The Oskaloosa herald., 1907-08-01
Random Thoughts
of a
Busy Outsider

t.
have increased that average, ten
years is still enough to count largely
In human calculations That much
of the Outsiders life has been spent
in pleasant, beautiful Oskaloosa.
Every year the careful merchant
invoices the goods ON his shelves,
takes account Of stock and fixtures,"
and declares to himself at least the
standing of his business. 1t would
seem reasonable that in the great bus
mess of ordering ones life there are
times when one should initiate the
business man, stop and take stock.
Such period is this, in the pause be-
fore the shifting of life's scene What
have these ten years brought? What
have they meant?
The decade has brought to the Out
slider the same gifts which it has laid
at the door of each human being,
mingled joy and sorrows. smiles and
tears. The dear boys have grown to
manhood, and gone out into the world
of individual activity. The little chill
dren are big children now, and they
too are looking with eager eyes into
that ever nearing personal future.
and so grapple with the problem of
life.
These years have brought, let us
hope, fairer conception of the val
ue of life and it's pursuits. 1t has GER
tainly brought to the Outsider person
ally a firmer belief in the gradual up
ward tendency of humanity, in the
onward sweep of the centuries" as
a great writer has put it. There have
been times when the contact with sell.
fishness, greed and ingratitude have
seemed likely to shake the natural
tendency to cheerful optimism, but
the lesson taught by those periods Of
storm and stress has been after all
salutary and cheerful and we still
quote the old lines of Bishop Pichler:
God wishes all to be happy.
Virtue is the condition of true happi-
ness,
Be always cheerful, your end is joy
Oskaloosa has grown much in these
ten years. The August morning that
brought us here carried us into town
on the old horse cars, and the natives
craned their necks to see who was rid
ing after the gray mules. 1t proved
that we were tenderfeet, so they said
and then told us funny tales of how
the only regular passengers were two
ladies whom the cars waited for while
they dressed for dinner.
A number of people were flashing
round town on bicycle in those days,
there were a few smart rigs in evil
dence, but the day of the all-pervading
automobile had not arrived.
They were paving then, out on.
North Market, If we mistake not, and
a rough, unkempt looking street ii
was. AS we drove down South d, we
found another abode of uncut weeds
and rank grass. Oskaloosa is bet
ter kept town than 1t was ten years
ago.
The county Jail has gone up in the
last ten years. So has that fine
building, the federal postoffiee. Well.
do we remember the old rickety build
ing which stood on that site. and in
many long hour did we find occupa-
ton there.
The Y. NJ. c. A. is an improvement
of the last decade, and many young
and mental and moral uplifting. What
struggle it was to raise that $780,
900. The Outsider smiles to remem-
Der 1t.
The beautiful public library has
been built in the last ten years. That
is another product of determined eff
fort on the part Of those who live
in their home town.
The Rest Room was inaugurated in
the last half of the decade-no, that
is a mistake--it has been running a
little longer. While not pretentious
institution. it has given Oskaloosa
much desirable notoriety, and better
than that, it has given comfort and
pleasure to many a weary wayfarer.
The dream of the new hospital orr
ginated in the last ten years, and that
dream has been reused to reality by a
long series of rummage sales. horse
shows, ball games and what not.
The Oskaloosa Chautauqua has been
a development of the last half OF the
decade, and If the talent employed is
not quite equal to the intellectual de-
mand, at least the institution is on a
sound financial basis, and with that
uGItSSdly lOuludlltll, JIt
may become educational in true
sense, in time.
Then there is the revival of the To-
wa Christian College, the foundation
of the Holiness University, and the inn
proyement of Penn College. Yes, and
ten years ago the High school was
built.
One thing more is the great growth
of the Farmers Institute. That is one
of Oskaloosa's greatest institutions of
growth. The Outsider will always re-
member with joy, the hours of pleas
ure and Improvement spent at those
midwinter meetings. They have
taught the townspeople respect for
the abilities of the farmer community
They have taught the farmers to trust
in the friendship OF the townspeople,
and in the efficacy of their own en-.
deavors.
Beware of parting. From the care
less goodbye TO the chance acquaint-
-