The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-06-24

of them are still with us still ready
to work more but somehow or othel
enthusiasm that was born of the com
pletion of the water power project
was allowed to- wane and die. True
there were contributive causes fol-
this but while the results of that en-
thusiasm may not have been all that
everyone of us expected, still. there
is no reason for in any wise dampen
ing our ardor.
Possibly too many of us expect toe
great things too quickly.
y
Squashes and Oaks.
"I am reminded of an anecdote that
was told of President Garfield who al
one time was president of great
university. A man called upon MI
Garfield, university president, WITH
reference to his son, wanted to ar
range to have his son made into some
thing and he very properly came to
the ri ght place as a university to have
this done.
.Mr. Garfield went over very care
fully with him, outlining the various
courses that the boy might take up
and what would be the result of all
these courses embraced four to six
years The caller said, oh this is not
what want. Have you got anything
that will fit Hiram out in about SIX
months, that is about all the time he
wants to spend and that represents
about all the money l want to speno
on him. Garfield remarked, yes, we
have but / will tell you something
possibly you do not know, you can
make a squash in from three to six
weeks but it takes years to make an
oak tree. Do you want Hiram to be
SQUASH or an oak tree? Hiram took
up one Of the longer courses.
This little anecdote it seems TO
me applies very appropriately to keo-
kuk. A good many OF us had an idea
whether expressed or not that the
morning after the power was turned
on at the dam that Mr.. Gary would De
knocking at the back door asking II
he would not be permitted to build a
steel mill, at the outside door. We ex-
pected to find Mr. Westinghouse
pleading with us to give him an op-
portunity to transfer his WORKS lrohi
East Pittsburgh to keokuk but solile-
how or another after all the hurrah-
ing was over and the red ire hao
died out we did not seem to be mucn
further ahead than we were BEFORE III
fact. to some it might have appeared
as though we were somewhat Dehlnu
as in the intervening time we had los'
tba impetus to do business that the
great number of men employed on the
dam had given us. The men VINO
worked before the building of the dam,
during construction of the dam anu
subsequent to its. completion all WORK
ed hard and worked effectively LOT
Keokuk, they were not at fault, their
methods might have been here and
there subject to some criticisms but
criticisms are very easy things to give
and the only kind Of criticisms that
.ra worth while are constructive crltl-
ciSmS.
To-day we are in a new era tne
world war is over, governments are
changed or changing, business anu
men even seem to be changing. Be
lieving that now is the acceptaoie
time. the Industrial association OF
Keokuk, representative as they are or
ought to DE of the industrial and busl-
ness Life of Keokuk, think that II IS
time to start anew.
Eve have not slipped back, we have
merely stopped going and now as tney
saw in the parlance of the runner that
we have got our second Wlnd' lel Us
81 '0 ID Ill
Some Ciose-Ups.
- "If as a native Of Keokuk Wouio
he permitted to call attention to our
faults. I would say that it is too much
self humiliation, or, too much selfish
ness Keokuk at present reminds me
Of nothing stronger than to say
single passenger in seven passenger
speeding down a. thoroush-
fare where there are plenty OF peaes-
trians who are not only willing put
anxious to ride but either through
or seIishness he fails
To give them an invitation to get III
with him. The seven passenger auto
mobile in my analogy is the city OF
Keokuk. We have the natural adj
vantages, facilities, etc, for the seven
na sscnger but we are not making use
Of them by letting someone else ride
with us.
at is the purpose Of this campaign
which is inaugurated tonight to try TO
see IL we cannot fill all the seats or
the automobile but to fill the seats OF
the automobile would be useless I'M
less we had gas and oil to operate 1t
with and that gas and oil is the en-
thusiasm and the push of every man,
woman and child in the city plus
few paltry dollars, which proportionate
10 what everyone has in Keokuk Will
be a very small item.
81 want to tell you now so that no
one will be disappointed that what
may develop afterward that it is not
the idea of this association at the
present time, that they are going to
work miracles, they are only going to
10 human things in a human way and
the only reward that they expect to
pet will be some favorable comment
md they feel in advance that they are
going to get a great deal more adj
yerse criticism.
How Money VIII Go.
"The purpose from which the rela-
lively small amount of money which