The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1908-09-02
freewdter is Host to
a Thousand Visitors

! munity can Crow In the course of
his remarks he said:
1.-The splendid exhibit of the special
product for which this portion of our
beautiful and fertile valley is renowned
is rightly a source OF profound pride
to you and provokes the geunine ad-
miration of all of us who have been
privileged to behold it; no less worthy
of admiration and applause is that
splendid public spirit which orig lated
an. cares forward from year to year
this day, known as Peach Day nf
all these things, those who have pre-
cesied me on this platform have spoken
more eloquently than it were possible
So me to speak.
Put there is another question which
hes very near to my own heart and
watch is ever Cf paramount impor-
tance, not only 10 you, as citizens of
this nc mean ity' hut to the STATE
of which you are a part and to Tie
na. ion Of whicn we are all so justly
i'rtud. However renowned you: city
may become as fruit-growing center
l wish to say, without fear of any ef-
fort al contradiction upon the part Of
any Intelligent man or woman, here or
else-w' ere. that there is another crop
for Which it is possible for it to be
COME infinitely more renowned INA III
which It is more deeply interested chan
"v' i Ii the raising If peaches and .tsa {
is the development of the highest types
of character in it's rising manhood and
wOmanhood.
b And it is right interesting 20 note
how close the analogy between cOndi-
tlons necessary to raising the best
quality of fruit is to that of raising the
trueSt type of character. For instance
1 note that one of the conditions to
securing the biggest and best crop of
peaches is that great care should be
taken and great caution exercised to
prevent the dissipation of energy at
tendant upon a too heavy crop of limbs
and leaves and also to stamp out the
disea Sc bearing, h-dealing para
sites which would burrow their way
into the trees and not only damage the
fruit but threaten the life of the tree
itself
And so it is in the development of
manhood; there are certain abnormal
tendencies upon the part of the young
which tend to take the splendid energy
with which a beneficent Father has
endowed them and dissipate them In
doing things which tend to their ulti-
mate undping: this tendency or these
tendencies crystalize into what we call
habit and it is a part of our duty as
parents, as teachers, as citizens, to see
that these abnormal formations are re-
moved by the process of painful prun-
ing While this discipline may seem
harsh to the recipient and even TO
some of the casual observers, remem-
bering that it is essential to the pres
ent and eternal welfare of our young
men and women, We should not hesi-
tate to do our duty. They cannot be-
come citizens whose lives will yield
harvest Of righteousness of which
community, state and nation will alike
be proud if this important work is
neglected.
Let us not therefore, be less dill
gent in doing all in our power to ad-
vance the temporal interests of our
beautiful valley and community; let
us continue to strive to produce the
most luscious strawberries and peach
es and thus make our land noted far
and wide for the high quality Of it's
fruit; but more important still, let us
determine to so utilize this vast treas
ure of wealth that bounteous nature is
pouring into our laps every year as
to convert it into that which will
stand the tests of time and endure the
ages of eterniey-character."
The days festivities will close this
evening with grand ball in Badgero's
hall