Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-06-05

The address which Randall Parrish I
OF Kewanee had prepared TO deliver at |
the Illinois theatre last evening. in |
honor OF the Illinois state convention |
of Elks. IS SO scholarly that The Ar
gus, with Mr.. Parrish's consent, pub
fishes it in full, just as it was 10 have
been delivered:
I am writer. not a speak
er, by profession, and If / sue
coed in giving you any worthy thought
tonight / must stick to my trade. l
know what l wish 10 do, and how /
wish to do it. Nose and the law
yers).
l come here unable 10 comprehend
why this peculiar topic should have
been chosen for presentation before a
representative body Of Elks. Elkdom
IS. in many respects, modern repre-
sentation of the real pioneer spirit,
and a good Elk requires restraint,
rather than exhortation.
I take il, however, to be the pur-
pose Of this address to present before
you those peculiar qualities of man
hood required for the earlier develop
ment Of the nation. Such a study can
never be wasted, for exactly the same
qualities in our citizenship are re-
quired today. We are also called up
on 10 be pioneers, and our children
will be after us. We face continually
new notwithstanding more intel
lectual than physical as the world
moves on-yet equally a test Of our
manhood, and our adaptability. Elk
dom Is distinCtively an American or
der; the flag, with all it represents,
our symbol, and when we cease to
feel deep, abLiing interest in the af-
fairs Of the nation, our very excuse
for existence ends.
shall speak to you therefore to-
night from the standpoint of an Elk,
and an American; l speak TO you as
student of American history, and also
as one who has been privileged to
personally witness the last chapter of
American pioneer life, as it was work
ed out and fought out in our far
southwest ] speak of this merely in
evidence that my knowledge Of pio-
neer character, ideals, and achieve
ments are mine at first hand. They
have not come TO me from the books
or the imagination of another. When
scarcely more than a boy ] rode the
ranges of Texas and New Mexico; fol
lowed the mountain trails of Arizona
and lived the actual life of the from
tier. | know its hardships, its priva
tions, and its heroism. | have expert
enced the weird mystery of the des
ert. the loneliness and danger of its
desolation. have slept in the camps
of savages; in the huts of adventur
ers, and alone under the stars. THAI
life has been my life. and the haunt
fng memory of IT has marked my soul
ACTUAL PICTURE OF LIFE.
Whatever. during later years, my
pen may have written of the west
whether In guise Ct history or romance
has been an actual picture Of life
life some part OF which ] have seer
"a Photographic reproduction Of {
frontier with which | was intimatel!
acquainted. ! knew those men whit
rode the ranges, revolver at hip
knew those sturdy pTospectors fol
lowing their packburros through noun
tain solitudes, and I knew the womel
of those adobe houses of the plains
those cabins of the higher levels
They we're my companions, aud m
friends. | knew more than these.
was also there when the first thi
skirmish line Of permanent settlement
came cautiously creeping forwar
along the wild valleys of the Peco
and the 'Rfo Grande-those hardy me
and women who came TO stay; tn
land-hungry, silently overcoming SAY
agery by sheer persistence, sturdil
winning a wilderness to civilization
was in the cabins dotting the wild
prairies; walked tho stragglin
streets OF towns born in a night.
saw everywhere men of hope, {
boundless courage. strong Of i,ody an
will-conquerors of nature. saw b
side them women OF the same stocI
accustomed to hardship, privstion an
loneliness.
And in these later years, as hay
thought again OF them all, as ! hay
written of them in my books, ofte
photOgraphing some peculiar tyI
from memory-which critics ha'
seen 1T TO ridioule-I have grown
realize that these pioneer men al
women, not Of the southwest alon
but of the nation, did not compose
separate and distinct class; they We
not a race apart. They we're simp
typical Americans. performing the So
cial duty Of their generation. Thu
differed from their brothers and 81
tiers elsewhere merely IN environmer
in the stern necessity OF their live
The pioneer spirit is merely the Anne
lean spirit, as expressed In a sing
phase of development-the desire
control, conquer, and advance. I'll