The Sweetwater enterprise. (Sweetwater, Tenn.) 1869-187?, 1871-04-06
DIR. ]. C. Aver.

ern coast of Scotland, where it slopes into
the Irish Sea, river, rising on the noun
tans of the inner land, winds down among
the hills and empties into the Firth Of
Clyde. From remote time it has been
called Ayr, from an old Scotch word
"Ayry," meaning an eagles neSt-the
river OF the eagles nest. Near its mouth
and a continuous harbor, long stood a
hamlet which became royal burg or
town named from the river, and now about
one.third as large as Lowell-the city Of
Ayr. For more than thousand years it
has been noted in the history of Scotland.
During the wars of Robert Bruce, it was
one of his resorts, and was especially ia
vored by him. because be Was there cured
of leprosy. Oliver Cromwell made Il one
of the depOts and headquarters of his army
in his attack upon Scotland, and one Of his
old forts is now the Citadel of Ayr.
But above all its distinctions, Ayr was
the birthplace of the poet Burns. And
what poet What voice has he given
to all the endearments of hOme How
has he hallowed the cottage and all it COW
ers-weans and wife, patches and poverty,
beans, barley, ale, hardship and the poor
mans toll, How he wraps with tender
ness whatever he names, even his bleak
leagues Of pasture, the stubble field, ice,
snow, sleet and rain, brooks, birds, mice,
thistles and heather. His BOnny Doom,
John Anderson, my Jo John, Aud Lang
Syne, and Highland Mary, roll round the
world in ever ringing symphony with what
is purest and best in human nature. His
songs WOO and melt the hearts of youth
and maidens, bring sOlace to the sorrow
ing, and courage to the Overburdened by
their lot. His inspiration has set the
affections to music in strains that are i'm
mortal.
No other ono man ever made language
classic, but he has rendered that lowland
Scotch Doric dialect of fame. The
name of his home and his beloved river
Ayr was lifted on the wings of his Pathos,
and now the approaching traveller yearns
to reach the spot his genius has sancti6ed.
Along the borders of the sea in par
allelogram and surrounding the town is a
county of the same name-Ayrshire.
1t would weary your patience to hear
the history of my ancestors from one an
cient John of Ayr, then John Ayr, down
through the centuries to this Aver now
before you, through their vicissitudes of
poverty and plenty--Of fortune and mis-
fortune how they have intermarried with
England, Ireland and Scotland, and later
with the Americans, who ere an excellent
mixture with them all. ...
Ny friends,-you have chosen the name
I inherited for your town with an extraor-
dinury uuanimity, and have thereby con-
ferred an honor upon me, the acknowl-
edgment of which do not feel fully able
to express. But beg you to be assured
that it is appreciated and that it will be
gratefully remembered with living in
terest in your prosperity while life re-
mains to me, and, trust, beyond that by
my children after me.
If this name has become noted among
the many that are worthier around you,
that is greatly due to its publicity. May
I be ..ermitted to state whence that came :
Until within a few centuries all the civil
lied nations Of tie globe were pent up on
the Eastern continent. Two or three hun
dred years ago they leaked over into this
few and fearfully at first, then more and
more, but always in their settlements tim
idly hugging the Atlantic coast. Within
the last two or three generations they have
burst out, as it were, and over-run these
vast continents of the West. Now they
are scattered here and possess these meas
ureless stretches Of mountains and val
leys, hills, plains, forests and prairies with
the boundless pamps and mountain ranges
of South America. Former generations
lived in villages and towns, thickly set
tied together where physicians were plen-
ty and near at hand. Now, the people
are widely scattered, in many sections of
these many countries. For great numbers
the timely treatment of physicians cannot
be had over large tracts of country good
or competent physicians cannot be had at
all. They cannot visit patients enough
many miles apart to live by their profes,-
sion, nor can they carry medicines enough
with them on horseback for their require
ments. Hence has arisen in these modern
times, necessity for remedies ready at
hand, with directions for their use-a
present recourse for relief in the exigencies
of sickness, when no other aid is near. 1t
is new necessity consequent upon the
changed condition of human life--a want
| have spent,my years in supplying, and |
will tell you something cfitsextent. Our
laboratory makes every day some $4,000
portions or doses of our preparations.
These are all taken by somebody. Here
is a number equal to the population of
fifteen cities as large as Lowell, taking
them every day (for sickness keeps no
Sabbath) nor for once only, but again and
again, year after year, through nearly one
third Of a century. We all join in the
jokes about medicine as we do about the
Doctors mission to kill, the clergyman's
insincerity and the lawyers cheating.
Yet each Of these labors among the most
serious realities Of life. Sickness and its
attendant suffering are no joke, neither is
the treatment of them. This system of
trans2ortable relief, to be made available
to the people, must keep its remedies
fresh in their memories. This is done by
advertising. Mark its extent. An adver-
tisement, taking the run Of the newspa-
pers with which we contract (some 49,
900 annually is struck Of in such num-
bers, that when piled upon each other
flatwise, like the leaves Of a book, the
thickness through them is sixteen miles.
In addition, it takes some seven millions
of pamphlets and twelve millions of cir
culars to meet the public demand for this
kind of information. Our annual issue of
pamphlets alone, laid solid upon each o,h-
er, make pile eight and one quarter
miles HIGH. The circulars measured end