Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-06-14
IOwA'S SEVENTY FOURTH.
1Apk1ey World /

TIE sevenry-fourth anniversary Of the
birth OF Iowa, first as a territory in
1888. and eight years later. in 1876,
elevated to statehood. There have been
seventyfour years of progress.
In the three score and fourteen years
Iowa has grown from q wild prairie &c
one of the greatest of the forty eight
commemorative that sc TO make up
Uncle Sans great domain. She broke
off from Wisconsin territory and in due
course of time laid aside the swaddlfing
clothes and appeared in full dress-and
she has been on parade ever since. 1t
WAS because OF the natural wealth that
the great strides were made. and yet
the pioneer must not De overlooked; the
men and women VINO came to the woods
and prairies when not even church
steeple pointed neavenWard. and all
that there was, was hope and the in
spiration that came from strong hearts.
There were neither lumber nor flour
mills: from the interior men went away
to the river one hundred miles distant
to market load of wheat that had a
market value of from 80 TO so cents a
hushel; the log house. however. was
soon displaced; the first railroad
crossed the state along in the SOS. The
pioneer had not even the faintest
glimpse then of the Iowa OF today, with
two and a quarter millions Of people,
well fed. clothed. schooled and housed,
the peer or any on the face OF the
earth, rich in possession Of everything
that goes to make wealth. comfortable
because OF being in possession Of that
which purchases comfort.
But Iowa was no, left to her own
resources: no. had she been it would
be but little different from what it was
when the Indian was in possession of
the hills, rivers and plains that stretch
out between the two greatest rivers on
the western continent The foreign
err played a tremendous part in Iowa's
development; the German, the Irish
man, the Swede, the Danes and Nor
wegians; men and women who had
faith in God and a purpose in life, and
in whose hearts the desire was strong
to be something more than d subject
of one king or another: these are the
boys working in common with the
down-east Yankee who left the green
clad hills for the level plains, TO get a
better foothold. The wealth of Iowa
was unthought of then: it was the
same as is the undiscovered gold mug
get that lies hidden beneath the earth's
surface, dormant, simply waiting to be
discovered
We love to hear the stories Of the
pioneer: thousands of them have
passed over the hill and left only an
impress Of their toiling and struggles.
clearing the forest, working in SUM-
shire and rain for a pittance, for
price that compared with the wage
paid mechanics today was a mere bag
atelle: they worked not eight hours,
but early and late, to midnight and up
again before the break OF day. Some
Of Iowas sons and daughters Of today
have heard the stories: iife's struggles
were not begun on nowery beds OF
ease: men and women actually lived
the scriptural injunction In the sweat
of thy brow shalt thou eat bread" The
lilies OF the field neither toll nor spin,
yet they grow. But men are now In
the possession Of wealth: the bound
less prairie has increased thousand
fold: palatial homes are everywhere;
the schools. churches, colleges and uni
yersities are equal to any in the older
countries, and what is more the banks
contain reserve funds: living from
hand to mouth" is fast passing; the
commercial lines are important, ana
industries thrive from one END OF
Iowa's borders to the other. and the
better part Of half dozen states hug
close to Iowa borders.
Considering the fact that Iowa has
had no publicity bureau" but that
everyone has slid along on Its own
hook" Iowa and Iowans can AFFORD to
swell with pride. carry their heads
with dignity and with dignified mein
feel that while the hills and prairies
have been made to blossom as the rose.
Iowa is just entering into the rich IN
heritance that the Creator INTENDED
should be developed and which ls to
those who have the heart to dare ana
do; to live and claim 1t.
Hurrah for Iowa! The brightest star
among the forty-eight!