The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1889-07-12

NUMBER 4
: speak, while radical, and worthy of our ut
t most attention, are still in my judgment
. small, indeed, when compared with the gener
1 al advantages of the form of government
B which we enjoy and the privileges 1t guaran
tees. Time will eradicate the Ills and maxi
! more glorious the advantages. To be sure, W,
have failure of.crops, hard times, misfortune
: and disappointment-these fall to the lot o
> man, and no legislation can guard agains
8 their frowning presence. But, after all. there
: all croakings is the record of its past. One o
} its chief characteristics and its highest glor,
lies In the fact that here labor has chance
/ that no other land gives. The humblest MAJ
! own his home and brighten its sacred pre-
: cincts with the comfort which well-paid labor
: can buy. Men may rise from the lowest walk
honor. The insignia of rank is manly action
!, and honest endeavor; the boast of heraldry
and the pomp OF power has no right OF way In
I this land of ours. Man is what he makes him
self TO be, and under the institutions of oui
country 1t is not wealth. station or estate but
get up and get that makes men great.
Twenty years ago, little white-haired boy
blue with cold, ragged and thin, entered q
school-house in the southern part of this
state. with no pride of lineage, no advantages
or wealth, endowed only with honesty of pur
! pose, healthy brain and youthful ambition
80 cold was he that the teacher unwrapped In
: pity the coverings from his feet, as he Rugged
the stove for that warmth which poverty had
denied him. He went 10 work In the honest
plodding way he had inherited from his toll
Drowned ancestors, and went forth in the
ties OF life. To-day, he is the honored represen
tative of one of the greatest districts of this
State in the halls Of the United States Con.
gress. Not long ago a citizen of one of our
southern counties went into the office of an
agent of Transatlantic steamship line, and
said, "Give me a ticket, which will bring my
wife and fair. haired little girl from their home
to this country" The agent, knowing him,
said: why have you not brought them here
beforer With tears streaming down his face
Il he answered, Il could not do IL. worked for
years In my native land, trying to get money
enough together to bring them with me, across
the Atlantic, but had to leave them. MY lit
i tie girl was a babe then, and I want 80 much
to see her. came to this free land of yours,
/ and in it found all that had been promised /
have worked with the memory of my wife and
me. When they come to America, 1 can well
come them to their own home, with not dol
lar hanging over 1t, and comforts they never
dreamed Of" My friends, America Is the only
land which takes up tow-path boys and rail-
splitters and puts them at the head of its gov
| ago: has not the United States reached the
| zenith OF her glory? My answer then, as now,
| was, no. Her mission is the disenthrallment
| of mankind, the establishment of universal
! and political liberty, not by force of arms not
/ by clash OF bayonets, but by example and pre-
cept appealing to the heart of mankind. Her
| ION to the shores of every sea and the eyes of
mankind look to our institutions as models i'm
erection OF government. Our forefathers
builded better than they knew and the aorgan-
| ic law which they created has expanded to
meet every exigency. We have much to do
yet, on our own domain. States are still to
be created and peopled. The union is to be
strengthened by the welding of other links We
can almost hear to-day the paens Of joy rising
from the plains OF the twin Dakotas, Wash
be added 10 our flag They come into The sis.
terhood of States, mot with the wailing cry of a
new born babe; but well equipped from nurs-
| cry OF statehood, in the strength and vigor of
| a wonderful development, to take their places
| in the ranks and bear their full share OF the
burdens Of government. The tiIlers of their
| soil. their merchants, manufactures and
| mines have added much to the wealth of the
| country. They present to our people fresh
pastures, teeming with plenty to reward with
abundance, honest toll. Peopled by our kins
folk, 1t is with special pride that we of Mime
sofa welcome and give them the hand of fra
ternal brotherhood. On our north, Canada is
looking with wistful eye towards our boundar-
les, and ere long, If mistake not, the turn of
her hand will be unclasped for greeting with
ours. Her people mingie in business and
pleasure with us; her material interests are
largely identified with ours; she has been
tending towards republican form of govern
ment, and 1t will not be long until the Cross of
st. george Will give way in peace, to the stars
and stripes, the emblem liberty and self
government. But, we should not forget that
the perpetuity OF government rests with the
governed; we, the people, are responsible for
the heritage we hold. As we prize and cherish
iS , SO will 4 prosper The people gave IT. they
dissention may shatter ii, but the guns of
foreign enemy can never destroy 1t. / would
charge you then, to guard well the liberty we
| enjoy; look with Jealous eye upon innovations
which may tend to draw us away from the an
chorage of the fathers. 1t held the ship of
State for them in every storm. 1t will hold 1t
atoms laid by them are broad, deep and strong
enough to build the monument of human lib
erty which they began to erect still higher.
Let 1t rise, let Ii rise, till Ii meets the sun
in his coming. Let the earliest light of morn
ing gild il. and parting day linger and play on
It's summit"
At the conclusion of this eloquent ad-
dress, the band played America" and
the the audience dispersed.
At one o'clock the various uniformed
bodies found dinner awaiting them at
the city hall, the room occupied by the
| fire apparatus being devoted to dining
room purposes. Through the liberality
served up. The tables were waited up
on by young ladies. and were twice fill
ed. The visitors expressed their hearty
appreciation of the dinner.
THE AFTERNOON.
The afternoons program was varied
and interesting. The fact that no out
side hose or militia company put in an
appearance made it impossible that the
proposed contests should be carried out,
but the committee of arrangements pre-
sented program which was everyway
satisfactory to the audience.
Broad street, from Cherry to Hick-
DRY, was selected as the place for the
afternoons events and at the appointed
| time, 2: 80 O'Clock, the street was crowded.
A hose contest between team of the
West Mankato company and a team
picked up from the other companies was
| run. There was run of 800 feet, attach
to hydrant at Judge Severance's corner,
| unreel 800 feet of hose and attach nozzle.
Col. Mead held the flag and Gen. Pope
acted as time keeper. The purse was
$50, and was won by the West side team
in 363 seconds, against 3Sa seconds for
the picked up team. The running was
excellent.
Company F, Capt. Comstock in COM
mand, then marched upon the ground
and gave fine exhibition drill of some
length, 1t was about as fine a drill as
the company ever performed and the
command showed much hard work in
preparation. The effects of the recent
camp life were visible, as well as the adj
vantage of drill every night since the
company returned. The maneuvers and
manual of arms were very well executed
and the company received many COM
pliments. The firing of several volleys
was especially well done, though they
did not fail to startle the ladies', and "Oh,
Myp' and "How dreadful" were excla-
nations heard all around.
| An adjournment was then taken to
Front street, where the fire department
was put to further test and further prov
| ed its efficiency. At about 4:30 O'Clock
a mock fire alarm was sounded and with
in few seconds, an incredibly short
time, one company had made the run
from the city hall and attached to the
hydrant at the Mankato House corner
and was throwing powerful stream OF
water on Hickory street towards the de-
i pot. At almost the same instant anoth-
er company had stream of water turn
ed on at an equal distance from the city
hall on the north. This test was highly
interesting and shows the high degree
of efficiency which the department has
reached under Chief Phillips.
Another feature of the afternoonwas a
base ball game between the RapIdan
club and the Mankato "Quicksteps" for
purse of $40. The game was played
on the plain north of the city and drew
i q large crowd. 1t resulted in a victory
for the Mankato nine by score of 90 to
Is, which is all the more complete from
tho 70 or that tho Ranidan Climb had navay