Okolona messenger., 1904-06-15

!
oASo tinues. And these
ties often are Of such nature as to in
spirs the wanderer to return to the
haunts be knew In earlier life with q
glad heart which banishes all the sor-
rows and softens all the woes of Il
long life well spent.
Thirty years ago the writer, with
bride at his side, located in the little
town Of Howard, Kansas, cast his lot
with the "squatters" there assembled
for the purpose Of Transforming that
portion Of the American desert into
fields of golden grain and flower gar
dens dotted with happy homes.
Those were days calculated to
create lasting impressions on the
young mind. The country was a vast
sea of untouched prairie. The people
who had fiocked there from all sec
tions of the nation we're of modest or
no means ct all, save their willing
hands and their brave hearts. But
they we're determined, aggressive and
happy They had assembled to build,
to carve out and improve homes for
themselves and for their children who
we're yet unborn. When it would
rain they would stand with uncovered
heads to enjoy it's refreshing grandeur;
when it ceased raining and sunshine
came, they basked in it's invigorating
rays and enjoyed them. They we're
hardy, determined, content.
To the writer and his young wife
came the greatest blessings God sends
on earth-children, and some of these
precious gifts we're called across the
dark river early. The little mounds
which mark their resting place are In
one little enclosure encircled by the
stone wall surrounding the Howard
cemetery. Though the struggle for
the living has led our steps far away,
and the cares of life multiply from
year to year, when the day comes that
the survivors of the sleeping friends
Of the quiet city assemble to strew the
flowers upon the mounds there ever
kept green and fragrant, the heart
strings draw and direct the footsteps
to that one hallowed spot.
On the 3Oth of May this inspiration
was again resistless, and we found
ourself, accompanied by wife and two
younger children, at Howard, to par
ticipate in that beautiful ceremony 80
sublimely cherised by all the people OF
that community. Though an absence
of five years, and many gray hairs had
been added, the greetings OF those
cherished friends Of youth, those
kindly people who can never be for
gotten, so genuine, so unrestrsined
and untarnished, were of such charac-
ter as to bind Us more closely, more
nearly to those known in the days
when a new section was being opened,
a new civilization being born upon the
prairie OF Kansas.
And what 3 type of civilization we
found there. Two thirds Of the peO-
pie there to be met have been born
there within the fieeting thirty years.
And listen: It is a typical civilization,
such as might be the hope Of every
true American, who would see this
nation endure, this Republic develop
q civilization the world must honor
and respect. There Is not . negro nor
mixed blood residing within the
limits Of the county. Imagine your
self in a community with two thousT
and people assembled on gala day
strewing flowers, with flags flying and
music and glad tidings everywhere.
and every one of the two thousand
happy, contented residents pure white
American born men and women.
That Is what we found at Howard,
Kansas, on the SOth OF May, 1904.
Proud indeed we may feel that at
some remote date of the development
Of that section, we were a modest
participant in the affairs surrounding
ua. Long live Howard, its people and
its type.