Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1913-10-16
Governor Claak 5 Speech
Continued From First Page.

Continued From First Page.
prairie, and it is now the Queen CT
ty of the West, one of the great
est cities in the world. ALL in the
life time of men you have before
you today. Marvellous things. No
other man has seen what you have
seen; has been blessed as you have
been in the the span of life that has
been your life. tell you if all the
machinery invented during the
lives of many of you was disabled
every single bit of machinery would
be absolutely silent. There isn't a
thing in factories that was used
even fifty years ago. So rapid ha s
been the advance, so wonderful has
been all inventive genius that ev-
cry factory would be silent, on the
farm or any where else. There was
MT printing press in existence
that would print a paper on both
sides when my father was born. Not
percussion cap to be had, and
think of the guns they have now.
do not think war can last in
these days. Flesh and blood cannot
stand against the guns of today.
You old soldiers of 1S61-1S65 could
NOT have gotten any where near
Gettysburg. l was down there a
short time ago and saw where Pick
EFT was charged. Mons of you could
have gotten there. And allon ac-
count Of mercantile business. A
war between two nations would alb
solutely destroy mercantile relations
But the fellows that are providing
the guns are doing as much for
the permanent peace of the world
as anything along that line.
was down. at Oskaloosa the 9TH
er day and saw one of the old
things which we usde to use. 1t was
spinning whs,e,, and though l am
not an old fellow / have seen moth
er walking between two rooms to
pull out the thread and heard the
spinning wheel. And l have sat ON
a chair and reeled it off the spindle
for her. But the old is slipping
away and you old settlers have liv-
ed in a wonderful age and seen
wonderful things. 1t rained down at
Dies Moines yesterday and fellows
were putting on their rubbers. That
has come within my time, not did
any of you old settlers have a pair
OF rubber boots fifty years ago.
You did not have any screens on
the doors even thirty-five or forty
years ago and flies would share our
meals with us, if you will pardon
me, and we We're a pretty husky
lot before the day of screen doors.
The threshefs would come to our
place to thresh, we had fried chick
en- and rice and we had to divide
that up with hundred flies.
How Interest ing it would be to
look any where around this town
today and find that they had no
sewing machines when we were boys
and girls, and there were no carpets
on the floors, no Brussels or In
grain or even rag carpet to be
seen. There wasn't a piano or
musical instrument of that kind 70
to so years ago. There wasn't a
cook stove on the face of the earth
when my father was born. And
there wasn't a match to light a
cigar with. And boys, let me tell
you, DON'T SMOKE. My father and
mother both told me not to smoke
and / never did.
Take IA grip on the old world like
you meant business. Did you ever
notice what there is in getting a
good grip on thing? You old SOL
diers, who were in the Cavalry reg
iments, you climbed on your horse
and gripped your saber SO that it
could not turn and you struck a
blow that told. And so YOU take a
grip on life like that. Go out
and make this good state, of ours a
settler that will amount to some
thing.
Now wonder what / was going Il
say before l got off mn that. like
to preach a little once in a while.
believe in talking to the young
men and women of this land. I
would like to have all the young
men befcr, me when could talk
to them about the value of life
and the value Of making something
of ourselves in our good state. l
know now, was striking a match.
There was not a match in the
world when my father was born.
They had to borrow fire. have
heard that from father a good ma
NH 1~o4 fo,S