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The Commoners
'AUGUST , 1J07
13
The Pioneers
(Verge read at the Old Settlers'
meeting at Nemaha City, Neb., Aug
ust, 2, 19070
In the far" gone days when 'the land
was young,
And the west a land as a thing
unknown;
With, the golden future-a song un
sung And the sentinel buttes stood
guard alone,
A rumor spread through the rock
bound steeps
And the stony fields of the eastern
slope
That far out west where the sun
down sleeps
Was the land of promise, and
youth, and hope.
To the stirring call of this far new
land
There came response as in days
of yore
.When the great crusades called that
gallant band
That bravely marched with the
cross before;
And on they swept and ever on,
Till on history's page at last ap
pears The names whose fame 'round the
world has gone
This gallant army of pioneers.
Oh, on they came like the restless
tide,
Sweeping far out to the sundown
west?
In the matchless strength of their
free born pride,
The nation's hope, and the nation's
best.
And ever and on their far front
spread
Through days and nights of the
toil-scarred years,
Till the desert wastes, like the fog
mists, fled
At' the onward sweep, of the
pioneers.
The prairies, scarred by the ox
drawn craft,
Spread out before like the Prom
ised Land,
And then, at the touch of toil It
laughed
To fruitful harvests on every hand.
But not alone in their strength they
wrought
Through weary days of their hopes
and fears,
For the God, whose help and
strength they sought, , ,
Marched side by sijle with the
pioneers.
With sturdy blows and with purpose
true
They built their homes out of
prairie sod;
Giving the nation a great states new,
Giving their Hearts to home and
God.
And thus was carved from the barren
waste
An- empire built for eternal years,
And the men at the posts of danger
placed
Were these great souls the
Pioneers.
So here is a song to the women and
men
Who .pushed, their way to the wide
spread west;.
Whose span oft life 'twixt now and
then
Has given this, nation its grandest,
best. . - ,. i
And ever we'll sing while eternity
rolls '
Unceasing cycles of gathering
years
Our songs of rejoicing for these
great souls
Who builded Nebraska The
Pioneers.
Hcncy and MncColl
In the August number of the
American Magazine Lincoln SteffenB
has an article laudatory of Attorney
Heney of San Francisco, the gentle
man who has been making It so hot
for the grafters. Steffens tells a
story of how Heney collected a
judgment against the Southern Pa
cific "railroad, and it is a really good
story.
A cattleman had a steer killed by
a Southern Pacific engine and Heney
advised him to sue the company.
"What can one man do against a big
corporation?" queried the cattleman.
"Glveme the case and I'll show you,"
replied Heney. Heney was given the
case and he proceeded to suc. He
got judgment, all right, and pre
sented the bill to the local agent.
Of course the local representative re
fused to pay, so Heney got out an
attachment, and the first time a train
stopped at the station he chained the
engine to the track and stood guard
with a rifle to see that the "attach
ment" was not dissolved. After a
few hours of delay the boss at head
quarters wired the station agent to
pay the judgment and send the train
on its way.
That's a real good story, and per
haps it really happened with Heney
as the principal character. But it
sounds like a .rehash of a real inci
dent in the life of Jack MacColl, a
pioneer of Nebraska.
About thirty years ago MacColl
was clerk of Dawson county, and in
those days the county clerk was the
collector of taxes. The Union Pacific
refused and neglected to pay its taxes
to Dawson county, so MacColl pro
ceeded to collect. He prepared to
attach the first engine that stopped
at Lexington then Plum Creek
but the Union Pacific sent everything
but its mail trains through on the
fly. Of course MacColl did not dare
stop a mail train. But he bided Jiis
time, and one day a freight train was
compelled to stop - for water. The
minute it stopped MacColl had the
drive wheels of the engine chained
and padlocked to the track. Then he
and a couple of deputies mounted
guard with rifles. The road's offi
cials offered to give bond, but .Mac
Coll said he was after money. Then
the officials asked permission to side
track the freight so that the passen
ger and mail trains could get by. But
MacColl had the whip hand and re
fused to compromise. After a delay
of nearly twenty-four hours the
amount of taxes due was wired to
MacColl froii Omaha, and then he
unlocked the padlocks, removed the
chains and let the train proceed.
And the fact that this true story
has periodically gone the rounds for
thirty years may explain how it
comes that the same sort of a story
is attributed to Mr. Heney.
Not the First
A few evenings ago we went out
to the Nebraska State Agricultural
Farm school to watch the operations
of a new patent milking device. It
worked, all right, but when the man
in charge of the demonstration as
serted that it was the first successful
milking machine ever offered the
Dublic we knew better, although we
.said nothing.
Something like thirteen or four
teen years ago, during the "hard
times," wo had a fow paltry dollars
salted away In a savings bank just
a fow. Ono day the bank failod to
open its doors, and a fow days later
a recolver took charge. That re
ceiver had a patent milker that beat
anything ever lnvontcd boforo or
since. With It ho milked that bank
so' dry that the steel doors of the
vault warped and tho stono and ce
ment walls cracked.
Answers to Correspondents
"Myrtle" Too hot to write love
sonnets. Besides wo never wrote a
love sonnet.
"Admirer" Forty-four, but really
wo don't look it.
"Editor" It costs very Httlo to
start a newspaper. It Is keeping it
going that brings, wrinkles to your
face and pocketbook.
"Culinary" Wo liko our pics
huntlngcaso, except in tho case of
pumpkin and cranberry. Wo prefer
those open faced.
Tho Main Question
"Can we make people admire and
love us?" queries tho black-faced
capital letter editor of an esteemed
contemporary.
O, fudge! What's bothering us
is this: Can we persuade tho Ice
man to trust us till next Saturday
for a new block of tickets?
Better
Mrs. Theorum "When tho legis
lature meets I am going to ask It to
enact a law prohibiting boys under
sixteen from using tobacco in any
form."
Mr. Roughly "All right, you may.
But I'm going to hitch an enacting
clause on a bedslat and hold it up
before my boys."
Natural
"Say, Bingcrly; I've just discov
ered why. nearly all of our great
financiers are enthusiastic yachts
men." "Why it Is, Is it?"
"Because they naturally take to
water in their business."
Of Course
Whilkins "I seo that Mr. Rocke
feller's recipe for securing joy is
'doing good to others.' "
Bllkins "Well, he ought to bo
joyful. He has been doing us good
good and plenty for a long time."
Brain Leaks
The lazybug Is busiest when the
fish are biting best.
One shirker In a shop will demor
alize the best of systems.
Politeness is the coin that opens
all tollgates on the road to happi
ness. The man who takes himself too
seriously gets laughed at for his
pains.
A family never camps out the sec
ond time for the purpose of getting
a rest.
One-half the world sleeps better
because it does not care how the
other half lives.
Diseases that reduce the visible
supply of other porkers seem never
to trouble the end seat hogs.
A whole lot of peoplo hurry to
get somewhere, and when they get
there they idle around with nothing
to do.
The mother-in-law joke doesn't
sound good when the dear woman
is worn out watching over your lit
tle ones.
"it isn't your friend who Is always
telling you of your good points, but
the man who wants you to think so
will confine himself to that.
The man who keeps busy at use
ful work seldom accumulates any
worry wrinkles. It is when he gets
tied up in selfishness and greed that
he begins breeding crowsfeet
Men Wanted
II
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MHMWlMiMMnnnn
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The Commoner
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