Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-04-06
Inauguration of the New
Town of Aver.


new town of Aver, Massachusetts,
named after the great medicine
man." DR.. J. c. Aver, of Lowell, the
Renowned Doctor made the follow
ing interesting speech:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: On the
western coast of Scotland where it
slopes into the Irish Sea, river ris-
| ing on the mountains 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 contiguous harbor, long stood
hamlet which became royal burg
or town named from the river, and
now about one third as large as Lo-
well-the city of Ayr. For more
than a 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 es-
pecially favored by him because he
was there cured of leprosy. Oliver
Cromwell made it 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. rs 5..'.-
But above all its distinctions, Ayr
was the birthplace of the poet
Burns. And what a poet. What a
voice has he given to all the endear-
ments of home, How has he hallow-
ed the cottage and all it covers
weans and wife, patches and power
| ty, beans, barley, ale, hardships and
the poor mans toll. How he wraps
with tenderness 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 10 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 sor-
rowing and courage to the overbur-
dened by their lot. His inspiration
has set the affections to music in
strains that are immortal.
No other one man ever made
language classic, but he has render
ed that lowland Scotch Doric dia-
lect of fame. The name of 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 sanctifed.
Along the borders of the sea in a
parallelogram and surrounding the
town is county of the same name
Ayrshire.
1t would weary your patience to
hear the history of my ancestors
from one ancient John of Ayr, then
John Ayr, down through the cen
turies to this Aver now before you;
through their vicissitudes of power
ty and plenty-of fortune and mis-
fortune; how they have intermarried
with England, Ireland and Scotland,
and later with the Americans, who
are an excellent mixture of them all.
My FRIENDs,-you have chosen
the name 1 inherited for your town
with an extraordinary unanimity,
and have thereby conferred an hon
or upon me, the proper acknowledge
ment 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 a living interest in your pros
perity while life remains to me, and,
/ trust, beyond that by my children
after me. a.s
If this name has become noted
among the many that are worthier
around you, that is greatly due to
its publicity. May l be permitted
to state whence that came? Until
within a few centuries all the civil
lied nations of the globe were pent
up on the Eastern continent. Two
or three hundred years ago they
leaked over into this; few, and fear
fully at first, then more and more
but always in their settlements tim
idly hugging the Atlantic coast.
Within the last two or three genera
tions, they have burst out, as it were
and over-run these vast continents
of the West. Now they are scat
tered here and possess these meas
ureless stretches of mountains and
valleys, hills, plains, forests and
prairies with the boundless pampas
and mountain ranges of South
America. Former generations lived
in villages and towns, thickly set
tied together where physicians were
plenty and near at hand. Now, the
people are widely scattered, in many
sections of these many countries.
For great numbers the timely treat
ment of physicians cannot be had;
over large tracts of country good or
competent physicians cannot be had
at all. They can not visit patients
enough many miles apart to live by
their profession, nor can they carry
medicines enough with them on
horseback for their requirements.
Hence has arisen in these modern
times, q 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 ne
cessity consequentupon the changed
conditions of human life-a want /
have spent my years in supplying,
and 1 will tell you something of its
extent. Our laboratory makes every
day some 100000 potions or doses
of our preparations. These are all
taken by somebody. Here is num-
ber equal to the population of fifteen
cities as large as Lowell, taking them
every day (for sickness keeps no
Sabbaths) nor for once only. but
again and again, year after year,
through nearly one third of cen
tury. We all join in the jokes about
medicines as we do about the Doc
tors mission to kill, the clergyman's
insineerity and the lawyers cheat
ing. Yet each of these labors
among the most serious realities of
life. Sickness and ITS attendant suf-
n. x,n 80 ,@1-A ,,A.{hA,. - fha