The Oskaloosa herald., 1901-06-27


cultural wealth.
Here and there on our prairies we
may see the great boulders carried by
the ice from the shores of Hudson's
bay to the banks of the Iowa, the
Cedar and the Des Moines. When /
see one of these gigantic monuments
of dim and remote antiquity, feel
like taking off my hat in reverential
respect to its age and to the mighty
forces which carried it upon so long
journey.
Out on the banks of Newfoundland
God has created vast and beautiful
prairie. 1t is now a sea bottom. Year
by year the icebergs sail overit drop
ping here and there great boulder
or collection of smaller stones, and
when that land is elevated the 900 to
1900 feet necessary to place it above
the oceans waves, the dweller on the
earth will see here and there the same
condition that we now see upon the
prairies of Iowa.
And the geologist of that day in the
far distant future will find long lines
of cinders and ashes and fragments
OF all kinds, marking the routes of
travel of the present great lines of
steamers that now pass over these
submerged fields.
Our state slopes gently from an
elevation of 1900 feet above the sea at
Spirit Lake down to 900 feet at Keo-
kuk. All the streams run in the d.
rection of this slope and the north
west winds of winter slide down the
same toboggan.
And what a wonderful land it was
that rose from those ancient seas.
Macauley says, "Better an acre in
Middlesex than a principally in
Utopia"
Better farm in Iowa than prin.
cipality in other lands.
A year or two ago was riding down
the beautiful Shenandoah Valley ,oDe
of the most fertile in the world. My
companions pointed out it's beauty
and fertility and assured me that it
was from two to fifteen miles wide.
And beautiful it looked framed in its
border of blue mountains.
Said L, imagine this lovely valley
spread out three hundred miles wide
and instead of being bounded by
mountains, the picture should be
framed by two mighty rivers. They
said, THAT would indeed be splen-
did" / said, "that would be Iowa"
Ours is the newest race on the
earth. Ours is the most perfectly
virgin soil of the world.
We cannot unravel the history of
the Aryan race, but the amalgama-
ton of people whose mingled blood
creates the people of Iowa is easily
traced for we have cloud of wit
nessess who have seen the phenom-
enon from the beginning.
A young child just from the hand
of God is a wonder and a delight. A
race just formed by the combination
of multitude of European stocks is
even more wonderful. Celt, Teuton,
Greek and Latin but mainly consist
ing of the vigorous stocks of Northern
Europe have combined to form new
race of men and women.
An old settlers meeting is a cele-
bration of the birth of a new people
of new race of a new civilization.
Bringing with them the tradition Of
the past, these old settlers endeavor-
ed to hold fast to that which was
good, and at the same time were
ready to essay the solution of new
problems which their new situation
solved.
In 1874 Lyen, the great geologist,
visited America and reported that the
American people were marching to
the west at the rate of seventeen
miles a year, and that the tide had
crossed the Mississippi.
The railway has changed all this,
and the settlements have swept in a
few years to the Pacific coast. At
the rate of our progress in 1874, the
frontier would now have been re-
moved west to a point a hundred
miles east of Denver. But now the
frontier is at Manila and Cape Nome.
The pioneers were selected body
of men and women. There were labors
and dangers ahead. There was a
great future but it must be sought
through labor and through hardship.
The enterprising young men and
women of each family took their
chances in the west, and thus by a
principle of natural selection, the
early settlers were the pick of the
flock.
At railway employers religious
meeting a Jews years ago, AN engineer
was called upon to pray.
Said he "Oh Lord we have q good
track, good engine, a good train,
what we need is sandI Oh Lord give
us sand!"
No such prayer was needed for the
old settlers. They had sand. Sand
was about all they had, and soon the
track, the train and the engine were
added unto them.
Let us localize alittle. There were