Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-12-01

with this lAan anything that has pre-
coded. Behold the almost miraculous
printing press DO you not feel the
ground shake with the machinery Of
the New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Phil
adelphia, Washington and western
dailies? Some of us remember when
the hand ink roller was run over the
cylinder, and by great haste 500 copies
Of the village newspaper were issued
in one day and no lives lost But in
yentiOn has crowded invention and
wheel jostled wheel. stereotyplng,
electrotyping. taking their places, Ben
jamin Franklin's press giving way to
the Lord StanhOpe press, and the
Washington press and the Victory
press and the Hoe perfecting press
have been set up. Together with the
newspapers comes the publication Of
innumerable books of history, Of
poetry. Of romance. of art. Of travel, Of
biography. of religion. dictionaries. en-
cyclopedias and Bibles. Some of these
presses send forth the most accursed
stuff. but the good predOminates. Turn
on with wider sweep and greater yeloc-
ity, o wheel-wheel of light. wheel Of
civilization. wheel of Christianity.
wheel of divine momentum!
On those four wheels-that of the
sewing machine, that Of the reaper.
that Of the railroad locomotive. that of
the printing press-the world has NOV
ed up to its present prosperity.
And now ! gather on an imaginary
platform, as | literally did when ]
preached in Brooklyn, specimens Of
our American products.
BOuntifuI Harvests.
Here is corn from the west, a fore
taste Of the great harvest that is to
come down to our seaboard. enough for
ourselves and for foreign shipment.
Here is rice from the south, never a
more beautiful product grown on the
planet, mingling the gold and green.
Here are two sheaves, sheaf Of north
ern wheat and a sheaf Of southern rice,
bound together May the band never
break Here is cotton. the wealthiest
product of America. Here is sugar
cane, enough TO sweeten the beverages
Of an empire. Who would think that
out Of such a humble stalk there would
come such a luscious product? Here
are palmetto trees that have In their
pulses the warmth of southern climes.
Here is the cactus Of the south, so
beautiful and so tempting 1t must so
armed. Here are the products OF
American mines. This is iron, this is
coal. the iron representing a vast yield,
our country sending forth one year
100000 tons Of it, the coal representing
100000 square miles Of It. the iron
prying out the coal. the coal smelling
the iron. This is silver, silver from
Colorado and Nevada. those places
able yet to yield silver napkin rings
and silver knives and silver casters
and silver platters for all our people.
Here is mica from the quarries Of New
Hampshire How beautiful II looks In
the sunlight Here is copper from
Lake Superior, so heavy dare not lift
IT, Here Is gold from Virginia and
Georgia.
/ look around me on this imaginary
platform, and 1t seems as If the waves
Of agricultural meteorological. pomo-
logical wealth dash to the platform.
and there are four beautiful beings
that walk In. and they are all gar
landed, and one Is garlanded with
wheat and blossoms Of snow. and ! find
she is the north. and another comes in,
and her brow Is garlanded with rice
and blossoms Of magnolia. and find
she is the south. and another comes in.
and | find she Is garlanded with sea-
weed and blossoms of spray. and find
she is the east. and another comes In.
and | find she is garlanded with silk
Of corn and radiant with California
gold, and find she is the west, and,
coming face TO face. they take of their
garlands. and they twist them together
into something that looks like a
wreath. but II is a wheel, the wheel
of national prosperity. and say 10
an outburst OF Thanksgiving Joy for
what God has done for the north and