The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1901-01-04
PLUCKY KANSAS.

queen born a myriad.ages ago in the
day of fairyland. At her birth the
Stars singing together in the morning
of time bethought them of the gift they
should bring her, TO be woven by the
great shuttle of events into the girl
queens destiny And one Star said,
LET us give her beauty" And the
story of beauty is such an old story
and such short story that they soon
tired of it.
And another said "Let us give her
wealth." but the song they made up to
go with the gift was such neeting
song that they rejected it. Said an
other Fame" but the song of fame
was hollow, and the song of glory
which another Star began faded into
an echo, so the Stars were silent and
the girl queen ia her crib swinging
upon a spider web, languished for an
hour without destiny. And then up
spake one quiet Star and said, LET
us give the girl queen a gift such as
the gods receive" and thus it was
that the girl queen was given a gift
OF pluck and the Stars changed mar
tial brass and booming drums and
blood tingling flies into her baby ears
and 10, when she came into the full
ness of her heritage, the Queens
brave eyes glowed in beauty, wealth
was her handmaidon, while fame sang
songs of her through all the world
and glory printed her name upon the
everlasting hills. And as the years
dew past the pale quiet Star which
gave the queen her destiny watched
over her and led her upward and on
ward, Ad AstrS per Aspera.
1t was nearly forty years ago that
Arson Burlingame, standing on
the improvised rostrum on the streets
of the pionenr town of Leavenworth.
said: ''If had it in my power l |
would blazon over every school house
in this great territory, Pluck, Pluck,
Pluck"
some unseen power seems to have |
made these words an oracle and a
battle cry. Pluck is the watchword of
Kansas, the talisman by which she
overcomes all hersdificulties. A gen
Grafton ago u barren waste stretched
from Missouri TO the Rockies. The
adamantine prairie soil sprouted a
few sickly patches of fuzzy buffalo
grass, the last struggle of nature with
the Inevitable s,cgility, and along the
Streams jagged growth of under
brush crouched lower and lower under
the merciless beat of the summer sun
and the fretful flashing of the winter
wind, until the stream skunk beneath
the soil or only ran along the sand by
iittul spells and left the situated elms
and sickly cOttonwoods to perish in
the desert where the faithless streams
had iured them. This was the Kansas
Of the latter day pilgrims who
Crossed the prahicS as of old
Their father, crossed the sea"
1t was Il bleak, hopeless wilderness,
repulsve to life, rcbuiiing man aud
his civilization with almost the fc-
rocity OF a wild beast. 1t was harsh,
cruel, and thousands upon
thousands of good men and women
have died in the struggle that came
with tanning Of this spirit OF the desert.
Today for 300 mile, garden stretches
in the wild mild sun of the first month. |
I'm ten thousand happy homes the
twinkle of the twilight lamp follows
the westering light A million happy
people live upon the soil that under
natures charge yielded only the
dwarfed and stunted products of
sterility.
Pluck has conquered.
Pluck has fertiIiaed the land.
Pluck has ms9e the flower bloom |
whore the dusty rag weed half choked |
to death along the bone strewn high |
way.
Pluck has armed the tender blue
grass against the hard, tough yet
cowardly verdure OF the "buffalo |
wallow."
Pluck has won the great fight for
Kansas and by the token of the creak-
ing windmills FAR out on the high |
prairie, the battle is still going on.
Year by year theline of march goes
further ahead.
Year by year Pluck plants her en-
sign on "A ridge nearer the mountains.
Year by year the flowers bloom
where the bones Of failure beached
few short months before,
And this is the story of Kansas
such as il is worth-the history Of Ad
Astra per Aspera, and over every
school house Pluck, Pluck, Pluck.
Dewitt, la.
Pepsin Syrup Co.