The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1907-03-31

It all to smash. There It Is as he
worked It out.
Years pass and an occasional Wis
It TO the county seat, the return OF
the brothers from the academy and
the stubborn resistance OF the sasa.
fras sprouts have inspired Lee Cruce.
the stripping with a desire for Lt ol
beyond the limits OF the county dis.
trlct. So one year is spent 1T Van.
derbilt University. one years is all
because the older boys have gone
and the responsibility they have
sustained in caring for a widowed
mother and the farm interests fall
now upon his shoulders.
There is nothing exotic about the
life Of this man. Born in the coun.
try. schOolod in the country district,
Injured to farm toll. returning from
college. his dreams and hopes are
bounded and modified thereafter for
eight or ten years by duties at the
farm home. truly II God made the
country and man made the town,
Lee Crucc has been placed in touch
with divine energy
Playing for effects would be more
than distastoful to this simplest and
frankest man ] ever knew. But with
the fear OF being misunderstood. /
stop to pay tribute to the source Of
his power. country life and training
How eloquent are natures periods OF
quiotude. David, the shepherd boy,
hidden among the Judoan hills. pip.
ing his simple lays and gathering in
the compass OF his eye the purple
of the hills from whence cometh
his help" Cincinnatus wrenchej
from the ploy to lead q nations
hop. rushing back TO that instru.
mont of joyful peace when he had
led Rome 20 its needed triumph. That
other Cincinnatus of the West, Wash
,ington coming lessons OF wood
craft. economy and mental equipoiso
which only broad forests, TILED earth
and growing things can teach; until
his greatness unfoldcd so calmly, SO
evenly that you explain It by saying
FIRST the blade. then the ear and af
ter that the full corn in the ear
History never tires Of claiminl
much for the simple life. From Ab
raham In a tent amid Assyrian skies
to a Christ lost for fifteen years II
carpenter shop, from the ship-car
ponter, Peter the Great, to the rail
splitter, Abraham Lincoln. it is a sto
ry which awafons the sympathy anC
the faith OF men. With all humility
as friend speaking Of this unpre
tentious neighbor who asks the suf
frage of Oklahomans. say boldl!
that these same forces have don,
much for him.
/ have passed by the plain home o
his early years and have read there
In answer To the question, VIII!
here in Ardmore, after fortune hat
blessed him did he still retain tn,
simple cottage and frugal style o
living. ! have sat in the little churcl
which shaped his earliest fate an,
as I have noted the pure prayer an,
guill,ss faith If this country people
/ found ready answer to the question
why as a Christian so Jealous an,
in word and deed is Lee Cruc'
thought to be and known to be by al
who meet him as clean as a woman
u have met and known the industry
the perseverance and code of ; 10
which obtained among those -....
ers where he spent twenty eigh
years of his life. Industry, whicl
wrings from a thin soil a good hom
and a modest bank account. Tha
same industry has made Lee Cruce'
System Of work and banking uniqu
for rapid growth and clean method
in the southwest. The perseverance
that made this community VII iie
sale example Of the truth that A!
things come TO those who wait" ha
saturated him so that II there be an
movement religious, educational o
political calling for bulldog grit Il
Arlmorc hc must lead it, Homo
with that simple, country people
knew TO De as clear cut as the kngh
.ly faith of old. "To live pure, spea
truth right wrong" Tell anyon
who knows him, Leo Cruce said
thing and truth sets its seal upon i
at once Aud in righting wrong hi
unbiased mind uses court for sci
tling scores of disputes yearly. hi