Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-01-19
vAeAeoNos or TIoe AND FIELD.
Adirondack Murray on the wholssorne
Delights Of Outdoor Life.

Adirondack Murray on the Wholssnme
Delights Of Outdoor Life.
What a splendid freemasonry this is
of outdoor life How gentle and gen
erous its rivalriesl Which head snail
dive deepest in the cool depths or
speck the white surf farthest from
shore1 Which rod shall lift the heav.
lest trout or gun show to It's credit the
fullest bag Of gane2 Whose deck shall
shine the cleanest, or whose white sails
shall lend the fleet to evenings anchor
aeeg Whose table Of bark shall boast
Of the tenderest veDison or lodge front
display for ornament the nobiest spread
of amherst Whose rife Is truest to the
camp when food is scarce, or Is silent
longest when game is plenty and the
larder over fulll
These are the generous and healthy
rivaIries of the outdoor life which
stimulate but never fret, aud leave
both victor and vanquished healthy
and happy still. Compare with these
the scramble for wealth; the rivalries
for gain, the suicidal despair of some,
the vain and boastful bearing of others,
the bitterness and ruin of those who
lose. the arrogance of those who win.
the sneering envyings and ranking
jealousies, ripening to hatred as the
years grow on, which characterize the
lives men live in store, Office and street,
and note the contrast.
Who of us frank spoken and kind
hearted vagabonds of tide and field, of
deck and camp, are envious Of anyi
Each man we meet is colnrade, fellow
picmcker, brother man, partner of ours
In the sweet profits of our healthy,
happy, natural life Mild hammered
and light hearted wanderers, boys with
smooth or wrinlled faces, gray headed
some of us, but boys still, thank God /;
canoeists, campers, yachtsinen, our fires
are lighted ON thousand shores and
our evoning song floats over thou
sand lakes and island studded rivers.
We are a family of natures saints.
Our spirits have been touched and soft
ened by the sweet grace of nature.
We have been indoctrinated in the
truths that shine out of stars and
which the blue heavens declare at noon
and night. The leaves of the catechism
we have studied have been the fiowery
meadows, the voiceful slopes of noun
tains, the shining beaches, the whisper
ing leaves of trees, the thunder shaken
ilrinanent, or the star lighted depth o
level waters From these un-Calvinis
tic text books we have learned sweet
lessons of God whose gentleness we
saw in the very leaves we studied. Oul
souls have drank the waters of life
fresh from native fountains, and oul
spirits have bathed their scars in river
which flow from him whose voice is a
the sound of many waters.
All haill Ye healthy blooded
: healthy minded, kindly hearted, gentl'
hammered saints of food and field, o
hill and river, Of car and sail, of decl
> and camp; your smiling faces rise be
fore me in thousands, and your voices
in happy talk, In joke and song, com
from afar and stir the silence aroun'
: me into laughter Joke, laugh am
!, rest on, ye thrifty vagabonds and gentl
J loafers; into each hour you are STORM
l the honey of health, on which in fl
ture days of toll and strain your strengt
shall feed and flll itself with vigor.
hail you, fellow saints, in this lowe
u heaven of God, where each happy on
:, Is his own priest, each pure mind II
= own creed, and the gentle wishes
each heart It's only "sum and sui
o stance" of doctrine. - Forest an
. Stream