Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 287, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1911 — WHY THE FARMER AND HIS FAMILY [ARTICLE]

WHY THE FARMER AND HIS FAMILY

I ~ I •urtiH jrreun -rue I SHOULD ATTEND THE I INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION. Bv CAPT A 11 WADDELL rtuiboßut.wfcy th*' anrl lata Cbmite oh/wilA oHnn/l stumer uuu ms Ibiiuij auuuiu uneuu the great International Live Stock Exposition at Chicago, that it is well and onnnrtnnft Rt thifi time to meßtlou some of them. This great Exposition, the greatest Indeed of all similar shows, is so apt W 06 vl6W6u Dj 106 XarmOFg DreefieXg and stockman as merely a place where he should go to see the animals exhibited there, and for business purposes only. Thia is a very narrow view of so great and important a subject, for the animals seen at this Exposition, wonderful and extraordinary as they are, are but the results of years of labor on the great farms and ranges of the West, although they stand for the greatest and best of American breeding and feeding. The great object of the founders of the International Live Stock Exposition, was to present to the breeders and farmers of this country, an object lesson nf the highest Ideals, and a school of instruction to which all could come and learn. 4It goes .without saying, that the men who have made this , great institution possible, and the breeders and feedera and farmers who have made it what it is, are men of age and experi-ence;-and in order to perpetuate and Improve this great school, and the methods through which it has gained Its present day. perfection, it is absolutely necessary that the sons of these men be permitted to see the show, and so start, their lives of improvement from the advanced point at which their fathers stopped. This can never be realized by remaining on the farm and seeing only the stock their fathers raised; for every son is imbued with the Idea that his father breeds the best there is, and consequently, is under the impression that the height of home form. Comparison is the only disfllusionlzer, and it is this above all things that the young man wants, not only to show him that there are hundreds as good as his father, and scores a great deal better. This opens the' eyes of these young men and causes them to put on the wise cap of thought and consideration as to why, how and where their own fathers fen short in gaining what the fathers of their contemporaries accomplished. Another thing that is sadly overlooked by the men who contribute to the Exposition with their stock Is the fact that'their wives, the heart and soul of their homes, and. the faithful and constant companions of their lives, have done their generous share and contributed in no small degree to their ' husbands’ successes. Faithfully and uncomplainingly have they devoted their useful lives to the duties of the home and the upbringing of their children, with the fostering care of motherhood. Uncomplainingly they live and abide in the environments of the ranch or farm, and day .in and day out, from years end to years end, see nought of life in their sister world, save the occasional visit of a female friend. They tenderly prepare for their husbands’ annual outgoing to the great International Show, and lovingly await his looked for return. It would be but the pulling of a little wider of tho husband’s purse to give to these admirable women a taste of the fascinations and enjoyments of a week’s visit to a great city, as well as to experience the delight of seeing the exhibits passed upon In the judging ring. Such a trip, apart from the good the change would do them, would serve the purpose of intense enjoyment and Interesting conversation on their return, and if we judge women aright, would instill into their sympathetic hearts a desire to still further assist in the future successes of their hubbands.

The daughters, toe, of these people, particularly those who have attained or are verging upon early womanhood, would be greatly improved by the sights and surroundings of a trip to Chicago and the International Show. Young minds are narrowed by a continuous residence among only those of their own lives and habits and upon such an occasion as this, fathers should expand still further the strings of their purses to enable these young women to see at least some little life, especially when under their own and their mother’s care. The delights of anticipation and the pleasures of accomplishment, are such inexpressible joys to youth that it is nothing short of inconsiderate selfishness to prevent such occasional enjoyment to these young people, particularly when it can be attained at such comparatively little outlay. The good that such trips accomplish is shown in a thousand way's and there is not a breeder, feeder or farmer in the whole of the great west who will not realize that the companionship of his wife and children to Chicago during the ■week of the International Live Stock Exposition, December 2 to 9, has not only been an inexpressible delight to himself, but a benefit to his home, his business and bis future.