Connecticut western news., 1909-02-18
CANAAN BUSINESS NEWS BANQUET
[Continued from page II

Then came the furnaces to which ore was drawn by teams from Salisbury until the railroad was built.
 No one knows who the pioneer line burner in Canaan was but MT. Hinman and myself built the first draw lime kiln in the town or in the state and the industry has grown until it has become a great benefit to the town.
 MT. Peirce related a number of humorous anecdotes relative to early residents of the town. Among them was the story of Benjamin Rockwell, who was engaged to be married. He forgot the date on which the ceremony was to occur, the folks congregated but he did not appear. The boy who was sent to find him, discovered him shing- barn, utterly obllvious of the fact that it was his wedding day. He hustled down and the ceremony was performed although not on schedule time. He also told of Wheeler Green who went up on hill to take an observation and see if he could bring water to his house through "comstock" so the women folks would not have to "pulverize" through the mud any longer to get water.
 Proceeding to the serious portion of his talk, MT. Peirce said: II have noticed that your business men of this village become so absorbed in your business that you do not look at some other things exactly as you ought to. have travelled considerably and have noticed places where things are different from what they are here. In every place where the business men do not set the pace by looking thoroughly after the ed ucational, moral and religious interests of the community, there are not as many permanent improvements as ill the towns where they do it. The latter towns are growing ln healthy way.
 notice you are busy men. You get so tired through the week that you can not spend an hour in church on Sunday. l UO11CNO 1k WOu1O DO DCLbOA AOL FOh cAhNA better for the young folks who are look ing to you to set an example for them if you would identify yourselves with some church.
 Now perhaps you think the ministers put me up to say this but they didn't. Oaughter.)
 ask you if you will not take this matter into serious consideration. Some of you may say you do not believe ill religion but I notice that when you lose a friend you want Christian funeral which shows that you do believe in religion"
 State Auditor Edward S. Roberts of East Canaan was the next speaker. and his remarks were listened to with avid ity. MT. Roberts was a soldier ill the Civil War, and his words constituted a page-yes, several pages-from his expe- riences.
 He said he seconded MT. Peirce's sug- gestion relative to business men taking more interest in educational, moral and religious affairs.
 II go back to- day to the time when our villages were all in furore. A call for help had been sent out by our la mepted President, and drilling was go- ing on in every town; preparations were being made to go forward to defend the old flag that had been trailed in the dust. It was surprising how many said: I have no boys to go.' I remember the advantages that were taken of the frail- camp selling steel-line vests, which he said were bullet-proof. He sold at least 500, but the boys all threw them away before the first battle.'
 MT. Roberts then graphically described the journey of the soldiers to Alexan- dria, their experiences while following the Army of tho Potomac, of being 12 days under fire, of various battles, and finally of going into the last winter quarters.
 "Well I remember the last time we saw Lincoln. We had started at a. m to break the lines at Petersburg. We went over the parapets. broke the rebel lines. and they scattered to the right and left. We drove them out of their forts, and while we were doing this, another force in our rear came up and left us where we could see every ma neuver.
 "From here we went to Fort Hell. We went over the rebel parapets and lay in the ditch all night. Toward morning came the report that the army had start ed. Our regiment was one of the first to enter Petersburg. We were sent back to camp to get our knapsacks, and on our return to Petersburg we met a caval- cade of horsemen. The leader was Abra- ham Lincoln. That was the last time we saw him. AS he passed he doffed his hat, and every soldiers cap was doffed to this great man.
 "It was the greatest day in my life sor