The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1881-02-04

ate. Munseil, Stanley, Houston, Sexton,
/ Osbon, Click, and Snoddy. The vote
/ on adoption stood ~ TO 2S.
/ RURAL AND VILLAGE IMPROVE
MEET.
| Extracts From an Addrs So Delivered by
| Professor & w. HOss Before ths HOr-
tIenitural Society OF Lyon County,
January 5th. 1881
/ The plea for this improvement lies in
onr love of the beautiful. II there be
| one III my Audience who does not love
the beautiful. for him have no message.
| IF he believes the song of the crow as
sweet AS that of the swan, or the move
/ the gazeiie, for him my words are vain
| Verify, we hold, yea firmly believe,
| every sane mind loves the beautiful, and
receives pleasure from ii. Not all in
the same degree, but all in degree.
| This true, the beautiful becomes one of
the lneans or sources OF our pleasure.
And what of happiness!
lis our beings end and aim;
Gives pleasure. ease content. what ere Thy
name "
/ So says the poet. Beauty then, takes
! no lower rank than a ministry 10 our
| happiness Noble means TO a noble end
! Happy that il ahounds almost every
! where. We see it in the countenance
aud graceful figure of our friends; in the
soft blue dome above; IN the
steps of rosy morn, in the eastern
I cline sowing the earth with orient
! pearls; in the evening closing the gates
of day with hues and tints us gorgeous
as if an angel had flown through the
portals and left his robe as heritage to
Il gazing and admiring world. We see
il in the moonbeam that sparkles in the
dewdrOp or shimmers on the bosom of
the lake; also in the flower, the sward,
the leaf, the tree. But abundant and
varied as is this natural beauty, 1t does
not meet all our wants. Mornings do
not last through the day, and sunsets do
not come at noon. SO we seek to sup
plement nature-to add feebly where
she has omitted, and hence We have
paintings, statuary, architecture, land
scaping, and to these We would add the
humber element-though none the less
sweet and pure-of tree, sward and
| uOHeT. VIC
with you and all whom we can influence,
to plant trees and flowers, and otherwise
cultivate the beautiful about the home
and the school house, in the village and
in the city. It's trite to say the great
want of Kansas is trees, and almost as
trite to say that we can have Them and
yes as trite and obvious to say that We
don't.
So it is obvious that 1t will take work
to get them, and that behind this work
must be public sentiment that appre
ciates and demands them. The first step
IN this work, then, is to awaken and ar
rest public sentiment. The means to
this end are various-the press, the lee.
ture, private talk, and individual exam.
pie. In word, somebody must lead
those who know must inform those who
don't. Men must know before they will
believe, and believe before they will act
and you or somebody must inform, con
vince and persuade them. But you say
what are the arguments? 1 have just
said, ~ the beautiful, and the enjoyment
of the same. This meets the case oil
men of taste. But there is class, while
approaching this IN degree, subordin
ate it to utility. Their sharp and first
question is, will it pay: is there money
, in it? Yes. Want of space limits US tc
, mere statement of the arguments
1. The building up of your town OF
community. Other things equal, meT
seeking a location will select hand
| some town in preference 10 a neglected
; dilapidated one. How often you have
: heard a man say business was fair
3 and the people clever, but the town wa
e SO shabby, | feared my family would no
be contented, and 1 went to anothe,
| place. Suppose twenty or even ten en-
: terprising families thus turn away every
4 year from a town, the loss would be sig
: nificant.
D 2. Keeping children at home Thi
: adds both TO satisfaction and wealth
4 Your son is worth as much to the com
I munity, in the count of prosperity, as q
e stranger, if of equal means and intelli-
5 gence But often he is smitten with
5 desire to go, not because of profit, but
e because of taste, and SO he seeks for som
: more attractive place, and hence insteat
= of saying my heart clings TO my beauti
full home, in this, my beautiful and ma
1 tive village, with its shaded walks
e velvet lawns, and inviting parks, he say
r I'll shake the dust from my feet anG
e leave this dilapidated and hateful place
f This is loss. a fact within my know
/ ledge bears upon this point: ono
: heard an intelligent gentleman say afte
: visiting a handsome village in New
5 liidl AG MOuld DS Wiling
0 take $500 less salary and live in tina
|. charming village, rather than to hav,
n his present salary in the dirty town il
s which he then was. Most people ar
:. willing TO pay for the beautiful, som
: even $500 ayear.
i AS means TO this improvement, w
e suggest, rural and village improvement
o societies. We have associations for al
s most every form of public enterprise
for railroads, banks, temperance bene
! violence, art, agriculture, literature, etc
K almost without limit. Why not this
r We do not mean to discuss the philoso
e ply of association. Ali who hav
' thought, know this efficiency in stimu
lating, strengthening and cheapeninl
1 effort. But If any one says there is N
n precedent for such an association as this
e we ask him To turn to our own growing
!; and enterprising capital and there flint
I the Topeka Improvement Society,
e regularly organized, with its constitu
S ton, bylaws, officers aud committee:
L Go to Connecticut and find some fifty O
I such organizations, some of them tel
Z years old and over; let US see what the
|, have done and who takes part in sur
o porting them. The secretary of the stat
r board of education superintendent q
: public instruction. is the leader Th
n governor aids, and is often present I
Z address the meetings. The press i
Il strong and willing. Not long since til
5 Boston Herald devoted over a colum
to this subject, praisIng Connecticut an
II stimulating Massachusetts, by the con
l. pariso1.
y As to results, this same article, says
e 'Mr. Northrap cites the example of tw
o model factories of New England; on
8 the silk factory of the Cheny Bros. i
II South Manchester, Connecticut, with ii
s. fine grounds and surroundings oper;
a tives' village of about 200 houses, a
IS standing apart and varying in style, ant
n with the beautiful grounds of th
Cheney mansion, presenting the al
g pearance of an extended park
:, the second the scale mandatory of til
Ie Fairbanks company, at st. Johnsbur,
D, Vermont, doing a business of aboI
e $4,000, 900, and where similar liber;
a. policy toward the working people
pursued. In both of these instances th
IF projectors have rcaped golden harvest
n, for they secure the best class of workin
4. people, who are permanently employe
4. and among whom strikes have nevt
it been known or limited att
): So this ornamenting pays in Ne
$ England. So it will In Kansas. Let l
T. resolve to have it-have il about OF
q homes, in our school grounds, churc
% yards, court house yards, cemeteries an
t. parks, remembering ever that the bea
1 tiful is akin to the pure, and that I"
u thing of beauty is 4 joy forever"
he
le A PLACE FULL OF ELECTRICITY.
he Virginia City is the most dangeroi