,,treading ,,the ,,narrow ,,way ,by ,r4 ,e4 ,barrett ,boston ,,the ,,roxburgh ,,publishing ,,co4 ,inc4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,copyrighted #aiag ,by ,r4 ,e4 ,,barrett ,rights ,reserved - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,,preface ,the chapters in this book are not based on fiction1 they are not drawn from imagination1 they are not gems that come from culture and learning1 but are gleaned entirely from the rugged school of life1 and are for the purpose of cheering the down-hearted to a realization that a good life has its just reward1 that through continued combat every temptation1 obstacle and evil will vanish if a strict observance of ,god's law is kept in carefully treading in the narrow way4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,,dedication ,to that dear teacher who urged me to go to school when ,i was past twenty years of age1 and helped to mold in me the true principles of honor4 ,to a fine ,judge on the ,bench whose many fatherly talks to poor unfortunates1 whose feet had slipped from the narrow way1 who helped me to obey and respect the law4 ,to a splendid intellectual lawyer1 one of ,god's clean home men1 whose guest ,i have been at many intellectual feasts1 to him ,i owe the avoidance of the saloon and learned the intrinsic value of sobriety4 ,to my two eldest sisters1 one sister-in-law1 and my devoted wife through whom ,i learned the desperate struggle and what it means to live clean4 ,to a poorly paid self-educated minister to whom ,i am deeply indebted for the first introduction to my master4 ,to these in the major part1 and a few others1 ,god bless them all1 ,i owe whatever ,i am to them1 to these dear people ,i affectionately dedicate this book4 ,r4 ,e4 ,b4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,early ,footsteps4 #i ,,ii4 ,getting the ,backbone4 #ba ,,iii4 ,the ,two ,paths4 #cb ,,iv4 ,god's ,intention ,man's ,prevention #df ,v4 ,the ,sadness ,behind the ,vale #fa ,,vi4 ,gratitude4 #ga ,,vii4 ,just ,poems4 #hg ,,viii4 ,sallie's ,loyalty4 #aab ,,ix4 ,sunshine4 #aag ,x4 ,temperance4 #acc ,,xi4 ,every ,day ,philosophy4 #ade ,,xii4 ,glimpses from the ,past4 #aeh ,,xiii4 ,hopes ,that ,exploded4 #agi ,,xiv4 ,the ,weary ,traveler4 #aif - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,,treading ,,the ,,narrow ,,way ,,early ,,footsteps4 ,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 face4 ,i say my father named me and ,i honestly think he did4 ,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 father4 ,mother was an ,english woman and ,i knew it the first time she called father ,arry4 ,if mother had had her equal rights in naming me1 ,i might have been a ,gladstone2 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 to4 ,if mother could have foreseen this savage war across the orient1 ,i believe1 she would have handled the center name1 but the way it stands ,i wouldn't shoulder a gun for ,england and ,i can't use my undeveloped oratory against ,ireland1 and ,i am about half persuaded to let them settle their own troubles4 ,it being no fault of mine that ,i am half ,irish and half ,english1 ,i let it go at that and get along with everybody the best ,i can4 ,it's hard to separate the halves from the whole1 and so1 from a perpendicular standpoint1 ,i give the ,irish the top half and the ,english the bottom half2 ,i'd rather let the ,english have the running half anyway4 ,so far the name ,emmett hasn't done me much good1 ,i've only used it nine or ten times since ,i had it1 thrice at political speeches1 a couple of ,fourth of ,july addresses1 once on ,decoration ,day1 once at a church wrangle1 and a few times when ,i was mad4 ,i find it doesn't help me much on bank cheques1 they get turned down as quickly with the ,emmett signed as without it4 ,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 interest4 ,after the ordeal of naming me had been fairly or unfairly dealt with1 ,i was told ,i was a free born ,american citizen and some day ,i might be ,president and have absolute dominion over the blue room1 where ,i suppose the chief executive goes when he has the ,blues4 ,i never considered this encouragement very seriously1 for1 as ,i have read in some almanac1 there is only one chance in eighteen million1 the odds are against the slim chance and it's sort of a blue skim milk proposition or a church raffle affair1 and if it's the only time that opportunity is going to knock at my door ,i don't think ,i'll be at home1 ,i'll let ,wilson do the best he can and let some live ,republican ,progressive have my chance4 ,if ,wilson would only hurry up and get the ,government to make those loans they've been talking so long about and loan it1 at about four per cent1 to citizens like myself1 irrespective of names and nationality1 and not have the principal come due too quickly1 but in periods1 like twenty year franchises1 ,i believe he ought to have a second term2 but if he doesn't get some loans placed pretty soon ,i don't know what hard working men like myself are going to do4 ,the only thing ,i ask ,wilson to be careful about when he loans the money is the rate4 ,i don't want to see the rate on loans as high as it was during ,cleveland's second administration4 ,i borrowed eighteen dollars in #ahid to settle up a partnership fanning deal with a ,methodist preacher4 ,it seems that outside of the banks no one had any money1 and you had to call on the gentleman banker1 get down on your knees and have tears as large as pullet eggs rolling down your hollow cheeks1 if you succeeded in your desires4 ,somehow the bankers knew they had a good thing2 they not only got the fat and tallow but they stripped you clear to the bone4 ,the eighteen dollar note was dated ,august #bh1 #ahid1 and read in part2 ,with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum2 and from here on comes the craftiness of the banker3 ,he interlined thus3 ,from ,january #ah1 #ahid1 if not paid when due4 ,on ,october #bcrd the same year ,i paid ten dollars on the note2 ,september the #aath1 #ahie1 six dollars2 and ,december the #eth1 #ahie the final payment and accrued interest was eight dollars and twenty-five cents1 making a total of twenty-four dollars and twenty-five cents on a loan of eighteen dollars for one year1 three months and seven days4 ,what was the rate of interest charged8 ,that banker is retired and worth a hundred thousand dollars2 hadn't he ought to be8 ,to borrow money under that rate you needed the health of a bear1 a cataract of energy1 a colossal mind1 unlimited self-respect1 boundless self-confidence1 all impregnated with an iron honesty4 ,that kind of interest makes me feel like the investor1 who bought some unseen land from an honest real estate man1 and1 when he went to look at his property he found it submerged in water4 ,the real estate man told him it could be irrigated1 but he had no idea it was susceptible of such profuse moisture4 ,after he gazed at it a while he said ,instead of buying this land by the acre ,i should have bought it by the quart4 ,he probably has an unrecorded deed1 ,i have the paid note in my possession1 ,i feel proud ,i got it paid2 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 quick4 ,some time ,i'll frame that note with a glass on both sides of it4 ,coming back to the early events4 ,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 waters4 ,because ,i mention the ,platte here1 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 salary1 he's no relation of mine and ,i never knew him until he ran for ,president4 ,he did the opposite from what ,i did and took that one slim chance1 made three strikes and fanned2 ,i'm glad ,i let it alone4 ,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 west4 ,at their destination there was no buildings except the section house1 depot and a little building that sheltered the hand car4 ,the entire population was not over a baker's dozen4 ,i don't believe there was a quieter place on ,god's footstool4 ,one good thing about those days was the taxes2 ,i think a week's compensation on the railroad would pay the taxes1 ,county1 ,state and ,municipal from #ahhg to #ahij4 ,how we have progressed in taxes since then6 ,especially ,colorado4 ,in this little dreary place where ,i had no associations to lead me astray ,i took account of my surroundings4 ,i was away out there on the barren plains where the grass curled and burned under the blazing sun1 where foliage was scant1 where the lonely cactus and prickly pear awaited the step of man to imbed itself and cause more pain1 no trees or flowers to whisper words of encouragement1 no cheerful forest or shady dells1 nothing at all to cause the deeper emotions of a queer nature to assert themselves4 ,nothing but the broad miraged prairie stretching as far as the eye could see4 ,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 generations1 who would erect homes1 till the soil1 plant trees1 and endeavor to further promote civilization1 until succeeding generations would reap the pleasure and peace that was purchased through these sacrifices and hardships of their forefathers4 ,we owe to the pioneers such a vast debt of gratitude that we never can pay the the principal with no interest attached1 and it's a different kind of interest than four per cent a month4 ,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 scenes1 but when returning to the old places ,i noticed great changes4 ,the town had grown2 few of the old places were left and the old haunts and nooks were hard to find4 ,a dreary and quiet sadness steals over one when looking at his boyhood and manhood earliest recollections1 and as ,i glanced at the old scenes ,i stood and looked longingly1 earnestly and lovingly at the old familiar places4 ,there was the locust grove ,i helped to plant two decades ago2 there was the little stream after which the town was named3 there was the old pump which so many times quenched my thirst2 there was the exact spot where dearie said the joyful word2 there was the old house where our first baby was born2 there was the farm patch ,i used to plow1 and the meadow where ,i pitched the hay4 ,all seemed different and as the pathos of the change surged in my breast ,i walked away longing for something ,i couldn't get1 and would never get again4 ,,getting ,,the ,,backbone4 ,about the year #ahhi when ,i was seventeen years old ,i commenced on the lowest rung on the railroad ladder and went to work on the section4 ,i was frail physically1 and must have been the same mentally1 for ,i never got beyond the third rung4 ,i worked in the days when you spoke for the spring job the preceding fall1 and then often your application met failure4 ,in hard times when jobs are few the fellow that has them is blessed with unusual longevity1 and whenever some one did pass beyond1 his demise was railroad talk for a long time4 ,when you consider that all through the central west1 which had a few years earlier been homesteaded after several repeated crop failures1 almost the entire population were looking for employment and the only cash job in the country was a section job1 you can realize how desirable and prized a position it was4 ,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 years1 received recognition in the spring2 but it did and ,i got one of the plums4 ,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 whole4 ,if you ever pumped a hand-car ,i will pass from this painful mode of travel and let you refresh your own memory and backache4 ,i got along pretty well1 when the ,boss wasn't nervous that the road master would come along and want to borrow another fifty dollars on his word without interest1 everything went nicely4 ,when weed cutting time1 came ,i gritted my teeth1 held my back as straight as ,i could and whacked away4 ,besides the excruciating pain in the back that made you feel like you would like to give one long piercing yell1 throw your shovel away and run for town1 there was the additional pain of seeing the ,boss sitting on the hand car resting his back4 ,he had the advantage and the authority6 ,i must keep at it and cut the weeds or the wheels of the locomotive would slip1 the traveler couldn't resume his journey1 all traffic would stop1 and down would go the railroad stock and let out all the water4 ,it would have been a blessing if the water could have been spilled by some patent process where the weeds were to be cut1 but1 monopolies monopolize and if the ,lord didn't see fit to have the rain fall in ,september instead of ,june no one was to blame1 except ,grover ,cleveland4 ,the ,republicans said the country always went to the dogs and dried up when the ,democrats elected a ,president4 ,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 otherwise1 but ,i do remember some one was mighty stingy with the moisture4 ,if you1 my dear reader1 have never had the privilege of cutting weeds for a dollar and thirty-five cents per day for three weeks in succession then1 for all that's good and beautiful1 take my advice and let the ,jap1 ,greek1 or ,italian have your place and do the mowing4 ,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 exertion4 ,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 now1 over twenty years afterwards1 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 ,utah4 ,if you have ever been tortured with lumbago1 you have a slight knowledge of what races up and down the back of a weed cutter4 ,when he bends down he can't get up and when he gets up he can't get down4 ,there you are6 ,humiliated1 suffering and mad1 knife blade sticking you whenever you move1 but you must or bust4 ,you are a free born ,american citizen but you must lose sight of the special endowment when you are cutting weeds4 ,the constitution may be back of you1 but just at present you have got to get back of your own constitution and a darn good one too1 or you've lost your job and that dearly beloved stipend of thirteen and one-half cents an hour4 ,being on the low rung of the railroad ladder is the same as in all other departments1 the man at the bottom gets the low wages1 needs the good back and carries the heavy burden4 ,he don't need much brain2 he is told what to do2 how to do it and when4 ,he's told when to go to work and when to quit4 ,brains would be a nuisance and1 if he had any1 he wouldn't be working on the section4 ,time has proved that1 and the ,dago takes his place4 ,what became of the ,irish1 ,swede1 ,german and ,bohemian section men of twenty-five years ago is more than ,i know4 ,extempore1 an increase of brains did something for him and you don't find him tramping ties with the ,dago4 ,but the man at the low rung hasn't much choice2 he can work or quit4 ,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-master4 ,he's at the bottom and whatever falls goes down to him and in an undignified way he must carry the whole load1 for it can not go lower4 ,the general manager can ease his feelings on the superintendent1 and he on the road-master and the road-master can growl at the section foreman1 but when the section foreman dumps the whole putrid1 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 back4 ,you seldom see a man with a front like a wash-tub turned edgewise working on the railroad4 ,there is no room for him6 ,you must be able to see your feet if you cut weeds1 and have a stomach that can say ,hello to the backbone at nine fifteen ,a4 ,m4 ,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 bread4 ,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 existence4 ,i am glad that ,i had the backbone4 ,the term is applicable in two ways4 ,one is the acquisition of a resilient mechanism in the center of your back1 starting at the base of your brain and running down to a certain point or as far as is necessary1 and the other is a priceless stamina1 determination and a square deal4 ,i am not sorry that ,i acquired some on the railroad2 its a good thing to have in the every day affairs of life4 ,i hardened my backbone when ,i worked on the steel gang a few years afterwards1 and1 if there is such a thing as a steel backbone1 ,i claim some right to its possession through low remuneration and dirty cabbage4 ,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 them4 ,it takes unlimited backbone for a congressman to vote ,yes on the prohibition amendment and turn down the easy money of the brewers4 ,it takes backbone for a president to cast custom aside and step into the halls of congress and demand that the party pledges be kept4 ,it takes a better backbone to enter the same halls and take a determined stand on a cause that means better citizenship4 ,it takes backbone if the minister ousts the liberal paying hypocrite who is helping to kill the church with his pocketbook4 ,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 recognized4 ,you may do it on earth but you must not try it where you are known4 ,it takes backbone to be a ,christian1 the earnest conscientious kind1 that can lay all jealousy aside1 all prejudice and hatred and give the offender a square ,christian deal4 ,unless you can do these things you ,,can',t be a ,christian1 the kind that ,jesus told us to be4 ,the other kind is a sham and an out-and-out sinner is far better4 ,true ,christianity will not allow one individual to do another of the slightest wrong4 ,the conscience of a real ,christian will not allow any ill feeling or the harboring of malice4 ,you know it's wrong1 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 ,christian4 ,you know yourself if you are a sham so why try to fool anybody and carry a false label4 ,,the ,,two ,,paths4 ,don't forget the warning of the ,saviour when he says3 ,enter ye in by the narrow gate3 for wide is the gate1 and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction1 and many are they that enter thereby4 ,for narrow is the gate and straitened is the way that leadeth unto life1 and few are they that find it4 ,travel the path that becomes shining gold1 the one that grows lovelier1 the one where you are never alone3 ,you'll need the friend of this path when the heartaches and trials are hard to bear4 ,don't chance the other path and sell your soul for pleasure1 wealth and damnation4 ,the journey of life1 be it one of success or failure1 closely resembles two paths4 ,when we reach the age of accountability we must of our own volition choose one of these paths4 ,where the paths commence to fork out and go in separate directions we see a sign spread clear across the entrance and it says3 ,i am the way1 the truth and the light4 ,we study this for a long time and then go to the other side and on the same sign board it says3 ,though your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter than snow4 ,we are young1 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 from4 ,we look around and see the broad1 open path with no restrictions1 filled with the aroma of choice flowers1 we meet social companions1 have gay parties1 they tell us of the pleasures they are enjoying4 ,from this survey and study we note that the broad path looks cheerful and inviting1 the narrow one seems straight ahead as far as we can see4 ,we can notice that the crowd seems to be going the broad way4 ,people in all conditions of life1 well dressed1 prosperous looking people of wealth and affluence1 and the ordinary working people in their customary garb4 ,they look happy and contented1 and we decide to take the broad way4 ,we didn't notice1 until after the start1 that the course has a descending grade and we get a long distance on the way before we call a halt4 ,we have seen a great many things that are not elevating and we conclude that after we go a short distance we'll turn back1 start over and take the other path1 and though the things that looked so inviting at the beginning are losing their attractiveness4 ,the demoralizing things we see are pitiful4 ,there is a poor fellow reeling with drunkenness4 ,,my6 hear that vulgar1 profane language coming from the foul mouth of that young man4 ,there's a party drinking wine1 laughing boisterously and telling stories that are very improper for ladies and gentlemen4 ,there is a poor girl in a calico dress that seems to be alone2 her face looks sad and she seems to be watching and waiting for someone4 ,there is a pitiful story in her once pretty face that would cause you to weep if you knew it4 ,look at that old man with a gray beard2 he has been a powerful man in his day1 his well built physique tells that4 ,he's a man of more than ordinary intelligence1 his features show fine breeding4 ,he must have got on the wrong path from not noticing the sign board1 he seems out of place here4 ,i thought so4 ,he is turning back6 ,my6 how he stoops as he commences the ascent4 ,but he is sticking to it4 ,there he is telling a younger man of the mistake he made and is trying to persuade him to accompany him back4 ,well1 isn't that splendid6 ,they're both going back4 ,it must have been that last remark that the elder man said to the younger man that persuaded him4 ,lo1 ,i am with you always even unto the end of the world4 ,there is a whole crowd about to start back2 are they going8 ,no1 they listen to that well dressed fellow over there smoking a cigarette1 and holding up that beer bottle and he has influenced them to go a little further4 ,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 them4 ,they go on and on2 they are commencing to look ragged and worn out2 the roses have flown from their cheeks3 their eyes are no more full of lustre and keenness2 the gray hairs are showing1 the step is not so firm1 but still they go on4 ,now they are old1 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 descend4 ,it seems an impossibility and they do not desire to consider it4 ,look at that poor woman over there4 ,listen to the poor soul as she is down on her knees and the tears are falling like summer rain4 ,listen to her broken1 sobbing words4 ,my1 isn't she the most pitiful1 dejected and forlorn looking creature you ever saw6 ,hear her as she sobs ,lord1 ,i saw the sign but oh ,i was so foolish1 ,i didn't heed it but ,i remember it and dear ,lord hear me1 ,i'm old1 feeble and poor1 ,i am friendless and ,i have sinned and broken ,thy laws4 ,oh take me as ,i am4 ,amen4 ,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 dues8 ,she was given and entrusted with a pure and innocent life in infancy but she was frivolous and sought after wealth1 power1 position and the many other transitory and fleeting things4 ,she took her clean1 innocent life and so soiled and stained it that it would be unrecognizable to any one but he who gave it1 and now1 when it is filled with barrenness1 she comes to her maker with her wasted life1 when in all candor and sense of fairness she could expect nothing in return1 but he says to her ,though your sins were as crimson they shall be whiter than snow4 ,then we see the other path that was trod by the bleeding feet of the lowly ,nazarene4 ,we know the anguish and pain he suffered2 we think of the fiendish death he died that he might say to a sinful people2 ,come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and ,i will give you rest4 ,this narrow and straight path may not be so beautiful at the beginning as the broader one4 ,we think if we follow it all joys and pleasures are gone4 ,but what a mistake1 for each day that we travel1 it becomes prettier1 the flowers are sweeter1 the trees are greener1 the skies seem bluer4 ,we find temptations and trials but we have some one to lean on1 and there is a sweet peace and enjoyment known only to his followers4 ,it makes it easy to pass the saloon and enter the church4 ,the ,lord is in that little church and his servant there knows every man1 woman and child for miles around4 ,see them cluster around him2 he loves them2 each day he lives he does some one a kindness4 ,he listens to your sorrows and heartaches2 his joys are your joys and never a word or thought but one of goodness and kindness has he for anybody4 ,he looks tired today2 he spent an all night's vigil at the bedside of a sick friend4 ,did you see him when he stopped and caressed that little girl who had broken her doll8 ,it meant something to her and he has won her everlasting gratitude4 ,see him talking to that young fellow over there who is wavering and unable to decide which path to take4 ,notice his warm and friendly attitude and see1 he has won his confidence and has got a promise from him4 ,see that sweet-faced1 light-hearted maiden1 he has just come from her home and she has consented to lead a better life4 ,look there1 will you6 ,he is helping up that poor man whose feet slipped from the narrow way and he is taking him home to the broken-hearted wife4 ,see the sadness on his dear old face as he gives what comfort he can to the poor woman2 he's back again the next day and is talking to them both4 ,yes1 they said from now on they'd cling close to the marriage vows4 ,don't they all look happy and pleased4 ,there he is again talking to a poor man who has been unsuccessful1 he worked hard1 lived pure but went too heavily in debt and can't meet his obligations4 ,worry is making him sorrowful and shortening his days1 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 part1 each understands the other4 ,the cordial1 glowing hand-shake is given and both have received good4 ,there he goes again2 he's just married a young couple and is advising them1 he is telling them not to be down cast when a snag comes along but to work together1 tread the narrow way1 keep faith in ,god1 and ,he will bless and prosper them4 ,there is pain in his heart today2 he has just come from the home of broken-hearted parents who have laid away in the silent city their first born4 ,in his great love for them he has told them about ,jesus1 the sorrowful life he lived1 the great pains and heartaches he endured1 and he did it all for them4 ,as he leaves they love him as a father and a sweet peace has descended upon them and the wound commences to heal4 ,and so it goes1 day after day1 ,he's telling some one of ,god's narrow way2 ,he's planting some flowers where flowers should be2 ,he's smoothing the path from dull misery2 ,here a kind word1 there a good deed1 ,he's doing his best to meet every need4 ,the greatest need in keeping in the narrow way is in sincere and earnest prayer accompanied by a tenacious faith1 is the only source that leads to the full and sweet companionship of the blessed ,jesus4 ,the every near realization1 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 heart4 ,faith without something to justify its establishment1 though it be ever so great1 is in reality groundless and contains no true merit1 but honest prayer for honest motives and coming from a desirous heart is the great medium through which sinful mankind1 so prone to err1 is brought into a close relationship with a wise and prudent ,god1 a ,god who willingly compensates every effort whose basis is a true and unselfish heart4 ,trust ,god fully at all times and pray with such sincere1 fervent and unselfish motives as is only needed to replenish a pure and unspotless desire4 ,when prayer is answered1 as ,god sees fit to answer1 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 want4 ,if this were not so the prayer alone without any manifestation from a true and living ,god1 would be worthless4 ,a long composition of nicely polished words spoken to an idol could in no wise be called a prayer4 ,the densest mind could surely realize that no sympathy lies in anything not able to comprehend a feeling4 ,silence would be better and is more valuable4 ,it is better to keep still than to say something that would cause some one to err or stumble4 ,,god',s ,,intention ,,man',s ,,prevention4 ,god's handiwork and its beauty is manifest wherever the eye rests4 ,the towering mountain peaks1 the great boulders1 the babbling brooks1 the peaceful valleys1 the green grass1 the beautiful flowers1 the shady dells1 all speak of his master hand4 ,the moon-beams playing on the still waters1 the sunshine streaming through the golden clouds1 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 them4 ,there they stand as sentinels waving to and fro by the gentle breezes and tell of ,his wonderful works4 ,the wild flowers growing side by side in the shady dell1 each a different color1 whisper ,his wonderful plan4 ,the little brook dancing and playing in and out among the deep chasms chiseling its narrow passage among the granite1 jumping over big rocks1 rolling little pebbles1 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 ocean4 ,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 tints4 ,the moon breaking through the silvery clouds and showering the heavens with beauty and grandeur rests its glory on the evening dew1 and the millions of diamonds glitter and glisten in a splendor and elegance far beyond the hand of man4 ,the many stars hanging like precious gems upon a great pedestal twinkling and sparkling tell the same story of ,his wonderful handiwork4 ,god was not satisfied with all these marvelous things and1 though they are perfect1 good and beautiful ,he must surpass them4 ,he must have a crowning effort to all their glory4 ,so to defy imitation ,he brought forth ,his masterpiece and called it man4 ,the incomparable and unsurpassable1 the grandest achievement of his architecture4 ,in his wisdom ,he provided everything for his needs and comfort4 ,sunshine to warm him1 darkness to rest him1 trees to shade him1 give him fuel and shelter1 birds of song to cheer when weary with labor1 flowers to beautify1 soil to produce whatever he sowed1 rain and sunshine to mature it1 meats of all kind to nourish him1 fruits1 fishes1 grains1 honey1 milk and everything necessary for his growth and sustenance1 ,he made him pure1 clean1 strong1 and beautiful1 just a little bit lower than the angels4 ,he furnished man everything to start with4 ,it was no disgrace if his hands were blistered and dirty if they were stained by honest toil1 he fought hardships and privations1 he was the hardy pioneer blazing his way for home and country1 raising his children near to nature's heart and cleanliness4 ,he gave to posterity strong1 hearty1 rugged men and women1 he lived honorably1 his labor was rewarded and he died ripe in years as a fitting tribute to his great achievements4 ,time rolled on6 ,years became centuries6 ,methods changed and the great plan of ,god was lost4 ,greed1 avarice and monopoly commenced to steal the bread from the infant's mouth2 the keen and bitter struggle for existence is in full sway2 the great land of liberty and opportunity no longer can put forth her boast and call and call for him to come1 build homes1 prosper1 live well and accumulate4 ,what changeful conditions today from then6 ,we boast of our great enlightenment and yet we are like the drowsy cat under centuries of domestication4 ,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 barbarians4 ,instead of being able to arbitrate and handle all questions of war through peace tribunals we cast aside the brotherly teachings of the great book1 increase the standing army1 build more warships1 enlarge the navy1 and be ready for war1 ready to shoot our brother1 ready to destroy his home1 leave his children penniless and fatherless1 a widow to struggle and mourn1 posterity to be enfeebled1 a gigantic debt to stagger many generations unborn1 a country bankrupt and all teachings of love and better citizenship disgraced4 ,no wonder our people are discouraged and feel we are slipping away from the preamble of our great ,constitution6 ,if this age and this country can not handle all questions1 national and international1 and extend the fullest measure of brotherly love where peace is needed2 what age or country can8 ,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 peace4 ,in every crisis through which this country has passed we have been fortunate1 thank ,god1 that the right man has always been found4 ,we have had our ,washingtons1 ,lincolns1 ,websters1 ,mc,kinleys1 ,wilsons1 and hundreds of others and in every instance when some great problem has had to be solved1 either in this country or abroad1 in either science1 statesmanship1 literature or art1 no matter how perplexing1 difficult or intricate1 ,american brains and ingenuity1 in the vernacular of the day1 has brought home the bacon1 ,swift's premium1 if you please6 ,i have always felt deeply sorrowful for the man who studies long and ardently with a bowed head resting upon his hands4 ,his whole soul seems to be calling for the fine sympathies that can only be rendered from the loving teachings of the ,nazarene4 ,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 sorrow4 ,o ,christianity6 ,christianity6 amid wealth1 society1 culture1 influence1 peace1 advancement1 laws1 legislators1 and boasted liberty where art thou8 ,visit the parks of any cities1 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 existence4 ,there he is1 honest1 clean1 and worthy of good citizenship1 unable to find labor that will keep him an honor to society4 ,what will become of him in this land of boasted opportunity and liberty8 ,plenty for all2 but monopolized and organized until the laboring man is almost ostracized4 ,look at his countenance1 clear cut1 manly and open1 haggard1 yes1 but from what8 ,from worry1 loss of sleep1 lack of food1 responsibility of a family without funds1 etc4 ,but withal you find no look of dissipation1 no odor of liquor1 no foul language1 and still with all these excellent qualities of meritorious citizenship he is sinking4 ,how long will he stand it8 ,were you ever in a condition of this kind when any way you turned you were outfigured4 ,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 it1 and endeavor to release the pain8 ,where is the cause8 ,what is wrong with our wide heralded economic system8 ,this condition being true of the man with a family how alarming to the young man of today without a family8 ,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 ,stripes1 and ,i'll show you a man that loses worse than a bankrupt in the finer sense of the word4 ,without the establishment of homes this nation can not stand4 ,no matter how frugal a man is1 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 beaten4 ,what is he going to do8 ,free land is almost gone1 food stuffs are high1 all his needs are expensive2 how can he make it8 ,every line he wishes to enter is crowded6 ,reason for yourself and see if this is not true4 ,when you talk of large families1 who raises them but the poor people and this will soon be eliminated4 ,if the poor man raises one child he is doing more than his duty to society than the rich man4 ,the expense is such a night-mare and horror to a common1 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 born1 fought for a home1 paid my debts1 and lived clean4 ,i wouldn't want to do it again for my country1 and ,i love her as ,i do the man of ,galilee4 ,i fear ,america is no longer another word for opportunity as was said by the beloved ,emerson1 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 win4 ,he'll win1 give him a chance4 ,what ,emerson said may have been true at an earlier period it was so intended1 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 hands4 ,it is a sad fact but true that there is a revolution slowly kindling in the breasts of the laboring class of people against capital2 ,god grant that in some way the fire can be put out4 ,i have sometimes thought what's the use of living4 ,the sorrows and pains outnumber the joys by a large margin4 ,you slip down the hill of pleasure without any exertion1 but to climb the mountain of morality is a gigantic task1 for every step is a struggle1 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 again4 ,it's fight1 fight all the time1 continually and forever6 ,it robs you of nature's rest1 steals away your ambition1 stirs up hatred towards those in easy circumstances and causes conditions of unrest and strife4 ,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 going4 ,i say it is6 ,for1 what do you profit if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul4 ,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 trust4 ,it pays6 ,it pays in a thousand different ways6 ,there is something to a man that lives an upright life in the church and in the world4 ,he is a valued asset to any community1 he may be poor but he has character1 and this is something money can not buy4 ,it takes a good life to make a man4 ,a fellow that is rich and lives solely for the pleasure of his money is not a man4 ,one time ,i mused thus3 ,if it could be so1 just for the shortest duration of time1 while temptation was the strongest and the fierce conflict was raging1 if ,i could be blind1 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 horizon1 leaving behind a long stream of golden beauty stretching out in its grandeur to kiss the evening sky2 even if a scene like this could erase the temptation and the blindness prevail during the surging of the conflict1 how could my faith be increased by not having the moral courage and strength of character to withstand the evil8 ,it's the casting aside of temptation by the sheer strength of the will power that makes the struggle easier1 the way grow brighter1 and the victories grander4 ,if ,god would allow such a condition once1 we1 in our weakness1 might ask again and again and instead of growing stronger we would grow weaker4 ,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 on4 ,,the ,,sadness ,,behind ,,the ,,vale4 ,a life of self-denial and sacrifice is the grandest object the sun shines on4 ,there is nothing under the azure skies of heaven so worthy of true merit as the pure1 unspotted and unselfish heart of a sacrificing mother4 ,how my heart aches for the poor1 worn and tired mother whose whole life is confined in four walls with three or four children1 laying claim to her entire time and attention4 ,you do not find these kind of women saturated with society2 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 them4 ,in common decency how can any woman with any affection or mother love center it upon such an object as a despicable1 worthless pug-nosed cur4 ,if it was a dog like a ,shepherd1 ,st4 ,bernard1 ,newfoundland1 and many others1 there would be a little better taste shown1 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 inclusive4 ,lord1 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 them1 give them a home and then see a poodle woman and her poodle dog go rushing by4 ,for a long number of years ,i have had the pleasure of being acquainted with one of ,god's self-denial mothers4 ,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 it4 ,in her early womanhood and all through her life she has been frail1 small-boned1 short of stature1 delicate1 and very unmuscular4 ,her's was not the physique to struggle as she has against life's tremendous battles1 but she took up the burden cheerfully1 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 love4 ,when heartaches1 pains and sorrows seemed so heavy that human endurance could no longer stand the strain and tension1 she would1 through the channels of her wonderful self-control1 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 trial4 ,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 it4 ,poverty with all its worry can not engulf her1 for she has that faith that there will be a way provided and she determines1 and the mountain is seen moving in the distance4 ,no time to partake of many pleasures is her lot2 she must study her every day cares1 rear her children1 school1 clothe1 and provide for them4 ,many times a tear stands where joy should be4 ,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 better1 but no matter how heavy the load is1 how painful the head might ache1 or how discouraging the teacher1 the present every day conditions must be met and the sooner begun the sooner ended4 ,every minute is occupied or the accumulation of wasted time makes the burden heavier4 ,the hands work and the mind works4 ,neither can rest and accomplish the needs1 and while the hands iron and bake and wash1 the mind is occupied on what the hungry mouths demand1 and how an old coat or vest or an under garment can be made into an article of service4 ,these are the kind of women worth while2 these are the kind that more than do their part in sustaining a great government4 ,her lot is not a pleasant one1 but she hands down to posterity a better and more substantial foundation for better government than any class of women in our nation2 her life is an open book where the entries are made on each day's pages4 ,on page after page you can see where the tears have fallen1 where the struggle has been so keen and bitter that hope had almost fled2 but turn the page and you will find renewed hope4 ,the ever-listening ear has heard the words bathed in grief and the answer came1 ,blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted4 ,how a few dollars from some good-hearted philanthropist would ease the way for this poor little struggling woman4 ,why is it when she has reached the point in life where she should expect the most the least is at hand8 ,she has passed the thirty-eighth mile post1 with the odds strongly against her4 ,the system is torn down more rapidly than it can be built up4 ,everything seems to combat against her and endeavor to overwhelm her1 but sorrows1 discouragements1 trials1 hardships and heartaches with their utmost collective strength have not been sufficient to thwart or encompass her4 ,every one has been defeated1 the cost has been gigantic1 it has stooped her shoulders1 chiseled deep creases in her brow and cast snow among her locks1 robbed her of comforts due her and strewn old age where youth should be4 ,the sad face still smiles and with an unconceivable determination she meets every foe in the great battle field of life and crushes them4 ,she does it from close application of that wonderful story of love that is found in the fifth chapter of the ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew from the third to the twelfth verses inclusive4 ,the greatest solace to aching hearts the world has ever known4 ,the struggle would have never been met and conquered if she had depended on her own strength1 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 fall1 his loving arm was ready to shield and sustain her4 ,with all her pains and trials there came into her life one night the greatest sorrow of all1 and although the load she had carried far overtaxed her strength she had to bear another and heavier one4 ,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 face1 and after three days and nights of long vigil the tired mother laid down to rest1 and as she slept on a pillow bathed with tears the pure little innocent soul was gathered into the arms of angels and carried away4 ,years have passed1 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 patience4 ,it is then this still1 small voice she has known so long1 again speaks and says3 ,come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and ,i will give you rest4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how her dear heart did ache when the death angel trod ,and took back her boy to his maker and ,god2 ,no sorrow nor pain nor heart aches nor tears ,are ever more known where he takes these small dears4 ,there is something so sad in the valley of death1 ,when the heart stops its beat and there's no longer breath6 ,that angels must come to ease up the pain1 ,and open the soul to let the tears drain4 ,how long are the years and how many it takes ,before there is peace from the burning heart aches6 ,the home is so lonely so silent and still ,there is something gone out that nothing can fill4 ,his little things stand where he left them one day1 ,the little toy dog all ready for play1 ,the big choo choo train and the horse he called ,bill1 ,all wait for the hand that is silent and still4 ,,gratitude4 ,few people care to listen to your sorrows1 trials and burdens if you are not succeeding4 ,if you succeed1 everybody is grabbing for the stock no matter how well filled with water it is4 ,they point with pride at the successful man as he saunters by2 he can do a great many things that are shady1 but on account of his success and prominence they are hushed up and never rise above a whisper2 he's dined and wined2 gets cut prices on everything he consumes2 rebates from the railroads and special privileges in the churches4 ,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 obituary4 ,if you will take a few leisure moments and look up the meaning of the word gratitude1 you will find that there are few words that surpass it in quality1 love and kindness4 ,it clusters near the soul and is properly a virtue4 ,in this life it is very hard to be misunderstood and undervalued by those we love1 but this too in the journey from the cradle to the grave we must learn to bear without a murmur1 for it's a tale often repeated4 ,any one who has given their time1 talent and attention serving the dear people1 either as a ,town ,trustee1 member of the ,school ,board1 ,mayor1 or any of the petty offices of small towns and villages1 used his best judgment in endeavoring to meet every issue honestly1 fairly and squarely1 wins for his gratuitous services the everlasting displeasure of his constituents4 ,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 motives4 ,any one who can serve for one term and is so unfortunate and foolish as to accept another1 has acquired a character so colored that it takes from ten to fifteen years in our best ,sunday ,schools to wash out the stains4 ,don't ever feel elated or think you are popular because you are elected and people call you alderman1 for the first thing they will do will be to slip out that pleasant1 sweet sounding word ,alderman and put in ,grafter with the thumbscrews set4 ,they'd call you a grafter if they personally know the treasury had been depleted for fifteen years4 ,my1 the pleasures of a gratis councilman6 ,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 space1 ,i wonder if when the cog alderman appeared if it wouldn't cause such a jolt that it would clear the whole mental atmosphere4 ,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 ,amen4 ,the spirit of revenge and retaliation were never very deeply imbedded in my make up4 ,the seed being lightly sown ,i used the harrow instead of the cultivator and got it out4 ,i am glad ,i did2 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 obstacles4 ,i bought a small business one time from a devout ,presbyterian2 ,i had the greatest confidence and trust in him1 which ,i had a sad right to have4 ,if false colors are carried we must find it out because they carry no notice to warn us4 ,well1 anyway1 he spread the tempting menu of his careful preparation in great shape4 ,he was pleasant1 courteous and very entertaining4 ,the way he figured up the invoice you'd thought mathematics was his specialty4 ,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 men4 ,you see ,i wanted his good will along with everybody else's4 ,i am glad ,i learned about this ,good ,will business4 ,all told ,good ,will and ,bonuses have cost me nine hundred and thirty-three dollars thirty-three and a third cents4 ,don't try to fool me on ,good ,wills again2 they're a drug on the market1 very unsaleable and unpopular to your humble servant4 ,after ,i paid the ,good ,will price and everything was agreeably settled ,i started in with my maiden business4 ,going through the bags and some other stuff in the back room a few days afterwards1 ,i discovered bags invoiced and paid for at one hundred pounds shy4 ,shy1 ,i said1 and he a ,christian6 ,this taught me that there are eighty and ninety pound ,christians4 ,the loud smelling1 decaying and life moving gunny sacks contained prepared meats for poultry4 ,i quit in disgust and went into the front department2 a fellow stepped in and said1 ,how is business8 and ,i answered ,rotten4 ,a frank acknowledgment of a painful truth4 ,other things ran about the same2 the horses were sold as unblemished1 sound as a dollar1 etc41 and mind you1 he a ,christian and ministers dropping in every few days and talking and planning how to increase the congregation4 ,my1 ,i'm glad ,i used that harrow6 ,when ,i sold out the business1 ,i marked down experiences one thousand dollars4 ,i felt pretty blue after ,i had lost the thousand bones ,i worked hard to get1 and it used to be when ,i got the blues ,i eased my mind with graveyard poetry2 pardon me for inserting it here4 ,if ,i should die tonight how few would care2 ,perhaps some heart would ache1 some one somewhere1 ,some might cast a lingering look1 a tear ,and tremble with emotion at my bier1 ,but before many days would pass away1 ,before my silent form would turn to clay1 ,i'd be forgotten and alone1 ,and not a heart to ache or moan4 ,oh6 this bitter1 lonely life's a snare1 ,the kind friends you hear so much about are rare4 ,some may mean it in their hearts but feign ,and measure men by dollars not by brain4 ,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 weeks4 ,i granted the request and the loan was made4 ,i thought ,i was familiar with the calendar and knew when two ordinary weeks ended1 but those two weeks were the longest ,i have ever known4 ,fortnight after fortnight passed and no end came4 ,long and endless weeks of this kind might be all right for the man facing the electric chair1 but they had no solace for an individual anxious to get married and needing the husky ,simoleans to furnish a cage for his waiting bird4 ,one day ,i met the overdue biped and ,i said1 ,how about it8 ,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 vocabulary4 ,well1 he said1 ,i'll tell you what ,i'll do4 ,i know you are about to plunge in the matrimonial sea and ,i have a proposition to offer you4 ,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 curtain4 ,all right1 ,i said1 here is your money4 ,that organ may not be in existence yet1 but it's in my memory fresh as ever4 ,i couldn't play it1 for it was all ,i could do to carry a tune when it was tied in a bag4 ,i had no wife to play it and ,i couldn't keep it and get married1 ,i was in a desperate condition one day when ,i walked into a hardware store1 that is a store1 you know1 where they keep ware that is hard1 frying pans1 dish pans1 bread pans1 etc41 you know what those things are for4 ,well1 ,i said to the village wit behind the case1 ,i'll trade you that organ for enough household paraphernalia to cook with1 take care of enough viands and stuff or whatever you call it1 to keep two people about to start out together2 each now separate and apart but very anxious to be united4 ,agreed1 he said1 hand over that list you've got with the articles on and ,i'll have them ready in a short time4 ,funny1 isn't it1 how the wind is tempered to the shorn lamb1 but how about the one ready to be shorn when there isn't even a zephyr blowing4 ,well1 the deal was transacted1 exchange made1 and that is how ,i got my household goods when ,i married dearie4 ,the financial report read like this3 ,actual cash in organ1 sixty dollars2 actual worth1 forty-five dollars2 second actual value in organ1 forty-five dollars2 actual value of pots and pans twenty-five dollars1 experience and pleasure of making a two weeks' loan1 thirty-five dollars4 ,this was not putting a premium on ,bliss for a fellow just getting ready to carry the matrimonial load4 ,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 bride1 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 dime4 ,this was the first time ,i saw tears in my wife's eyes4 ,the fountain was opened and they flowed freely4 ,those tears were trivial to the tears we've in shed later life1 but those first tears moved me to almost unconsolable grief and the emotion caused a flow of poetry4 ,it's not very long and will not tire you much1 so ,i will slip it in here as a filler4 ,cheer up1 little darling1 ,you know my love is true1 ,and nowhere in this great big world ,is a sweeter girl than you4 ,i have loved you always ,trust me fully1 dear1 ,let me be your shining star ,i'll sparkle when you're near4 ,and all along our pathway ,we'll never pluck a thorn1 ,but will pluck the roses ,in life's dewy morn1 ,roses are more fragrant1 ,they'll give us better cheer ,and the thorns we'll cast aside1 ,they are worthless1 dear4 ,when ,i was a ,county ,clerk and exceedingly busy pushing the quill over the big records1 a ,m4 ,e4 ,minister came in one day and accosted me with that word that arouses confidence4 ,brother1 he said1 we are figuring on a short order annex to the church1 7remember that word ,,short87 and we1 of course1 couldn't slight you and if you will kindly donate as liberally as possible the ,lord will bless you abundantly1 for you know he loves a cheerful giver1 and etc41 and etc4 ,well1 ,i responded4 ,when you get your subscription list in these parts drop in and ,i will help you4 ,i know what an annex to some of the churches without or with cook stove means4 ,it seems nowadays1 as the prophecies are being filled1 some churches deem it necessary to feed the stomach before the soul1 realizing1 ,i presume1 a full stomach is a twin brother to a big heart4 ,they beg the food and the utensils to serve it in from uncheerful givers and then dispense it cautiously and sparingly1 the more sparingly the more money for the ,lord4 ,when the ice cream is served they forget all about scriptural measure of ,heaped up and running over and run it under4 ,if one dish of scriptural measure can be stretched into four dishes of worldly measure1 there is forty cents instead of ten4 ,high finance1 you see6 ,i've often thought a society of this kind that would squeeze down the measure on ice cream procured at a minimum cost1 would bear watching if they were running a milk wagon with a pump near4 ,if any one else gets money in this way they call it an unearned increment4 ,what would ,jesus call it8 ,i really would be afraid to express my thoughts at that kind of a meeting for fear they'd request the parcel post4 ,in a few days the brother dropped in and hoisted from his inside pocket the subscription list and handed it to me4 ,i glanced over it casually1 as is natural in such cases made and provided1 to see who were the cheerful givers4 ,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 him4 ,the ungentlemanly gentleman took it and looked at it and said1 ,well1 we expected much better than this from you4 ,you know what feelings ebb and flow within you when you get a snub like this4 ,i could feel the ,irish blood chasing the ,english blood at a hazardous speed1 but ,i said nothing and was glad again of the early use of that harrow4 ,,just ,,poems4 ,the ,dog4 ,of all the beasts beneath the sun ,there is no other1 not a one1 ,that clings to man in sweet and bitter ,as faithful as the canine critter4 ,when fortune smiles upon its crest ,and all your toil is richly blest ,the loyal dog is near at hand ,for slightest duty or command4 ,when poverty comes stalking in ,and you have lost your precious tin1 ,the good old dog is just the same ,in dire distress or glittering fame4 ,in tattered rags or spick and span ,he has a truer heart than man1 ,and when you meet most keen defeat ,his sympathy is there to greet4 ,when you are old and had your day1 ,with feeble limbs and head of gray1 ,and angels come to take you home1 ,the good old dog is last to roam4 ,he'll watch beneath the stars at night ,beside your grave a sadful sight1 ,and wait and wait for many a day1 ,when faded flowers have blown away4 ,a dog's great love is most sublime1 ,it lingers near the word divine1 ,and intertwines from him above1 ,for dog turned around is ,god and love4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,booze4 ,oh the ones who drink the booze1 ,you can tell it by their flues1 ,the torrid heat within flames up the nose4 ,at first they're moderate drinkers1 ,and become the same as thinkers1 ,and what a sight for pity ere the close4 ,chorus4 ,the booze1 the booze1 ,any way you choose1 ,no matter how you figure it you lose4 ,how many homes that suffer1 ,when they shelter such a duffer1 ,whose presence causes heartaches1 tears and blows1 ,but you can always tell 'em ,if you can't then you can smell 'em1 ,but if all the signs should fail you there's the nose4 ,if you only take a drop ,you know you'll never stop1 ,don't you realize that dynamite explodes1 ,better take an inventory1 ,before you're blown1 no not to glory1 ,but to where they ignite quickly1 ,jimmy ,rhodes4 ,what's the matter with your clothes1 ,or do you for artists pose1 ,don't you ever meditate or think ,there's enough loam in your hair ,to rob an acre bare1 ,take an invoice before another drink4 ,stop1 my friend1 don't be a slave1 ,do not fill a drunkard's grave1 ,be a man from birth until close1 ,come to him1 the ,galilean1 ,he will make your future clean1 ,he's the one to take the add from off your nose4 99 99 99 99 99 ,what's the ,difference8 ,it matters not1 so some folks say1 ,where rests the form when 'neath the clay4 ,there is no choice when the heart is still1 ,some always say and always will4 ,this may be true when we're forgot1 ,and aught remains to mark the spot1 ,but a silent stone that stands all time1 ,with letters cold to tell mankind4 ,some may not care where rest their bones1 ,in foreign lands or near their homes1 ,where tender hearts can shed the tear ,and bathe the roses on the bier4 ,i'd rather rest 'neath shady trees1 ,that beautify and kiss the breeze ,with velvet grass spread over the plot1 ,with lilies and forget-me-not4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,steering ,wheel4 ',twas a party blithe and gay1 ,on a joy ride as they say1 ,gliding many miles away from home4 ,midnight long was by ,they were coming in on high ,when suddenly there was an awful moan4 ,the steering wheel went wrong1 the papers said1 ,one was badly injured1 three were dead4 ,the same old story neatly woven in a tale1 ,the sadness of the scene behind the vale1 ,and not a line or word to make you think1 ,what had put the wheel upon the blink4 ,the verdict of jury1 so they say1 ,said the steering wheel was loose and had too much play2 ,but by chance some people looking around1 ,some real and newer evidence was found1 ',tis evidence you find and seldom fail ,if you let the ribbon bottle tell the tale4 ,so in the name of justice1 as ,i feel1 ,why not exonerate the wheel4 99 99 99 99 99 ,such ,high ,taxes1 ,gee-,whilaker4 ,meadow larks1 as you have undoubtedly noticed1 warble many different songs4 ,they sound like this to me3 ,one says1 ,here is your homesick girl4 ,another1 ,light the light1 it is gone down4 ,another1 ,here is your ,english preacher4 ,another1 ,the smeeking smock bird1 and others1 from which the following poem is written1 say1 ,such high taxes1 ,gee-whilaker4 ,as ,i stood in the yard of our high taxed home1 ,and filled my lungs with pure ozone1 ,my eye went wandering far and nigh1 ,and ,i saw a meadow lark flitting by4 ,he flew to a post for a moment's rest1 ,and gazed a while both east and west1 ,and then soared on1 going higher and higher1 ,till he perched way up on the court house spire4 ,from a bird's eye view of quaint renown1 ,he sized up the modern ,julesburg town1 ,the stand pipe built on the court house square1 ,is an old eye sore with a record rare4 ,the power house hid from the passer by ,must been for economy1 heat or pie8 ,the city sewer1 electric lights1 ,cement side-walks and high school sites1 ,was picturesque and nice to heed1 ,but sad for the one that held the deed4 ,he raised his head as he ceased to note1 ,and out from the depths of his golden throat ,his voice did peal as he said with a whirr1 ,such high taxes1 ,gee-whilaker4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to the ,mrs4 ,i am going to take a kiss1 ,and ,i know it's not a miss1 ,but before ,i miss my kisses1 ,i will take them from the ,mrs4 ,kisses from the dear old ,mrs4 ,are the sweetest kind of kisses4 ,but if the ,misses kisses1 ,then there will be kisses ,mrs4 ,just as long as ,mrs4 kisses1 ,there's no trouble with the ,misses ,but let the ,misses kisses ,and something's doing ,misses ,mrs4 99 99 99 99 99 ,don't ,procrastinate4 ,don't wait till tomorrow1 ,for joy or sorrow1 ,and miss the golden today4 ,for every minute1 ,your heart's not in it1 ,there's something slipping away4 ',twas ,jesus who said1 ',ere his spirit fled1 ,on the cross at ,calvary1 ,that he who had hope1 ,need never grope1 ,for the better things to be4 ,so don't never worry1 ,and fret and flurry1 ,for things that's not for you1 ,but hammer away1 ,at life's forge today1 ,for things that are good and true4 99 99 99 99 99 ,sister ,mary4 ,mary1 ,i know not who ,has a truer heart than you4 ,your's a life that does excell ,for doing every duty well4 ,in this world of woman kind ,a purer life ,i couldn't find1 ,if ,i looked my life time thru1 ,i would bring the crown to you4 ,i am proud to tell you1 dear1 ,your's has been a life of cheer1 ,where every hardship1 trial and sorrow1 ,was sweetly met before tomorrow4 ,may ,god's blessing sweetly rest1 ,in a life so richly blessed ,with kind words and cheerfulness1 ,for every heart that knew distress4 99 99 99 99 99 ,yes4 ',twas underneath the columbine1 ,where dearie said she would be mine1 ,my heart rejoiced at that glad word1 ,the sweetest one ,i ever heard4 ,i've wondered many times since then ,how one word changes lives of men1 ,some it makes and others breaks1 ,and others know they've made mistakes4 ,it gladdens some and saddens some1 ,it opens up the way to rum1 ,it fills the pen1 the cells of jails1 ,it wags the tongue with many tales4 ,it fills the lawyer's purse with fees1 ,it crowds the courts with quick decrees1 ,it to the drug store many guide1 ,it fills the graves with suicide4 ,it pulls the trigger of the gun1 ,it breaks the heart of many a one1 ,it causes pain where joy should be1 ,it fills the home with misery4 ,it joins the short unto the tall1 ,it never heeds old wisdom's call1 ,it clasps the hands of slim and stout1 ,and makes a mess beyond a doubt4 ,it breaks the dishes on your head1 ,it makes you wish that you were dead1 ,it mixes father with the son1 ,it has no end when once begun4 ,it's no respecter of your right1 ,it gets you out at dead of night1 ,it makes its scars and many a whelt1 ,it makes you cuss ,t4 ,roosevelt4 ,it makes the ,irish like the ,dutch1 ,the black the brown the squaw and such4 ,it causes if the truth would tell1 ,a thing on earth you all know well4 ,so with all wisdom ,i'll confess1 ,before you tackle this word yes1 ,have these professions up in ,g1 ,lawyer1 preacher and ,m4 ,d4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,lay of the ,last ,hen4 ',twas yesterday the deed was done1 ,that made my heart feel like a ton1 ,when cruel fate held its sway1 ,and robbed my hen of her last lay4 ,the sympathy swelled in my breast1 ,for my old hen so long caressed1 ,who stood by me for many years1 ,thru joy and sorrow1 mirth and tears4 ,when times were hard and crops were light1 ,there was to me no sweeter sight1 ,to get that egg and let it melt1 ,underneath my gnawing pelt4 ,the tariff never worried her ,she did her duty at one per1 ,wilson1 ,taft or ,roosevelt1 ,never had a cause she felt4 ,she built the muscle in my arm1 ,she paid the taxes on the farm1 ,she kept the wolf from strolling in1 ,she clothed the kids from ,kate to ,win4 ,she always let the whole world know1 ,with joyful song in rain or snow1 ,that she'd performed a duty neat1 ,that man himself has never beat4 ,i couldn't help it1 ,i'll confess1 ,the tears flowed freely1 more or less1 ,when that dear form was tenderly laid1 ,beneath the elm tree's pleasant shade4 ,here's to the hen upon the nest1 ,that keeps the table1 fills the guest1 ,builds up the system1 ne'er regrets ,and brings results whene'er she sets4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,dear ,old ,hod4 ,when ,i've labored hard all day1 ,and the supper's cleared away1 ,there's a joy before ,i nod1 ,when ,i load my dear old hod4 ,as the smoke curls in the air1 ,chasing from me life's dull care1 ,i can lean far back and think1 ,and put the worry on the blink4 ,here's to thee1 ,missouri cob1 ,many years upon the job1 ,your's a mission not all bad1 ,if you ease the load on dad4 99 99 99 99 99 ,dear ,old ,kate4 ,i know ,i stayed a little late1 ,the last time that ,i courted ,kate1 ,i had a speech ,i wished to try1 ,and how the hours hurried by4 ,the question that ,i wished to pop1 ,would never let me have the flop1 ,my cheeks would burn1 my throat get dry1 ,i was nearly hot enough to fry4 ,i guess ,i tried a dozen times1 ,i drilled myself in all the lines1 ,but when ,i reached the vital point1 ,the whole blame works got out of joint4 ,it made me mad and also sad1 ,i felt like going to the bad1 ,i'd practised long1 out in the trees1 ,just how to face her on my knees4 ,i'd hold the bough as ,katie's hand1 ,and with the best at my command1 ,i'd bare my soul with pleading tears1 ,for her to join me all the years4 ,i guess ,i never would have won1 ,if ,katie hadn't just for fun ,heard my appeal with silent feet1 ,and said1 ,why1 sure1 you dear old sweet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,tim4 ,once ,i knew a man named ,tim1 ,thought a mighty lot of him1 ,for his goodness1 heart and mind1 ,were of such a loving kind4 ,never heard him boast or tell1 ,of the things he'd done so well3 ,lips would kinda set with tension1 ,if his past you'd slightly mention4 ,kinda made his face look sad1 ,maybe some great grief he'd had1 ,but he'd pass it off and say1 ,kinda looks like rain today4 ,wasn't much past fifty-nine1 ,led a life serene and fine1 ,lived just on the edge of town1 ,liked to have the folks look round4 ,greatest chum of little tads1 ,liked to humor all their fads1 ,fixed their wagons1 made them trains1 ,soothed their many cares and pains4 ,made no difference to ,tim1 ,if you'd never heard of him1 ,he would always say1 ,hello1 ,said his mother taught him so4 ,worldly goods he hadn't much1 ,never seemed to care for such1 ,said he liked the ,master's way1 ,of doing things for just today4 ,dear old ,tim took sick one night1 ,thought his spirit would take flight1 ,but we all just hurried in1 ,and it helped revive old ,tim4 ,said it made him awful glad1 ,wished a larger house he had1 ,but we all said1 get well1 ,tim1 ,couldn't lose a man like him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,business ,man4 ,here is to the business man1 ,who does the very best he can1 ,and pays to each their honest debt1 ,and don't forget it makes him sweat4 ,he labors from the morn till night1 ,with brain and muscle in the fight1 ,to keep his head above the stream1 ,when finances are not serene4 ,he's to the one you always go1 ,when life has pained you with a woe1 ,you know his purse is always free1 ,to lessen grief or misery4 ,you toss on him most carelessly1 ,the gratis job of town trustee1 ,and then you pass around the word1 ,he's just the man for the school board4 ,he helps to school your girls and boys1 ,he shares with you your pains and joys1 ,he helps to pay the preacher's bill1 ,and aids the churches with good will4 ,he has to pay his bills when due1 ,but if he asks the same of you1 ,you think your credit's met his fears1 ,and let it run along for years4 ,you let him long and look and look1 ,at your account upon the book1 ,and you'll admit if you are frank1 ,he pays your interest at the bank4 ,if he would say and tell you true1 ,when your account has long been due1 ,that ten per cent was charged to you1 ,you'd swear until the air was blue4 ,if he helps you1 then why not him1 ,and don't keep sending off your tin1 ,but give it to your home merchants1 ,and keep the gloss from off their pants4 99 99 99 99 99 ,falling ,snow4 ,there's something in the falling snow1 ,that brings back years of long ago1 ,that makes you think of younger days1 ,behind a span of gallant bays4 ,the frosty air1 the rosy dames1 ,the secrets and the loving names1 ,of days gone by long years ago1 ,comes back today with falling snow4 ,the laughter pealed o'er rocks and trees1 ,the songs re-echoed with the breeze1 ,of merry rides so bright and gay1 ,are chasing thru my mind today4 ,the biting air with keen delight1 ,puts crispness in the appetite1 ,and mother's pies of golden hue1 ,soon faded like the morning dew4 ,and how ,i wish ,i could today1 ,turn back the years the youthful way1 ,and drive the bays and see them go1 ,and blush with youth midst falling snow4 ,,sallie',s ,,loyalty4 ,that's ,sallie over there in that potato patch4 ,she has been endeavoring to tease from mother earth enough tubers to supply the family through a long winter4 ,nature in this and many other instances has been unkind4 ,the rain waited too long and the one supply of food that fills so large a place are small as marbles1 nevertheless this dear soul laboriously gathered them and is carrying them1 pail at a time1 and storing them away for a long1 cold winter4 ,though the tubers are small and puny1 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 time4 ,sal does the housework1 the buying of supplies1 cares for the chickens1 plants the garden1 does the sewing1 picks up the paint brush when necessary1 and does about everything that anyone can do4 ,she is past fifty years of age1 most of them hard and bitter years4 ,they have not been the kind of years where the goal has been worth the trials and bitterness4 ,the streaks of silver are beginning to show in her dark hair1 she is small in physique1 clean limbed1 lithe1 resourceful1 determined1 and intelligent4 ,her schooling in the practical side of life is an attainment any one should be proud of4 ,she is one of the most wiry and courageous women that has ever lived such a grand and noble life and kept the sad1 dreary and lonely part locked up in her unselfish heart4 ,behold her as she is1 one of ,god's purest gifts6 ,her life is clean1 wholesome and grand and of such a sweetness and beauty that mocks to scorn any imitation of the artist4 ,for eight long years she has cared uncomplainingly for the aged1 widowed mother as her almost sole benefactor of aid and cheer in the home4 ,she has sacrificed1 schemed1 planned1 worked1 and struggled in a way that is worthy of our greatest financiers1 diplomats1 or statesmen4 ,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 battlefield4 ,she has denied herself in order that she might give the fullest measure of devotion to a dear old mother who is slipping slowly1 slowly to that great home of rest and comfort4 ,god bless you1 ,sallie1 in your old age1 when the silver streaks no longer glisten in your hair and it is all turned to the whiteness and purity of snow2 when your poor1 tired aching limbs from their long years of toil no longer yield to quick response1 when time chisels its deep furrows in your brow and your keen eye loses its lustre and grows dim4 ,i hope ,god will reward you with the choicest gifts of his kingdom1 and when the final summons is made and you stand in the open doorway of his love1 bathed in the purity of the sparkling dew in the evening time of life1 may the sweetness of your character come wafting gently in the fulness of its beauty and dwell amidst all that is holy1 sweet and sacred4 ,dearest ,sal1 you're growing old1 ,but there never can be told1 ,the great jewels you possess1 ,in your life of righteousness4 ,i would love you just the same1 ,had you reached the highest fame1 ,for you have a heart so true1 ,there would be no change in you4 ,you have done all duties well1 ,better than my tongue can tell1 ,i would love to ease your way1 ,and turn your winters back to ,may4 ,i have but one life to live1 ,but for you ,i'd freely give1 ,i'd go down that lonesome valley1 ,if 'twould help you1 dear old ,sallie4 ,,sunshine4 ,in endeavoring to entertain you in this chapter ,i wish ,i might have the wit of a ,nasby or come ,nye the ,mark2 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 people4 ,a fellow said to me one time ,i'll tell you a panacea for every ailment4 ,i have taken it for years and you don't need a skilled ,pharmacist to compound it4 ,this was the simple remedy3 ,trust in providence and keep your bowels open4 ,i thought it was a pretty good prescription and if applied carefully you would never have appendicitis or a good many other complaints4 ,of course1 he said1 some people ask too much of providence4 ,i hardly think it fair to ask the ,lord to furnish you the land1 the patch of potatoes1 a pail to put them in1 a spade to dig them with1 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 off4 ,don't ask too much4 ,it is better to whistle than to groan4 ,it will make some heart lighter to hear you whistle than to groan4 ,if you can't whistle a tune sizzle something through your teeth1 there's cheer in it for some one4 ,no matter how worrisome1 difficult or perplexing the problem is1 don't worry or brood over it4 ,whistle if you can1 sizzle if you can't4 ,it will keep you from getting meloncolic2 colic that comes from something besides eating too many ,colorado watermelons with the accent strong on the water4 ,i've known people whom you'd think from all appearances they hadn't a care in the world1 the sunny side was always exposed and unconsciously they would be dropping encouraging words1 doing kind deeds1 lending acts of assistance1 and doing everything to lessen the other fellow's burden4 ,they didn't tell any one that they didn't know where their breakfast was coming from1 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 meal1 luncheon1 ,i believe is the proper society word4 ,it never pays to be stingy with eulogies or encomiums4 ,a little praise has caused many a breast to heave with gladness and chase away gloom4 ,the cost is small1 thank ,god it's outside of the trusts4 ,so don't be backward in using it at every opportunity you meet4 ,if the sermon is good1 go up and tell the semi-paid man behind the pulpit1 it won't kill him4 ,he may be surprised1 but keep at it until he gets used to it4 ,if brother or sister so and so has made a misstep and you are an unbeliever or not1 don't break your neck in rushing to your neighbor and ah1 ahing it all over town4 ,let two thoughts get into your head at once and let the better thought prevail1 and instead of helping stain the character of a poor unfortunate1 make it your business to use your good advice1 if you haven't any then keep still4 ,when a church member steps from the narrow path1 why has everybody such a sudden interest8 ,why does it cause such a loosening of tongues8 ,the ,bible says1 he that is without sin among you let him cast the first stone4 ,if any one but ,jesus was without sin why not advertise it4 ,give it to the ,post and use the red letters on the front page4 ,the way ,i look at the parable quoted by ,jesus is that if a stone is thrown some one has to throw it1 it may be thrown with intent or carelessness1 but in either event the stone has been thrown and some one will be struck1 so the best way is not to throw the stone1 if you have to throw something1 go into one of the leagues and then don't throw a stone4 ,throw a baseball1 but don't hit the umpire4 ,wherever you can place a rose where a thorn has been1 do it4 ,there is both fragrance and class to a rose1 something sweet1 cheerful and pretty2 but the fellow that can find any redeeming qualities in a thorn is not the person that can stand inspection4 ,where could you put him where he would be an improvement8 ,you can't progress unless you make use of the things progress is found in4 ,pluck the rose every time1 leave the other alone4 ,don't wait 'till it's time to erect the tombstone before you pay tribute to your dear friend4 ,one small flower is worth more to the living than tons piled on their caskets4 ,some poor fellows never get tomb stones1 head stones or anything to mark their graves4 ,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 mistake4 ,you can't afford to do it4 ,pay your little tributes all along the journey of life4 ,be as careful dropping pains or sorrows as you would dropping pearls4 ,don't wait 'till your father1 mother or wife dies1 then lie about them on their tombstones4 ,you only have one father and one mother2 be careful and think some before you pour out any derogatory statements or cheap invectives concerning them4 ,your wife is entitled to a great many compliments you never gave her4 ,the reverential words on the slab in the cemetery isn't going to fool any one1 and have them to believe1 as you would wish1 that you did the fine thing1 when really you are to blame for stealing from her about twenty years of her life time4 ,you've caused hollow cheeks where roses should have been and you stole many pleasures from her and enjoyed them all by yourself4 ,too much swine in your nature to make people think you were sincere in your profuse epigram on the tombstone4 ,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 ,lord4 ,here is where they make a fatal mistake1 for the ,lord certainly knew what he was doing when he made countenances4 ,the newspaper's most clever ads are no comparison to the clean1 open ads the ,lord puts on faces and the clear unfrosted windows where you can look far into the soul4 ,you can't break man's laws without being detected4 ,if you are a sneak criminal1 inebriate1 crook1 lascivious1 immoral or any other of the degrading types in the category of a false man1 the warning is openly and clearly displayed on your countenance4 ,you can't fly false colors and succeed1 for sooner or later you pay the penalty to the last farthing4 ,when you hear the remark ,i don't like his looks1 there is something shown in the countenance to verify the statement or no accusation would have been made4 ,be a man and your face will do the advertising4 ,don't be afraid of censure or criticism or let it keep you from helping the fellow that is down4 ,god gave us religion for that purpose4 ,it's something to use every day in the week and not a specialty for the ,sabbath2 the more you use it the brighter it gets4 ,anything you don't use and keep polished loses its usefulness and becomes rusty4 ,use it whenever you can and you'll be surprised the confidence you gain in people's hearts4 ,it's the greatest purifier in the world1 that's why ,god gave it to us4 ,he knew what he was doing4 ,it's the only thing in the world that will lift up the fallen woman1 the drunken man1 the horse thief1 the blasphemer and all others when every hand is turned against them4 ,it's a panacea for every evil4 ,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 better4 ,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 transgressed1 but as they plead piteously for forgiveness1 their petition is heard and all their sins are blotted out and the ,lord gives them another chance4 ,he stoops down in his great mercy and love and gives them that peace beyond all understanding4 ,he raises them up and helps them reach for the cross when no hand is extended to help them4 ,at every opportune chance laugh long and heartily1 nothing is better to cheer and comfort1 and while it is doing the other fellow good you are getting the cheapest medicine on the market for your digestive organs4 ,try it after you eat some boarding house pancakes an inch think4 ,you have lots of things to smile for4 ,there is always some one else worse off than yourself4 ,you see them everywhere4 ,if you have a large family your neighbor has a larger one4 ,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 wife4 ,if you are able to hobble around1 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 rise4 ,there are two kinds of sunshine2 one is entirely dependent upon the individual and the other was inaugurated shortly after creation4 ,each is necessary to fill the divine plan4 ,while one kind is periodical in some people1 the other is always at hand unless clouds intervene4 ,god's sunshine is unexcelled and is a marvel in itself for warmth1 beauty1 cheerfulness and grandeur4 ,the rising and falling of this wonderful orbit body is said to start and finish the work of man1 as he was supposed to labor and scheme from sun to sun4 ,this plan may have been popular and proper before the day of the multi-millionaire1 but the time is too short for the present day man1 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 darkness4 ,the housewife may have to sew and rock the baby and prove her contention that her work is never done1 but it's up to the ,governor1 the old man1 ,dad1 or any other name you may call him1 to keep the flour in the bin1 coal in the bucket1 shoes on the children1 and an endless number of other things4 ,he's the lad that must fix it up with the banker when the note is renewed4 ,he must through some devised method dress the kids in schools as good as his more prosperous neighbor1 or there's snobs and tears4 ,he must provide something besides the proverbial soup bone that one neighbor could borrow from another through the winter months4 ,he must buy the latest books1 procure lyceum and chautauqua tickets1 pay the preacher1 the ice man1 the milk man1 the water man1 light man1 and dig continually for charity1 and thus you see the sun to sun theory has the bottom torn out of it4 ,dad is never still long enough for the birds to build nests in his goatee and set three weeks4 ,if he slackens up you notice a visible reduction in your pancake pile4 ,the ,lord didn't make the suns far enough apart for dad or some other people4 ,i worked for a farmer one time that used to start out with a handmade sun about two-thirty ,a4 ,m4 and never ceased till ten ,p4 ,m4 ,the meals always bothered me2 ,i couldn't tell if it was breakfast the next morning or two suppers4 ,if ,god's sunshine meets man's sunshine and the two mix properly1 you've got an individual that is a continual pleasure1 one whose existence is exhilarating4 ,he whistles and sings and smiles and laughs and gets out of life everything that is good1 and everybody likes and knows him4 ,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 egg4 ,i was carrying on nonchalantly a conversation with a depot master1 and the saliva was gathering so rapidly1 it wasn't long before ,i could only grunt4 ,i always disliked to ruin a floor with expectoration and was also embarrassed by the presence of the agent's boy1 a little fellow of four years1 but my mouth was so full and my cheeks so inflated that leakage was starting and ,i was forced to eject it or swallow it4 ,i chose the former and let it go4 ,it sounded like the distant booming of guns and the space required to contain it on the floor was unbelievable4 ,if its dimensions didn't cover a foot square outside of the innumerable rivulets in every direction1 ,i'll buy my wife a twelve dollar ,easter bonnet for a ,christmas present4 ,the little boy looked at it and said1 ,my1 that's a big one6 ,i sneaked out crestfallen1 abashed and ashamed1 but didn't have the sense to quit for some years afterwards1 when the preacher said something about the ashes to ashes and dust to dust4 ,,temperance4 ,the cause of temperance is one that has been close to my heart for twenty years4 ,taken from the logical standpoint of protection to the home1 sound saneness1 improvement in morals1 an enhancement of citizenship1 it is the second paramount issue of the age4 ,take away liquor1 stop the traffic entirely1 and you reduce seventy-five per cent of crime4 ,the empty whisky-bottle is the greatest curse that ever existed4 ,when it is standing filled in front of some bar-room mirror1 it is harmless1 but when it is empty it signifies that it has been drank by somebody and has been the direct cause for all that has followed4 ,trace it up and you will find sorrow1 misery1 heartaches1 remorse1 disgrace1 shame1 humiliation1 want1 poverty1 destroyed homes1 cruelty1 hatred1 anger1 revenge1 and murder4 ,rags1 vulgarity1 dishonor1 wasted lives1 and deceit4 ,ruined sweethearts1 broken-hearted wives1 disgraced parents1 and hungry1 shoeless children4 ,disease1 filth1 white slavery1 prize fights1 tangoes1 rottenness1 and shame4 ,keeley cures1 jails1 penitentiaries1 poorhouses1 brothels1 cabarets1 and insane asylums4 ,thieves1 robbers1 safe blowers1 beggars1 pick-pockets1 delirium tremors1 and death4 ,leave it alone6 ,some people say there is no harm in it2 there isn't if you leave it alone4 ,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 exists4 ,each one separate and apart are harmless2 but let a sane man come along and drink the whisky1 pick up the revolver1 and what happens8 ,every nationality without distinction to race or color1 ,irishmen included1 will run for safety4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a well-educated young man with brilliant prospects1 neatly attired1 attractive1 and of fine1 honorable parentage1 was passing a saloon one day when a friend standing in the doorway invited him in4 ,he had never been in a place of this kind in his life4 ,his parents had taught him1 friends advised him1 and a sweet faced girl had warned him4 ,conscience told him to decline and go on1 but1 like millions of others1 he heeded the invitation and stepped in4 ,come up and take something1 the tempter said4 ,no1 he said1 ,i never drink4 ,come on1 urged the tempter4 ,it won't hurt you4 ,,no1 he said2 it's beneath the dignity of a true gentleman and it would break my mother's heart4 ,ah1 come on1 don't be a kid1 he urged1 and still the boy said no4 ,after continued and repeated solicitation he finally yielded and drank his first glass4 ,alas1 the fatal mistake was made4 ,years of careful training were swept aside4 ,hopeful aspirations of his mother when she looked on his innocent face in the cradle were all for naught4 ,solemn advice from a kind father was lost sight of1 and the deed was done4 ,that first drink fired his brain4 ,others were taken and his eyes shone1 the house treated1 and the once quiet1 manly lad was loud and boisterous4 ,self-respect was cast aside and foul utterances flew fast and thick from a once clean mouth4 ,the end came4 ,he reeled in drunkenness and fell to the floor in a gibbering drunken stupor4 ,he was put to bed and when sober he felt the shame and remorse so keenly that he was at the point of self destruction4 ,he thought of his mother1 his father1 the dear little sweetheart1 and his friends4 ,he was so afraid they would all hear of his ignominy that he kept secluded4 ,he couldn't bear to face them1 tell all and start anew4 ,the humiliation was more than he could stand and he slipped farther and farther down the steep and rapid descent to hell4 ,back in his cheerful and once comfortable home a dear old mother sat waiting and watching year after year the lamp was kept burning4 ,a kind old father sat with bowed head thinking and thinking4 ,a dear little girl was weeping and weeping1 and still he didn't come4 ,where1 ,o where was he and why didn't he come8 ,alas6 how sad as he sank lower and lower4 ,drunken brawls were common1 nights spent in revelry very often2 the dissipation was telling1 his once clean countenance was haggard4 ,his step was languid1 lethargy was settling upon him1 and his whole being was repulsive4 ,his character was no longer clean and a thing of beauty4 ,brothels caught him and ,god's penalties were discernible for the violation of his laws4 ,decent men shunned him and pure women scorned him1 but still the light was kept burning4 ,the mother watched1 the father waited1 the sweetheart prayed1 and the friends yearned2 but down1 down1 down he went4 ,even dogs hurried by him1 the filth and disease was nauseating4 ,the years sped quickly and there he is clear down at the bottom1 an object of disgust and scorn4 ,behold him1 beneath the mass of stale and putrid slime1 a castoff1 friendless and penniless vagabond4 ,beneath the most loathsome and foul degeneracy conceivable2 even beneath the filthy sewer4 ,he lay on a bundle of rags in a drunkard's hut4 ,as he moaned and groaned1 an old friend passing by heard him1 stepped in and stood looking at him4 ,with tears streaming down his cheeks the boy looked up and said1 my life is ebbing1 ,i am at the border line1 my career is wasted2 ,i am a drunken1 despised and worthless sot1 friendless and alone4 ,i can see nothing ahead but the blackest despair4 ,oh my poor old mother1 my poor old father1 my dear little sweetheart1 ,my ,sav--oh--oh4 ,another spell grasped him and as he tossed and shrieked and moaned1 grappling with the demon1 writhing in mental anguish1 terror clouded his countenance1 his eyes rolled1 his limbs jerked1 the mouth dropped open1 the tongue protruded1 he clutched until the blood trickled from the torn flesh1 a loud1 gurgling1 terrifying scream1 and he was dead4 ,died with the delirium tremens caused by the rum demon4 ,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 paper4 ,he pulled it out and read3 ,listen1 friend1 today1 ,to what ,i have to say1 ,don't let temptation sway ,and miss the narrow way4 ,when you are young and gay ,and anxious for the fray ,be ready to say ,nay ,and tread the narrow way4 ,the debt ,i have to pay ,as here near death ,i lay ,wouldn't hold so much dismay ,had ,i trod the narrow way4 ,oh tread the narrow way ,and never miss a day ,ask ,jesus how to pray ,and tread the narrow way4 ,how can ,america1 the foremost nation of the world1 that has long boasted of liberty and advancement1 allow the liquor traffic to continue when the condition it causes are so critical4 ,it is stealing away her brains1 increasing her crime1 lowering her moral standing1 demoralizing her citizenship1 and giving to posterity a weaker race and causing such poverty1 misery and unhumanitarian distress4 ,can this enlightened nation afford its continuance and let it remain when it has a grasp so powerful that it is endangering its very vitals8 ,can ,america1 with her unsurpassed institutions of learning1 her brilliant and scholarly statesmen1 her great mineral and agricultural wealth yet unfound and developed1 allow a traffic so alarmingly demoralizing as to let her constitutional principles decline8 ,can she sit still1 under her broad and world famed methods of progress1 and allow such a traffic1 that devastates from every source1 for a revenue wrung from women's tears1 that is so rapidly depreciating her citizenship4 ,is she prudent8 ,is she applying the ,christian principles of her constitution to obtain revenue from a traffic so nefarious and debauching8 ,if she realizes the danger ahead why delay an amendment that enhances citizenship and principle4 ,america1 'tis thee ,i prize1 ',twas underneath thy azure skies1 ,where heaven's light first met my eyes4 ,i love thy thrift and enterprise1 ,to me beloved and so wise ,thy name is one ,i idolize4 ,thy blood did purchase liberty1 ,to make this land so great and free1 ,and quench forever tyranny4 ,oh may thy name forever be ,embraced within a righteous plea1 ,that lessens pain and misery4 ,it is for thee that ,i will fight1 ,when'er thy cause is for the right1 ,for none but these e'er use thy might4 ,i'll heed your call with keen delight1 ,but should ,i fall before the night1 ,let freedom's flag be my last sight4 ,,every ,,day ,,philosophy4 ,look out for the man whose face shows it pains him to say ,good ,morning4 99 99 99 99 99 ,never be afraid to trust the man whose dog meets him with a bound4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the mad rush to join the appendicitis club and sing in the choir invisible has lost its popularity1 both for the good of posterity and the pocket book4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some people take a great deal of liberty with the ,english language1 when they speak of work4 99 99 99 99 99 ,stick to the boys who borrow a five occasionally and pay it back2 rather than the fellows who love you like a fly does molasses when your roll would choke a lazy mule4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it's cheaper to buy your coal from your regular dealer and take short weight1 than to steal it from the railroad and pay court costs4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it's an ice cold fact that the fellow who is continually condemning others' faults and pointing with pride to his own great meritable achievements1 is not entitled to a premium for sincerity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it's often the sour1 surly looking man that goes down in his pocket and gives you his last quarter1 when hunger is beating a fast tattoo against your breastworks4 99 99 99 99 99 ,because a man joins the church and becomes a pious and strict respecter of ,sunday observance1 don't cast all caution aside and let him sell you gold mine stock on ,monday1 unless you know something about the mine4 99 99 99 99 99 ,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 tub4 99 99 99 99 99 ,many a man has nearly grasped ,st4 ,peter's hand1 when his wife's razor edged tongue drove him clean down to perdition4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the fellow who is always harping hypocrite and hurling cheap invectives against the church isn't the man to arouse confidence1 the only one he helps is the devil4 99 99 99 99 99 ,take away profanity from some men's conversation and you haven't enough left to know what they said4 99 99 99 99 99 ,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 fever4 ,i don't think it could be the brain kind4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if money and whiskey would lose their influence in the courts1 juries and legislatures would go to sleep and jail doors rust on their hinges4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when the ,lord turns his ,x rays upon the people1 the churches will fill so rapidly that ,easter bonnets and dress suits can be picked up anywhere4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i know a wealthy man by the name of ,moore who never was satisfied4 99 99 99 99 99 ,obituaries are not a safe guide to the real truth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,recollections become dim on the witness stand4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it's better to faint in the arms of truth and die in poverty than to lie for the lap of luxury and die disgraced4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a drunken man's breath is preferable to the wagging tongue of a gossip4 99 99 99 99 99 ,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 complaining4 99 99 99 99 99 ,marry in haste and repent in alimony4 99 99 99 99 99 ,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 versa4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if it wasn't for a great many people would be wearing the stripes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some men are so economical they go without socks to buy whiskey4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if some women were better cooks there would be less dyspepsia and fewer divorces4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if too many cooks spoil the broth1 could too many church denominations spoil the man8 99 99 99 99 99 ,the longer you use the ,christ-like religion the better you like it and the better it makes you4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the man who makes careless remarks about women does not possess the fine attributes of a gentleman4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if religion cost money1 how some church members with bible names would grab for their purses when the lights go out4 99 99 99 99 99 ,religion and sympathy cost nothing1 but you'd think they were diamonds the way some people use them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first marriage is for love1 the second for convenience1 and the third a cold business proposition4 ,don't try for a four-bagger4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the cleanliness of the tea towel is a safe criterion to a good house-keeper4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the great jewel ,consistency cannot be bought with money4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some people are so hard hearted1 onions would have no effect at a funeral4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if you don't like the taste of life's medicine1 be your own doctor and change the ingredients4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if some weak-kneed marshals and sheriffs would do their duty1 there would be less bootleggers4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some women join the ladies' aid and use the lemon extravagantly4 99 99 99 99 99 ,many a woman can hardly keep from yelling ,hallelujah when her husband dies4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if some mothers don't spend more time with their children and less with politics this country will be over-run with pick-pockets4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if all mis-mated marriages were suddenly annulled1 it wouldn't take an expert mathematician to count those left in wedlock4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if it wasn't for their money1 thousands of women would leave their husbands4 99 99 99 99 99 ,whiskey has killed more men than all the surgeons4 99 99 99 99 99 ,lay the rod on the child before he gets too strong4 99 99 99 99 99 ,better be a lady waiting than marry a sot4 99 99 99 99 99 ,honesty stops millions from becoming millionaires4 99 99 99 99 99 ,women born in ,alaska seldom get married2 too long in cold storage4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the undertaker's sympathy never interferes with his profits2 he gets the last crack at you and you can't kick4 99 99 99 99 99 ,many a woman1 who never had an extra pair of hosiery at home1 loses sight of economy1 after her marriage1 and plunges into extravagance so heedlessly that her husband gives up in discouragement4 99 99 99 99 99 ,live within your means1 but don't borrow money to do it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,spend your money when you are young1 if you want to spend your old age in the poor house4 99 99 99 99 99 ,put a strong proviso in your deed before you turn it over to your children1 if you expect to buy your own tobacco4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the boy who criticizes his father's depleted finances on account of hardships and honest failures1 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 zero4 99 99 99 99 99 ,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 aesophagus4 99 99 99 99 99 ,many a rock-ribbed democrat votes for a ,republican1 if there is something in it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the tramp1 with his back against the water tank1 studies as hard on his side of the problem of existence as does the fellow with greater resources1 who is up against it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the man who can fulfill the bible by taking the slap on both sides of the cheek is seven parts lamb and one part ,irish4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the difference between a cackling hen and a cackling woman is1 one cackles when she lays and the other cackles all the time she don't lay4 99 99 99 99 99 ,trust in ,god but look out for everybody else4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the man that totes a whiskey blossom on the end of his flue carries a cheap add for the devil4 99 99 99 99 99 ,don't worry over the sport that can smoke twenty cigarettes a day4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the girl that marries the man to reform him has a ,,sad lesson to learn4 ,a good excuse saves lots of lying4 ,,glimpses ,,from ,,the ,,past4 ,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 term4 ,the chairman having instructed the secretary of the convention to cast the entire vote of the delegation for myself1 ,i addressed the convention as follows3 ,mr4 ,chairman and gentlemen of the ,convention3 ,accept my profound thanks for the splendid manifestation of honor that you have conferred upon an humble individual like myself4 ,i wish to impress upon you the political principles ,i outlined to you briefly two years ago1 are the same today as they were then4 ,i would rather be defeated honorably1 squarely and honestly than to be successful with a tarnished character obtained through disreputable methods4 ,i realize1 as do all intelligent reasoners withholding myself to be the humblest among you1 that character is something that is not acquired while we sleep4 ,it is a constant every day struggle1 a life-long battle4 ,take away our character and what have we left4 ,i desire to say to you gentlemen that during my lifetime ,i have been intimately acquainted with labor in its most aggressive form4 ,i know what it is to stand between two shining bands of steel under a scorching ,july sun4 ,i know what it is to stack hay under a sultry and oppressive heat4 ,i know the loneliness and privations that comes to one who has tended stock in the heart of the ,rocky ,mountains4 ,i fully realize that these different pursuits require grit and determination1 they are the hardest kind of labors1 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 clerk4 ,if ,i have been competent1 if ,i have been faithful1 if ,i have done my duty1 that is not for me to decide4 ,you are the judges of these conditions1 if you think ,i have1 then ,i ask for your support and influence4 ,you are a body of men from all parts of this county2 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 polls4 ,the campaign this year is short2 ,i wish to say for myself that ,i will not be able to get around much4 ,the duties of my office for the past six weeks have been very strenuous and will continue so to be for some time to come4 ,the state board of equalization were late in sending their report and not only being late1 but were unkind1 and raised the valuation on several of our taxable properties and this makes extra work for the clerk1 so ,i trust you will be like the turkey in the tall tree and keep one eye open for the boy from ,lodge ,pole4 ,there has happened in my short career as an ,american citizen a good many things that ,i have felt elated over and proud of4 ,i am proud that ,i am an ,american citizen1 born under the stars and stripes and belong to a nation second to none4 ,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 union4 ,but if there is one thing that ,i am prouder of more than any other1 it is the fact that ,i belong to a party whose motto is principle and good government1 and whose loftiest aim has always been to make ,america the ideal nation of the world4 ,i thank you4 ,i will here relate an incident that happened when ,i first encountered experience in her knee breeches1 ,i have termed it a fighting1 explosive nauseating cough remedy4 ,i would prefer calling it an egg nogg2 but there is one extra ingredient that disfranchises the egg and in a peculiar way leaves the nogg there in a somewhat embarrassing condition4 ,when ,i was a youth1 ,i had some peculiar traits in my makeup4 ,my main instruction was received from that old professor1 experience1 and day by day ,i gained some valuable knowledge in the school of hard knocks4 ,being of a peculiar turn of mind ,i had implicit truth and confidence in all mankind1 and on account of this trait ,i have often met with misplaced confidence4 ,for instance1 the ,bonuses and ,good ,wills heretofore related4 ,i had contracted a bad cold of tenacious irritability down near the little hamlet of ,paxton1 ,nebraska1 while performing the menial labor of an every day workman on the renowned line of the ,union ,pacific4 ,the work being accomplished was known as bucking steel4 ,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 side4 ,the side that was ahead was being pulled back to the point opposite the other by a locomotive attached to a large cable4 ,some said this strategic work swelled the premium of the water soaked stock2 but this contention is left to philosophers and those who study economic problems1 as to whether or not the corporation was ahead rails at ,omaha or short at ,ogden4 ,the days were exceedingly warm1 it being in the autumn of the year4 ,i lost more perspiration than was due me and along toward evening1 when old sol was getting ready to retire and also largely due to a scant wardrobe1 a chilliness would steal over my spare physique4 ,the ride home from the work in the evening1 on flat cars1 at a hurried speed1 caused the night air to condense in the locality of the throat4 ,nature not doing her part1 ,i tried to assist her in removing the obstruction and1 as soon as the speed of the train would allow1 ,i shot from the car in a mad race for the boarding house4 ,being sure footed and fleet1 ,i was generally first at the wash basin1 erasing from my countenance ,nebraska's productive soil and leaving what the water didn't loosen on the old fashioned long rolling boarding house towel4 ,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 corn4 ,after the work was completed1 the men were returned to the various localities4 ,upon arriving safely at my destination1 ,i went to the home physician4 ,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 bottle1 prescribed1 from his oft water stock4 7,i pause for a scalding sensation felt on my cheeks47 ,poor ,old ,doc is sleeping beneath the sod4 ,constant concoctions bringing no relief1 ,i was at last listening to a well meant prescription from my co-laborer ,dick4 ,he said his remedy would give unwavering satisfaction to ailments like mine4 ,i don't think his remedy would stand the pure food law test2 but when you get to clutching you'll clutch anything4 ,so ,i listened to the unlearned pharmacist and keenly assented and he started to compound two well known ingredients in equal parts4 ,one ingredient was controlled by that magnetic dollar chaser1 ,john ,d41 and the other was controlled by nobody1 it did the controling1 i4 e41 oil and whiskey4 ,i'd cover up this last ingredient and give it a better concealed classical standing but ignorance is bliss and there you are4 ,this carefully prepared drink1 my friend said1 should be taken five minutes before breakfast4 ,so according to directions ,i hoisted the tin cup and down went the fluids4 ,just enough oil in it to make it slip quick1 and you had it before you really knew it4 ,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 it1 but you have to be careful with other people's property1 whether it's mortgaged or not4 ,no matter how keen or fertile your imagination may be you can't realize a dose of this character unless you taste it4 ,take the minutest equal parts of each1 mix them1 drink them and be convinced4 ,was ,i sick8 ,of all the great guns of all our wars1 ,civil or uncivil1 ,i will take my oath before any judge of common jurisdiction1 sitting as a court of record and say ,i ,,was4 ,the only recollection ,i have of the breakfast menu was the two hard boiled eggs and a faint remembrance1 as ,i was leaving the table1 of a fruit picture on the wall tipping up and down4 ,that was the first time ,i ever saw anything inanimate acting so4 ,mercy1 the taste of that oil and the remembrance of it1 mixing in a place the size of your fist6 ,think of that rip-roaring1 sizzling tobacco flavored1 ingredient1 trying to slip one over on that kerosene and knock out those two hard-boiled1 well matured1 boarding-house eggs4 ,i say in all candor1 ,i don't blame ,john ,d4 for watering the oil4 ,water it more1 ,john1 it will be milder to take4 ,i went through the oil belt in ,indiana1 ,texas1 ,oklahoma1 and all the rest1 ,i visited all the stills1 illicit1 and otherwise of ,kentucky1 ,tennessee1 and ,colorado2 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 beast4 ,i have always felt sorry for those eggs on account of their age4 ,i must take a short glimpse here of a peculiar incident that transpired under my roof between two men of the cloth4 ,one was a ,m4 ,e4 minister and the other a seven day advent4 ,the advent had been staying in town for several weeks and ,i became fairly well acquainted with him and his estimable wife1 and he asked me if they might have a few meetings at our home in the evenings1 and ,i said certainly and he came4 ,both he and his wife were scholars1 well cultured and refined and we enjoyed listening to their version of the scriptures4 ,how the ,m4 ,e4 minister came to be there one evening is still a mystery to me1 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 clutches4 ,the evening entertainment was progressing nicely and the advent man was in charge of the machinery1 when suddenly the ,m4 ,e4 man took issue with him over his version of one of the scriptural passages and quick wit and repartee was fast and furious4 ,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 memory4 ,the ,m4 ,e4 man was nonplussed1 red of face and angry2 and so ungentlemanly as to let all the fireworks in his dignified ,sunday nature explode and told the cool1 calm advent that teachings of his kind should be in hell4 ,you may lay this excitement to anger1 being worsted1 or anything you like1 but ,i think the gentleman he came to remove from our home entered him one hundred per cent strong4 ,why he was on his feet with his ,methodist fists clenched1 ready to fight1 and if it hadn't been for the soothing1 pacifying utterances of his good wife saying1 ,john1 ,john1 ,i don't know what would have happened4 ,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 cheek4 ,i think if an ,advent says ,saturday is the ,lord's day and should be observed on the ,sabbath1 the ,methodist says ,sunday is the day1 and some other denomination says ,friday is the day1 ,i'm willing to be convinced4 ,it beats having the ,fourth of ,july come on ,saturday1 and if ,i had enough money so ,i needn't work ,i'd say let seven different denominations have seven different days1 and no matter which home ,i observed ,i wouldn't be left out shivering in an undershirt4 ,something peculiar about church denominations1 all of them headed for the same place1 but each one anxious to route you4 ,one tells you they have the old travelled road1 founded on the ,bible1 another a different way1 founded on the ,bible1 and others another different way1 also founded on the ,bible4 ,i conclude the best and surest way is to be a ,christian and read the ,bible1 live it and let ,god show the way4 ,sunday churches or ,saturday churches carry no guarantee that you'll reach ,heaven4 ,before ,i invested in ,good-wills and ,bonuses and other losing investments1 ,i would occasionally take my family for a little trip on the ,los ,angeles limited and rub against the aristocracy and the diamonds4 ,years before when ,i was a day laborer on the same road over which this elegant train glides1 ,i thought to travel on such a goddess of beauty was a luxury only for wealth and culture1 and a pleasure unequaled1 but hope beats eternal in the human breast and as ,i had lived largely on hope for over thirty years1 ,i finally said hope can go to blazes1 the opportunity is here and why not embrace it4 ,well1 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 art4 ,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 beauty4 ,there is a peculiar feeling under your vest as you notice the well groomed man1 the well groomed woman1 the sparkle of the electric lights and the glitter of the diamonds4 ,elegance everywhere4 ,the very height of ingenuity4 ,then when you enter the dining car with its rosewood finish1 tastily decorated tables1 superb linen1 and cast your eye over the choice menu and have the black gentry all attention and ready to care for your smallest want1 you may feel as ,i did1 pretty classy company for a boy from ,lodge ,pole4 ,of course there are snubs here and there1 you find them everywhere4 ,they are in a class that is well known for nineteen hundred years4 ,they took the leading part in the crucifixion of the ,nazarene4 ,we can't exist without having them1 and if you will notice in any walk of life1 there is a pain for nearly every pleasure1 with corns and bunions thrown in4 ,as a hunter ,i never received any distinction and am forced to admit as such ,i am an entire nonentity and failure4 ,my father owned a rifle which was the only one of its kind in our community for years and years4 ,its early history ,i am unfamiliar with and never learned it4 ,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 sixties4 ,at some time it received a broken stock and ever after its being repaired it was known as old splice4 ,for many years when the old year died and the new year was born1 old splice spoke forth at its birth and its missile of death generally lodged in the tail of the railroad wind mill4 ,old splice was the type of one hundred years ago1 when people weren't killed as quickly as today1 the loading was slow and gave one chance to escape2 ,i remember brother ,pat used it to shoot a dog that he had tied up with a rope4 ,he took steady aim1 pulled the old fashioned hammer and fired4 ,when the smoke cleared away the dog was running with the fullest capacity of its limbs4 ,the ball had cut the rope4 ,i never shot old splice but once and ,i'll always remember the incident4 ,a chicken hawk had been tormenting the poultry for a long time and ,i got bold and reckless one day1 grabbed old splice 7some one had been kind enough to leave it loaded7 and sallied forth bent on destruction4 ,the hawk was soaring high in the air but didn't seem to want to descend any4 ,old splice was supposed to carry half a mile and as ,i knew this was not the distance from the gun to the hawk1 ,i concluded to test out old splice and see if the prowess of the old fellow had been exaggerated4 ,i had heard some one say you must get down on one knee1 as an attitude of respect1 ,i presume1 and hold the stock solidly and lovingly against the shoulder4 ,i did both of these things and fired4 ,i felt my head strike the ground so amazingly quick and hard that it confused and startled me4 ,i knew ,i was committing no crime and couldn't account for such harsh treatment4 ,at first ,i thought the bird might have struck me in the face and1 it coming from such a height1 would cause a terrible compact when one body met another1 but ,i abandoned this idea1 as no hawk was anywhere above or below4 ,then ,i thought ,i might have torn some planet loose1 but this was an asylum idea also4 ,then ,i thought some one may have overfed old splice and made him bilious4 ,i afterwards learned this was true4 ,the miscreant still lives4 ,,hopes ,,that ,,exploded4 ,if it wasn't for the word hope this would be a dreary world for the fellow who plans and builds in the future4 ,it rises and falls in every human breast4 ,some have an over abundance1 and others lack in not having enough4 ,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 go2 but no matter how hard the fall1 or how often1 he's up and trying again4 ,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 again4 ,bless the hopeful man or woman4 ,some can't stand the fall1 they go down clear to the bottom4 ,defeat and despondency chain them fast4 ,in the year #ahif 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 ,house1 ,i commenced scheming and planning on patentable ideas4 ,nineteen years of hard thinking has brought no visible financial returns and so far the patent attorney is the only one who has received toll4 ,i never entered the field thinking ,i had any latent ingenuity like ,edison1 ,westinghouse1 ,ford and many others2 but ,i had hopes1 as long as ,i could pay the attorney and the filing fee of the patent office4 ,my first application for a patent was an adjustable track wrench that met complete failure after a year's pendency4 ,i thought ,i had a good1 practical1 economical1 and convenient wrench1 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 patented4 ,of course you must not get confused and wonder why he didn't tell me this before ,i filed the application4 ,if he had the self-explanatory portion of the scheme loses its self respect and puts the attorney in a bad financial light1 which ,i would dislike to do4 ,however1 the discouraging news was so cool and saddening at this first attempt that it froze my ingenuity a decade and a quarter1 and then hope rose again and ,i called once more on the dormant faculty and changed attorneys4 ,after due diligence had persevered and ,i had stood the condemnation of my wife1 who said ,i was getting absent-minded and hard of hearing1 ,i sent in my application duly witnessed and sworn to1 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 myself4 ,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 debt4 ,my second application was an improved index and a device of meritable convenience over present ones1 so ,i thought4 ,it has been pending two years after failing ten times before the chief examiner1 who doesn't seem to have the courtesy to allow it4 ,while the invention was safe and secure in the government vault1 ,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 ton2 not really a long ton but a short ton4 ,this wonderful invention hatched in the brain of an ordinary man1 lingered in ,washington one year and a half1 and was then rejected4 ,i wouldn't care for having it rejected1 but ,i'd like to have the rejectors use a milder word1 one that doesn't rankle so much and stir up the mean things in you4 ,well1 here are two great inventions for the betterment of the race denied1 and from the way the attorney wrote in his last tribute of love to me1 the third is hanging over the precipice and is ready to fall among its ancestors4 ,i had hopes when ,i invested in the last two ideas1 my total expenditures1 including postage on a voluminous amount of correspondence1 was #ada4bh1 and this is how ,i disbursed the interest on that amount3--,i calculated conservatively that the two inventions would net me #ej1jjj4 ,here she goes6 ,to my father-in-law1 for giving away his daughter to me1 for which ,i have never paid1 #a1jjj4jj2 to two sisters-in-law that favored my suit1 #a1jjj4jj each2 to a brother-in-law that did the square thing by me1 #a1jjj4jj2 to my oldest brother1 who continually hammered me when ,i was young and smaller than he1 #a1jjj4jj2 to a younger brother1 whom ,i could hammer1 #a1jjj4jj2 to my four sisters1 #a1jjj4jj each4 ,ten thousand of the iron men at work4 ,the next #bj1jjj ,i put at interest in ,colorado1 where it is easy to get a ten per cent rate4 ,this would bring me in #b1jjj4jj a year to live on1 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 nicotine4 ,the next #aj1jjj went to old people who have nearly reached the summit of their lives1 but on account of the feebleness of their limbs1 poor eyesight and a meagre pocketbook1 the final ascent overtaxes their small reserve of strength and with want and sacrifice being in the majority they can't quite make it4 ,to these aged and needy people ,i would give #ejj4jj cash4 ,this amount would render their last days comfortable1 free from worry and care4 ,that helps twenty old couples1 forty people that are worthy and needy4 ,the remaining #aj1jjj goes from my pocket in ready cash to people met every day1 people whose countenances have rigidly printed thereon a silent appeal for sympathy and help4 ,a meal to the man suffering from the pangs of hunger2 #ej4jj to a woman making her living over a washboard and fighting a losing fight against poverty to rear her brood2 #ajj4jj 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 toy2 #e4jj to a laboring man looking for work2 #aj4jj on a subscription list to help a poor widow bury her boy2 #be4jj to the man in the pulpit preaching straight from the shoulder2 #aj4jj for a railroad ticket to take a girl home who expected work in the city but didn't find it4 ,and so goes the remaining #aj1jjj1 here a little and there a little4 ,i think ,i could gladden more hearts with this last #aj1jjj than the great man who spent millions in libraries and free reading rooms throughout the country4 ,with all due respect to him1 the man in overalls and the girl who must work are the ones who need literature the worst1 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 people4 ,the well-groomed man and woman of today1 in a large sense1 doesn't apply any too closely the ethics of the ,galilean and would rather not mingle with the less fortunate people1 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 failure4 ,but alas1 the #ej1jjj is still behind the capitalist and must wait for hope to rise again4 ,not feeling satisfied but that there was plenty of loose coin waiting to flow to me1 ,i took up the pleasant but unprofitable part avocation of composing songs4 ,i had a ,washington music firm write the music1 copyright the songs in my name1 do the advertising1 and remit one-half the proceeds to me semi-annually ,january #cast and ,july #cast4 ,i was very careful to set out specifically the remitting part in our contract4 ,each song had its own peculiarity and sentiment to touch the public pulse1 which so far has been untouchable4 ,the first song1 ,a ,tear ,drop ,always ,glistened in ,his ,eye1 was to fasten itself on the hearts of the people like ,annie ,laurie4 ,when the ,silver ,moon ,light ,sparkles on the ,lake made its bow to the public2 ,i hoped lovers with emotion would go wild over it and would know a good thing when they heard it4 ,if they had such a feeling the emoluments failed to show it4 ,the third song1 ,anna1 ,my ,anna1 was short and jerky for the happy-go-lucky class of people that fell so in love with ,casey ,jones4 ,but it seems this class wouldn't respond either1 and leaves me with the entire stock on hand with an expenditure of #ij4jj trying to get the people to sing4 ,i find them more unresponsive than the preacher when he says let everybody sing1 and a few who gave their best years in the ,lord's service lift up their cracked voices in earnest endeavor to lead the sheep1 and the sheep1 lambs and all go astray4 ,my share of the profits has been ten one cent postage stamps1 just the ordinary kind1 the common kind you can get from every postoffice in the country4 ,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 them4 ,three more hopes decently but sadly buried4 ,there is also intertwined and resting sweetly in slumberland #age shares of ,cracker ,engle ,gold ,mine ,stock at twenty cents per share and twelve years accrued interest4 ,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 advance4 ,i hearkened to the alluring honey literature and sent a ,u4 ,s4 money order1 something whose face value couldn't be questioned4 ,i wanted to be absolutely sure ,i'd get the stock4 ,i got it all right4 ,i have such faith in that stock that ,i can go anywhere and leave it behind unlocked doors and it never strays away4 ,a home boy succeeded in getting a patent on an improved table4 ,he incorporated under the laws where ,wilson was governor and then invited capital for manufacturing purposes4 ,he styled his invention ,the ,great ,western ,improvement ,company and sold seventeen shares at the flat sum of #e4jj4 ,i learned a little from the crack at the ,cracker ,eagle and did not fly so high and only took the #e4jj worth4 ,it's comical now1 to me1 how the inventor and promoter explained how his table was superior to the common ordinary everyday table that's been in use so long4 ,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 flies1 the housewife could1 if she felt so disposed1 elevate a handle and the soiled dishes would disappear and the table would have an inviting appearance4 ,he said it was especially fine when conversation had been brisk and company or peddlers were seen coming2 all that was necessary was the quick jerk of the ever-ready handle and down out of sight went the dishes1 flies1 napkins1 and everything untidy and untasty4 ,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 grandchildren4 ,another share of stock in the ,campbells' ,farming ,association at a cost of #e4jj brings my get rich quick investments to a finis4 ,the only other stock ,i ever had was bank stock4 ,i invested #a1ejj4jj in a ,state ,bank in ,nebraska4 ,i didn't lose on this deal but the money would have paid better on a straight five per cent rate4 ,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 made4 ,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 was1 and if ,i could have changed her mind by laying before her eyes a nice portly check for #e1jjj4jj or #aj1jjj4jj it would have been such an agreeable surprise not only to her but to myself that we both would have enjoyed it1 and especially myself if ,i could have pulled it over4 ,but if hope don't come again ,i will have to let that excellent pleasure be like ,mathewson's speedy one and fade away4 ,a lad of the average type at twenty-one has a great deal of stored up energy2 he has the muscle bank and the brain bank from which to get his necessary resources1 and a great many lads think ,dad is a back number and he sees where the old gentleman was short on gray matter1 and all advice is lost on this sort of boys4 ,i was never conceited this way1 in fact ,i think somebody else got nearly all the gall that should have been mine4 ,if a fellow holds his own in these days1 no matter what party is in power1 ,democratic or ,republican1 you need your full allowance of gall4 ,the lad that thinks that the governor's gray matter is not as profuse as it should be1 but he1 through some unknown force1 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 sense3 ,when ,johnnie ,jones was twenty-one ,he said my farming life is done1 ,i'll pack my duds and say ,good ,bye ,and to the city ,i will hie4 ,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 ,astor1 ,gould or ,roosevelt4 ,it makes the pain come home when you look back from fifty and realize that a man at twenty-one is a darn big fool1 at thirty still a fool1 at thirty-five a little foolish1 and at forty he still has some1 at forty-five wisdom breaks in gently1 and at fifty he stands on the threshold of learning ready to apply and absorb1 and at sixty he's a valuable asset to his community and country4 ,,the ,,weary ,,traveler4 ,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 passed1 financial or otherwise1 of which we are ashamed4 ,we may not have acquired honor1 wealth or position but if we have lived up to the teachings of the plumb and the square1 we have a record that will stand the closest investigation when we knock for entrance at the pearly gates4 ,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' faces4 ,if we have stood firm when temptations surged and tossed and clamored and we met them and conquered1 we have through our moral force a better right to the precious gems of ,god's kingdom than those saved in the eleventh hour4 ,if we have never repeated unwholesome stories or spoken slightingly of another's character or said disrespectfully something that we knew untrue1 then we have lived well4 ,each day's battles must be fought alone and leave tomorrow's till they come4 ,never tear down character1 it is the choicest gift in the universe and constitutes life's work4 ,remember a pure woman or a pure man is the noblest work of ,god4 ,don't let your footsteps slip from the path of virtue but plant them firm and deep in the path of righteousness4 ,keep away from people whose thoughts are degrading1 and never harbor foul and indecent language4 ,make it your most earnest desire to avoid using profanity and vile utterances1 an immoral epithet has a clinging effect which takes years to erase1 and those that emulate and make us better takes determination and purity4 ,i am now approaching the half-century mark4 ,i can look ahead a few years and see the fiftieth mile post4 ,in all the years that have past and gone ,i can recall none where my conditions and prospects are so alarming1 serious and discouraging as at the present time4 ,i have a peculiar ailment in my left side that has baffled the medical fraternity and caused extreme anxiety to myself4 ,i have endeavored with courage and determination to exterminate it4 ,i have tried assiduously physical culture1 osteopathy1 dietics1 ,christian science and medicine4 ,i have consulted freely and often the great physician and all so far have failed4 ,with treatment at ,hot ,springs thrown in as good measure4 ,the surgeons say an operation is the only hope through which they can discover the cause and eliminate it4 ,i dread operations like ,i do ,good ,wills and ,bonuses4 ,my wife had one and the doctor in charge said she would be a well woman in three weeks1 but those three weeks were worse than that two weeks' loan4 ,they stretched into six long1 bitter years and were the direct cause of an outlay of money in excess of three thousand dollars4 ,glad again of the early use of that harrow1 for there was surely a gross violation of the truth on the part of the surgeon4 ,on account of dearie's precarious health ,i was forced to try a lower altitude1 and this not being sufficient it was necessary to try the balmy1 sunny air of ,california and sojourn there among the orange blossoms and the singing birds for seven long months4 ,this caused me to give up my position of clerk that netted me in my four years' labor the tidy sum of ten thousand dollars4 ,today as ,i stand looking at that fiftieth mile post ,i realize in the vernacular of the day ,i am up against it4 ,my money is gone1 my ailment bothers me1 ,i have a family to provide for1 and the wolf stands on the threshold with his mouth open and his long1 gaunt body in readiness to make the jump4 ,in some way ,i must appease five empty stomachs from consuming five back bones4 ,my investments were bad4 ,i tied up thirty-five hundred dollars in a partnership lumber business1 fifteen hundred dollars in a home to shelter my loved ones1 and the rest went for food and clothing4 ,i struck a highly modern town with all the up-to-date conveniences1 property depreciated fifty per cent1 business was stagnant1 interest kept gnawing1 and taxes went skyward4 ,the two sad mistakes ,i made was3 first1 to visit the office of the ,county ,treasurer and learn about the taxes2 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 interest1 but ,i didn't and so much more for experience1 the grandma of teachers4 ,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 despondency4 ,i think my training is more than is alloted the average man4 ,i have been a day laborer on the farm1 railroad and hay field4 ,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 end4 ,i have held a good many positions of trust such as census enumerator1 section foreman1 extra gang foreman1 county clerk1 clerk of the district court1 abstractor1 town trustee1 and member of the school board4 ,the first time ,i was a candidate for county clerk ,i ran on the ,republican ticket4 ,i am not telling this in any spirit of the braggart but as a sample of confidence4 ,in my old home precinct ,i received one hundred and twenty votes out of one hundred and thirty-two1 and in the precinct where ,i worked as section foreman ,i received forty votes out of forty-eight1 and this had always been a strong ,democratic precinct4 ,my opponent was a strong candidate and entirely familiar with political tactics1 an old scholar in the school4 ,but when the votes were counted ,i received the certificate of election and laid down the tamping bar and took up the pen4 ,i could have established a precedent and been elected again but dearie's health would not permit and ,i declined to run4 ,some say the hand of fate guides our destinies and it was so to be1 but ,i am at a loss to understand why it should so be4 ,i have lived clean1 ,i have always met my obligations with the strictest honor1 no marks of dissipation1 inwardly or otherwise1 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 path4 ,i have been economical1 conservative and kind and ,i think ,i have done my very best4 ,i have treated every one with the closest application that can be unravelled from the ten commandments and the additional commandment established through ,christ4 ,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 received4 ,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 machine4 ,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 linen4 ,i never sneaked out the back way to avoid using the tea towel on waiting dishes4 ,i can use the broom1 duster and make the beds4 ,i can scrub1 polish the stove1 cook the steak1 and perform almost the entire category of domestic needs2 but when it comes to baking ,i would rather face the cannon's mouth 7a silent one like in the city park in ,denver7 and die like a martyr4 ,i have often acted as maid4 ,i recall once when ,i was a maid my wife was bed fast for three weeks4 ,we lived in a strong church town1 somewhere near eighty per cent1 it seemed nearly all were ,christians but during dearie's sickness there was not a single ,christian woman or suffragist came to see her1 offered her services1 or was in any way interested4 ,i am sorry this happened in this broad land of boasted ,christianity and civilization4 ,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 spread4 ,i believe in doing good and giving cheer4 ,you can always notice a gleam of pleasure in your wife's face when you give her a box of candy1 a dress1 a dish1 or some little token1 and how she clings to the missiles of love that you may have penned on scraps of paper1 chunks of wood and other things4 ,they always speak for something ,i think meritable4 ,i think the pathway of dearie can be made more cheerful if she is remembered daily and not all in one chunk at ,christmas time1 and then let her wait for another twelve months4 ,i never feared ,i would kiss my wife too much4 ,i kiss her more now than when ,i courted her and they are just as sweet as ever4 ,it helps to keep the love light in her eye4 ,i have three fine children4 ,i am not conceited about them2 other people say they are good4 ,i have done my best to raise them well4 ,two of them are in the ,county ,high ,school1 the eldest a girl of sweet sixteen and the other a noisy boy of fourteen4 ,the remaining one is a baby of two and one-half years4 ,i must leave these three children and dearie and look for employment4 ,you can realize how pleasant it is to be separated from them4 ,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 ears1 not only through the dreary1 lonesome days but long after the shadows fall4 ,such is life with its pains and sorrows4 ,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 same4 ,the one great consolation ,i have is that dearie is almost a strong1 well woman1 and that is worth all ,i have passed through and ,i would gladly undergo it again for her4 ,i must be getting ready1 the colonists reduced rates of our liberal hearted ,s-,t-,e-,e-,l railroads is near the finis of the twelve-day limit4 ,the parting is at hand4 ,i kiss the loved ones good bye1 cling tenaciously to my second-class ticket1 guard well my pneumatic pocket book with its ragged puncture and try again in pretty ,california among the salty ocean breezes1 the cheerful flowers1 the fragrant orange blossoms and the shady pepper trees to find work and health for those ,i love4 ,,good ,,bye4