my dear old hod. + + As the smoke curls in the air, + Chasing from me life's dull care, + I can lean far back and think, + And put the worry on the blink. + + Here's to thee, Missouri cob, + Many years upon the job, + Your's a mission not all bad, + If you ease the load on dad. + + * * * * * + Dear Old Kate. + + I know I stayed a little late, + The last time that I courted Kate, + I had a speech I wished to try, + And how the hours hurried by. + + The question that I wished to pop, + Would never let me have the flop, + My cheeks would burn, my throat get dry, + I was nearly hot enough to fry. + + I guess I tried a dozen times, + I drilled myself in all the lines, + But when I reached the vital point, + The whole blame works got out of joint. + + It made me mad and also sad, + I felt like going to the bad, + I'd practised long, out in the trees, + Just how to face her on my knees. + + I'd hold the bough as Katie's hand, + And with the best at my command, + I'd bare my soul with pleading tears, + For her to join me all the years. + + I guess I never would have won, + If Katie hadn't just for fun + Heard my appeal with silent feet, + And said, "Why, sure, you dear old sweet." + + + * * * * * + Tim. + + Once I knew a man named Tim, + Thought a mighty lot of him, + For his goodness, heart and mind, + Were of such a loving kind. + + Never heard him boast or tell, + Of the things he'd done so well: + Lips would kinda set with tension, + If his past you'd slightly mention. + + Kinda made his face look sad, + Maybe some great grief he'd had, + But he'd pass it off and say, + Kinda looks like rain today. + + Wasn't much past fifty-nine, + Led a life serene and fine, + Lived just on the edge of town, + Liked to have the folks look round. + + Greatest chum of little tads, + Liked to humor all their fads, + Fixed their wagons, made them trains, + Soothed their many cares and pains. + + Made no difference to Tim, + If you'd never heard of him, + He would always say, "Hello," + Said his mother taught him so. + + Worldly goods he hadn't much, + Never seemed to care for such, + Said he liked the Master's way, + Of doing things for just today. + + Dear old Tim took sick one night, + Thought his spirit would take flight, + But we all just hurried in, + And it helped revive old Tim. + + Said it made him awful glad, + Wished a larger house he had, + But we all said, get well, Tim, + Couldn't lose a man like him. + + + * * * * * + The Business Man. + + Here is to the business man, + Who does the very best he can, + And pays to each their honest debt, + And don't forget it makes him sweat. + + He labors from the morn till night, + With brain and muscle in the fight, + To keep his head above the stream, + When finances are not serene. + + He's to the one you always go, + When life has pained you with a woe, + You know his purse is always free, + To lessen grief or misery. + + You toss on him most carelessly, + The gratis job of town trustee, + And then you pass around the word, + He's just the man for the school board. + + He helps to school your girls and boys, + He shares with you your pains and joys, + He helps to pay the preacher's bill, + And aids the churches with good will. + + He has to pay his bills when due, + But if he asks the same of you, + You think your credit's met his fears, + And let it run along for years. + + You let him long and look and look, + At your account upon the book, + And you'll admit if you are frank, + He pays your interest at the bank. + + If he would say and tell you true, + When your account has long been due, + That ten per cent was charged to you, + You'd swear until the air was blue. + + If he helps you, then why not him, + And don't keep sending off your tin, + But give it to your home merchants, + And keep the gloss from off their pants. + + + * * * * * + Falling Snow. + + There's something in the falling snow, + That brings back years of long ago, + That makes you think of younger days, + Behind a span of gallant bays. + + The frosty air, the rosy dames, + The secrets and the loving names, + Of days gone by long years ago, + Comes back today with falling snow. + + The laughter pealed o'er rocks and trees, + The songs re-echoed with the breeze, + Of merry rides so bright and gay, + Are chasing thru my mind today. + + The biting air with keen delight, + Puts crispness in the appetite, + And mother's pies of golden hue, + Soon faded like the morning dew. + + And how I wish I could today, + Turn back the years the youthful way, + And drive the bays and see them go, + And blush with youth midst falling snow. + + + + +SALLIE'S LOYALTY. + + +That's Sallie over there in that potato patch. She has been endeavoring +to tease from mother earth enough tubers to supply the family through a +long winter. Nature in this and many other instances has been unkind. +The rain waited too long and the one supply of food that fills so large +a place are small as marbles, nevertheless this dear soul laboriously +gathered them and is carrying them, pail at a time, and storing them +away for a long, cold winter. Though the tubers are small and puny, she +has a way of cooking them with such marked success that they would +tickle the palate of a king and he'd be passing his plate the second +time. + +Sal does the housework, the buying of supplies, cares for the chickens, +plants the garden, does the sewing, picks up the paint brush when +necessary, and does about everything that anyone can do. She is past +fifty years of age, most of them hard and bitter years. They have not +been the kind of years where the goal has been worth the trials and +bitterness. The streaks of silver are beginning to show in her dark +hair, she is small in physique, clean limbed, lithe, resourceful, +determined, and intelligent. Her schooling in the practical side of life +is an attainment any one should be proud of. She is one of the most wiry +and courageous women that has ever lived such a grand and noble life and +kept the sad, dreary and lonely part locked up in her unselfish heart. + +Behold her as she is, one of God's purest gifts! Her life is clean, +wholesome and grand and of such a sweetness and beauty that mocks to +scorn any imitation of the artist. For eight long years she has cared +uncomplainingly for the aged, widowed mother as her almost sole +benefactor of aid and cheer in the home. She has sacrificed, schemed, +planned, worked, and struggled in a way that is worthy of our greatest +financiers, diplomats, or statesmen. She has fought within her own heart +far greater battles and carried away the victory to a more deserving +reward than many a soldier on the battlefield. She has denied herself in +order that she might give the fullest measure of devotion to a dear old +mother who is slipping slowly, slowly to that great home of rest and +comfort. + +God bless you, Sallie, in your old age, when the silver streaks no +longer glisten in your hair and it is all turned to the whiteness and +purity of snow; when your poor, tired aching limbs from their long years +of toil no longer yield to quick response, when time chisels its deep +furrows in your brow and your keen eye loses its lustre and grows dim. I +hope God will reward you with the choicest gifts of his kingdom, and +when the final summons is made and you stand in the open doorway of his +love, bathed in the purity of the sparkling dew in the evening time of +life, may the sweetness of your character come wafting gently in the +fulness of its beauty and dwell amidst all that is holy, sweet and +sacred. + + Dearest Sal, you're growing old, + But there never can be told, + The great jewels you possess, + In your life of righteousness. + + I would love you just the same, + Had you reached the highest fame, + For you have a heart so true, + There would be no change in you. + + You have done all duties well, + Better than my tongue can tell, + I would love to ease your way, + And turn your winters back to May. + + I have but one life to live, + But for you I'd freely give, + I'd go down that lonesome valley, + If 'twould help you, dear old Sallie. + + + + +SUNSHINE. + + +In endeavoring to entertain you in this chapter I wish I might have the +wit of a Nasby or come Nye the Mark; but not having the brilliant +talents of either of these illustrious wits who cracked the ribs of so +many people I hope you will bear with me patiently as I proceed to give +to you some rays of sunshine I have been picking up for the last twenty +years from all classes of people. + +A fellow said to me one time I'll tell you a panacea for every ailment. +I have taken it for years and you don't need a skilled Pharmacist to +compound it. This was the simple remedy: Trust in providence and keep +your bowels open. I thought it was a pretty good prescription and if +applied carefully you would never have appendicitis or a good many other +complaints. Of course, he said, some people ask too much of providence. +I hardly think it fair to ask the Lord to furnish you the land, the +patch of potatoes, a pail to put them in, a spade to dig them with, and +then get down on your knees and in funeral tones tell him you are out of +spuds and would like a mess for dinner with the jackets off. Don't ask +too much. + +It is better to whistle than to groan. It will make some heart lighter +to hear you whistle than to groan. If you can't whistle a tune sizzle +something through your teeth, there's cheer in it for some one. No +matter how worrisome, difficult or perplexing the problem is, don't +worry or brood over it. Whistle if you can, sizzle if you can't. It will +keep you from getting meloncolic; colic that comes from something +besides eating too many Colorado watermelons with the accent strong on +the water. + +I've known people whom you'd think from all appearances they hadn't a +care in the world, the sunny side was always exposed and unconsciously +they would be dropping encouraging words, doing kind deeds, lending acts +of assistance, and doing everything to lessen the other fellow's burden. +They didn't tell any one that they didn't know where their breakfast was +coming from, but somehow or other they would get hold of some patent +breakfast food and eat it in its native state if no cow was at hand and +then they were all right until the next meal, luncheon, I believe is the +proper society word. + +It never pays to be stingy with eulogies or encomiums. A little praise +has caused many a breast to heave with gladness and chase away gloom. +The cost is small, thank God it's outside of the trusts. So don't be +backward in using it at every opportunity you meet. If the sermon is +good, go up and tell the semi-paid man behind the pulpit, it won't kill +him. He may be surprised, but keep at it until he gets used to it. If +brother or sister so and so has made a misstep and you are an unbeliever +or not, don't break your neck in rushing to your neighbor and ah, ahing +it all over town. Let two thoughts get into your head at once and let +the better thought prevail, and instead of helping stain the character +of a poor unfortunate, make it your business to use your good advice, if +you haven't any then keep still. + +When a church member steps from the narrow path, why has everybody such +a sudden interest? Why does it cause such a loosening of tongues? The +Bible says, "he that is without sin among you let him cast the first +stone." If any one but Jesus was without sin why not advertise it. Give +it to the Post and use the red letters on the front page. The way I look +at the parable quoted by Jesus is that if a stone is thrown some one has +to throw it, it may be thrown with intent or carelessness, but in either +event the stone has been thrown and some one will be struck, so the best +way is not to throw the stone, if you have to throw something, go into +one of the leagues and then don't throw a stone. Throw a baseball, but +don't hit the umpire. + +Wherever you can place a rose where a thorn has been, do it. There is +both fragrance and class to a rose, something sweet, cheerful and +pretty; but the fellow that can find any redeeming qualities in a thorn +is not the person that can stand inspection. Where could you put him +where he would be an improvement? You can't progress unless you make use +of the things progress is found in. Pluck the rose every time, leave the +other alone. + +Don't wait 'till it's time to erect the tombstone before you pay tribute +to your dear friend. One small flower is worth more to the living than +tons piled on their caskets. Some poor fellows never get tomb stones, +head stones or anything to mark their graves. How much better you feel +if you have never put a pebble in any one's path as an obstruction to +their progress than if you had been rolling boulders and now see your +mistake. You can't afford to do it. Pay your little tributes all along +the journey of life. Be as careful dropping pains or sorrows as you +would dropping pearls. + +Don't wait 'till your father, mother or wife dies, then lie about them +on their tombstones. You only have one father and one mother; be careful +and think some before you pour out any derogatory statements or cheap +invectives concerning them. Your wife is entitled to a great many +compliments you never gave her. The reverential words on the slab in the +cemetery isn't going to fool any one, and have them to believe, as you +would wish, that you did the fine thing, when really you are to blame +for stealing from her about twenty years of her life time. You've caused +hollow cheeks where roses should have been and you stole many pleasures +from her and enjoyed them all by yourself. Too much swine in your nature +to make people think you were sincere in your profuse epigram on the +tombstone. + +So many people think they are endowed with a peculiar and special sort +of wisdom and are able to fool their fellow men so successfully that +they try it on the Lord. Here is where they make a fatal mistake, for +the Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made countenances. The +newspaper's most clever ads are no comparison to the clean, open ads the +Lord puts on faces and the clear unfrosted windows where you can look +far into the soul. + +You can't break man's laws without being detected. If you are a sneak +criminal, inebriate, crook, lascivious, immoral or any other of the +degrading types in the category of a false man, the warning is openly +and clearly displayed on your countenance. You can't fly false colors +and succeed, for sooner or later you pay the penalty to the last +farthing. When you hear the remark "I don't like his looks," there is +something shown in the countenance to verify the statement or no +accusation would have been made. Be a man and your face will do the +advertising. + +Don't be afraid of censure or criticism or let it keep you from helping +the fellow that is down. God gave us religion for that purpose. It's +something to use every day in the week and not a specialty for the +Sabbath; the more you use it the brighter it gets. Anything you don't +use and keep polished loses its usefulness and becomes rusty. Use it +whenever you can and you'll be surprised the confidence you gain in +people's hearts. It's the greatest purifier in the world, that's why God +gave it to us. He knew what he was doing. It's the only thing in the +world that will lift up the fallen woman, the drunken man, the horse +thief, the blasphemer and all others when every hand is turned against +them. It's a panacea for every evil. It's the only thing that will take +humanity with all their sins after they are entirely forsaken and down +at the threshhold of hell and make them better. It will take them in the +eleventh hour when they come sneaking in at the back door with +characters stained as black as night and every law has been +transgressed, but as they plead piteously for forgiveness, their +petition is heard and all their sins are blotted out and the Lord gives +them another chance. He stoops down in his great mercy and love and +gives them that peace beyond all understanding. He raises them up and +helps them reach for the cross when no hand is extended to help them. + +At every opportune chance laugh long and heartily, nothing is better to +cheer and comfort, and while it is doing the other fellow good you are +getting the cheapest medicine on the market for your digestive organs. +Try it after you eat some boarding house pancakes an inch think. You +have lots of things to smile for. There is always some one else worse +off than yourself. You see them everywhere. If you have a large family +your neighbor has a larger one. If you have none at all pity your +neighbor who can't figure out some way to get rid of his mother-in-law +without losing his wife. If you are able to hobble around, have a heart +for the fellow in the wheel chair and the fellow that has to stay flat +on his back and never sees the sun rise. + +There are two kinds of sunshine; one is entirely dependent upon the +individual and the other was inaugurated shortly after creation. Each is +necessary to fill the divine plan. While one kind is periodical in some +people, the other is always at hand unless clouds intervene. God's +sunshine is unexcelled and is a marvel in itself for warmth, beauty, +cheerfulness and grandeur. The rising and falling of this wonderful +orbit body is said to start and finish the work of man, as he was +supposed to labor and scheme from sun to sun. + +This plan may have been popular and proper before the day of the +multi-millionaire, but the time is too short for the present day man, +and in order to pay the necessary obligations to exist the twilight at +both ends must be consumed and then reach in and grab several hours of +darkness. The housewife may have to sew and rock the baby and prove her +contention that her work is never done, but it's up to the Governor, the +old man, Dad, or any other name you may call him, to keep the flour in +the bin, coal in the bucket, shoes on the children, and an endless +number of other things. He's the lad that must fix it up with the banker +when the note is renewed. He must through some devised method dress the +kids in schools as good as his more prosperous neighbor, or there's +snobs and tears. He must provide something besides the proverbial soup +bone that one neighbor could borrow from another through the winter +months. He must buy the latest books, procure lyceum and chautauqua +tickets, pay the preacher, the ice man, the milk man, the water man, +light man, and dig continually for charity, and thus you see the sun to +sun theory has the bottom torn out of it. + +Dad is never still long enough for the birds to build nests in his +goatee and set three weeks. If he slackens up you notice a visible +reduction in your pancake pile. The Lord didn't make the suns far enough +apart for dad or some other people. I worked for a farmer one time that +used to start out with a handmade sun about two-thirty A. M. and never +ceased till ten P. M. The meals always bothered me; I couldn't tell if +it was breakfast the next morning or two suppers. If God's sunshine +meets man's sunshine and the two mix properly, you've got an individual +that is a continual pleasure, one whose existence is exhilarating. He +whistles and sings and smiles and laughs and gets out of life everything +that is good, and everybody likes and knows him. + +I was never so ashamed in my life as I was one time when I had encased +in my left cheek a quid of tobacco the size of a hen's egg. I was +carrying on nonchalantly a conversation with a depot master, and the +saliva was gathering so rapidly, it wasn't long before I could only +grunt. I always disliked to ruin a floor with expectoration and was also +embarrassed by the presence of the agent's boy, a little fellow of four +years, but my mouth was so full and my cheeks so inflated that leakage +was starting and I was forced to eject it or swallow it. I chose the +former and let it go. It sounded like the distant booming of guns and +the space required to contain it on the floor was unbelievable. If its +dimensions didn't cover a foot square outside of the innumerable +rivulets in every direction, I'll buy my wife a twelve dollar Easter +bonnet for a Christmas present. The little boy looked at it and said, +"My, that's a big one!" I sneaked out crestfallen, abashed and ashamed, +but didn't have the sense to quit for some years afterwards, when the +preacher said something about the ashes to ashes and dust to dust. + + + + +TEMPERANCE. + + +The cause of temperance is one that has been close to my heart for +twenty years. Taken from the logical standpoint of protection to the +home, sound saneness, improvement in morals, an enhancement of +citizenship, it is the second paramount issue of the age. Take away +liquor, stop the traffic entirely, and you reduce seventy-five per cent +of crime. The empty whisky-bottle is the greatest curse that ever +existed. When it is standing filled in front of some bar-room mirror, it +is harmless, but when it is empty it signifies that it has been drank by +somebody and has been the direct cause for all that has followed. + +Trace it up and you will find sorrow, misery, heartaches, remorse, +disgrace, shame, humiliation, want, poverty, destroyed homes, cruelty, +hatred, anger, revenge, and murder. Rags, vulgarity, dishonor, wasted +lives, and deceit. Ruined sweethearts, broken-hearted wives, disgraced +parents, and hungry, shoeless children. Disease, filth, white slavery, +prize fights, tangoes, rottenness, and shame. Keeley cures, jails, +penitentiaries, poorhouses, brothels, cabarets, and insane asylums. +Thieves, robbers, safe blowers, beggars, pick-pockets, delirium tremors, +and death. Leave it alone! + +Some people say there is no harm in it; there isn't if you leave it +alone. You can take a loaded revolver and lay it alongside of a +well-filled whisky bottle and they will get along side by side +peacefully as long as time exists. Each one separate and apart are +harmless; but let a sane man come along and drink the whisky, pick up +the revolver, and what happens? Every nationality without distinction to +race or color, Irishmen included, will run for safety. + + * * * * * + +A well-educated young man with brilliant prospects, neatly attired, +attractive, and of fine, honorable parentage, was passing a saloon one +day when a friend standing in the doorway invited him in. He had never +been in a place of this kind in his life. His parents had taught him, +friends advised him, and a sweet faced girl had warned him. Conscience +told him to decline and go on, but, like millions of others, he heeded +the invitation and stepped in. "Come up and take something," the tempter +said. "No," he said, "I never drink." "Come on," urged the tempter. "It +won't hurt you." "NO," he said; "it's beneath the dignity of a true +gentleman and it would break my mother's heart." "Ah, come on, don't be +a kid," he urged, and still the boy said no. After continued and +repeated solicitation he finally yielded and drank his first glass. + +Alas, the fatal mistake was made. Years of careful training were swept +aside. Hopeful aspirations of his mother when she looked on his innocent +face in the cradle were all for naught. Solemn advice from a kind father +was lost sight of, and the deed was done. That first drink fired his +brain. Others were taken and his eyes shone, the house treated, and the +once quiet, manly lad was loud and boisterous. Self-respect was cast +aside and foul utterances flew fast and thick from a once clean mouth. +The end came. He reeled in drunkenness and fell to the floor in a +gibbering drunken stupor. He was put to bed and when sober he felt the +shame and remorse so keenly that he was at the point of self +destruction. He thought of his mother, his father, the dear little +sweetheart, and his friends. He was so afraid they would all hear of his +ignominy that he kept secluded. He couldn't bear to face them, tell all +and start anew. + +The humiliation was more than he could stand and he slipped farther and +farther down the steep and rapid descent to hell. Back in his cheerful +and once comfortable home a dear old mother sat waiting and watching +year after year the lamp was kept burning. A kind old father sat with +bowed head thinking and thinking. A dear little girl was weeping and +weeping, and still he didn't come. Where, O where was he and why didn't +he come? Alas! how sad as he sank lower and lower. Drunken brawls were +common, nights spent in revelry very often; the dissipation was telling, +his once clean countenance was haggard. His step was languid, lethargy +was settling upon him, and his whole being was repulsive. His character +was no longer clean and a thing of beauty. Brothels caught him and God's +penalties were discernible for the violation of his laws. Decent men +shunned him and pure women scorned him, but still the light was kept +burning. The mother watched, the father waited, the sweetheart prayed, +and the friends yearned; but down, down, down he went. Even dogs hurried +by him, the filth and disease was nauseating. + +The years sped quickly and there he is clear down at the bottom, an +object of disgust and scorn. Behold him, beneath the mass of stale and +putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and penniless vagabond. Beneath the +most loathsome and foul degeneracy conceivable; even beneath the filthy +sewer. He lay on a bundle of rags in a drunkard's hut. As he moaned and +groaned, an old friend passing by heard him, stepped in and stood +looking at him. With tears streaming down his cheeks the boy looked up +and said, "my life is ebbing, I am at the border line, my career is +wasted; I am a drunken, despised and worthless sot, friendless and +alone. I can see nothing ahead but the blackest despair. Oh my poor old +mother, my poor old father, my dear little sweetheart, My Sav--oh--oh." +Another spell grasped him and as he tossed and shrieked and moaned, +grappling with the demon, writhing in mental anguish, terror clouded his +countenance, his eyes rolled, his limbs jerked, the mouth dropped open, +the tongue protruded, he clutched until the blood trickled from the torn +flesh, a loud, gurgling, terrifying scream, and he was dead. Died with +the delirium tremens caused by the rum demon. As the old friend wiped +away the tears and stood looking at his pitiful form he noticed in one +of his torn and ragged pockets a slip of paper. He pulled it out and +read: + + Listen, friend, today, + To what I have to say, + Don't let temptation sway + And miss the narrow way. + + When you are young and gay + And anxious for the fray + Be ready to say "Nay" + And tread the narrow way. + + The debt I have to pay + As here near death I lay + Wouldn't hold so much dismay + Had I trod the narrow way. + + Oh tread the narrow way + And never miss a day + Ask Jesus how to pray + And tread the narrow way. + +How can America, the foremost nation of the world, that has long boasted +of liberty and advancement, allow the liquor traffic to continue when +the condition it causes are so critical. It is stealing away her brains, +increasing her crime, lowering her moral standing, demoralizing her +citizenship, and giving to posterity a weaker race and causing such +poverty, misery and unhumanitarian distress. Can this enlightened nation +afford its continuance and let it remain when it has a grasp so powerful +that it is endangering its very vitals? Can America, with her +unsurpassed institutions of learning, her brilliant and scholarly +statesmen, her great mineral and agricultural wealth yet unfound and +developed, allow a traffic so alarmingly demoralizing as to let her +constitutional principles decline? Can she sit still, under her broad +and world famed methods of progress, and allow such a traffic, that +devastates from every source, for a revenue wrung from women's tears, +that is so rapidly depreciating her citizenship. Is she prudent? Is she +applying the Christian principles of her constitution to obtain revenue +from a traffic so nefarious and debauching? If she realizes the danger +ahead why delay an amendment that enhances citizenship and principle. + + America, 'tis thee I prize, + 'Twas underneath thy azure skies, + Where heaven's light first met my eyes. + + I love thy thrift and enterprise, + To me beloved and so wise + Thy name is one I idolize. + + Thy blood did purchase liberty, + To make this land so great and free, + And quench forever tyranny. + + Oh may thy name forever be + Embraced within a righteous plea, + That lessens pain and misery. + + It is for thee that I will fight, + When'er thy cause is for the right, + For none but these e'er use thy might. + + I'll heed your call with keen delight, + But should I fall before the night, + Let freedom's flag be my last sight. + + + + +EVERY DAY PHILOSOPHY. + + +Look out for the man whose face shows it pains him to say "Good +Morning." + + * * * * * + +Never be afraid to trust the man whose dog meets him with a bound. + + * * * * * + +The mad rush to join the appendicitis club and sing in the choir +invisible has lost its popularity, both for the good of posterity and +the pocket book. + + * * * * * + +Some people take a great deal of liberty with the English language, when +they speak of work. + + * * * * * + +Stick to the boys who borrow a five occasionally and pay it back; rather +than the fellows who love you like a fly does molasses when your roll +would choke a lazy mule. + + * * * * * + +It's cheaper to buy your coal from your regular dealer and take short +weight, than to steal it from the railroad and pay court costs. + + * * * * * + +It's an ice cold fact that the fellow who is continually condemning +others' faults and pointing with pride to his own great meritable +achievements, is not entitled to a premium for sincerity. + + * * * * * + +It's often the sour, surly looking man that goes down in his pocket and +gives you his last quarter, when hunger is beating a fast tattoo against +your breastworks. + + * * * * * + +Because a man joins the church and becomes a pious and strict respecter +of Sunday observance, don't cast all caution aside and let him sell you +gold mine stock on Monday, unless you know something about the mine. + + * * * * * + +Some men tell you the wonderful things they have done from the corner +store dry goods box and then let their wives earn the living over the +wash tub. + + * * * * * + +Many a man has nearly grasped St. Peter's hand, when his wife's razor +edged tongue drove him clean down to perdition. + + * * * * * + +The fellow who is always harping hypocrite and hurling cheap invectives +against the church isn't the man to arouse confidence, the only one he +helps is the devil. + + * * * * * + +Take away profanity from some men's conversation and you haven't enough +left to know what they said. + + * * * * * + +When a man buys an Auto or a Ford on credit and lets the whiskers grow +on his coal bill they say he's got the fever. I don't think it could be +the brain kind. + + * * * * * + +If money and whiskey would lose their influence in the courts, juries +and legislatures would go to sleep and jail doors rust on their hinges. + + * * * * * + +When the Lord turns his X rays upon the people, the churches will fill +so rapidly that Easter bonnets and dress suits can be picked up +anywhere. + + * * * * * + +I know a wealthy man by the name of Moore who never was satisfied. + + * * * * * + +Obituaries are not a safe guide to the real truth. + + * * * * * + +Recollections become dim on the witness stand. + + * * * * * + +It's better to faint in the arms of truth and die in poverty than to lie +for the lap of luxury and die disgraced. + + * * * * * + +A drunken man's breath is preferable to the wagging tongue of a gossip. + + * * * * * + +Any man could live with a woman who has the patience to bathe in a wash +tub twenty-one inches in diameter for seventeen years without +complaining. + + * * * * * + +Marry in haste and repent in alimony. + + * * * * * + +It's a sad fact that many a man has missed his calling and there is +elegant material for day laborers among the professions and vice versa. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn't for $$$ a great many people would be wearing the stripes. + + * * * * * + +Some men are so economical they go without socks to buy whiskey. + + * * * * * + +If some women were better cooks there would be less dyspepsia and fewer +divorces. + + * * * * * + +If too many cooks spoil the broth, could too many church denominations +spoil the man? + + * * * * * + +The longer you use the Christ-like religion the better you like it and +the better it makes you. + + * * * * * + +The man who makes careless remarks about women does not possess the fine +attributes of a gentleman. + + * * * * * + +If religion cost money, how some church members with bible names would +grab for their purses when the lights go out. + + * * * * * + +Religion and sympathy cost nothing, but you'd think they were diamonds +the way some people use them. + + * * * * * + +The first marriage is for love, the second for convenience, and the +third a cold business proposition. Don't try for a four-bagger. + + * * * * * + +The cleanliness of the tea towel is a safe criterion to a good +house-keeper. + + * * * * * + +The great jewel "Consistency" cannot be bought with money. + + * * * * * + +Some people are so hard hearted, onions would have no effect at a +funeral. + + * * * * * + +If you don't like the taste of life's medicine, be your own doctor and +change the ingredients. + + * * * * * + +If some weak-kneed marshals and sheriffs would do their duty, there +would be less bootleggers. + + * * * * * + +Some women join the ladies' aid and use the lemon extravagantly. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman can hardly keep from yelling "Hallelujah" when her husband +dies. + + * * * * * + +If some mothers don't spend more time with their children and less with +politics this country will be over-run with pick-pockets. + + * * * * * + +If all mis-mated marriages were suddenly annulled, it wouldn't take an +expert mathematician to count those left in wedlock. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn't for their money, thousands of women would leave their +husbands. + + * * * * * + +Whiskey has killed more men than all the surgeons. + + * * * * * + +Lay the rod on the child before he gets too strong. + + * * * * * + +Better be a lady waiting than marry a sot. + + * * * * * + +Honesty stops millions from becoming millionaires. + + * * * * * + +Women born in Alaska seldom get married; too long in cold storage. + + * * * * * + +The undertaker's sympathy never interferes with his profits; he gets the +last crack at you and you can't kick. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman, who never had an extra pair of hosiery at home, loses +sight of economy, after her marriage, and plunges into extravagance so +heedlessly that her husband gives up in discouragement. + + * * * * * + +Live within your means, but don't borrow money to do it. + + * * * * * + +Spend your money when you are young, if you want to spend your old age +in the poor house. + + * * * * * + +Put a strong proviso in your deed before you turn it over to your +children, if you expect to buy your own tobacco. + + * * * * * + +The boy who criticizes his father's depleted finances on account of +hardships and honest failures, should be bodily removed into the open +air with the same amount of clothes he had when he was born and let the +thermometer show forty degrees below zero. + + * * * * * + +A court or jury that will convict a man for stealing a ten cent soup +bone and acquit the man who made thousands by going into bankruptcy +ought to have a steady stream of hot tar running down their aesophagus. + + * * * * * + +Many a rock-ribbed democrat votes for a Republican, if there is +something in it. + + * * * * * + +The tramp, with his back against the water tank, studies as hard on his +side of the problem of existence as does the fellow with greater +resources, who is up against it. + + * * * * * + +The man who can fulfill the bible by taking the slap on both sides of +the cheek is seven parts lamb and one part Irish. + + * * * * * + +The difference between a cackling hen and a cackling woman is, one +cackles when she lays and the other cackles all the time she don't lay. + + * * * * * + +Trust in God but look out for everybody else. + + * * * * * + +The man that totes a whiskey blossom on the end of his flue carries a +cheap add for the devil. + + * * * * * + +Don't worry over the sport that can smoke twenty cigarettes a day. + + * * * * * + +The girl that marries the man to reform him has a SAD lesson to learn. + +A good excuse saves lots of lying. + + + + +GLIMPSES FROM THE PAST. + + +I most humbly beg your pardon for inserting here a short address to a +Republican Convention when I was aspiring to the office of County Clerk +for the second term. The chairman having instructed the secretary of the +convention to cast the entire vote of the delegation for myself, I +addressed the convention as follows: + +Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Convention: Accept my profound thanks +for the splendid manifestation of honor that you have conferred upon an +humble individual like myself. I wish to impress upon you the political +principles I outlined to you briefly two years ago, are the same today +as they were then. I would rather be defeated honorably, squarely and +honestly than to be successful with a tarnished character obtained +through disreputable methods. I realize, as do all intelligent reasoners +withholding myself to be the humblest among you, that character is +something that is not acquired while we sleep. It is a constant every +day struggle, a life-long battle. Take away our character and what have +we left. + +I desire to say to you gentlemen that during my lifetime I have been +intimately acquainted with labor in its most aggressive form. I know +what it is to stand between two shining bands of steel under a scorching +July sun. I know what it is to stack hay under a sultry and oppressive +heat. I know the loneliness and privations that comes to one who has +tended stock in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I fully realize that +these different pursuits require grit and determination, they are the +hardest kind of labors, but I can say to you in all candor that I have +never worked harder in my life than in the past two years endeavoring to +serve the citizens of this county in the capacity of clerk. + +If I have been competent, if I have been faithful, if I have done my +duty, that is not for me to decide. You are the judges of these +conditions, if you think I have, then I ask for your support and +influence. You are a body of men from all parts of this county; if each +one of you will work for the best interests of the party I see no reason +why we should not be successful at the polls. The campaign this year is +short; I wish to say for myself that I will not be able to get around +much. The duties of my office for the past six weeks have been very +strenuous and will continue so to be for some time to come. The state +board of equalization were late in sending their report and not only +being late, but were unkind, and raised the valuation on several of our +taxable properties and this makes extra work for the clerk, so I trust +you will be like the turkey in the tall tree and keep one eye open for +the boy from Lodge Pole. + +There has happened in my short career as an American citizen a good many +things that I have felt elated over and proud of. I am proud that I am +an American citizen, born under the stars and stripes and belong to a +nation second to none. I am proud I was born in a state whose brow is +bathed by the mighty Missouri and upon whose bosom flourishes the most +productive crop of the union. But if there is one thing that I am +prouder of more than any other, it is the fact that I belong to a party +whose motto is principle and good government, and whose loftiest aim has +always been to make America the ideal nation of the world. I thank you. + +I will here relate an incident that happened when I first encountered +experience in her knee breeches, I have termed it a fighting, explosive +nauseating cough remedy. I would prefer calling it an egg nogg; but +there is one extra ingredient that disfranchises the egg and in a +peculiar way leaves the nogg there in a somewhat embarrassing condition. + +When I was a youth, I had some peculiar traits in my makeup. My main +instruction was received from that old professor, experience, and day by +day I gained some valuable knowledge in the school of hard knocks. Being +of a peculiar turn of mind I had implicit truth and confidence in all +mankind, and on account of this trait I have often met with misplaced +confidence. + + +For instance, the "Bonuses" and "Good Wills" heretofore related. I had +contracted a bad cold of tenacious irritability down near the little +hamlet of Paxton, Nebraska, while performing the menial labor of an +every day workman on the renowned line of the Union Pacific. The work +being accomplished was known as bucking steel. Through climatic +conditions of contraction and expansion the rails on one side had gained +from nine to twelve feet over the rails in the other side. The side that +was ahead was being pulled back to the point opposite the other by a +locomotive attached to a large cable. Some said this strategic work +swelled the premium of the water soaked stock; but this contention is +left to philosophers and those who study economic problems, as to +whether or not the corporation was ahead rails at Omaha or short at +Ogden. + +The days were exceedingly warm, it being in the autumn of the year. I +lost more perspiration than was due me and along toward evening, when +old sol was getting ready to retire and also largely due to a scant +wardrobe, a chilliness would steal over my spare physique. The ride home +from the work in the evening, on flat cars, at a hurried speed, caused +the night air to condense in the locality of the throat. Nature not +doing her part, I tried to assist her in removing the obstruction and, +as soon as the speed of the train would allow, I shot from the car in a +mad race for the boarding house. Being sure footed and fleet, I was +generally first at the wash basin, erasing from my countenance +Nebraska's productive soil and leaving what the water didn't loosen on +the old fashioned long rolling boarding house towel. These repeated +conditions day after day commenced to tell and the slight cold became a +hacking cough that embraced more forcibly than a Dutch lassie reared on +eastern corn. + +After the work was completed, the men were returned to the various +localities. Upon arriving safely at my destination, I went to the home +physician. "Doc" when not incarcerated in the county bastile for +dispensing a compound familiarly known as whiskey but better known to +home residents as hades corked up in a bottle, prescribed, from his oft +water stock. (I pause for a scalding sensation felt on my cheeks.) Poor +Old "Doc" is sleeping beneath the sod. + +Constant concoctions bringing no relief, I was at last listening to a +well meant prescription from my co-laborer Dick. He said his remedy +would give unwavering satisfaction to ailments like mine. I don't think +his remedy would stand the pure food law test; but when you get to +clutching you'll clutch anything. So I listened to the unlearned +pharmacist and keenly assented and he started to compound two well known +ingredients in equal parts. One ingredient was controlled by that +magnetic dollar chaser, John D., and the other was controlled by nobody, +it did the controling, i. e., oil and whiskey. I'd cover up this last +ingredient and give it a better concealed classical standing but +ignorance is bliss and there you are. This carefully prepared drink, my +friend said, should be taken five minutes before breakfast. So according +to directions I hoisted the tin cup and down went the fluids. Just +enough oil in it to make it slip quick, and you had it before you really +knew it. + +It is now twenty-three years since I swallowed that conglomeration and I +can't hardly pass a home one-gallon kerosene can full or empty without a +keen desire to kick the bottom out of it, but you have to be careful +with other people's property, whether it's mortgaged or not. No matter +how keen or fertile your imagination may be you can't realize a dose of +this character unless you taste it. Take the minutest equal parts of +each, mix them, drink them and be convinced. Was I sick? Of all the +great guns of all our wars, Civil or uncivil, I will take my oath before +any judge of common jurisdiction, sitting as a court of record and say I +WAS. + +The only recollection I have of the breakfast menu was the two hard +boiled eggs and a faint remembrance, as I was leaving the table, of a +fruit picture on the wall tipping up and down. That was the first time I +ever saw anything inanimate acting so. Mercy, the taste of that oil and +the remembrance of it, mixing in a place the size of your fist! Think of +that rip-roaring, sizzling tobacco flavored, ingredient, trying to slip +one over on that kerosene and knock out those two hard-boiled, well +matured, boarding-house eggs. I say in all candor, I don't blame John D. +for watering the oil. Water it more, John, it will be milder to take. I +went through the oil belt in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and all the rest, +I visited all the stills, illicit, and otherwise of Kentucky, Tennessee, +and Colorado; and as soon as brother Pat could get me to my room and my +head out of the window I hoisted the hottest fluids and food stuffs ever +contained in the stomach of man or beast. I have always felt sorry for +those eggs on account of their age. + +I must take a short glimpse here of a peculiar incident that transpired +under my roof between two men of the cloth. One was a M. E. minister and +the other a seven day advent. The advent had been staying in town for +several weeks and I became fairly well acquainted with him and his +estimable wife, and he asked me if they might have a few meetings at our +home in the evenings, and I said certainly and he came. Both he and his +wife were scholars, well cultured and refined and we enjoyed listening +to their version of the scriptures. How the M. E. minister came to be +there one evening is still a mystery to me, but I think some one of his +parishioners must have told him that Satan had entered our home and he +had better intervene and see if he couldn't extricate us from the wary +gentleman's clutches. + +The evening entertainment was progressing nicely and the advent man was +in charge of the machinery, when suddenly the M. E. man took issue with +him over his version of one of the scriptural passages and quick wit and +repartee was fast and furious. The advent was the superior in scriptural +knowledge and the way he got the other fellow in the meshes and so +completely tangled him up is an event that can never be erased from my +memory. The M. E. man was nonplussed, red of face and angry; and so +ungentlemanly as to let all the fireworks in his dignified Sunday nature +explode and told the cool, calm advent that teachings of his kind should +be in hell. You may lay this excitement to anger, being worsted, or +anything you like, but I think the gentleman he came to remove from our +home entered him one hundred per cent strong. Why he was on his feet +with his Methodist fists clenched, ready to fight, and if it hadn't been +for the soothing, pacifying utterances of his good wife saying, "John," +"John," I don't know what would have happened. The other fellow laughed +at him and I really think if the worst had occurred he would have given +the angry man a fuller meaning of the Bible and turned the other cheek. + +I think if an Advent says Saturday is the Lord's day and should be +observed on the Sabbath, the Methodist says Sunday is the day, and some +other denomination says Friday is the day, I'm willing to be convinced. +It beats having the Fourth of July come on Saturday, and if I had enough +money so I needn't work I'd say let seven different denominations have +seven different days, and no matter which home I observed I wouldn't be +left out shivering in an undershirt. Something peculiar about church +denominations, all of them headed for the same place, but each one +anxious to route you. One tells you they have the old travelled road, +founded on the Bible, another a different way, founded on the Bible, and +others another different way, also founded on the Bible. I conclude the +best and surest way is to be a Christian and read the Bible, live it and +let God show the way. Sunday churches or Saturday churches carry no +guarantee that you'll reach Heaven. + +Before I invested in "Good-wills" and "Bonuses" and other losing +investments, I would occasionally take my family for a little trip on +the Los Angeles limited and rub against the aristocracy and the +diamonds. Years before when I was a day laborer on the same road over +which this elegant train glides, I thought to travel on such a goddess +of beauty was a luxury only for wealth and culture, and a pleasure +unequaled, but hope beats eternal in the human breast and as I had lived +largely on hope for over thirty years, I finally said hope can go to +blazes, the opportunity is here and why not embrace it. + +Well, it is certainly a big taste of wealth and affluence to settle in +cushions a foot deep with all the wrinkles eradicated for once in a +lifetime by a well filled stomach of the choicest viands in the culinary +art. And oh the lofty thoughts as you settle down in the deep upholstery +and listen to the clicking of the rails as you speed away on this +overland beauty. There is a peculiar feeling under your vest as you +notice the well groomed man, the well groomed woman, the sparkle of the +electric lights and the glitter of the diamonds. Elegance everywhere. +The very height of ingenuity. Then when you enter the dining car with +its rosewood finish, tastily decorated tables, superb linen, and cast +your eye over the choice menu and have the black gentry all attention +and ready to care for your smallest want, you may feel as I did, pretty +classy company for a boy from Lodge Pole. Of course there are snubs here +and there, you find them everywhere. They are in a class that is well +known for nineteen hundred years. They took the leading part in the +crucifixion of the Nazarene. We can't exist without having them, and if +you will notice in any walk of life, there is a pain for nearly every +pleasure, with corns and bunions thrown in. + +As a hunter I never received any distinction and am forced to admit as +such I am an entire nonentity and failure. My father owned a rifle which +was the only one of its kind in our community for years and years. Its +early history I am unfamiliar with and never learned it. It was in his +possession when I was born and I suppose it was the gun he carried on +the hand car for protection when the Indians were numerous in the latter +sixties. At some time it received a broken stock and ever after its +being repaired it was known as old splice. For many years when the old +year died and the new year was born, old splice spoke forth at its birth +and its missile of death generally lodged in the tail of the railroad +wind mill. + +Old splice was the type of one hundred years ago, when people weren't +killed as quickly as today, the loading was slow and gave one chance to +escape; I remember brother Pat used it to shoot a dog that he had tied +up with a rope. He took steady aim, pulled the old fashioned hammer and +fired. When the smoke cleared away the dog was running with the fullest +capacity of its limbs. The ball had cut the rope. + +I never shot old splice but once and I'll always remember the incident. +A chicken hawk had been tormenting the poultry for a long time and I got +bold and reckless one day, grabbed old splice (some one had been kind +enough to leave it loaded) and sallied forth bent on destruction. The +hawk was soaring high in the air but didn't seem to want to descend any. +Old splice was supposed to carry half a mile and as I knew this was not +the distance from the gun to the hawk, I concluded to test out old +splice and see if the prowess of the old fellow had been exaggerated. I +had heard some one say you must get down on one knee, as an attitude of +respect, I presume, and hold the stock solidly and lovingly against the +shoulder. I did both of these things and fired. I felt my head strike +the ground so amazingly quick and hard that it confused and startled me. +I knew I was committing no crime and couldn't account for such harsh +treatment. At first I thought the bird might have struck me in the face +and, it coming from such a height, would cause a terrible compact when +one body met another, but I abandoned this idea, as no hawk was anywhere +above or below. Then I thought I might have torn some planet loose, but +this was an asylum idea also. Then I thought some one may have overfed +old splice and made him bilious. I afterwards learned this was true. The +miscreant still lives. + + + + +HOPES THAT EXPLODED. + + +If it wasn't for the word hope this would be a dreary world for the +fellow who plans and builds in the future. It rises and falls in every +human breast. Some have an over abundance, and others lack in not having +enough. It arouses buoyancy and encouragement to see one who reaches +toward hope and almost succeeds but doesn't get quite a firm enough grip +to fasten the goal securely before he has to let go; but no matter how +hard the fall, or how often, he's up and trying again. Discouragement or +complete failure never causes a faltering step or gets time to fester +with despondency before keener activity revives the energy and the +shattered hope is rehabilitated and again swells the breast so full +there is nothing to do but try again. Bless the hopeful man or woman. +Some can't stand the fall, they go down clear to the bottom. Defeat and +despondency chain them fast. + +In the year 1896 when Bryan was preparing his famous oration "The Crown +of Gold" that was so ably delivered and well received and which was the +leading factor in opening up the road for him to the White House, I +commenced scheming and planning on patentable ideas. Nineteen years of +hard thinking has brought no visible financial returns and so far the +patent attorney is the only one who has received toll. I never entered +the field thinking I had any latent ingenuity like Edison, Westinghouse, +Ford and many others; but I had hopes, as long as I could pay the +attorney and the filing fee of the patent office. + +My first application for a patent was an adjustable track wrench that +met complete failure after a year's pendency. I thought I had a good, +practical, economical, and convenient wrench, but after the said period +of time elapsed my attorney informed me it was rejected by the chief +examiner on account of prior similar claims already patented. Of course +you must not get confused and wonder why he didn't tell me this before I +filed the application. If he had the self-explanatory portion of the +scheme loses its self respect and puts the attorney in a bad financial +light, which I would dislike to do. However, the discouraging news was +so cool and saddening at this first attempt that it froze my ingenuity a +decade and a quarter, and then hope rose again and I called once more on +the dormant faculty and changed attorneys. + +After due diligence had persevered and I had stood the condemnation of +my wife, who said I was getting absent-minded and hard of hearing, I +sent in my application duly witnessed and sworn to, along with the +necessary stipend that makes the wheels buzz in the attorney's head and +swells that seven millions of profit accrued in the patent office from a +good many fellows like myself. Nice to help swell this big profit for +some day when this accumulation becomes large enough our wise custodians +of this fund may transfer it like ordinary Town Council men do when one +fund gets too far ahead and pay off the national debt. My second +application was an improved index and a device of meritable convenience +over present ones, so I thought. It has been pending two years after +failing ten times before the chief examiner, who doesn't seem to have +the courtesy to allow it. + +While the invention was safe and secure in the government vault, I was +rash enough to go into another irrational period and get out a computing +device for the busy coal man to aid him in rapid accurate calculations +and do away with the old time method of having coal swell so sixteen +hundred pounds was a ton; not really a long ton but a short ton. This +wonderful invention hatched in the brain of an ordinary man, lingered in +Washington one year and a half, and was then rejected. I wouldn't care +for having it rejected, but I'd like to have the rejectors use a milder +word, one that doesn't rankle so much and stir up the mean things in +you. + +Well, here are two great inventions for the betterment of the race +denied, and from the way the attorney wrote in his last tribute of love +to me, the third is hanging over the precipice and is ready to fall +among its ancestors. + +I had hopes when I invested in the last two ideas, my total +expenditures, including postage on a voluminous amount of +correspondence, was $141.28, and this is how I disbursed the interest on +that amount:--I calculated conservatively that the two inventions would +net me $50,000. Here she goes! To my father-in-law, for giving away his +daughter to me, for which I have never paid, $1,000.00; to two +sisters-in-law that favored my suit, $1,000.00 each; to a brother-in-law +that did the square thing by me, $1,000.00; to my oldest brother, who +continually hammered me when I was young and smaller than he, $1,000.00; +to a younger brother, whom I could hammer, $1,000.00; to my four +sisters, $1,000.00 each. Ten thousand of the iron men at work. The next +$20,000 I put at interest in Colorado, where it is easy to get a ten per +cent rate. This would bring me in $2,000.00 a year to live on, and by +being frugal I might be able to smoke a five cent cigar occasionally and +let the corn cob pipe have a chance to dry up some of its nicotine. The +next $10,000 went to old people who have nearly reached the summit of +their lives, but on account of the feebleness of their limbs, poor +eyesight and a meagre pocketbook, the final ascent overtaxes their small +reserve of strength and with want and sacrifice being in the majority +they can't quite make it. To these aged and needy people I would give +$500.00 cash. This amount would render their last days comfortable, free +from worry and care. That helps twenty old couples, forty people that +are worthy and needy. The remaining $10,000 goes from my pocket in ready +cash to people met every day, people whose countenances have rigidly +printed thereon a silent appeal for sympathy and help. A meal to the man +suffering from the pangs of hunger; $50.00 to a woman making her living +over a washboard and fighting a losing fight against poverty to rear her +brood; $100.00 for a present and a Christmas tree to poor little +children who never have the pleasure of unwrapping a doll or any kind of +a toy; $5.00 to a laboring man looking for work; $10.00 on a +subscription list to help a poor widow bury her boy; $25.00 to the man +in the pulpit preaching straight from the shoulder; $10.00 for a +railroad ticket to take a girl home who expected work in the city but +didn't find it. And so goes the remaining $10,000, here a little and +there a little. I think I could gladden more hearts with this last +$10,000 than the great man who spent millions in libraries and free +reading rooms throughout the country. With all due respect to him, the +man in overalls and the girl who must work are the ones who need +literature the worst, but the struggle for existence is so keen they +haven't time to read books and they feel humiliated and unwelcome in +their everyday garb mingling with the better dressed people. The +well-groomed man and woman of today, in a large sense, doesn't apply any +too closely the ethics of the Galilean and would rather not mingle with +the less fortunate people, so the conclusive thesis is there is no +congeniality between the two and the primary object of helping the +fellow who needed it most is a failure. But alas, the $50,000 is still +behind the capitalist and must wait for hope to rise again. + +Not feeling satisfied but that there was plenty of loose coin waiting to +flow to me, I took up the pleasant but unprofitable part avocation of +composing songs. I had a Washington music firm write the music, +copyright the songs in my name, do the advertising, and remit one-half +the proceeds to me semi-annually January 31st and July 31st. I was very +careful to set out specifically the remitting part in our contract. Each +song had its own peculiarity and sentiment to touch the public pulse, +which so far has been untouchable. The first song, "A Tear Drop Always +Glistened in His Eye," was to fasten itself on the hearts of the people +like "Annie Laurie." "When the Silver Moon Light Sparkles on the Lake" +made its bow to the public; I hoped lovers with emotion would go wild +over it and would know a good thing when they heard it. If they had such +a feeling the emoluments failed to show it. The third song, "Anna, My +Anna," was short and jerky for the happy-go-lucky class of people that +fell so in love with "Casey Jones." But it seems this class wouldn't +respond either, and leaves me with the entire stock on hand with an +expenditure of $90.00 trying to get the people to sing. I find them more +unresponsive than the preacher when he says let everybody sing, and a +few who gave their best years in the Lord's service lift up their +cracked voices in earnest endeavor to lead the sheep, and the sheep, +lambs and all go astray. My share of the profits has been ten one cent +postage stamps, just the ordinary kind, the common kind you can get from +every postoffice in the country. And the trio which failed to receive +public recognition I laid away where moths and rust doth not decrease +their earning power and neither do thieves molest them. Three more hopes +decently but sadly buried. + +There is also intertwined and resting sweetly in slumberland 175 shares +of Cracker Engle Gold Mine Stock at twenty cents per share and twelve +years accrued interest. I had the customary notice before I bought that +the stock would advance rapidly in price and if I invested without +hesitation and without investigation I would have the benefit of the +first and early advance. I hearkened to the alluring honey literature +and sent a U. S. money order, something whose face value couldn't be +questioned. I wanted to be absolutely sure I'd get the stock. I got it +all right. I have such faith in that stock that I can go anywhere and +leave it behind unlocked doors and it never strays away. + +A home boy succeeded in getting a patent on an improved table. He +incorporated under the laws where Wilson was governor and then invited +capital for manufacturing purposes. He styled his invention "The Great +Western Improvement Company" and sold seventeen shares at the flat sum +of $5.00. I learned a little from the crack at the Cracker Eagle and did +not fly so high and only took the $5.00 worth. It's comical now, to me, +how the inventor and promoter explained how his table was superior to +the common ordinary everyday table that's been in use so long. It had a +hollow holding receptacle in the center and he said after the meal had +been stowed away and nothing was left but the dishes and flies, the +housewife could, if she felt so disposed, elevate a handle and the +soiled dishes would disappear and the table would have an inviting +appearance. He said it was especially fine when conversation had been +brisk and company or peddlers were seen coming; all that was necessary +was the quick jerk of the ever-ready handle and down out of sight went +the dishes, flies, napkins, and everything untidy and untasty. I was +looking for votes when this investment was made and while the votes may +not have had an equal value I let it go at that and put away the stock +for my grandchildren. Another share of stock in the Campbells' Farming +Association at a cost of $5.00 brings my get rich quick investments to a +finis. The only other stock I ever had was bank stock. I invested +$1,500.00 in a State Bank in Nebraska. I didn't lose on this deal but +the money would have paid better on a straight five per cent rate. + +Nothing would have done me more good and brought a keener satisfaction +than to have had a nice remuneration from some investment that I have +made. My wife called me what the bible says she shouldn't so many times +that it seems to look like I am really a bigger one than she said I was, +and if I could have changed her mind by laying before her eyes a nice +portly check for $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 it would have been such an +agreeable surprise not only to her but to myself that we both would have +enjoyed it, and especially myself if I could have pulled it over. But if +hope don't come again I will have to let that excellent pleasure be like +Mathewson's speedy one and fade away. + +A lad of the average type at twenty-one has a great deal of stored up +energy; he has the muscle bank and the brain bank from which to get his +necessary resources, and a great many lads think Dad is a back number +and he sees where the old gentleman was short on gray matter, and all +advice is lost on this sort of boys. I was never conceited this way, in +fact I think somebody else got nearly all the gall that should have been +mine. If a fellow holds his own in these days, no matter what party is +in power, Democratic or Republican, you need your full allowance of +gall. The lad that thinks that the governor's gray matter is not as +profuse as it should be, but he, through some unknown force, grabbed all +that was coming to him and part of dad's might read the following verse +and the conclusive portion of this chapter and apply it from a stand +point of ordinary horse sense: + + When Johnnie Jones was twenty-one + He said my farming life is done, + I'll pack my duds and say Good Bye + And to the city I will hie. + I'll show the ones who think they're it + That Johnnie Jones has got the grit + To make a name that will be felt + Like Astor, Gould or Roosevelt. + +It makes the pain come home when you look back from fifty and realize +that a man at twenty-one is a darn big fool, at thirty still a fool, at +thirty-five a little foolish, and at forty he still has some, at +forty-five wisdom breaks in gently, and at fifty he stands on the +threshold of learning ready to apply and absorb, and at sixty he's a +valuable asset to his community and country. + + + + +THE WEARY TRAVELER. + + +Something has been gained and our life has not been futile if we can say +we owe no man and there is no obligation through which we have passed, +financial or otherwise, of which we are ashamed. We may not have +acquired honor, wealth or position but if we have lived up to the +teachings of the plumb and the square, we have a record that will stand +the closest investigation when we knock for entrance at the pearly +gates. If we can stand with our whole soul bared before our maker and he +sees that chastity and the sweet purity of any girl or woman has never +been trespassed upon we have acquired something that brings smiles to +angels' faces. If we have stood firm when temptations surged and tossed +and clamored and we met them and conquered, we have through our moral +force a better right to the precious gems of God's kingdom than those +saved in the eleventh hour. If we have never repeated unwholesome +stories or spoken slightingly of another's character or said +disrespectfully something that we knew untrue, then we have lived well. +Each day's battles must be fought alone and leave tomorrow's till they +come. Never tear down character, it is the choicest gift in the universe +and constitutes life's work. Remember a pure woman or a pure man is the +noblest work of God. Don't let your footsteps slip from the path of +virtue but plant them firm and deep in the path of righteousness. Keep +away from people whose thoughts are degrading, and never harbor foul and +indecent language. Make it your most earnest desire to avoid using +profanity and vile utterances, an immoral epithet has a clinging effect +which takes years to erase, and those that emulate and make us better +takes determination and purity. + +I am now approaching the half-century mark. I can look ahead a few years +and see the fiftieth mile post. In all the years that have past and gone +I can recall none where my conditions and prospects are so alarming, +serious and discouraging as at the present time. I have a peculiar +ailment in my left side that has baffled the medical fraternity and +caused extreme anxiety to myself. I have endeavored with courage and +determination to exterminate it. I have tried assiduously physical +culture, osteopathy, dietics, Christian science and medicine. I have +consulted freely and often the great physician and all so far have +failed. With treatment at Hot Springs thrown in as good measure. The +surgeons say an operation is the only hope through which they can +discover the cause and eliminate it. I dread operations like I do "Good +Wills" and "Bonuses." My wife had one and the doctor in charge said she +would be a well woman in three weeks, but those three weeks were worse +than that two weeks' loan. They stretched into six long, bitter years +and were the direct cause of an outlay of money in excess of three +thousand dollars. Glad again of the early use of that harrow, for there +was surely a gross violation of the truth on the part of the surgeon. On +account of dearie's precarious health I was forced to try a lower +altitude, and this not being sufficient it was necessary to try the +balmy, sunny air of California and sojourn there among the orange +blossoms and the singing birds for seven long months. This caused me to +give up my position of clerk that netted me in my four years' labor the +tidy sum of ten thousand dollars. + +Today as I stand looking at that fiftieth mile post I realize in the +vernacular of the day "I am up against it." My money is gone, my ailment +bothers me, I have a family to provide for, and the wolf stands on the +threshold with his mouth open and his long, gaunt body in readiness to +make the jump. In some way I must appease five empty stomachs from +consuming five back bones. My investments were bad. I tied up +thirty-five hundred dollars in a partnership lumber business, fifteen +hundred dollars in a home to shelter my loved ones, and the rest went +for food and clothing. I struck a highly modern town with all the +up-to-date conveniences, property depreciated fifty per cent, business +was stagnant, interest kept gnawing, and taxes went skyward. The two sad +mistakes I made was: first, to visit the office of the County Treasurer +and learn about the taxes; and the second was to stay out of business +unless we had enough money to pay for it and keep to the leeward of that +ten per cent interest, but I didn't and so much more for experience, the +grandma of teachers. + +I do not lack courage and determination but knowing and being able to +see that fiftieth mile post causes a shudder and slight touches of +despondency. I think my training is more than is alloted the average +man. I have been a day laborer on the farm, railroad and hay field. I +have worked for a large number of task masters and I failed to remember +when I was ever criticised for not keeping up my end. I have held a good +many positions of trust such as census enumerator, section foreman, +extra gang foreman, county clerk, clerk of the district court, +abstractor, town trustee, and member of the school board. + +The first time I was a candidate for county clerk I ran on the +Republican ticket. I am not telling this in any spirit of the braggart +but as a sample of confidence. In my old home precinct I received one +hundred and twenty votes out of one hundred and thirty-two, and in the +precinct where I worked as section foreman I received forty votes out of +forty-eight, and this had always been a strong Democratic precinct. My +opponent was a strong candidate and entirely familiar with political +tactics, an old scholar in the school. But when the votes were counted I +received the certificate of election and laid down the tamping bar and +took up the pen. I could have established a precedent and been elected +again but dearie's health would not permit and I declined to run. + +Some say the hand of fate guides our destinies and it was so to be, but +I am at a loss to understand why it should so be. I have lived clean, I +have always met my obligations with the strictest honor, no marks of +dissipation, inwardly or otherwise, have scarred my form and thank God +he nor any other can find any danger signals that can isolate me from a +free transport to the narrow path. I have been economical, conservative +and kind and I think I have done my very best. I have treated every one +with the closest application that can be unravelled from the ten +commandments and the additional commandment established through Christ. + +All through my married life I have been attentive to my wife and in any +room of our mortgaged home you can see many tokens of affection that she +has received. I have endeavored to lighten her domestic burden and +almost every Monday morning for the past twelve years I have been the +propeller at the washing machine. Hundred of times I have arisen between +the hours of three and four and wended my way to the family kitchen and +waded in on the soiled linen. I never sneaked out the back way to avoid +using the tea towel on waiting dishes. I can use the broom, duster and +make the beds. I can scrub, polish the stove, cook the steak, and +perform almost the entire category of domestic needs; but when it comes +to baking I would rather face the cannon's mouth (a silent one like in +the city park in Denver) and die like a martyr. I have often acted as +maid. I recall once when I was a maid my wife was bed fast for three +weeks. We lived in a strong church town, somewhere near eighty per cent, +it seemed nearly all were Christians but during dearie's sickness there +was not a single Christian woman or suffragist came to see her, offered +her services, or was in any way interested. I am sorry this happened in +this broad land of boasted Christianity and civilization. Some of these +same Christian ladies never failed to appear when the dues for foreign +missions were bordering on delinquency or when some rations were needed +for a church spread. + +I believe in doing good and giving cheer. You can always notice a gleam +of pleasure in your wife's face when you give her a box of candy, a +dress, a dish, or some little token, and how she clings to the missiles +of love that you may have penned on scraps of paper, chunks of wood and +other things. They always speak for something I think meritable. I think +the pathway of dearie can be made more cheerful if she is remembered +daily and not all in one chunk at Christmas time, and then let her wait +for another twelve months. I never feared I would kiss my wife too much. +I kiss her more now than when I courted her and they are just as sweet +as ever. It helps to keep the love light in her eye. + +I have three fine children. I am not conceited about them; other people +say they are good. I have done my best to raise them well. Two of them +are in the County High School, the eldest a girl of sweet sixteen and +the other a noisy boy of fourteen. The remaining one is a baby of two +and one-half years. I must leave these three children and dearie and +look for employment. You can realize how pleasant it is to be separated +from them. How sad it is to kiss dearie and the others good bye and have +the many cute sayings of a strongly attached baby ringing in your ears, +not only through the dreary, lonesome days but long after the shadows +fall. + +Such is life with its pains and sorrows. They come to us all and while I +may think my road is rougher than is allotted the ordinary individual I +suppose others think the same. The one great consolation I have is that +dearie is almost a strong, well woman, and that is worth all I have +passed through and I would gladly undergo it again for her. I must be +getting ready, the colonists reduced rates of our liberal hearted +"S-T-E-E-L" railroads is near the finis of the twelve-day limit. The +parting is at hand. I kiss the loved ones good bye, cling tenaciously to +my second-class ticket, guard well my pneumatic pocket book with its +ragged puncture and try again in pretty California among the salty ocean +breezes, the cheerful flowers, the fragrant orange blossoms and the +shady pepper trees to find work and health for those I love. GOOD BYE. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. 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E. Barrett" name="DC.Creator"/> + <meta content="en" name="DC.Language"/> + <meta content="1917" name="DC.Created"/> + <meta name="generator" content="ppgen (1.15) generated Jul 18, 2011 11:20 AM" /> + <title>Treading the Narrow Way</title> + <style type="text/css"> + body {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%;} + p {margin-top:1ex; margin-bottom:0; text-align:justify;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size:x-small; text-align:right; text-indent:0; + position:absolute; right:2%; padding:1px 3px; font-style:normal; + font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:none; + background-color:inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + .pncolor {color:silver;} + h1 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal;} + h2 {text-align:left; font-weight:normal;} + h1 {font-size:1.4em; margin-top:4em; margin-bottom:2em;} + h2 {font-size:1.2em; margin-top:4em; margin-bottom:2em;} + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none; border-top:thin dashed silver; clear:both;} + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .center {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; text-align:center;} + .larger {font-size:larger;} + .smaller {font-size:smaller;} + table.c {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .sc {font-variant:small-caps} + div.center p {margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;} + div.center>:first-child {margin: .5em auto 0 auto;text-align:center;} + hr.tb {border:none; border-bottom: 1px solid black; margin: 20px auto; width:35%} + hr.hr {border:none; border-bottom: 1px solid silver; margin: 20px auto; width:100%} + </style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. Barrett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Treading the Narrow Way + +Author: R. E. Barrett + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36785] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREADING THE NARROW WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class='center'> +<p><span style='font-size:larger;font-weight:bold;'>TREADING THE NARROW WAY</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>By <span class='sc'>R. E. Barrett</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>Boston</p> +<p>THE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING CO. Inc.</p> +</div> +<hr class='hr' /> +<div class='center'> +<p>Copyrighted 1917</p> +<p>By R. E. BARRETT</p> +<p><em>Rights Reserved</em></p> +</div> +<hr class='hr' /> +<div class='center'> +<p>PREFACE</p> +</div> +<p> +The chapters in this book are not based on +fiction, they are not drawn from imagination, +they are not gems that come from culture and +learning, but are gleaned entirely from the +rugged school of life, and are for the purpose +of cheering the down-hearted to a realization +that a good life has its just reward, that +through continued combat every temptation, +obstacle and evil will vanish if a strict observance +of God’s law is kept in carefully treading +in the narrow way. +</p> +<hr class='hr' /> +<div class='center'> +<p>DEDICATION</p> +</div> +<p> +To that dear teacher who urged me to go +to school when I was past twenty years of +age, and helped to mold in me the true principles +of honor. +</p> +<p> +To a fine Judge on the Bench whose many +fatherly talks to poor unfortunates, whose +feet had slipped from the narrow way, who +helped me to obey and respect the law. +</p> +<p> +To a splendid intellectual lawyer, one of +God’s clean home men, whose guest I have +been at many intellectual feasts, to him I owe +the avoidance of the saloon and learned the +intrinsic value of sobriety. +</p> +<p> +To my two eldest sisters, one sister-in-law, +and my devoted wife through whom I learned +the desperate struggle and what it means to +live clean. +</p> +<p> +To a poorly paid self-educated minister to +whom I am deeply indebted for the first introduction +to my master. +</p> +<p> +To these in the major part, and a few +others, God bless them all, I owe whatever I +am to them, to these dear people I affectionately +dedicate this book. +</p> +<p style='text-align:right; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;'>R. E. B.</p> +<hr class='hr' /> +<div class='center'> +<p><span style='font-size:larger;'>CONTENTS</span></p> +</div> +<table class='c' summary='table of contents'> +<tr><td style='font-size:smaller'>CHAPTER</td><td></td><td style='font-size:smaller'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>I.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Early Footsteps.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch01'>9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>II.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Getting the Backbone.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch02'>21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>III.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Two Paths.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch03'>32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>God’s Intention Man’s Prevention</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch04'>46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>V.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Sadness Behind the Vale</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch05'>61</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Gratitude.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch06'>71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Just Poems.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch07'>87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Sallie’s Loyalty.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch08'>112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Sunshine.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch09'>117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>X.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Temperance.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch10'>133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Every Day Philosophy.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch11'>145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Glimpses from the Past.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch12'>158</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Hopes That Exploded.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch13'>179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Weary Traveler.</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#ch14'>196</a></td></tr> +</table> +<hr class='hr' /> +<h1><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9'></a>9</span>TREADING THE NARROW WAY</h1> +<h2><a name='ch01' id='ch01'></a>EARLY FOOTSTEPS.</h2> +<p> +Robert Emmett Barrett was the soothing +and patriotic cognomen my father fastened +upon me when I first opened my eyes and I +looked him squarely in the face. I say my +father named me and I honestly think he did. +The first two-thirds of the name proves my +contention and opens the book wide enough +that the reader has no trouble in discerning +the nationality of my father. Mother was an +English woman and I knew it the first time +she called father “Arry.” If mother had had +her equal rights in naming me, I might have +been a Gladstone; but somehow or other +father monopolized mother’s half interest +and she finally became disgusted and told +him to name me any blooming thing he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10'></a>10</span> +wanted to. If mother could have foreseen +this savage war across the orient, I believe, +she would have handled the center name, but +the way it stands I wouldn’t shoulder a gun +for England and I can’t use my undeveloped +oratory against Ireland, and I am about half +persuaded to let them settle their own +troubles. It being no fault of mine that I +am half Irish and half English, I let it go at +that and get along with everybody the best +I can. It’s hard to separate the halves from +the whole, and so, from a perpendicular +standpoint, I give the Irish the top half and +the English the bottom half; I’d rather let the +English have the running half anyway. +</p> +<p> +So far the name Emmett hasn’t done me +much good, I’ve only used it nine or ten +times since I had it, thrice at political +speeches, a couple of Fourth of July +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11'></a>11</span> +addresses, once on Decoration Day, once at +a church wrangle, and a few times when I +was mad. I find it doesn’t help me much on +bank cheques, they get turned down as +quickly with the Emmett signed as without +it. If the name is ever going to do me any +good I wish it would hurry up and be a progressive +or I will be compelled to think father +was impartial and talked mother out of her +rightful one-half interest. +</p> +<p> +After the ordeal of naming me had been +fairly or unfairly dealt with, I was told I +was a free born American citizen and some +day I might be President and have absolute +dominion over the blue room, where I suppose +the chief executive goes when he has +the “Blues.” I never considered this encouragement +very seriously, for, as I have read in +some almanac, there is only one chance in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12'></a>12</span> +eighteen million, the odds are against the +slim chance and it’s sort of a blue skim milk +proposition or a church raffle affair, and if +it’s the only time that opportunity is going +to knock at my door I don’t think I’ll be at +home, I’ll let Wilson do the best he can and +let some live Republican Progressive have my +chance. +</p> +<p> +If Wilson would only hurry up and get the +Government to make those loans they’ve been +talking so long about and loan it, at about +four per cent, to citizens like myself, irrespective +of names and nationality, and not +have the principal come due too quickly, but +in periods, like twenty year franchises, I +believe he ought to have a second term; but +if he doesn’t get some loans placed pretty +soon I don’t know what hard working men +like myself are going to do. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13'></a>13</span> +</p> +<p> +The only thing I ask Wilson to be careful +about when he loans the money is the rate. +I don’t want to see the rate on loans as high +as it was during Cleveland’s second administration. +</p> +<p> +I borrowed eighteen dollars in 1894 to settle +up a partnership fanning deal with a +Methodist preacher. It seems that outside of +the banks no one had any money, and you +had to call on the gentleman banker, get +down on your knees and have tears as large +as pullet eggs rolling down your hollow +cheeks, if you succeeded in your desires. +Somehow the bankers knew they had a good +thing; they not only got the fat and tallow +but they stripped you clear to the bone. +</p> +<p> +The eighteen dollar note was dated August +28, 1894, and read in part; “With interest at +the rate of ten per cent per annum”; and from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14'></a>14</span> +here on comes the craftiness of the banker: +He interlined thus: “From January 18, 1894, +if not paid when due.” On October 23rd the +same year I paid ten dollars on the note; +September the 11th, 1895, six dollars; and +December the 5th, 1895 the final payment and +accrued interest was eight dollars and twenty-five +cents, making a total of twenty-four dollars +and twenty-five cents on a loan of eighteen +dollars for one year, three months and +seven days. What was the rate of interest +charged? That banker is retired and worth +a hundred thousand dollars; hadn’t he ought +to be? +</p> +<p> +To borrow money under that rate you +needed the health of a bear, a cataract of +energy, a colossal mind, unlimited self-respect, +boundless self-confidence, all impregnated +with an iron honesty. That kind of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15'></a>15</span> +interest makes me feel like the investor, who +bought some unseen land from an honest real +estate man, and, when he went to look at his +property he found it submerged in water. +The real estate man told him it could be irrigated, +but he had no idea it was susceptible +of such profuse moisture. After he gazed +at it a while he said “Instead of buying this +land by the acre I should have bought it by +the quart.” He probably has an unrecorded +deed, I have the paid note in my possession, +I feel proud I got it paid; but my pride halted +suddenly when I got it paid and in all these +years it hasn’t advanced much for men who +can take a nickle and make it into a dollar so +all fired quick. Some time I’ll frame that +note with a glass on both sides of it. +</p> +<p> +Coming back to the early events. I was +born beneath the shadows of the Rocky +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16'></a>16</span> +Mountains where the placid and sleepy Platte +wound leisurely through the broad meadows +and sleeping undeveloped valleys and had +abundance of God’s elixir before the day of +the great reclamation projects that sapped +its mountain waters. +</p> +<p> +Because I mention the Platte here, don’t +get me mixed with that other fellow that has +made the Platte famous and was until recently +holding a cabinet position on an underpaid +salary, he’s no relation of mine and +I never knew him until he ran for President. +He did the opposite from what I did and took +that one slim chance, made three strikes and +fanned; I’m glad I let it alone. +</p> +<p> +When I was six years old and my parents +still said what I should do they took Horace +Greeley’s advice and went a hundred and six +miles farther west. At their destination there +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17'></a>17</span> +was no buildings except the section house, +depot and a little building that sheltered the +hand car. The entire population was not over +a baker’s dozen. I don’t believe there was +a quieter place on God’s footstool. +</p> +<p> +One good thing about those days was the +taxes; I think a week’s compensation on the +railroad would pay the taxes, County, State +and Municipal from 1887 to 1890. How we +have progressed in taxes since then! Especially +Colorado. +</p> +<p> +In this little dreary place where I had no +associations to lead me astray I took account +of my surroundings. I was away out there +on the barren plains where the grass curled +and burned under the blazing sun, where +foliage was scant, where the lonely cactus +and prickly pear awaited the step of man to +imbed itself and cause more pain, no trees +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18'></a>18</span> +or flowers to whisper words of encouragement, +no cheerful forest or shady dells, nothing +at all to cause the deeper emotions of a +queer nature to assert themselves. Nothing +but the broad miraged prairie stretching as +far as the eye could see. +</p> +<p> +No cooling breeze to alleviate the pain on +a youthful face or the faces of those careworn +early pioneers who blazed the way for future +generations, who would erect homes, till the +soil, plant trees, and endeavor to further +promote civilization, until succeeding generations +would reap the pleasure and peace that +was purchased through these sacrifices and +hardships of their forefathers. We owe to +the pioneers such a vast debt of gratitude +that we never can pay the the principal with +no interest attached, and it’s a different kind +of interest than four per cent a month. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19'></a>19</span> +</p> +<p> +After I had grown to manhood and my lot +had been cast in other places it was over +fourteen years before I saw much of the old +scenes, but when returning to the old places +I noticed great changes. The town had +grown; few of the old places were left and +the old haunts and nooks were hard to find. +</p> +<p> +A dreary and quiet sadness steals over one +when looking at his boyhood and manhood +earliest recollections, and as I glanced at the +old scenes I stood and looked longingly, +earnestly and lovingly at the old familiar +places. There was the locust grove I helped +to plant two decades ago; there was the little +stream after which the town was named: +there was the old pump which so many times +quenched my thirst; there was the exact spot +where dearie said the joyful word; there was +the old house where our first baby was born; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20'></a>20</span> +there was the farm patch I used to plow, +and the meadow where I pitched the hay. +All seemed different and as the pathos of the +change surged in my breast I walked away +longing for something I couldn’t get, and +would never get again. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21'></a>21</span><a name='ch02' id='ch02'></a>GETTING THE BACKBONE.</h2> +<p> +About the year 1889 when I was seventeen +years old I commenced on the lowest rung +on the railroad ladder and went to work on +the section. I was frail physically, and must +have been the same mentally, for I never got +beyond the third rung. I worked in the days +when you spoke for the spring job the preceding +fall, and then often your application +met failure. In hard times when jobs are +few the fellow that has them is blessed with +unusual longevity, and whenever some one +did pass beyond, his demise was railroad talk +for a long time. +</p> +<p> +When you consider that all through the +central west, which had a few years earlier +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22'></a>22</span> +been homesteaded after several repeated crop +failures, almost the entire population were +looking for employment and the only cash job +in the country was a section job, you can +realize how desirable and prized a position +it was. +</p> +<p> +I don’t remember how it came that my +application was slumbering all through the +cold winter with a large number of those +half-starved homesteaders who hadn’t raised +anything for so many years, received recognition +in the spring; but it did and I got one of +the plums. +</p> +<p> +The first time I pumped a hand-car I fully +realized the Lord had made no mistake by +taking out one of the ribs and leaving the +backbone whole. If you ever pumped a hand-car +I will pass from this painful mode of +travel and let you refresh your own memory +and backache. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23'></a>23</span> +</p> +<p> +I got along pretty well, when the “Boss” +wasn’t nervous that the road master would +come along and want to borrow another fifty +dollars on his word without interest, everything +went nicely. When weed cutting time, +came I gritted my teeth, held my back as +straight as I could and whacked away. Besides +the excruciating pain in the back that +made you feel like you would like to give +one long piercing yell, throw your shovel +away and run for town, there was the additional +pain of seeing the “Boss” sitting on +the hand car resting his back. He had the +advantage and the authority! I must keep +at it and cut the weeds or the wheels of the +locomotive would slip, the traveler couldn’t +resume his journey, all traffic would stop, and +down would go the railroad stock and let +out all the water. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24'></a>24</span> +</p> +<p> +It would have been a blessing if the water +could have been spilled by some patent +process where the weeds were to be cut, but, +monopolies monopolize and if the Lord didn’t +see fit to have the rain fall in September instead +of June no one was to blame, except +Grover Cleveland. The Republicans said the +country always went to the dogs and dried +up when the Democrats elected a President. +I was too young then to know much about +statesmanship and I wouldn’t want to say for +repetition whether or not the Lord and Cleveland +were working together or otherwise, but +I do remember some one was mighty stingy +with the moisture. +</p> +<p> +If you, my dear reader, have never had the +privilege of cutting weeds for a dollar and +thirty-five cents per day for three weeks in +succession then, for all that’s good and beautiful, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25'></a>25</span> +take my advice and let the Jap, Greek, +or Italian have your place and do the mowing. +Either of them can get better wages and any +of these dark-skinned brethren will do as +much in three days as the white man would +in one day and cause the pale face no extra +exertion. +</p> +<p> +The pain in the back caused from close +association with a shovel from seven o’clock +to twelve o’clock and from one o’clock to +six even now, over twenty years afterwards, +almost makes me break down and give vent +to my feelings in a more noticeable manner +than my friend Taft when he was informed +that he had carried Utah. If you have ever +been tortured with lumbago, you have a slight +knowledge of what races up and down the +back of a weed cutter. When he bends down +he can’t get up and when he gets up he can’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26'></a>26</span> +get down. There you are! Humiliated, suffering +and mad, knife blade sticking you +whenever you move, but you must or bust. +You are a free born American citizen but +you must lose sight of the special endowment +when you are cutting weeds. The constitution +may be back of you, but just at present +you have got to get back of your own constitution +and a “darn” good one too, or +you’ve lost your job and that dearly beloved +stipend of thirteen and one-half cents an hour. +</p> +<p> +Being on the low rung of the railroad ladder +is the same as in all other departments, +the man at the bottom gets the low wages, +needs the good back and carries the heavy +burden. He don’t need much brain; he is +told what to do; how to do it and when. +He’s told when to go to work and when to +quit. Brains would be a nuisance and, if he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27'></a>27</span> +had any, he wouldn’t be working on the section. +Time has proved that, and the Dago +takes his place. +</p> +<p> +What became of the Irish, Swede, German +and Bohemian section men of twenty-five +years ago is more than I know. Extempore, +an increase of brains did something for him +and you don’t find him tramping ties with +the Dago. But the man at the low rung +hasn’t much choice; he can work or quit. +His job is always in jeopardy as he couldn’t +save enough in a year to loan out an occasional +“fifty” to smooth the feelings of an +over auspicious road-master. He’s at the +bottom and whatever falls goes down to him +and in an undignified way he must carry the +whole load, for it can not go lower. The +general manager can ease his feelings on the +superintendent, and he on the road-master +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28'></a>28</span> +and the road-master can growl at the section +foreman, but when the section foreman dumps +the whole putrid, half-boiled mess on the unlearned +day laborer you can see the urgent +necessity of a fine piece of choice workmanship +in the middle of the back. You seldom +see a man with a front like a wash-tub turned +edgewise working on the railroad. There is +no room for him! You must be able to see +your feet if you cut weeds, and have a stomach +that can say “Hello” to the backbone at +nine fifteen A. M. +</p> +<p> +When the winds used to tear loose from +the nasty bad lands of South Dakota and +come tearing over the semi-arid plains for +three days in succession at a velocity of sixty +miles an hour it seems the Lord could have +improved on man by giving him a gizzard to +grind up the accumulated gravel that had +been beaten into his daily bread. It came +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29'></a>29</span> +pretty near taking the hide off from me to +keep pace with those hungry homesteaders +who were afraid of losing their jobs and +existence. +</p> +<p> +I am glad that I had the backbone. The +term is applicable in two ways. One is the +acquisition of a resilient mechanism in the +center of your back, starting at the base of +your brain and running down to a certain +point or as far as is necessary, and the other +is a priceless stamina, determination and a +square deal. I am not sorry that I acquired +some on the railroad; its a good thing to have +in the every day affairs of life. +</p> +<p> +I hardened my backbone when I worked +on the steel gang a few years afterwards, and, +if there is such a thing as a steel backbone, I +claim some right to its possession through +low remuneration and dirty cabbage. Keen +retrenchment policies make better satisfied +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30'></a>30</span> +stockholders and also make wages that would +embarrass a bumble bee if he were buying a +pair of leggings and expected to pay for them. +</p> +<p> +It takes unlimited backbone for a congressman +to vote “Yes” on the prohibition amendment +and turn down the easy money of the +brewers. It takes backbone for a president +to cast custom aside and step into the halls +of congress and demand that the party +pledges be kept. It takes a better backbone +to enter the same halls and take a determined +stand on a cause that means better citizenship. +It takes backbone if the minister ousts the +liberal paying hypocrite who is helping to kill +the church with his pocketbook. +</p> +<p> +It takes backbone every day you live and +if you don’t use it in the way it was intended +you can’t tread the narrow path and expect +to slip into heaven without being recognized. +You may do it on earth but you must not try +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31'></a>31</span> +it where you are known. It takes backbone +to be a Christian, the earnest conscientious +kind, that can lay all jealousy aside, all +prejudice and hatred and give the offender a +square Christian deal. Unless you can do +these things you CAN’T be a Christian, the +kind that Jesus told us to be. The other kind +is a sham and an out-and-out sinner is far +better. True Christianity will not allow one +individual to do another of the slightest +wrong. The conscience of a real Christian +will not allow any ill feeling or the harboring +of malice. You know it’s wrong, your conscience +reminds you of the wrong and unless +you remove that kind of Christianity you can +never receive the fruits that come from the +narrow way and be a successful Christian. +You know yourself if you are a sham so +why try to fool anybody and carry a false +label. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32'></a>32</span><a name='ch03' id='ch03'></a>THE TWO PATHS.</h2> +<p> +Don’t forget the warning of the Saviour +when he says: “Enter ye in by the narrow +gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the +way that leadeth to destruction, and many +are they that enter thereby. For narrow is +the gate and straitened is the way that leadeth +unto life, and few are they that find it.” +Travel the path that becomes shining gold, +the one that grows lovelier, the one where +you are never alone: You’ll need the friend +of this path when the heartaches and trials +are hard to bear. Don’t chance the other path +and sell your soul for pleasure, wealth and +damnation. +</p> +<p> +The journey of life, be it one of success or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33'></a>33</span> +failure, closely resembles two paths. When +we reach the age of accountability we must +of our own volition choose one of these paths. +Where the paths commence to fork out and +go in separate directions we see a sign spread +clear across the entrance and it says: “I am +the way, the truth and the light.” We study +this for a long time and then go to the other +side and on the same sign board it says: +“Though your sins were as crimson they shall +be whiter than snow.” We are young, full +of life and can’t really understand what it +means but we are ready to start on life’s pathway +and there are only two paths to choose +from. +</p> +<p> +We look around and see the broad, open +path with no restrictions, filled with the aroma +of choice flowers, we meet social companions, +have gay parties, they tell us of the pleasures +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34'></a>34</span> +they are enjoying. From this survey and +study we note that the broad path looks +cheerful and inviting, the narrow one seems +straight ahead as far as we can see. +</p> +<p> +We can notice that the crowd seems to be +going the broad way. People in all conditions +of life, well dressed, prosperous looking people +of wealth and affluence, and the ordinary +working people in their customary garb. +They look happy and contented, and we decide +to take the broad way. +</p> +<p> +We didn’t notice, until after the start, that +the course has a descending grade and we +get a long distance on the way before we call +a halt. We have seen a great many things +that are not elevating and we conclude that +after we go a short distance we’ll turn back, +start over and take the other path, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35'></a>35</span> +though the things that looked so inviting at +the beginning are losing their attractiveness. +</p> +<p> +The demoralizing things we see are pitiful. +There is a poor fellow reeling with drunkenness. +MY! hear that vulgar, profane language +coming from the foul mouth of that +young man. There’s a party drinking wine, +laughing boisterously and telling stories that +are very improper for ladies and gentlemen. +There is a poor girl in a calico dress that +seems to be alone; her face looks sad and +she seems to be watching and waiting for +someone. There is a pitiful story in her once +pretty face that would cause you to weep if +you knew it. +</p> +<p> +Look at that old man with a gray beard; +he has been a powerful man in his day, his +well built physique tells that. He’s a man of +more than ordinary intelligence, his features +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36'></a>36</span> +show fine breeding. He must have got on the +wrong path from not noticing the sign board, +he seems out of place here. I thought so. +He is turning back! My! how he stoops as +he commences the ascent. But he is sticking +to it. There he is telling a younger man of +the mistake he made and is trying to persuade +him to accompany him back. Well, isn’t +that splendid! They’re both going back. It +must have been that last remark that the elder +man said to the younger man that persuaded +him. “Lo, I am with you always even unto +the end of the world.” +</p> +<p> +There is a whole crowd about to start back; +are they going? No, they listen to that well +dressed fellow over there smoking a cigarette, +and holding up that beer bottle and he +has influenced them to go a little further. It +must have been that last remark he made +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37'></a>37</span> +when he told him there was going to be a +beer drink and a free dance at Switzers that +persuaded them. +</p> +<p> +They go on and on; they are commencing +to look ragged and worn out; the roses have +flown from their cheeks: their eyes are no +more full of lustre and keenness; the gray +hairs are showing, the step is not so firm, but +still they go on. Now they are old, they have +lived so fast and reckless that they haven’t +hardly got the strength nor the inclination to +start to climb that long hill that took forty +years of the best part of their lives to descend. +It seems an impossibility and they +do not desire to consider it. +</p> +<p> +Look at that poor woman over there. +Listen to the poor soul as she is down on her +knees and the tears are falling like summer +rain. Listen to her broken, sobbing words. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38'></a>38</span> +My, isn’t she the most pitiful, dejected and +forlorn looking creature you ever saw! Hear +her as she sobs “Lord, I saw the sign but oh +I was so foolish, I didn’t heed it but I remember +it and dear Lord hear me, I’m old, +feeble and poor, I am friendless and I have +sinned and broken Thy laws. Oh take me +as I am. Amen.” +</p> +<p> +Who is there beside the blessed Jesus that +can pick up this poor unfortunate daughter +as she now stands before the bar of sorrow +and despair awaiting her dues? She was +given and entrusted with a pure and innocent +life in infancy but she was frivolous and +sought after wealth, power, position and the +many other transitory and fleeting things. +She took her clean, innocent life and so soiled +and stained it that it would be unrecognizable +to any one but he who gave it, and now, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39'></a>39</span> +when it is filled with barrenness, she comes +to her maker with her wasted life, when in all +candor and sense of fairness she could expect +nothing in return, but he says to her “Though +your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter +than snow.” +</p> +<p> +Then we see the other path that was trod +by the bleeding feet of the lowly Nazarene. +We know the anguish and pain he suffered; +we think of the fiendish death he died that +he might say to a sinful people; “Come unto +me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and +I will give you rest.” +</p> +<p> +This narrow and straight path may not be +so beautiful at the beginning as the broader +one. We think if we follow it all joys and +pleasures are gone. But what a mistake, for +each day that we travel, it becomes prettier, +the flowers are sweeter, the trees are greener, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40'></a>40</span> +the skies seem bluer. We find temptations +and trials but we have some one to lean on, +and there is a sweet peace and enjoyment +known only to his followers. It makes it easy +to pass the saloon and enter the church. The +Lord is in that little church and his servant +there knows every man, woman and child for +miles around. See them cluster around him; +he loves them; each day he lives he does +some one a kindness. He listens to your +sorrows and heartaches; his joys are your +joys and never a word or thought but one of +goodness and kindness has he for anybody. +He looks tired today; he spent an all night’s +vigil at the bedside of a sick friend. Did +you see him when he stopped and caressed +that little girl who had broken her doll? It +meant something to her and he has won her +everlasting gratitude. See him talking to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41'></a>41</span> +that young fellow over there who is wavering +and unable to decide which path to take. +Notice his warm and friendly attitude and +see, he has won his confidence and has got a +promise from him. See that sweet-faced, +light-hearted maiden, he has just come from +her home and she has consented to lead a +better life. +</p> +<p> +Look there, will you! He is helping up +that poor man whose feet slipped from the +narrow way and he is taking him home to +the broken-hearted wife. See the sadness on +his dear old face as he gives what comfort +he can to the poor woman; he’s back again +the next day and is talking to them both. +“Yes,” they said from now on they’d cling +close to the marriage vows. Don’t they all +look happy and pleased. There he is again +talking to a poor man who has been unsuccessful, he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42'></a>42</span> +worked hard, lived pure but went +too heavily in debt and can’t meet his obligations. +Worry is making him sorrowful and +shortening his days, but the dear pastor with +his hand on his shoulder and his warm words +of sympathy has a telling effect and the +heavy clouds are leaving his countenance and +as they part, each understands the other. +The cordial, glowing hand-shake is given and +both have received good. There he goes +again; he’s just married a young couple and +is advising them, he is telling them not to be +down cast when a snag comes along but to +work together, tread the narrow way, keep +faith in God, and He will bless and prosper +them. +</p> +<p> +There is pain in his heart today; he has +just come from the home of broken-hearted +parents who have laid away in the silent city +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43'></a>43</span> +their first born. In his great love for them +he has told them about Jesus, the sorrowful +life he lived, the great pains and heartaches +he endured, and he did it all for them. As +he leaves they love him as a father and a +sweet peace has descended upon them and +the wound commences to heal. +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And so it goes, day after day,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s telling some one of God’s narrow way;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s planting some flowers where flowers should be;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s smoothing the path from dull misery;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Here a kind word, there a good deed,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s doing his best to meet every need.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p> +The greatest need in keeping in the narrow +way is in sincere and earnest prayer accompanied +by a tenacious faith, is the only +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44'></a>44</span> +source that leads to the full and sweet companionship +of the blessed Jesus. The every +near realization, what God can accomplish +for us fulfills the truth that the ever listening +ear of a just and righteous master has ample +succor for a burdened and heavy heart. +Faith without something to justify its establishment, +though it be ever so great, is in reality +groundless and contains no true merit, but +honest prayer for honest motives and coming +from a desirous heart is the great medium +through which sinful mankind, so prone to +err, is brought into a close relationship with +a wise and prudent God, a God who willingly +compensates every effort whose basis is a +true and unselfish heart. +</p> +<p> +Trust God fully at all times and pray with +such sincere, fervent and unselfish motives +as is only needed to replenish a pure and unspotless +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45'></a>45</span> +desire. When prayer is answered, as +God sees fit to answer, we can discern its +force and effect in our hearts from the +knowledge and fact that a change has taken +place and a deep feeling of keen satisfaction +has fully satisfied a craving want. If +this were not so the prayer alone without +any manifestation from a true and living +God, would be worthless. A long composition +of nicely polished words spoken to an +idol could in no wise be called a prayer. +The densest mind could surely realize that no +sympathy lies in anything not able to comprehend +a feeling. Silence would be better +and is more valuable. It is better to keep +still than to say something that would cause +some one to err or stumble. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46'></a>46</span><a name='ch04' id='ch04'></a>GOD’S INTENTION MAN’S PREVENTION.</h2> +<p> +God’s handiwork and its beauty is manifest +wherever the eye rests. The towering mountain +peaks, the great boulders, the babbling +brooks, the peaceful valleys, the green grass, +the beautiful flowers, the shady dells, all +speak of his master hand. The moon-beams +playing on the still waters, the sunshine +streaming through the golden clouds, the perfect +poise and artistic shape of the trees +growing on the mountain side among the +jagged rocks where the hand of man never +trained or cultivated them. There they stand +as sentinels waving to and fro by the gentle +breezes and tell of His wonderful works. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47'></a>47</span> +The wild flowers growing side by side in the +shady dell, each a different color, whisper His +wonderful plan. The little brook dancing and +playing in and out among the deep chasms +chiseling its narrow passage among the +granite, jumping over big rocks, rolling little +pebbles, it steals here and there until it +spreads out on the great plains and fertile +prairies into a rushing river hurrying on its +way to the ocean. The beautiful sun-set casting +its long stream of golden beauty over the +western sky mocks at the skillful artist when +he tries to imitate its marvelous shades and +tints. The moon breaking through the silvery +clouds and showering the heavens with beauty +and grandeur rests its glory on the evening +dew, and the millions of diamonds glitter and +glisten in a splendor and elegance far beyond +the hand of man. The many stars hanging +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48'></a>48</span> +like precious gems upon a great pedestal +twinkling and sparkling tell the same story of +His wonderful handiwork. +</p> +<p> +God was not satisfied with all these marvelous +things and, though they are perfect, +good and beautiful He must surpass them. +He must have a crowning effort to all their +glory. So to defy imitation He brought forth +His masterpiece and called it man. The incomparable +and unsurpassable, the grandest +achievement of his architecture. In his wisdom +He provided everything for his needs +and comfort. Sunshine to warm him, darkness +to rest him, trees to shade him, give him +fuel and shelter, birds of song to cheer when +weary with labor, flowers to beautify, soil to +produce whatever he sowed, rain and sunshine +to mature it, meats of all kind to nourish +him, fruits, fishes, grains, honey, milk +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49'></a>49</span> +and everything necessary for his growth and +sustenance, He made him pure, clean, strong, +and beautiful, just a little bit lower than the +angels. He furnished man everything to +start with. It was no disgrace if his hands +were blistered and dirty if they were stained +by honest toil, he fought hardships and privations, +he was the hardy pioneer blazing his +way for home and country, raising his children +near to nature’s heart and cleanliness. +He gave to posterity strong, hearty, rugged +men and women, he lived honorably, his labor +was rewarded and he died ripe in years +as a fitting tribute to his great achievements. +</p> +<p> +Time rolled on! Years became centuries! +Methods changed and the great plan of God +was lost. +</p> +<p> +Greed, avarice and monopoly commenced +to steal the bread from the infant’s mouth; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50'></a>50</span> +the keen and bitter struggle for existence is +in full sway; the great land of liberty and opportunity +no longer can put forth her boast +and call and call for him to come, build +homes, prosper, live well and accumulate. +</p> +<p> +What changeful conditions today from +then! We boast of our great enlightenment +and yet we are like the drowsy cat under +centuries of domestication. As soon as the +raw meat is put before us all the centuries’ +training is cast aside and we are ready to do +acts of barbarians. Instead of being able to +arbitrate and handle all questions of war +through peace tribunals we cast aside the +brotherly teachings of the great book, increase +the standing army, build more warships, +enlarge the navy, and be ready for +war, ready to shoot our brother, ready to destroy +his home, leave his children penniless +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51'></a>51</span> +and fatherless, a widow to struggle and +mourn, posterity to be enfeebled, a gigantic +debt to stagger many generations unborn, a +country bankrupt and all teachings of love +and better citizenship disgraced. +</p> +<p> +No wonder our people are discouraged and +feel we are slipping away from the preamble +of our great Constitution! If this age and +this country can not handle all questions, national +and international, and extend the fullest +measure of brotherly love where peace is +needed; what age or country can? +</p> +<p> +I think it may be America that will be +called upon to lead other nations and have +them cast aside their war preparations and +prepare for peace. In every crisis through +which this country has passed we have been +fortunate, thank God, that the right man has +always been found. We have had our Washingtons, Lincolns, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52'></a>52</span> +Websters, McKinleys, +Wilsons, and hundreds of others and in every +instance when some great problem has had to +be solved, either in this country or abroad, in +either science, statesmanship, literature or +art, no matter how perplexing, difficult or intricate, +American brains and ingenuity, in the +vernacular of the day, has brought home the +bacon, Swift’s premium, if you please! +</p> +<p> +I have always felt deeply sorrowful for +the man who studies long and ardently with +a bowed head resting upon his hands. His +whole soul seems to be calling for the fine +sympathies that can only be rendered from +the loving teachings of the Nazarene. He is +calling for the tender affection that is keenly +necessary to right him just before that sullen +burning wave of despondency casts him into +utter gloom and sorrow. O Christianity! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53'></a>53</span> +Christianity! amid wealth, society, culture, +influence, peace, advancement, laws, legislators, +and boasted liberty where art thou? +</p> +<p> +Visit the parks of any cities, towns or +small villages and you can find sitting on the +benches man after man who is unable to +solve the problem of an honest existence. +There he is, honest, clean, and worthy of +good citizenship, unable to find labor that +will keep him an honor to society. What will +become of him in this land of boasted opportunity +and liberty? Plenty for all; but monopolized +and organized until the laboring +man is almost ostracized. Look at his countenance, +clear cut, manly and open, haggard, +yes, but from what? From worry, loss of +sleep, lack of food, responsibility of a family +without funds, etc. But withal you find no +look of dissipation, no odor of liquor, no foul +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54'></a>54</span> +language, and still with all these excellent +qualities of meritorious citizenship he is +sinking. How long will he stand it? +</p> +<p> +Were you ever in a condition of this kind +when any way you turned you were outfigured. +How long can a man have a thorn like +this continually getting deeper and deeper +into his flesh before he will make a grasp for +it, and endeavor to release the pain? Where +is the cause? What is wrong with our wide +heralded economic system? This condition +being true of the man with a family how +alarming to the young man of today without +a family? Show me any incentive or inducement +for the common ordinary man of today +without funds to cause him to establish a +home and rear a family under the grand old +Stars and Stripes, and I’ll show you a man +that loses worse than a bankrupt in the finer +sense of the word. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55'></a>55</span> +</p> +<p> +Without the establishment of homes this +nation can not stand. No matter how frugal +a man is, no matter how economical his habits +you can give him the most promising part +and he can not marry and rear a family because +at every angle he is beaten. What is +he going to do? Free land is almost gone, +food stuffs are high, all his needs are expensive; +how can he make it? Every line he +wishes to enter is crowded! Reason for +yourself and see if this is not true. +</p> +<p> +When you talk of large families, who raises +them but the poor people and this will soon +be eliminated. If the poor man raises one +child he is doing more than his duty to society +than the rich man. The expense is such +a night-mare and horror to a common, ordinary +and honest man to provide the necessaries +of life for his family that I sometimes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56'></a>56</span> +shudder and feel sorry that I caused children +to be born, fought for a home, paid my debts, +and lived clean. I wouldn’t want to do it +again for my country, and I love her as I do +the man of Galilee. +</p> +<p> +I fear America is no longer another word +for opportunity as was said by the beloved +Emerson, unless she helps him to establish +homes on the public domain by loaning him +money at a low rate on long time periods and +keep him at work and help him along and not +foreclose when he is doing his best to win. +He’ll win, give him a chance. +</p> +<p> +What Emerson said may have been true at +an earlier period it was so intended, but the +plan was lost sight of and the great greed for +wealth was accomplished to the detriment of +the majority who have been obliged to make +their living with their hands. It is a sad fact +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57'></a>57</span> +but true that there is a revolution slowly +kindling in the breasts of the laboring class +of people against capital; God grant that in +some way the fire can be put out. +</p> +<p> +I have sometimes thought what’s the use +of living. The sorrows and pains outnumber +the joys by a large margin. You slip down +the hill of pleasure without any exertion, but +to climb the mountain of morality is a gigantic +task, for every step is a struggle, and +after you have fought and won nine-tenths +of the journey one misstep and you slip to +the bottom and the whole climb is before you +again. It’s fight, fight all the time, continually +and forever! It robs you of nature’s +rest, steals away your ambition, stirs up hatred +towards those in easy circumstances and +causes conditions of unrest and strife. +</p> +<p> +Is life worth the gigantic struggle to overcome the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58'></a>58</span> +perplexing difficulties and endeavor +to live honest and clean and not slip down +the path of despair where the great majority +seem to be going. I say it is! “For, what do +you profit if you gain the whole world and +lose your own soul.” +</p> +<p> +Let your mind ponder over the story of +Lazarus picking up the crumbs from the +rich man’s table and you must conclude the +starving beggar gained uncomparable joy +and satisfaction to the rich man’s torment +when the two men’s lives were carefully +weighed on the scales where God predominates +and not the sugar trust. It pays! It +pays in a thousand different ways! +</p> +<p> +There is something to a man that lives an +upright life in the church and in the world. +He is a valued asset to any community, he +may be poor but he has character, and this is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59'></a>59</span> +something money can not buy. It takes a +good life to make a man. A fellow that is +rich and lives solely for the pleasure of his +money is not a man. +</p> +<p> +One time I mused thus: If it could be so, +just for the shortest duration of time, while +temptation was the strongest and the fierce +conflict was raging, if I could be blind, absolutely +blind till the strong temptation had +passed and then let me see again and have +my first sight catch the last glimpse of the +golden sun as it dipped behind the western +horizon, leaving behind a long stream of +golden beauty stretching out in its grandeur +to kiss the evening sky; even if a scene like +this could erase the temptation and the blindness +prevail during the surging of the conflict, +how could my faith be increased by not +having the moral courage and strength of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60'></a>60</span> +character to withstand the evil? It’s the +casting aside of temptation by the sheer +strength of the will power that makes the +struggle easier, the way grow brighter, and +the victories grander. If God would allow +such a condition once, we, in our weakness, +might ask again and again and instead of +growing stronger we would grow weaker. It +is the heroic fighter who has won his laurels +when the bullets of evil whizzed all around +him that you like to go up to and pin the +medal on. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61'></a>61</span><a name='ch05' id='ch05'></a>THE SADNESS BEHIND THE VALE.</h2> +<p> +A life of self-denial and sacrifice is the +grandest object the sun shines on. There is +nothing under the azure skies of heaven so +worthy of true merit as the pure, unspotted +and unselfish heart of a sacrificing mother. +How my heart aches for the poor, worn and +tired mother whose whole life is confined in +four walls with three or four children, laying +claim to her entire time and attention. You +do not find these kind of women saturated +with society; they are not fanatics on woman +suffrage nor are they riding through the +streets in a limousine with a good-for-nothing +yellow-nosed pup sitting beside them. In common +decency how can any woman with any +affection or mother love center it upon such +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62'></a>62</span> +an object as a despicable, worthless pug-nosed +cur. If it was a dog like a Shepherd, St. +Bernard, Newfoundland, and many others, +there would be a little better taste shown, +but when it is confined solely to the mongrel +whelps and Teddy bears I think it is high +time to pick up the Bible and read the thirty-second +chapter of Isaiah from the first to the +twelfth verse inclusive. Lord, but it is pitiful +to see such things committed when there are +thousands and thousands of poor little homeless +girls and boys starving to death for +some one to love them, give them a home and +then see a poodle woman and her poodle dog +go rushing by. +</p> +<p> +For a long number of years I have had the +pleasure of being acquainted with one of +God’s self-denial mothers. If this earth contains +anything sweeter and the next world +anything better the mind of man so far hasn’t +been able to conceive it nor the Bible to reveal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63'></a>63</span> +it. In her early womanhood and all through +her life she has been frail, small-boned, short +of stature, delicate, and very unmuscular. +Her’s was not the physique to struggle as she +has against life’s tremendous battles, but she +took up the burden cheerfully, looked every +difficulty in the face squarely and openly and +lifted her voice to the ever-listening ear and +overcame every obstacle with gentleness and +love. When heartaches, pains and sorrows +seemed so heavy that human endurance could +no longer stand the strain and tension, she +would, through the channels of her wonderful +self-control, step from beneath the heavy +clouds of trials and sorrows out into the sunshine +of God’s holy love and stand master +and conqueror of every trial. The loyal battles +she has swept with victory are worthy +of such praise and eulogy that the human +mind can not find words choice enough to +meet it. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64'></a>64</span> +</p> +<p> +Poverty with all its worry can not engulf +her, for she has that faith that there will be +a way provided and she determines, and the +mountain is seen moving in the distance. No +time to partake of many pleasures is her lot; +she must study her every day cares, rear her +children, school, clothe, and provide for them. +Many times a tear stands where joy should +be. It is beyond all understanding why her +cross should be so heavy when every atom of +her strength has been used to make the world +better, but no matter how heavy the load is, +how painful the head might ache, or how discouraging +the teacher, the present every day +conditions must be met and the sooner begun +the sooner ended. Every minute is occupied +or the accumulation of wasted time makes the +burden heavier. +</p> +<p> +The hands work and the mind works. +Neither can rest and accomplish the needs, +and while the hands iron and bake and wash, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65'></a>65</span> +the mind is occupied on what the hungry +mouths demand, and how an old coat or vest +or an under garment can be made into an +article of service. +</p> +<p> +These are the kind of women worth while; +these are the kind that more than do their part +in sustaining a great government. Her lot is +not a pleasant one, but she hands down to +posterity a better and more substantial foundation +for better government than any class +of women in our nation; her life is an open +book where the entries are made on each day’s +pages. On page after page you can see where +the tears have fallen, where the struggle has +been so keen and bitter that hope had almost +fled; but turn the page and you will find +renewed hope. The ever-listening ear has +heard the words bathed in grief and the answer +came, “Blessed are they that mourn for +they shall be comforted.” How a few dollars +from some good-hearted philanthropist would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66'></a>66</span> +ease the way for this poor little struggling +woman. Why is it when she has reached the +point in life where she should expect the most +the least is at hand? She has passed the +thirty-eighth mile post, with the odds strongly +against her. The system is torn down more +rapidly than it can be built up. Everything +seems to combat against her and endeavor to +overwhelm her, but sorrows, discouragements, +trials, hardships and heartaches with their +utmost collective strength have not been sufficient +to thwart or encompass her. Every one +has been defeated, the cost has been gigantic, +it has stooped her shoulders, chiseled deep +creases in her brow and cast snow among her +locks, robbed her of comforts due her and +strewn old age where youth should be. The +sad face still smiles and with an unconceivable +determination she meets every foe in the great +battle field of life and crushes them. +</p> +<p> +She does it from close application of that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67'></a>67</span> +wonderful story of love that is found in the +fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew +from the third to the twelfth verses inclusive. +The greatest solace to aching hearts the +world has ever known. The struggle would +have never been met and conquered if she +had depended on her own strength, she +needed a higher source to guide her and in +every struggle the lowly man of Galilee stood +beside her and when the cross became so +heavy that she stumbled and was ready to +fall, his loving arm was ready to shield and +sustain her. +</p> +<p> +With all her pains and trials there came +into her life one night the greatest sorrow of +all, and although the load she had carried far +overtaxed her strength she had to bear another +and heavier one. Her little sweetheart +boy of nearly two years old came toddling in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68'></a>68</span> +one day with the cruel marks of a fatal sickness +on his sweet little face, and after three +days and nights of long vigil the tired mother +laid down to rest, and as she slept on a pillow +bathed with tears the pure little innocent +soul was gathered into the arms of angels +and carried away. Years have passed, but +the pain lingers and when the thoughts go +back to the silent form in the little white casket +the tender heart of this pure woman is +so engulfed in sorrow that it seems it is entirely +beyond all human endurance and patience. +It is then this still, small voice she +has known so long, again speaks and says: +“Come unto me all ye that labor and are +heavy laden and I will give you rest.” +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69'></a>69</span></div> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>How her dear heart did ache when the death angel trod</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And took back her boy to his maker and God;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>No sorrow nor pain nor heart aches nor tears</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Are ever more known where he takes these small dears.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There is something so sad in the valley of death,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When the heart stops its beat and there’s no longer breath!</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That angels must come to ease up the pain,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And open the soul to let the tears drain.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>How long are the years and how many it takes</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Before there is peace from the burning heart aches!</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The home is so lonely so silent and still</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70'></a>70</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There is something gone out that nothing can fill.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>His little things stand where he left them one day,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The little toy dog all ready for play,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The big choo choo train and the horse he called Bill,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>All wait for the hand that is silent and still.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71'></a>71</span><a name='ch06' id='ch06'></a>GRATITUDE.</h2> +<p> +Few people care to listen to your sorrows, +trials and burdens if you are not succeeding. +If you succeed, everybody is grabbing for the +stock no matter how well filled with water +it is. They point with pride at the successful +man as he saunters by; he can do a great +many things that are shady, but on account +of his success and prominence they are +hushed up and never rise above a whisper; +he’s dined and wined; gets cut prices on +everything he consumes; rebates from the +railroads and special privileges in the +churches. But take the poor fellow that each +day’s debts eats up his pay roll and we never +hear of his fine qualities until we read his +obituary. +</p> +<p> +If you will take a few leisure moments and +look up the meaning of the word “gratitude,” +you will find that there are few words that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72'></a>72</span> +surpass it in quality, love and kindness. It +clusters near the soul and is properly a virtue. +In this life it is very hard to be misunderstood +and undervalued by those we +love, but this too in the journey from the +cradle to the grave we must learn to bear +without a murmur, for it’s a tale often repeated. +</p> +<p> +Any one who has given their time, talent +and attention serving the dear people, either +as a Town Trustee, member of the School +Board, Mayor, or any of the petty offices of +small towns and villages, used his best judgment +in endeavoring to meet every issue +honestly, fairly and squarely, wins for his +gratuitous services the everlasting displeasure +of his constituents. +</p> +<p> +No matter how hard you strive or how +honest you may be there come up little intricate issues +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73'></a>73</span> +where there is no middle course +and no matter what stand you take some people +charge you with graft and dishonest motives. +Any one who can serve for one term +and is so unfortunate and foolish as to accept +another, has acquired a character so colored +that it takes from ten to fifteen years in our +best Sunday Schools to wash out the stains. +</p> +<p> +Don’t ever feel elated or think you are +popular because you are elected and people +call you alderman, for the first thing they +will do will be to slip out that pleasant, sweet +sounding word “Alderman” and put in +“Grafter” with the thumbscrews set. They’d +call you a grafter if they personally +know the treasury had been depleted for fifteen +years. My, the pleasures of a gratis +councilman! +</p> +<p> +I have heard of people losing their minds +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74'></a>74</span> +for long intervals and then suddenly regain +them and I have often wondered if they had +been favored with an aldermanic pleasure +and the mind commenced to slip into space, +I wonder if when the cog alderman appeared +if it wouldn’t cause such a jolt that it would +clear the whole mental atmosphere. Perhaps +there is one redeeming feature and if it +wasn’t for some consolation the pictures and +scenes would be so indelibly impressed that +you would be able to recall them long after +you’d said “Amen.” +</p> +<p> +The spirit of revenge and retaliation were +never very deeply imbedded in my make up. +The seed being lightly sown I used the harrow +instead of the cultivator and got it out. +I am glad I did; it has helped me to get a +good night’s rest instead of fondling and caressing +discolored orbs that might have come +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75'></a>75</span> +in sudden contact with solid and knotty +obstacles. +</p> +<p> +I bought a small business one time from a +devout Presbyterian; I had the greatest confidence +and trust in him, which I had a sad +right to have. If false colors are carried we +must find it out because they carry no notice +to warn us. Well, anyway, he spread the +tempting menu of his careful preparation in +great shape. He was pleasant, courteous and +very entertaining. The way he figured +up the invoice you’d thought mathematics +was his specialty. His tongue kept pace with +his pencil and after everything was figured +up he brought up the “Bonus Good Will” +part and I really thought he was letting me +do him a favor by giving him one hundred +iron men. You see I wanted his good will +along with everybody else’s. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76'></a>76</span> +</p> +<p> +I am glad I learned about this “Good Will” +business. All told “Good Will” and “Bonuses” +have cost me nine hundred and thirty-three +dollars thirty-three and a third cents. +Don’t try to fool me on “Good Wills” again; +they’re a drug on the market, very unsaleable +and unpopular to your humble servant. +</p> +<p> +After I paid the “Good Will” price and +everything was agreeably settled I started in +with my maiden business. Going through +the bags and some other stuff in the back +room a few days afterwards, I discovered +bags invoiced and paid for at one hundred +pounds shy. “Shy,” I said, and he a Christian! +This taught me that there are eighty +and ninety pound Christians. The loud +smelling, decaying and life moving gunny +sacks contained prepared meats for poultry. +I quit in disgust and went into the front department; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77'></a>77</span> +a fellow stepped in and said, “How +is business?” and I answered “Rotten.” A +frank acknowledgment of a painful truth. +</p> +<p> +Other things ran about the same; the +horses were sold as unblemished, sound as a +dollar, etc., and mind you, he a Christian and +ministers dropping in every few days and +talking and planning how to increase the +congregation. My, I’m glad I used that harrow! +When I sold out the business, I +marked down experiences one thousand dollars. +I felt pretty blue after I had lost the +thousand bones I worked hard to get, and +it used to be when I got the blues I eased +my mind with graveyard poetry; pardon me +for inserting it here. +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If I should die tonight how few would care;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Perhaps some heart would ache, some one somewhere,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78'></a>78</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some might cast a lingering look, a tear</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And tremble with emotion at my bier,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But before many days would pass away,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Before my silent form would turn to clay,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d be forgotten and alone,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And not a heart to ache or moan.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Oh! this bitter, lonely life’s a snare,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The kind friends you hear so much about are rare.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some may mean it in their hearts but feign</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And measure men by dollars not by brain.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p> +A friend came to me one time and said he +was in pressing financial straits and asked me +to loan him fifteen dollars for two weeks. I +granted the request and the loan was made. +I thought I was familiar with the calendar +and knew when two ordinary weeks ended, +but those two weeks were the longest I have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79'></a>79</span> +ever known. Fortnight after fortnight +passed and no end came. Long and endless +weeks of this kind might be all right for the +man facing the electric chair, but they had no +solace for an individual anxious to get married +and needing the husky “Simoleans” to +furnish a cage for his waiting bird. +</p> +<p> +One day I met the overdue biped and I +said, “How about it?” I was young then and +I thought I could glide in as easy this way as +well as any phrase I had in my limited vocabulary. +“Well,” he said, “I’ll tell you what +I’ll do. I know you are about to plunge in +the matrimonial sea and I have a proposition +to offer you. I have a good standard +make of organ that I don’t need and if you +will give me forty-five dollars and forget +about that previous fifteen we will call the +transaction closed and drop the curtain.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80'></a>80</span> +</p> +<p> +“All right,” I said, “here is your money.” +</p> +<p> +That organ may not be in existence yet, +but it’s in my memory fresh as ever. I +couldn’t play it, for it was all I could do to +carry a tune when it was tied in a bag. I +had no wife to play it and I couldn’t keep it +and get married, I was in a desperate condition +one day when I walked into a hardware +store, that is a store, you know, where they +keep ware that is hard, frying pans, dish +pans, bread pans, etc., you know what those +things are for. “Well,” I said to the village +wit behind the case, “I’ll trade you that organ +for enough household paraphernalia to cook +with, take care of enough viands and stuff +or whatever you call it, to keep two people +about to start out together; each now separate +and apart but very anxious to be united.” +“Agreed,” he said, “hand over that list +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81'></a>81</span> +you’ve got with the articles on and I’ll have +them ready in a short time.” +</p> +<p> +Funny, isn’t it, how the wind is tempered +to the shorn lamb, but how about the one +ready to be shorn when there isn’t even a +zephyr blowing. Well, the deal was transacted, +exchange made, and that is how I got my +household goods when I married dearie. +The financial report read like this: Actual +cash in organ, sixty dollars; actual worth, +forty-five dollars; second actual value in organ, +forty-five dollars; actual value of pots +and pans twenty-five dollars, experience and +pleasure of making a two weeks’ loan, thirty-five +dollars. This was not putting a premium +on “Bliss” for a fellow just getting ready to +carry the matrimonial load. +</p> +<p> +The weight would have been some lighter +if that weasened faced Dutchman had not +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82'></a>82</span> +worked off on me a left handed frying pan +for a right-handed bride, and was so extremely +liberal on the good deal he had made +that he threw in a second hand mouse trap +when the new ones sold six for a dime. This +was the first time I saw tears in my wife’s +eyes. The fountain was opened and they +flowed freely. Those tears were trivial to +the tears we’ve in shed later life, but those +first tears moved me to almost unconsolable +grief and the emotion caused a flow of poetry. +It’s not very long and will not tire you much, +so I will slip it in here as a filler. +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Cheer up, little darling,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You know my love is true,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And nowhere in this great big world</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Is a sweeter girl than you.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I have loved you always</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83'></a>83</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Trust me fully, dear,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Let me be your shining star</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’ll sparkle when you’re near.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And all along our pathway</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>We’ll never pluck a thorn,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But will pluck the roses</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In life’s dewy morn,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Roses are more fragrant,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>They’ll give us better cheer</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And the thorns we’ll cast aside,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>They are worthless, dear.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p> +When I was a County Clerk and exceedingly +busy pushing the quill over the big records, +a M. E. Minister came in one day and +accosted me with that word that arouses confidence. +Brother, he said, we are figuring on +a short order annex to the church, (remember +that word SHORT?) and we, of course, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84'></a>84</span> +couldn’t slight you and if you will kindly donate +as liberally as possible the Lord will bless +you abundantly, for you know he loves a +cheerful giver, and etc., and etc. Well, I responded. +When you get your subscription list +in these parts drop in and I will help you. +</p> +<p> +I know what an annex to some of the +churches without or with cook stove means. +It seems nowadays, as the prophecies are +being filled, some churches deem it necessary to +feed the stomach before the soul, realizing, I +presume, a full stomach is a twin brother to +a big heart. They beg the food and the utensils +to serve it in from uncheerful givers and +then dispense it cautiously and sparingly, the +more sparingly the more money for the Lord. +When the ice cream is served they forget all +about scriptural measure of “Heaped up and +running over” and run it under. If one dish +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85'></a>85</span> +of scriptural measure can be stretched into +four dishes of worldly measure, there is forty +cents instead of ten. High finance, you see! +I’ve often thought a society of this kind that +would squeeze down the measure on ice cream +procured at a minimum cost, would bear +watching if they were running a milk wagon +with a pump near. If any one else gets money +in this way they call it an unearned increment. +What would Jesus call it? I really +would be afraid to express my thoughts at +that kind of a meeting for fear they’d request +the parcel post. +</p> +<p> +In a few days the brother dropped in and +hoisted from his inside pocket the subscription +list and handed it to me. I glanced over +it casually, as is natural in such cases made +and provided, to see who were the cheerful +givers. After concluding what I thought was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86'></a>86</span> +a liberal donation and really beyond what a +man of my means should give I put down +forty dollars and handed the paper back to +him. The ungentlemanly gentleman took it +and looked at it and said, “Well, we expected +much better than this from you.” You know +what feelings ebb and flow within you when +you get a snub like this. I could feel the +Irish blood chasing the English blood at a +hazardous speed, but I said nothing and was +glad again of the early use of that harrow. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87'></a>87</span><a name='ch07' id='ch07'></a>JUST POEMS.</h2> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Dog.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Of all the beasts beneath the sun</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There is no other, not a one,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That clings to man in sweet and bitter</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>As faithful as the canine critter.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When fortune smiles upon its crest</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And all your toil is richly blest</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The loyal dog is near at hand</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For slightest duty or command.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When poverty comes stalking in</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And you have lost your precious tin,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The good old dog is just the same</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In dire distress or glittering fame.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88'></a>88</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In tattered rags or spick and span</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He has a truer heart than man,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And when you meet most keen defeat</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>His sympathy is there to greet.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When you are old and had your day,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With feeble limbs and head of gray,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And angels come to take you home,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The good old dog is last to roam.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’ll watch beneath the stars at night</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Beside your grave a sadful sight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And wait and wait for many a day,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When faded flowers have blown away.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>A dog’s great love is most sublime,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It lingers near the word divine,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And intertwines from him above,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For dog turned around is God and love.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89'></a>89</span></div> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Booze.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Oh the ones who drink the booze,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You can tell it by their flues,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The torrid heat within flames up the nose.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>At first they’re moderate drinkers,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And become the same as thinkers,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And what a sight for pity ere the close.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'>Chorus.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The booze, the booze,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Any way you choose,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>No matter how you figure it you lose.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>How many homes that suffer,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When they shelter such a duffer,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Whose presence causes heartaches, tears and blows,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But you can always tell ’em</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If you can’t then you can smell ’em,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90'></a>90</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But if all the signs should fail you there’s the nose.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If you only take a drop</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You know you’ll never stop,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Don’t you realize that dynamite explodes,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Better take an inventory,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Before you’re blown, no not to glory,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But to where they ignite quickly, Jimmy Rhodes.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>What’s the matter with your clothes,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Or do you for artists pose,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Don’t you ever meditate or think</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There’s enough loam in your hair</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To rob an acre bare,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Take an invoice before another drink.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Stop, my friend, don’t be a slave,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Do not fill a drunkard’s grave,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91'></a>91</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Be a man from birth until close,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Come to him, the Galilean,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He will make your future clean,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s the one to take the add from off your nose.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>What’s the Difference?</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It matters not, so some folks say,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Where rests the form when ’neath the clay.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There is no choice when the heart is still,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some always say and always will.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>This may be true when we’re forgot,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And aught remains to mark the spot,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But a silent stone that stands all time,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With letters cold to tell mankind.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some may not care where rest their bones,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In foreign lands or near their homes,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92'></a>92</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Where tender hearts can shed the tear</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And bathe the roses on the bier.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d rather rest ’neath shady trees,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That beautify and kiss the breeze</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With velvet grass spread over the plot,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With lilies and forget-me-not.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Steering Wheel.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Twas a party blithe and gay,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>On a joy ride as they say,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Gliding many miles away from home.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Midnight long was by</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>They were coming in on high</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When suddenly there was an awful moan.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The steering wheel went wrong, the papers said,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93'></a>93</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>One was badly injured, three were dead.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The same old story neatly woven in a tale,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The sadness of the scene behind the vale,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And not a line or word to make you think,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>What had put the wheel upon the blink.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The verdict of jury, so they say,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Said the steering wheel was loose and had too much play;</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But by chance some people looking around,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some real and newer evidence was found,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Tis evidence you find and seldom fail</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If you let the ribbon bottle tell the tale.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>So in the name of justice, as I feel,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Why not exonerate the wheel.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<div class='center'> +<p><span class='sc'>Such High Taxes, Gee-Whilaker.</span></p> +</div> +<p> +Meadow larks, as you have undoubtedly +noticed, warble many different songs. They +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94'></a>94</span> +sound like this to me: One says, “Here is +your homesick girl.” Another, “Light the +light, it is gone down.” Another, “Here is +your English preacher.” Another, “The +smeeking smock bird,” and others, from +which the following poem is written, say, +“Such high taxes, Gee-whilaker.” +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>As I stood in the yard of our high taxed home,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And filled my lungs with pure ozone,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>My eye went wandering far and nigh,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And I saw a meadow lark flitting by.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He flew to a post for a moment’s rest,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And gazed a while both east and west,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And then soared on, going higher and higher,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Till he perched way up on the court house spire.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95'></a>95</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>From a bird’s eye view of quaint renown,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He sized up the modern Julesburg town,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The stand pipe built on the court house square,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Is an old eye sore with a record rare.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The power house hid from the passer by</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Must been for economy, heat or pie?</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The city sewer, electric lights,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Cement side-walks and high school sites,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Was picturesque and nice to heed,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But sad for the one that held the deed.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He raised his head as he ceased to note,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And out from the depths of his golden throat</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>His voice did peal as he said with a whirr,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Such high taxes, Gee-whilaker.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>To the Mrs.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I am going to take a kiss,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And I know it’s not a miss,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96'></a>96</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But before I miss my kisses,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I will take them from the Mrs.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Kisses from the dear old Mrs.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Are the sweetest kind of kisses.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But if the Misses kisses,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Then there will be kisses Mrs.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Just as long as Mrs. kisses,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There’s no trouble with the Misses</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But let the Misses kisses</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And something’s doing Misses Mrs.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Don’t Procrastinate.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Don’t wait till tomorrow,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For joy or sorrow,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And miss the golden today.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For every minute,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97'></a>97</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Your heart’s not in it,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There’s something slipping away.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Twas Jesus who said,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Ere his spirit fled,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>On the cross at Calvary,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That he who had hope,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Need never grope,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For the better things to be.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>So don’t never worry,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And fret and flurry,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For things that’s not for you,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But hammer away,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>At life’s forge today,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For things that are good and true.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Sister Mary.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Mary, I know not who</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Has a truer heart than you.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98'></a>98</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Your’s a life that does excell</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For doing every duty well.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In this world of woman kind</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>A purer life I couldn’t find,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If I looked my life time thru,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I would bring the crown to you.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I am proud to tell you, dear,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Your’s has been a life of cheer,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Where every hardship, trial and sorrow,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Was sweetly met before tomorrow.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>May God’s blessing sweetly rest,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In a life so richly blessed</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With kind words and cheerfulness,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For every heart that knew distress.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Yes.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Twas underneath the columbine,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99'></a>99</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Where dearie said she would be mine,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>My heart rejoiced at that glad word,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The sweetest one I ever heard.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’ve wondered many times since then</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>How one word changes lives of men,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Some it makes and others breaks,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And others know they’ve made mistakes.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It gladdens some and saddens some,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It opens up the way to rum,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It fills the pen, the cells of jails,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It wags the tongue with many tales.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It fills the lawyer’s purse with fees,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It crowds the courts with quick decrees,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It to the drug store many guide,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It fills the graves with suicide.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It pulls the trigger of the gun,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100'></a>100</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It breaks the heart of many a one,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It causes pain where joy should be,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It fills the home with misery.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It joins the short unto the tall,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It never heeds old wisdom’s call,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It clasps the hands of slim and stout,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And makes a mess beyond a doubt.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It breaks the dishes on your head,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It makes you wish that you were dead,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It mixes father with the son,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It has no end when once begun.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It’s no respecter of your right,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It gets you out at dead of night,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It makes its scars and many a whelt,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It makes you cuss T. Roosevelt.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It makes the Irish like the Dutch,</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101'></a>101</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The black the brown the squaw and such.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It causes if the truth would tell,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>A thing on earth you all know well.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>So with all wisdom I’ll confess,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Before you tackle this word yes,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Have these professions up in G,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Lawyer, preacher and M. D.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Lay of the Last Hen.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Twas yesterday the deed was done,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That made my heart feel like a ton,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When cruel fate held its sway,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And robbed my hen of her last lay.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The sympathy swelled in my breast,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For my old hen so long caressed,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Who stood by me for many years,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Thru joy and sorrow, mirth and tears.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102'></a>102</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When times were hard and crops were light,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There was to me no sweeter sight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To get that egg and let it melt,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Underneath my gnawing pelt.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The tariff never worried her</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She did her duty at one per,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Wilson, Taft or Roosevelt,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Never had a cause she felt.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She built the muscle in my arm,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She paid the taxes on the farm,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She kept the wolf from strolling in,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She clothed the kids from Kate to Win.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>She always let the whole world know,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With joyful song in rain or snow,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That she’d performed a duty neat,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That man himself has never beat.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103'></a>103</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I couldn’t help it, I’ll confess,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The tears flowed freely, more or less,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When that dear form was tenderly laid,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Beneath the elm tree’s pleasant shade.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Here’s to the hen upon the nest,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That keeps the table, fills the guest,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Builds up the system, ne’er regrets</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And brings results whene’er she sets.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Dear Old Hod.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When I’ve labored hard all day,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And the supper’s cleared away,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There’s a joy before I nod,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When I load my dear old hod.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>As the smoke curls in the air,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Chasing from me life’s dull care,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I can lean far back and think,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And put the worry on the blink.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104'></a>104</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Here’s to thee, Missouri cob,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Many years upon the job,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Your’s a mission not all bad,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If you ease the load on dad.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Dear Old Kate.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I know I stayed a little late,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The last time that I courted Kate,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I had a speech I wished to try,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And how the hours hurried by.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The question that I wished to pop,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Would never let me have the flop,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>My cheeks would burn, my throat get dry,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I was nearly hot enough to fry.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I guess I tried a dozen times,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I drilled myself in all the lines,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But when I reached the vital point,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The whole blame works got out of joint.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105'></a>105</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It made me mad and also sad,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I felt like going to the bad,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d practised long, out in the trees,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Just how to face her on my knees.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d hold the bough as Katie’s hand,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And with the best at my command,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d bare my soul with pleading tears,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For her to join me all the years.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I guess I never would have won,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If Katie hadn’t just for fun</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Heard my appeal with silent feet,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And said, “Why, sure, you dear old sweet.”</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Tim.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Once I knew a man named Tim,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Thought a mighty lot of him,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For his goodness, heart and mind,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Were of such a loving kind.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106'></a>106</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Never heard him boast or tell,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Of the things he’d done so well:</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Lips would kinda set with tension,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If his past you’d slightly mention.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Kinda made his face look sad,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Maybe some great grief he’d had,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But he’d pass it off and say,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Kinda looks like rain today.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Wasn’t much past fifty-nine,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Led a life serene and fine,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Lived just on the edge of town,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Liked to have the folks look round.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Greatest chum of little tads,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Liked to humor all their fads,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Fixed their wagons, made them trains,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Soothed their many cares and pains.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107'></a>107</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Made no difference to Tim,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If you’d never heard of him,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He would always say, “Hello,”</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Said his mother taught him so.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Worldly goods he hadn’t much,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Never seemed to care for such,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Said he liked the Master’s way,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Of doing things for just today.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Dear old Tim took sick one night,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Thought his spirit would take flight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But we all just hurried in,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And it helped revive old Tim.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Said it made him awful glad,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Wished a larger house he had,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But we all said, get well, Tim,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Couldn’t lose a man like him.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108'></a>108</span></div> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>The Business Man.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Here is to the business man,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Who does the very best he can,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And pays to each their honest debt,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And don’t forget it makes him sweat.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He labors from the morn till night,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>With brain and muscle in the fight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To keep his head above the stream,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When finances are not serene.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s to the one you always go,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When life has pained you with a woe,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You know his purse is always free,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To lessen grief or misery.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You toss on him most carelessly,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The gratis job of town trustee,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And then you pass around the word,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He’s just the man for the school board.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109'></a>109</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He helps to school your girls and boys,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He shares with you your pains and joys,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He helps to pay the preacher’s bill,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And aids the churches with good will.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He has to pay his bills when due,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But if he asks the same of you,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You think your credit’s met his fears,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And let it run along for years.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You let him long and look and look,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>At your account upon the book,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And you’ll admit if you are frank,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He pays your interest at the bank.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If he would say and tell you true,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When your account has long been due,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That ten per cent was charged to you,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You’d swear until the air was blue.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110'></a>110</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If he helps you, then why not him,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And don’t keep sending off your tin,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But give it to your home merchants,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And keep the gloss from off their pants.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<hr class='tb' /> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center'><span class='sc'>Falling Snow.</span></p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There’s something in the falling snow,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That brings back years of long ago,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That makes you think of younger days,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Behind a span of gallant bays.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The frosty air, the rosy dames,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The secrets and the loving names,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Of days gone by long years ago,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Comes back today with falling snow.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The laughter pealed o’er rocks and trees,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The songs re-echoed with the breeze,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Of merry rides so bright and gay,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Are chasing thru my mind today.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111'></a>111</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The biting air with keen delight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Puts crispness in the appetite,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And mother’s pies of golden hue,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Soon faded like the morning dew.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And how I wish I could today,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Turn back the years the youthful way,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And drive the bays and see them go,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And blush with youth midst falling snow.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112'></a>112</span><a name='ch08' id='ch08'></a>SALLIE’S LOYALTY.</h2> +<p> +That’s Sallie over there in that potato +patch. She has been endeavoring to tease +from mother earth enough tubers to supply +the family through a long winter. Nature in +this and many other instances has been unkind. +The rain waited too long and the one +supply of food that fills so large a place are +small as marbles, nevertheless this dear soul +laboriously gathered them and is carrying +them, pail at a time, and storing them away +for a long, cold winter. Though the tubers +are small and puny, she has a way of cooking +them with such marked success that they +would tickle the palate of a king and he’d be +passing his plate the second time. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113'></a>113</span> +</p> +<p> +Sal does the housework, the buying of supplies, +cares for the chickens, plants the garden, +does the sewing, picks up the paint brush +when necessary, and does about everything +that anyone can do. She is past fifty years +of age, most of them hard and bitter years. +They have not been the kind of years where +the goal has been worth the trials and bitterness. +The streaks of silver are beginning to +show in her dark hair, she is small in physique, +clean limbed, lithe, resourceful, determined, +and intelligent. Her schooling in the +practical side of life is an attainment any one +should be proud of. She is one of the most +wiry and courageous women that has ever +lived such a grand and noble life and kept +the sad, dreary and lonely part locked up in +her unselfish heart. +</p> +<p> +Behold her as she is, one of God’s purest +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114'></a>114</span> +gifts! Her life is clean, wholesome and +grand and of such a sweetness and beauty +that mocks to scorn any imitation of the artist. +For eight long years she has cared uncomplainingly +for the aged, widowed mother +as her almost sole benefactor of aid and cheer +in the home. She has sacrificed, schemed, +planned, worked, and struggled in a way that +is worthy of our greatest financiers, diplomats, +or statesmen. She has fought within +her own heart far greater battles and carried +away the victory to a more deserving reward +than many a soldier on the battlefield. She +has denied herself in order that she might +give the fullest measure of devotion to a dear +old mother who is slipping slowly, slowly to +that great home of rest and comfort. +</p> +<p> +God bless you, Sallie, in your old age, when +the silver streaks no longer glisten in your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115'></a>115</span> +hair and it is all turned to the whiteness and +purity of snow; when your poor, tired aching +limbs from their long years of toil no longer +yield to quick response, when time chisels its +deep furrows in your brow and your keen +eye loses its lustre and grows dim. I hope +God will reward you with the choicest gifts +of his kingdom, and when the final summons +is made and you stand in the open doorway +of his love, bathed in the purity of the sparkling +dew in the evening time of life, may the +sweetness of your character come wafting +gently in the fulness of its beauty and dwell +amidst all that is holy, sweet and sacred. +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Dearest Sal, you’re growing old,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But there never can be told,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The great jewels you possess,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In your life of righteousness.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116'></a>116</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I would love you just the same,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Had you reached the highest fame,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For you have a heart so true,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There would be no change in you.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>You have done all duties well,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Better than my tongue can tell,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I would love to ease your way,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And turn your winters back to May.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I have but one life to live,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But for you I’d freely give,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’d go down that lonesome valley,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>If ’twould help you, dear old Sallie.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117'></a>117</span><a name='ch09' id='ch09'></a>SUNSHINE.</h2> +<p> +In endeavoring to entertain you in this +chapter I wish I might have the wit of a +Nasby or come Nye the Mark; but not having +the brilliant talents of either of these +illustrious wits who cracked the ribs of so +many people I hope you will bear with me +patiently as I proceed to give to you some +rays of sunshine I have been picking up for +the last twenty years from all classes of +people. +</p> +<p> +A fellow said to me one time I’ll tell you a +panacea for every ailment. I have taken it +for years and you don’t need a skilled Pharmacist +to compound it. This was the simple +remedy: Trust in providence and keep your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118'></a>118</span> +bowels open. I thought it was a pretty good +prescription and if applied carefully you would +never have appendicitis or a good many other +complaints. Of course, he said, some people +ask too much of providence. I hardly think +it fair to ask the Lord to furnish you the land, +the patch of potatoes, a pail to put them in, +a spade to dig them with, and then get down +on your knees and in funeral tones tell him +you are out of spuds and would like a mess +for dinner with the jackets off. Don’t ask +too much. +</p> +<p> +It is better to whistle than to groan. It +will make some heart lighter to hear you +whistle than to groan. If you can’t whistle +a tune sizzle something through your teeth, +there’s cheer in it for some one. No matter +how worrisome, difficult or perplexing the +problem is, don’t worry or brood over it. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119'></a>119</span> +Whistle if you can, sizzle if you can’t. It +will keep you from getting meloncolic; colic +that comes from something besides eating too +many Colorado watermelons with the accent +strong on the water. +</p> +<p> +I’ve known people whom you’d think from +all appearances they hadn’t a care in the +world, the sunny side was always exposed +and unconsciously they would be dropping +encouraging words, doing kind deeds, lending +acts of assistance, and doing everything +to lessen the other fellow’s burden. They +didn’t tell any one that they didn’t know where +their breakfast was coming from, but somehow +or other they would get hold of some +patent breakfast food and eat it in its native +state if no cow was at hand and then they +were all right until the next meal, luncheon, +I believe is the proper society word. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120'></a>120</span> +</p> +<p> +It never pays to be stingy with eulogies or +encomiums. A little praise has caused many +a breast to heave with gladness and chase +away gloom. The cost is small, thank God +it’s outside of the trusts. So don’t be backward +in using it at every opportunity you +meet. If the sermon is good, go up and tell +the semi-paid man behind the pulpit, it won’t +kill him. He may be surprised, but keep at +it until he gets used to it. If brother or sister +so and so has made a misstep and you are an +unbeliever or not, don’t break your neck in +rushing to your neighbor and ah, ahing it +all over town. Let two thoughts get into +your head at once and let the better thought +prevail, and instead of helping stain the character +of a poor unfortunate, make it your +business to use your good advice, if you +haven’t any then keep still. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121'></a>121</span> +</p> +<p> +When a church member steps from the +narrow path, why has everybody such a sudden +interest? Why does it cause such a loosening +of tongues? The Bible says, “he that is +without sin among you let him cast the first +stone.” If any one but Jesus was without sin +why not advertise it. Give it to the Post and +use the red letters on the front page. The +way I look at the parable quoted by Jesus is +that if a stone is thrown some one has to +throw it, it may be thrown with intent or +carelessness, but in either event the stone has +been thrown and some one will be struck, so +the best way is not to throw the stone, if you +have to throw something, go into one of the +leagues and then don’t throw a stone. Throw +a baseball, but don’t hit the umpire. +</p> +<p> +Wherever you can place a rose where a +thorn has been, do it. There is both fragrance +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122'></a>122</span> +and class to a rose, something sweet, cheerful +and pretty; but the fellow that can find any +redeeming qualities in a thorn is not the person +that can stand inspection. Where could +you put him where he would be an improvement? +You can’t progress unless you make +use of the things progress is found in. Pluck +the rose every time, leave the other alone. +</p> +<p> +Don’t wait ’till it’s time to erect the tombstone +before you pay tribute to your dear +friend. One small flower is worth more to the +living than tons piled on their caskets. Some +poor fellows never get tomb stones, head +stones or anything to mark their graves. How +much better you feel if you have never put a +pebble in any one’s path as an obstruction to +their progress than if you had been rolling +boulders and now see your mistake. You can’t +afford to do it. Pay your little tributes all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123'></a>123</span> +along the journey of life. Be as careful dropping +pains or sorrows as you would dropping +pearls. +</p> +<p> +Don’t wait ’till your father, mother or wife +dies, then lie about them on their tombstones. +You only have one father and one mother; be +careful and think some before you pour out +any derogatory statements or cheap invectives +concerning them. Your wife is entitled to a +great many compliments you never gave her. +The reverential words on the slab in the cemetery +isn’t going to fool any one, and have +them to believe, as you would wish, that you +did the fine thing, when really you are to +blame for stealing from her about twenty +years of her life time. You’ve caused hollow +cheeks where roses should have been and you +stole many pleasures from her and enjoyed +them all by yourself. Too much swine in your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124'></a>124</span> +nature to make people think you were sincere +in your profuse epigram on the tombstone. +</p> +<p> +So many people think they are endowed +with a peculiar and special sort of wisdom +and are able to fool their fellow men so successfully +that they try it on the Lord. Here is +where they make a fatal mistake, for the +Lord certainly knew what he was doing when +he made countenances. The newspaper’s +most clever ads are no comparison to the +clean, open ads the Lord puts on faces and +the clear unfrosted windows where you can +look far into the soul. +</p> +<p> +You can’t break man’s laws without being +detected. If you are a sneak criminal, inebriate, +crook, lascivious, immoral or any other +of the degrading types in the category of a +false man, the warning is openly and clearly +displayed on your countenance. You can’t fly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125'></a>125</span> +false colors and succeed, for sooner or later +you pay the penalty to the last farthing. +When you hear the remark “I don’t like his +looks,” there is something shown in the countenance +to verify the statement or no accusation +would have been made. Be a man and +your face will do the advertising. +</p> +<p> +Don’t be afraid of censure or criticism or +let it keep you from helping the fellow that is +down. God gave us religion for that purpose. +It’s something to use every day in the week +and not a specialty for the Sabbath; the more +you use it the brighter it gets. Anything you +don’t use and keep polished loses its usefulness +and becomes rusty. Use it whenever you +can and you’ll be surprised the confidence you +gain in people’s hearts. It’s the greatest purifier +in the world, that’s why God gave it to us. +He knew what he was doing. It’s the only +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126'></a>126</span> +thing in the world that will lift up the fallen +woman, the drunken man, the horse thief, the +blasphemer and all others when every hand is +turned against them. It’s a panacea for every +evil. It’s the only thing that will take humanity +with all their sins after they are entirely +forsaken and down at the threshhold of hell +and make them better. It will take them in +the eleventh hour when they come sneaking in +at the back door with characters stained as +black as night and every law has been transgressed, +but as they plead piteously for forgiveness, +their petition is heard and all their +sins are blotted out and the Lord gives them +another chance. He stoops down in his great +mercy and love and gives them that peace beyond +all understanding. He raises them up +and helps them reach for the cross when no +hand is extended to help them. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127'></a>127</span> +</p> +<p> +At every opportune chance laugh long and +heartily, nothing is better to cheer and comfort, +and while it is doing the other fellow +good you are getting the cheapest medicine +on the market for your digestive organs. Try +it after you eat some boarding house pancakes +an inch think. You have lots of things to +smile for. There is always some one else +worse off than yourself. You see them everywhere. +If you have a large family your neighbor +has a larger one. If you have none at all +pity your neighbor who can’t figure out some +way to get rid of his mother-in-law without +losing his wife. If you are able to hobble +around, have a heart for the fellow in the +wheel chair and the fellow that has to stay +flat on his back and never sees the sun rise. +</p> +<p> +There are two kinds of sunshine; one is +entirely dependent upon the individual and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128'></a>128</span> +other was inaugurated shortly after creation. +Each is necessary to fill the divine plan. While +one kind is periodical in some people, the other +is always at hand unless clouds intervene. +God’s sunshine is unexcelled and is a marvel +in itself for warmth, beauty, cheerfulness and +grandeur. The rising and falling of this wonderful +orbit body is said to start and finish the +work of man, as he was supposed to labor and +scheme from sun to sun. +</p> +<p> +This plan may have been popular and proper +before the day of the multi-millionaire, but +the time is too short for the present day man, +and in order to pay the necessary obligations +to exist the twilight at both ends must be +consumed and then reach in and grab several +hours of darkness. The housewife may have +to sew and rock the baby and prove her contention +that her work is never done, but it’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129'></a>129</span> +up to the Governor, the old man, Dad, or any +other name you may call him, to keep the +flour in the bin, coal in the bucket, shoes on +the children, and an endless number of other +things. He’s the lad that must fix it up with +the banker when the note is renewed. He must +through some devised method dress the kids +in schools as good as his more prosperous +neighbor, or there’s snobs and tears. He must +provide something besides the proverbial soup +bone that one neighbor could borrow from another +through the winter months. He must +buy the latest books, procure lyceum and +chautauqua tickets, pay the preacher, the ice +man, the milk man, the water man, light man, +and dig continually for charity, and thus you +see the sun to sun theory has the bottom torn +out of it. +</p> +<p> +Dad is never still long enough for the birds +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130'></a>130</span> +to build nests in his goatee and set three +weeks. If he slackens up you notice a visible +reduction in your pancake pile. The Lord +didn’t make the suns far enough apart for dad +or some other people. I worked for a farmer +one time that used to start out with a handmade +sun about two-thirty A. M. and never +ceased till ten P. M. The meals always bothered +me; I couldn’t tell if it was breakfast the +next morning or two suppers. If God’s sunshine +meets man’s sunshine and the two mix +properly, you’ve got an individual that is a +continual pleasure, one whose existence is exhilarating. +He whistles and sings and smiles +and laughs and gets out of life everything +that is good, and everybody likes and knows +him. +</p> +<p> +I was never so ashamed in my life as I was +one time when I had encased in my left cheek +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131'></a>131</span> +a quid of tobacco the size of a hen’s egg. I +was carrying on nonchalantly a conversation +with a depot master, and the saliva was gathering +so rapidly, it wasn’t long before I could +only grunt. I always disliked to ruin a floor +with expectoration and was also embarrassed +by the presence of the agent’s boy, a little +fellow of four years, but my mouth was so +full and my cheeks so inflated that leakage +was starting and I was forced to eject it or +swallow it. I chose the former and let it go. +It sounded like the distant booming of guns +and the space required to contain it on the +floor was unbelievable. If its dimensions +didn’t cover a foot square outside of the innumerable +rivulets in every direction, I’ll buy +my wife a twelve dollar Easter bonnet for a +Christmas present. The little boy looked at it +and said, “My, that’s a big one!” I sneaked +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132'></a>132</span> +out crestfallen, abashed and ashamed, but +didn’t have the sense to quit for some years +afterwards, when the preacher said something +about the ashes to ashes and dust to dust. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133'></a>133</span><a name='ch10' id='ch10'></a>TEMPERANCE.</h2> +<p> +The cause of temperance is one that has +been close to my heart for twenty years. +Taken from the logical standpoint of protection +to the home, sound saneness, improvement +in morals, an enhancement of citizenship, +it is the second paramount issue of the +age. Take away liquor, stop the traffic entirely, +and you reduce seventy-five per cent of +crime. The empty whisky-bottle is the greatest +curse that ever existed. When it is +standing filled in front of some bar-room +mirror, it is harmless, but when it is empty +it signifies that it has been drank by somebody +and has been the direct cause for all that has +followed. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134'></a>134</span> +</p> +<p> +Trace it up and you will find sorrow, misery, +heartaches, remorse, disgrace, shame, humiliation, +want, poverty, destroyed homes, +cruelty, hatred, anger, revenge, and murder. +Rags, vulgarity, dishonor, wasted lives, and +deceit. Ruined sweethearts, broken-hearted +wives, disgraced parents, and hungry, shoeless +children. Disease, filth, white slavery, +prize fights, tangoes, rottenness, and shame. +Keeley cures, jails, penitentiaries, poorhouses, +brothels, cabarets, and insane asylums. +Thieves, robbers, safe blowers, beggars, pick-pockets, +delirium tremors, and death. Leave it +alone! +</p> +<p> +Some people say there is no harm in it; +there isn’t if you leave it alone. You can take +a loaded revolver and lay it alongside of a +well-filled whisky bottle and they will get +along side by side peacefully as long as time +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135'></a>135</span> +exists. Each one separate and apart are harmless; +but let a sane man come along and drink +the whisky, pick up the revolver, and what +happens? Every nationality without distinction +to race or color, Irishmen included, will +run for safety. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +A well-educated young man with brilliant +prospects, neatly attired, attractive, and of +fine, honorable parentage, was passing a saloon +one day when a friend standing in the +doorway invited him in. He had never been +in a place of this kind in his life. His parents +had taught him, friends advised him, and a +sweet faced girl had warned him. Conscience +told him to decline and go on, but, like millions +of others, he heeded the invitation and +stepped in. “Come up and take something,” +the tempter said. “No,” he said, “I never +drink.” “Come on,” urged the tempter. “It +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136'></a>136</span> +won’t hurt you.” “NO,” he said; “it’s beneath +the dignity of a true gentleman and it +would break my mother’s heart.” “Ah, come +on, don’t be a kid,” he urged, and still the boy +said no. After continued and repeated solicitation +he finally yielded and drank his first +glass. +</p> +<p> +Alas, the fatal mistake was made. Years of +careful training were swept aside. Hopeful +aspirations of his mother when she looked on +his innocent face in the cradle were all for +naught. Solemn advice from a kind father +was lost sight of, and the deed was done. +That first drink fired his brain. Others were +taken and his eyes shone, the house treated, +and the once quiet, manly lad was loud and +boisterous. Self-respect was cast aside and +foul utterances flew fast and thick from a +once clean mouth. The end came. He reeled +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137'></a>137</span> +in drunkenness and fell to the floor in a gibbering +drunken stupor. He was put to bed +and when sober he felt the shame and remorse +so keenly that he was at the point of self destruction. +He thought of his mother, his +father, the dear little sweetheart, and his +friends. He was so afraid they would all hear +of his ignominy that he kept secluded. He +couldn’t bear to face them, tell all and start +anew. +</p> +<p> +The humiliation was more than he could +stand and he slipped farther and farther down +the steep and rapid descent to hell. Back in +his cheerful and once comfortable home a +dear old mother sat waiting and watching +year after year the lamp was kept burning. A +kind old father sat with bowed head thinking +and thinking. A dear little girl was weeping +and weeping, and still he didn’t come. Where, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138'></a>138</span> +O where was he and why didn’t he come? +Alas! how sad as he sank lower and lower. +Drunken brawls were common, nights spent +in revelry very often; the dissipation was +telling, his once clean countenance was haggard. +His step was languid, lethargy was +settling upon him, and his whole being was +repulsive. His character was no longer clean +and a thing of beauty. Brothels caught him +and God’s penalties were discernible for the +violation of his laws. Decent men shunned +him and pure women scorned him, but still +the light was kept burning. The mother +watched, the father waited, the sweetheart +prayed, and the friends yearned; but down, +down, down he went. Even dogs hurried by +him, the filth and disease was nauseating. +</p> +<p> +The years sped quickly and there he is +clear down at the bottom, an object of disgust +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139'></a>139</span> +and scorn. Behold him, beneath the mass of +stale and putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and +penniless vagabond. Beneath the most loathsome +and foul degeneracy conceivable; even +beneath the filthy sewer. He lay on a bundle +of rags in a drunkard’s hut. As he moaned +and groaned, an old friend passing by heard +him, stepped in and stood looking at him. +With tears streaming down his cheeks the boy +looked up and said, “my life is ebbing, I am +at the border line, my career is wasted; I am +a drunken, despised and worthless sot, friendless +and alone. I can see nothing ahead but +the blackest despair. Oh my poor old mother, +my poor old father, my dear little sweetheart, +My Sav—oh—oh.” Another spell grasped +him and as he tossed and shrieked and +moaned, grappling with the demon, writhing +in mental anguish, terror clouded his countenance, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140'></a>140</span> +his eyes rolled, his limbs jerked, the +mouth dropped open, the tongue protruded, he +clutched until the blood trickled from the torn +flesh, a loud, gurgling, terrifying scream, and +he was dead. Died with the delirium tremens +caused by the rum demon. As the old friend +wiped away the tears and stood looking at his +pitiful form he noticed in one of his torn and +ragged pockets a slip of paper. He pulled it +out and read: +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Listen, friend, today,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To what I have to say,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Don’t let temptation sway</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And miss the narrow way.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When you are young and gay</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And anxious for the fray</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Be ready to say “Nay”</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And tread the narrow way.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141'></a>141</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The debt I have to pay</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>As here near death I lay</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Wouldn’t hold so much dismay</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Had I trod the narrow way.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Oh tread the narrow way</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And never miss a day</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Ask Jesus how to pray</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And tread the narrow way.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p> +How can America, the foremost nation of +the world, that has long boasted of liberty +and advancement, allow the liquor traffic +to continue when the condition it causes are +so critical. It is stealing away her brains, +increasing her crime, lowering her moral +standing, demoralizing her citizenship, and +giving to posterity a weaker race and causing +such poverty, misery and unhumanitarian +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142'></a>142</span> +distress. Can this enlightened nation afford +its continuance and let it remain when it has +a grasp so powerful that it is endangering its +very vitals? Can America, with her unsurpassed +institutions of learning, her brilliant +and scholarly statesmen, her great mineral and +agricultural wealth yet unfound and developed, +allow a traffic so alarmingly demoralizing +as to let her constitutional principles +decline? Can she sit still, under her broad +and world famed methods of progress, and +allow such a traffic, that devastates from +every source, for a revenue wrung from +women’s tears, that is so rapidly depreciating +her citizenship. Is she prudent? Is she applying +the Christian principles of her constitution +to obtain revenue from a traffic so +nefarious and debauching? If she realizes +the danger ahead why delay an amendment +that enhances citizenship and principle. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143'></a>143</span> +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>America, ’tis thee I prize,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>’Twas underneath thy azure skies,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Where heaven’s light first met my eyes.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I love thy thrift and enterprise,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To me beloved and so wise</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Thy name is one I idolize.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Thy blood did purchase liberty,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To make this land so great and free,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And quench forever tyranny.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Oh may thy name forever be</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Embraced within a righteous plea,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That lessens pain and misery.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It is for thee that I will fight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When’er thy cause is for the right,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>For none but these e’er use thy might.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144'></a>144</span></div> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'> </p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’ll heed your call with keen delight,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>But should I fall before the night,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Let freedom’s flag be my last sight.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145'></a>145</span><a name='ch11' id='ch11'></a>EVERY DAY PHILOSOPHY.</h2> +<p> +Look out for the man whose face shows it +pains him to say “Good Morning.” +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Never be afraid to trust the man whose +dog meets him with a bound. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The mad rush to join the appendicitis club +and sing in the choir invisible has lost its popularity, +both for the good of posterity and the +pocket book. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Some people take a great deal of liberty +with the English language, when they speak +of work. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Stick to the boys who borrow a five occasionally and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146'></a>146</span> +pay it back; rather than the fellows +who love you like a fly does molasses +when your roll would choke a lazy mule. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +It’s cheaper to buy your coal from your +regular dealer and take short weight, than to +steal it from the railroad and pay court costs. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +It’s an ice cold fact that the fellow who is +continually condemning others’ faults and +pointing with pride to his own great meritable +achievements, is not entitled to a premium +for sincerity. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +It’s often the sour, surly looking man that +goes down in his pocket and gives you his +last quarter, when hunger is beating a fast +tattoo against your breastworks. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147'></a>147</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Because a man joins the church and becomes +a pious and strict respecter of Sunday +observance, don’t cast all caution aside and +let him sell you gold mine stock on Monday, +unless you know something about the mine. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Some men tell you the wonderful things +they have done from the corner store dry +goods box and then let their wives earn the +living over the wash tub. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Many a man has nearly grasped St. Peter’s +hand, when his wife’s razor edged tongue +drove him clean down to perdition. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The fellow who is always harping hypocrite +and hurling cheap invectives against the +church isn’t the man to arouse confidence, the +only one he helps is the devil. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148'></a>148</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Take away profanity from some men’s conversation +and you haven’t enough left to +know what they said. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +When a man buys an Auto or a Ford on +credit and lets the whiskers grow on his coal +bill they say he’s got the fever. I don’t think +it could be the brain kind. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If money and whiskey would lose their influence +in the courts, juries and legislatures +would go to sleep and jail doors rust on their +hinges. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +When the Lord turns his X rays upon the +people, the churches will fill so rapidly that +Easter bonnets and dress suits can be picked +up anywhere. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149'></a>149</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +I know a wealthy man by the name of +Moore who never was satisfied. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Obituaries are not a safe guide to the real +truth. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Recollections become dim on the witness +stand. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +It’s better to faint in the arms of truth and +die in poverty than to lie for the lap of luxury +and die disgraced. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +A drunken man’s breath is preferable to +the wagging tongue of a gossip. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Any man could live with a woman who has +the patience to bathe in a wash tub twenty-one +inches in diameter for seventeen years +without complaining. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150'></a>150</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Marry in haste and repent in alimony. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +It’s a sad fact that many a man has missed +his calling and there is elegant material for +day laborers among the professions and vice +versa. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If it wasn’t for $$$ a great many people +would be wearing the stripes. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Some men are so economical they go without +socks to buy whiskey. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If some women were better cooks there +would be less dyspepsia and fewer divorces. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If too many cooks spoil the broth, could too +many church denominations spoil the man? +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151'></a>151</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The longer you use the Christ-like religion +the better you like it and the better it makes +you. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The man who makes careless remarks about +women does not possess the fine attributes of +a gentleman. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If religion cost money, how some church +members with bible names would grab for +their purses when the lights go out. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Religion and sympathy cost nothing, but +you’d think they were diamonds the way +some people use them. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The first marriage is for love, the second +for convenience, and the third a cold business +proposition. Don’t try for a four-bagger. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152'></a>152</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The cleanliness of the tea towel is a safe +criterion to a good house-keeper. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The great jewel “Consistency” cannot be +bought with money. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Some people are so hard hearted, onions +would have no effect at a funeral. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If you don’t like the taste of life’s medicine, +be your own doctor and change the ingredients. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If some weak-kneed marshals and sheriffs +would do their duty, there would be less bootleggers. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Some women join the ladies’ aid and use +the lemon extravagantly. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153'></a>153</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Many a woman can hardly keep from yelling +“Hallelujah” when her husband dies. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If some mothers don’t spend more time +with their children and less with politics this +country will be over-run with pick-pockets. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If all mis-mated marriages were suddenly +annulled, it wouldn’t take an expert mathematician +to count those left in wedlock. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +If it wasn’t for their money, thousands of +women would leave their husbands. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Whiskey has killed more men than all the +surgeons. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Lay the rod on the child before he gets too +strong. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154'></a>154</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Better be a lady waiting than marry a sot. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Honesty stops millions from becoming millionaires. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Women born in Alaska seldom get married; +too long in cold storage. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The undertaker’s sympathy never interferes +with his profits; he gets the last crack at you +and you can’t kick. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Many a woman, who never had an extra +pair of hosiery at home, loses sight of economy, +after her marriage, and plunges into extravagance +so heedlessly that her husband +gives up in discouragement. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155'></a>155</span> +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Live within your means, but don’t borrow +money to do it. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Spend your money when you are young, if +you want to spend your old age in the poor +house. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Put a strong proviso in your deed before +you turn it over to your children, if you expect +to buy your own tobacco. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The boy who criticizes his father’s depleted +finances on account of hardships and honest +failures, should be bodily removed into the +open air with the same amount of clothes he +had when he was born and let the thermometer +show forty degrees below zero. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +A court or jury that will convict a man for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156'></a>156</span> +stealing a ten cent soup bone and acquit the +man who made thousands by going into bankruptcy +ought to have a steady stream of hot +tar running down their aesophagus. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Many a rock-ribbed democrat votes for a +Republican, if there is something in it. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The tramp, with his back against the water +tank, studies as hard on his side of the +problem of existence as does the fellow with +greater resources, who is up against it. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The man who can fulfill the bible by taking +the slap on both sides of the cheek is seven +parts lamb and one part Irish. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The difference between a cackling hen and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157'></a>157</span> +a cackling woman is, one cackles when she +lays and the other cackles all the time she +don’t lay. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Trust in God but look out for everybody +else. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The man that totes a whiskey blossom on +the end of his flue carries a cheap add for the +devil. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +Don’t worry over the sport that can smoke +twenty cigarettes a day. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The girl that marries the man to reform +him has a SAD lesson to learn. +</p> +<p> +A good excuse saves lots of lying. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158'></a>158</span><a name='ch12' id='ch12'></a>GLIMPSES FROM THE PAST.</h2> +<p> +I most humbly beg your pardon for inserting +here a short address to a Republican +Convention when I was aspiring to the +office of County Clerk for the second term. +The chairman having instructed the secretary +of the convention to cast the entire +vote of the delegation for myself, I addressed +the convention as follows: +</p> +<p> +Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Convention: +Accept my profound thanks for +the splendid manifestation of honor that +you have conferred upon an humble individual +like myself. I wish to impress upon +you the political principles I outlined to +you briefly two years ago, are the same today as they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159'></a>159</span> +were then. I would rather be +defeated honorably, squarely and honestly +than to be successful with a tarnished character +obtained through disreputable methods. +I realize, as do all intelligent reasoners +withholding myself to be the humblest +among you, that character is something +that is not acquired while we sleep. It is a +constant every day struggle, a life-long battle. +Take away our character and what +have we left. +</p> +<p> +I desire to say to you gentlemen that during +my lifetime I have been intimately acquainted +with labor in its most aggressive +form. I know what it is to stand between +two shining bands of steel under a scorching +July sun. I know what it is to stack hay under +a sultry and oppressive heat. I know the +loneliness and privations that comes to one +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160'></a>160</span> +who has tended stock in the heart of the +Rocky Mountains. I fully realize that these +different pursuits require grit and determination, +they are the hardest kind of labors, but +I can say to you in all candor that I have +never worked harder in my life than in the +past two years endeavoring to serve the citizens +of this county in the capacity of clerk. +</p> +<p> +If I have been competent, if I have been +faithful, if I have done my duty, that is not +for me to decide. You are the judges of these +conditions, if you think I have, then I ask +for your support and influence. You are a +body of men from all parts of this county; if +each one of you will work for the best interests +of the party I see no reason why we +should not be successful at the polls. The +campaign this year is short; I wish to say for +myself that I will not be able to get around +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161'></a>161</span> +much. The duties of my office for the past +six weeks have been very strenuous and will +continue so to be for some time to come. The +state board of equalization were late in sending +their report and not only being late, but +were unkind, and raised the valuation on several +of our taxable properties and this makes +extra work for the clerk, so I trust you will +be like the turkey in the tall tree and keep one +eye open for the boy from Lodge Pole. +</p> +<p> +There has happened in my short career as +an American citizen a good many things that +I have felt elated over and proud of. I am +proud that I am an American citizen, born +under the stars and stripes and belong to a +nation second to none. I am proud I was +born in a state whose brow is bathed by the +mighty Missouri and upon whose bosom flourishes +the most productive crop of the union. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162'></a>162</span> +But if there is one thing that I am prouder of +more than any other, it is the fact that I belong +to a party whose motto is principle and +good government, and whose loftiest aim has +always been to make America the ideal nation +of the world. I thank you. +</p> +<p> +I will here relate an incident that happened +when I first encountered experience in her +knee breeches, I have termed it a fighting, explosive +nauseating cough remedy. I would +prefer calling it an egg nogg; but there is one +extra ingredient that disfranchises the egg +and in a peculiar way leaves the nogg there +in a somewhat embarrassing condition. +</p> +<p> +When I was a youth, I had some peculiar +traits in my makeup. My main instruction +was received from that old professor, experience, +and day by day I gained some valuable +knowledge in the school of hard knocks. Being of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163'></a>163</span> +a peculiar turn of mind I had implicit +truth and confidence in all mankind, and on +account of this trait I have often met with +misplaced confidence. +</p> +<p> +For instance, the “Bonuses” and “Good +Wills” heretofore related. I had contracted a +bad cold of tenacious irritability down near +the little hamlet of Paxton, Nebraska, while +performing the menial labor of an every day +workman on the renowned line of the Union +Pacific. The work being accomplished was +known as bucking steel. Through climatic +conditions of contraction and expansion the +rails on one side had gained from nine to +twelve feet over the rails in the other side. +The side that was ahead was being pulled +back to the point opposite the other by a locomotive +attached to a large cable. Some said +this strategic work swelled the premium of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164'></a>164</span> +the water soaked stock; but this contention is +left to philosophers and those who study economic +problems, as to whether or not the corporation +was ahead rails at Omaha or short at +Ogden. +</p> +<p> +The days were exceedingly warm, it being +in the autumn of the year. I lost more perspiration +than was due me and along toward +evening, when old sol was getting ready to +retire and also largely due to a scant wardrobe, +a chilliness would steal over my spare +physique. The ride home from the work in +the evening, on flat cars, at a hurried speed, +caused the night air to condense in the locality +of the throat. Nature not doing her part, I +tried to assist her in removing the obstruction +and, as soon as the speed of the train would +allow, I shot from the car in a mad race for +the boarding house. Being sure footed and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165'></a>165</span> +fleet, I was generally first at the wash basin, +erasing from my countenance Nebraska’s productive +soil and leaving what the water didn’t +loosen on the old fashioned long rolling boarding +house towel. These repeated conditions +day after day commenced to tell and the +slight cold became a hacking cough that embraced +more forcibly than a Dutch lassie +reared on eastern corn. +</p> +<p> +After the work was completed, the men +were returned to the various localities. Upon +arriving safely at my destination, I went to +the home physician. “Doc” when not incarcerated +in the county bastile for dispensing a +compound familiarly known as whiskey but +better known to home residents as hades +corked up in a bottle, prescribed, from his oft +water stock. (I pause for a scalding sensation +felt on my cheeks.) Poor Old “Doc” is +sleeping beneath the sod. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166'></a>166</span> +</p> +<p> +Constant concoctions bringing no relief, I +was at last listening to a well meant prescription +from my co-laborer Dick. He said his +remedy would give unwavering satisfaction to +ailments like mine. I don’t think his remedy +would stand the pure food law test; but when +you get to clutching you’ll clutch anything. So +I listened to the unlearned pharmacist and +keenly assented and he started to compound +two well known ingredients in equal parts. +One ingredient was controlled by that magnetic +dollar chaser, John D., and the other +was controlled by nobody, it did the controling, +i. e., oil and whiskey. I’d cover up this +last ingredient and give it a better concealed +classical standing but ignorance is bliss and +there you are. This carefully prepared drink, +my friend said, should be taken five minutes +before breakfast. So according to directions +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167'></a>167</span> +I hoisted the tin cup and down went the fluids. +Just enough oil in it to make it slip quick, and +you had it before you really knew it. +</p> +<p> +It is now twenty-three years since I swallowed +that conglomeration and I can’t hardly +pass a home one-gallon kerosene can full or +empty without a keen desire to kick the bottom +out of it, but you have to be careful with +other people’s property, whether it’s mortgaged +or not. No matter how keen or fertile +your imagination may be you can’t realize a +dose of this character unless you taste it. +Take the minutest equal parts of each, mix +them, drink them and be convinced. Was I +sick? Of all the great guns of all our wars, +Civil or uncivil, I will take my oath before +any judge of common jurisdiction, sitting as +a court of record and say I WAS. +</p> +<p> +The only recollection I have of the breakfast menu +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168'></a>168</span> +was the two hard boiled eggs and a +faint remembrance, as I was leaving the table, +of a fruit picture on the wall tipping up and +down. That was the first time I ever saw +anything inanimate acting so. Mercy, the +taste of that oil and the remembrance of it, +mixing in a place the size of your fist! Think +of that rip-roaring, sizzling tobacco flavored, +ingredient, trying to slip one over on that +kerosene and knock out those two hard-boiled, +well matured, boarding-house eggs. I say in +all candor, I don’t blame John D. for watering +the oil. Water it more, John, it will be +milder to take. I went through the oil belt +in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and all the rest, +I visited all the stills, illicit, and otherwise of +Kentucky, Tennessee, and Colorado; and as +soon as brother Pat could get me to my room +and my head out of the window I hoisted the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169'></a>169</span> +hottest fluids and food stuffs ever contained +in the stomach of man or beast. I have always +felt sorry for those eggs on account of their +age. +</p> +<p> +I must take a short glimpse here of a +peculiar incident that transpired under my +roof between two men of the cloth. One +was a M. E. minister and the other a seven +day advent. The advent had been staying in +town for several weeks and I became fairly +well acquainted with him and his estimable +wife, and he asked me if they might have a +few meetings at our home in the evenings, +and I said certainly and he came. Both he +and his wife were scholars, well cultured and +refined and we enjoyed listening to their version +of the scriptures. How the M. E. minister +came to be there one evening is still a +mystery to me, but I think some one of his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170'></a>170</span> +parishioners must have told him that Satan +had entered our home and he had better intervene +and see if he couldn’t extricate us +from the wary gentleman’s clutches. +</p> +<p> +The evening entertainment was progressing +nicely and the advent man was in charge +of the machinery, when suddenly the M. E. +man took issue with him over his version of +one of the scriptural passages and quick wit +and repartee was fast and furious. The advent +was the superior in scriptural knowledge +and the way he got the other fellow in the +meshes and so completely tangled him up is +an event that can never be erased from my +memory. The M. E. man was nonplussed, red +of face and angry; and so ungentlemanly as +to let all the fireworks in his dignified Sunday +nature explode and told the cool, calm advent +that teachings of his kind should be in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171'></a>171</span> +hell. You may lay this excitement to anger, +being worsted, or anything you like, but I +think the gentleman he came to remove from +our home entered him one hundred per cent +strong. Why he was on his feet with his +Methodist fists clenched, ready to fight, and +if it hadn’t been for the soothing, pacifying +utterances of his good wife saying, “John,” +“John,” I don’t know what would have happened. +The other fellow laughed at him and +I really think if the worst had occurred he +would have given the angry man a fuller +meaning of the Bible and turned the other +cheek. +</p> +<p> +I think if an Advent says Saturday is the +Lord’s day and should be observed on the +Sabbath, the Methodist says Sunday is the +day, and some other denomination says Friday +is the day, I’m willing to be convinced. It +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172'></a>172</span> +beats having the Fourth of July come on +Saturday, and if I had enough money so I +needn’t work I’d say let seven different denominations +have seven different days, and +no matter which home I observed I wouldn’t +be left out shivering in an undershirt. Something +peculiar about church denominations, +all of them headed for the same place, but +each one anxious to route you. One tells you +they have the old travelled road, founded on +the Bible, another a different way, founded on +the Bible, and others another different way, +also founded on the Bible. I conclude the +best and surest way is to be a Christian and +read the Bible, live it and let God show the +way. Sunday churches or Saturday churches +carry no guarantee that you’ll reach Heaven. +</p> +<p> +Before I invested in “Good-wills” and +“Bonuses” and other losing investments, I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173'></a>173</span> +would occasionally take my family for a little +trip on the Los Angeles limited and rub +against the aristocracy and the diamonds. +Years before when I was a day laborer on +the same road over which this elegant train +glides, I thought to travel on such a goddess +of beauty was a luxury only for wealth and +culture, and a pleasure unequaled, but hope +beats eternal in the human breast and as I had +lived largely on hope for over thirty years, I +finally said hope can go to blazes, the opportunity +is here and why not embrace it. +</p> +<p> +Well, it is certainly a big taste of wealth +and affluence to settle in cushions a foot deep +with all the wrinkles eradicated for once in +a lifetime by a well filled stomach of the +choicest viands in the culinary art. And oh +the lofty thoughts as you settle down in the +deep upholstery and listen to the clicking of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174'></a>174</span> +the rails as you speed away on this overland +beauty. There is a peculiar feeling under +your vest as you notice the well groomed +man, the well groomed woman, the sparkle of +the electric lights and the glitter of the diamonds. +Elegance everywhere. The very +height of ingenuity. Then when you enter +the dining car with its rosewood finish, tastily +decorated tables, superb linen, and cast +your eye over the choice menu and have the +black gentry all attention and ready to care +for your smallest want, you may feel as I +did, pretty classy company for a boy from +Lodge Pole. Of course there are snubs here +and there, you find them everywhere. They +are in a class that is well known for nineteen +hundred years. They took the leading part +in the crucifixion of the Nazarene. We can’t +exist without having them, and if you will +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175'></a>175</span> +notice in any walk of life, there is a pain for +nearly every pleasure, with corns and bunions +thrown in. +</p> +<p> +As a hunter I never received any distinction +and am forced to admit as such I am an +entire nonentity and failure. My father +owned a rifle which was the only one of its +kind in our community for years and years. +Its early history I am unfamiliar with and +never learned it. It was in his possession +when I was born and I suppose it was the +gun he carried on the hand car for protection +when the Indians were numerous in the +latter sixties. At some time it received a +broken stock and ever after its being repaired +it was known as old splice. For many years +when the old year died and the new year was +born, old splice spoke forth at its birth and +its missile of death generally lodged in the +tail of the railroad wind mill. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176'></a>176</span> +</p> +<p> +Old splice was the type of one hundred +years ago, when people weren’t killed as +quickly as today, the loading was slow and +gave one chance to escape; I remember +brother Pat used it to shoot a dog that he +had tied up with a rope. He took steady aim, +pulled the old fashioned hammer and fired. +When the smoke cleared away the dog was +running with the fullest capacity of its limbs. +The ball had cut the rope. +</p> +<p> +I never shot old splice but once and I’ll always +remember the incident. A chicken +hawk had been tormenting the poultry for a +long time and I got bold and reckless one day, +grabbed old splice (some one had been kind +enough to leave it loaded) and sallied forth +bent on destruction. The hawk was soaring +high in the air but didn’t seem to want to +descend any. Old splice was supposed to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177'></a>177</span> +carry half a mile and as I knew this was not +the distance from the gun to the hawk, I concluded +to test out old splice and see if the +prowess of the old fellow had been exaggerated. +I had heard some one say you must +get down on one knee, as an attitude of respect, +I presume, and hold the stock solidly +and lovingly against the shoulder. I did +both of these things and fired. I felt my +head strike the ground so amazingly quick +and hard that it confused and startled me. I +knew I was committing no crime and couldn’t +account for such harsh treatment. At first I +thought the bird might have struck me in the +face and, it coming from such a height, would +cause a terrible compact when one body met +another, but I abandoned this idea, as no +hawk was anywhere above or below. Then +I thought I might have torn some planet loose, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178'></a>178</span> +but this was an asylum idea also. Then I +thought some one may have overfed old +splice and made him bilious. I afterwards +learned this was true. The miscreant still +lives. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179'></a>179</span><a name='ch13' id='ch13'></a>HOPES THAT EXPLODED.</h2> +<p> +If it wasn’t for the word hope this would +be a dreary world for the fellow who plans +and builds in the future. It rises and falls in +every human breast. Some have an over +abundance, and others lack in not having +enough. It arouses buoyancy and encouragement +to see one who reaches toward hope and +almost succeeds but doesn’t get quite a firm +enough grip to fasten the goal securely before +he has to let go; but no matter how hard the +fall, or how often, he’s up and trying again. +Discouragement or complete failure never +causes a faltering step or gets time to fester +with despondency before keener activity revives +the energy and the shattered hope is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180'></a>180</span> +rehabilitated and again swells the breast so +full there is nothing to do but try again. +Bless the hopeful man or woman. Some can’t +stand the fall, they go down clear to the bottom. +Defeat and despondency chain them +fast. +</p> +<p> +In the year 1896 when Bryan was preparing +his famous oration “The Crown of Gold” +that was so ably delivered and well received +and which was the leading factor in opening +up the road for him to the White House, I +commenced scheming and planning on patentable +ideas. Nineteen years of hard thinking +has brought no visible financial returns and +so far the patent attorney is the only one who +has received toll. I never entered the field +thinking I had any latent ingenuity like Edison, +Westinghouse, Ford and many others; +but I had hopes, as long as I could pay the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181'></a>181</span> +attorney and the filing fee of the patent office. +</p> +<p> +My first application for a patent was an +adjustable track wrench that met complete +failure after a year’s pendency. I thought I +had a good, practical, economical, and convenient +wrench, but after the said period of time +elapsed my attorney informed me it was rejected +by the chief examiner on account of +prior similar claims already patented. Of +course you must not get confused and wonder +why he didn’t tell me this before I filed +the application. If he had the self-explanatory +portion of the scheme loses its self respect +and puts the attorney in a bad financial +light, which I would dislike to do. However, +the discouraging news was so cool and saddening +at this first attempt that it froze my +ingenuity a decade and a quarter, and then +hope rose again and I called once more on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182'></a>182</span> +the dormant faculty and changed attorneys. +</p> +<p> +After due diligence had persevered and I +had stood the condemnation of my wife, who +said I was getting absent-minded and hard of +hearing, I sent in my application duly witnessed +and sworn to, along with the necessary +stipend that makes the wheels buzz in +the attorney’s head and swells that seven millions +of profit accrued in the patent office +from a good many fellows like myself. Nice +to help swell this big profit for some day +when this accumulation becomes large enough +our wise custodians of this fund may transfer +it like ordinary Town Council men do when +one fund gets too far ahead and pay off the +national debt. My second application was an +improved index and a device of meritable +convenience over present ones, so I thought. +It has been pending two years after failing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183'></a>183</span> +ten times before the chief examiner, who +doesn’t seem to have the courtesy to allow it. +</p> +<p> +While the invention was safe and secure in +the government vault, I was rash enough to +go into another irrational period and get out +a computing device for the busy coal man to +aid him in rapid accurate calculations and do +away with the old time method of having +coal swell so sixteen hundred pounds was a +ton; not really a long ton but a short ton. +This wonderful invention hatched in the +brain of an ordinary man, lingered in Washington +one year and a half, and was then rejected. +I wouldn’t care for having it rejected, +but I’d like to have the rejectors use a +milder word, one that doesn’t rankle so much +and stir up the mean things in you. +</p> +<p> +Well, here are two great inventions for the +betterment of the race denied, and from the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184'></a>184</span> +way the attorney wrote in his last tribute of +love to me, the third is hanging over the precipice +and is ready to fall among its ancestors. +</p> +<p> +I had hopes when I invested in the last +two ideas, my total expenditures, including +postage on a voluminous amount of correspondence, +was $141.28, and this is how I +disbursed the interest on that amount:—I +calculated conservatively that the two inventions +would net me $50,000. Here she goes! +To my father-in-law, for giving away his +daughter to me, for which I have never paid, +$1,000.00; to two sisters-in-law that favored +my suit, $1,000.00 each; to a brother-in-law that +did the square thing by me, $1,000.00; to my +oldest brother, who continually hammered me +when I was young and smaller than he, $1,000.00; +to a younger brother, whom I could +hammer, $1,000.00; to my four sisters, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185'></a>185</span> +$1,000.00 each. Ten thousand of the iron men +at work. The next $20,000 I put at interest +in Colorado, where it is easy to get a ten per +cent rate. This would bring me in $2,000.00 +a year to live on, and by being frugal I +might be able to smoke a five cent cigar occasionally +and let the corn cob pipe have a +chance to dry up some of its nicotine. The +next $10,000 went to old people who have +nearly reached the summit of their lives, but +on account of the feebleness of their limbs, +poor eyesight and a meagre pocketbook, the +final ascent overtaxes their small reserve of +strength and with want and sacrifice being in +the majority they can’t quite make it. To +these aged and needy people I would give +$500.00 cash. This amount would render their +last days comfortable, free from worry and +care. That helps twenty old couples, forty +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186'></a>186</span> +people that are worthy and needy. The remaining +$10,000 goes from my pocket in +ready cash to people met every day, people +whose countenances have rigidly printed +thereon a silent appeal for sympathy and +help. A meal to the man suffering from the +pangs of hunger; $50.00 to a woman making +her living over a washboard and fighting a +losing fight against poverty to rear her brood; +$100.00 for a present and a Christmas tree to +poor little children who never have the pleasure +of unwrapping a doll or any kind of a +toy; $5.00 to a laboring man looking for +work; $10.00 on a subscription list to help a +poor widow bury her boy; $25.00 to the man +in the pulpit preaching straight from the +shoulder; $10.00 for a railroad ticket to take +a girl home who expected work in the city +but didn’t find it. And so goes the remaining +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187'></a>187</span> +$10,000, here a little and there a little. I think +I could gladden more hearts with this last +$10,000 than the great man who spent millions +in libraries and free reading rooms +throughout the country. With all due respect +to him, the man in overalls and the girl who +must work are the ones who need literature +the worst, but the struggle for existence is so +keen they haven’t time to read books and they +feel humiliated and unwelcome in their everyday +garb mingling with the better dressed +people. The well-groomed man and woman of +today, in a large sense, doesn’t apply any too +closely the ethics of the Galilean and would +rather not mingle with the less fortunate people, +so the conclusive thesis is there is no +congeniality between the two and the primary +object of helping the fellow who needed it +most is a failure. But alas, the $50,000 is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188'></a>188</span> +still behind the capitalist and must wait for +hope to rise again. +</p> +<p> +Not feeling satisfied but that there was +plenty of loose coin waiting to flow to me, I +took up the pleasant but unprofitable part avocation +of composing songs. I had a Washington +music firm write the music, copyright +the songs in my name, do the advertising, and +remit one-half the proceeds to me semi-annually +January 31st and July 31st. I was +very careful to set out specifically the remitting +part in our contract. Each song had its +own peculiarity and sentiment to touch the +public pulse, which so far has been untouchable. +The first song, “A Tear Drop Always +Glistened in His Eye,” was to fasten itself on +the hearts of the people like “Annie Laurie.” +“When the Silver Moon Light Sparkles on +the Lake” made its bow to the public; I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189'></a>189</span> +hoped lovers with emotion would go wild over +it and would know a good thing when they +heard it. If they had such a feeling the emoluments +failed to show it. The third song, +“Anna, My Anna,” was short and jerky for +the happy-go-lucky class of people that fell +so in love with “Casey Jones.” But it seems +this class wouldn’t respond either, and leaves +me with the entire stock on hand with an expenditure +of $90.00 trying to get the people +to sing. I find them more unresponsive than +the preacher when he says let everybody sing, +and a few who gave their best years in the +Lord’s service lift up their cracked voices in +earnest endeavor to lead the sheep, and the +sheep, lambs and all go astray. My share of +the profits has been ten one cent postage +stamps, just the ordinary kind, the common +kind you can get from every postoffice in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190'></a>190</span> +country. And the trio which failed to receive +public recognition I laid away where +moths and rust doth not decrease their earning +power and neither do thieves molest them. +Three more hopes decently but sadly buried. +</p> +<p> +There is also intertwined and resting +sweetly in slumberland 175 shares of Cracker +Engle Gold Mine Stock at twenty cents per +share and twelve years accrued interest. I +had the customary notice before I bought that +the stock would advance rapidly in price and +if I invested without hesitation and without +investigation I would have the benefit of the +first and early advance. I hearkened to the +alluring honey literature and sent a U. S. +money order, something whose face value +couldn’t be questioned. I wanted to be absolutely +sure I’d get the stock. I got it all right. +I have such faith in that stock that I can go +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191'></a>191</span> +anywhere and leave it behind unlocked doors +and it never strays away. +</p> +<p> +A home boy succeeded in getting a patent +on an improved table. He incorporated under +the laws where Wilson was governor and +then invited capital for manufacturing purposes. +He styled his invention “The Great +Western Improvement Company” and sold +seventeen shares at the flat sum of $5.00. I +learned a little from the crack at the Cracker +Eagle and did not fly so high and only took +the $5.00 worth. It’s comical now, to me, how +the inventor and promoter explained how his +table was superior to the common ordinary +everyday table that’s been in use so long. It +had a hollow holding receptacle in the center +and he said after the meal had been stowed +away and nothing was left but the dishes and +flies, the housewife could, if she felt so disposed, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192'></a>192</span> +elevate a handle and the soiled dishes +would disappear and the table would have an +inviting appearance. He said it was especially +fine when conversation had been brisk +and company or peddlers were seen coming; +all that was necessary was the quick jerk of +the ever-ready handle and down out of sight +went the dishes, flies, napkins, and everything +untidy and untasty. I was looking for +votes when this investment was made and +while the votes may not have had an equal +value I let it go at that and put away the +stock for my grandchildren. Another share +of stock in the Campbells’ Farming Association +at a cost of $5.00 brings my get rich +quick investments to a finis. The only other +stock I ever had was bank stock. I invested +$1,500.00 in a State Bank in Nebraska. I +didn’t lose on this deal but the money would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193'></a>193</span> +have paid better on a straight five per cent +rate. +</p> +<p> +Nothing would have done me more good +and brought a keener satisfaction than to +have had a nice remuneration from some investment +that I have made. My wife called +me what the bible says she shouldn’t so many +times that it seems to look like I am really +a bigger one than she said I was, and if I +could have changed her mind by laying before +her eyes a nice portly check for $5,000.00 +or $10,000.00 it would have been such an +agreeable surprise not only to her but to myself +that we both would have enjoyed it, and +especially myself if I could have pulled it +over. But if hope don’t come again I will +have to let that excellent pleasure be like +Mathewson’s speedy one and fade away. +</p> +<p> +A lad of the average type at twenty-one has +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194'></a>194</span> +a great deal of stored up energy; he has the +muscle bank and the brain bank from which +to get his necessary resources, and a great +many lads think Dad is a back number +and he sees where the old gentleman was +short on gray matter, and all advice is lost +on this sort of boys. I was never conceited +this way, in fact I think somebody else got +nearly all the gall that should have been +mine. If a fellow holds his own in these +days, no matter what party is in power, Democratic +or Republican, you need your full allowance +of gall. The lad that thinks that +the governor’s gray matter is not as profuse +as it should be, but he, through some unknown +force, grabbed all that was coming to him +and part of dad’s might read the following +verse and the conclusive portion of this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195'></a>195</span> +chapter and apply it from a stand point of +ordinary horse sense: +</p> +<table class='c' summary='centered block'><tr><td> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>When Johnnie Jones was twenty-one</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>He said my farming life is done,</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’ll pack my duds and say Good Bye</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And to the city I will hie.</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I’ll show the ones who think they’re it</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That Johnnie Jones has got the grit</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>To make a name that will be felt</p> +<p style='margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Like Astor, Gould or Roosevelt.</p> +</td></tr></table> +<p> +It makes the pain come home when you +look back from fifty and realize that a man +at twenty-one is a darn big fool, at thirty +still a fool, at thirty-five a little foolish, and +at forty he still has some, at forty-five wisdom +breaks in gently, and at fifty he stands +on the threshold of learning ready to apply +and absorb, and at sixty he’s a valuable asset +to his community and country. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196'></a>196</span><a name='ch14' id='ch14'></a>THE WEARY TRAVELER.</h2> +<p> +Something has been gained and our life +has not been futile if we can say we owe no +man and there is no obligation through which +we have passed, financial or otherwise, of +which we are ashamed. We may not have +acquired honor, wealth or position but if we +have lived up to the teachings of the plumb +and the square, we have a record that will +stand the closest investigation when we knock +for entrance at the pearly gates. If we can +stand with our whole soul bared before our +maker and he sees that chastity and the sweet +purity of any girl or woman has never been +trespassed upon we have acquired something +that brings smiles to angels’ faces. If we +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197'></a>197</span> +have stood firm when temptations surged and +tossed and clamored and we met them and +conquered, we have through our moral force +a better right to the precious gems of God’s +kingdom than those saved in the eleventh +hour. If we have never repeated unwholesome +stories or spoken slightingly of another’s +character or said disrespectfully something +that we knew untrue, then we have lived well. +Each day’s battles must be fought alone and +leave tomorrow’s till they come. Never tear +down character, it is the choicest gift in the +universe and constitutes life’s work. Remember +a pure woman or a pure man is the noblest +work of God. Don’t let your footsteps slip +from the path of virtue but plant them firm +and deep in the path of righteousness. Keep +away from people whose thoughts are degrading, +and never harbor foul and indecent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198'></a>198</span> +language. Make it your most earnest desire +to avoid using profanity and vile utterances, +an immoral epithet has a clinging effect which +takes years to erase, and those that emulate +and make us better takes determination and +purity. +</p> +<p> +I am now approaching the half-century +mark. I can look ahead a few years and see +the fiftieth mile post. In all the years that +have past and gone I can recall none where +my conditions and prospects are so alarming, +serious and discouraging as at the present +time. I have a peculiar ailment in my left +side that has baffled the medical fraternity +and caused extreme anxiety to myself. I +have endeavored with courage and determination +to exterminate it. I have tried assiduously +physical culture, osteopathy, dietics, +Christian science and medicine. I have consulted freely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199'></a>199</span> +and often the great physician +and all so far have failed. With treatment +at Hot Springs thrown in as good measure. +The surgeons say an operation is +the only hope through which they can discover +the cause and eliminate it. I dread +operations like I do “Good Wills” and +“Bonuses.” My wife had one and the doctor +in charge said she would be a well woman in +three weeks, but those three weeks were +worse than that two weeks’ loan. They +stretched into six long, bitter years and were +the direct cause of an outlay of money in excess +of three thousand dollars. Glad again +of the early use of that harrow, for there was +surely a gross violation of the truth on the +part of the surgeon. On account of dearie’s +precarious health I was forced to try a lower +altitude, and this not being sufficient it was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200'></a>200</span> +necessary to try the balmy, sunny air of California +and sojourn there among the orange +blossoms and the singing birds for seven long +months. This caused me to give up my position +of clerk that netted me in my four years’ +labor the tidy sum of ten thousand dollars. +</p> +<p> +Today as I stand looking at that fiftieth +mile post I realize in the vernacular of the +day “I am up against it.” My money is gone, +my ailment bothers me, I have a family to +provide for, and the wolf stands on the +threshold with his mouth open and his long, +gaunt body in readiness to make the jump. +In some way I must appease five empty +stomachs from consuming five back bones. +My investments were bad. I tied up thirty-five +hundred dollars in a partnership lumber +business, fifteen hundred dollars in a home +to shelter my loved ones, and the rest went +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201'></a>201</span> +for food and clothing. I struck a highly +modern town with all the up-to-date conveniences, +property depreciated fifty per cent, +business was stagnant, interest kept gnawing, +and taxes went skyward. The two sad mistakes +I made was: first, to visit the office of +the County Treasurer and learn about the +taxes; and the second was to stay out of +business unless we had enough money to pay +for it and keep to the leeward of that ten +per cent interest, but I didn’t and so much +more for experience, the grandma of teachers. +</p> +<p> +I do not lack courage and determination +but knowing and being able to see that fiftieth +mile post causes a shudder and slight touches +of despondency. I think my training is more +than is alloted the average man. I have been +a day laborer on the farm, railroad and hay +field. I have worked for a large number of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202'></a>202</span> +task masters and I failed to remember when +I was ever criticised for not keeping up my +end. I have held a good many positions of +trust such as census enumerator, section foreman, +extra gang foreman, county clerk, clerk +of the district court, abstractor, town trustee, +and member of the school board. +</p> +<p> +The first time I was a candidate for county +clerk I ran on the Republican ticket. I am +not telling this in any spirit of the braggart +but as a sample of confidence. In my old +home precinct I received one hundred and +twenty votes out of one hundred and thirty-two, +and in the precinct where I worked as +section foreman I received forty votes out of +forty-eight, and this had always been a strong +Democratic precinct. My opponent was a +strong candidate and entirely familiar with +political tactics, an old scholar in the school. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203'></a>203</span> +But when the votes were counted I received +the certificate of election and laid down the +tamping bar and took up the pen. I could +have established a precedent and been elected +again but dearie’s health would not permit +and I declined to run. +</p> +<p> +Some say the hand of fate guides our destinies +and it was so to be, but I am at a loss +to understand why it should so be. I have +lived clean, I have always met my obligations +with the strictest honor, no marks of dissipation, +inwardly or otherwise, have scarred my +form and thank God he nor any other can +find any danger signals that can isolate me +from a free transport to the narrow path. I +have been economical, conservative and kind +and I think I have done my very best. I have +treated every one with the closest application +that can be unravelled from the ten commandments and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204'></a>204</span> +the additional commandment established +through Christ. +</p> +<p> +All through my married life I have been +attentive to my wife and in any room of our +mortgaged home you can see many tokens of +affection that she has received. I have endeavored +to lighten her domestic burden and +almost every Monday morning for the past +twelve years I have been the propeller at the +washing machine. Hundred of times I have +arisen between the hours of three and four +and wended my way to the family kitchen +and waded in on the soiled linen. I never +sneaked out the back way to avoid using the +tea towel on waiting dishes. I can use the +broom, duster and make the beds. I can +scrub, polish the stove, cook the steak, and +perform almost the entire category of domestic +needs; but when it comes to baking I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205'></a>205</span> +would rather face the cannon’s mouth (a +silent one like in the city park in Denver) and +die like a martyr. I have often acted as maid. +I recall once when I was a maid my wife was +bed fast for three weeks. We lived in a +strong church town, somewhere near eighty +per cent, it seemed nearly all were Christians +but during dearie’s sickness there was not a +single Christian woman or suffragist came to +see her, offered her services, or was in any +way interested. I am sorry this happened in +this broad land of boasted Christianity and +civilization. Some of these same Christian +ladies never failed to appear when the dues +for foreign missions were bordering on delinquency +or when some rations were needed +for a church spread. +</p> +<p> +I believe in doing good and giving cheer. +You can always notice a gleam of pleasure in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206'></a>206</span> +your wife’s face when you give her a box of +candy, a dress, a dish, or some little token, +and how she clings to the missiles of love +that you may have penned on scraps of paper, +chunks of wood and other things. They always +speak for something I think meritable. +I think the pathway of dearie can be made +more cheerful if she is remembered daily and +not all in one chunk at Christmas time, and +then let her wait for another twelve months. +I never feared I would kiss my wife too +much. I kiss her more now than when I +courted her and they are just as sweet as +ever. It helps to keep the love light in her +eye. +</p> +<p> +I have three fine children. I am not conceited +about them; other people say they are +good. I have done my best to raise them +well. Two of them are in the County High +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207'></a>207</span> +School, the eldest a girl of sweet sixteen and +the other a noisy boy of fourteen. The remaining +one is a baby of two and one-half +years. I must leave these three children and +dearie and look for employment. You can +realize how pleasant it is to be separated from +them. How sad it is to kiss dearie and the +others good bye and have the many cute sayings +of a strongly attached baby ringing in +your ears, not only through the dreary, lonesome +days but long after the shadows fall. +</p> +<p> +Such is life with its pains and sorrows. +They come to us all and while I may think +my road is rougher than is allotted the ordinary +individual I suppose others think the same. +The one great consolation I have is that dearie +is almost a strong, well woman, and that is +worth all I have passed through and I would +gladly undergo it again for her. I must be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208'></a>208</span> +getting ready, the colonists reduced rates of +our liberal hearted “S-T-E-E-L” railroads is +near the finis of the twelve-day limit. The +parting is at hand. I kiss the loved ones +good bye, cling tenaciously to my second-class +ticket, guard well my pneumatic pocket +book with its ragged puncture and try again +in pretty California among the salty ocean +breezes, the cheerful flowers, the fragrant +orange blossoms and the shady pepper trees +to find work and health for those I love. +GOOD BYE. +</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. 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Barrett + +Release Date: July 19, 2011 [EBook #36785] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREADING THE NARROW WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + By R. E. Barrett + + Boston + THE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING CO. Inc. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + Copyrighted 1917 + By R. E. BARRETT + _Rights Reserved_ + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + PREFACE + +The chapters in this book are not based on fiction, they are not drawn +from imagination, they are not gems that come from culture and learning, +but are gleaned entirely from the rugged school of life, and are for the +purpose of cheering the down-hearted to a realization that a good life +has its just reward, that through continued combat every temptation, +obstacle and evil will vanish if a strict observance of God's law is +kept in carefully treading in the narrow way. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + DEDICATION + +To that dear teacher who urged me to go to school when I was past twenty +years of age, and helped to mold in me the true principles of honor. + +To a fine Judge on the Bench whose many fatherly talks to poor +unfortunates, whose feet had slipped from the narrow way, who helped me +to obey and respect the law. + +To a splendid intellectual lawyer, one of God's clean home men, whose +guest I have been at many intellectual feasts, to him I owe the +avoidance of the saloon and learned the intrinsic value of sobriety. + +To my two eldest sisters, one sister-in-law, and my devoted wife through +whom I learned the desperate struggle and what it means to live clean. + +To a poorly paid self-educated minister to whom I am deeply indebted for +the first introduction to my master. + +To these in the major part, and a few others, God bless them all, I owe +whatever I am to them, to these dear people I affectionately dedicate +this book. + + R. E. B. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. Early Footsteps. 9 + II. Getting the Backbone. 21 + III. The Two Paths. 32 + IV. God's Intention Man's Prevention 46 + V. The Sadness Behind the Vale 61 + VI. Gratitude. 71 + VII. Just Poems. 87 + VIII. Sallie's Loyalty. 112 + IX. Sunshine. 117 + X. Temperance. 133 + XI. Every Day Philosophy. 145 + XII. Glimpses from the Past. 158 + XIII. Hopes That Exploded. 179 + XIV. The Weary Traveler. 196 + +- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + +TREADING THE NARROW WAY + + + + +EARLY FOOTSTEPS. + + +Robert Emmett Barrett was the soothing and patriotic cognomen my father +fastened upon me when I first opened my eyes and I looked him squarely +in the face. I say my father named me and I honestly think he did. The +first two-thirds of the name proves my contention and opens the book +wide enough that the reader has no trouble in discerning the nationality +of my father. Mother was an English woman and I knew it the first time +she called father "Arry." If mother had had her equal rights in naming +me, I might have been a Gladstone; but somehow or other father +monopolized mother's half interest and she finally became disgusted and +told him to name me any blooming thing he wanted to. If mother could +have foreseen this savage war across the orient, I believe, she would +have handled the center name, but the way it stands I wouldn't shoulder +a gun for England and I can't use my undeveloped oratory against +Ireland, and I am about half persuaded to let them settle their own +troubles. It being no fault of mine that I am half Irish and half +English, I let it go at that and get along with everybody the best I +can. It's hard to separate the halves from the whole, and so, from a +perpendicular standpoint, I give the Irish the top half and the English +the bottom half; I'd rather let the English have the running half +anyway. + +So far the name Emmett hasn't done me much good, I've only used it nine +or ten times since I had it, thrice at political speeches, a couple of +Fourth of July addresses, once on Decoration Day, once at a church +wrangle, and a few times when I was mad. I find it doesn't help me much +on bank cheques, they get turned down as quickly with the Emmett signed +as without it. If the name is ever going to do me any good I wish it +would hurry up and be a progressive or I will be compelled to think +father was impartial and talked mother out of her rightful one-half +interest. + +After the ordeal of naming me had been fairly or unfairly dealt with, I +was told I was a free born American citizen and some day I might be +President and have absolute dominion over the blue room, where I suppose +the chief executive goes when he has the "Blues." I never considered +this encouragement very seriously, for, as I have read in some almanac, +there is only one chance in eighteen million, the odds are against the +slim chance and it's sort of a blue skim milk proposition or a church +raffle affair, and if it's the only time that opportunity is going to +knock at my door I don't think I'll be at home, I'll let Wilson do the +best he can and let some live Republican Progressive have my chance. + +If Wilson would only hurry up and get the Government to make those loans +they've been talking so long about and loan it, at about four per cent, +to citizens like myself, irrespective of names and nationality, and not +have the principal come due too quickly, but in periods, like twenty +year franchises, I believe he ought to have a second term; but if he +doesn't get some loans placed pretty soon I don't know what hard working +men like myself are going to do. + +The only thing I ask Wilson to be careful about when he loans the money +is the rate. I don't want to see the rate on loans as high as it was +during Cleveland's second administration. + +I borrowed eighteen dollars in 1894 to settle up a partnership fanning +deal with a Methodist preacher. It seems that outside of the banks no +one had any money, and you had to call on the gentleman banker, get down +on your knees and have tears as large as pullet eggs rolling down your +hollow cheeks, if you succeeded in your desires. Somehow the bankers +knew they had a good thing; they not only got the fat and tallow but +they stripped you clear to the bone. + +The eighteen dollar note was dated August 28, 1894, and read in part; +"With interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum"; and from here on +comes the craftiness of the banker: He interlined thus: "From January +18, 1894, if not paid when due." On October 23rd the same year I paid +ten dollars on the note; September the 11th, 1895, six dollars; and +December the 5th, 1895 the final payment and accrued interest was eight +dollars and twenty-five cents, making a total of twenty-four dollars and +twenty-five cents on a loan of eighteen dollars for one year, three +months and seven days. What was the rate of interest charged? That +banker is retired and worth a hundred thousand dollars; hadn't he ought +to be? + +To borrow money under that rate you needed the health of a bear, a +cataract of energy, a colossal mind, unlimited self-respect, boundless +self-confidence, all impregnated with an iron honesty. That kind of +interest makes me feel like the investor, who bought some unseen land +from an honest real estate man, and, when he went to look at his +property he found it submerged in water. The real estate man told him it +could be irrigated, but he had no idea it was susceptible of such +profuse moisture. After he gazed at it a while he said "Instead of +buying this land by the acre I should have bought it by the quart." He +probably has an unrecorded deed, I have the paid note in my possession, +I feel proud I got it paid; but my pride halted suddenly when I got it +paid and in all these years it hasn't advanced much for men who can take +a nickle and make it into a dollar so all fired quick. Some time I'll +frame that note with a glass on both sides of it. + +Coming back to the early events. I was born beneath the shadows of the +Rocky Mountains where the placid and sleepy Platte wound leisurely +through the broad meadows and sleeping undeveloped valleys and had +abundance of God's elixir before the day of the great reclamation +projects that sapped its mountain waters. + +Because I mention the Platte here, don't get me mixed with that other +fellow that has made the Platte famous and was until recently holding a +cabinet position on an underpaid salary, he's no relation of mine and I +never knew him until he ran for President. He did the opposite from what +I did and took that one slim chance, made three strikes and fanned; I'm +glad I let it alone. + +When I was six years old and my parents still said what I should do they +took Horace Greeley's advice and went a hundred and six miles farther +west. At their destination there was no buildings except the section +house, depot and a little building that sheltered the hand car. The +entire population was not over a baker's dozen. I don't believe there +was a quieter place on God's footstool. + +One good thing about those days was the taxes; I think a week's +compensation on the railroad would pay the taxes, County, State and +Municipal from 1887 to 1890. How we have progressed in taxes since then! +Especially Colorado. + +In this little dreary place where I had no associations to lead me +astray I took account of my surroundings. I was away out there on the +barren plains where the grass curled and burned under the blazing sun, +where foliage was scant, where the lonely cactus and prickly pear +awaited the step of man to imbed itself and cause more pain, no trees or +flowers to whisper words of encouragement, no cheerful forest or shady +dells, nothing at all to cause the deeper emotions of a queer nature to +assert themselves. Nothing but the broad miraged prairie stretching as +far as the eye could see. + +No cooling breeze to alleviate the pain on a youthful face or the faces +of those careworn early pioneers who blazed the way for future +generations, who would erect homes, till the soil, plant trees, and +endeavor to further promote civilization, until succeeding generations +would reap the pleasure and peace that was purchased through these +sacrifices and hardships of their forefathers. We owe to the pioneers +such a vast debt of gratitude that we never can pay the the principal +with no interest attached, and it's a different kind of interest than +four per cent a month. + +After I had grown to manhood and my lot had been cast in other places it +was over fourteen years before I saw much of the old scenes, but when +returning to the old places I noticed great changes. The town had grown; +few of the old places were left and the old haunts and nooks were hard +to find. + +A dreary and quiet sadness steals over one when looking at his boyhood +and manhood earliest recollections, and as I glanced at the old scenes I +stood and looked longingly, earnestly and lovingly at the old familiar +places. There was the locust grove I helped to plant two decades ago; +there was the little stream after which the town was named: there was +the old pump which so many times quenched my thirst; there was the exact +spot where dearie said the joyful word; there was the old house where +our first baby was born; there was the farm patch I used to plow, and +the meadow where I pitched the hay. All seemed different and as the +pathos of the change surged in my breast I walked away longing for +something I couldn't get, and would never get again. + + + + +GETTING THE BACKBONE. + + +About the year 1889 when I was seventeen years old I commenced on the +lowest rung on the railroad ladder and went to work on the section. I +was frail physically, and must have been the same mentally, for I never +got beyond the third rung. I worked in the days when you spoke for the +spring job the preceding fall, and then often your application met +failure. In hard times when jobs are few the fellow that has them is +blessed with unusual longevity, and whenever some one did pass beyond, +his demise was railroad talk for a long time. + +When you consider that all through the central west, which had a few +years earlier been homesteaded after several repeated crop failures, +almost the entire population were looking for employment and the only +cash job in the country was a section job, you can realize how desirable +and prized a position it was. + +I don't remember how it came that my application was slumbering all +through the cold winter with a large number of those half-starved +homesteaders who hadn't raised anything for so many years, received +recognition in the spring; but it did and I got one of the plums. + +The first time I pumped a hand-car I fully realized the Lord had made no +mistake by taking out one of the ribs and leaving the backbone whole. If +you ever pumped a hand-car I will pass from this painful mode of travel +and let you refresh your own memory and backache. + +I got along pretty well, when the "Boss" wasn't nervous that the road +master would come along and want to borrow another fifty dollars on his +word without interest, everything went nicely. When weed cutting time, +came I gritted my teeth, held my back as straight as I could and whacked +away. Besides the excruciating pain in the back that made you feel like +you would like to give one long piercing yell, throw your shovel away +and run for town, there was the additional pain of seeing the "Boss" +sitting on the hand car resting his back. He had the advantage and the +authority! I must keep at it and cut the weeds or the wheels of the +locomotive would slip, the traveler couldn't resume his journey, all +traffic would stop, and down would go the railroad stock and let out all +the water. + +It would have been a blessing if the water could have been spilled by +some patent process where the weeds were to be cut, but, monopolies +monopolize and if the Lord didn't see fit to have the rain fall in +September instead of June no one was to blame, except Grover Cleveland. +The Republicans said the country always went to the dogs and dried up +when the Democrats elected a President. I was too young then to know +much about statesmanship and I wouldn't want to say for repetition +whether or not the Lord and Cleveland were working together or +otherwise, but I do remember some one was mighty stingy with the +moisture. + +If you, my dear reader, have never had the privilege of cutting weeds +for a dollar and thirty-five cents per day for three weeks in succession +then, for all that's good and beautiful, take my advice and let the Jap, +Greek, or Italian have your place and do the mowing. Either of them can +get better wages and any of these dark-skinned brethren will do as much +in three days as the white man would in one day and cause the pale face +no extra exertion. + +The pain in the back caused from close association with a shovel from +seven o'clock to twelve o'clock and from one o'clock to six even now, +over twenty years afterwards, almost makes me break down and give vent +to my feelings in a more noticeable manner than my friend Taft when he +was informed that he had carried Utah. If you have ever been tortured +with lumbago, you have a slight knowledge of what races up and down the +back of a weed cutter. When he bends down he can't get up and when he +gets up he can't get down. There you are! Humiliated, suffering and mad, +knife blade sticking you whenever you move, but you must or bust. You +are a free born American citizen but you must lose sight of the special +endowment when you are cutting weeds. The constitution may be back of +you, but just at present you have got to get back of your own +constitution and a "darn" good one too, or you've lost your job and that +dearly beloved stipend of thirteen and one-half cents an hour. + +Being on the low rung of the railroad ladder is the same as in all other +departments, the man at the bottom gets the low wages, needs the good +back and carries the heavy burden. He don't need much brain; he is told +what to do; how to do it and when. He's told when to go to work and when +to quit. Brains would be a nuisance and, if he had any, he wouldn't be +working on the section. Time has proved that, and the Dago takes his +place. + +What became of the Irish, Swede, German and Bohemian section men of +twenty-five years ago is more than I know. Extempore, an increase of +brains did something for him and you don't find him tramping ties with +the Dago. But the man at the low rung hasn't much choice; he can work or +quit. His job is always in jeopardy as he couldn't save enough in a year +to loan out an occasional "fifty" to smooth the feelings of an over +auspicious road-master. He's at the bottom and whatever falls goes down +to him and in an undignified way he must carry the whole load, for it +can not go lower. The general manager can ease his feelings on the +superintendent, and he on the road-master and the road-master can growl +at the section foreman, but when the section foreman dumps the whole +putrid, half-boiled mess on the unlearned day laborer you can see the +urgent necessity of a fine piece of choice workmanship in the middle of +the back. You seldom see a man with a front like a wash-tub turned +edgewise working on the railroad. There is no room for him! You must be +able to see your feet if you cut weeds, and have a stomach that can say +"Hello" to the backbone at nine fifteen A. M. + +When the winds used to tear loose from the nasty bad lands of South +Dakota and come tearing over the semi-arid plains for three days in +succession at a velocity of sixty miles an hour it seems the Lord could +have improved on man by giving him a gizzard to grind up the accumulated +gravel that had been beaten into his daily bread. It came pretty near +taking the hide off from me to keep pace with those hungry homesteaders +who were afraid of losing their jobs and existence. + +I am glad that I had the backbone. The term is applicable in two ways. +One is the acquisition of a resilient mechanism in the center of your +back, starting at the base of your brain and running down to a certain +point or as far as is necessary, and the other is a priceless stamina, +determination and a square deal. I am not sorry that I acquired some on +the railroad; its a good thing to have in the every day affairs of life. + +I hardened my backbone when I worked on the steel gang a few years +afterwards, and, if there is such a thing as a steel backbone, I claim +some right to its possession through low remuneration and dirty cabbage. +Keen retrenchment policies make better satisfied stockholders and also +make wages that would embarrass a bumble bee if he were buying a pair of +leggings and expected to pay for them. + +It takes unlimited backbone for a congressman to vote "Yes" on the +prohibition amendment and turn down the easy money of the brewers. It +takes backbone for a president to cast custom aside and step into the +halls of congress and demand that the party pledges be kept. It takes a +better backbone to enter the same halls and take a determined stand on a +cause that means better citizenship. It takes backbone if the minister +ousts the liberal paying hypocrite who is helping to kill the church +with his pocketbook. + +It takes backbone every day you live and if you don't use it in the way +it was intended you can't tread the narrow path and expect to slip into +heaven without being recognized. You may do it on earth but you must not +try it where you are known. It takes backbone to be a Christian, the +earnest conscientious kind, that can lay all jealousy aside, all +prejudice and hatred and give the offender a square Christian deal. +Unless you can do these things you CAN'T be a Christian, the kind that +Jesus told us to be. The other kind is a sham and an out-and-out sinner +is far better. True Christianity will not allow one individual to do +another of the slightest wrong. The conscience of a real Christian will +not allow any ill feeling or the harboring of malice. You know it's +wrong, your conscience reminds you of the wrong and unless you remove +that kind of Christianity you can never receive the fruits that come +from the narrow way and be a successful Christian. You know yourself if +you are a sham so why try to fool anybody and carry a false label. + + + + +THE TWO PATHS. + + +Don't forget the warning of the Saviour when he says: "Enter ye in by +the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth +to destruction, and many are they that enter thereby. For narrow is the +gate and straitened is the way that leadeth unto life, and few are they +that find it." Travel the path that becomes shining gold, the one that +grows lovelier, the one where you are never alone: You'll need the +friend of this path when the heartaches and trials are hard to bear. +Don't chance the other path and sell your soul for pleasure, wealth and +damnation. + +The journey of life, be it one of success or failure, closely resembles +two paths. When we reach the age of accountability we must of our own +volition choose one of these paths. Where the paths commence to fork out +and go in separate directions we see a sign spread clear across the +entrance and it says: "I am the way, the truth and the light." We study +this for a long time and then go to the other side and on the same sign +board it says: "Though your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter +than snow." We are young, full of life and can't really understand what +it means but we are ready to start on life's pathway and there are only +two paths to choose from. + +We look around and see the broad, open path with no restrictions, filled +with the aroma of choice flowers, we meet social companions, have gay +parties, they tell us of the pleasures they are enjoying. From this +survey and study we note that the broad path looks cheerful and +inviting, the narrow one seems straight ahead as far as we can see. + +We can notice that the crowd seems to be going the broad way. People in +all conditions of life, well dressed, prosperous looking people of +wealth and affluence, and the ordinary working people in their customary +garb. They look happy and contented, and we decide to take the broad +way. + +We didn't notice, until after the start, that the course has a +descending grade and we get a long distance on the way before we call a +halt. We have seen a great many things that are not elevating and we +conclude that after we go a short distance we'll turn back, start over +and take the other path, and though the things that looked so inviting +at the beginning are losing their attractiveness. + +The demoralizing things we see are pitiful. There is a poor fellow +reeling with drunkenness. MY! hear that vulgar, profane language coming +from the foul mouth of that young man. There's a party drinking wine, +laughing boisterously and telling stories that are very improper for +ladies and gentlemen. There is a poor girl in a calico dress that seems +to be alone; her face looks sad and she seems to be watching and waiting +for someone. There is a pitiful story in her once pretty face that would +cause you to weep if you knew it. + +Look at that old man with a gray beard; he has been a powerful man in +his day, his well built physique tells that. He's a man of more than +ordinary intelligence, his features show fine breeding. He must have got +on the wrong path from not noticing the sign board, he seems out of +place here. I thought so. He is turning back! My! how he stoops as he +commences the ascent. But he is sticking to it. There he is telling a +younger man of the mistake he made and is trying to persuade him to +accompany him back. Well, isn't that splendid! They're both going back. +It must have been that last remark that the elder man said to the +younger man that persuaded him. "Lo, I am with you always even unto the +end of the world." + +There is a whole crowd about to start back; are they going? No, they +listen to that well dressed fellow over there smoking a cigarette, and +holding up that beer bottle and he has influenced them to go a little +further. It must have been that last remark he made when he told him +there was going to be a beer drink and a free dance at Switzers that +persuaded them. + +They go on and on; they are commencing to look ragged and worn out; the +roses have flown from their cheeks: their eyes are no more full of +lustre and keenness; the gray hairs are showing, the step is not so +firm, but still they go on. Now they are old, they have lived so fast +and reckless that they haven't hardly got the strength nor the +inclination to start to climb that long hill that took forty years of +the best part of their lives to descend. It seems an impossibility and +they do not desire to consider it. + +Look at that poor woman over there. Listen to the poor soul as she is +down on her knees and the tears are falling like summer rain. Listen to +her broken, sobbing words. My, isn't she the most pitiful, dejected and +forlorn looking creature you ever saw! Hear her as she sobs "Lord, I saw +the sign but oh I was so foolish, I didn't heed it but I remember it and +dear Lord hear me, I'm old, feeble and poor, I am friendless and I have +sinned and broken Thy laws. Oh take me as I am. Amen." + +Who is there beside the blessed Jesus that can pick up this poor +unfortunate daughter as she now stands before the bar of sorrow and +despair awaiting her dues? She was given and entrusted with a pure and +innocent life in infancy but she was frivolous and sought after wealth, +power, position and the many other transitory and fleeting things. She +took her clean, innocent life and so soiled and stained it that it would +be unrecognizable to any one but he who gave it, and now, when it is +filled with barrenness, she comes to her maker with her wasted life, +when in all candor and sense of fairness she could expect nothing in +return, but he says to her "Though your sins were as crimson they shall +be whiter than snow." + +Then we see the other path that was trod by the bleeding feet of the +lowly Nazarene. We know the anguish and pain he suffered; we think of +the fiendish death he died that he might say to a sinful people; "Come +unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." + +This narrow and straight path may not be so beautiful at the beginning +as the broader one. We think if we follow it all joys and pleasures are +gone. But what a mistake, for each day that we travel, it becomes +prettier, the flowers are sweeter, the trees are greener, the skies seem +bluer. We find temptations and trials but we have some one to lean on, +and there is a sweet peace and enjoyment known only to his followers. It +makes it easy to pass the saloon and enter the church. The Lord is in +that little church and his servant there knows every man, woman and +child for miles around. See them cluster around him; he loves them; each +day he lives he does some one a kindness. He listens to your sorrows and +heartaches; his joys are your joys and never a word or thought but one +of goodness and kindness has he for anybody. He looks tired today; he +spent an all night's vigil at the bedside of a sick friend. Did you see +him when he stopped and caressed that little girl who had broken her +doll? It meant something to her and he has won her everlasting +gratitude. See him talking to that young fellow over there who is +wavering and unable to decide which path to take. Notice his warm and +friendly attitude and see, he has won his confidence and has got a +promise from him. See that sweet-faced, light-hearted maiden, he has +just come from her home and she has consented to lead a better life. + +Look there, will you! He is helping up that poor man whose feet slipped +from the narrow way and he is taking him home to the broken-hearted +wife. See the sadness on his dear old face as he gives what comfort he +can to the poor woman; he's back again the next day and is talking to +them both. "Yes," they said from now on they'd cling close to the +marriage vows. Don't they all look happy and pleased. There he is again +talking to a poor man who has been unsuccessful, he worked hard, lived +pure but went too heavily in debt and can't meet his obligations. Worry +is making him sorrowful and shortening his days, but the dear pastor +with his hand on his shoulder and his warm words of sympathy has a +telling effect and the heavy clouds are leaving his countenance and as +they part, each understands the other. The cordial, glowing hand-shake +is given and both have received good. There he goes again; he's just +married a young couple and is advising them, he is telling them not to +be down cast when a snag comes along but to work together, tread the +narrow way, keep faith in God, and He will bless and prosper them. + +There is pain in his heart today; he has just come from the home of +broken-hearted parents who have laid away in the silent city their first +born. In his great love for them he has told them about Jesus, the +sorrowful life he lived, the great pains and heartaches he endured, and +he did it all for them. As he leaves they love him as a father and a +sweet peace has descended upon them and the wound commences to heal. + + And so it goes, day after day, + He's telling some one of God's narrow way; + He's planting some flowers where flowers should be; + He's smoothing the path from dull misery; + Here a kind word, there a good deed, + He's doing his best to meet every need. + +The greatest need in keeping in the narrow way is in sincere and earnest +prayer accompanied by a tenacious faith, is the only source that leads +to the full and sweet companionship of the blessed Jesus. The every near +realization, what God can accomplish for us fulfills the truth that the +ever listening ear of a just and righteous master has ample succor for a +burdened and heavy heart. Faith without something to justify its +establishment, though it be ever so great, is in reality groundless and +contains no true merit, but honest prayer for honest motives and coming +from a desirous heart is the great medium through which sinful mankind, +so prone to err, is brought into a close relationship with a wise and +prudent God, a God who willingly compensates every effort whose basis is +a true and unselfish heart. + +Trust God fully at all times and pray with such sincere, fervent and +unselfish motives as is only needed to replenish a pure and unspotless +desire. When prayer is answered, as God sees fit to answer, we can +discern its force and effect in our hearts from the knowledge and fact +that a change has taken place and a deep feeling of keen satisfaction +has fully satisfied a craving want. If this were not so the prayer alone +without any manifestation from a true and living God, would be +worthless. A long composition of nicely polished words spoken to an idol +could in no wise be called a prayer. The densest mind could surely +realize that no sympathy lies in anything not able to comprehend a +feeling. Silence would be better and is more valuable. It is better to +keep still than to say something that would cause some one to err or +stumble. + + + + +GOD'S INTENTION MAN'S PREVENTION. + + +God's handiwork and its beauty is manifest wherever the eye rests. The +towering mountain peaks, the great boulders, the babbling brooks, the +peaceful valleys, the green grass, the beautiful flowers, the shady +dells, all speak of his master hand. The moon-beams playing on the still +waters, the sunshine streaming through the golden clouds, the perfect +poise and artistic shape of the trees growing on the mountain side among +the jagged rocks where the hand of man never trained or cultivated them. +There they stand as sentinels waving to and fro by the gentle breezes +and tell of His wonderful works. The wild flowers growing side by side +in the shady dell, each a different color, whisper His wonderful plan. +The little brook dancing and playing in and out among the deep chasms +chiseling its narrow passage among the granite, jumping over big rocks, +rolling little pebbles, it steals here and there until it spreads out on +the great plains and fertile prairies into a rushing river hurrying on +its way to the ocean. The beautiful sun-set casting its long stream of +golden beauty over the western sky mocks at the skillful artist when he +tries to imitate its marvelous shades and tints. The moon breaking +through the silvery clouds and showering the heavens with beauty and +grandeur rests its glory on the evening dew, and the millions of +diamonds glitter and glisten in a splendor and elegance far beyond the +hand of man. The many stars hanging like precious gems upon a great +pedestal twinkling and sparkling tell the same story of His wonderful +handiwork. + +God was not satisfied with all these marvelous things and, though they +are perfect, good and beautiful He must surpass them. He must have a +crowning effort to all their glory. So to defy imitation He brought +forth His masterpiece and called it man. The incomparable and +unsurpassable, the grandest achievement of his architecture. In his +wisdom He provided everything for his needs and comfort. Sunshine to +warm him, darkness to rest him, trees to shade him, give him fuel and +shelter, birds of song to cheer when weary with labor, flowers to +beautify, soil to produce whatever he sowed, rain and sunshine to mature +it, meats of all kind to nourish him, fruits, fishes, grains, honey, +milk and everything necessary for his growth and sustenance, He made him +pure, clean, strong, and beautiful, just a little bit lower than the +angels. He furnished man everything to start with. It was no disgrace if +his hands were blistered and dirty if they were stained by honest toil, +he fought hardships and privations, he was the hardy pioneer blazing his +way for home and country, raising his children near to nature's heart +and cleanliness. He gave to posterity strong, hearty, rugged men and +women, he lived honorably, his labor was rewarded and he died ripe in +years as a fitting tribute to his great achievements. + +Time rolled on! Years became centuries! Methods changed and the great +plan of God was lost. + +Greed, avarice and monopoly commenced to steal the bread from the +infant's mouth; the keen and bitter struggle for existence is in full +sway; the great land of liberty and opportunity no longer can put forth +her boast and call and call for him to come, build homes, prosper, live +well and accumulate. + +What changeful conditions today from then! We boast of our great +enlightenment and yet we are like the drowsy cat under centuries of +domestication. As soon as the raw meat is put before us all the +centuries' training is cast aside and we are ready to do acts of +barbarians. Instead of being able to arbitrate and handle all questions +of war through peace tribunals we cast aside the brotherly teachings of +the great book, increase the standing army, build more warships, enlarge +the navy, and be ready for war, ready to shoot our brother, ready to +destroy his home, leave his children penniless and fatherless, a widow +to struggle and mourn, posterity to be enfeebled, a gigantic debt to +stagger many generations unborn, a country bankrupt and all teachings of +love and better citizenship disgraced. + +No wonder our people are discouraged and feel we are slipping away from +the preamble of our great Constitution! If this age and this country can +not handle all questions, national and international, and extend the +fullest measure of brotherly love where peace is needed; what age or +country can? + +I think it may be America that will be called upon to lead other nations +and have them cast aside their war preparations and prepare for peace. +In every crisis through which this country has passed we have been +fortunate, thank God, that the right man has always been found. We have +had our Washingtons, Lincolns, Websters, McKinleys, Wilsons, and +hundreds of others and in every instance when some great problem has had +to be solved, either in this country or abroad, in either science, +statesmanship, literature or art, no matter how perplexing, difficult or +intricate, American brains and ingenuity, in the vernacular of the day, +has brought home the bacon, Swift's premium, if you please! + +I have always felt deeply sorrowful for the man who studies long and +ardently with a bowed head resting upon his hands. His whole soul seems +to be calling for the fine sympathies that can only be rendered from the +loving teachings of the Nazarene. He is calling for the tender affection +that is keenly necessary to right him just before that sullen burning +wave of despondency casts him into utter gloom and sorrow. O +Christianity! Christianity! amid wealth, society, culture, influence, +peace, advancement, laws, legislators, and boasted liberty where art +thou? + +Visit the parks of any cities, towns or small villages and you can find +sitting on the benches man after man who is unable to solve the problem +of an honest existence. There he is, honest, clean, and worthy of good +citizenship, unable to find labor that will keep him an honor to +society. What will become of him in this land of boasted opportunity and +liberty? Plenty for all; but monopolized and organized until the +laboring man is almost ostracized. Look at his countenance, clear cut, +manly and open, haggard, yes, but from what? From worry, loss of sleep, +lack of food, responsibility of a family without funds, etc. But withal +you find no look of dissipation, no odor of liquor, no foul language, +and still with all these excellent qualities of meritorious citizenship +he is sinking. How long will he stand it? + +Were you ever in a condition of this kind when any way you turned you +were outfigured. How long can a man have a thorn like this continually +getting deeper and deeper into his flesh before he will make a grasp for +it, and endeavor to release the pain? Where is the cause? What is wrong +with our wide heralded economic system? This condition being true of the +man with a family how alarming to the young man of today without a +family? Show me any incentive or inducement for the common ordinary man +of today without funds to cause him to establish a home and rear a +family under the grand old Stars and Stripes, and I'll show you a man +that loses worse than a bankrupt in the finer sense of the word. + +Without the establishment of homes this nation can not stand. No matter +how frugal a man is, no matter how economical his habits you can give +him the most promising part and he can not marry and rear a family +because at every angle he is beaten. What is he going to do? Free land +is almost gone, food stuffs are high, all his needs are expensive; how +can he make it? Every line he wishes to enter is crowded! Reason for +yourself and see if this is not true. + +When you talk of large families, who raises them but the poor people and +this will soon be eliminated. If the poor man raises one child he is +doing more than his duty to society than the rich man. The expense is +such a night-mare and horror to a common, ordinary and honest man to +provide the necessaries of life for his family that I sometimes shudder +and feel sorry that I caused children to be born, fought for a home, +paid my debts, and lived clean. I wouldn't want to do it again for my +country, and I love her as I do the man of Galilee. + +I fear America is no longer another word for opportunity as was said by +the beloved Emerson, unless she helps him to establish homes on the +public domain by loaning him money at a low rate on long time periods +and keep him at work and help him along and not foreclose when he is +doing his best to win. He'll win, give him a chance. + +What Emerson said may have been true at an earlier period it was so +intended, but the plan was lost sight of and the great greed for wealth +was accomplished to the detriment of the majority who have been obliged +to make their living with their hands. It is a sad fact but true that +there is a revolution slowly kindling in the breasts of the laboring +class of people against capital; God grant that in some way the fire can +be put out. + +I have sometimes thought what's the use of living. The sorrows and pains +outnumber the joys by a large margin. You slip down the hill of pleasure +without any exertion, but to climb the mountain of morality is a +gigantic task, for every step is a struggle, and after you have fought +and won nine-tenths of the journey one misstep and you slip to the +bottom and the whole climb is before you again. It's fight, fight all +the time, continually and forever! It robs you of nature's rest, steals +away your ambition, stirs up hatred towards those in easy circumstances +and causes conditions of unrest and strife. + +Is life worth the gigantic struggle to overcome the perplexing +difficulties and endeavor to live honest and clean and not slip down the +path of despair where the great majority seem to be going. I say it is! +"For, what do you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own +soul." + +Let your mind ponder over the story of Lazarus picking up the crumbs +from the rich man's table and you must conclude the starving beggar +gained uncomparable joy and satisfaction to the rich man's torment when +the two men's lives were carefully weighed on the scales where God +predominates and not the sugar trust. It pays! It pays in a thousand +different ways! + +There is something to a man that lives an upright life in the church and +in the world. He is a valued asset to any community, he may be poor but +he has character, and this is something money can not buy. It takes a +good life to make a man. A fellow that is rich and lives solely for the +pleasure of his money is not a man. + +One time I mused thus: If it could be so, just for the shortest duration +of time, while temptation was the strongest and the fierce conflict was +raging, if I could be blind, absolutely blind till the strong temptation +had passed and then let me see again and have my first sight catch the +last glimpse of the golden sun as it dipped behind the western horizon, +leaving behind a long stream of golden beauty stretching out in its +grandeur to kiss the evening sky; even if a scene like this could erase +the temptation and the blindness prevail during the surging of the +conflict, how could my faith be increased by not having the moral +courage and strength of character to withstand the evil? It's the +casting aside of temptation by the sheer strength of the will power that +makes the struggle easier, the way grow brighter, and the victories +grander. If God would allow such a condition once, we, in our weakness, +might ask again and again and instead of growing stronger we would grow +weaker. It is the heroic fighter who has won his laurels when the +bullets of evil whizzed all around him that you like to go up to and pin +the medal on. + + + + +THE SADNESS BEHIND THE VALE. + + +A life of self-denial and sacrifice is the grandest object the sun +shines on. There is nothing under the azure skies of heaven so worthy of +true merit as the pure, unspotted and unselfish heart of a sacrificing +mother. How my heart aches for the poor, worn and tired mother whose +whole life is confined in four walls with three or four children, laying +claim to her entire time and attention. You do not find these kind of +women saturated with society; they are not fanatics on woman suffrage +nor are they riding through the streets in a limousine with a +good-for-nothing yellow-nosed pup sitting beside them. In common decency +how can any woman with any affection or mother love center it upon such +an object as a despicable, worthless pug-nosed cur. If it was a dog like +a Shepherd, St. Bernard, Newfoundland, and many others, there would be a +little better taste shown, but when it is confined solely to the mongrel +whelps and Teddy bears I think it is high time to pick up the Bible and +read the thirty-second chapter of Isaiah from the first to the twelfth +verse inclusive. Lord, but it is pitiful to see such things committed +when there are thousands and thousands of poor little homeless girls and +boys starving to death for some one to love them, give them a home and +then see a poodle woman and her poodle dog go rushing by. + +For a long number of years I have had the pleasure of being acquainted +with one of God's self-denial mothers. If this earth contains anything +sweeter and the next world anything better the mind of man so far hasn't +been able to conceive it nor the Bible to reveal it. In her early +womanhood and all through her life she has been frail, small-boned, +short of stature, delicate, and very unmuscular. Her's was not the +physique to struggle as she has against life's tremendous battles, but +she took up the burden cheerfully, looked every difficulty in the face +squarely and openly and lifted her voice to the ever-listening ear and +overcame every obstacle with gentleness and love. When heartaches, pains +and sorrows seemed so heavy that human endurance could no longer stand +the strain and tension, she would, through the channels of her wonderful +self-control, step from beneath the heavy clouds of trials and sorrows +out into the sunshine of God's holy love and stand master and conqueror +of every trial. The loyal battles she has swept with victory are worthy +of such praise and eulogy that the human mind can not find words choice +enough to meet it. + +Poverty with all its worry can not engulf her, for she has that faith +that there will be a way provided and she determines, and the mountain +is seen moving in the distance. No time to partake of many pleasures is +her lot; she must study her every day cares, rear her children, school, +clothe, and provide for them. Many times a tear stands where joy should +be. It is beyond all understanding why her cross should be so heavy when +every atom of her strength has been used to make the world better, but +no matter how heavy the load is, how painful the head might ache, or how +discouraging the teacher, the present every day conditions must be met +and the sooner begun the sooner ended. Every minute is occupied or the +accumulation of wasted time makes the burden heavier. + +The hands work and the mind works. Neither can rest and accomplish the +needs, and while the hands iron and bake and wash, the mind is occupied +on what the hungry mouths demand, and how an old coat or vest or an +under garment can be made into an article of service. + +These are the kind of women worth while; these are the kind that more +than do their part in sustaining a great government. Her lot is not a +pleasant one, but she hands down to posterity a better and more +substantial foundation for better government than any class of women in +our nation; her life is an open book where the entries are made on each +day's pages. On page after page you can see where the tears have fallen, +where the struggle has been so keen and bitter that hope had almost +fled; but turn the page and you will find renewed hope. The +ever-listening ear has heard the words bathed in grief and the answer +came, "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted." How a +few dollars from some good-hearted philanthropist would ease the way for +this poor little struggling woman. Why is it when she has reached the +point in life where she should expect the most the least is at hand? She +has passed the thirty-eighth mile post, with the odds strongly against +her. The system is torn down more rapidly than it can be built up. +Everything seems to combat against her and endeavor to overwhelm her, +but sorrows, discouragements, trials, hardships and heartaches with +their utmost collective strength have not been sufficient to thwart or +encompass her. Every one has been defeated, the cost has been gigantic, +it has stooped her shoulders, chiseled deep creases in her brow and cast +snow among her locks, robbed her of comforts due her and strewn old age +where youth should be. The sad face still smiles and with an +unconceivable determination she meets every foe in the great battle +field of life and crushes them. + +She does it from close application of that wonderful story of love that +is found in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew from the +third to the twelfth verses inclusive. The greatest solace to aching +hearts the world has ever known. The struggle would have never been met +and conquered if she had depended on her own strength, she needed a +higher source to guide her and in every struggle the lowly man of +Galilee stood beside her and when the cross became so heavy that she +stumbled and was ready to fall, his loving arm was ready to shield and +sustain her. + +With all her pains and trials there came into her life one night the +greatest sorrow of all, and although the load she had carried far +overtaxed her strength she had to bear another and heavier one. Her +little sweetheart boy of nearly two years old came toddling in one day +with the cruel marks of a fatal sickness on his sweet little face, and +after three days and nights of long vigil the tired mother laid down to +rest, and as she slept on a pillow bathed with tears the pure little +innocent soul was gathered into the arms of angels and carried away. +Years have passed, but the pain lingers and when the thoughts go back to +the silent form in the little white casket the tender heart of this pure +woman is so engulfed in sorrow that it seems it is entirely beyond all +human endurance and patience. It is then this still, small voice she has +known so long, again speaks and says: "Come unto me all ye that labor +and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." + + * * * * * + + How her dear heart did ache when the death angel trod + And took back her boy to his maker and God; + No sorrow nor pain nor heart aches nor tears + Are ever more known where he takes these small dears. + + There is something so sad in the valley of death, + When the heart stops its beat and there's no longer breath! + That angels must come to ease up the pain, + And open the soul to let the tears drain. + + How long are the years and how many it takes + Before there is peace from the burning heart aches! + The home is so lonely so silent and still + There is something gone out that nothing can fill. + + His little things stand where he left them one day, + The little toy dog all ready for play, + The big choo choo train and the horse he called Bill, + All wait for the hand that is silent and still. + + + + +GRATITUDE. + + +Few people care to listen to your sorrows, trials and burdens if you are +not succeeding. If you succeed, everybody is grabbing for the stock no +matter how well filled with water it is. They point with pride at the +successful man as he saunters by; he can do a great many things that are +shady, but on account of his success and prominence they are hushed up +and never rise above a whisper; he's dined and wined; gets cut prices on +everything he consumes; rebates from the railroads and special +privileges in the churches. But take the poor fellow that each day's +debts eats up his pay roll and we never hear of his fine qualities until +we read his obituary. + +If you will take a few leisure moments and look up the meaning of the +word "gratitude," you will find that there are few words that surpass it +in quality, love and kindness. It clusters near the soul and is properly +a virtue. In this life it is very hard to be misunderstood and +undervalued by those we love, but this too in the journey from the +cradle to the grave we must learn to bear without a murmur, for it's a +tale often repeated. + +Any one who has given their time, talent and attention serving the dear +people, either as a Town Trustee, member of the School Board, Mayor, or +any of the petty offices of small towns and villages, used his best +judgment in endeavoring to meet every issue honestly, fairly and +squarely, wins for his gratuitous services the everlasting displeasure +of his constituents. + +No matter how hard you strive or how honest you may be there come up +little intricate issues where there is no middle course and no matter +what stand you take some people charge you with graft and dishonest +motives. Any one who can serve for one term and is so unfortunate and +foolish as to accept another, has acquired a character so colored that +it takes from ten to fifteen years in our best Sunday Schools to wash +out the stains. + +Don't ever feel elated or think you are popular because you are elected +and people call you alderman, for the first thing they will do will be +to slip out that pleasant, sweet sounding word "Alderman" and put in +"Grafter" with the thumbscrews set. They'd call you a grafter if they +personally know the treasury had been depleted for fifteen years. My, +the pleasures of a gratis councilman! + +I have heard of people losing their minds for long intervals and then +suddenly regain them and I have often wondered if they had been favored +with an aldermanic pleasure and the mind commenced to slip into space, I +wonder if when the cog alderman appeared if it wouldn't cause such a +jolt that it would clear the whole mental atmosphere. Perhaps there is +one redeeming feature and if it wasn't for some consolation the pictures +and scenes would be so indelibly impressed that you would be able to +recall them long after you'd said "Amen." + +The spirit of revenge and retaliation were never very deeply imbedded in +my make up. The seed being lightly sown I used the harrow instead of the +cultivator and got it out. I am glad I did; it has helped me to get a +good night's rest instead of fondling and caressing discolored orbs that +might have come in sudden contact with solid and knotty obstacles. + +I bought a small business one time from a devout Presbyterian; I had the +greatest confidence and trust in him, which I had a sad right to have. +If false colors are carried we must find it out because they carry no +notice to warn us. Well, anyway, he spread the tempting menu of his +careful preparation in great shape. He was pleasant, courteous and very +entertaining. The way he figured up the invoice you'd thought +mathematics was his specialty. His tongue kept pace with his pencil and +after everything was figured up he brought up the "Bonus Good Will" part +and I really thought he was letting me do him a favor by giving him one +hundred iron men. You see I wanted his good will along with everybody +else's. + +I am glad I learned about this "Good Will" business. All told "Good +Will" and "Bonuses" have cost me nine hundred and thirty-three dollars +thirty-three and a third cents. Don't try to fool me on "Good Wills" +again; they're a drug on the market, very unsaleable and unpopular to +your humble servant. + +After I paid the "Good Will" price and everything was agreeably settled +I started in with my maiden business. Going through the bags and some +other stuff in the back room a few days afterwards, I discovered bags +invoiced and paid for at one hundred pounds shy. "Shy," I said, and he a +Christian! This taught me that there are eighty and ninety pound +Christians. The loud smelling, decaying and life moving gunny sacks +contained prepared meats for poultry. I quit in disgust and went into +the front department; a fellow stepped in and said, "How is business?" +and I answered "Rotten." A frank acknowledgment of a painful truth. + +Other things ran about the same; the horses were sold as unblemished, +sound as a dollar, etc., and mind you, he a Christian and ministers +dropping in every few days and talking and planning how to increase the +congregation. My, I'm glad I used that harrow! When I sold out the +business, I marked down experiences one thousand dollars. I felt pretty +blue after I had lost the thousand bones I worked hard to get, and it +used to be when I got the blues I eased my mind with graveyard poetry; +pardon me for inserting it here. + + If I should die tonight how few would care; + Perhaps some heart would ache, some one somewhere, + Some might cast a lingering look, a tear + And tremble with emotion at my bier, + But before many days would pass away, + Before my silent form would turn to clay, + I'd be forgotten and alone, + And not a heart to ache or moan. + Oh! this bitter, lonely life's a snare, + The kind friends you hear so much about are rare. + Some may mean it in their hearts but feign + And measure men by dollars not by brain. + +A friend came to me one time and said he was in pressing financial +straits and asked me to loan him fifteen dollars for two weeks. I +granted the request and the loan was made. I thought I was familiar with +the calendar and knew when two ordinary weeks ended, but those two weeks +were the longest I have ever known. Fortnight after fortnight passed and +no end came. Long and endless weeks of this kind might be all right for +the man facing the electric chair, but they had no solace for an +individual anxious to get married and needing the husky "Simoleans" to +furnish a cage for his waiting bird. + +One day I met the overdue biped and I said, "How about it?" I was young +then and I thought I could glide in as easy this way as well as any +phrase I had in my limited vocabulary. "Well," he said, "I'll tell you +what I'll do. I know you are about to plunge in the matrimonial sea and +I have a proposition to offer you. I have a good standard make of organ +that I don't need and if you will give me forty-five dollars and forget +about that previous fifteen we will call the transaction closed and drop +the curtain." + +"All right," I said, "here is your money." + +That organ may not be in existence yet, but it's in my memory fresh as +ever. I couldn't play it, for it was all I could do to carry a tune when +it was tied in a bag. I had no wife to play it and I couldn't keep it +and get married, I was in a desperate condition one day when I walked +into a hardware store, that is a store, you know, where they keep ware +that is hard, frying pans, dish pans, bread pans, etc., you know what +those things are for. "Well," I said to the village wit behind the case, +"I'll trade you that organ for enough household paraphernalia to cook +with, take care of enough viands and stuff or whatever you call it, to +keep two people about to start out together; each now separate and apart +but very anxious to be united." "Agreed," he said, "hand over that list +you've got with the articles on and I'll have them ready in a short +time." + +Funny, isn't it, how the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb, but how +about the one ready to be shorn when there isn't even a zephyr blowing. +Well, the deal was transacted, exchange made, and that is how I got my +household goods when I married dearie. The financial report read like +this: Actual cash in organ, sixty dollars; actual worth, forty-five +dollars; second actual value in organ, forty-five dollars; actual value +of pots and pans twenty-five dollars, experience and pleasure of making +a two weeks' loan, thirty-five dollars. This was not putting a premium +on "Bliss" for a fellow just getting ready to carry the matrimonial +load. + +The weight would have been some lighter if that weasened faced Dutchman +had not worked off on me a left handed frying pan for a right-handed +bride, and was so extremely liberal on the good deal he had made that he +threw in a second hand mouse trap when the new ones sold six for a dime. +This was the first time I saw tears in my wife's eyes. The fountain was +opened and they flowed freely. Those tears were trivial to the tears +we've in shed later life, but those first tears moved me to almost +unconsolable grief and the emotion caused a flow of poetry. It's not +very long and will not tire you much, so I will slip it in here as a +filler. + + Cheer up, little darling, + You know my love is true, + And nowhere in this great big world + Is a sweeter girl than you. + I have loved you always + Trust me fully, dear, + Let me be your shining star + I'll sparkle when you're near. + And all along our pathway + We'll never pluck a thorn, + But will pluck the roses + In life's dewy morn, + Roses are more fragrant, + They'll give us better cheer + And the thorns we'll cast aside, + They are worthless, dear. + +When I was a County Clerk and exceedingly busy pushing the quill over +the big records, a M. E. Minister came in one day and accosted me with +that word that arouses confidence. Brother, he said, we are figuring on +a short order annex to the church, (remember that word SHORT?) and we, +of course, couldn't slight you and if you will kindly donate as +liberally as possible the Lord will bless you abundantly, for you know +he loves a cheerful giver, and etc., and etc. Well, I responded. When +you get your subscription list in these parts drop in and I will help +you. + +I know what an annex to some of the churches without or with cook stove +means. It seems nowadays, as the prophecies are being filled, some +churches deem it necessary to feed the stomach before the soul, +realizing, I presume, a full stomach is a twin brother to a big heart. +They beg the food and the utensils to serve it in from uncheerful givers +and then dispense it cautiously and sparingly, the more sparingly the +more money for the Lord. When the ice cream is served they forget all +about scriptural measure of "Heaped up and running over" and run it +under. If one dish of scriptural measure can be stretched into four +dishes of worldly measure, there is forty cents instead of ten. High +finance, you see! I've often thought a society of this kind that would +squeeze down the measure on ice cream procured at a minimum cost, would +bear watching if they were running a milk wagon with a pump near. If any +one else gets money in this way they call it an unearned increment. What +would Jesus call it? I really would be afraid to express my thoughts at +that kind of a meeting for fear they'd request the parcel post. + +In a few days the brother dropped in and hoisted from his inside pocket +the subscription list and handed it to me. I glanced over it casually, +as is natural in such cases made and provided, to see who were the +cheerful givers. After concluding what I thought was a liberal donation +and really beyond what a man of my means should give I put down forty +dollars and handed the paper back to him. The ungentlemanly gentleman +took it and looked at it and said, "Well, we expected much better than +this from you." You know what feelings ebb and flow within you when you +get a snub like this. I could feel the Irish blood chasing the English +blood at a hazardous speed, but I said nothing and was glad again of the +early use of that harrow. + + + + +JUST POEMS. + + + The Dog. + + Of all the beasts beneath the sun + There is no other, not a one, + That clings to man in sweet and bitter + As faithful as the canine critter. + + When fortune smiles upon its crest + And all your toil is richly blest + The loyal dog is near at hand + For slightest duty or command. + + When poverty comes stalking in + And you have lost your precious tin, + The good old dog is just the same + In dire distress or glittering fame. + + In tattered rags or spick and span + He has a truer heart than man, + And when you meet most keen defeat + His sympathy is there to greet. + + When you are old and had your day, + With feeble limbs and head of gray, + And angels come to take you home, + The good old dog is last to roam. + + He'll watch beneath the stars at night + Beside your grave a sadful sight, + And wait and wait for many a day, + When faded flowers have blown away. + + A dog's great love is most sublime, + It lingers near the word divine, + And intertwines from him above, + For dog turned around is God and love. + + * * * * * + + The Booze. + + Oh the ones who drink the booze, + You can tell it by their flues, + The torrid heat within flames up the nose. + At first they're moderate drinkers, + And become the same as thinkers, + And what a sight for pity ere the close. + + Chorus. + + The booze, the booze, + Any way you choose, + No matter how you figure it you lose. + + How many homes that suffer, + When they shelter such a duffer, + Whose presence causes heartaches, tears and blows, + But you can always tell 'em + If you can't then you can smell 'em, + But if all the signs should fail you there's the nose. + + If you only take a drop + You know you'll never stop, + Don't you realize that dynamite explodes, + Better take an inventory, + Before you're blown, no not to glory, + But to where they ignite quickly, Jimmy Rhodes. + + What's the matter with your clothes, + Or do you for artists pose, + Don't you ever meditate or think + There's enough loam in your hair + To rob an acre bare, + Take an invoice before another drink. + + Stop, my friend, don't be a slave, + Do not fill a drunkard's grave, + Be a man from birth until close, + Come to him, the Galilean, + He will make your future clean, + He's the one to take the add from off your nose. + + * * * * * + + What's the Difference? + + It matters not, so some folks say, + Where rests the form when 'neath the clay. + There is no choice when the heart is still, + Some always say and always will. + + This may be true when we're forgot, + And aught remains to mark the spot, + But a silent stone that stands all time, + With letters cold to tell mankind. + + Some may not care where rest their bones, + In foreign lands or near their homes, + Where tender hearts can shed the tear + And bathe the roses on the bier. + + I'd rather rest 'neath shady trees, + That beautify and kiss the breeze + With velvet grass spread over the plot, + With lilies and forget-me-not. + + * * * * * + The Steering Wheel. + + 'Twas a party blithe and gay, + On a joy ride as they say, + Gliding many miles away from home. + Midnight long was by + They were coming in on high + When suddenly there was an awful moan. + + The steering wheel went wrong, the papers said, + One was badly injured, three were dead. + The same old story neatly woven in a tale, + The sadness of the scene behind the vale, + And not a line or word to make you think, + What had put the wheel upon the blink. + + The verdict of jury, so they say, + Said the steering wheel was loose and had too much play; + But by chance some people looking around, + Some real and newer evidence was found, + 'Tis evidence you find and seldom fail + If you let the ribbon bottle tell the tale. + So in the name of justice, as I feel, + Why not exonerate the wheel. + + * * * * * + + Such High Taxes, Gee-Whilaker. + +Meadow larks, as you have undoubtedly noticed, warble many different +songs. They sound like this to me: One says, "Here is your homesick +girl." Another, "Light the light, it is gone down." Another, "Here is +your English preacher." Another, "The smeeking smock bird," and others, +from which the following poem is written, say, "Such high taxes, +Gee-whilaker." + + As I stood in the yard of our high taxed home, + And filled my lungs with pure ozone, + My eye went wandering far and nigh, + And I saw a meadow lark flitting by. + + He flew to a post for a moment's rest, + And gazed a while both east and west, + And then soared on, going higher and higher, + Till he perched way up on the court house spire. + + From a bird's eye view of quaint renown, + He sized up the modern Julesburg town, + The stand pipe built on the court house square, + Is an old eye sore with a record rare. + The power house hid from the passer by + Must been for economy, heat or pie? + The city sewer, electric lights, + Cement side-walks and high school sites, + Was picturesque and nice to heed, + But sad for the one that held the deed. + + He raised his head as he ceased to note, + And out from the depths of his golden throat + His voice did peal as he said with a whirr, + Such high taxes, Gee-whilaker. + + * * * * * + + To the Mrs. + + I am going to take a kiss, + And I know it's not a miss, + But before I miss my kisses, + I will take them from the Mrs. + + Kisses from the dear old Mrs. + Are the sweetest kind of kisses. + But if the Misses kisses, + Then there will be kisses Mrs. + + Just as long as Mrs. kisses, + There's no trouble with the Misses + But let the Misses kisses + And something's doing Misses Mrs. + + * * * * * + Don't Procrastinate. + + Don't wait till tomorrow, + For joy or sorrow, + And miss the golden today. + For every minute, + Your heart's not in it, + There's something slipping away. + + 'Twas Jesus who said, + 'Ere his spirit fled, + On the cross at Calvary, + That he who had hope, + Need never grope, + For the better things to be. + + So don't never worry, + And fret and flurry, + For things that's not for you, + But hammer away, + At life's forge today, + For things that are good and true. + + * * * * * + Sister Mary. + + Mary, I know not who + Has a truer heart than you. + Your's a life that does excell + For doing every duty well. + + In this world of woman kind + A purer life I couldn't find, + If I looked my life time thru, + I would bring the crown to you. + + I am proud to tell you, dear, + Your's has been a life of cheer, + Where every hardship, trial and sorrow, + Was sweetly met before tomorrow. + + May God's blessing sweetly rest, + In a life so richly blessed + With kind words and cheerfulness, + For every heart that knew distress. + + * * * * * + Yes. + + 'Twas underneath the columbine, + Where dearie said she would be mine, + My heart rejoiced at that glad word, + The sweetest one I ever heard. + + I've wondered many times since then + How one word changes lives of men, + Some it makes and others breaks, + And others know they've made mistakes. + + It gladdens some and saddens some, + It opens up the way to rum, + It fills the pen, the cells of jails, + It wags the tongue with many tales. + + It fills the lawyer's purse with fees, + It crowds the courts with quick decrees, + It to the drug store many guide, + It fills the graves with suicide. + + It pulls the trigger of the gun, + It breaks the heart of many a one, + It causes pain where joy should be, + It fills the home with misery. + + It joins the short unto the tall, + It never heeds old wisdom's call, + It clasps the hands of slim and stout, + And makes a mess beyond a doubt. + + It breaks the dishes on your head, + It makes you wish that you were dead, + It mixes father with the son, + It has no end when once begun. + + It's no respecter of your right, + It gets you out at dead of night, + It makes its scars and many a whelt, + It makes you cuss T. Roosevelt. + + It makes the Irish like the Dutch, + The black the brown the squaw and such. + It causes if the truth would tell, + A thing on earth you all know well. + + So with all wisdom I'll confess, + Before you tackle this word yes, + Have these professions up in G, + Lawyer, preacher and M. D. + + + * * * * * + The Lay of the Last Hen. + + 'Twas yesterday the deed was done, + That made my heart feel like a ton, + When cruel fate held its sway, + And robbed my hen of her last lay. + + The sympathy swelled in my breast, + For my old hen so long caressed, + Who stood by me for many years, + Thru joy and sorrow, mirth and tears. + + When times were hard and crops were light, + There was to me no sweeter sight, + To get that egg and let it melt, + Underneath my gnawing pelt. + + The tariff never worried her + She did her duty at one per, + Wilson, Taft or Roosevelt, + Never had a cause she felt. + + She built the muscle in my arm, + She paid the taxes on the farm, + She kept the wolf from strolling in, + She clothed the kids from Kate to Win. + + She always let the whole world know, + With joyful song in rain or snow, + That she'd performed a duty neat, + That man himself has never beat. + + I couldn't help it, I'll confess, + The tears flowed freely, more or less, + When that dear form was tenderly laid, + Beneath the elm tree's pleasant shade. + + Here's to the hen upon the nest, + That keeps the table, fills the guest, + Builds up the system, ne'er regrets + And brings results whene'er she sets. + + * * * * * + The Dear Old Hod. + + When I've labored hard all day, + And the supper's cleared away, + There's a joy before I nod, + When I load my dear old hod. + + As the smoke curls in the air, + Chasing from me life's dull care, + I can lean far back and think, + And put the worry on the blink. + + Here's to thee, Missouri cob, + Many years upon the job, + Your's a mission not all bad, + If you ease the load on dad. + + * * * * * + Dear Old Kate. + + I know I stayed a little late, + The last time that I courted Kate, + I had a speech I wished to try, + And how the hours hurried by. + + The question that I wished to pop, + Would never let me have the flop, + My cheeks would burn, my throat get dry, + I was nearly hot enough to fry. + + I guess I tried a dozen times, + I drilled myself in all the lines, + But when I reached the vital point, + The whole blame works got out of joint. + + It made me mad and also sad, + I felt like going to the bad, + I'd practised long, out in the trees, + Just how to face her on my knees. + + I'd hold the bough as Katie's hand, + And with the best at my command, + I'd bare my soul with pleading tears, + For her to join me all the years. + + I guess I never would have won, + If Katie hadn't just for fun + Heard my appeal with silent feet, + And said, "Why, sure, you dear old sweet." + + + * * * * * + Tim. + + Once I knew a man named Tim, + Thought a mighty lot of him, + For his goodness, heart and mind, + Were of such a loving kind. + + Never heard him boast or tell, + Of the things he'd done so well: + Lips would kinda set with tension, + If his past you'd slightly mention. + + Kinda made his face look sad, + Maybe some great grief he'd had, + But he'd pass it off and say, + Kinda looks like rain today. + + Wasn't much past fifty-nine, + Led a life serene and fine, + Lived just on the edge of town, + Liked to have the folks look round. + + Greatest chum of little tads, + Liked to humor all their fads, + Fixed their wagons, made them trains, + Soothed their many cares and pains. + + Made no difference to Tim, + If you'd never heard of him, + He would always say, "Hello," + Said his mother taught him so. + + Worldly goods he hadn't much, + Never seemed to care for such, + Said he liked the Master's way, + Of doing things for just today. + + Dear old Tim took sick one night, + Thought his spirit would take flight, + But we all just hurried in, + And it helped revive old Tim. + + Said it made him awful glad, + Wished a larger house he had, + But we all said, get well, Tim, + Couldn't lose a man like him. + + + * * * * * + The Business Man. + + Here is to the business man, + Who does the very best he can, + And pays to each their honest debt, + And don't forget it makes him sweat. + + He labors from the morn till night, + With brain and muscle in the fight, + To keep his head above the stream, + When finances are not serene. + + He's to the one you always go, + When life has pained you with a woe, + You know his purse is always free, + To lessen grief or misery. + + You toss on him most carelessly, + The gratis job of town trustee, + And then you pass around the word, + He's just the man for the school board. + + He helps to school your girls and boys, + He shares with you your pains and joys, + He helps to pay the preacher's bill, + And aids the churches with good will. + + He has to pay his bills when due, + But if he asks the same of you, + You think your credit's met his fears, + And let it run along for years. + + You let him long and look and look, + At your account upon the book, + And you'll admit if you are frank, + He pays your interest at the bank. + + If he would say and tell you true, + When your account has long been due, + That ten per cent was charged to you, + You'd swear until the air was blue. + + If he helps you, then why not him, + And don't keep sending off your tin, + But give it to your home merchants, + And keep the gloss from off their pants. + + + * * * * * + Falling Snow. + + There's something in the falling snow, + That brings back years of long ago, + That makes you think of younger days, + Behind a span of gallant bays. + + The frosty air, the rosy dames, + The secrets and the loving names, + Of days gone by long years ago, + Comes back today with falling snow. + + The laughter pealed o'er rocks and trees, + The songs re-echoed with the breeze, + Of merry rides so bright and gay, + Are chasing thru my mind today. + + The biting air with keen delight, + Puts crispness in the appetite, + And mother's pies of golden hue, + Soon faded like the morning dew. + + And how I wish I could today, + Turn back the years the youthful way, + And drive the bays and see them go, + And blush with youth midst falling snow. + + + + +SALLIE'S LOYALTY. + + +That's Sallie over there in that potato patch. She has been endeavoring +to tease from mother earth enough tubers to supply the family through a +long winter. Nature in this and many other instances has been unkind. +The rain waited too long and the one supply of food that fills so large +a place are small as marbles, nevertheless this dear soul laboriously +gathered them and is carrying them, pail at a time, and storing them +away for a long, cold winter. Though the tubers are small and puny, she +has a way of cooking them with such marked success that they would +tickle the palate of a king and he'd be passing his plate the second +time. + +Sal does the housework, the buying of supplies, cares for the chickens, +plants the garden, does the sewing, picks up the paint brush when +necessary, and does about everything that anyone can do. She is past +fifty years of age, most of them hard and bitter years. They have not +been the kind of years where the goal has been worth the trials and +bitterness. The streaks of silver are beginning to show in her dark +hair, she is small in physique, clean limbed, lithe, resourceful, +determined, and intelligent. Her schooling in the practical side of life +is an attainment any one should be proud of. She is one of the most wiry +and courageous women that has ever lived such a grand and noble life and +kept the sad, dreary and lonely part locked up in her unselfish heart. + +Behold her as she is, one of God's purest gifts! Her life is clean, +wholesome and grand and of such a sweetness and beauty that mocks to +scorn any imitation of the artist. For eight long years she has cared +uncomplainingly for the aged, widowed mother as her almost sole +benefactor of aid and cheer in the home. She has sacrificed, schemed, +planned, worked, and struggled in a way that is worthy of our greatest +financiers, diplomats, or statesmen. She has fought within her own heart +far greater battles and carried away the victory to a more deserving +reward than many a soldier on the battlefield. She has denied herself in +order that she might give the fullest measure of devotion to a dear old +mother who is slipping slowly, slowly to that great home of rest and +comfort. + +God bless you, Sallie, in your old age, when the silver streaks no +longer glisten in your hair and it is all turned to the whiteness and +purity of snow; when your poor, tired aching limbs from their long years +of toil no longer yield to quick response, when time chisels its deep +furrows in your brow and your keen eye loses its lustre and grows dim. I +hope God will reward you with the choicest gifts of his kingdom, and +when the final summons is made and you stand in the open doorway of his +love, bathed in the purity of the sparkling dew in the evening time of +life, may the sweetness of your character come wafting gently in the +fulness of its beauty and dwell amidst all that is holy, sweet and +sacred. + + Dearest Sal, you're growing old, + But there never can be told, + The great jewels you possess, + In your life of righteousness. + + I would love you just the same, + Had you reached the highest fame, + For you have a heart so true, + There would be no change in you. + + You have done all duties well, + Better than my tongue can tell, + I would love to ease your way, + And turn your winters back to May. + + I have but one life to live, + But for you I'd freely give, + I'd go down that lonesome valley, + If 'twould help you, dear old Sallie. + + + + +SUNSHINE. + + +In endeavoring to entertain you in this chapter I wish I might have the +wit of a Nasby or come Nye the Mark; but not having the brilliant +talents of either of these illustrious wits who cracked the ribs of so +many people I hope you will bear with me patiently as I proceed to give +to you some rays of sunshine I have been picking up for the last twenty +years from all classes of people. + +A fellow said to me one time I'll tell you a panacea for every ailment. +I have taken it for years and you don't need a skilled Pharmacist to +compound it. This was the simple remedy: Trust in providence and keep +your bowels open. I thought it was a pretty good prescription and if +applied carefully you would never have appendicitis or a good many other +complaints. Of course, he said, some people ask too much of providence. +I hardly think it fair to ask the Lord to furnish you the land, the +patch of potatoes, a pail to put them in, a spade to dig them with, and +then get down on your knees and in funeral tones tell him you are out of +spuds and would like a mess for dinner with the jackets off. Don't ask +too much. + +It is better to whistle than to groan. It will make some heart lighter +to hear you whistle than to groan. If you can't whistle a tune sizzle +something through your teeth, there's cheer in it for some one. No +matter how worrisome, difficult or perplexing the problem is, don't +worry or brood over it. Whistle if you can, sizzle if you can't. It will +keep you from getting meloncolic; colic that comes from something +besides eating too many Colorado watermelons with the accent strong on +the water. + +I've known people whom you'd think from all appearances they hadn't a +care in the world, the sunny side was always exposed and unconsciously +they would be dropping encouraging words, doing kind deeds, lending acts +of assistance, and doing everything to lessen the other fellow's burden. +They didn't tell any one that they didn't know where their breakfast was +coming from, but somehow or other they would get hold of some patent +breakfast food and eat it in its native state if no cow was at hand and +then they were all right until the next meal, luncheon, I believe is the +proper society word. + +It never pays to be stingy with eulogies or encomiums. A little praise +has caused many a breast to heave with gladness and chase away gloom. +The cost is small, thank God it's outside of the trusts. So don't be +backward in using it at every opportunity you meet. If the sermon is +good, go up and tell the semi-paid man behind the pulpit, it won't kill +him. He may be surprised, but keep at it until he gets used to it. If +brother or sister so and so has made a misstep and you are an unbeliever +or not, don't break your neck in rushing to your neighbor and ah, ahing +it all over town. Let two thoughts get into your head at once and let +the better thought prevail, and instead of helping stain the character +of a poor unfortunate, make it your business to use your good advice, if +you haven't any then keep still. + +When a church member steps from the narrow path, why has everybody such +a sudden interest? Why does it cause such a loosening of tongues? The +Bible says, "he that is without sin among you let him cast the first +stone." If any one but Jesus was without sin why not advertise it. Give +it to the Post and use the red letters on the front page. The way I look +at the parable quoted by Jesus is that if a stone is thrown some one has +to throw it, it may be thrown with intent or carelessness, but in either +event the stone has been thrown and some one will be struck, so the best +way is not to throw the stone, if you have to throw something, go into +one of the leagues and then don't throw a stone. Throw a baseball, but +don't hit the umpire. + +Wherever you can place a rose where a thorn has been, do it. There is +both fragrance and class to a rose, something sweet, cheerful and +pretty; but the fellow that can find any redeeming qualities in a thorn +is not the person that can stand inspection. Where could you put him +where he would be an improvement? You can't progress unless you make use +of the things progress is found in. Pluck the rose every time, leave the +other alone. + +Don't wait 'till it's time to erect the tombstone before you pay tribute +to your dear friend. One small flower is worth more to the living than +tons piled on their caskets. Some poor fellows never get tomb stones, +head stones or anything to mark their graves. How much better you feel +if you have never put a pebble in any one's path as an obstruction to +their progress than if you had been rolling boulders and now see your +mistake. You can't afford to do it. Pay your little tributes all along +the journey of life. Be as careful dropping pains or sorrows as you +would dropping pearls. + +Don't wait 'till your father, mother or wife dies, then lie about them +on their tombstones. You only have one father and one mother; be careful +and think some before you pour out any derogatory statements or cheap +invectives concerning them. Your wife is entitled to a great many +compliments you never gave her. The reverential words on the slab in the +cemetery isn't going to fool any one, and have them to believe, as you +would wish, that you did the fine thing, when really you are to blame +for stealing from her about twenty years of her life time. You've caused +hollow cheeks where roses should have been and you stole many pleasures +from her and enjoyed them all by yourself. Too much swine in your nature +to make people think you were sincere in your profuse epigram on the +tombstone. + +So many people think they are endowed with a peculiar and special sort +of wisdom and are able to fool their fellow men so successfully that +they try it on the Lord. Here is where they make a fatal mistake, for +the Lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made countenances. The +newspaper's most clever ads are no comparison to the clean, open ads the +Lord puts on faces and the clear unfrosted windows where you can look +far into the soul. + +You can't break man's laws without being detected. If you are a sneak +criminal, inebriate, crook, lascivious, immoral or any other of the +degrading types in the category of a false man, the warning is openly +and clearly displayed on your countenance. You can't fly false colors +and succeed, for sooner or later you pay the penalty to the last +farthing. When you hear the remark "I don't like his looks," there is +something shown in the countenance to verify the statement or no +accusation would have been made. Be a man and your face will do the +advertising. + +Don't be afraid of censure or criticism or let it keep you from helping +the fellow that is down. God gave us religion for that purpose. It's +something to use every day in the week and not a specialty for the +Sabbath; the more you use it the brighter it gets. Anything you don't +use and keep polished loses its usefulness and becomes rusty. Use it +whenever you can and you'll be surprised the confidence you gain in +people's hearts. It's the greatest purifier in the world, that's why God +gave it to us. He knew what he was doing. It's the only thing in the +world that will lift up the fallen woman, the drunken man, the horse +thief, the blasphemer and all others when every hand is turned against +them. It's a panacea for every evil. It's the only thing that will take +humanity with all their sins after they are entirely forsaken and down +at the threshhold of hell and make them better. It will take them in the +eleventh hour when they come sneaking in at the back door with +characters stained as black as night and every law has been +transgressed, but as they plead piteously for forgiveness, their +petition is heard and all their sins are blotted out and the Lord gives +them another chance. He stoops down in his great mercy and love and +gives them that peace beyond all understanding. He raises them up and +helps them reach for the cross when no hand is extended to help them. + +At every opportune chance laugh long and heartily, nothing is better to +cheer and comfort, and while it is doing the other fellow good you are +getting the cheapest medicine on the market for your digestive organs. +Try it after you eat some boarding house pancakes an inch think. You +have lots of things to smile for. There is always some one else worse +off than yourself. You see them everywhere. If you have a large family +your neighbor has a larger one. If you have none at all pity your +neighbor who can't figure out some way to get rid of his mother-in-law +without losing his wife. If you are able to hobble around, have a heart +for the fellow in the wheel chair and the fellow that has to stay flat +on his back and never sees the sun rise. + +There are two kinds of sunshine; one is entirely dependent upon the +individual and the other was inaugurated shortly after creation. Each is +necessary to fill the divine plan. While one kind is periodical in some +people, the other is always at hand unless clouds intervene. God's +sunshine is unexcelled and is a marvel in itself for warmth, beauty, +cheerfulness and grandeur. The rising and falling of this wonderful +orbit body is said to start and finish the work of man, as he was +supposed to labor and scheme from sun to sun. + +This plan may have been popular and proper before the day of the +multi-millionaire, but the time is too short for the present day man, +and in order to pay the necessary obligations to exist the twilight at +both ends must be consumed and then reach in and grab several hours of +darkness. The housewife may have to sew and rock the baby and prove her +contention that her work is never done, but it's up to the Governor, the +old man, Dad, or any other name you may call him, to keep the flour in +the bin, coal in the bucket, shoes on the children, and an endless +number of other things. He's the lad that must fix it up with the banker +when the note is renewed. He must through some devised method dress the +kids in schools as good as his more prosperous neighbor, or there's +snobs and tears. He must provide something besides the proverbial soup +bone that one neighbor could borrow from another through the winter +months. He must buy the latest books, procure lyceum and chautauqua +tickets, pay the preacher, the ice man, the milk man, the water man, +light man, and dig continually for charity, and thus you see the sun to +sun theory has the bottom torn out of it. + +Dad is never still long enough for the birds to build nests in his +goatee and set three weeks. If he slackens up you notice a visible +reduction in your pancake pile. The Lord didn't make the suns far enough +apart for dad or some other people. I worked for a farmer one time that +used to start out with a handmade sun about two-thirty A. M. and never +ceased till ten P. M. The meals always bothered me; I couldn't tell if +it was breakfast the next morning or two suppers. If God's sunshine +meets man's sunshine and the two mix properly, you've got an individual +that is a continual pleasure, one whose existence is exhilarating. He +whistles and sings and smiles and laughs and gets out of life everything +that is good, and everybody likes and knows him. + +I was never so ashamed in my life as I was one time when I had encased +in my left cheek a quid of tobacco the size of a hen's egg. I was +carrying on nonchalantly a conversation with a depot master, and the +saliva was gathering so rapidly, it wasn't long before I could only +grunt. I always disliked to ruin a floor with expectoration and was also +embarrassed by the presence of the agent's boy, a little fellow of four +years, but my mouth was so full and my cheeks so inflated that leakage +was starting and I was forced to eject it or swallow it. I chose the +former and let it go. It sounded like the distant booming of guns and +the space required to contain it on the floor was unbelievable. If its +dimensions didn't cover a foot square outside of the innumerable +rivulets in every direction, I'll buy my wife a twelve dollar Easter +bonnet for a Christmas present. The little boy looked at it and said, +"My, that's a big one!" I sneaked out crestfallen, abashed and ashamed, +but didn't have the sense to quit for some years afterwards, when the +preacher said something about the ashes to ashes and dust to dust. + + + + +TEMPERANCE. + + +The cause of temperance is one that has been close to my heart for +twenty years. Taken from the logical standpoint of protection to the +home, sound saneness, improvement in morals, an enhancement of +citizenship, it is the second paramount issue of the age. Take away +liquor, stop the traffic entirely, and you reduce seventy-five per cent +of crime. The empty whisky-bottle is the greatest curse that ever +existed. When it is standing filled in front of some bar-room mirror, it +is harmless, but when it is empty it signifies that it has been drank by +somebody and has been the direct cause for all that has followed. + +Trace it up and you will find sorrow, misery, heartaches, remorse, +disgrace, shame, humiliation, want, poverty, destroyed homes, cruelty, +hatred, anger, revenge, and murder. Rags, vulgarity, dishonor, wasted +lives, and deceit. Ruined sweethearts, broken-hearted wives, disgraced +parents, and hungry, shoeless children. Disease, filth, white slavery, +prize fights, tangoes, rottenness, and shame. Keeley cures, jails, +penitentiaries, poorhouses, brothels, cabarets, and insane asylums. +Thieves, robbers, safe blowers, beggars, pick-pockets, delirium tremors, +and death. Leave it alone! + +Some people say there is no harm in it; there isn't if you leave it +alone. You can take a loaded revolver and lay it alongside of a +well-filled whisky bottle and they will get along side by side +peacefully as long as time exists. Each one separate and apart are +harmless; but let a sane man come along and drink the whisky, pick up +the revolver, and what happens? Every nationality without distinction to +race or color, Irishmen included, will run for safety. + + * * * * * + +A well-educated young man with brilliant prospects, neatly attired, +attractive, and of fine, honorable parentage, was passing a saloon one +day when a friend standing in the doorway invited him in. He had never +been in a place of this kind in his life. His parents had taught him, +friends advised him, and a sweet faced girl had warned him. Conscience +told him to decline and go on, but, like millions of others, he heeded +the invitation and stepped in. "Come up and take something," the tempter +said. "No," he said, "I never drink." "Come on," urged the tempter. "It +won't hurt you." "NO," he said; "it's beneath the dignity of a true +gentleman and it would break my mother's heart." "Ah, come on, don't be +a kid," he urged, and still the boy said no. After continued and +repeated solicitation he finally yielded and drank his first glass. + +Alas, the fatal mistake was made. Years of careful training were swept +aside. Hopeful aspirations of his mother when she looked on his innocent +face in the cradle were all for naught. Solemn advice from a kind father +was lost sight of, and the deed was done. That first drink fired his +brain. Others were taken and his eyes shone, the house treated, and the +once quiet, manly lad was loud and boisterous. Self-respect was cast +aside and foul utterances flew fast and thick from a once clean mouth. +The end came. He reeled in drunkenness and fell to the floor in a +gibbering drunken stupor. He was put to bed and when sober he felt the +shame and remorse so keenly that he was at the point of self +destruction. He thought of his mother, his father, the dear little +sweetheart, and his friends. He was so afraid they would all hear of his +ignominy that he kept secluded. He couldn't bear to face them, tell all +and start anew. + +The humiliation was more than he could stand and he slipped farther and +farther down the steep and rapid descent to hell. Back in his cheerful +and once comfortable home a dear old mother sat waiting and watching +year after year the lamp was kept burning. A kind old father sat with +bowed head thinking and thinking. A dear little girl was weeping and +weeping, and still he didn't come. Where, O where was he and why didn't +he come? Alas! how sad as he sank lower and lower. Drunken brawls were +common, nights spent in revelry very often; the dissipation was telling, +his once clean countenance was haggard. His step was languid, lethargy +was settling upon him, and his whole being was repulsive. His character +was no longer clean and a thing of beauty. Brothels caught him and God's +penalties were discernible for the violation of his laws. Decent men +shunned him and pure women scorned him, but still the light was kept +burning. The mother watched, the father waited, the sweetheart prayed, +and the friends yearned; but down, down, down he went. Even dogs hurried +by him, the filth and disease was nauseating. + +The years sped quickly and there he is clear down at the bottom, an +object of disgust and scorn. Behold him, beneath the mass of stale and +putrid slime, a castoff, friendless and penniless vagabond. Beneath the +most loathsome and foul degeneracy conceivable; even beneath the filthy +sewer. He lay on a bundle of rags in a drunkard's hut. As he moaned and +groaned, an old friend passing by heard him, stepped in and stood +looking at him. With tears streaming down his cheeks the boy looked up +and said, "my life is ebbing, I am at the border line, my career is +wasted; I am a drunken, despised and worthless sot, friendless and +alone. I can see nothing ahead but the blackest despair. Oh my poor old +mother, my poor old father, my dear little sweetheart, My Sav--oh--oh." +Another spell grasped him and as he tossed and shrieked and moaned, +grappling with the demon, writhing in mental anguish, terror clouded his +countenance, his eyes rolled, his limbs jerked, the mouth dropped open, +the tongue protruded, he clutched until the blood trickled from the torn +flesh, a loud, gurgling, terrifying scream, and he was dead. Died with +the delirium tremens caused by the rum demon. As the old friend wiped +away the tears and stood looking at his pitiful form he noticed in one +of his torn and ragged pockets a slip of paper. He pulled it out and +read: + + Listen, friend, today, + To what I have to say, + Don't let temptation sway + And miss the narrow way. + + When you are young and gay + And anxious for the fray + Be ready to say "Nay" + And tread the narrow way. + + The debt I have to pay + As here near death I lay + Wouldn't hold so much dismay + Had I trod the narrow way. + + Oh tread the narrow way + And never miss a day + Ask Jesus how to pray + And tread the narrow way. + +How can America, the foremost nation of the world, that has long boasted +of liberty and advancement, allow the liquor traffic to continue when +the condition it causes are so critical. It is stealing away her brains, +increasing her crime, lowering her moral standing, demoralizing her +citizenship, and giving to posterity a weaker race and causing such +poverty, misery and unhumanitarian distress. Can this enlightened nation +afford its continuance and let it remain when it has a grasp so powerful +that it is endangering its very vitals? Can America, with her +unsurpassed institutions of learning, her brilliant and scholarly +statesmen, her great mineral and agricultural wealth yet unfound and +developed, allow a traffic so alarmingly demoralizing as to let her +constitutional principles decline? Can she sit still, under her broad +and world famed methods of progress, and allow such a traffic, that +devastates from every source, for a revenue wrung from women's tears, +that is so rapidly depreciating her citizenship. Is she prudent? Is she +applying the Christian principles of her constitution to obtain revenue +from a traffic so nefarious and debauching? If she realizes the danger +ahead why delay an amendment that enhances citizenship and principle. + + America, 'tis thee I prize, + 'Twas underneath thy azure skies, + Where heaven's light first met my eyes. + + I love thy thrift and enterprise, + To me beloved and so wise + Thy name is one I idolize. + + Thy blood did purchase liberty, + To make this land so great and free, + And quench forever tyranny. + + Oh may thy name forever be + Embraced within a righteous plea, + That lessens pain and misery. + + It is for thee that I will fight, + When'er thy cause is for the right, + For none but these e'er use thy might. + + I'll heed your call with keen delight, + But should I fall before the night, + Let freedom's flag be my last sight. + + + + +EVERY DAY PHILOSOPHY. + + +Look out for the man whose face shows it pains him to say "Good +Morning." + + * * * * * + +Never be afraid to trust the man whose dog meets him with a bound. + + * * * * * + +The mad rush to join the appendicitis club and sing in the choir +invisible has lost its popularity, both for the good of posterity and +the pocket book. + + * * * * * + +Some people take a great deal of liberty with the English language, when +they speak of work. + + * * * * * + +Stick to the boys who borrow a five occasionally and pay it back; rather +than the fellows who love you like a fly does molasses when your roll +would choke a lazy mule. + + * * * * * + +It's cheaper to buy your coal from your regular dealer and take short +weight, than to steal it from the railroad and pay court costs. + + * * * * * + +It's an ice cold fact that the fellow who is continually condemning +others' faults and pointing with pride to his own great meritable +achievements, is not entitled to a premium for sincerity. + + * * * * * + +It's often the sour, surly looking man that goes down in his pocket and +gives you his last quarter, when hunger is beating a fast tattoo against +your breastworks. + + * * * * * + +Because a man joins the church and becomes a pious and strict respecter +of Sunday observance, don't cast all caution aside and let him sell you +gold mine stock on Monday, unless you know something about the mine. + + * * * * * + +Some men tell you the wonderful things they have done from the corner +store dry goods box and then let their wives earn the living over the +wash tub. + + * * * * * + +Many a man has nearly grasped St. Peter's hand, when his wife's razor +edged tongue drove him clean down to perdition. + + * * * * * + +The fellow who is always harping hypocrite and hurling cheap invectives +against the church isn't the man to arouse confidence, the only one he +helps is the devil. + + * * * * * + +Take away profanity from some men's conversation and you haven't enough +left to know what they said. + + * * * * * + +When a man buys an Auto or a Ford on credit and lets the whiskers grow +on his coal bill they say he's got the fever. I don't think it could be +the brain kind. + + * * * * * + +If money and whiskey would lose their influence in the courts, juries +and legislatures would go to sleep and jail doors rust on their hinges. + + * * * * * + +When the Lord turns his X rays upon the people, the churches will fill +so rapidly that Easter bonnets and dress suits can be picked up +anywhere. + + * * * * * + +I know a wealthy man by the name of Moore who never was satisfied. + + * * * * * + +Obituaries are not a safe guide to the real truth. + + * * * * * + +Recollections become dim on the witness stand. + + * * * * * + +It's better to faint in the arms of truth and die in poverty than to lie +for the lap of luxury and die disgraced. + + * * * * * + +A drunken man's breath is preferable to the wagging tongue of a gossip. + + * * * * * + +Any man could live with a woman who has the patience to bathe in a wash +tub twenty-one inches in diameter for seventeen years without +complaining. + + * * * * * + +Marry in haste and repent in alimony. + + * * * * * + +It's a sad fact that many a man has missed his calling and there is +elegant material for day laborers among the professions and vice versa. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn't for $$$ a great many people would be wearing the stripes. + + * * * * * + +Some men are so economical they go without socks to buy whiskey. + + * * * * * + +If some women were better cooks there would be less dyspepsia and fewer +divorces. + + * * * * * + +If too many cooks spoil the broth, could too many church denominations +spoil the man? + + * * * * * + +The longer you use the Christ-like religion the better you like it and +the better it makes you. + + * * * * * + +The man who makes careless remarks about women does not possess the fine +attributes of a gentleman. + + * * * * * + +If religion cost money, how some church members with bible names would +grab for their purses when the lights go out. + + * * * * * + +Religion and sympathy cost nothing, but you'd think they were diamonds +the way some people use them. + + * * * * * + +The first marriage is for love, the second for convenience, and the +third a cold business proposition. Don't try for a four-bagger. + + * * * * * + +The cleanliness of the tea towel is a safe criterion to a good +house-keeper. + + * * * * * + +The great jewel "Consistency" cannot be bought with money. + + * * * * * + +Some people are so hard hearted, onions would have no effect at a +funeral. + + * * * * * + +If you don't like the taste of life's medicine, be your own doctor and +change the ingredients. + + * * * * * + +If some weak-kneed marshals and sheriffs would do their duty, there +would be less bootleggers. + + * * * * * + +Some women join the ladies' aid and use the lemon extravagantly. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman can hardly keep from yelling "Hallelujah" when her husband +dies. + + * * * * * + +If some mothers don't spend more time with their children and less with +politics this country will be over-run with pick-pockets. + + * * * * * + +If all mis-mated marriages were suddenly annulled, it wouldn't take an +expert mathematician to count those left in wedlock. + + * * * * * + +If it wasn't for their money, thousands of women would leave their +husbands. + + * * * * * + +Whiskey has killed more men than all the surgeons. + + * * * * * + +Lay the rod on the child before he gets too strong. + + * * * * * + +Better be a lady waiting than marry a sot. + + * * * * * + +Honesty stops millions from becoming millionaires. + + * * * * * + +Women born in Alaska seldom get married; too long in cold storage. + + * * * * * + +The undertaker's sympathy never interferes with his profits; he gets the +last crack at you and you can't kick. + + * * * * * + +Many a woman, who never had an extra pair of hosiery at home, loses +sight of economy, after her marriage, and plunges into extravagance so +heedlessly that her husband gives up in discouragement. + + * * * * * + +Live within your means, but don't borrow money to do it. + + * * * * * + +Spend your money when you are young, if you want to spend your old age +in the poor house. + + * * * * * + +Put a strong proviso in your deed before you turn it over to your +children, if you expect to buy your own tobacco. + + * * * * * + +The boy who criticizes his father's depleted finances on account of +hardships and honest failures, should be bodily removed into the open +air with the same amount of clothes he had when he was born and let the +thermometer show forty degrees below zero. + + * * * * * + +A court or jury that will convict a man for stealing a ten cent soup +bone and acquit the man who made thousands by going into bankruptcy +ought to have a steady stream of hot tar running down their aesophagus. + + * * * * * + +Many a rock-ribbed democrat votes for a Republican, if there is +something in it. + + * * * * * + +The tramp, with his back against the water tank, studies as hard on his +side of the problem of existence as does the fellow with greater +resources, who is up against it. + + * * * * * + +The man who can fulfill the bible by taking the slap on both sides of +the cheek is seven parts lamb and one part Irish. + + * * * * * + +The difference between a cackling hen and a cackling woman is, one +cackles when she lays and the other cackles all the time she don't lay. + + * * * * * + +Trust in God but look out for everybody else. + + * * * * * + +The man that totes a whiskey blossom on the end of his flue carries a +cheap add for the devil. + + * * * * * + +Don't worry over the sport that can smoke twenty cigarettes a day. + + * * * * * + +The girl that marries the man to reform him has a SAD lesson to learn. + +A good excuse saves lots of lying. + + + + +GLIMPSES FROM THE PAST. + + +I most humbly beg your pardon for inserting here a short address to a +Republican Convention when I was aspiring to the office of County Clerk +for the second term. The chairman having instructed the secretary of the +convention to cast the entire vote of the delegation for myself, I +addressed the convention as follows: + +Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Convention: Accept my profound thanks +for the splendid manifestation of honor that you have conferred upon an +humble individual like myself. I wish to impress upon you the political +principles I outlined to you briefly two years ago, are the same today +as they were then. I would rather be defeated honorably, squarely and +honestly than to be successful with a tarnished character obtained +through disreputable methods. I realize, as do all intelligent reasoners +withholding myself to be the humblest among you, that character is +something that is not acquired while we sleep. It is a constant every +day struggle, a life-long battle. Take away our character and what have +we left. + +I desire to say to you gentlemen that during my lifetime I have been +intimately acquainted with labor in its most aggressive form. I know +what it is to stand between two shining bands of steel under a scorching +July sun. I know what it is to stack hay under a sultry and oppressive +heat. I know the loneliness and privations that comes to one who has +tended stock in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I fully realize that +these different pursuits require grit and determination, they are the +hardest kind of labors, but I can say to you in all candor that I have +never worked harder in my life than in the past two years endeavoring to +serve the citizens of this county in the capacity of clerk. + +If I have been competent, if I have been faithful, if I have done my +duty, that is not for me to decide. You are the judges of these +conditions, if you think I have, then I ask for your support and +influence. You are a body of men from all parts of this county; if each +one of you will work for the best interests of the party I see no reason +why we should not be successful at the polls. The campaign this year is +short; I wish to say for myself that I will not be able to get around +much. The duties of my office for the past six weeks have been very +strenuous and will continue so to be for some time to come. The state +board of equalization were late in sending their report and not only +being late, but were unkind, and raised the valuation on several of our +taxable properties and this makes extra work for the clerk, so I trust +you will be like the turkey in the tall tree and keep one eye open for +the boy from Lodge Pole. + +There has happened in my short career as an American citizen a good many +things that I have felt elated over and proud of. I am proud that I am +an American citizen, born under the stars and stripes and belong to a +nation second to none. I am proud I was born in a state whose brow is +bathed by the mighty Missouri and upon whose bosom flourishes the most +productive crop of the union. But if there is one thing that I am +prouder of more than any other, it is the fact that I belong to a party +whose motto is principle and good government, and whose loftiest aim has +always been to make America the ideal nation of the world. I thank you. + +I will here relate an incident that happened when I first encountered +experience in her knee breeches, I have termed it a fighting, explosive +nauseating cough remedy. I would prefer calling it an egg nogg; but +there is one extra ingredient that disfranchises the egg and in a +peculiar way leaves the nogg there in a somewhat embarrassing condition. + +When I was a youth, I had some peculiar traits in my makeup. My main +instruction was received from that old professor, experience, and day by +day I gained some valuable knowledge in the school of hard knocks. Being +of a peculiar turn of mind I had implicit truth and confidence in all +mankind, and on account of this trait I have often met with misplaced +confidence. + + +For instance, the "Bonuses" and "Good Wills" heretofore related. I had +contracted a bad cold of tenacious irritability down near the little +hamlet of Paxton, Nebraska, while performing the menial labor of an +every day workman on the renowned line of the Union Pacific. The work +being accomplished was known as bucking steel. Through climatic +conditions of contraction and expansion the rails on one side had gained +from nine to twelve feet over the rails in the other side. The side that +was ahead was being pulled back to the point opposite the other by a +locomotive attached to a large cable. Some said this strategic work +swelled the premium of the water soaked stock; but this contention is +left to philosophers and those who study economic problems, as to +whether or not the corporation was ahead rails at Omaha or short at +Ogden. + +The days were exceedingly warm, it being in the autumn of the year. I +lost more perspiration than was due me and along toward evening, when +old sol was getting ready to retire and also largely due to a scant +wardrobe, a chilliness would steal over my spare physique. The ride home +from the work in the evening, on flat cars, at a hurried speed, caused +the night air to condense in the locality of the throat. Nature not +doing her part, I tried to assist her in removing the obstruction and, +as soon as the speed of the train would allow, I shot from the car in a +mad race for the boarding house. Being sure footed and fleet, I was +generally first at the wash basin, erasing from my countenance +Nebraska's productive soil and leaving what the water didn't loosen on +the old fashioned long rolling boarding house towel. These repeated +conditions day after day commenced to tell and the slight cold became a +hacking cough that embraced more forcibly than a Dutch lassie reared on +eastern corn. + +After the work was completed, the men were returned to the various +localities. Upon arriving safely at my destination, I went to the home +physician. "Doc" when not incarcerated in the county bastile for +dispensing a compound familiarly known as whiskey but better known to +home residents as hades corked up in a bottle, prescribed, from his oft +water stock. (I pause for a scalding sensation felt on my cheeks.) Poor +Old "Doc" is sleeping beneath the sod. + +Constant concoctions bringing no relief, I was at last listening to a +well meant prescription from my co-laborer Dick. He said his remedy +would give unwavering satisfaction to ailments like mine. I don't think +his remedy would stand the pure food law test; but when you get to +clutching you'll clutch anything. So I listened to the unlearned +pharmacist and keenly assented and he started to compound two well known +ingredients in equal parts. One ingredient was controlled by that +magnetic dollar chaser, John D., and the other was controlled by nobody, +it did the controling, i. e., oil and whiskey. I'd cover up this last +ingredient and give it a better concealed classical standing but +ignorance is bliss and there you are. This carefully prepared drink, my +friend said, should be taken five minutes before breakfast. So according +to directions I hoisted the tin cup and down went the fluids. Just +enough oil in it to make it slip quick, and you had it before you really +knew it. + +It is now twenty-three years since I swallowed that conglomeration and I +can't hardly pass a home one-gallon kerosene can full or empty without a +keen desire to kick the bottom out of it, but you have to be careful +with other people's property, whether it's mortgaged or not. No matter +how keen or fertile your imagination may be you can't realize a dose of +this character unless you taste it. Take the minutest equal parts of +each, mix them, drink them and be convinced. Was I sick? Of all the +great guns of all our wars, Civil or uncivil, I will take my oath before +any judge of common jurisdiction, sitting as a court of record and say I +WAS. + +The only recollection I have of the breakfast menu was the two hard +boiled eggs and a faint remembrance, as I was leaving the table, of a +fruit picture on the wall tipping up and down. That was the first time I +ever saw anything inanimate acting so. Mercy, the taste of that oil and +the remembrance of it, mixing in a place the size of your fist! Think of +that rip-roaring, sizzling tobacco flavored, ingredient, trying to slip +one over on that kerosene and knock out those two hard-boiled, well +matured, boarding-house eggs. I say in all candor, I don't blame John D. +for watering the oil. Water it more, John, it will be milder to take. I +went through the oil belt in Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and all the rest, +I visited all the stills, illicit, and otherwise of Kentucky, Tennessee, +and Colorado; and as soon as brother Pat could get me to my room and my +head out of the window I hoisted the hottest fluids and food stuffs ever +contained in the stomach of man or beast. I have always felt sorry for +those eggs on account of their age. + +I must take a short glimpse here of a peculiar incident that transpired +under my roof between two men of the cloth. One was a M. E. minister and +the other a seven day advent. The advent had been staying in town for +several weeks and I became fairly well acquainted with him and his +estimable wife, and he asked me if they might have a few meetings at our +home in the evenings, and I said certainly and he came. Both he and his +wife were scholars, well cultured and refined and we enjoyed listening +to their version of the scriptures. How the M. E. minister came to be +there one evening is still a mystery to me, but I think some one of his +parishioners must have told him that Satan had entered our home and he +had better intervene and see if he couldn't extricate us from the wary +gentleman's clutches. + +The evening entertainment was progressing nicely and the advent man was +in charge of the machinery, when suddenly the M. E. man took issue with +him over his version of one of the scriptural passages and quick wit and +repartee was fast and furious. The advent was the superior in scriptural +knowledge and the way he got the other fellow in the meshes and so +completely tangled him up is an event that can never be erased from my +memory. The M. E. man was nonplussed, red of face and angry; and so +ungentlemanly as to let all the fireworks in his dignified Sunday nature +explode and told the cool, calm advent that teachings of his kind should +be in hell. You may lay this excitement to anger, being worsted, or +anything you like, but I think the gentleman he came to remove from our +home entered him one hundred per cent strong. Why he was on his feet +with his Methodist fists clenched, ready to fight, and if it hadn't been +for the soothing, pacifying utterances of his good wife saying, "John," +"John," I don't know what would have happened. The other fellow laughed +at him and I really think if the worst had occurred he would have given +the angry man a fuller meaning of the Bible and turned the other cheek. + +I think if an Advent says Saturday is the Lord's day and should be +observed on the Sabbath, the Methodist says Sunday is the day, and some +other denomination says Friday is the day, I'm willing to be convinced. +It beats having the Fourth of July come on Saturday, and if I had enough +money so I needn't work I'd say let seven different denominations have +seven different days, and no matter which home I observed I wouldn't be +left out shivering in an undershirt. Something peculiar about church +denominations, all of them headed for the same place, but each one +anxious to route you. One tells you they have the old travelled road, +founded on the Bible, another a different way, founded on the Bible, and +others another different way, also founded on the Bible. I conclude the +best and surest way is to be a Christian and read the Bible, live it and +let God show the way. Sunday churches or Saturday churches carry no +guarantee that you'll reach Heaven. + +Before I invested in "Good-wills" and "Bonuses" and other losing +investments, I would occasionally take my family for a little trip on +the Los Angeles limited and rub against the aristocracy and the +diamonds. Years before when I was a day laborer on the same road over +which this elegant train glides, I thought to travel on such a goddess +of beauty was a luxury only for wealth and culture, and a pleasure +unequaled, but hope beats eternal in the human breast and as I had lived +largely on hope for over thirty years, I finally said hope can go to +blazes, the opportunity is here and why not embrace it. + +Well, it is certainly a big taste of wealth and affluence to settle in +cushions a foot deep with all the wrinkles eradicated for once in a +lifetime by a well filled stomach of the choicest viands in the culinary +art. And oh the lofty thoughts as you settle down in the deep upholstery +and listen to the clicking of the rails as you speed away on this +overland beauty. There is a peculiar feeling under your vest as you +notice the well groomed man, the well groomed woman, the sparkle of the +electric lights and the glitter of the diamonds. Elegance everywhere. +The very height of ingenuity. Then when you enter the dining car with +its rosewood finish, tastily decorated tables, superb linen, and cast +your eye over the choice menu and have the black gentry all attention +and ready to care for your smallest want, you may feel as I did, pretty +classy company for a boy from Lodge Pole. Of course there are snubs here +and there, you find them everywhere. They are in a class that is well +known for nineteen hundred years. They took the leading part in the +crucifixion of the Nazarene. We can't exist without having them, and if +you will notice in any walk of life, there is a pain for nearly every +pleasure, with corns and bunions thrown in. + +As a hunter I never received any distinction and am forced to admit as +such I am an entire nonentity and failure. My father owned a rifle which +was the only one of its kind in our community for years and years. Its +early history I am unfamiliar with and never learned it. It was in his +possession when I was born and I suppose it was the gun he carried on +the hand car for protection when the Indians were numerous in the latter +sixties. At some time it received a broken stock and ever after its +being repaired it was known as old splice. For many years when the old +year died and the new year was born, old splice spoke forth at its birth +and its missile of death generally lodged in the tail of the railroad +wind mill. + +Old splice was the type of one hundred years ago, when people weren't +killed as quickly as today, the loading was slow and gave one chance to +escape; I remember brother Pat used it to shoot a dog that he had tied +up with a rope. He took steady aim, pulled the old fashioned hammer and +fired. When the smoke cleared away the dog was running with the fullest +capacity of its limbs. The ball had cut the rope. + +I never shot old splice but once and I'll always remember the incident. +A chicken hawk had been tormenting the poultry for a long time and I got +bold and reckless one day, grabbed old splice (some one had been kind +enough to leave it loaded) and sallied forth bent on destruction. The +hawk was soaring high in the air but didn't seem to want to descend any. +Old splice was supposed to carry half a mile and as I knew this was not +the distance from the gun to the hawk, I concluded to test out old +splice and see if the prowess of the old fellow had been exaggerated. I +had heard some one say you must get down on one knee, as an attitude of +respect, I presume, and hold the stock solidly and lovingly against the +shoulder. I did both of these things and fired. I felt my head strike +the ground so amazingly quick and hard that it confused and startled me. +I knew I was committing no crime and couldn't account for such harsh +treatment. At first I thought the bird might have struck me in the face +and, it coming from such a height, would cause a terrible compact when +one body met another, but I abandoned this idea, as no hawk was anywhere +above or below. Then I thought I might have torn some planet loose, but +this was an asylum idea also. Then I thought some one may have overfed +old splice and made him bilious. I afterwards learned this was true. The +miscreant still lives. + + + + +HOPES THAT EXPLODED. + + +If it wasn't for the word hope this would be a dreary world for the +fellow who plans and builds in the future. It rises and falls in every +human breast. Some have an over abundance, and others lack in not having +enough. It arouses buoyancy and encouragement to see one who reaches +toward hope and almost succeeds but doesn't get quite a firm enough grip +to fasten the goal securely before he has to let go; but no matter how +hard the fall, or how often, he's up and trying again. Discouragement or +complete failure never causes a faltering step or gets time to fester +with despondency before keener activity revives the energy and the +shattered hope is rehabilitated and again swells the breast so full +there is nothing to do but try again. Bless the hopeful man or woman. +Some can't stand the fall, they go down clear to the bottom. Defeat and +despondency chain them fast. + +In the year 1896 when Bryan was preparing his famous oration "The Crown +of Gold" that was so ably delivered and well received and which was the +leading factor in opening up the road for him to the White House, I +commenced scheming and planning on patentable ideas. Nineteen years of +hard thinking has brought no visible financial returns and so far the +patent attorney is the only one who has received toll. I never entered +the field thinking I had any latent ingenuity like Edison, Westinghouse, +Ford and many others; but I had hopes, as long as I could pay the +attorney and the filing fee of the patent office. + +My first application for a patent was an adjustable track wrench that +met complete failure after a year's pendency. I thought I had a good, +practical, economical, and convenient wrench, but after the said period +of time elapsed my attorney informed me it was rejected by the chief +examiner on account of prior similar claims already patented. Of course +you must not get confused and wonder why he didn't tell me this before I +filed the application. If he had the self-explanatory portion of the +scheme loses its self respect and puts the attorney in a bad financial +light, which I would dislike to do. However, the discouraging news was +so cool and saddening at this first attempt that it froze my ingenuity a +decade and a quarter, and then hope rose again and I called once more on +the dormant faculty and changed attorneys. + +After due diligence had persevered and I had stood the condemnation of +my wife, who said I was getting absent-minded and hard of hearing, I +sent in my application duly witnessed and sworn to, along with the +necessary stipend that makes the wheels buzz in the attorney's head and +swells that seven millions of profit accrued in the patent office from a +good many fellows like myself. Nice to help swell this big profit for +some day when this accumulation becomes large enough our wise custodians +of this fund may transfer it like ordinary Town Council men do when one +fund gets too far ahead and pay off the national debt. My second +application was an improved index and a device of meritable convenience +over present ones, so I thought. It has been pending two years after +failing ten times before the chief examiner, who doesn't seem to have +the courtesy to allow it. + +While the invention was safe and secure in the government vault, I was +rash enough to go into another irrational period and get out a computing +device for the busy coal man to aid him in rapid accurate calculations +and do away with the old time method of having coal swell so sixteen +hundred pounds was a ton; not really a long ton but a short ton. This +wonderful invention hatched in the brain of an ordinary man, lingered in +Washington one year and a half, and was then rejected. I wouldn't care +for having it rejected, but I'd like to have the rejectors use a milder +word, one that doesn't rankle so much and stir up the mean things in +you. + +Well, here are two great inventions for the betterment of the race +denied, and from the way the attorney wrote in his last tribute of love +to me, the third is hanging over the precipice and is ready to fall +among its ancestors. + +I had hopes when I invested in the last two ideas, my total +expenditures, including postage on a voluminous amount of +correspondence, was $141.28, and this is how I disbursed the interest on +that amount:--I calculated conservatively that the two inventions would +net me $50,000. Here she goes! To my father-in-law, for giving away his +daughter to me, for which I have never paid, $1,000.00; to two +sisters-in-law that favored my suit, $1,000.00 each; to a brother-in-law +that did the square thing by me, $1,000.00; to my oldest brother, who +continually hammered me when I was young and smaller than he, $1,000.00; +to a younger brother, whom I could hammer, $1,000.00; to my four +sisters, $1,000.00 each. Ten thousand of the iron men at work. The next +$20,000 I put at interest in Colorado, where it is easy to get a ten per +cent rate. This would bring me in $2,000.00 a year to live on, and by +being frugal I might be able to smoke a five cent cigar occasionally and +let the corn cob pipe have a chance to dry up some of its nicotine. The +next $10,000 went to old people who have nearly reached the summit of +their lives, but on account of the feebleness of their limbs, poor +eyesight and a meagre pocketbook, the final ascent overtaxes their small +reserve of strength and with want and sacrifice being in the majority +they can't quite make it. To these aged and needy people I would give +$500.00 cash. This amount would render their last days comfortable, free +from worry and care. That helps twenty old couples, forty people that +are worthy and needy. The remaining $10,000 goes from my pocket in ready +cash to people met every day, people whose countenances have rigidly +printed thereon a silent appeal for sympathy and help. A meal to the man +suffering from the pangs of hunger; $50.00 to a woman making her living +over a washboard and fighting a losing fight against poverty to rear her +brood; $100.00 for a present and a Christmas tree to poor little +children who never have the pleasure of unwrapping a doll or any kind of +a toy; $5.00 to a laboring man looking for work; $10.00 on a +subscription list to help a poor widow bury her boy; $25.00 to the man +in the pulpit preaching straight from the shoulder; $10.00 for a +railroad ticket to take a girl home who expected work in the city but +didn't find it. And so goes the remaining $10,000, here a little and +there a little. I think I could gladden more hearts with this last +$10,000 than the great man who spent millions in libraries and free +reading rooms throughout the country. With all due respect to him, the +man in overalls and the girl who must work are the ones who need +literature the worst, but the struggle for existence is so keen they +haven't time to read books and they feel humiliated and unwelcome in +their everyday garb mingling with the better dressed people. The +well-groomed man and woman of today, in a large sense, doesn't apply any +too closely the ethics of the Galilean and would rather not mingle with +the less fortunate people, so the conclusive thesis is there is no +congeniality between the two and the primary object of helping the +fellow who needed it most is a failure. But alas, the $50,000 is still +behind the capitalist and must wait for hope to rise again. + +Not feeling satisfied but that there was plenty of loose coin waiting to +flow to me, I took up the pleasant but unprofitable part avocation of +composing songs. I had a Washington music firm write the music, +copyright the songs in my name, do the advertising, and remit one-half +the proceeds to me semi-annually January 31st and July 31st. I was very +careful to set out specifically the remitting part in our contract. Each +song had its own peculiarity and sentiment to touch the public pulse, +which so far has been untouchable. The first song, "A Tear Drop Always +Glistened in His Eye," was to fasten itself on the hearts of the people +like "Annie Laurie." "When the Silver Moon Light Sparkles on the Lake" +made its bow to the public; I hoped lovers with emotion would go wild +over it and would know a good thing when they heard it. If they had such +a feeling the emoluments failed to show it. The third song, "Anna, My +Anna," was short and jerky for the happy-go-lucky class of people that +fell so in love with "Casey Jones." But it seems this class wouldn't +respond either, and leaves me with the entire stock on hand with an +expenditure of $90.00 trying to get the people to sing. I find them more +unresponsive than the preacher when he says let everybody sing, and a +few who gave their best years in the Lord's service lift up their +cracked voices in earnest endeavor to lead the sheep, and the sheep, +lambs and all go astray. My share of the profits has been ten one cent +postage stamps, just the ordinary kind, the common kind you can get from +every postoffice in the country. And the trio which failed to receive +public recognition I laid away where moths and rust doth not decrease +their earning power and neither do thieves molest them. Three more hopes +decently but sadly buried. + +There is also intertwined and resting sweetly in slumberland 175 shares +of Cracker Engle Gold Mine Stock at twenty cents per share and twelve +years accrued interest. I had the customary notice before I bought that +the stock would advance rapidly in price and if I invested without +hesitation and without investigation I would have the benefit of the +first and early advance. I hearkened to the alluring honey literature +and sent a U. S. money order, something whose face value couldn't be +questioned. I wanted to be absolutely sure I'd get the stock. I got it +all right. I have such faith in that stock that I can go anywhere and +leave it behind unlocked doors and it never strays away. + +A home boy succeeded in getting a patent on an improved table. He +incorporated under the laws where Wilson was governor and then invited +capital for manufacturing purposes. He styled his invention "The Great +Western Improvement Company" and sold seventeen shares at the flat sum +of $5.00. I learned a little from the crack at the Cracker Eagle and did +not fly so high and only took the $5.00 worth. It's comical now, to me, +how the inventor and promoter explained how his table was superior to +the common ordinary everyday table that's been in use so long. It had a +hollow holding receptacle in the center and he said after the meal had +been stowed away and nothing was left but the dishes and flies, the +housewife could, if she felt so disposed, elevate a handle and the +soiled dishes would disappear and the table would have an inviting +appearance. He said it was especially fine when conversation had been +brisk and company or peddlers were seen coming; all that was necessary +was the quick jerk of the ever-ready handle and down out of sight went +the dishes, flies, napkins, and everything untidy and untasty. I was +looking for votes when this investment was made and while the votes may +not have had an equal value I let it go at that and put away the stock +for my grandchildren. Another share of stock in the Campbells' Farming +Association at a cost of $5.00 brings my get rich quick investments to a +finis. The only other stock I ever had was bank stock. I invested +$1,500.00 in a State Bank in Nebraska. I didn't lose on this deal but +the money would have paid better on a straight five per cent rate. + +Nothing would have done me more good and brought a keener satisfaction +than to have had a nice remuneration from some investment that I have +made. My wife called me what the bible says she shouldn't so many times +that it seems to look like I am really a bigger one than she said I was, +and if I could have changed her mind by laying before her eyes a nice +portly check for $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 it would have been such an +agreeable surprise not only to her but to myself that we both would have +enjoyed it, and especially myself if I could have pulled it over. But if +hope don't come again I will have to let that excellent pleasure be like +Mathewson's speedy one and fade away. + +A lad of the average type at twenty-one has a great deal of stored up +energy; he has the muscle bank and the brain bank from which to get his +necessary resources, and a great many lads think Dad is a back number +and he sees where the old gentleman was short on gray matter, and all +advice is lost on this sort of boys. I was never conceited this way, in +fact I think somebody else got nearly all the gall that should have been +mine. If a fellow holds his own in these days, no matter what party is +in power, Democratic or Republican, you need your full allowance of +gall. The lad that thinks that the governor's gray matter is not as +profuse as it should be, but he, through some unknown force, grabbed all +that was coming to him and part of dad's might read the following verse +and the conclusive portion of this chapter and apply it from a stand +point of ordinary horse sense: + + When Johnnie Jones was twenty-one + He said my farming life is done, + I'll pack my duds and say Good Bye + And to the city I will hie. + I'll show the ones who think they're it + That Johnnie Jones has got the grit + To make a name that will be felt + Like Astor, Gould or Roosevelt. + +It makes the pain come home when you look back from fifty and realize +that a man at twenty-one is a darn big fool, at thirty still a fool, at +thirty-five a little foolish, and at forty he still has some, at +forty-five wisdom breaks in gently, and at fifty he stands on the +threshold of learning ready to apply and absorb, and at sixty he's a +valuable asset to his community and country. + + + + +THE WEARY TRAVELER. + + +Something has been gained and our life has not been futile if we can say +we owe no man and there is no obligation through which we have passed, +financial or otherwise, of which we are ashamed. We may not have +acquired honor, wealth or position but if we have lived up to the +teachings of the plumb and the square, we have a record that will stand +the closest investigation when we knock for entrance at the pearly +gates. If we can stand with our whole soul bared before our maker and he +sees that chastity and the sweet purity of any girl or woman has never +been trespassed upon we have acquired something that brings smiles to +angels' faces. If we have stood firm when temptations surged and tossed +and clamored and we met them and conquered, we have through our moral +force a better right to the precious gems of God's kingdom than those +saved in the eleventh hour. If we have never repeated unwholesome +stories or spoken slightingly of another's character or said +disrespectfully something that we knew untrue, then we have lived well. +Each day's battles must be fought alone and leave tomorrow's till they +come. Never tear down character, it is the choicest gift in the universe +and constitutes life's work. Remember a pure woman or a pure man is the +noblest work of God. Don't let your footsteps slip from the path of +virtue but plant them firm and deep in the path of righteousness. Keep +away from people whose thoughts are degrading, and never harbor foul and +indecent language. Make it your most earnest desire to avoid using +profanity and vile utterances, an immoral epithet has a clinging effect +which takes years to erase, and those that emulate and make us better +takes determination and purity. + +I am now approaching the half-century mark. I can look ahead a few years +and see the fiftieth mile post. In all the years that have past and gone +I can recall none where my conditions and prospects are so alarming, +serious and discouraging as at the present time. I have a peculiar +ailment in my left side that has baffled the medical fraternity and +caused extreme anxiety to myself. I have endeavored with courage and +determination to exterminate it. I have tried assiduously physical +culture, osteopathy, dietics, Christian science and medicine. I have +consulted freely and often the great physician and all so far have +failed. With treatment at Hot Springs thrown in as good measure. The +surgeons say an operation is the only hope through which they can +discover the cause and eliminate it. I dread operations like I do "Good +Wills" and "Bonuses." My wife had one and the doctor in charge said she +would be a well woman in three weeks, but those three weeks were worse +than that two weeks' loan. They stretched into six long, bitter years +and were the direct cause of an outlay of money in excess of three +thousand dollars. Glad again of the early use of that harrow, for there +was surely a gross violation of the truth on the part of the surgeon. On +account of dearie's precarious health I was forced to try a lower +altitude, and this not being sufficient it was necessary to try the +balmy, sunny air of California and sojourn there among the orange +blossoms and the singing birds for seven long months. This caused me to +give up my position of clerk that netted me in my four years' labor the +tidy sum of ten thousand dollars. + +Today as I stand looking at that fiftieth mile post I realize in the +vernacular of the day "I am up against it." My money is gone, my ailment +bothers me, I have a family to provide for, and the wolf stands on the +threshold with his mouth open and his long, gaunt body in readiness to +make the jump. In some way I must appease five empty stomachs from +consuming five back bones. My investments were bad. I tied up +thirty-five hundred dollars in a partnership lumber business, fifteen +hundred dollars in a home to shelter my loved ones, and the rest went +for food and clothing. I struck a highly modern town with all the +up-to-date conveniences, property depreciated fifty per cent, business +was stagnant, interest kept gnawing, and taxes went skyward. The two sad +mistakes I made was: first, to visit the office of the County Treasurer +and learn about the taxes; and the second was to stay out of business +unless we had enough money to pay for it and keep to the leeward of that +ten per cent interest, but I didn't and so much more for experience, the +grandma of teachers. + +I do not lack courage and determination but knowing and being able to +see that fiftieth mile post causes a shudder and slight touches of +despondency. I think my training is more than is alloted the average +man. I have been a day laborer on the farm, railroad and hay field. I +have worked for a large number of task masters and I failed to remember +when I was ever criticised for not keeping up my end. I have held a good +many positions of trust such as census enumerator, section foreman, +extra gang foreman, county clerk, clerk of the district court, +abstractor, town trustee, and member of the school board. + +The first time I was a candidate for county clerk I ran on the +Republican ticket. I am not telling this in any spirit of the braggart +but as a sample of confidence. In my old home precinct I received one +hundred and twenty votes out of one hundred and thirty-two, and in the +precinct where I worked as section foreman I received forty votes out of +forty-eight, and this had always been a strong Democratic precinct. My +opponent was a strong candidate and entirely familiar with political +tactics, an old scholar in the school. But when the votes were counted I +received the certificate of election and laid down the tamping bar and +took up the pen. I could have established a precedent and been elected +again but dearie's health would not permit and I declined to run. + +Some say the hand of fate guides our destinies and it was so to be, but +I am at a loss to understand why it should so be. I have lived clean, I +have always met my obligations with the strictest honor, no marks of +dissipation, inwardly or otherwise, have scarred my form and thank God +he nor any other can find any danger signals that can isolate me from a +free transport to the narrow path. I have been economical, conservative +and kind and I think I have done my very best. I have treated every one +with the closest application that can be unravelled from the ten +commandments and the additional commandment established through Christ. + +All through my married life I have been attentive to my wife and in any +room of our mortgaged home you can see many tokens of affection that she +has received. I have endeavored to lighten her domestic burden and +almost every Monday morning for the past twelve years I have been the +propeller at the washing machine. Hundred of times I have arisen between +the hours of three and four and wended my way to the family kitchen and +waded in on the soiled linen. I never sneaked out the back way to avoid +using the tea towel on waiting dishes. I can use the broom, duster and +make the beds. I can scrub, polish the stove, cook the steak, and +perform almost the entire category of domestic needs; but when it comes +to baking I would rather face the cannon's mouth (a silent one like in +the city park in Denver) and die like a martyr. I have often acted as +maid. I recall once when I was a maid my wife was bed fast for three +weeks. We lived in a strong church town, somewhere near eighty per cent, +it seemed nearly all were Christians but during dearie's sickness there +was not a single Christian woman or suffragist came to see her, offered +her services, or was in any way interested. I am sorry this happened in +this broad land of boasted Christianity and civilization. Some of these +same Christian ladies never failed to appear when the dues for foreign +missions were bordering on delinquency or when some rations were needed +for a church spread. + +I believe in doing good and giving cheer. You can always notice a gleam +of pleasure in your wife's face when you give her a box of candy, a +dress, a dish, or some little token, and how she clings to the missiles +of love that you may have penned on scraps of paper, chunks of wood and +other things. They always speak for something I think meritable. I think +the pathway of dearie can be made more cheerful if she is remembered +daily and not all in one chunk at Christmas time, and then let her wait +for another twelve months. I never feared I would kiss my wife too much. +I kiss her more now than when I courted her and they are just as sweet +as ever. It helps to keep the love light in her eye. + +I have three fine children. I am not conceited about them; other people +say they are good. I have done my best to raise them well. Two of them +are in the County High School, the eldest a girl of sweet sixteen and +the other a noisy boy of fourteen. The remaining one is a baby of two +and one-half years. I must leave these three children and dearie and +look for employment. You can realize how pleasant it is to be separated +from them. How sad it is to kiss dearie and the others good bye and have +the many cute sayings of a strongly attached baby ringing in your ears, +not only through the dreary, lonesome days but long after the shadows +fall. + +Such is life with its pains and sorrows. They come to us all and while I +may think my road is rougher than is allotted the ordinary individual I +suppose others think the same. The one great consolation I have is that +dearie is almost a strong, well woman, and that is worth all I have +passed through and I would gladly undergo it again for her. I must be +getting ready, the colonists reduced rates of our liberal hearted +"S-T-E-E-L" railroads is near the finis of the twelve-day limit. The +parting is at hand. I kiss the loved ones good bye, cling tenaciously to +my second-class ticket, guard well my pneumatic pocket book with its +ragged puncture and try again in pretty California among the salty ocean +breezes, the cheerful flowers, the fragrant orange blossoms and the +shady pepper trees to find work and health for those I love. GOOD BYE. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Treading the Narrow Way, by R. E. 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