Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-08-23
NEDRASKANS HELD
THEIR annual PICNIC
More Than ESQ Took Part
and the Program Was
Splendid One


The Nebraskans held their fourth
annual picnic at the fair griunds Aug.
%. Once each year the Nebraskans
gather for basket dinner and social
afternoon. Each one brings a well fill
ed basket and although we have heard
hard times" and "high prices" talk
ed on every side, they did not affect
our basket dinner in the least.
After the dinner was cleared away
the crowd which numbered between
two hundred and two hundred and fiji
ty, went to the mechanic shed to be
entertained
The meeting opened by singing "Am-
erica,n in which the entire crowd join
ed. A short business meeting was held
for the purpose of electing officers for
the ensuing year Mrs. Sorrel was elect
ed president, Mr.. Suiter vice presi-
dent and Vernetta Rieket secretary
and treasurer.
The musicians for the afternoon were
the Colored Jubilee quartet, Geo. Will
liams and string band. Several duets
and piano solo by Miss Agnes Hal
sell. Every one enjoyed these numbers
very much, and were loath to leave as
long as they could get the musicians to
play for them.
Other numbers on the program were
readings by Mrs. Seigman and Mrs;
Hagedorn; a poem entitled "Salem
bv Mrs. Suiter and short talks on
stwhy / left Nebraska Mr.. Ryan
started the ball rolling by telling us
of the terrible hail storm that he had
experienced while in Nebraska in
which trees were broken down and win
dow lights broken from the north and
est sides of buildings for strip COW
ering miles wide and 55 miles long.
Mr. Coleman, one of the new arriv-
ais. told us that he left Nebraska be-
cause his wife had the hay fever but
that Oregon seemed no better than Ne
braska along that line. He told of how
sugar had been l0c per pound while
days work was SOC and hay 81 per
ton.
Mr.. Brubaker from Madison county,
Nebraska, had several good things to
say for Nebraska. During the ii years
he was in Nebraska he never saw q
bad year. The grasshoppers always left
enough for them to eat and quarter
sections that when he first went TO
Nebraska were worthless are now sell
ing for $3.50 per acre.
Dozens of incidents were cited of the
loss by storms and the destruction by
grasshoppers. One man went SO far as
to saw it wasn't Nebraska that drove
him here but California.
Mr.. Suiter vowed he a not say q
word but out of the SO years he had
lived in Nebraska he felt it his duty
to relate one incident of how he had
had to shovel 12 feet of snow out OF
his door to get 2 sticks of wood to
burn and that for three days no water
had run in the Elkhorn river because
of the terrible storm.
Regardless of the hardships and dis
appointments of Nebraska, we all have
a tender spot in our heart for our
friends who are there, and for the
state itself, and so it is almost with
tender reverence that we get together
and review the past.
SECRETARY AND TREASURER
SALEM
God made this earth and He made us
He made all creatures both great and
small,
He drove man forth from the gar.
den fair
And He bade him live without God s
care.
Great wisdom He gave to mortal man
To carry out His wonderful plan,
They built them cities of great re-
nown
But there IS none more fair than Sa'
lem town.
This valley is fine as fine can be,
The old Willamette we love to see;
We sit on its banks and oh how dear
To watch the fishes in water clear
We love these grand old Oregon hills,
We love the rivers the brooks and rilis
We've Travelled the country up and
down
But saw none like our old Salem
town.
We stand and look and behold, we see
Old Mount Hood with Jeff and SIS
ters three,
Lo their tops they rise and point SO
high
They look like spires that reach to
the sky;
Their peaks are treeless and white
with snow,
Grand old sights from the valley below
Our ladies they smile but never
frown
In this old city called Salem town.
Most beautiful flowers bloom galore,
Fully eight months in the year or more;
Grain yields more great than else
where we find,
Fruit grows in plenty for all man
kind.
We we journeyed far and we've jour
neyed wide,
And we We viewed this world from
side to side,
There Is but one place that wears the
crown,
The grand old city of Salem town.
L. H. SUTER,
Read at the Nebraska picnic at fair