FIFTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 73 



is true. And in his class was a small boy that was not very- 

 well versed in his English and in reading he came to "Shad- 

 rach, Meshach and Abednego," and when he got to that 

 part he said, ''Here comes those three dammed fellows 

 again." 



I have attended these meetings right along with Mr. 

 O'Hair, who is well representing the dairying interests and 

 with Mr. Stanard, the Director of Agriculture, and knowing 

 as I do what has been done in every town or city in the 

 State where we have held just such meetings as this, and 

 where we are taken care of just as we are here, and I think 

 I can say we have never been taken better care of, the 

 Agricultural Department, the Food Department and every 

 other department that goes with agriculture than we have 

 in Harrisburg, and when I say that I want you to under- 

 stand it is to the glory of Illinois, that what has been going 

 on here, has been going on in other cities of the State, and 

 as we are midway between the two oceans Illinois is the 

 gem of the whole United States. We are proud of her and 

 what she is doing. We are proud of her great dairy in- 

 dustry, of all lines of food production, her great packing in- 

 dustry, every thing that goes to make her great and grand, 

 and as we meet here tonight we love to go up and down 

 this great State and think of the fathers who crossed over 

 the Alleghanies and came down here and planted the best 

 civilization the world has ever seen. I wish every man and 

 every woman in Illinois could have been here and taken in 

 the meeting here. It has been fine. It has been grand. We 

 have been well taken care of and it shows that Harrisburg 

 and Saline County is wide awake and knows what is going 

 on in the State. I want to say that I have enjoyed this 

 meeting, and when I say that I say Illinois while she is a 

 great State she has a city that is great ; that Chicago with 

 her great industries and this pearl valley of the Mississippi 

 extending fiften hundred miles wide, think of what is going 

 on in this great State. Think of what Mr. O'Hair is doing 

 and what Mr. Stanard is doing and what you are doing 

 here. I want to take off my hat to your worthy newspaper 

 man. He has got a cinch on this thing. Up in my town it 



