Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1902-07-04


Marrock, who was chief orator Of the
day, girded up his loins and strove
nightly, being determined to shake
down the stars.
The elders of Smith county celebrat-
ed the Fourth of July in the old-fash'
toned way. Patriotism was as ram
pant out there as it had been In the
older sections Of the country hfty
years before. They had no use for
new-fangled methods of rejoicing.
What their fathers had believed was
good enough for them. They appoint.
ed a regular committee to see that the
thing was properly done.
Thus 1t happened that in Jackson's
grove large lumber sand was erect
ed on which the elders might sit, the
county trustees, the village trustees,
the school trustees, the county judge,
the clerk of the court, the schoolmas-
ter and so forth. Item-there was
smaller stand for the Smithville band,
which was strong and earnest, though
a little crude. Item-an open space In
the front of the big stand reserved 1or
the readers and speakers. ltem-a
larger stand to the right, reserved for
the young ladies who should imper-
senate the States. Item@a large space
on the ground to one side reserved for
the fire-crackers, catharine wheels and
what not. Long rough boards laid on
20 for the dim
ers. There was any quantity OF spring
water, ginger pop and coffee as pot
ables, but no whisky nor beer. Smith
vile was a moral community.
1t was cloudless day. A thousand
people were in the grove. From far
down the dirt road came the oom-
pah, oom-pah of the laboring band.
AS it grew nearer an occasional bar
of "The Star-Spangled Banner" be-
came audible. Behind 1t rode the dig
nitaries in open carriages, most of
them with grizzled whiskers, showing
the yellowish stains of tobacco-juice.
Back of them came the principal fea'
ture of the procession, three farm
wagons metamorphosed into triumph.
al chariots by the aid of red, white and
blue calico and flowers and filed with
forty-four gaily dressed young women
impersonating the commonwealth OF
this glorious Union. They were flushed
with the ride and in more than one
instance their diadems mad been Jared
crooked, but were happy and proud.
In their front was Claudia in a gown
cut la Greek, holding a sceptre and
wearing a pasteboard crown golden
gilt and bearing papier-mache
shield. She was Columbia" Behind
the wagons at a slow pace came the
faithful James in his buggy.
The grove reached, the band
climbed to it's stand. the dignitaries to
the center platform, the girls to their
platform. The bands leader pulled
out his chest, faced the gaping crowd,
swung his baton and the instruments
crashed into my Country, IT'S of
Thee" half a tone fiat. The people
plunged into the tune haf tone
sharp. Inc trees trembled, but did not
fall. The folks liked their singing so
much that they encored the band and
sang the last verse over again.
Alcibiades Curtius Dickson, county
clerk, lantern-jawed man with
voice like foghorn, read the Declare
ton of Independence through to the
bitter end, rolling out the sonorous
syllables and pausing soulfully at the
end of each sentence. Eliphalet Abso-
lom Rawlins, county Judge, rose to
introduce the orator of the day, and
spoke for three-quarters Of an hour,
touching upon Bunker Hill and the
state of the crops, tossing handful
of bouquets to George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson, devoting five
minutes of thunderous denunciation
to Benedict Arnold and winding up
with a glorious burst over the result
of the Spanish war. Marrok ran his
fingers through his hair and glared at
him. Finally he got his chance.
Now this young man In the seclu-
sion of his law office had been reading
a lot of cheap literature and worrying
himself by thinking that he was think
ing. The result was that his skull had
become filled with lot of
things that he thought were
ideas and he felt called upon to
express them. Once started he did
not reck Of unpopularity and forgot
all about the girl. His talk was fiery,
fluent, occasionally eloquent. When he
got out of breath he ran his hand
through his hair and took drink of
water from a small white pitcher that
stood near.
He said that they had sold their
birthright for a mess of pottage; that
the Money Devil had them by the
throats; that the rich were getting
richer and the poor poorer;
that their legislators were
bought; that discomfort gnawed
at the vitals Of the land; that a con-
scienceless aristocracy of wealth had
grown up; that republican simplicity
was at discount; whittier were they
drifting? They were drifting to revo.
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