The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-14
JOE WAT ERS ON COBURN
An Eloquent Tribute to Kansas Press
a- Agent

One of the features of the recent meet
ing of the Kansas State Board of Agri-
secretary of the board, BY Captain ]. G. &.
Waters. 3Ff = :
Your distinguished servant, Mr. Cobnrn,
in his picturesque literature has shown
the world the riches sof kansas; he has
lows 4ha aittA aq Iar Ps-
mance; he has ffidde1ii creation over our
loo at the po al pgr Ps bpens Ted taa
seized the, shepherds crook and taken
f fnfd w fEt on Journey to all the sheep
years ago; he has examined the steer and
Photographed his sister, alfalfa's apostle;
COWS cavalier; wheat's warrior; Homer
Of the Helpful Hen and par excellence.
an orchardist well; he knows the pre-
else, psychological moment when not to
set his basket under the apple tree He
has higher mission than listening SEN
ates to command. He has given dignity
TO and advanced the honor and pride of
the chief and eldest occupation of all the
sons Of men; he has the wisdom to know
that the touch of unsoclSed feet upon the
earth gives manhood its greatest strength
and the soul its unconquerabIe faith The
scent of the soil in the nostrils sweetens
as we smell. The wide horizon, hued by
the cloud, frfnged by the rain and draped
by the rainbow; the stately seasons that
roses, that fall the fruits, that rhine the
trees; the fountain that. trickIes down the
messy lodges and hides its laughter under
into the cleaning sunshine, babblings over
its pebbly shadows, then fastening to the
inviting and free, swelling it's flood and
sweeping downward to the waiting and
ctkam ile t sea; the , swarded hills eouched
charged with an eternal vigil of peace;
the orchards that tune their crimson
along the slopes the cattle brfsket deep
in the meadows, the high sailing hawk,
the drone of bees; the mosaic fields, the
winding
set groves, the stream skirting wood; the
huge stacks that measure abundance to
the eye, the great barns, the school house
that. crowns the crest .ofS ithes hill: the
coming of dawn out of its caverns where
thyst; the nights brew Of nectar, up
TUNED Int the ,1 moF Ft, Tatehiag the
pouring the sunshine into the valleys;
the panorama of sunset beauty; the twi-
shadows forsalxing their zcoverts; the
whip poor-will,s nocturn to !, the deepening
of reposeful night and then the rest of
peaceful beds, all through the. silent
around the North Star, as, He swings the
belted Saturn and fades Jupiter, as He
flushes Mars and crescents the moon. The
dogs may bay, the chanticleer may cali
its answer far away but Slumber is on
the the household, deep -, serene ne and sweet
the scented furrow and the aromatic
field; and these are the great and, varied
man. The city is a robber;e its sky
scrapers are modern Babels, and it's life,
unreal, canny and artificial. menacing
government with It's extreme want and
idle luxury that have no patriotism, and
sapping the vigor of manhood with its
lure of vicious pleasure.
Every endeavor of your secretary has
been to get us back to earth; to mingle
blessings upon the primal curse that in
the sweat of his face should man eat
bread. This. was the riddle of the. Al
mighty to veil the weightiest and sweetest
gift to man behind the flmy gauze of
anathema.
Mr. Coburn and his fellow workers and
those who take uo the work when they