Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-03-21
Iron County Register
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY,
SUBSCRIPTION:
One Year, $3.50. Six Months, SO.75.
RATES OF ADVERTISING
Furnished on Application. Special Induce
ments TO Home Patrons.
Address REGISTER, Ironton, Mo.
Looking Up.


is easier for me to look up than to
look any other way, just new, as l lie
fiat on my back in the Missouri Bap-
fist S%anitarinm convale scing from an
operation made necessary by a trouble
caused from too much work. That is
the doctors diagnosis, 'too much
work" l had not supposed there was
such a thing as too much work, and |
am still inclined to think the trouble
was. ''not enough man." only a hun
dred and ten pounds when in good
fash. When the doctor told the
negro nanny that her little boy was
suffering from too much watermelon.
she protested that there could not
be such a thing as too much water
melon. "Jes' not huff niggah, doctah,
dat's ALL"
Yes, / have worked, almost in.
humanity, l confess it with shame
f%acedness. ! have worked and work.
ed and worked, and the more I work.
ed, the more ] found | could work. 1t
was not the work that hurt me, but
"the MORE" just as it was not the
load that broke tho camel's back, but
that p%roverbial last straw, don't you
know? / have worked long hard
hours at the desk and typewriter do.
ing the Office work OF the Home, writ
ing thousands OF letters, editing the
paper, preparing sermons. | have
been stable boy, yard man, gardener,
fireman, dish-wiper, dlning-room
waiter, chamber maid, and everything
else that has a name, and some things
that are nameless, first one then
another and some times all together,
I have sat up with the sick, closed the
eyes of the dying, shaved the dead,
conducted the funeral and helped fill
the grave. | have travelled the state
in the interest of the Home, visiting
associations, preaching in the church
es, and canvassing the homes of the
Baptists of Missouri. Mrs. Riggs has
shared the work with me-. To her
has fallen the work of housekeeping
and giving personal attention to the
needs of the old people, and lending a
helping hand everywhere. She has
done more hard work in the last five
wears than she ever did in three times
that many before. Many a night we
have worked together in the office
until ten O'Clock, after which she
would 20 to the kitchens and do a churn-
ing and prepare some of the things
for breakfast, while cleaned out the
furnace and loaded it for the next
day, and laid the kitchen fire for
morning. Then we climbed to our
roost in the room over the kitchen,
set the alarm for four O'Clock, time to
open the furnace drafts in order TO
have the house good and warm by
the time the old folks get up.
Yes, | have worked. For instance,
almost every barrel of fruit and pro.
visions that has come to the Home,
l have single-handed and alone man
handled down the basement steps in
to the store room, unpacked the bar
rels and placed the contents on the
shelves. Mrs. Riggs arranging them
i'll systematic order, so that when she
wants canned beans she will not be
looking among the preserves jars for
them. say | confess it with shame
facedness, not that l have worked,
but that ! have done SO much hard
work of q kind that might have been
done by a cheaper man, so to speak,
while | did things more commensurate
with the value of my time and strength
to the Home. l have donu it because
we had to do with what we had. The
money you send us will 60 just SO fal
and no farther. am ashamed that
did not know how to enlist your larger
services and enlist them more rapid
~ than / have done. But you are
coming to my aid. Keep on coming
so that ! can hire more of the rough
heavy work done, and give more Of
my time to the things that will coun'
more for the larger work of the
Home. My two little boys are a grea'
help to me, especially when / have tc
BIZ away. The manual work is Of it,
self a fairly good sized job for a man
but that would not be heavy If ont
had nothing else to do. Add to tina
the pastorate of the church, and tht
management of the Home with all it.
cares and responsibilities that nevel
relax day or night, and you have more
than any one mortal man ought 10 b'
expected to stand up under long at
time. The Office work is pretty near
ly a mans job by itself. / have nc
stenographer, bookkeeper or clerk
except as I can steal Mrs. Riggs for
little while at a time from other thing
to help me. am not complaining,
am merely soliloquizing.
Now, why did l undertake thi
work In this fashion? Here il m.
answer. l had seen ut least on
abortive attempt made by on as
ISOLATION to start an old folks home
all OF whose strong and wealth,
churches turned down the PROPOSE
ton. After that, ! was more tina
ever convinced that II the Baptists Q
Missouri yer got an old people
home It would not be by some de
nominstional organization handing
down to them, but by some one's put
ting himself under the burden an
rolling. 1t upon the churches. l 80
under. / rolled 1t upon first on
church then another until now tn
majority Of churches are helping
rolled 1t upon first one district az
sociatIon then another until In an In
credibly short time almost every 81
ISOLATION In the state had voluntaril,