Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-11-27

ploweth should pillow in hope" Isaiah XII,
z, He that smootheth with the ham
mer;'' Judges v. ii. They that handle
the pen of the writer"
There is a table being spread across the
top of the two great ranges Of mountains
which ridge this continent, a table which
reaches from the Atlantic to the PACING
sea. 1t is the Thanksgiving table of the
nation. They will come from the east
and the west and the north and the south
and sit at it. On it are smoking the
products of all lands, birds of every
aviary, cattle from every pasture, hsh
from every lake, feathered spois from
every farm. The fruit baskets bend down
under the products plucked from the
peachfields Of Maryland, the apple or
chards of western New York, the orange
groves of Florida, the vineyards Of ONO
and the nuts thrashed from New England
woods. The bread is white from the
wheatfelds of Illinois and Michigan, the
banaueters are adorned with California
gold. and the table is a-glean with Ne
vada silver. and the feast is warmed
with the FIRE CRATES heaped up with
PENNSYLVANIA coal. The hall is spread
with carpets from Lowell mills, and at
night the lights viii flash from bronzed
brackets of Philadelphia manufacture.
The fingers of Massachusetts girls have
hung the embroidery, the music is the
drumming of ten thousand lIills, accom-
panied by the shout of children let loose
for play, and the g'adness of the har-
yesters driving BARNARD the loads OF
sheayes, and the thanksgiving of the ma
ton which crowd the celestial gates with
doxoogies until the oldest harper of
heaven cannot tell where the terrestrial
song ends and the celestial song begins.
Welcome, Thanksgiving day! Oh, 1t
is great day of national festivity! Clap
your hands, We people, and shout aloud
for Joy. Through the organ pipes let
there come down the thunder of a ma
ton, rejoiciugi Blow the cornet! Wave
the palm branches. 'Oh, that men would
praise The Lord for his goodness and for
his wonderful works to the children Of
menw
The Victories of Peace.
For two years and a half this nation
has been celebrating the triumph Of
sword and gun and battery. We have
sung martial airs and cheered returning
heroes and sounded the requiem for the
slain in battle. Methinks it will be a
healthful change il on this years Thanks
giving in church and homestead We cele-
brate the victories of the plow, the ham
mer and the pen; for nothing was done at
Santiago or Manila that was of more i'm
portance than that which in the last year
has been done in farmers field and me-
chanic's shop and authors study by those
who never wore an epaulet or shot a
Spaniard or went a hundred miles from
their own doorsill. Come up, farmers
ti.. mechanics and literary men, and get
your dues as far as l can pay them.
Things have marvelously changed.
Time was when the stern ediet of govern
ment forbade religious assemblages.
Those who dared to be so unloyal to the
Head of the Universe were punished.
Churches awfully silent in worship sud
denly heard their doors swung open and
down upon the church aisle a score of
muskets thumped as the leaders babe
them "Ground arms." This custom of
having the fathers, the husbands, the
sons and brothers at the entrance of the
pew is custom which came down from
olden time, when it was absolutely neces-
sary that the father or brother should sit
at the end of the church pew fully armed
to defend the helpless portion of the fam
lily. But now, how changed! Severe pen
alties are threatened against any one who
shall interrupt religious services, and an
nually, at the command Of the highest
official in the United States, We gather
together for thanksgiving and holy wor-
ship. To-day l would stir your souls to
joyful thanksgiving while ! speak of the
mercies of God and in unconventional
way recount the conquests of the pillow,
the hammer and the pen.
Most of the implements of husbandry
have been superseded by modern inven-
tons, but the plow has never lost its
reign. 1t has furrowed its way through
all the ages. Its victories have been
waved by the barley of Palestine, the
wheat of Persia, the fax of Germany, the
rice stalks of China, the rich grasses of
Italy. 1t has turned up the mammoth of
Siberia, the mastodon of Egypt and the
pine groves of Thessaly. Its iron foot
hath marched where Moses wrote and
Homer sang and Aristotle taught and
Alexander mounted his war charger. Ii
hath wrung its Golfer on Norwegian wilds
and ripped out the stumps of the Amer
lean forest, pushing its way through the
savannas of the Carolinas ana trembling
in the grasp of the New Hampshire yeo-
many. American civilization hath kept
step with the rattle of its clevises, and on
its beam hath ridden thrift and national
p enty.
Couquests of the Plnw.
To get an appreciation of what the
American pillow has accomplished l take
you into the western wilderness. Here in
the dense forests find a collection of In
dian wigwams. With belts of wampum
the men lazily sit on the skins Of deer
smoking their feathered cnlumets; or
driven forth by hunger. | track their moe.
easins far away as they make the forest
echoes crazy with their wild halloo or fish
In the waters Of the still lake. Now
tribes challenge and council fires baz.
and warwhoops ring and chiefs lift tlte
tomahawks for battle. After awhile
wagons from the Atlantic coast come to
those forests BY day trees are felled
ana By night bondres keep off the wolves
Log cabins rise ana The great trees be
gin to throw their branches in the path
of the cunqueriuc white man. Farms are
cleared. Stumps. the monuments 81
slain forests. crumbie and are burled
Villages appear. with smiths at the beF
lows, masons On the wall. carpenters Oh
the housetop. Churches rise in honor OF
the Great Spirit whom the red men ig
Dorautly worship. Steamers on the laki
convey merchandise 70 her wharf anc
carry east the uncouuted bushels thai
have come TO the market. Bring hithel
ryrp1thS If wheat and eroyvus OF rye anC