266 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



ets and points to the region of space where the star 

 should be and true to the law it there appears. 



Plato and Plutarch seem to have caught a glimpse of 

 our solar system. Philosophers may suspect the exist- 

 ence of gas and oil and priests ha.ve taught that these ex- 

 halations came from the land of the infernal gods. But 

 a single discovery by the artesian auger dispels the il- 

 lusion. In Delphi we had an oracle, in Kokomo a glass 

 factory. 



Man can analyze the meteorite that falls to the earth 

 but with the spectroscope he can truly determine the com- 

 position of a distant sun. 



We are now in the dawn of the twentieth century. The 

 President we will elect next fall will induct his successor 

 into office on March 4, 1901. Events are now projecting 

 themselves into another century. Every institution is 

 but the shadow of some great man who has passed away, 

 and on an occasion like this we gather inspiration from 

 the history of the great past. Like a great tree the roots 

 of our nation are deep underground. 



Our young commonwealth of Iowa, though one of the 

 lastest additions to the national family, is just as old and 

 as rooted in her system as one of the original thirteen 

 colonies. Each of the states springs from the same orig- 

 inal stock. 



We assemble today at our pleasant little city to make 

 merry on this national holiday. What a beautiful jingle 

 of Indian names! Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa! 

 And what a beautiful city it is in such a beautiful county 

 and state ! 



When M. T. Williams, T. Garl Phillips, Judge Wm. H. 

 Seevers, A. S. Nichols, Wm. Edmundson, Robert Curry, 

 and the other founders of our city selected the quarter 

 section at "The Narrows," for that purpose, they spoiled 



