DAIRY ASSOCIATION, 313 



in the little log school house on the hill, between two creeks, in Macon 

 county. I see the little fellow with his butter-nut jeans suit, his un- 

 combed hair, his coat sleeve glistening from contact with his nose, his 

 hands and face dirty, barefooted and digging his toes into the dirt floor, 

 standing in line, toeing the mark, his eye sparkling with mischief, his 

 great big head denoting brains and intelligence, obscure now but des- 

 tined to be great ; holding in his hand a dog-eared, blue-backed spelling 

 book, thumb marked until you could scarcely read it, and I have heard 

 him say to the teacher. "Where is the lesson at?" I followed him home 

 and when his father told him to go and drive up the cows, I heard him 

 say, "Where are they at ?'' From that time until the memorable occasion 

 when in the halls of congress that illustrious representative from Mis- 

 sissippi got lost and asked, "Where am I at," giving the expression greater 

 publicity and notoriety and stamping it with dignity, whenever I have 

 heard it, I have always felt that what it lacked in elegance was made up 

 in force. 



This may not have impressed you as an important question, but it 

 is. It comes to everybody, in all walls of life. It is asked by every- 

 body, by some often, by many rarely. The bankers everywhere, the 

 trusted conservators of the people, either by personal investigation or 

 through competent and honest employes, every day ask, "Where are 

 we at?" 



The merchant prince each day calls the heads of his departments 

 together and asks, "Where are Ave at?" The country merchant once or 

 twice a year takes a careful invoice, and by so doing he asks, "Where 

 am I at?" The family physician is called in and finds a very sick pa- 

 tient. He looks at the tongue, he feels the pulse, he takes the tempera- 

 ture, he listens to the beating of the heart, he prescribes, he watches the 

 case closely. vSatisfactory results are not attained and he calls in coun- 

 sel and by so doing, he asks, "'Where are we at?" 



The lawyer takes the case and after the client has given him all the 

 information he can, he takes into his private room all of the witnesses 

 and everybody that is likely to know anything about the case. He 

 questions them and cross questions them. He tests them in every way 

 possible, all because he wants to know "where he is at." 



The politician rides all over the state. He talks whenever he can 

 get a crowd to listen to him. When the campaign is almost over and 

 he is completely worn out, with his voice husky, his pocket book empty, 

 his pass worn out, on the verge of nervous prostration, he calls the chair- 

 man of each committee from every district large or small, and holds a 

 conference, all because he wants to know "where he is at." 



