12 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



RESPONSE. 



Mr. W. W. Marple. 



Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen ; One morning at breakfast a 

 widow lady said to her children that she wanted to tell them a 

 secret, that she was going to be married to Mr. Briggs. One 

 little fellow said to her, ''Mamma, have you told Mr. Briggs?" 

 Now, I came very near not being told about this. 



It is unnecessary for me to say to you, Mr. Mayor, as rep- 

 resentative of this beautiful city, that the gentlemen who have 

 assembled here appreciate very much the welcome you have 

 accorded them, and if you were more intimately acquainted 

 with the position of the dairyman and the conditions that sur- 

 round him, you could appreciate this possibly to a greater ex- 

 tent. The dairyman, to some extent, is isolated. He is engaged 

 in a business that is exceedingly monotonous, in a business that 

 confines him at home, and it is attributable to this fact and to the 

 nature of the business in which he is engaged that there is not 

 a larger representation of the dairymen of the state on this oc- 

 casion. And there are peculiar conditions just now in this 

 state that has added to this necessity for his remaining at home. 

 So I say the dairyman who is privileged to take a little vaca- 

 tion, as he is wont to do and does when it is possible once a 

 year, appreciates the welcome that is accorded him. 



The gentlemen who are here today represent a wonderful 

 industry. It has not been appreciated, neither the dairyman or 

 his associate, the dairy cow, has been appreciated as they have 

 deserved. They have occupied a back seat in those things that 

 go to make up a good government and a good citizenship. 



It is said that a gentleman went to the Palmer House in 

 Chicago, and said to the clerk, "I am up here on a little Red- 

 ding trip. I want to get a room." The clerk pulled down a 



