Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-10-20

No fields OF the earth so enchantingly shine,
No air breathes such incense, such music as
thine
Humanity's homei thy sheltering breast
Gives welcome and room to strangers op-
pressed.
Pale children of hunger and hatred and wrong
Find life in thy freedom and JOY in thy song.
Thy poor may grow great, thy feeble grow
bold;
For worth is the watchword to noble degree,
And manhood is mighty where manhood is
free.
union of states and union OF soulsl
Thy promise awaits, thy future unfolds.
And earth from her twilight is hailing the sun,
That rises where people and rulers are one.
An address follows in which the
story of the four centuries is told. We
give 1t in condensed form as follows:
We, who are here met together, are now real
ly in company with 1900. 0o0 pupils of the
American public schools. That Is the thought,
this day, which stirs hearts.
Though our eyes do not see all these, we can
see them with minds-an army of 1900 900
boys and girls gathered in schoolhouses great
and schoolhouses little, throughout the land
and all with the flag of our country floating
over them. All are assembled at the request Of
she president of the United States for one pur-
pose That purpose is to celebrate the discov-
cry Of America by Columbus, whose ship fired
a gun 400 years ago this morning, to signal that
he then first saw the new world.
Yes-the New World. For that discovery
added more than new continent to the other
continents. It changed the prospects of man
kind; it opened broad lands to their labor; it
gave them great new hopes, and so made the
world new.
Have those hopes been disappointed? No.
That there are Is, O00, 900 American children in
free school rooms this morning is the best evil
dence that those hopes have been more than
fulfilled
Behind him. in old Europe, Columbus left our
own ancestors-men, women, girls and boys
without any better prospect than that Of toll
ing and fighting for kings and mobiles. He left
behind him a world where the most of the
people were common people, and where com
mon people were treated having few human
rights.
He saw before him new world, where those
common people, set free to do their own will,
were by and by to establish the same rights
for everybody, free education for all the chill
dren and a government by the people for the
people.
00O, 600 of us pupils of the common schools are
this day met In thankfulness to God who sent
Columbus forth, and who moved our fore
fathers to make this a land of freedom, law and
schools.
All that our forefathers did we receive. 1t
done for us: it is given to us freely. So upon US
is laid a mighty trust Upon US is laid the duty
to be patriots, like those who made our Land
made the school children all over the land the
leaders in this Columbus day celebra tion so as
to give to us lesson in patriotism which we
never shall forget.
patriots as soon we love country and its
flag. When we try to make our school better
school, when we try to make our games fair
games. we begin to be patriotic citizens
And then, we, the boys and girls Of America
to-day, are going to be the men and women of
America before long. Very soon we viii have
to govern the towns and cities, build the schools
and make the laws Whatever we shall do that
makes all the people happier will make our
country's flag brighter. But If we should vote
when we grow up for things that are wrong that
would stain the flag.
So, let promise that the flag OF our dear
land, which, so proud and bright, flies over our
heads to-day, shall never be stained by our
fault. Let US pledge ourselves that the great
name America shall forever mean an equal
chance to every citizen and love to all the world.
Then follows a magnificent ode
written by Edna Dean Proctor. This
exercises:
COLUMBIA BANNER
~God helping me- cried Columbus, "though
fair or foul the breeze,
will sail and sail till find the land beyond the
western seas,"
So an eagle might leave its eyrie, bent, though
the blue should bar,
To fold its wings on the Hottest peak Of un-
discovered star.
And into the vast and void abyss he followed
the setting sun;
Nor CULTS gales could fright his sails till the
wondrous quest was done
But oh, the weary vigils, the murmuring, tor
turing days,
Till the Pinta's gun and the shout of '.Land.''
set the black night ablaze!
TN the shore lay fair as paradise in mornings
balm and gold,
And a world was won from the conquered oeef
and the tale Of the ages toldi
Uplift the starry banner. The best age Is
beguni
We are the heirs of the mariners whose voyage
that morn was done
Aeasureless lands Columbus gave and rivers
through zones that roll,
But his rafest, noblest bounty was new world
for the soul,
For he sailed from the past with its sitting
walls to the futures open sky,
And the ghosts OF gloom and fear were laid S.
the breath OF heaven went By,
And the pedant's pride and the lordiing's SCOTT
were lost in that vital air,
AS fogs are lost when and wind sEeeI
ocean blue and bare,
And freedom and larger knowledge dawnet
clear, the sky TO span.
The birthrieht, not Of priest OK king. but Of
every child Of man,
Upiift the new worlds banner to greet the Ell
ultant sun,
Let its rosy CLEANS stsll follow It's beams q.
| swift TO west they run.
TIL the wide air rings with shout and hymn {,
welcome il shining high,
| And our eagle from lone Katahdi1 70 Shasta
snow can az