"Here's to good old Kansas, the greatest state of them all--the fairest of the fair!"
-George R. Peck, in a toast at the Chicago Kansas Day Club annual dinner, Jan. 28, 1911.
Fifty Years Old
by Walt Mason
Special to the Topeka Daily Capital, Jan. 29, 1911
Through fifty years of striving
She held her upward way;
A thousand woes surviving,
She stand serene today;
No more the settler faces
The empty, silent places;
No more the red man chases
To council or to fray.
Across her woods and waters
No more is heard the drum;
And to her sons and daughters
The boon of peace is come;
Prosperity abounding
Her people is surrounding
And in her mills, resounding,
The wheels and shuttles hum.
And we, whose ways are pleasant,
Whose bosoms bear no scars,
Should look back from the present
To old time woes and wars;
Through threat'ning circumstances,
Through death and deadly chances,
The name and fame of Kansas
Made progress to the stars.
Our mother's natal morning
We greet with smiles and tears,
Her shining brow adorning
With wreaths from all the years;
And then, from incense burning,
Our hearts aglow with yearning,
With tender eyes we're turning,
To bless the pioneers.
I haven't gotten to that point yet every year there seems to be a breaking point with me and the seasons. On a really hot day in the summer, I'll promise not to speak badly of winter and vice versa. I haven't gotten to that point this winter but I am ready for it to warm up so I can do some stuff outside.
By the way, Brutus recording the weather report on August 4th actually happened.
I only wish today's strip used the same first panel words as August 4's.