Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-12-17

start. And ten you that though some
Of our people may have great CONNER
cial struggles there is going to be
great opening for their sons and daugh-
terS as they come on to take their
places in the world.
Continuing this international cOmpar-
isOn, l have to say to you that we have
a better climate than is to be found in
any other nation. We do not suffer
from anything like the Scotch mists or
the English fogs or the Russian ice
blast or the typhus of southern Europe
or the Asiatic cholera. Epidemics in
America are exceptional, very eXcep-
tional. Plenty of wood and coal to
make a roaring fire midwinter. Easy
access to seabeach or mountain top
when the ardOrs of summer come
down, Michigan wheat for the bread,
Long Island corn for the meal, Caro-
lima rice fer the queen of buildings,
Louisiana sugar to sweeten our bever-
ages, Georgia cotton to keep us warm,
in our hand all products and all eli
mates. Are your nerves weak? Go
north. Is your throat delicate? Go
south. Do you feel crowded and want
more room? Go west. I declare it,
this is the best country in all the world
to live in. How do I know it? 1 have
650,00O new reasons for saying it; &c.
900 people in one year came from the
other side of the Atlantic to live in
America, and they came because it is
the very best country to live in.
Spirit of Ruin.
While making this international COM
parison let us look forward to the time
which will surely come when all ma
lions will have as great advantages as
our own. AS surely as the Bible is true
the whole earth is to be gardenized and
set free Even the climates will change
and the heats be cooled and the frigid-
ity warmed.
Many years ago in this city 1 gaZed
upon scene which for calamity and
grandeur one seldom sees equaled. l
mean the burning of the Smithsonian
institution. 1t was the pride of our
country. In it art had gathered rarest
specimens from all lands and countries.
It was one of those buildings which
seize you with enchantment as you en-
ter and all the rest of your life holds
you with a charm. l happened to see
the first glow of the fires which on that
cold day looked out from the windows
of the costly pile. | saw the angry ele-
ments rear and rave. The shout of af-
frighted workmen and the assault Of
fire engines only seemed to madden the
rage of the monsters that rose up to
devour all that came within reach Of
their chain. Up along the walls and
through the doors were pushed hands
that snatched down all they could
reach and hurled it into the abyss of
flame beneath. The windows of the
tower would light up for minute with
wild glare and then darken, as
though fiends with streaming locks of
fire had come to gaze on in laughing
mOczery at all human attempts and
then sunk again into their native dark
ness. With crackle and roar and crash
the floors tumbled. The roofs began
here and there to blossom in wreaths
and vines of flame Up and down the
pillars ran serpents of fire. Out from
the windows great arms and fingers of
flame We're extended, as though de-
stroyed spirits were begging for deliv-
erance. The tower put on cOronet of
flame and staggered and fell. the
sparks fying. the firemen escaping. the
terror accommodating. Books, maps, rare
correspondence, autographs of kings,
costly diagrams burned to cinder or
scattered for many a rood upon the
wild wind to be picked up by the ex-
cited multitude. oh, it seemed like
some great funeral pile in which the
wealth and glory of our land had leap
ed to burn with it's consuming treas
ures The heavens were blackened
with whirlwinds of smoke, through
which shot the long red shafts Of ca
lamity. Destruction waved it's fiery
banner from the remaining towers, and
in the thunder of falling beams and in
the roaring surge of billOwing fire 1
heard the spirits Of ruin and desolation
and woe clapping their hands and
shouting, ''Aha, aha"
The Resurrection.
I turned and looked upon the white
dome of yonder capitol, which rose
through the frosty air as imposing as
though all the white marble of the
earth had come to resurrection and
stood before us, reminding one of the
great white throne of heaven. There
it stood, unmOved by the terrors which
that day had been kindled before it.
No tremor in it's majestic columns, no
frown on it's magnificent sculpture, no