The Columbus journal., 1910-01-12
BLUE GRAMS. -

BLUE /
Ono OF the most attractive essays tbst
John J. Ingalls, ever wrote was on "Blue
Grass" printed years ago in the old
Kansas Magazine. It has the distinctive
characteristic Of his STYLE In lighter vein.
The article follows: - 80
Attracted BY tho bland softnses OF "a
afternoon in my primeval winter in Kan.
sas. I rode southwark through the den
- forest that then covered the bluffs Of
tho north fork Of Wildcat. The ground
wss sodden with tho oose OF melted
snow. The dripping trees were % mo-
tionleos - granite. Tho last years
tenacious lingerers. loath to leave the
scene Of their brief bravery, adhered to
the gray boughs like fragile br0oze
There were no visible indications Of life,
but the broad, wintry lsndscspe was
flooded with that Undesirable splendor
that never We on sec or shore purple
and silken softnees that half yelled, half
disclosed, the alien horizon, the vast
CURVES Of the remote river, the transien,
architecture Of the clouds, and filed the
responsive soul With Q vague tumult OF
emotion. pensive and pathetic, In which
regret and hope oontebded for the mas.
tery. The dead and silent globe. with
oil it. hidden kingdoms, seemed swim
ming like . bubble, suspended in an
ethereal solution OF amethyst and silver,
compounded Of the exhsling whiteness Of
the snow, descending glory Of the sky.
A tropical atmosphere brooded upon IN
Arctic scene, creating the strange spec.
tsole of summer In winter, June 10 Jan.
uary, peculiar to Kansas, which unseen
cannot be imagined, but once; seem can
never be forgotten. A sudden .descen,
into the sheltered valley revealed an nm.
expected crescent in dszzling verdure,
entering like . meadow in early spring
unreal % IN incarnation, surprising %
the sea to the soldiers Of Xenophon -
they stood upon tho shore and shouted
"Thslatts" 1t wss blue grass, unknown
in Eden. the final triumph of Nature.
reserved to compensate her favorits or
spring in the new Paradise of. Ksnsas
for the loss Of the old upon the banks
Of the Tisris and Euphrstss.
Next in importance TO the divine pro
fusion OF water. light ind air, those
three great physical facts which render
existence possible. may be reckoned the
universal benefcence Of: grass. Exag.
Grated by tropical heats and vspors to
the gigantic cane coneested with its sac
chsrine secretion, or dwsrfed by polar
regions to the fibrous hair of Northsrn
solitudes, embracing between these ex-
tremes the maize with its resoiute PEN
mons, the rice plant Of Southern swamps
the wheat, rye, barley, oats and other
cereals, no less than the humber verdure
of hillside, pasture aud prairie in the
temperate zone, grass is the most widely
distributed of all vegetable beings, ana
is at once type Of our life and the en-
blem Of our mortality. Lying in the
sun-hine among the buttercups and
dandelious Of Nay, scarcely higher in in
telligence than the minute tenants Of
that mimic wilderness, our earliest re-
collections are Of grass; and when the
ftful fever is ended and the foolish wran-
gle Of the market and forum is closed,
grass heals over the scar which cur de-
cent into the bosom of the earth has
made and the carpet Of the infant BE-
comes the blanket of the dead.
Grass is the forgiveness Of Nature
her constant benediction. Fieldt
trampled With battle. saturated with
blood, torn with the rush of cannon,
grow green again with grass, and earn
age 10 forgotten. Streets abandoned BY
traffic become grass, grown like rur"l
lanes, and are oblitarsted. Forests de-
cay. harvests perish, flowers vanish, bu,
grass is immortal. Beleaguered by the
seven hosts of winter, it withdrsws into
tho impregnsble fortress Of it's subter-
ranesn vitality and emerges upon the
first solicitation Of spring Sown by the
winds. BY wandering birds, propagated
by the subtle horticulture of the elem
ents which are its ministers are servants.
it softens tho nude outline Of the world.
Ito tenacious 6bers hold the earth in its
place. and prevent Its soluble compon.
ents from washing into tho wasting sea
It invsdes the solitude Of deserts, climb
tho inaccessible slopes and forbiddinR
pinnsoles OF mountains, modIfes eli
mates and determines the history. char
scter and destiny Of nations Un"b-
structive and patient, it has immortal
vigor and aggression. Bsnished from
tho thoroughfsre and the dsld. it's time
to return. and when vigilance is relaxed,
or the dynssty has persisted, it slightly
resumes the throne from which it has
expelled, but which it never abdicates
It bears no blasonry Of bloom to charm
the senses With fragrance or splendor,
but it's homely hue is more enchanting
than tho lily or rose. 1t yields no fruit
in earth or air, and vet should its harvest