Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-06-05
RANDALL PARRISH'S SCHOLARLY
ADDRESS PREPARED FOR STATE ELKS

, Ayi of the "old,'' perhaps, but not of
the new. The ''old" is history. and 1
study it with zest and interest; in
imagination / walk the long trail with
Boone and Kenton, with Kit Carson
and Jim BTidger-the trappers of the
mountains, the hunters of the plains.
] French voyaguers are my companions,
! and l lie down with the lonely pros
| pector at night under the desert
stars. / draw again, as best l may,
| fresh picture of it all on the page of
| fiction, mingling fact with fancy. 1t
! is there forever, it is part of our ma
tional -story-that old heroic age,
when men were called upon to meas
nature and savagery.
But God knows there is frontier
enough still-a place for every ad-
venturous soul; dim trails leading
away into the unknown, leading
through hardship and danger to the
very valley of the shadow" Every
/ generation is a generation of pioneers
called upon to face the new, the I'M
known. The dawn of each day is a
frontier. Tomorrow in your life, and
in mine, is a greater mystery than
was the unexplored west to the men
of the revolution. Through every mo-
ment of life we tread an unknown
trail, and, when death meets US on the
way, we know not what ii means. We
live in mystery; all about US the great
woods: UNEMPLOYED, the vast plains un-
mapped. Every hour brings its chal-
lenge to manhood, its demand for
courage and sacrifice. The call of the
pioneer comes to us, even as it came
of old to our fathers-to press bold
ly on, reckless of peril and of toll, do
ing our part in the great work of the
world.
AGE THAT IS PASSING.
Elks, do you grasp my thought? 1t
is this-the age of the purely ply
steal is passing by; it is nearly gone.
The man of the rife, and the axe, has
had his day and done his work. In
: toll, loneliness and peril he has cleav-
ed road for US from ocean to ocean /;
} he has fought great battles, and won
: great victories. He stands forever
: in the history of the world as vast
! heroic figure. But life is an evolution
2 ever steadily tending upward toward a
| higher form of development; ever
drawing-closer to God Himself. Prob
lens change, and environment. Sc
we are standing today on the verge
of a new frontier; no longer merely
physical, but mental and moral. The
70 FUR q
i courage, a devotion beyond compare
The call - action comes to the brave;
y to the unafraid. 1t calls men-rea
{ men-red- blooded men-out from
! among the mass of their fellows t.
lead the way. And they will come
{ they are coming. They will be
y Boones and Kentons, Carsons anC
Bridgers in the future, as in the past
{ They will face the unknown and con
. quer. The spirit of the pioneer il
;, this America of ours will never die
y 1t is part of our race, our blood. W.
y who have sternly fought our way VI
II from tad-poles to men are not goinl
! to stop now until we attain thes
3 heights ordained of God. We cam
creeping forth from the jungles an,
u the marshes, and have struggles
II blindly on across cons of time, witt
&c our eyes on the stars. Year by yeaI
% through darkness, and through light
~ we have marched onward down tn
= ages. We have followed the pillar O
y fire, and the pillar of cloud. Toda
- has been our reality; tomorrow ha
"a been our dream. We have fought, an
~ died, loved and lost; we have slippe
~ and fallen, yet won to our feet one
III more, and pressed on. We have tough
g useless battles, and been led far astra
by false prophets. We have seen nj
III lions wrecked, and hopes shattered
~ We have seen "the glory that wa
~ Greece, and the grandeur that wa
~ Rome" crushed under the feet of ba
~ barians. We have mistaken wron
for right, and paid the penalty. oh
~ but it has been a long. hard, wear
- journey down the centuries. At time
% it has seemed as if humanity stoo
ou still. Yet ever before Us there his
- been the pioneer-the man Of cles
- vision, of dauntless courage, of a.
Il venturous soul; the man who WEI
the ages, he is the hope o. all tt
o ages yet to be.
Men of Elkdom, revise y our though
., The day of the pioneer has not passe
VI away, and never will while humans
nc exists. The fringed hunting shirt I
longer ranges our forest depths; Il
- voyageur no longer drives his fra
ga canoe along our rivers; the squire
-- and armed men ride no longer o.
~ boundless plains. That peculi
"a phase of life has passed and gone. B
the indomitable spirit which ga
-, these birth is as strong and vital
ever it was.
. 1t yet seeks its opportunity,
m heroic achievements, its adventure
n career. God give US men" has be,
the call of every age-it is the call
our own. The finger of advance poin
still to the frontier. Ay! and the
are those who answer.
N That man who sits today in the e.
cutiye chair in Washington is a p