The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1872-07-05
Vale dictOry Address at the
Close of CrescO school, Ne.
nvered June &c, 1S12 by Ter.
milan Barker.


Time in its rapid fight has again
brought us to the close of another year
Of school. TO me has been assigned
the duty Of addressing you to-day, and
knowing full well that I shall be unable
to meet your expectations, both from
want of time and ability to write an
interesting and instructive essay, yet, I
hope you will extend to me that charity
which would rather overlook the faults
than condemn the virtues (if there are
any in the few words I have written.
In connection with the past history
Of our school, it may not be amiss to
glance at the progress of education in
this county. Fifteen years ago the chill
dren Of the early pioneers had NO such
educational advantages - We enjoy
here; then every one had all they could
do to obtain few Of the necessaries of
life without paying much attention to
the higher and nobler warts of their
moral and intellectual natures. Then
the broad prairies stretched away on
every hand broken here and there, at
long intervals, by the cabins Of the
hardy pioneers, where now fields of
waving grain, cultivated farms and
tasteful homes attest the thrift and
prosperity Of our people, while the nu-
merous schools and churches give suffi-
cient evidence of the progress of educa-
ton and religion. Then a log cabin
covered with straw, often without a
floor and furnished with a few rude
benches without back or desks, stove
water pail, and last but not least a
bundle of tough willow rods completed
the furniture of many of tho school
rooms Of fifteen years ago. But the
same ardent thirst for knowledge which
is SO deeply implanted in the human
breast, fired their hearts and encour-
aged them to overcome every difficulty
in the pursuit Of the great object of
human existence, the requirement of
knowledge. And there was an interest
manifested and progress made in some
Of the studies taught then. to which
many Of us are strangers now. But
everything must change, and those log
cabins soon gave place to neat substan-
tial buildings furnished with all the ap-
pliances for the comfort and instruction
Of the young, which a prosperous and
rapidly growing country demand.
Three years ago we watched with
pleasure the erection of the beautiful
and commodious building in which we
now stand aud the question was often
asked, as the building approached COM
pletion, and even after it's doors were
thrown open as public school, "Can
Cresco afford such q school house, and
will the promises Of the present be full
filed in the future?" But time has
proved that. the building is too small
and the school has far surpassed the
most sanguine hopes of its patrons.
Under the judicious management of
Mr.. Norton, the first principal Of this
school, order and system was instituted
and the students soon began to show by
their rapid progress and growing inter-
est some of the beauties of a thorough
system of education. But at the close
Of the first year Of school Mr.. Norton
was called elsewhere, and little was
heard concerning him until few weeks
ago the sad news was brought that
our former friend and teacher was no
more. AT Denver city, Colorado, he
breathed his last; we will drop a tear
to his memory but we will not mourn
his loss, for this was the last but most
glorious triumph of his life. Of the
past two years of school it is needless to
speak; its history is before you in the
progress If the students and the ad-
vancemeut Of the school to a position
Of true merit equalled by few and ex-
celled by none. There is fountain"
says Miss Bremen, "whose deepening
vein has only just begun to throw up
its silver drops among mankind foun-
tain that viii allay the thirst Of all and
give to those who drink from it, peace
and joy" That fountain is knowledge
and toward it the thirsty millions of the
earth are pressing to drink from its
clear depths. Not like the tabled foun-
tain of youth which would only restore
the physical energies Of man, and for
which Ponce DeLeon searched SO fruit
lessly and 50 long. But one whose
waters gush forth in a never ceasing
stream, bringing with it civilization,
progress and love, whose cultivation is
worthy the highest efforts of the human
mind and whose fruits bring "peace on
earth and good will to men," This is
the fountain from which we have been