The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1893-09-09
THE ODESSA PICNIC.
Two Thousand People Turn Out. MIL
sic and FlagS-Spceclles and
Dinner.

held. Odessa has II reputation as n pic
ME town. When she spreads herself for n
picnic everybody who can leave home
tries to attend. The crowd, last Satur-
day, was estimated from 1900 to 5000.
We think $500 would not be far from the
correct figures.
An INT"ELLIGENCER reporter left Lex
ington at seven O'Clock in the morning,
and with Messrs. II. A. Catron, Lee Dill
lard, and Judge Hale, drove to Odessa, by
way of the Greenton road. The ride was
very pleasant, and il Judge Hale did not
know every man, woman, house or farm
that we saw, Mr.. Cntron or Mr.. billiard
was able to supply the link.
We reached Odessa Mt $50, and found
the town full OF people, and every road
was full of c~onvcyances, coming III. The
Wellington Star Band was there, and was
giving the crowd plenty of first class
music. And we will stop just here to say
that Wellington, or any other town in
the county, would have good reason to be
proud of such a band. The members are
musicians and gentlemen.
About 1920 the crowd began to move
toward the picnic grounds, half a mile
northwest of the city. When we reached
the grounds we found the woods full of
conveyances and people, while the main
crowd was gathered around the speakers
stand. We found two "merry-go-rounds,"
an omnipresent shooting gallery, 4 num-
Der OF eating stands, and such accompa-
niments to crowds. All were well patron
lied, and each one tried to make more
noise than anybody else could. With all
the DIM everybody was happy. Some of
the hack lines were carrying people back
and forth free of charge.
After some selections of music, Prof.
Kemper introduced Col. John II. Crisp,
who began speaking at 1910 o'clock, and
it was nearly one when he quit. He said
he had seen the time when he would walk
or ride 500 miles to address Il Lafayette
county audience, but that was long ago.
He remembered the old days when men
were men, and would not have submitted
to being taxed into slavery as they now
are. If God were DESTROYS of making a
real man, lie would go to Lexington and
hunt up the ghost of some OF those men
who were buried there forty years ago,
and use it for a model. He had seen more
real manhood rid up to the old hitching
rack in Lexington before ten o'clock in
the morning, han can now be found in
the whole state. All we inherit from our
ancestors, in fact, is politics-that is, the
right to meet and discuss the principles OF
A ~ nrinnn frnn1nNn fnnl ikn nm ntn
buffalo, n Want to tear up the earth.
How many of you have read the constitu-
ton? How many of you have time to
dodge the tax~-gatherer, and talk to your
children of their rights? Most of you are
unworthy sons, e~masculated by the tax
gatherer, and are like Mexican calves, not
worth branding. He thought that con-
gress was doing very well, and consider
ing the size of the men in congress, they
are doing better than he expected. When
lions, elephants and tigers send monkeys
to represent them, they should not COM
plain. He thought God alone could ex
plain some things done by congress-, and
it would take God several innings to dc
it.. He was willing to forgive the demo-
Gratis who voted against him some years
ago, but he had n kindly remembrance OF
the republicans who voted for him, and
would repay the debt il it ever came in
his power to do so. He explained his
swearing by saying he could not do his
subject justice without it, and it was 8
high form of religion to swear at some
things. He paid n glowing tribute to
Governor Stone, and then poured n vollcy
at Little Willie Bonnie Harrison" and
the miserable gang of frogs, feas, and
lice, that he gathered around him, and
d--n any white man who wanted to put
a negro on top. He said Little Miserable
Bonnie" had called a court of arbitration
in the Behring Sea matter because he
knew Steve Elkins was stealing furs, and
would be caught if something was not
done. Blaine knew this, and Harrison
insulted and drove him out of his cabinet.
Harrison ought to have told England to
get out, and go id quick. The time
has come when W. must be a patton OF
die. We can't stand this, and l would
rather die than stand it.. Dishonest
peace means slavery for our children. He
would like to whip England again. We
whipped her when God and right were on
our side. He wanted to whip her again
when we We're at least half wrong, as he
wanted some credit for the job. He
would march into Canada and tell the old
"Harlot of the Ocean" to pay us five bill
lion dollars indemnity, and pay it all in
silver. Gold is too ID precious. He
touched up the gold Shylocks in his inim-
liable manner, and closed with a brilliant
and eloquent eulogy on Cleveland.
The crowd was dismissed till two
o'clock in order to get their dinners.
Many country people brought their bas-
kets, and others resorted to the stands,
while some went to town.
1t was nearly two o'clock when the
crowd was called together, and Prof.
Kemper introduced o. d.. Jones, of Knox
county, who spoke for an hour. He was
a union soldier, but was now in favor OF
s~ecession-he wanted to secede from
England. He said that according to Sem
ator Plumb, the debt of this country,
national, state, county, school, and rail-
road, was twenty billion dollars. This
does not include individual debts. John
Sherman has grown rich and gray in the
service and pay OF the English money
power. Our debt is 1920 per capita, or
81, 800 for each voter-just about what we
would be worth if we were black. He
thought these facts a good excuse for
q calamity howl. After the war we had
$i5 to $50 per capita in circulation. That
was a good time to pay debts. Labor was
in demand and was well paid. He asked
all those who had made money by farm
ing in the past ten years to hold up their
hands. Only one hand was raised, He
thought if only one man had made money
farming in the garden spot of Missouri, it
was lime to raise a calamity howl. When
corn is scarce. it is high; when money is
scarce, it is high, and other things are
low. When money is high it takes more
labor and the products of labor to pay a
debt. With wheat at $3.50 a bushel, and
gold at 1886 you could, with a bushel of
wheat, buy nearly one gold dollar; now
with n dollar OF gold, silver, or paper, you
can buy three bushels of wheat and have
money left. There is a class in Europe
debating the financial policy of this
The mortgage interest bearing
debt of Iowa is $500 for each voter; in
it is $3.50; in Mississippi it is
1925; in Illinois it is S401. 1t is time for
an emancipation proclamation. If The
passes the Wilson bill, the crime
of 1879 will he re-anacted. after hejnp dis