Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-06-08

the year 1897 and 1893. Here a..
some Of the entries. org
Balanced accounts with n
othy and gave him my note ~
s2.15, to he paid in salta Ian
1893. Cold ten bushels Of wheat -
+. Miner at 30 cents, 70 be pald =
goods
Sold two sheep 10 Flavious cu-
It's and took his note for s.. pavski-
in boots on or before March tbs
first" '7
Only one entry IN more than
hundred mentions money. and th,.
vas the sum Of / cents received Il
balance from a neighbor.
So It will be seen that a shirt r,
mutual accommodation served n
help as over the rough going. Ne
Grimshsw. however. demanded ia
pay in cash and that I find va
mainly, the habit Of money-lenders
We were poor but our poyerg
was not like that Of these davs i
which l am writing. Il was proud
and clearly and well-fed. We hs5
in us the best blood Of the pur-
tans. Our fathers had seen heroic
service in the wars and We knew n
There was no farmer-folk who
thought more OF the virtue of clean
lif1ess. On this subject my aurt
was deep and tireless thinker. She
kept a watchul eye upon Us. N
her view men-folks were lIks
floors, furniture and dishes They
we're in the nature Of a responsible
ity-a tax upon women as it were
Every day she reminded me Of tba
duty of keeping my body clean. ia
members had often suffered the
tyranny of the soaped hand at tho
side of the rain barrel | supposa
that all the waters of this worli
have gone up in the sky and coma
down again since those far DAYS.
but even now the thought Of nv
aunt brings back the odor OF soft
soap and rain barrels.
She did her best, also, 10 keen
our minds in a clearly state OF
reservation work in which the
teacher rendered important SER
vice. He was a young man from
Canton.
One day when I had been kept
after hours for swearing in a fight
and then denying it, he told me
that there was no reason why
shouldn't be a great man if stuck
to my books and kept my heart
clean. I heard with alarm that
there was another part of me to b.
kept clean How was it to be done?
well. just make up your min1
that you'll never lie, whatever else
YOU do" he said. You cant 20
anything bad or mean unless you
intend to cover it up with lies"
What a simple rule was this Of
the teacher.-and yet-well the
very next thing he said was
Where did you hear all that
swearing"
How could answer his question
truthfully? I was old enough 10
know that the truth would disgrace
my Uncle Peabody. I could no!
tell the truth, therefore, and
didn't I put it all on Dug Draper,
although his swearing had long
been a dim, indefinite and useless
memory.
AS a penalty I had to copy two
maxims of Washington I'VE times
in my writing book. In doing so I
put them on the wall Of my men,
DRY where l have seen them every
day of my life and from which I
read as l write.
Speak no evil of the absent for
it is unjust"
Labor to keep alive in your
breast that little spark of celestial
fire called conscience"
The boys in the school were
sturdy, big-boned lot with arms
and legs like the springing bow.
Full-lunged, great-throated fellows,
they grew to be, calling the sheep
and cattle in the land of far-reaeh-
ing pastures. There was an ur-
dersized boy tire years older who
often picked on me and with whom
would have no peaceful CON-
merce.
l copy from an old memorandum
book a statement of my daily rou-
tine just as I put it down one OF
those days: