LIVE STOCK breeders' ASSOCIATION. 197 



in any part of this great State you will find such a civilization as I have 

 described to you." 



Let me tell you, fellow citizens, a little story of pioneer life I got 

 hold of in my travels. I was down in Rolla and I was talking about 

 Missouri, as was my business at that time, and when I finished a tall, 

 o-rev-whiskered man laid his hand in mine and said "I like to hear a man 

 talk about Missouri as you have talked about it." I thanked him, of 

 course, and we drifted to one side and sat down and he told me a story, 

 and I am going to trespass on your patience to tell it to you. He said : 

 "Way back in the early days of Missouri two brothers journeyed 

 over into this State and settled near the Missouri river above St. Louis. 

 The older brother was to take care of the farm while the younger brother 

 was to look after the housekeeping, cooking, etc. They lived that way 

 for several years and did fairly well, but one day the younger brother 

 who had had a piece of meat to burn while cooking — I suppose a stick 

 of wood had burned in two, turned the kettle over and poured the con- 

 tents on the ground — got up a demurrer. He said to his brother: 'We 

 have been living along this way for several years, but this is not the way 

 to live. One of us must get married.' The other brother said : 'All 

 right. You are the youngest. Go and hunt you a wife. I realize that 

 we can live better and be better men with a housekeeper than we are 

 now.' The younger one said : 'No, you are the oldest. It is your duty 

 to get married first.' So they discussed it until Saturday morning. They 

 knew where there was a pioneer family living across the country con- 

 taining a number of girls. So on Saturday morning the older brother 

 started, traveling by the points of the compass, because there was no 

 road in those days. And when he got over to the house, first his horse 

 was put up, then he must come in and have some supper. After supper he 

 and the father of the family walked into an adjoining room and sat down 

 while the wife and daughters were doing the dishes, etc., and he said 

 to the father: 'I have come over here to see if you had any objection 

 to my marrying your daughter.' The old gentleman said — 'Well, I don't 

 know. What does the girl think about it?' 'Oh,' the young fellow 

 answered, 'I am not acquainted with your girls at all. I felt that my 

 first duty was to talk to you on that subject.' The father answered : 'Well, 

 if my daughter is willing, I certainly have no objections,' and he turned 

 and spoke to his wife through the open door, and said : 'Send Mary in 

 here.' Mary came in and he gave her a formal introduction to the man. 

 He said : 'Mary, here is a man come up here and wants to marry you. 

 What do you think about it?' 'I have not thought about it at all.' 'Well, 

 you think about it till tomorrow morning and after breakfast you can 



