The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-09-24

gave.
| cannot fitly charge those to
whom the work is now committed,
but being one of the trustees as well
as one of the benefciaries shall lis
ten Tor your last word of counsel and
hold In reverance your memories. We
may, we VIII have tasks to perform
that you know not of but your action
made them possible and the adyan
tages received at your hands have
pointed the way. Sons of these
sires, let us remember the qualities
OF their mind and heart. Let us re-
member that their lives here have
been one of service and out of it
came their greatest achievements.
Their patience and courage may we'll
be the standard of excellence. Their
understanding of right was the rule
of their action. The needs of their
neighbors was the measure of their
helpfulness. They knew that hu-
manitys best gift came through toll
and they labored on. The standard
of their integrity was of the highest
type for 1t was handed down by the
Christ.
To me there can be no other peo-
pie like the Oregon Pioneer. To me
there can be no other land like the
one of my birth from whose bounty
| have always been fed. Ger her
borders the stars CLEAN with more
gladness; the rivers race with greater
joy; the forests sway in deeper rev.
erence and her fields yield greater
abundance. Here nature seems more
kind. From here l seem to measure
all distances and with her gifts COM
pare all treasure. Across her bosom
seems to lie the base meridian from
which to calculate great action. Here
lofty mountains seem to furnish the
height from which to view the
worlds wide amphitheater and Pa
cific's waves seem to urge us to ac-
tion as she does no other land.
Long may her borders know peace
and may prosperity attend her as
long as the friendly breezes of heav-
en- fondle the folds of our flag and
the morning sun kisses it's starsl
My knowledge of the Pioneer does
not come from historians records or
romancers' tales. l knew them.
They were and are my kinsmen. The
first thought of protection that came
to me was suggested by the tender
care of Pioneer woman. From her
breast received nourishment. The
first emotion of my heart was born
in response to her affection and in
the years that have since followed
there has come to me no impulse
more noble than the one to make
restful. more cheerful the declining
years of that woman. | cannot
speak with complacency for what l
did seems so little and came so late.
The words that l now speak are for
the purpose of kindling a fame in
some heart that will make some
work-weary Pioneer Mother more
happy. Out beneath the sunny skies
of Southern Oregon a granite shaft
bears the name of that Pioneer wo-
man. Her dust cannot be analyzed
by the chemists. They have no fig
ures to express its nobility. In the
crucible of Gods laboratory the at
tendants at the throne have sifted
the ashes and opposite the name have
written 'honor and dominion and
\ glory forever more. Mothers OF
Oregon forgive me for speaking in a
manner in any sense personal to my
self. | do it because there is no 9TH
er way in which can convey to you
the regard, the reverence l have for
you, for what l have said of my
Mother can be said also of you.
Blessed be the evening of your life
and bright the morning of your eter-
nifty.
And | can see the old log cabin
built by Pioneer father. Its con-
struction seemed to me the acme of
skill and strength. Its builder, to
me, was the master of all things. A
few swings of his ak and the forest
supplied his wants. He touched the
earth and it yielded a harvest. His
toll brought us bread and the vast
ing of his years added to ours. His
plans were the fittest, his ways SEEM
ed the best. His words always meant
courage. He. lives to cheer us, al
More than four score years and ten
ways full of sympathy and love.
have passed over his head With one
hand it seems he is bidding adieu
to his companions of the earlier days
and with the other he is reaching
for the crown promised to the kings,
the Pioneer Fathers of the Oregon
land.
The need of praise | offer to my
father | offer also to you. | can do
no more. What you have given your
children, your country, your race,
the world, is beyond all words to
describe. Such acts can never come
again to any people. There is no
more west; there are no more new
worlds to subdue; there is no other
price so valuable, no other hands so
able to perform, no other hearts so
strong and true.
Our words fail when we attempt
to express our fond tribute, but our
hearts strings will ever be attuned
to your praise. May the evening
shades fall gently around you and
the mornings dawn be halo of rest.
Native Sons and Daughters, may
I speak word to you who stand up
on the great middle ground between
the past freighted with hallowed
memories and the future bright with
hope.
The Pioneer is rapidly passing;
comparatively few answered the last
annual roll-call. Many of their liv-
ing children have passed beyond
lifes meridian. But in every sec
tion of our state we find native sons
and daughters who feel yet intimate
ly linked to the pioneer. There is
intimate relationship to them among
the generation to whom l refer and
doubtless not a few are among my