SEVENTH DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 625 



cherish this spirit, assured that in every particular it will work out prosper- 

 ity for us. Unless we are observant and attentive we have no idea of how 

 much value even little things are in this respect. Let me give you one of 

 the straws to show you which way the wind blows. Not long since a very 

 intelligent, and an experienced and successful teacher from a neighboring 

 county, passed through our town, and naturally took a particular look 

 at our school buildings. They showed broken fences, no trees, and gener- 

 erally cheerless surroundings in so far as the school premises were con- 

 cerned. The idea followed from this to the stranger mind that the schools 

 must be of the same order. The school exhibits were examined in San 

 Francisco to sustain this idea. They showed to the entire satisfaction of 

 the visitor that the schools were incomparably superior to the indications 

 of their cheerless premises. I say I simply give this as a straw. But such 

 straws are valuable, not for straw beds, but for hints to excite us to see our- 

 selves as others see us, and dress ourselves so that others shall be attracted 

 rather than repelled. 



In conclusion, I regard the present as a crisis period in the history of 

 our county. We have waited long and patiently for its improvement and 

 settlement according to the just deserts of its superior natural resources 

 and attractions. We have been passing through a period of patient exper- 

 iments, and are ready for better things. The near completion of our rail- 

 road, by which we will be placed on one of the great transcontinental lines 

 of travel and traffic, will, in my judgment, bring with it changes of which 

 many are not dreaming. I am confident that we have scarcely begun the 

 development of our natural resources. We are largely ignorant of their 

 capabilities. It is this thought — my personal interest in this section as the 

 home and the field of labor to which God most plainly called me, and in 

 which I hope to end my days, and my thorough interest in all that con- 

 cerns the real welfare of this community — that has prompted what I have 

 said to you this evening. If in anything I have erred I trust you will for- 

 give. If I have been able to give any thought that will stimulate to higher 

 and better things, which is our only good reason for living, I am more 

 than repaid. Thanking you for your kind attention, and sorry I could not 

 have served you better, I am, most respectfully, your obedient servant. 



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