Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-01-23


ut somewhat frustrated and embarrassed,
but all of a sudden the Goddess of Liberty
seemed TO give us a kick Of encouragement,
and we started of to Guido Patrick Henry
There were occasions when we melted that
vast audience to tears. and there were other
occasions when the roar of applause would
have made Niagara falls look sick In our
overpowcring enthusiasm we gradually re-
moved collar. tie. coat and vest, and we
finally stood before the audience like a
Roman senator crying out for the rights
and liberties of down trodden people. In
our interest we lost all trace Of our own
identity, and we were but dimly conscious
that we were making the grandest intel.
lectual effort of our life.
One of the occasions when we brought
tears. as mentioned above, was when we
painted q mental picture of an old man
standing on the peak Of Bill Williams
mountain and gazing sadly down into the
valleys below. He sees the grizzly bear
skating for the wilder west, the cowboy
combing his hair and putting on q cellu-
loid collar. the Indian packing his duds for
a trip to New Mexico. the rattlesnake ard
coyote fleeing before the presence Of good
looking schoolmarm. He sees towns
springing up, saloons "a thick rs prickly
points on q cactus. horse races and dog
fights. happy school children, busy light
ming rod men and the smiling sewing ma
chine agent. lie sees the dreamy past and
the busy present. He hears the hum of
progress and sees the wheel turn round.
and the prou american eagle soaring above
him screams out. See what the old gal
could do IL she was given a fair show
And the old man bows his head and weeps.
Congress won't give US a show-that is.
she hasn't up TO this time-but she's got to
do 80 pretty soon. or down comes her shanty.
We spoke for over an hour. knowing
that our contemporary would have one OF
his parasites present. even if kept out him
self. We had our agricultural editor take
notes. We find by reference to those notes
that we knocked out old Cicero's bes, effort
before the end OF the second round. and our
remarks were received with thunderous ap-
plause exactl. So times. with many other
occasions when they were not exactly
thunderous. On ~ different occasions we
stopped speaking to mop our brow and
wipe our ears but the patriotic audience.
fearing we were going TO quit business.
arose ~ one t::an AID yelled. go on. old
man: go on Not an egg. potato. gourti.
dead rabbit or other evidence Of dissatis-
faction was hurled at us. and in place OF
those familiar and disheartening shouts Of
Come or and Write us the rest"' We
were spurrcd to renewed efforts by waving
hats and cries OF Hes a daisyV' and
Lets run him for congress-
We closed with a peroration into which
we carelessly tossed about dozen Latin
words and Greek maxims at a venture. and
the audience arose and smashed benches
and howled with delight. We were picked
I'D by half dozen men and carried around
the hall on their shoulders, and it was half
an hour before the enthusiasm had quoted
down to that point where the meeting
could go on As to the feelings Of our con-
temporary. we leave the reader to judge.
II it does not prove fatal blow to his pub
lie aspirations. he cannot be human. Ou-
subscription. and advertising rates will re-
main as heretofore. and job work done on
the shortest notice and at Chicago prices.