Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 26, Number 215, Decatur, Adams County, 11 September 1928 — Page 5

GAMBLING MAY IE RECOGNIZED AGAIN IN PARIS n y J Mae Gregor Morrizon .7, p Staff Sorreapondent) . 4IJPI The thrilling call of Par S 'vos jeiix. Messieurs" may y’t a oublic casino either withbP“ Jnhin easy automoblllng in l ’ ar l Os the capita*- Officially re dl ’' a , n a ambling establishments are TMI wed a" ht„ a radius of 100 " M of Paris, under laws adopt- " 'Tn ei the war. but the rap-1 e wth of clandestine gambling is bringing -he Question to the attention « financial experts* 0, . t 8 Ba id that there are now more ~'n high-class club* within a ra- ? « ,f half a utile of the Opera. They d ' tens'hly social clubs for gentlea7n The cost of membership is iusig X’ tnt In all of them, but if a mem i ‘SS to appear in the gambling r . ... least two or three evenings f 7en* week, he is soon made to feel , hi . his company Is not desired. In these private clubs, which are considered officially as merely “social rcharacter, there is usualHy to be found an excellent restaurant and bat. On the profits of these the govern ment levies its usual taxes but no n . ore The gambling clubs have found an easy way out of this, however, for theyturn a definite proportion of the “tables' share" into the eating and drinking fund. The result is interesting (or the members. With the creation es caslons at Versailles, Fontainebleau, Rouen, Orleans and the reopening of the one at Enghien which for years was exceedingly popular, it is predicted that not less than 40.000.4HH) francs would be turned into the public treasury yearly. Gambling taxes are used in France for the development of official studfarms, the improvement of country roads and the care of orphaned and abandoned children _—— o— GENEVA NEWS Mr. and Mrs. John Shoemaker and Marion Conver left Friday noon for Michigan, to spend their vacation. Mrs. Mary Chartier, of Flint, Mich., left for her home after a few days visit in Geneva. Her mother. Mrs. Lybarger. went home with hir to visit for a few weeks. Mr. and Mrs. O. Smith are back home after a two weeks vacation. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Waiker left Friday morning for Florida, to spend the winter. Mrs. Earl Ninde underwent an operation for the removal of the appendix, Saturday morning at the Caylor Hospital at Bluffton, she is doing nicely. A boy baby, Wm. Ja., made his appearance at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm Hale, on Saturday morning. Sunday being the 72nd birthday of F. J. MacWhinney, Mrs. MacWhinney entertained with a dinner. His son, Fred, and family, of Kendallville and Mr. and Mrs. Francis MacWhinney. of Decatur, were here to help him celebrate. Rupert Greene and Miss Bessie Butcher, of Fort Wayne, spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Greene. Mrs. Ruth Kamman was hostess on Friday evening to the Quietus club, at 6:30 o'clock. The guests found their places at the small tables scattered about the rooms and a delicious dinner was served. After dinner, the guests played Rook and a very pleasant evening was spent. Mrs. E. E. Conver, Mrs. R. McCollum and Miss Olive Rhoads were at Fort Wayne, Thursday. C. L. Wallers, of Decatur, gave a rery good talk at the M. E. church Bunday morning. Wm. Grove and wife, of Fort Wayne, spent Sunday in Geneva. o “OLD HOME WEEK" Hurrah for “Old Home Week” When is it quick The tenth of September I’ll be there if not sick. Bless old Decatur Oh say it again Come back and enjoy it And be friends once again. So Hurrah for “Old Home Week” You better come now. And help us again To make the big row. —Mrs. Bert Haley. Explosion Destroys Store In Indianapolis Indianapolis. Sept lU—<U.R>—Offlc--8 oday probed the origin of an exosion which destroyed the front of earl r ° ry S 5 an d I® cent Btor ® here r y Sunday morning. Damage was m ' mated at SIO,OOO. A night watch--1...,,’ and sweral Persons were in the but nK at l ' me of tl *e explosion out none were injured. fording to police most of the Sum 7' 8 t 0 the building. The of merchandise destroyed was a «nounced pending ariival of a cern ° rk r * preßen Wve of the conwSehH 0 PA RKING space. south p r - street ' one block ° Uth of Five Points. 213Wx

Address Os Dr. Ward At Dedication Os Memorial

Editor's note: Following Is the complete text of the address delivered by I*- Henry B. 'Ward, national president of the Izaak Walton League, at the dedication of Elephant Rock, In the Adams county court house yard, as a memorial to the late Gene Stratton Porter: We are gathered today to do honor to the memory of one of Indiana's great citizens, and lirst among all who seek to lay a wreath of Imperishable laurel on her tomb stands the Izaak Walton I league of America. Speaking on behalf of the League and its members, I wish to record this tribute to one who has loyally and effectively served both you and us. To Gene Stratton Porter: Even in early youth she dreamt dreams that arc coming true. In later years she saw visions which are being built into glorious realities for her native state. In all her life she worked with tireless industry ami uncompromising accuracy for the winning of truth and the establishment of those high ideals which alone can furnish the stable and enduring support of our nation. Perhaps there are those in this great audience who do not know of the work and ideals of the Izaak Wai ton League, even through in this beautiful prairie state the movement found early support and has grown in brief time to ipiposing proportions. Started only six years ago by a group of outdoor men ami nature lovers the league is devoted to the unselfish purpose of saving for our boys and girls in coming generations something of the riches and the beauties which our pioneer ancestors found in the wilderness they set out to conquer. Today the League with more than a hundred thousand members ami more than a million friends an dsupporters with 2,500 chapters in cities and towns scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the waters of the north to the waters of the south, challenges tlie clarion tones the right of careless men or selfish interest to destroy beautiful forests, to slaughter the game and to turn health giving streams into polluted waters that menace the very existance of the communities they used to serve. Let me speak with a definiteness that leaves no twilight zone of doubt for there are those who misunderstand and I fear also some who wilfully misrepresent the attitude of our organization. The Izaak Walton League of America is no Hind opponent of progress. It does not seek to block those changes which are necessary in achieving the maximum use of the resources of nature for the enrichment of the people of our country. It realizes that the vast inpenetrable forests of Indiana a hundred years or more ago were wisely sacrificed to create a million homes for its people today. We are one and all proud of those hardy pioneers and we desire that those who come after us shall have something of their energy, their courage, their devotion to the high principles on which this nation is founded. But no one can look around him today without seeing abundant evidence of other and less praiseworthy tendencies. Our forests are being burned not to clear the land and to make homes in the widerness, but by carelessness that leaves only ruin and desolation in its wake. The source of our rivers are stripped of forest cover until the soil is dried out, the stream fails in summer and at the coming of the rains grows into a torrent that strips the land of its fertility and creates havoc in its wild course. The same tendencies are seen in the pollution of our streams. In less than 5(1 years many beautiful rivers have been transformed into unsightly, ill-smelling, open sewers; they have lost their power to attract, to delight and invigorate and to inspire those who come within their reach; they repel and nauseate the chance visitor and their disease breeding and death carrying waters ave now an ever present menace to the community. Now this terrible transformation is not as some would tell us, the necessary result of increasing population or industrial development. The most crowded and most highly industrialized nations of western Europe, Belgium, England and Germany, know no such pollution as characterizes great rivers in the East and even in the much younger Central West of these United States. Carelessness, thoughtlessness, haste, lack or regard for the rights of others and failure to protect the public interest are some of the chief factors involved. Here it is that the Izaak Walton League finds its field of activity. The one and only nation wide conservation organization, it seeks ever to find and to protect the publhp interest. Private enterprises are always adequately protected by those intimately involved but the public interest, the rights and privileges of the millions of good common people often fail of adequate consideration. We, you and I. each one of the hundred million Americans, owns a share in the beauties and the riches of outdoor America. And yet how often has that share been taken from us for private gain or been destroyed by careless hands. Stop for a moment and think how tar we have gone along this road and

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11,1928.

how near the end is. At the present rate what will be left in another half century? Gene Stratton Porter was one to whom hud been given the courage to lead in the tight. She was really one of the founders of the League. Nearly six years ago, in December 1922. in the fourth number of the League's magazine was printed on the cover the appeal she wrote calling upon her readers to join in the movement. Let me quote in brief form her earnest appeal. “This world has never known a country equal to ours in size, having greater natural beauty of conformation, diversity of scenery and wealth of animal and plant life * * * * . "Only as a day in the evolution of the world is 300 years, and after this length of time we, today, are called upon to answer for our stewardship of plethra of riches and beauties. We have handled these natural wonders, this profusion of riches in a spirit of insane recklessness * » » » * * * Today we are squarely facing the problem of reparation for we must make reparation or we must meet disaster. There is no question of whether we will or not, we must as a matter of protection * * *. “ * * * We must save every brook and stream and lake. “ * * * We must save the natural resources which remain to us * • *. " » » * If we desire comfort, food and beauty for ourselves and any sort of aheritage at all to bequeath to our childreq each of us must lend a hand. "Those of us who see the vision and most keenly feel the need, must furnish the motive power for those less responsive. ♦ » * " • * ’ It is time for all of us to get together and in unison make a test of our strength * * ♦. " * * * One man could not do this work nor could two or three but working in unison for the same purpose many men could lot it * * *. “All together—Heave." Let us turn from the League which Mrs. Porter esteemed so necessary, loved so deeply, and aided so valiantly, to consider what it was that enabled her to form such a prompt judgment of its worth and led her to 1 commit herself so fully to its support. To you who know so well the story of her early life and her Iqter achievements. it is only necessary that 1 outline with the utmost brevity certain influences which played an important part in the development of mind and heart and made her the power that she grew to be in our American life She was a farmer's daughter and of j that virile pioneer stock which laid solid foundations for our nation. In early years she hail no schooling and few books, but she loved to wander through the fields and woods and to make the acquaintance of birds and insects and other wild creatures with which she came in constant contact. Her active, restless mind always sought explanations, first from father and mother and then, when they were taken away, from the situation itself. She was not content with a superficial idea or with the first glimpse of a situation. She was a real student of nature. She sketched, she painted, she photographed, again and again. She sat hours and days in concealment watching the birds. She followed them through the years, making notes of their daily life, adding to her store of knowledge, correcting her errors, criticizing her interpretations, until when she had completed her study of one pair of birds and their families and had submitted the manuscript of "The Song of the Cardinal” to one of the best American editors and literary critics, he praised it in highest terms and told iter it was worth while making a book out of her study, rather than merely a magazine article. It doubtless is true that, as some critics have said, she went too far in interpreting the actiivties of the birds from the human standpoint and assigned, in individual cases, human motives or sentiments that cannot justly be attributed to her pets. But such occurrences are few. they constitute natural human defects in a study which is full of really important and well-established observations. If a true balance be struck such short-comings are of relatively minor importances, and, after all,! some of us ca’n not help welcoming the evidence that she was, in some degree at least, like other mortals and despite her care open to error. The patience and persistence with which she followed out her studies deserves the highest praise, and may well be commended to the thoughtful consideration of other students and writers today. Wherever scenes of nature and descriptions of living things entered into her novels, even there she devoted herself, with the utmost care, to the achievemnt of accuracy, checking her statements from notebooks and records. There are few. if any, descriptions in which the background of nature is painted so fully and yet so correctly as it is in her stories. Even the trees and flowers that border the paths or the birds and insects that sing in the bushes, are appropriate to the season and characteristic of the region where her characters lived and walked. In most people this extreme accuracy tends to degenerate into

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pedantic formality that repels rather than attracts. With Mrs. Porter the veiy opposite was true. No one has ever done more to promote widespread interest in nature study throughout our country. There have been others who with equal beauty and fidelity wrote of the outdoor world and its appeal. There works have been lead by many and have been influential in cultivating the love for nature and the appreciation of its beauties which have grown so notice ably within the last half century of our history. But, after all. Gene Stratton Porter's writings have been read by many more than were ever attracted to the writings of any other lover of nature. They have appealed to those of all ages ami of every station in life, and. more than that, what was perhaps her greatest accomplishment consisted in the fact that she not only made a sentimental appeal but actually stirred men and women, boys and girls to action. She drew them to wander in the outdoors, to learn at first hand, and from learning. to grow to love the beauties of nature which, when their eyes were opened, they found round about them everywhere. She taught them that it was not necessary to journey to Yosemite or Yellowstone, however appealing might be the marvelous beauties of those and such other unique areas as have been set aside as National Parks and Monuments for the permanent enjoyment and inspiration of our people throughout all future generations. Some would call the task that she essayed a simpler one and so it is. though in no sense trivial and undoubtedly much more difficult. She sought to show others the marvels which her keen gaze detected on the roadside, in every thicket, at every brook and in the forest. Even in the swamp, which others feared and shunned, she unfolded the story of a life so unexpected and so marvelous that it opened to her readers a new world. She was indeed a born story-teller, an artist who in pen as well as in brush and pencil could paint pictures of unseen beauties with such power that she won not only the attention but also the approval of hel audience. And that audience in all its variety of age and station, of education and prejudice was not an easy one to win and hold. In all things, she was no mere follower of models set by others. She had her own ideas about dress and housekeeping and social customs, as well as about how nature should be studied and books be written and the results have justified her position. She was indeed in every way an original thinker, and yet she never sought to appeal to her audience by doing something different from what had been done before. Her approach was never theatrical or bizarre but always natural and simple, even if it led her to unusual conclusions. She studied

A Word To The WivesSAVING money is a problem in which both husband and wife arc equally concerned. And, surely, you needn’t be backward about taking hubby into your confidence. Tell him of your ambitions for “more home comforts” . . per haps, a ‘‘car or a better home.” Worthy objects, he’ll be only too glad to help you SAVE for them! This Bank wlecomes joint Savings Accounts of husbands and wives. Open one today. Old Adams County Bank Welcome Visitors. Call and See us.

Dr. Henry B. Ward

a situation until she felt she know what was right, and then held to her opinion with persistence, so that even great critics and experienced judges could not overcome her. It would be venturesome and indeed unjust, to say that she was always right, but in many of the great decisions she made, the people have shown by their actions that they agreed with her conclusions and approved her decision. Her departures from the beaten path were not in search of sensationalism nor determined by adesire to attract attention through arousing hostile criticism. She really opened new ways and offered new possibilities and in so doing, has put within the reach of the common people new enjoyment and has shown them new opportunities for a richer and fuller life. It was the realization for the ordinary man of that famous line from the poet Goethe—- " Wherefore in the distance journey When rich beauty lies so near.” In her own words one finds abundant evidence that Mrs. Porter saw at an early date the need of organized effort to stay the destructive tendencies which hade fair to annihilate the outdooi world with all its beauties and its inspiration. All her work was replete with the overwhelming love she felt for nature with its teeming life. Almost her first appearance before the public was in the pages of a magazine devoted to outdoor life. Despite the allurement of rich financial rewards from her novels she always alternated a book on nature and a story of human life and even in the latter she included many studies of bird and tree and flower. Then when her publisher said "cut out the nature stuff and you will sell your bocks.” she persistently refused. Surely it is a tiibute to her courage as well as to the soundness of her judgment that she won out in time and despite what the critics said the public showed its approval by buying over ten million copies of her books in less than 20 years, a record probably unsurpassed in our literary history. Those who knew her speak of intellectual (tower joined to simplicity and rare personal charm, of directness and love of truth and beauty associated with a vision of the future which made the written word appeal so insistently to those who were not granted the privilege of personal contact. Os her life here and her influence with the home folks in Indiana others must speak and may do so with just pride In so worthy a daughter of a state which has contributed so richly to the literature of our country. But it was not for those who knew her best and lived in closest contact with her that she penned her message. Indeed to some such her ways seemed strange and unintelligible. Her eyes were on the future and in nature and life, she saw values which less searching eyes had failed

to find and she strove with all her might to Interpret those values to the mon and women and boys and girls of her own generation that these priceless possessions might be in some measure at least preserved for the generations of Americans yet unborn. True daughter of Indiana though she was, yet in fuller truth she stands out today as a leader in the nation, awakening Its conscience to a realization of its wonderful heritage in outdoor America, and arousing its forces to tight for the protection'of that which remains, and the restoration of that which thoughtless and earless wasters have destroyed. It is easy to criticise and, so the blase critic charges Mrs. Porfer with undue sentimentalism. He says, "She sees life through rose-colored glasses. Her characters are 100 good to be true.” And yet when one reads the brief story of her early trials and family sorrows which she herself has set down in a sketch, one can only marvel at the courage and singleness of purpose which saw the sunshine through such dense clouds. She chose to overlook what was sordid and sad and to portray only the best in life and surely that was her right. Her men and women were like herself, those who kept their eyes off the ground and looking for the finer things in life, found them. Her attitude was then that of uncompromising optimism, the faith that moves mountains. Her life was abundant proof of the power of such a philosophy and in her own simple but inspiring words you may find for yourself the motive of her life when she wrote: “To my way of thinking and working, the greatest service a piece of fiction can do any reader is to leave him with a higher ideal of life than he had when he began. If in one small degree it shows him where he can be a gentler, saner, cleaner, kindlier man, it is a wonderworking book. If It opens his eyes to one beauty in nature he never saw for himself and leads him one step toward the God of the Universe, it is a beneficial book, for one step into the miracle of nature leads to that long walk,'the glories o fwhich so strengthen even a boy who thinks he is dying, that he faces his struggle like a gladiator.” Her last written words were an appeal for the starving elk in Jackson Hole which the Izaak Walton League was striving to succor just then. Her heart was in the League because the League was doing just the things that she longed to do. And when on that fateful day in December, 1924, a trolley car crashed into her limousine and her light went out, the League lost one of its best friends and strongest supporters. Prompt to aid in all its projects, vigorous in support of its movements, adept in voicing its appeals, keen in sensing the right line of attack against a threatened public wrong, she played an important part in laying the foundations of the new movement. It is fitting that today the League should acknowledge the debt which all who love the beauty and drink of the inspiration of nature owe to her. This memorial we dedicate today is a tribute of love from her neighbors and friends but the greatest memorial to her life and work is the love for nature which she has made to blossom in thousands of hearts. Like the sacred fire upon

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ancient altars, this love of nature shall be passed ou from place to place until the flame which she kindled shall illuminate the whole land. The beautiful forests which Indiana has set aside for the enjoyment of the whole people are living memorials to her. Every clean stream reflects in its pure waters the purity of her purpose, if we can but multiply these and other places where men gain strength of body, vigor of mind and exultation of spirit we shall have done what she wanted. This ancient boulder you have set here because once she asked for nothing more than such a simple memorial. Will you not now resolve to work more eagerly for the preservation of those beauties of nature for which she pleaded so often and so earnestly? The problems that face our country are proving daily more complex and more threatening. Can we solve them successfully or is our beloved nation to go the way of great nations in tha past? Millions of good common people like you and me are ready to devote themselves to their all to find th«? right solution to these problems—but how can It be done? The life of her whom we honor today surely shows how we may conquer. Her way to overcome obstacles was hard, no doubt, and yet so simple. She has taught us the value of tireless industry, of unyielding perserverence and painstaking accuracy in the search for truth, of the power of team work in establishing public justice, of the value of high ideals. These are old-fashioned ideas, so simple to state, so difficult to achieve. But Gene Stratton Porter did and someway I think her success came in good part from her contact with nature. In the same way shall we succeed according to our talents, obeying the admonition of the ancient poet King which she often quoted and salways lived—“l will lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh my strength.” o. — Teacher’s License, Issued Here In 1845, Is In Relic Display Featured among the relic display to be held during Old Home Week in the room at the corner of Monroe and Third streets, is ’a teacher's license, which was issued to Kelita Jacobs, on Dec. 20,. 1845, by Samuel L. Rugg, a school examiner at that time. The license is an ordinary slip of paper, yellow with age, and in the unusual script of those by-gone days, the following was scribed: “This is to certify that I, Samuel L Rugg, examiner of common school teachers, find Kelita Jacobs qualified to teach spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic and sustains a good morral character. Dec. the 20th, 1845. Adams County, Indiana. Samuel L. Rugg, examiner.” Attention is also called to the spelling of the word moral, two j>'s being used instead of one as the word is spelled today. The license is the property of Mrs. G. H. McManama, residing three miles east of Monroe on the old Jacobs homestead, which Kelita Jacobs, her grandfather, entered from the government. Kelita Jacobs died in the year 1888.

111 EJ) ' $ I MMca 4% Interest Paid On Savings I;.. i . I I .

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