Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-22
MAINE STATE GRANGE
CONTINUED from page So

have served without pay either for their
services or Expenses.
The contract for building the cottage
complete ready for furnishing was let to
Brother C.. r. Fletcher of Capital Grange.
Augusta. for the sum dncluding 800 for
plans. specifications. preliminary work
&C. done by HIM of $685.. At that time
there was but about $500 in the treasury
of the committee. but Brother Fletcher
had such an abiding faith in the patrons
of Maine that he signed the contract to
furnish all material and erect and finish
the cottage and take for his pay the
amount which should be contributed. not
to exceed the sum named above. The
corner stone of the cottage was appro-
priately laid on Oct 4th in the presence
of many members of the order and on
Dec Goth the cottage fully finished and
fully paid for was dedicated with fitting
ceremony and presented to the trustees
of the Coca Will Farm Association as
home for fifteen otherwise homeless little
girls -,
make a report in detail of the amounts
received with, the names of the several
. donors no further mention is here made.
A TRIBUTE TO THE STATE OF
MAINE.
AS this is the last annual address which
! shall make, to you in this capacity l
may be pardoned if / consume few mo-
ments of your time in calling your at
tention to. and STRENGTHENING your faith
in the grand old State In which We i've
Undoubtedly the most important prod
uct Of the State of Maine is men and
women While it has become somewhat
common to sneer at the SABBATH school
notions of the Maine bred man and his
natural Unborn reverence for sacred
things. ii is nevertheless fact which
cannot be sneered out of sight that his
early religious training has woven
strong and lasting thread of moral con-
viction into the warp and wool OF his
character which no subsequent associa-
ton with men or communities having
looser ideas can ever wholly eradicate.
The old red schoolhouse, with its
threshold worn by the many little patter-
ing feet that have since marched bravely
out into the battle of life. with its rough
deal desks bearing the deep marks of the
busy knives of generations of boys VINO
are now carving for themselves honored
names in places. ii may be. far from the
scenes of their happy childhood: the mod
est. unpretending little church nesting
among the trees on many Maine hill
side. its white spire pointing trustingiy
heavenward and its doors opening each
quiet Sabbath morn to welcome the
throng of honest worshippers the home
circle by the cheerful winter ireside. or
gathered around the evening lamp with
book and newspaper. or with pleasant
home amusement. and later on the
grange which has worked in unison with
the schoohouse and the church and has
done so much for the improvement of
these farm homes and their inmates.
these are the agencies that nave formed
and moulded the characters of Maine
men and women and made them power
for good in any community in which their
after lot may have been cast.
The tendency of our people to roam
away and seek new homes is a part OF
our nature and though our young men
should be counselled against yielding to
it and. if possible. prevailed upon to re-
main at home. yet when we come to take
Il broad and patriotic view of the veal of
our country we are led to believe that
this desire is providentially implanted in
the minds of our people for wise and
wholesome purpose.
With the gates of Castle Garden open
ing ever westward and pouring its never
ceaSing tide of emigrantS. with their old
world ideas. traditions and instincts. into
the broad and fertile regions of the far
West that portion of our country would
soon cease to be American in its charac-
teristics and its institutions. were it not
for the strong and healthy leaven infused
by the immigration of the sons and
daughters of Maine and of other portions
of New England.
Compared with the vast numbers of
foreign emigrantS who settle in the West
the men and women of Maine may be but
as a drop in the bucket but while the
former seem to lose themselves individ-
ually in the immensely of the country,
MdlIe IltIl anu WOIIlcH are Hedfu lIOHl
without fail. stand out prominent among
the mass and give tone, character and di-
rection to the institutions of the locality
in which they make their homes.
Maine men are governors of Western
states. Maine men represent Western
constituencies in the national Congress
and occupy various other offices of public
trust. The President seeks to honor a
Western state by exalting one of her cit
liens to the chief seat upon the bench of
the supreme court and behold. it tran
spires that the man thus clothed with the
judicial ermine was born among the
rugged hills of Maine.
Not only in connection with the polit-
ical interests of the country are Maine
men ever at the front but among the
ranks of the business men of the land we
find them exercising IA controlling intiu-
ence.
Vast Touring mills in the West are
owned and operated by men from Maine
and their product sent out to feed the
hungry millions of our own and other
lands. Extensive lumber operations upon
the father of waters and it's tributaries
and upon the rivers and streams of the
far Northwest which find their outlet in
the broad Pacific are carried on by Maine
men. Maine men mine the gold of Cal
ifOrnia and of Alaska and the silver of
Nevada and Maine man almost succeed
ed in hanging his hat upon the North
pole and taking possession of it in the
name of his native State and lived to
come Ddck 10 Maine 10 tel us Oh IL. Maine
men control the councils and to Il great
degree shape the destinies of the Sand
witch Islands and Maine men teach in
the colleges of far Japan
Verify. Maine is good State to be born
in. to be reared in to live and to die in.
or to start from in the race of life wher-
ever throughout the big world the course
may lead.
A little more faith in the resources and
business possibilities of their native State
would prompt our capitalists to inaugu-
rate more extensive industries within our
own borders, which would afford an OPP
portunity for the man with a few spare
hundreds or thousands to make Il safe
and profitable investment at home. fur
nsh employment for our young men and
would induce many of them to build up
homes nearer the old rooftree and to con-
tribute the wealth of their manhood
their intelligence, their muscle and their
brains toward the development of our
own good State The outlook in this d.
rection is more encouraging than in
years past.
The opportunities for profitable business
investments in Maine are attracting the
attention of capitalists and are sure to re-
suit in the establishment of new and i'm
portant industries in various portions of
the State.
confidently predict that an era of