The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-01-05
IRE HISTORY aF.@sEbHsaS
I the BOOK By NOBLEF IcPREHIIS
+ rot HAS BEzsS REVIsED.. s--sIs


The s'Histerie1 Swimming FFeats by
l-5E GeneEaI- Funston HayenBeea ~
Modified. sT1 g z--E
-sls E5--z 5--- z7d1 -5-
Topeka, Jan The revised edi+
I ton Or the Hisfory OF kansas BIZ
Noble l., Prentis.- The adopted text in
! the schools OF the state. IS now ready
I Tor Distribution = The schools OF KAN
sas are Indebted to Mrs. w A. Nc
/ Carter for the splendid revision OF
/ this excellent book Mrs McCartef
+ spent months in revising and bringt
] ing up-to-date the history Of the state
and its marvellous growth Her work
embraced every phase OF historical
I interest, much Of which was gathered
ano elected by Mrs Prentis from the
/ files Of the State Historical society
and other sources. The revised his
! tory is book which should be used
in every school Of Kansas 1t would
I be a valuable addition TO any library.
Preceding the Introduction, Cover
nor HIGH has written this tribute to
the author Of the Kansas history
History is a revelation, not a re-
Cital- II is more than a random rec
/ ord Of facts, for facts are not dereIicts
floating around -hither and thither on
an unknown sea They are light
! houses for the enlightment and guild
ance OF intelligent vOyagers- And he
who throws facts together as one
! throws dice. is not a histOrian-he is
a juggler in events, for so great an
authority as Macaulay has said that
the facts are the mere droSs Of his
tory History is a divine poem said
President Garfield, in which every
nation is a cantO and every man a
word Only those, therefore, who re-
gard facts as milestones on the road
Of progress are capable OF writing
history. The historian said Schlegel,
is a prophet looking backwards
Noble L Prsntis was such a seer.
He gathered facts, not as a child
gathers trinkets, but as a scientist
purpose, design, in events. He was
an interpreter as well as a collatOr
OF acts and this work which bears his
name soul in il as well as facts in it
without which an alleged history is
not worth the reading
Il knew this divineIy gifted man
intimately. A great soul was his. He
was, perhaps, the most popular and
prolific writer who ever touched pen
to paper in this state. No subject
was commonplace under the magic Of
his facile and versatile pen. His pro-
digiOus memory was a stOrehouse Of
history and his analytical mind and
great soul enabled him to place prop
er value upon occurrences, and to
preserve in this concrete form the
salient and essential facts in the evO-
luton OF the state. Into this garner
great and good man has put the
ripened harvest Of life rich in expert
ence, in knowledge and in wisdom,
and left it as a dover Of wealth to
the schools Of Kansas
"E. ". HoCH
Executive once, May 1, 1905"
The Kansas school history is an en-
trancing story Of the states wonder
full development from desert to gar
den No man knew this story better
than did Noble L Prentis- It's recital
is as interesting as il is charming.
The chapter on the war in the Phil
ippines is entirely changed and great
" shortened. Credit is given to the
soldiers Of the Twentieth Kansas who
performed deeds Of herOism- When
the Prentis history was written about
all the information the author had Of
the campaign Of the fighting Twen-
tieth Kansas was through newspaper
| accounts from Manila. The majority
Of these reports were special dis
patches based upon unverified rumOrs-
Naturally, the history contained sew
erai matters which required revision
and correction
A year ago last May the school text
book commission met and a commit
tee Of three was appointed to assist in
the revision Of the history. d. O. Nc
Cray was a member Of that committee
He stirred up a lot Of trouble when he
announced that the Kansas history
Il credited General Funston with several
swimming feats which he did not per-
form, and that he proposed to find out
the truth to the end that the school
children Of Kansas should not be
taught a lie The result was that Nc
| Cray received letters from many of
the members Of the Twentieth Kan
sas. each reciting the acts Of herOism
Of Funston, Trembly, White and 9TH
ers. In speaking Of the matter yes
| terday Mr.. McCray said:
Il am very proud OF the new Kan
sas history 1t Is a credit to the state
and its schools Yes, I came near be-
ing mObbed by few Of General Fun
stOn's hero wOrshippers, for daring to
question the statements OF the gen
erals busy press agent Investigation
revealed the fact that Funston didn't
do so much swimming in the Philip
pines as the press agent would have
US believe The result is that the new
history tells the truth about this mat
ter II gives General Funston fult
credit for his splendid courage AM
valor. as 1t should b1t 1t tells the