The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-21

bug. 1 have listened to the weird
chant of a thousand Kaffirs on the
southeast coast of Africa, and to the
nasal songs OF the Zulus. o, I can't
tell the rest 1 have Travelled $4,000
miles by sea, have seen the seals, the
man eaters, whales, icebergs, sunken
wrecks, and felt the vessels keel strike
and rake some hidden danger. I have
spent four delightful days in old Eng
land, visiting points and scenes of
great historic interest. I have studied
the coat and coast cities of Ould
Ireland, and gazed with rapture upon
the beauties Of the Azores, the grand
and beautiful scenery of Madeira, Cape
Town, Mossel, Port Elizabeth, Durham,
and Lorenzo Marque.
America Beats Them All.
But oh. my comrade brother, go
where I have gone, see what 1 have
seen, learn, endure, enjoy what have
and then, after an absence OF two
years, approach the shores of Gods
country once more, and feel what l
felt, as far off in the distance the
glass brought to view the low-lying
coast of Blessed America! Weep, cry,
laugh Historically, shout, sing, dance
Then go below all tired out and
stretching out on your berth, sleep and
dream of loving friends and the heart
to heart greetings that are soon to be
yours. Then waken and go on deck
again, and get nearer view of the
ing experience of an hour before until
the captain shall come along and tell
you, No, that is not Sandy Hook;
that's the eastern end of Long Island.
Well not see the hook until a. m,
and will reach our slip at ew York
at 10 a. m. tomorrow Now swear, or
exclaim, oh, shucks," and go inside
and play bridge and forget your dis
appointment.
fBut what L wished to say was sim
r1x ho first eli Of of NV
land and the emotions it stirred were
worth every other and all other ex-
periences of my journey abroad in for
eign lands. When 1 got on earth again
at New York, I felt I owned it all. 1t
was my country; the land that my great
grandfather, Charles Botkin, and his
brother George, fought for in the army
under Washington, and in Mad An
thony Wayne's brigade; the land that
their sons fought for in 1812-15; and
the land that I had some humble part
in keeping whole and free in the sixties!
No multi-millionaire in Gothem was
half SO rich as I on that May day,
1907 for woned the earth. 1 went to
the nearest ferry station, telegraphed
family and friends about my arrival,
took a look at a nearby calendar and
then sat down to think. 1t was May
%, the forty-fifth anniversary Of the
battle of Lewisburg, when dear Cap
tain John c. Langston was wounded in
the mad rush for the enemy's battery,
and I thought of him and Lave Cross
and Merryf1eld Vicory and John G.
Rapp and a lot Of others in Kansas
who were, that day, for the first time,
baptised in fire.
Thinks Republicans in Danger.
81 am a constant reader of the Con-
gressional Record, and am deeply in
terested in what our fellows are doing
to be saved. They are whipping the
Democrats into a fighting unit and are
harmonizing all its factions and solidi-
flying it's aggressive strength. Well,
what then, or as some buffer about
Copeland county will say, What of it,
"Only this; having solidified the
Democrats, our leaders have not yet any
defensive work to protect the party In
the season of battle. Make no mistake.
That speech of BryanS at Washington
is a vote getter, and a vote maker for
his party. The man or men who try
to pooh-pooh it are wasting time. It
is a vote getter, a vote maker, and the
Republicans have never faced a more
dangerous crisis than the one now i'm
pending Will our leaders get togeth-
er? There is no evidence of their in
tention or ability to do so. But here
I am talking politics. Why do forget
my resolution not to say a word until
| the campaign opens?
but I would like to inquire. What
| is the assumed Republican majority or
Kansas next November to be? Have
any of the state politicians had their
| ears down to the grass roots lately?
| What did they hear? Nothing? 1 have
one esteemed Kansas correspondent
who saws of them, The darned fools
seems to be rocking the boat!