Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-09-15
The Grange Address.

t"C Oto'yc HuutCSS.
When the time came for the annual
Grange address in the grand stand
there was Il good crowd present and
they fully enjoyed the lecture by Prof.
Elijah Cook, the State lecturer of the
Grange, as much as any other feature
of the whole fair. The Winthrop Band
was present and played Sousa's THE
Stars and Stripes Forever" very pretti-
ly. Rev j. r. Herrick of Fayette, Of
fered a beautiful prayer after which
Prof. Cook delivered the lecture on
The Advancement of the Present
Age"
Prof. Cook said in part:
We're living in remarkable age,
an age of progress which eXcells any
thing known in the history of the
world The progress of the century
now drawing to a close has been great
er than all of the centuries proceeding
together. The progress We notice upon
every hand as shown by the pack
horse of 100 years ago and the great
steam engine with its enormous train
of cars going from the Atlantic to the
Pacific
Progress in architecture has within
the past generation doubled the capa-
city of Manhattan Island. BY any
means known % years ago 10 or l:
stories was the limit of the business
buildings of New York City. BY the
introduction of the steel frames, with
in the past few years. the buildings
have reached more than so stories The
Manhattan Insurance Co. has a build
ing of 34S feet in height and that is ex-
ceeded by the st. Patrick's cathedral.
The accumulation of wealth is start
ling to think of. About a generation
ago Great Britain and the United
States began q commercial race, Grea,
Britain having double the wealth of the
United States. bit in few years the
United States surpassed Great Britain
with the stride of giant and. today
the wealth of the territory beyond the
Mississippi is 80 per cent. greater than
all the wealth of the country when
| Abraham Lincoln was elected Presi-
dent.
''Nc thought when he was Pres
| iGent that we had a large country, a
great nation, but the nation had
doubled in numbers. quadrupled in
| wealth since that time and wealth is
accommodating at the present day far
more rapidly than at any previous date.
The great accumulation of wealth and
the great combinations of capital are
not altogether good nor altogether
evils.
Great combination of capital stepped
up to Niagara Falls, few years ago.
and dug a tunnel under the city thus
developing a water power of more than
100. 600 horse power not to do work in
Niagara City alone but it is transmitted
by electricity over the wires from Mia
CARA City TO Buffalo and is capable of
doing more work than is now done by
10 or dozen of the largest manufac-
turing CITIES of New England. This
decreases the flow of water over Mia
CARA Falls only about an light of an
inch and several feet could he spared
without materially injuring that great
natural scenery.
The possibilities of power in the
future are dazzling. indeed. without a
single other invention. Both freight and
passengers could be carried from the
Atlantic to the Pacific in half the time
use of steam.
I'm order to keep up with the times
the farmer must be a constant student.
Agriculture offers as acknowledgements
for the investment of capital and prom
Uses as great returns as any line of
business in the World In western
Iowa a man invested $25S, 900 in a plant
to raise corn and in years time made
1872 per cent. on his investment. Show
me where any honest legitimate bust
ness offers greater reward?
But the cry used to be heard that
farming doesn't pay but that is thing
of the past. Agriculture is now prof.
table. Beef raising is profitable in
Maine and is sure to be SO in the flu
ture. The best statistics that can be
gathered by the government show that
the production has not kept up with
the demand but the farmer fails to
take into account the great blessings
he enjoys every day.
"A man told me. yesterday, that he
spent 10 years in Fulton Market. New
York City. was up every morning at =
o'clock, worked hard and made what
he claimed a good living but health
failed him and he came upon farm in
Maine. And he finds that it would
cost him at least $2500 a year to live as
well in New York City as he lives now
upon the farm in Penobscot county
And yet he does not take into account
the blessings of pure air the untold
blessing to the children of the grand
play grounds they have upon the farm.
THE prospect of making strong men
with noble characters Of the boy is far
greater upon the farm than it can be
in the large city. Strong as competi-
ton is there is always room at the top
and the boy who is diligent and perse-
vering, earnest in developing mind and
body. inspired by noble surroundings
to build a strong character can no
more be kept down than Garfield could
have been held to the tow path nor
Lincoln to the fiat boat.
The Races.
The races were not nearly as unsat