Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-10-05
AMERICA FOR GOD
From Ocean to Ocean, or My
TranscontinentaI Trip"
Qhe Subject OF DIR. Talmage's Sunday
Morning Discourse-Reminis-
cences Of His Western
Trip.

tntonSs AZ tne tauer-
nacle this morning, where tho Rev. T..
Dewitt Talmage, DID,, preached as
usual. The opening hymn was:
No more let human blood be split,
Vain sacrifice for human guilt;
But TO each conscience be applied
The blood that flows from Jesus side.
The subject Of the sermon was, 'From
Ocean 10 Ocean, or My Transcontinental
Journey" Text: Psalms Xxi, s: 'He
shall have dominion from sea 10 sea.
The preacher said:
What two seas are referred 10? Some
might say that the text meant that
Christ was to reign over all the land be-
tween the Arabian sea and Caspian sea,
OF between the Black sea and the North
sea- No; in such case my text would
have named them. 1t meant from any
large body Of water on the earth clear
across to any other large body of water.
And SO I have a right TO read IT.: He
shall have dominion from the Atlantic
sea to the Pacific sea. Ny theme Is,
America for God!
First, consider the immensely of this
possession. IL it were only a small
tract OF land capable Of nothing better
than sage brush and with ability only
to support prairie dogs, / should not
have much enthusiasm in wanting
Christ to have it added 70 his dominion.
But its immensely and afiuence no one
can imagine unless, in immigrant
WACO or stage coach or In rail train OF
the Union Pacific or the Northern Pa
cifc or the Canadian Pacific or the
Southern Pacific, he has traversed 1t.
Having been privileged six times 70
cross this continent, and twice this
summer, / have come TO some apprecia-
tion of its magnitude. California,
which I supposed in boyhood from its
siye on the map, was a few yards across,
% ridge of land on which one must walk
cautiously lest he hit his head against
tie Sierra Nevada on one side or slip
of into the Pacific waters on the other,
California, the thin slice of land as ]
supposed ii to be in boyhood, / have
found it to be larger than all the states
of New England and all New York
stcE--1 all Pennsylvania added to-
gether; and IL you add them together
their square miles fall far short OF
California. North and South Da-
Ikota, Montana and Washington ter
ritory, To be launched next winter
into statehood, will be giants at their
birth. Let the congress OF the United
States strain a point and soon admit
also Idaho and Wyoming and New Mex
leo. What is the use keeping them out
An the cold any longer? Let US have
the whole continent divided into states
with senatorial and congressional repre-
sentatives and we will all be happy to
gether. II some of them have not quite
the requisite number Of people, fix NJ
tho constitution to suit these cases.
Even Utah will by dropping polygamy
soon be ready TO enter. MoDogamy has
triumphed in parts of Utah, and will
probably triumph at this fall election in
Salt Lake city. Turn all the territories
into states AND IL some OF the sisters are
smaller than some of the elder sisters,
give them time and they will soon be as
large as any of them. Because some Of
the daughters Of a family may be five
feet in stature and the others only -four
feet, do not let the daughters five feet
high shut the door in the faces Of those
who are only four feet high. Among
the dying utterances OF our good friend,
the wise statesman and great author,
the brilliant orator and magnificent soul,
3. S. Cox. was the expressed determine
ton to w next winter in congress
for the transfcrence Of other territories
into states.
"But," says some one sin calculating
the immensely Of u continental acre
age you must remember that vast
reaches of our public domain arc uncul,
tivated, heaps Of dry sand, and the bad
lands Of Montana and the great Ameri.
can desert" / am glad you mentioned
that. Within twenty-five years there
viii not be between the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts 100 miles OF land not re-
claimed either by fxrmer5 pillow or
miners crowbar. BY irrigation. the
waters Of the rivers and showers OF
heavcn in what are called the rainy sea-
son will be gathered into great reser.
v0frs and through aquoducts let down
wbHre and when the people want them.
U4Ah is an object lesson Some parts OF
that territory which were so barren that
sspear of grass could not have been
eolscd there In 100 years are now rich AZ
LAncaster county farms Of Pennsylvanis
- Weetchester. fsxms az Now York o.
somerset county farms Of New Jersey.
Experiments havo proved that ten
acses of ground irrigated from waters
e14hered In great Psychological basinz
WIN produce as much a. fifty acres from
the downpour Of rain ~ seen In our
regions. We have our freshets and oul
drouths, but In those lands which era u
lbe scientifically irrigated there wfll b
neither freshets nor drouthA IL you
tRkc . pitcher and get Il full Of water
and then set 40 on 3 table and takc Z
drink out of It whom your are thirsty
and never think of drinking . pitcherful
all 1T once, 90 Montana end Wyoming
aud Idaho will catch the rains of the
rainy season and take up all the waters
of their rivers In great pitchers Of reser
lvoirs and drink out Of them wheneye,
they will and refresh their land whom
lever they will
The work has already been grandly
begun by the United States government
lOver4O0lakeshave already been officially
taken possession Of BY the nation FOL
Tho great enterprise Of irrigation
Rivers thai have been rolling idly
Ithrough these regions, doing nothing on
kheir way 70 the sea, will be lassoed and
hoefalled and ponned up until such time
- 49, I~~o~~ ~Ao1 <6o~ HnAnp kh<