The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-02-26
LIST OF REAL PROpERTYID. A. R. PRIZE ESSAY
It Is Won BY Miss Leila Hermann of
the Eighth Grade.
Subject, my Hero of the Revolu-
tionary Period"

From Mondays Daily.
For the purpose of fostering spirit
of patriotism the Anthony Wayne
chapter of the d. A. r. of this city
offered to the history class of the eighth
grade a prize for the best patriotic es-
say. The teacher, Miss Comstock, Sc
lected as subject, "My Hero of the Revo-
lutionary Period"
The judges chosen to award the prize
were Mrs. Halves, Miss Fullerton and
Mr. Fletcher. Since all the essays show
ed careful thought and clear statement
they found it difficult to decide among
them. First rank was given to the essay
on Robert Morris" by Leila Hermann,
second rank to the essay on Nathan
Hale" by Philip Ray; third rank to the
essay on Washington" by Walter Keep
pen. All the papers gave evidence not
only of an appreciation of the characters
described, but also of an understanding
of the period to which they belong. The
boys and girls are to be congratulated
upon their work.
The prize selected was large flag
which was presented to the eighth grade
by Miss Pitcher Friday afternoon.
The essay written by Miss Hermann
is as follows:
Robert Morris was born at Lanca-
shire, England, and at the age of thirteen
he came with his father to America.
During the revolutionary war he was
a delegate of the Continental Congress
and served on the committee of ways
and means.
''The cause of this war was that the
colonists were very dissatisfied with the
way that they were treated. The tax
alton imposed by England became so
burdensome that they could bear it no
longer. The British looked at this coun-
try as though it were a money making
place, and taxed the people when they
were not represented in Parliament.
''The colonists then rose in rebellion
and declared themselves free and indie
pendent.
England sent an army and navy over
here to force them into submission.
''Washington's army was composed of
farmers most of whom were unframed
in military discipline. Many of these
men enlisted for one year. The whole
army was in a terrible condition. They
were barefooted, half starved, they were
not provided with proper clothing, they
had no money, many of their wives and
children were home crying for bread and
these poor men had no money to send to
them. They did not have shelter and at
night they would have to build fires out
of doors to keep warm. They received
no pay, although they had salary
promised them; but congress could not
give it TO them as she had no way of
getting money. She could issue paper
bills but the soldiers were not satisfied
with that. They knew it was of little
more value than piece of paper of the
same size, since congress had no gold
nor silver back of it.
oo,l,+.o,, IS tho
in the winter of l776. Furthermore, the
term of enlistment would soon expire
and the soldiers under these conditions
would 90 home if some relief were not
afforded. If this were to happen the
army would be practically broken up and
the result would be that the colonists
would have to 60 back under the con-
troll of England.
Washington, being vary anxious,
wrote to his friend Robert Morris and
asked him for some money to help out
his army.
"After reading the letter and finding
what a terrible condition Washington's
army was in, and having the cause of his
country deep at heart Robert Morris lost
no time in planning to secure the neces-
sary means. He could hardly sleep that
night, got up raised the people from
their beds and told them what deplor-
able condition the army was in and told
them what it meant if they did not receive
aid soon. He told them what a fearful
thing it would be if they should lose
the war now that they had signed the
Declaration of Independence.
"He worked in this manner day and
night, hardly took time to eat, and in a
few months he had gathered a large sum
of money and got everything to running
smoothly
'He not only solicited from others
but put his own enormous wealth at the
disposal of his country, having pledged
his personal account at one time to the
amount of over one million, four hundred
thousand dollars.
II care not how great general Wash
ington was. I care not how great
statesman jefferson was. I care not
how expert Jaul Jones was in handling
the navy. care not how many midnight
rides Paul Revere would have made. Had
not Robert Morris secured the neces-
sary funds to carry on the war, the en-,