The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-06-27
ON THE WING.
DR.. Thompson Sees Much to Encourage
Him--Things Frightening all
Along the Line.
HIGHLANDS, N. O..

M ~
Mr.. EDTToR:-I have not written to
YOU for some time, just because l find
so little time to write Speaking day
after day, constantly moving from
place to place, meeting and lodging
with most hospitable people, Alliance.
men full of the spirit, men whose
earnest shall not slacken into play"
7 find time only to talk and be sociable,
encouraging and being encouraged all
along nv way. All the while, l have
had faith in a vigorous revival OF the
Order, a permanent recovery from the
inevitable shock of the late campaign,
and the safe weathering Of all the
| storms of spite and hatred that come
barefaced or in friendly guise. Even
now nv faith is realized. The spirit
| of the Order is triumphant. Never did
Puritan conceive his duty more stern
ly than Alliancemen of to day, or de-
termine O valiantly to perform it.
We are passed the stage where men
stood in doubt and uncertainty. The
Alliance not only lives, but with strong
~pulsation of nutritious blood the body
approaches a vigor it never knew. The
evidence of it's restoration lies patent
on every hand-in the reorganization
of Sub-Alliances from Ashe to Onslow;
the return of good lei who, through
carelessness on their part or wicked
wiles of the enemy, had fallen away /;
the incoming of new men, just now
aroused by the CALLING pressure Of the
times, who are at last beginning to un-
derstand that the unorganized are ne,
elected by all political parties, and the
universal demand for men to speak to
the people in series of mammoth sum-
mer meetings. And Gf you think about
it) it could not be otherwise; the very
character of the Order; the spirit of
the men who have remained in it; the
nature Of the Father who loves liberty
for all His children, and the dire neces-
sity of the times, which so holds, as it
were, with "glittering eye" the OPP,
pressed of every partisan utilization
that they cannot choose but hear" its
persistent tale, more eloquent and per,
suasive than passing voice of men.
Thence in the busiest season of the
year, 1 have sometimes had large audi
ences, and almost without exception 1
have had fair audiences everywhere.
Although the opposition, by word and
in print, urge their followers to stay
away and leave US severely alone, they
don't all stay away even then. Every
day you find men willing to hear all
sides, men who havs sense enough to
know that they cannot be sure Of the
truth except by a multitude of COM
PARSONS, men who fear the falsity of
their notions because of the exclusive
counsel their leaders so earnestly give.
This was true even in Smithfeld, the
home of the great legal Pougilist, who
by virtue Of being solicitor lately
ranked himself as chief anti Gideon;
the home of the PouIssant Senator, the
lustre of whose brass was slightly
dulled by his failure to be made presi,
dent pro tempOTe of the lately defunct
Senate; the home of the Pouling editor
of the Herald, who, for fear of saponi-
ication, should eat sparingly of fat.
The audience here, it was said, was
largely anti Alliance. 1t was evidently
true, I thought, from the way they
lcoveted, at first, the back seats, and
now and then popped out, like impure
lard compound, when things began to
warm up a little. But others popped
in from time to time. The editor came
and his two directors with him-the
editor who is reputed to be a sort of
pewter shilling without intrinsic value
and current only in it's own locality.
He afforded us some Is minutes harm
less amusement. l should call him a
veritable classic at dry %grinning, His
ability was marvellous. I began to
fear the distortion of his features might
become permanent; and, for the
beauty of his corpse, 1 rejoiced, there
fore at his power of endurance. Best
of all, he was amusing even to his
friends, and his enemies laughed at
him good-naturedly.> He's the sort of
instrument I love to play upon. But
neither his friends nor his enemies
suspected there was half so much fun
in him and good qualities for public
entertainment, until I beganto electro
cute him with a sort of interrupted
current on the stand pusillanimously
built for my own eMecution. He seemed
rather grateful than otherwise that I
had developed his latent powers and
brought to light the second strongest