Hello, tonight I am putting on my blog some information pertaining to early English Literature. Some time I write helter skelter with no proper form. I have noticed others do the same. Maybe a look back might be educational. This is from an English Literature book of 1894.
OLD ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.
REPRESENTATIVE WRITERS.
poetry.
Caedmon (t 680).
Author of "Beowulf."
prose.
Bede (673-735).
Alfred the Great (849-901).
OLD ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. (500 —1066.)
8. British Celts.— The original inhabitants of the British Isles, within historic times, were Celts — a part of the first great Aryan wave that swept over Europe. In a portion of Great Britain,— in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales,— the Celtic element is still very strong. The Celts are a vigorous people, adhering to their national customs with great tenacity. They possess a lively imagination, delicate feeling, and a ready enthusiasm. They seem, however, to be lacking in the power of strong political organization; and this defect made them a prey, first to Roman, and later to Teutonic, invaders.
9. Roman Conquests.— The Romans under Caesar invaded Britain, 55 b. c., and partly subdued it. In the following century Agricola extended the Roman conquest over the territory now included in England, and reduced Britain to a Roman province. Towns were built; military roads were constructed; Roman law was administered; Christianity was introduced; and a considerable commerce was developed. Corn was exported, and the tin mines of Cornwall were worked. But the native population, unlike what had taken place in Gaul and Spain, remained unassimilated to the empire, and still clung, in large measure, to its language and customs. When, after some four hundred years, the Roman forces were withdrawn, the Latin language, with the exception of a very few words, disappeared entirely. The principal relics of this Roman occupation surviving in our language to-day are the word street (from the Latin strata via, a paved way), and the words caster, c ester, and chester (from the Latin castra, camp) in the names of places; as, Lancaster, Worcester, and Winchester.
10. Teutonic Invasion.— After the withdrawal of the Roman legions in the fifth century, Britain was invaded by the Angles, Saxony and Jutes — Teutonic tribes that inhabited Schleswig, Jutland, and adjacent territory on the Continent. The beginning of this invasion is usually dated from 449, the year in which Hengist and Horsa, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, landed on the shores of Kent. The invading Teutons, hated for their cruelty and their heathenism, were stubbornly resisted by the native Celts, and it was nearly a hundred years before the Britons were finally driven back into Cornwall and Wales. They slowly retired, as did the American Indians in this country, without assimilation; and beyond a few names of places, they left scarcely any trace in our language. The Saxons occupied the south, and the Angles the north and centre of Britain; and to the latter, who were the more numerous,, belongs the honor of giving to the country its modern name of England — a word signifying the land of the Angles.
11. Racial Character.— In the character of these Teutonic tribes are to be found the fundamental traits of the English people and of English literature. In their continental home they led a semi-barbarous and pagan life. The sterile soil and dreary climate fostered a serious disposition, and developed great physical strength. Courage was esteemed a leading virtue, and cowardice was punished with drowning. No other men were ever braver. They welcomed the fierce excitement of danger; and in rude vessels they sailed from coast to coast on expeditions of piracy, war, and pillage. Laughing at storms and shipwrecks, these daring sea-kings sang: " The blast of the tempest aids our oars; the bellowing of heaven, the howling of the thunder hurts us not; the hurricane is our servant, and drives us whither we wish to go."
With an unconquerable love of independence, they preferred death to slavery. Refined tastes and delicate instincts were crushed out by their inhospitable surroundings; and their pleasures, consisting chiefly of drinking, gambling, and athletic sports, were often coarse and repulsive. Yet under their coarsest enjoyment we discover a sturdy, masculine strength. They felt the presence of the mysterious forces of nature, and deified them in a colossal mythology. Traces of their religion are seen in the names of the days of the week. Wednesday is Woden's day, Thursday is Thor's day, Friday is Frea's day. Eostre, the goddess of dawn and of spring, lends her name to the festival of the Resurrection. With these Teutons the sense of obligation and duty was strong; and having once pledged fidelity to a leader or cause, they remained loyal to death. They honored women and revered virtue. In a word, they possessed a native seriousness, virtue, and strength, which, ennobled by Christianity and refined by culture, raised their descendants to an eminent position among the nations of the earth.
12. Anglo-Saxon Language.— The Anglo-Saxon belongs to the Teutonic branch of the Aryan family, and is closely related, on the one hand, to German, and on the other to Scandinavian. It is an .inflected language with four cases. In England it was divided into four dialects,— the Northumbrian, the Mercian, the Kentish, and the West Saxon. Most of our Anglo-Saxon remains are in the West Saxon dialect, though it is from the Mercian, which was spoken in central England, that modern English is most directly derived. The Lord's Prayer in Anglo-Saxon, with an interlinear translation, will serve for illustration.
Ure Fasder, ttm the eart on heofonum, si thin nama gehalgod.
Our Father, thou who art in [the] heavens, be thy name hallowed.
Tocume thin rice. Geweorthe thin willa on eorthan swa-swa on heofonum.
May come thy kingdom. Be thy will on earth as in [the] heavens.
Sele us to-daeg urn daeg-hwamlican hlaf. And forgif us ure gyltas
Give us today our daily bread(loaf). And forgive us our guilts
swa-swa we fogifath urum gyl-tendum. And ne lad thu us on costnunge.
as we forgive our guilty ones. And not lead thou us into temptation.
Ac alys us from yfel. Si hit swa.
but release us from evil. Be it so.
13. The Gleeman.— The first literature of a people is
poetry. In national as in individual life, the imagination is active during the period of youth. Among the Anglo-Saxons, as among some other nations, narrative poems, before they were reduced to writing, were sung by the wandering glee-man,—
"A man of celebrity, mindful of rhythms,
Who ancient tradition treasured in memory,
New word-groups found properly bound."
The most pleasing picture that comes to us from the early days of our English forefathers, is that of the scop or gleeman at their feasts. While the stern warriors sit at their long tables and quaff their mead in the large hall hung with shields and armor, and lighted by great blazing logs on the hearth, the rude poet, to the sound of his harp, recounts the deeds of heroes in rhythmical song.
14. Alliterative Character.— The principle of Anglo-Saxon poetry is not rhyme nor metre, but alliteration. Each line is divided into two parts by a caesura, and two principal words of the first hemistich, and one of the second, regularly begin with the same consonant. If these principal words begin with vowels, they are different. Parallelism — the repetition of the same thought in different words, as in Hebrew poetry — is also common. The following extract from " Beowulf" exhibits the Anglo-Saxon alliterative form:—
" His armor of iron — off him he did then, His helmet from his head— to his henchman committed, His chased-handled chain-sword,— choicest of weapons, And bade him bide, — with his battle-equipment."
15. Style and Tone.— The language of Anglo-Saxon poetry is abrupt, elliptical, and highly metaphorical, but often of great energy. The range of ideas is necessarily limited. From what we already know of the life and character of the Angles and Saxons, it is not difficult to understand the 'spirit of their poetry. Not love, but war and religion form its leading themes. Its prevailing tone, especially of that portion which contains an echo of the continental home of the Angles and Saxons, is one of sadness. The inhospitable climate of northern Germany, and the 'stern struggle for existence on land and sea, made life a deeply serious thing. Human agency was felt to be weak in comparison with the great invisible forces of nature. The sense of fate and death weighed heavily on the Anglo-Saxon mind. Thus, in " The Wanderer," a poem of an unknown author, we read: —
“Earth is enwrapped in the lowering tempest,
Fierce on the stone-cliff the storm rushes forth,
Cold winter-terror, the night-shade is dark'ning,
Hail-storms are laden with death from the north.
All full of hardships is earthly existence —
Here the decrees of the Fates have their sway —
Fleeting is treasure and fleeting is friendship —
Here man is transient, here friends pass away.
Earth's widely stretching, extensive domain,
Desolate all — empty, idle, and vain."
16. Caedmon.— Caedmon, the earliest of English poets, lived in the latter part of the seventh century. He has with justice been called "the Milton of our forefathers"; and his poems are strongly suggestive of " Paradise Lost." He seems to have been a laborer on the lands attached to the monastery of St. Hilda at Whitby, and was advanced in years before his poetical powers were developed. When at festive gatherings it was agreed that all present should sing in turn, Caedmon was accustomed, as the harp approached him, quietly to retire with a humiliating sense of his want of skill. Having left the banqueting hall on one occasion, he went to the stable, where it was his turn to care for the horses. In a vision an angel appeared to him and said : " Caedmon, sing a song to me." He answered: " I cannot sing; for that is the reason why I left the entertainment, and retired to this place." " Nevertheless," said the heavenly visitor, " thou shalt sing." " What shall I sing?" inquired the poet, as he felt the movement of an awakening power. " Sing the beginning of created things," said the angel.
17. Paraphrase of Scripture.— His mission was thus assigned him. In the morning the good abbess Hilda, with a company of learned men, witnessed an exhibition of his newly awakened powers; and concluding that heavenly grace had been bestowed upon him, she bade him lay aside his secular habit and received him into the monastery as a monk. Here he led a humble, exemplary life in the exercise of his poetic gifts. " He sang the creation of the world, the origin of man, and all the history of Genesis; and made many verses on the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and their entering into the Land of Promise, with many other histories from Holy Writ ... by which he endeavored to turn away all men from the love of vice, and to excite in them the love of, and application to, good actions."
18. Beowulf.— The most important Anglo-Saxon poem that has descended to us is " Beowulf," a primitive epic of some three thousand lines. It was probably composed in its present form in the eighth century, but the events it celebrates are of a much earlier date. It brings before us the spirit and manners of our forefathers, before they left their continental home.
The hero of the poem is Beowulf: —
" Of heroes then living
He was the stoutest and strongest, sturdy and noble."
Sailing to the land of the Danes, he slew a monster of the fens called Grendel, whose nightly ravages brought dismay into Hrothgar's royal palace. After slaying the fiend of the marshes and his mother beneath the waters, Beowulf, loaded with presents and honors, returned to Sweden, where he became king, and ruled fifty years. But at last, in slaying a fire-dragon " under the earth, nigh to the sea-wave," he was mortally wounded. His body was burned on a lofty funeral pyre amidst the lamentations of his vassals.
19. Interesting Details.— Such in brief is the story of this epic of heroic daring and achievement, in which the old Teutonic character is reflected in its fulness. Its details are full of interest. The fierceness of northern seas and skies is brought before us. We assist at mead-hall banquets, in which gracious queens and beautiful maidens hand the ale cup. The loyalty of liegemen is beautifully portrayed. A stern sense of honor prevails among the rude warriors: —
"Death is more pleasant
To every earlman than infamous life is."
Their courage is dauntless, and words count for less than actions. Beowulf thus states to the queen the object of his visit: —
"I purposed in spirit when I mounted the ocean
When I boarded my boat with a band of my liegemen,
I would work to the fullest the will of your people,
Or in foe's-clutches fastened fall in the battle.
Deeds I shall do of daring and prowess,
Or the last of my life-days live in this mead-hall."
20. Other Poems.— Other Anglo-Saxon poems that deserve mention are " The Seafarer," " Deor's Complaint," " The Fight at Maldon," " The Battle of Brunanburh," and' " Judith." The former deal with the hardships and sorrows of life; the latter breathe the martial spirit of the Teutonic race. Besides these and other secular poems, there is a cycle of religious poetry dating from the eighth or ninth centuries. It was stimulated by the work of Caedmon. " Others after him," says Bede, " tried to make religious poems, but none could vie with him, for he did not learn the art of poetry from men, nor of men, but from God." This religious poetry is usually based on Scripture or on legends of saints. Cynewulf, a Northumbrian poet of the eighth century, was the author of several religious poems of acknowledged excellence, among which are the "Passion of St. Juliana," the "Christ," and " Elene, or the Finding of the Cross."
21. The Father of English Prose.— Bede may be justly regarded as the father of English prose. From an interesting autobiographical sketch at the close of his " Ecclesiastical History," we learn the leading events in his unpretentious life. He was born in 673, near the monastery of Jarrow in northern England. As pupil, deacon, and priest, he passed his entire life in that monastic institution. The leisure that remained to him after the faithful performance of his various official duties, he assiduously devoted to learning; for he always took delight, as he tells us, " in learning, teaching, and writing." He was an indefatigable worker, and wrote no less than forty-five separate treatises, including works on Scripture, history, hymnology, astronomy, grammar, and rhetoric, in which is embodied all the learning of his age.
His scholarship and aptness as a teacher gave celebrity to the monastic school at Jarrow, which was attended at one time by six hundred monks in addition to many secular students. His fame extended as far as Rome, whither he was invited by Pope Sergius, who wished the benefit of his counsel. He led an eminently simple, devout, and earnest life. He declined the dignity of abbot, lest the duties of the office might interfere with his studies. As a writer he was clear, succinct, and artless. His "Ecclesiastical History," which was composed in Latin, is our chief source of information in regard to the early Anglo-Saxon church.
22. Alfred the Great (849-901).— Not many sovereigns deserve a place in literature because of their own writings. But Alfred was as great with the pen as with the sword. He ascended the throne at the age of twenty-three, and spent a considerable part of his subsequent life in conflict with the Danes, who in great numbers were making a descent upon the cultivated districts of England and France for the sake of pillage. When he came to the throne, the learning which a century before had furnished Europe with some of its most eminent scholars had fallen into decay. " To so low a depth has learning fallen among the English nation," he says, " that there have been very few on this side of the Humber who were able to understand the English of their service, or to turn an epistle out of Latin into English; and I know that there were not many beyond the Humber who could do it."
23. Literary Labors.— With admirable tact and wisdom he set about remedying the evil. He studied Latin himself that he might provide his people with useful books; he invited learned scholars from the Continent to his court; and he established in the royal palace a school for the instruction of noble youth. His efforts were grandly successful; and in less than a generation England was again blessed with intelligence and prosperity. Among the books he translated into Anglo-Saxon were Bede's " Ecclesiastical History "; Orosius's " Universal History," the leading textbook on that subject in the monastic schools for several centuries; and Boethius's " Consolations of Philosophy," a popular book among thoughtful people during the Middle Ages. These translations were not always literal. Alfred rather performed the work of editor, paraphrasing, omitting, adding, as best served his purpose. In the work of Boethius he frequently departed from the text to introduce reflections of his own. To him belongs the honor of having furnished England with its first body of literature in the native tongue.
FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY.
The following subjects may be assigned students for parallel study, essays, or reading' in class. Other subjects and sources may be indicated according to the judgment of the teacher and the library facilities at his command. A select bibliography will be found in the appendix.
The Roman conquest of Britain, Tacitus, "Agricola" ('Bohn), Macaulay, " History of England," ch. I, and Green, " History of the English People," ch.I; The introduction of Christianity under Augustine, Bede, "Ecclesiastical History," chaps. 25, 26 (Bohn), and Macaulay and Green; The death of Casdmon, Bede, " Ecclesiastical History," ch. 24; Celtic literature, Morley, " English Writers," vol. I, ch. 3, and Matthew Arnold, "Celtic Literature"; "The Voyage of Maeldune," based on an Irish legend about 700 a.d., Tennyson, " Poems"; The circumstances of Bede's death, Cuthbert's Letter in the preface of Bede's " Ecclesiastical History" (Bohn); Teutonic character and customs as illustrated in "Beowulf," Earle, " The Deeds of Beowulf," a prose translation, and Hall, " Beowulf," a metrical, alliterative version; The qualities of Anglo-Saxon poetry as exemplified in " The Seafarer," " The Wanderer," and " The Battle of Maldon," Cook and Tinker, " Select Translations from Old English Poetry," and Brooke, " Early English Literature."
"The Battle of Brunanburgh" is given in the selections of Part II.
I will add more as time allows.
Sleep safe my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Post Office 1914 Style
Hello, here is another article from my 1914 almanac. I hope you enjoy reading about the way it was many years ago.
POST OFFICE REGULATIONS
Domestic
First-Class Matter-Letters and Post Cards
Letters. and anything sealed or otherwise closed against inspection—except original packages of proprietary articles in simplest mercantile form, and seeds and like articles in transparent envelopes which come under fourth-class matter—two cents an ounce or fraction thereof, the matter not to exceed four pounds.
Drop or Local Letters deposited in other than a letter-carrier office or rural delivery, one cent an ounce or fraction thereof.
Registered Letters, ten cents in addition to the regular postage, which must be fully prepaid.
Special (or Immediate) Delivery Letters, in addition to regular postage, a special stamp or ten cents in ordinary stamps and marked "Special delivery."
Postal Cards, one cent.
Postal Cards, with prepaid reply, two cents.
Post Cards, conforming to prescribed conditions, one cent.
Second-Class Matter—Newspapers and Periodicals
(No limit to weight, except Canada, 4 lbs. 6 oz.)
All Newspapers and other Periodicals, one copy to each actual subscriber residing within the county where they are printed, wholly or in part, and published, except those deliverable at letter-carrier offices or on the rural delivery routes thereof, free.
Newspapers and Periodicals to regular subscribers, and sample copies, one cent a pound or fraction thereof.
Newspapers (except weeklies) and Periodicals not exceeding two ounces in weight, when deposited in a letter-carrier office for local delivery by city carrier, each payable by stamps affixed, one cent.
Periodicals over two ounces in weight, deposited as above, prepaid by postage stamps affixed, each two cents.
Weeklies, deliverable by carriers, at letter-carrier offices or rural delivery, one ,cent a pound or fraction thereof.
The rates stated above apply only to second-class publications mailed by the publishers thereof or by registered newsagents.
Second-class Matter, when posted by persons other than the publisher or news-agent, one cent for each four ounces or fraction prepaid by stamps.
Third-Class Matter—Miscellaneous Printed Matter, etc.
Pamphlets, circulars, occasional publications, photographs, proof-sheets or corrected proofs, and manuscript copy accompanying the same, and all matter on paper or cardboard wholly in print, in which the printing forms the principal use, and not exceeding four pounds in weight, one cent for each two ounces or fraction.
Books (printed), not over four pounds in weight (single volumes may be over), one cent for each two ounces or fraction.
Post Office Money Orders
fees for money orders drawn on domestic form Payable in the United States (which includes Hawaii and Porto Rico) and its possessions, comprising the Canal Zone (Isthmus of Panama), Guam, the Philippines and Tutuila, Samoa; also for Orders payable in Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Newfoundland, the United States Postal Agency at Shanghai (China), the Bahama Islands, and certain other islands in the West Indies mentioned in Register or Money 'Order Post Offices.
For Orders
From $ 0.01 to $ 2.50 .......... 3 cents
From $ 2.51 to $ 5.00 .......... 5 cents
From $ 5.01 to $ 10.00 .......... 8 cents
From $10.01 to $ 20.00 .......... 10 cents
From $20.01 to $ 30.00 .......... 12 cents
From $30.01 to $ 40.00 .......... 15 cents
From $40.01 to $ 50.00 .......... 18 cents
From $50.01 to $ 60.00 .......... 20 cents
From $60.01 to $ 75.00 .......... 25 cents
From $75.01 to $100.00 .......... 30 cents
Post Office Regulations—Foreign
Rates to all foreign countries except Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama and Shanghai, and to which all matter may be registered except as stated under "Parcel Post," are as follows:
Prepayment optional, except for registered articles, but on printed matter, commercial papers and samples postage must be at least partially prepaid.
Letters, S cents for the first ounce or fraction of an ounce and 3 cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof, except for Great Britain, Newfoundland, and Ireland, or for Germany by steamers sailing for Germany direct— 2 cents each ounce. No limit of weight.
Postal Cards, 2 cents. Postal Cards with paid reply, 4 cents. Post cards (Private Mailing Cards), with written communication thereon, conforming to prescribed conditions, S cents.
Printed Matter, 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction. Limit of weight, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Commercial Papers (Insurance Documents, Way Bill'!, Invoices, Papers of Legal Procedure, Manuscripts of Works, etc.), the same as for printed matter, but, the lowest charge is 5 cents. Limit of weight, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Samples of Merchandise, the same as for printed matter, but the lowest charge is it cents. Limit of weight, 12 ounces.
Domestic Parcel Post
Fourth-class mail matter embraces all other matter, including farm and factory products, not now embraced by law in either the first, second, or third class, which is not greater in size than seventy-two inches in length and girth combined, nor in form or kind likely to injure the person of any postal employee or damage the mail equipment or other mail matter, and not of a character perishable within a period reasonably required for transportation and delivery. The law provides that the United States and its several territories and possessions, excepting the Philippine Islands, shall be divided into a series of zones. Each post office may be taken as the center of its special series of zones. Zone One includes all territory within a radius of fifty miles from the post office at which the parcel is mailed. Zone Two includes all that area outside Zone One, but within a radius of 150 miles from the central point. The limit of Zone Three is 300 miles away from the central point; Zone Four, 600 miles; Zone Five, 1,000 miles; Zone Six, 1,400 miles; Zone Seven, 1,800 miles; Zone Eight, all distances beyond Zone Seven.
The limit of weight for parcels of fourth-class matter for delivery within the first and second zones is twenty pounds. The limit of weight for parcels intended for delivery in other than the first and second zones is eleven pounds.
Postage Stamps
Ordinary or parcel post stamps are valid for postage and for insurance and collect-on-delivery fees on fourth-class mail.
Regulations Governing Parcel Post Matter
Parcels weighing over four ounces must be mailed at the General Post Office or at a lettered or local named station or branch post office, or such numbered stations as have been designated to receive parcel post matter.
Uninsured parcels weighing four ounces or less may be mailed at the most convenient point. They may be mailed in street package boxes and at all numbered stations as well as the General Post Office and carrier stations.
Parcels must bear the name and address of the sender, preceded by the word "From."
Parcels must be prepared for mailing in such manner that the contents can be easily examined. Parcels which are sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, or which contain or bear writing which is not permissible, are subject to postage at the first-class (letter) rate and will be treated as first-class matter. If such a parcel exceeds four pounds in weight it is unmailable.
Boxes to which the lids are nailed or screwed may be accepted for mailing at the fourth-class rates of postage if, with reasonable effort, the lids can be removed for the purpose of permitting examination of the contents.
Rates of Portage
Parcels weighing four ounces ~or less are mailable at the/rate of one cent for each ounce or fraction of an ounce, regardless of distance. Parcels weighing more than four ounces are mailable at the pound rates shown in the following tables, a fraction of a pound being considered a full pound.
The pound rates of postage in the first and second zones are as follows:
First and second
Zone rate up to
Weight Local rate 150 miles
1 pound ............................$0.05 $0.05
2 pounds ........................... .06 .06
3 pounds ........................... .06 .07
4 pounds ........................... .07 .08
E pounds ........................... .07 .09
6 pounds ........................... .08 .10
7 pounds ........................... .08 .11
8 pounds ........................... .09 .12
9 pounds ........................... .09 .13
10 pounds ........................... .10 .14
11 pounds ........................... .10 .15
12 pounds ........................... .11 .16
13 pounds ........................... .11 .17
14 pounds ........................... .12 .18
15 pounds ............................ .12 .19
16 pounds ........................... .13 .20
17 pounds ........................... .13 .21
18 pounds ........................... .14 .22
19 pounds ........................... .14 .23
20 pounds ........................... .15 .24
note — The rate for local delivery applies to all matter mailed at' a city carrier office, or at any point within its delivery limits, for delivery by carriers from that office. The rate for local delivery applies also to all parcels mailed at a post office from which a rural route starts, for delivery on such route, or mailed at any point on such route for delivery at any other point thereon, or at the office from which the route starts, or on any rural route starting there from, and on all matter mailed at any office for local delivery.
The pound rates of postage for the third, fourth, fifth. sixth, seventh and eighth zones are as
follow
3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Zone Zone Zone Zone Zone Zone
1 pound . . .... $0.07 $0.08 $0.09 $0.10 $0.11 $0.12
2 pounds . . .. 12 .14 .16 .19 .21 .24
3 pounds . . .. .17 .20 .23 .28 .31 .36
4 pounds . . . . .22 .26 .30 .37 .41 .48
5 pounds . . . .27 .32 .37 .46 .51 .60
6 pounds . . . .32 .38 .44 .55 .61 .72
7 pounds . . . .37 .44 .51 .64 .71 .84
8 pounds . . . .42 .50 .58 .73 .81 .96
9 pounds . . . .47 .56 .65 .82 .91 1.08
10 pounds . . . .52 .62 .72 .91 1.01 1.20
11 pounds . . . .57 .68 .79 1.00 1.11 1.32
Rates to Alaska, Etc.
The rate on parcels for Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippine Islands, Guam, the United States Postal Agency at Shanghai (China), Tutuila (Samoa), and the Canal Zone (except for parcels weighing four ounces or less, on which the rate is one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof) is twelve cents for the first pound and twelve cents for each additional pound or fraction thereof.
note — Parcels for the Canal Zone must be accompanied with a customs declaration.
Special Rate lot Seeds, Cuttings, Bulbs, Etc..
Seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions and plants are matter of fourth class, but are chargeable with the special rate of postage of one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof, regardless of distance.
Samples of wheat or other grain in its natural condition, potatoes, beans, peas, chestnuts, acorns, etc., when intended for planting must be prepaid at the special rate of postage prescribed in the preceding paragraph, but when sent for purposes other than planting the parcel post rates apply.
Limit of Weight and Size
If a parcel exceeds the limit of weight stated on preceding page, or is greater in size than seventy-two inches in length and girth combined, it must be refused, no matter how small the excess may be in either case.
The law prescribes that a package to be admitted to the parcel post shall not exceed seventy-two inches in combined length and girth. In measuring the length the greatest distance in a straight line between the two ends of the parcel shall be taken, while the girth is the actual measurement by a tape encircling the parcel at its thickest part.
A parcel not more than 3 feet 6 inches in length may measure as much as 2 feet 6 inches in girth, or around its thickest part. A shorter parcel may be thicker; thus, if it measures no more than 3 feet in length it may measure as much as 3 feet in girth, or around its thickest part. Measurements can be made by means of a six-foot tape line. So much of the tape as is not used in measuring the length is the measure of the maximum girth permissible.
In addition to the name and address of the sender, which is required, it is permissible to write or print on the covering of a parcel, or on a tag or label attached to it, the occupation of the sender, and to indicate in a small space by means of marks, letters, numbers, names or other brief description, the character of the parcel, but ample space must be left on the address side for the full address in legible characters and for the necessary postage stamps. Inscriptions such as "Merry Christmas," "Please do not open until Christmas," "Happy New Year," "With best wishes," and the like, may be placed on the covering of the parcel in such manner as not to interfere with the address.
When it, is desired to send merchandise as first-class matter, the packages should be sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, in order to avoid any confusion in the mails as to their proper classification.
In view, of the provision for the insurance of fourth-class mail and the furnishing of receipts for such mail when insured, the necessity for registration is removed and therefore fourth-class matter for domestic destinations is not admitted to the registered mail.
A mailable parcel will be accorded the usual special delivery service when a special delivery stamp or ten cents in ordinarystamps are affixed thereto in addition to the parcel-post postage. When ordinary stamps are used the words "SpecialDelivery" must be placed on the wrapper.
Canada, Cuba, Mexico and the Republic of Panama
Packages of fourth class matter for Canada, Cuba, Mexico and Panama, not exceeding four ounces in weight, are subject to the rate of one cent for each ounce or fraction of an ounce. Those weighing over four ounces are subject to the rate of twelve cents a pound or fraction thereof. Packages for Canada and Cuba must not exceed four (4) pounds six (6) ounces in weight. To Mexico and Panama parcels weighing up to eleven (11) pounds may be sent under the terms of the (foreign) parcel post conventions between those countries and the United States. Customs declarations must be sent with all parcels for Mexico and Panama.
Parcels for these or other foreign countries can not be insured, but may be registered.
Packing of Liquids, Fragile and Perishable Articles
For information regarding unmailable matter and regulations as to packing of liquids, fragile and perishable articles, also those which, unless properly protected, are liable to injure another or damage the mails, and for information relative to insurance on parcels and collect on delivery service apply to any local postmaster for Postal Department circulars.
I hope you enjoyed this article and found it informative. This article is 94 years old, makes me feel alot younger.
Sleep safe, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
POST OFFICE REGULATIONS
Domestic
First-Class Matter-Letters and Post Cards
Letters. and anything sealed or otherwise closed against inspection—except original packages of proprietary articles in simplest mercantile form, and seeds and like articles in transparent envelopes which come under fourth-class matter—two cents an ounce or fraction thereof, the matter not to exceed four pounds.
Drop or Local Letters deposited in other than a letter-carrier office or rural delivery, one cent an ounce or fraction thereof.
Registered Letters, ten cents in addition to the regular postage, which must be fully prepaid.
Special (or Immediate) Delivery Letters, in addition to regular postage, a special stamp or ten cents in ordinary stamps and marked "Special delivery."
Postal Cards, one cent.
Postal Cards, with prepaid reply, two cents.
Post Cards, conforming to prescribed conditions, one cent.
Second-Class Matter—Newspapers and Periodicals
(No limit to weight, except Canada, 4 lbs. 6 oz.)
All Newspapers and other Periodicals, one copy to each actual subscriber residing within the county where they are printed, wholly or in part, and published, except those deliverable at letter-carrier offices or on the rural delivery routes thereof, free.
Newspapers and Periodicals to regular subscribers, and sample copies, one cent a pound or fraction thereof.
Newspapers (except weeklies) and Periodicals not exceeding two ounces in weight, when deposited in a letter-carrier office for local delivery by city carrier, each payable by stamps affixed, one cent.
Periodicals over two ounces in weight, deposited as above, prepaid by postage stamps affixed, each two cents.
Weeklies, deliverable by carriers, at letter-carrier offices or rural delivery, one ,cent a pound or fraction thereof.
The rates stated above apply only to second-class publications mailed by the publishers thereof or by registered newsagents.
Second-class Matter, when posted by persons other than the publisher or news-agent, one cent for each four ounces or fraction prepaid by stamps.
Third-Class Matter—Miscellaneous Printed Matter, etc.
Pamphlets, circulars, occasional publications, photographs, proof-sheets or corrected proofs, and manuscript copy accompanying the same, and all matter on paper or cardboard wholly in print, in which the printing forms the principal use, and not exceeding four pounds in weight, one cent for each two ounces or fraction.
Books (printed), not over four pounds in weight (single volumes may be over), one cent for each two ounces or fraction.
Post Office Money Orders
fees for money orders drawn on domestic form Payable in the United States (which includes Hawaii and Porto Rico) and its possessions, comprising the Canal Zone (Isthmus of Panama), Guam, the Philippines and Tutuila, Samoa; also for Orders payable in Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Newfoundland, the United States Postal Agency at Shanghai (China), the Bahama Islands, and certain other islands in the West Indies mentioned in Register or Money 'Order Post Offices.
For Orders
From $ 0.01 to $ 2.50 .......... 3 cents
From $ 2.51 to $ 5.00 .......... 5 cents
From $ 5.01 to $ 10.00 .......... 8 cents
From $10.01 to $ 20.00 .......... 10 cents
From $20.01 to $ 30.00 .......... 12 cents
From $30.01 to $ 40.00 .......... 15 cents
From $40.01 to $ 50.00 .......... 18 cents
From $50.01 to $ 60.00 .......... 20 cents
From $60.01 to $ 75.00 .......... 25 cents
From $75.01 to $100.00 .......... 30 cents
Post Office Regulations—Foreign
Rates to all foreign countries except Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama and Shanghai, and to which all matter may be registered except as stated under "Parcel Post," are as follows:
Prepayment optional, except for registered articles, but on printed matter, commercial papers and samples postage must be at least partially prepaid.
Letters, S cents for the first ounce or fraction of an ounce and 3 cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof, except for Great Britain, Newfoundland, and Ireland, or for Germany by steamers sailing for Germany direct— 2 cents each ounce. No limit of weight.
Postal Cards, 2 cents. Postal Cards with paid reply, 4 cents. Post cards (Private Mailing Cards), with written communication thereon, conforming to prescribed conditions, S cents.
Printed Matter, 1 cent for each two ounces or fraction. Limit of weight, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Commercial Papers (Insurance Documents, Way Bill'!, Invoices, Papers of Legal Procedure, Manuscripts of Works, etc.), the same as for printed matter, but, the lowest charge is 5 cents. Limit of weight, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Samples of Merchandise, the same as for printed matter, but the lowest charge is it cents. Limit of weight, 12 ounces.
Domestic Parcel Post
Fourth-class mail matter embraces all other matter, including farm and factory products, not now embraced by law in either the first, second, or third class, which is not greater in size than seventy-two inches in length and girth combined, nor in form or kind likely to injure the person of any postal employee or damage the mail equipment or other mail matter, and not of a character perishable within a period reasonably required for transportation and delivery. The law provides that the United States and its several territories and possessions, excepting the Philippine Islands, shall be divided into a series of zones. Each post office may be taken as the center of its special series of zones. Zone One includes all territory within a radius of fifty miles from the post office at which the parcel is mailed. Zone Two includes all that area outside Zone One, but within a radius of 150 miles from the central point. The limit of Zone Three is 300 miles away from the central point; Zone Four, 600 miles; Zone Five, 1,000 miles; Zone Six, 1,400 miles; Zone Seven, 1,800 miles; Zone Eight, all distances beyond Zone Seven.
The limit of weight for parcels of fourth-class matter for delivery within the first and second zones is twenty pounds. The limit of weight for parcels intended for delivery in other than the first and second zones is eleven pounds.
Postage Stamps
Ordinary or parcel post stamps are valid for postage and for insurance and collect-on-delivery fees on fourth-class mail.
Regulations Governing Parcel Post Matter
Parcels weighing over four ounces must be mailed at the General Post Office or at a lettered or local named station or branch post office, or such numbered stations as have been designated to receive parcel post matter.
Uninsured parcels weighing four ounces or less may be mailed at the most convenient point. They may be mailed in street package boxes and at all numbered stations as well as the General Post Office and carrier stations.
Parcels must bear the name and address of the sender, preceded by the word "From."
Parcels must be prepared for mailing in such manner that the contents can be easily examined. Parcels which are sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, or which contain or bear writing which is not permissible, are subject to postage at the first-class (letter) rate and will be treated as first-class matter. If such a parcel exceeds four pounds in weight it is unmailable.
Boxes to which the lids are nailed or screwed may be accepted for mailing at the fourth-class rates of postage if, with reasonable effort, the lids can be removed for the purpose of permitting examination of the contents.
Rates of Portage
Parcels weighing four ounces ~or less are mailable at the/rate of one cent for each ounce or fraction of an ounce, regardless of distance. Parcels weighing more than four ounces are mailable at the pound rates shown in the following tables, a fraction of a pound being considered a full pound.
The pound rates of postage in the first and second zones are as follows:
First and second
Zone rate up to
Weight Local rate 150 miles
1 pound ............................$0.05 $0.05
2 pounds ........................... .06 .06
3 pounds ........................... .06 .07
4 pounds ........................... .07 .08
E pounds ........................... .07 .09
6 pounds ........................... .08 .10
7 pounds ........................... .08 .11
8 pounds ........................... .09 .12
9 pounds ........................... .09 .13
10 pounds ........................... .10 .14
11 pounds ........................... .10 .15
12 pounds ........................... .11 .16
13 pounds ........................... .11 .17
14 pounds ........................... .12 .18
15 pounds ............................ .12 .19
16 pounds ........................... .13 .20
17 pounds ........................... .13 .21
18 pounds ........................... .14 .22
19 pounds ........................... .14 .23
20 pounds ........................... .15 .24
note — The rate for local delivery applies to all matter mailed at' a city carrier office, or at any point within its delivery limits, for delivery by carriers from that office. The rate for local delivery applies also to all parcels mailed at a post office from which a rural route starts, for delivery on such route, or mailed at any point on such route for delivery at any other point thereon, or at the office from which the route starts, or on any rural route starting there from, and on all matter mailed at any office for local delivery.
The pound rates of postage for the third, fourth, fifth. sixth, seventh and eighth zones are as
follow
3d 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Zone Zone Zone Zone Zone Zone
1 pound . . .... $0.07 $0.08 $0.09 $0.10 $0.11 $0.12
2 pounds . . .. 12 .14 .16 .19 .21 .24
3 pounds . . .. .17 .20 .23 .28 .31 .36
4 pounds . . . . .22 .26 .30 .37 .41 .48
5 pounds . . . .27 .32 .37 .46 .51 .60
6 pounds . . . .32 .38 .44 .55 .61 .72
7 pounds . . . .37 .44 .51 .64 .71 .84
8 pounds . . . .42 .50 .58 .73 .81 .96
9 pounds . . . .47 .56 .65 .82 .91 1.08
10 pounds . . . .52 .62 .72 .91 1.01 1.20
11 pounds . . . .57 .68 .79 1.00 1.11 1.32
Rates to Alaska, Etc.
The rate on parcels for Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippine Islands, Guam, the United States Postal Agency at Shanghai (China), Tutuila (Samoa), and the Canal Zone (except for parcels weighing four ounces or less, on which the rate is one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof) is twelve cents for the first pound and twelve cents for each additional pound or fraction thereof.
note — Parcels for the Canal Zone must be accompanied with a customs declaration.
Special Rate lot Seeds, Cuttings, Bulbs, Etc..
Seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots, scions and plants are matter of fourth class, but are chargeable with the special rate of postage of one cent for each two ounces or fraction thereof, regardless of distance.
Samples of wheat or other grain in its natural condition, potatoes, beans, peas, chestnuts, acorns, etc., when intended for planting must be prepaid at the special rate of postage prescribed in the preceding paragraph, but when sent for purposes other than planting the parcel post rates apply.
Limit of Weight and Size
If a parcel exceeds the limit of weight stated on preceding page, or is greater in size than seventy-two inches in length and girth combined, it must be refused, no matter how small the excess may be in either case.
The law prescribes that a package to be admitted to the parcel post shall not exceed seventy-two inches in combined length and girth. In measuring the length the greatest distance in a straight line between the two ends of the parcel shall be taken, while the girth is the actual measurement by a tape encircling the parcel at its thickest part.
A parcel not more than 3 feet 6 inches in length may measure as much as 2 feet 6 inches in girth, or around its thickest part. A shorter parcel may be thicker; thus, if it measures no more than 3 feet in length it may measure as much as 3 feet in girth, or around its thickest part. Measurements can be made by means of a six-foot tape line. So much of the tape as is not used in measuring the length is the measure of the maximum girth permissible.
In addition to the name and address of the sender, which is required, it is permissible to write or print on the covering of a parcel, or on a tag or label attached to it, the occupation of the sender, and to indicate in a small space by means of marks, letters, numbers, names or other brief description, the character of the parcel, but ample space must be left on the address side for the full address in legible characters and for the necessary postage stamps. Inscriptions such as "Merry Christmas," "Please do not open until Christmas," "Happy New Year," "With best wishes," and the like, may be placed on the covering of the parcel in such manner as not to interfere with the address.
When it, is desired to send merchandise as first-class matter, the packages should be sealed or otherwise closed against inspection, in order to avoid any confusion in the mails as to their proper classification.
In view, of the provision for the insurance of fourth-class mail and the furnishing of receipts for such mail when insured, the necessity for registration is removed and therefore fourth-class matter for domestic destinations is not admitted to the registered mail.
A mailable parcel will be accorded the usual special delivery service when a special delivery stamp or ten cents in ordinarystamps are affixed thereto in addition to the parcel-post postage. When ordinary stamps are used the words "SpecialDelivery" must be placed on the wrapper.
Canada, Cuba, Mexico and the Republic of Panama
Packages of fourth class matter for Canada, Cuba, Mexico and Panama, not exceeding four ounces in weight, are subject to the rate of one cent for each ounce or fraction of an ounce. Those weighing over four ounces are subject to the rate of twelve cents a pound or fraction thereof. Packages for Canada and Cuba must not exceed four (4) pounds six (6) ounces in weight. To Mexico and Panama parcels weighing up to eleven (11) pounds may be sent under the terms of the (foreign) parcel post conventions between those countries and the United States. Customs declarations must be sent with all parcels for Mexico and Panama.
Parcels for these or other foreign countries can not be insured, but may be registered.
Packing of Liquids, Fragile and Perishable Articles
For information regarding unmailable matter and regulations as to packing of liquids, fragile and perishable articles, also those which, unless properly protected, are liable to injure another or damage the mails, and for information relative to insurance on parcels and collect on delivery service apply to any local postmaster for Postal Department circulars.
I hope you enjoyed this article and found it informative. This article is 94 years old, makes me feel alot younger.
Sleep safe, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Lets Be A Kid Just Once More
Hello,
Its Saturday night and all is quite. I sitting here thinking back to my early years, seems the older I get the more time I spend thinking of the good old days. They always seem good when you are reminiscing and living it all over again. But any way, I was thinking about when my cousins would come to visit and the fun we would have at night. We would spend time caching lighting bugs and putting them into a jar, boy they would light up. We would play hide and seek no matter how dark it was. My city cousins were a bit afraid of the dark, but I always felt safe and secure in the night. I started hunting raccoons with my dad when I was five, and the night just seemed to be my friend. Any way my cousins and I would play till our parents decided it was time to come in and settle down, which means we would give the house a good going over. We sometimes would get a sweet treat of home made ice cream and cookies. They were always the best.
That was the life no worries mate. You didn't care what was happening in the world because our world was all wrapped up in the farm. Growing up on the farm was great. The only thing I missed was not having any one to play with unless, as I stated before, my cousins would come for a visit. I started helping my dad on the farm when I was five. I remember driving the horses while dad forked the hay to build the load in the wagon. We had milk cows and it wasn't long before I was milking cows by hand. I had a grip that was like a vise, all from the hand milking I did. My dad worked afternoon shift in the steel mill, so he farmed in the morning till it was time to go to work. When I was still to young to do things on my own I spent my afternoons playing in the woods and fields. I could be Tarzan and find a grape vine to swing on and run through the woods to save Jane. Or I could be Huck Finn and gather things for a raft trip, which was in the middle of the woods but it was the mighty Mississippi to me. Or I would fashion a bow and arrows and be Robin Hood for the afternoon shooting arrows in the depth of Sherwood Forest. Some times I be the Lone Ranger riding to the rescue of some fair lass. I had the freedom and the imagination to be any thing I wanted to be. I loved those days and the freedom that came with them. For as long as I was being some famous person I was never alone.
Even today as old as I am I still can feel the excitement I felt back then. I still am a kid at heart and love every minute of it. And if you don't believe that you should see me at Christmas time. Some times I think God gave me grand kids just so I would have someone to play with. He knows our needs better than we do and is delighted to give them to us.
If we can put away all the adult hang ups of anger, bitterness, revenge, depression and a big one regret. And just for a little while act like a kid again and just have some pure fun with good doses of laughter. And maybe when no one is looking be a super hero and save the world from the great villain of all time and end up with the fair lady, if you are a fair lady, a fair gentleman. I think a little r&r of this nature would go a long way. Who knows, maybe add a few years to the life we have, may God bless you and yours.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Its Saturday night and all is quite. I sitting here thinking back to my early years, seems the older I get the more time I spend thinking of the good old days. They always seem good when you are reminiscing and living it all over again. But any way, I was thinking about when my cousins would come to visit and the fun we would have at night. We would spend time caching lighting bugs and putting them into a jar, boy they would light up. We would play hide and seek no matter how dark it was. My city cousins were a bit afraid of the dark, but I always felt safe and secure in the night. I started hunting raccoons with my dad when I was five, and the night just seemed to be my friend. Any way my cousins and I would play till our parents decided it was time to come in and settle down, which means we would give the house a good going over. We sometimes would get a sweet treat of home made ice cream and cookies. They were always the best.
That was the life no worries mate. You didn't care what was happening in the world because our world was all wrapped up in the farm. Growing up on the farm was great. The only thing I missed was not having any one to play with unless, as I stated before, my cousins would come for a visit. I started helping my dad on the farm when I was five. I remember driving the horses while dad forked the hay to build the load in the wagon. We had milk cows and it wasn't long before I was milking cows by hand. I had a grip that was like a vise, all from the hand milking I did. My dad worked afternoon shift in the steel mill, so he farmed in the morning till it was time to go to work. When I was still to young to do things on my own I spent my afternoons playing in the woods and fields. I could be Tarzan and find a grape vine to swing on and run through the woods to save Jane. Or I could be Huck Finn and gather things for a raft trip, which was in the middle of the woods but it was the mighty Mississippi to me. Or I would fashion a bow and arrows and be Robin Hood for the afternoon shooting arrows in the depth of Sherwood Forest. Some times I be the Lone Ranger riding to the rescue of some fair lass. I had the freedom and the imagination to be any thing I wanted to be. I loved those days and the freedom that came with them. For as long as I was being some famous person I was never alone.
Even today as old as I am I still can feel the excitement I felt back then. I still am a kid at heart and love every minute of it. And if you don't believe that you should see me at Christmas time. Some times I think God gave me grand kids just so I would have someone to play with. He knows our needs better than we do and is delighted to give them to us.
If we can put away all the adult hang ups of anger, bitterness, revenge, depression and a big one regret. And just for a little while act like a kid again and just have some pure fun with good doses of laughter. And maybe when no one is looking be a super hero and save the world from the great villain of all time and end up with the fair lady, if you are a fair lady, a fair gentleman. I think a little r&r of this nature would go a long way. Who knows, maybe add a few years to the life we have, may God bless you and yours.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Hello, this offering is from an old book on civil government that was published in the year of 1890. At that time all students were required to learn how their government worked and how it was set up. I found it to be very instructive and a learning experience.
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY
The creation of a federal judiciary was the second principal feature in the Constitution, which transformed our country from a loose confederation into a federal nation, from a Band-of-States into a Banded-State. We have seen that the American people were already somewhat familiar with the method of testing the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter brought before the courts. In the case of a conflict between state law and federal law, the only practicable peaceful solution is that which is reached through a judicial decision. The federal authority also needs the machinery of courts in order to enforce its own decrees.
The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, and district courts. At present the supreme court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the city of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of October. Each of these nine judges is also presiding judge of a circuit court. The area of the United States, not including the territories, is divided into nine circuits, and in each circuit the presiding judge is assisted by special circuit judges. The circuits are divided into districts, seventy-two in all, and in each of these there is a special district judge. The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a state is one district, but populous states with much business are divided into two or even three districts. “The circuit courts sit in the several districts of each circuit successively, and the law requires that each justice of the supreme court shall sit in each district of his circuit at least once every two years." * District judges are not confined to their own districts; they may upon occasion exchange districts as ministers exchange pulpits. A district judge may, if need be, act as a circuit judge, as a major may command a regiment. All federal judges are appointed by the president, with the consent of the Senate, to serve during good behaviour. Each district has its district attorney, whose business is to prosecute offenders against the federal laws and to conduct civil cases in which the national government is either plaintiff or defendant. Each district has also its marshal, who has the same functions under the federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The procedure of the federal court usually follows that of the courts of the state in which it is sitting.
The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases: (1) those which come before it " because of the nature of the questions involved: for instance, admiralty and maritime cases, navigable waters being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal authorities, and cases arising out of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States or out of conflicting grants made by different states "; (2) those which come before it " because of the nature of the parties to the suit" such as cases affecting the ministers of foreign powers or suits between citizens of different states.
The division of jurisdiction between the upper and lower federal courts is determined chiefly by the size and importance of the cases. In cases where a state or a foreign minister is a party the supreme court has original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate jurisdiction, and " any case which involves the interpretation of the Constitution can be taken to the supreme court, however small the sum in dispute." If a law of any state or of the United States is decided by the supreme court to be in violation of the Constitution, it instantly becomes void and of no effect. In this supreme exercise of jurisdiction, our highest federal tribunal is unlike any other tribunal known to history. The supreme court is the most original of all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, and for its exalted character and priceless services it is an institution of which Americans may well be proud.
I thought this decision of the court would be good reading too.
United States Supreme Court (February 29, 1892), in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 US 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226, Justice David Josiah Brewer rendered the high Court's decision:
No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.
The commission to Christopher Columbus...[recited] that "it is hoped that by God's assistance some of the continents and islands in the ocean will be discovered...."
The first colonial grant made to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584...and the grant authorizing him to enact statutes for the government of the proposed colony provided that they "be not against the true Christian faith...."
The first charter of Virginia, granted by King James I in 1606...commenced the grant in these words: "...in propagating of Christian Religion to such People as yet live in Darkness...."
Language of similar import may be found in the subsequent charters of that colony...in 1609 and 1611; and the same is true of the various charters granted to the other colonies. In language more or less emphatic is the establishment of the Christian religion declared to be one of the purposes of the grant. The celebrated compact made by the Pilgrims in the Mayflower, 1620, recites: "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia...."
The fundamental orders of Connecticut, under which a provisional government was instituted in 1638-1639,commence with this declaration: "...And well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union...there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God...to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess...of the said gospel is now practiced amongst us."
In the charter of privileges granted by William Penn to the province of Pennsylvania, in 1701, it is recited: "...no people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyment of civil liberties, if abridged of...their religious profession and worship...."
Coming nearer to the present time, the Declaration of Independence recognizes the presence of the Divine inhuman affairs in these words:"
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights....appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions....And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."...
We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth...because of a general recognition of this truth [that we are a Christian nation], the question has seldom been presented to the courts....
There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people.
While because of a general recognition of this truth the question has seldom been presented to the courts, yet we find that in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, it was decided that, Christianity, general Christianity, is, and always has been, a part of the common law....not Christianity with an established church...but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all men.
And in The People v. Ruggles, Chancellor Kent, the great commentator on American law, speaking as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, said:"
The people of this State, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity, as the rule of their faith and practice....We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of those impostors [other religions]."
And in the famous case of Vidal v. Girard's Executors, this Court...observed:"
It is also said, and truly, that the Christian religion is a part of the common law...."
If we pass beyond these matters to a view of American life as expressed by its laws, its business, its custom sand its society, we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. Among other matters note the following: The form of oath universally prevailing, concluding with an appeal to the Almighty; the custom of opening sessions of all deliberative bodies and most conventions with prayer; the prefatory words of all wills, "In the name of God, amen"; the laws respecting the observance of the Sabbath, with the general cessation of all secular business, and the closing of courts, legislatures, and other similar public assemblies on that day; the churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices;the gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe.
These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation....we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth.
The happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality.
Religion, morality, and knowledge [are] necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind.
A commentary on the 1892 case Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, summarized:
Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. The End
A lot has changed since then. We need to learn more about our government and what our founding fathers went through to give us this priceless jewel.
All is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY
The creation of a federal judiciary was the second principal feature in the Constitution, which transformed our country from a loose confederation into a federal nation, from a Band-of-States into a Banded-State. We have seen that the American people were already somewhat familiar with the method of testing the constitutionality of a law by getting the matter brought before the courts. In the case of a conflict between state law and federal law, the only practicable peaceful solution is that which is reached through a judicial decision. The federal authority also needs the machinery of courts in order to enforce its own decrees.
The federal judiciary consists of a supreme court, circuit courts, and district courts. At present the supreme court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. It holds annual sessions in the city of Washington, beginning on the second Monday of October. Each of these nine judges is also presiding judge of a circuit court. The area of the United States, not including the territories, is divided into nine circuits, and in each circuit the presiding judge is assisted by special circuit judges. The circuits are divided into districts, seventy-two in all, and in each of these there is a special district judge. The districts never cross state lines. Sometimes a state is one district, but populous states with much business are divided into two or even three districts. “The circuit courts sit in the several districts of each circuit successively, and the law requires that each justice of the supreme court shall sit in each district of his circuit at least once every two years." * District judges are not confined to their own districts; they may upon occasion exchange districts as ministers exchange pulpits. A district judge may, if need be, act as a circuit judge, as a major may command a regiment. All federal judges are appointed by the president, with the consent of the Senate, to serve during good behaviour. Each district has its district attorney, whose business is to prosecute offenders against the federal laws and to conduct civil cases in which the national government is either plaintiff or defendant. Each district has also its marshal, who has the same functions under the federal court as the sheriff under the state court. The procedure of the federal court usually follows that of the courts of the state in which it is sitting.
The federal jurisdiction covers two classes of cases: (1) those which come before it " because of the nature of the questions involved: for instance, admiralty and maritime cases, navigable waters being within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal authorities, and cases arising out of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States or out of conflicting grants made by different states "; (2) those which come before it " because of the nature of the parties to the suit" such as cases affecting the ministers of foreign powers or suits between citizens of different states.
The division of jurisdiction between the upper and lower federal courts is determined chiefly by the size and importance of the cases. In cases where a state or a foreign minister is a party the supreme court has original jurisdiction, in other cases it has appellate jurisdiction, and " any case which involves the interpretation of the Constitution can be taken to the supreme court, however small the sum in dispute." If a law of any state or of the United States is decided by the supreme court to be in violation of the Constitution, it instantly becomes void and of no effect. In this supreme exercise of jurisdiction, our highest federal tribunal is unlike any other tribunal known to history. The supreme court is the most original of all American institutions. It is peculiarly American, and for its exalted character and priceless services it is an institution of which Americans may well be proud.
I thought this decision of the court would be good reading too.
United States Supreme Court (February 29, 1892), in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 US 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226, Justice David Josiah Brewer rendered the high Court's decision:
No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.
The commission to Christopher Columbus...[recited] that "it is hoped that by God's assistance some of the continents and islands in the ocean will be discovered...."
The first colonial grant made to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584...and the grant authorizing him to enact statutes for the government of the proposed colony provided that they "be not against the true Christian faith...."
The first charter of Virginia, granted by King James I in 1606...commenced the grant in these words: "...in propagating of Christian Religion to such People as yet live in Darkness...."
Language of similar import may be found in the subsequent charters of that colony...in 1609 and 1611; and the same is true of the various charters granted to the other colonies. In language more or less emphatic is the establishment of the Christian religion declared to be one of the purposes of the grant. The celebrated compact made by the Pilgrims in the Mayflower, 1620, recites: "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia...."
The fundamental orders of Connecticut, under which a provisional government was instituted in 1638-1639,commence with this declaration: "...And well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union...there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God...to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess...of the said gospel is now practiced amongst us."
In the charter of privileges granted by William Penn to the province of Pennsylvania, in 1701, it is recited: "...no people can be truly happy, though under the greatest enjoyment of civil liberties, if abridged of...their religious profession and worship...."
Coming nearer to the present time, the Declaration of Independence recognizes the presence of the Divine inhuman affairs in these words:"
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights....appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions....And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."...
We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth...because of a general recognition of this truth [that we are a Christian nation], the question has seldom been presented to the courts....
There is no dissonance in these declarations. There is a universal language pervading them all, having one meaning; they affirm and reaffirm that this is a religious nation. These are not individual sayings, declarations of private persons: they are organic utterances; they speak the voice of the entire people.
While because of a general recognition of this truth the question has seldom been presented to the courts, yet we find that in Updegraph v. The Commonwealth, it was decided that, Christianity, general Christianity, is, and always has been, a part of the common law....not Christianity with an established church...but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all men.
And in The People v. Ruggles, Chancellor Kent, the great commentator on American law, speaking as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, said:"
The people of this State, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity, as the rule of their faith and practice....We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of those impostors [other religions]."
And in the famous case of Vidal v. Girard's Executors, this Court...observed:"
It is also said, and truly, that the Christian religion is a part of the common law...."
If we pass beyond these matters to a view of American life as expressed by its laws, its business, its custom sand its society, we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. Among other matters note the following: The form of oath universally prevailing, concluding with an appeal to the Almighty; the custom of opening sessions of all deliberative bodies and most conventions with prayer; the prefatory words of all wills, "In the name of God, amen"; the laws respecting the observance of the Sabbath, with the general cessation of all secular business, and the closing of courts, legislatures, and other similar public assemblies on that day; the churches and church organizations which abound in every city, town and hamlet; the multitude of charitable organizations existing everywhere under Christian auspices;the gigantic missionary associations, with general support, and aiming to establish Christian missions in every quarter of the globe.
These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation....we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth.
The happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality.
Religion, morality, and knowledge [are] necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind.
A commentary on the 1892 case Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, summarized:
Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. The End
A lot has changed since then. We need to learn more about our government and what our founding fathers went through to give us this priceless jewel.
All is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Ballad of Carl and Ab And the Chicken Accelerator
Hello, I wrote this little diddy for a dear friend that I new when I was young and he was old. But his zest for life was something to behold. He gave me in sites into life that stay with me still. He was pure joy and sunshine. He was my friend, he was Ab.
The Ballad of Carl and Ab
And the Chicken Accelerator
It was the summer of nineteen and eighty-five,
At the tender age of twelve life was just coming alive.
I looked forward to the summer down on the farm,
With my Aunt and Uncle, to keep me from harm.
Ab had a friend that made it his home,
His name was Carl and he came all alone.
He had a dislike for kids, and I was at hand,
I did not call him Carl I just called him the man.
All went well for a short length of time,
The man did his thing and I did mine.
All was at peace they were fun filled glorious days,
I romped through the hills in the suns morning rays.
Everything changed at supper one night,
The talk turned to science and the wonders of flight.
Ab offered thoughts on what had the ability to fly,
The man gave a wink and said it was a bold faced lie.
They started to name all creatures of the air,
They went through each with considerable care.
Ab said design was what sent them on high,
The man allowed speed was what made them to fly.
Then a dispute arose between the two,
As to why a barn yard chicken never flew.
They decided to put it all to a test,
And I would be part of this elaborate quest.
On the following morning the sun rose brilliant and bright
Uncle Ab was gathering equipment; the man was not in sight.
They had worked out the details over a jug of old hoot,
The man suddenly appears with a chicken and a boot.
I knew not to question nor ask the reason why,
But with a jug of old hoot, more than the chicken would fly.
They did not seem to care as they worked through the day,
With that jug of old hoot even the flies would not stay.
As the day wore on they decided to call it a night,
They took their selected chicken and locked him up tight.
They laughed and snickered as they emptied the jug,
Filled with old hoot they even managed a hug.
The next day come and they were at it again,
I asked them if I should get them the jug from the bin.
They did not reply for a moment or two,
They both looked like they had a case of the flu.
Finally the man made a slow quivering reply,
No not now we have a chicken to fly.
His face was all wrinkly and pinched real tight,
I could tell by the smell it had been a tough night.
They worked at it steady for most of the day,
They looked real pale and had little to say.
The man swung the hammer a mighty big blow,
It glanced off his thumb and smashed his big toe.
He grabbed his thumb and squealed like a pig,
Then he impressed us all with a one footed jig.
He calmed down a might but his language was sharp,
I told him that was no way to be getting his harp.
His face got all red and he called me a bad name,
I backed away slowly and called him the same.
Uncle Ab’s head come up as he looked my way,
I took off to the house there was no reason to stay.
I thought I would get it when they finally come in,
But my luck was holding for they stopped by the bin.
We all sat at supper and started to eat,
I felt uneasy and squirmed in my seat.
Aunt Martha asked, are you alright sweet child,
I thought the man would go completely wild.
His face redden up as he swallowed his food,
As my courage came back I showed him my mood.
I asked my aunt what that bad word meant,
The answer she gave was just heaven sent.
Only a fool and a moron would use a word so vial,
I looked at the man and taunted him with a smile.
After the meal and we all settled down,
The man said thanks and headed to town.
The day wound down and so did I,
I went to bed wondering if a chicken could fly.
The day started early we were up with the sun,
They headed to the project, the chores were all done.
The man was all smiley he gave me no grief,
I pitched in to help with a sigh of relief.
The day wore on with the passing sun,
And they finally announced the project done.
Uncle Ab and the man, they smiled with pride,
They stood around where the chicken would ride.
I looked at the thing just scratching my head,
It’s a chicken accelerator is what they both said.
Uncle Ab explained to me just how it would work,
The whole thing would start with a mighty big jerk.
They took an old car that ran real smooth,
They set it on blocks so she could not move.
They took off the tires and laid them aside,
They attached a pulley where a belt would ride.
The belt drove a small pulley with incredible speed,
The pulley had spool that rope into it would feed.
The rope went to a pulley down by the lake,
And worked its way back to the boot anchored stake.
The pull rope was attached to the boot real strong,
The anchor rope to the stake was only so long.
With chicken in boot, they were shot into the sky,
The boot stopped short out the chicken would fly.
The whole thing seemed very reasonable at best,
Tomorrow was the day we would give her the test.
After the meal we gathered on the porch swing,
Anticipating just what tomorrow would bring.
The chores were all done as the sun was high,
We were at the accelerator with the chicken to fly.
Uncle Ab’s job was to take notes down by the lake,
The job of the man was chicken and boot at the stake.
They put me in the driver’s seat of that old car,
Without any wheels they new I wouldn’t get far.
They showed me the peddles, gear shift and clutch,
They showed me how to start her and run her and such.
They told me first gear was plenty we’ll need no more,
At the signal, pop the clutch and throttle to the floor.
All was now ready, everyone took their place,
I was playing in the car like I was in a big race.
I finally quit playing around and looking up in the sky,
What I didn’t realize then instead of first I had her in high.
The man and the chicken weren’t doing so well,
If he was throwing a sign it was sure hard to tell.
I watched the man close I didn’t want him to get sore,
I thought I saw the sign so punched her to the floor.
The roar of the engine she sounded like a jet,
The front of the man’s pants started to get wet.
They were all tangled up as they shot into the air,
The chicken trying to get in the boot through the man’s hair.
As they passed by so close I tried to behave,
I just smiled politely and gave them a wave.
The eyes of the man were filled with despair,
A frozen moment as to ask why he was there.
The chicken also was just looking for why,
As the man and chicken disappeared in the sky.
I was able to move quickly and watch their flight,
The chicken and the man held each other tight.
The screeching and wailing seemed to fill the air,
But they reached the lake with distance to spare.
They hit the water with amazing speed,
I laughed so hard that I nearly peed.
Because on impact a watery cloud arose,
Filled with feathers and pieces of the man’s clothes.
They first hit the water then cart wheeled high,
I could hear the screeching chicken above the man’s cry.
The chicken came lose from the force of the blow,
The clawing man was able to soon regain control.
At the second impact their bodies were hurled high,
The half clothed man and naked chicken trying to fly.
His wings were churning trying to grasp the air,
While the man’s flapping arms were pitiful to compare.
As they descended to the water with incredible force,
The chicken was a jockey the man was a horse.
As they went beneath the surface then squirted on out,
The man became the jockey and the chicken the mount.
As he skidded and bounded with athletic grace,
Sometimes on his butt then sometimes on his face.
With arms flailing and muttering horrible sounds,
Chicken and man embraced before hitting the ground.
As they rolled and rolled to the other side,
Minus not just a few feathers and a little hide.
They tumbled and tumbled and finally came to rest,
The lonely man with a chicken stuck to his chest.
As they gathered themselves up from the tangled debris,
First the man arose and then the chicken came free.
There they stood all wet in a sad and forlorn pose,
A naked chicken shivering and the man with no clothes.
As we got them back safely to the opposite shore,
The chicken was disoriented the man was just sore.
The chicken walked with a twitch in his gate,
The man looked at me with eyes full of hate.
Just before a terrible ruckus arose,
Uncle Ab arrived with an arm full of cloths.
The chicken just staggered to the barn in distress,
While the man wobbled around and continued to dress.
As we stood there in silence just wondering why,
Uncle Ab burst into laughter as tears filled his eye.
I backed away quickly to get out of sight,
I ran for the mediator with all of my might.
The mans face was all red as he put on his boot,
I come running back in time with a jug of old hoot.
They looked at the jug and then at the ground,
I new inside that they soon would pass it around.
They mellow out nicely though they slobbered a tad,
They soon were all happy rejoicing and glad.
I watched in awe as they keep passing the jug,
It would soon be to the point of generating a hug.
All is quiet as time has passed by,
There is no mention if a chicken can fly.
The man is very quite, moody at best,
Uncle Ab has decided to give it a rest.
As for the chicken his twitch has gone away,
He walks to the barn and no longer will sway.
I saw him one day looking up in the sky,
No longer wondering if a chicken could fly.
And the Chicken Accelerator
It was the summer of nineteen and eighty-five,
At the tender age of twelve life was just coming alive.
I looked forward to the summer down on the farm,
With my Aunt and Uncle, to keep me from harm.
Ab had a friend that made it his home,
His name was Carl and he came all alone.
He had a dislike for kids, and I was at hand,
I did not call him Carl I just called him the man.
All went well for a short length of time,
The man did his thing and I did mine.
All was at peace they were fun filled glorious days,
I romped through the hills in the suns morning rays.
Everything changed at supper one night,
The talk turned to science and the wonders of flight.
Ab offered thoughts on what had the ability to fly,
The man gave a wink and said it was a bold faced lie.
They started to name all creatures of the air,
They went through each with considerable care.
Ab said design was what sent them on high,
The man allowed speed was what made them to fly.
Then a dispute arose between the two,
As to why a barn yard chicken never flew.
They decided to put it all to a test,
And I would be part of this elaborate quest.
On the following morning the sun rose brilliant and bright
Uncle Ab was gathering equipment; the man was not in sight.
They had worked out the details over a jug of old hoot,
The man suddenly appears with a chicken and a boot.
I knew not to question nor ask the reason why,
But with a jug of old hoot, more than the chicken would fly.
They did not seem to care as they worked through the day,
With that jug of old hoot even the flies would not stay.
As the day wore on they decided to call it a night,
They took their selected chicken and locked him up tight.
They laughed and snickered as they emptied the jug,
Filled with old hoot they even managed a hug.
The next day come and they were at it again,
I asked them if I should get them the jug from the bin.
They did not reply for a moment or two,
They both looked like they had a case of the flu.
Finally the man made a slow quivering reply,
No not now we have a chicken to fly.
His face was all wrinkly and pinched real tight,
I could tell by the smell it had been a tough night.
They worked at it steady for most of the day,
They looked real pale and had little to say.
The man swung the hammer a mighty big blow,
It glanced off his thumb and smashed his big toe.
He grabbed his thumb and squealed like a pig,
Then he impressed us all with a one footed jig.
He calmed down a might but his language was sharp,
I told him that was no way to be getting his harp.
His face got all red and he called me a bad name,
I backed away slowly and called him the same.
Uncle Ab’s head come up as he looked my way,
I took off to the house there was no reason to stay.
I thought I would get it when they finally come in,
But my luck was holding for they stopped by the bin.
We all sat at supper and started to eat,
I felt uneasy and squirmed in my seat.
Aunt Martha asked, are you alright sweet child,
I thought the man would go completely wild.
His face redden up as he swallowed his food,
As my courage came back I showed him my mood.
I asked my aunt what that bad word meant,
The answer she gave was just heaven sent.
Only a fool and a moron would use a word so vial,
I looked at the man and taunted him with a smile.
After the meal and we all settled down,
The man said thanks and headed to town.
The day wound down and so did I,
I went to bed wondering if a chicken could fly.
The day started early we were up with the sun,
They headed to the project, the chores were all done.
The man was all smiley he gave me no grief,
I pitched in to help with a sigh of relief.
The day wore on with the passing sun,
And they finally announced the project done.
Uncle Ab and the man, they smiled with pride,
They stood around where the chicken would ride.
I looked at the thing just scratching my head,
It’s a chicken accelerator is what they both said.
Uncle Ab explained to me just how it would work,
The whole thing would start with a mighty big jerk.
They took an old car that ran real smooth,
They set it on blocks so she could not move.
They took off the tires and laid them aside,
They attached a pulley where a belt would ride.
The belt drove a small pulley with incredible speed,
The pulley had spool that rope into it would feed.
The rope went to a pulley down by the lake,
And worked its way back to the boot anchored stake.
The pull rope was attached to the boot real strong,
The anchor rope to the stake was only so long.
With chicken in boot, they were shot into the sky,
The boot stopped short out the chicken would fly.
The whole thing seemed very reasonable at best,
Tomorrow was the day we would give her the test.
After the meal we gathered on the porch swing,
Anticipating just what tomorrow would bring.
The chores were all done as the sun was high,
We were at the accelerator with the chicken to fly.
Uncle Ab’s job was to take notes down by the lake,
The job of the man was chicken and boot at the stake.
They put me in the driver’s seat of that old car,
Without any wheels they new I wouldn’t get far.
They showed me the peddles, gear shift and clutch,
They showed me how to start her and run her and such.
They told me first gear was plenty we’ll need no more,
At the signal, pop the clutch and throttle to the floor.
All was now ready, everyone took their place,
I was playing in the car like I was in a big race.
I finally quit playing around and looking up in the sky,
What I didn’t realize then instead of first I had her in high.
The man and the chicken weren’t doing so well,
If he was throwing a sign it was sure hard to tell.
I watched the man close I didn’t want him to get sore,
I thought I saw the sign so punched her to the floor.
The roar of the engine she sounded like a jet,
The front of the man’s pants started to get wet.
They were all tangled up as they shot into the air,
The chicken trying to get in the boot through the man’s hair.
As they passed by so close I tried to behave,
I just smiled politely and gave them a wave.
The eyes of the man were filled with despair,
A frozen moment as to ask why he was there.
The chicken also was just looking for why,
As the man and chicken disappeared in the sky.
I was able to move quickly and watch their flight,
The chicken and the man held each other tight.
The screeching and wailing seemed to fill the air,
But they reached the lake with distance to spare.
They hit the water with amazing speed,
I laughed so hard that I nearly peed.
Because on impact a watery cloud arose,
Filled with feathers and pieces of the man’s clothes.
They first hit the water then cart wheeled high,
I could hear the screeching chicken above the man’s cry.
The chicken came lose from the force of the blow,
The clawing man was able to soon regain control.
At the second impact their bodies were hurled high,
The half clothed man and naked chicken trying to fly.
His wings were churning trying to grasp the air,
While the man’s flapping arms were pitiful to compare.
As they descended to the water with incredible force,
The chicken was a jockey the man was a horse.
As they went beneath the surface then squirted on out,
The man became the jockey and the chicken the mount.
As he skidded and bounded with athletic grace,
Sometimes on his butt then sometimes on his face.
With arms flailing and muttering horrible sounds,
Chicken and man embraced before hitting the ground.
As they rolled and rolled to the other side,
Minus not just a few feathers and a little hide.
They tumbled and tumbled and finally came to rest,
The lonely man with a chicken stuck to his chest.
As they gathered themselves up from the tangled debris,
First the man arose and then the chicken came free.
There they stood all wet in a sad and forlorn pose,
A naked chicken shivering and the man with no clothes.
As we got them back safely to the opposite shore,
The chicken was disoriented the man was just sore.
The chicken walked with a twitch in his gate,
The man looked at me with eyes full of hate.
Just before a terrible ruckus arose,
Uncle Ab arrived with an arm full of cloths.
The chicken just staggered to the barn in distress,
While the man wobbled around and continued to dress.
As we stood there in silence just wondering why,
Uncle Ab burst into laughter as tears filled his eye.
I backed away quickly to get out of sight,
I ran for the mediator with all of my might.
The mans face was all red as he put on his boot,
I come running back in time with a jug of old hoot.
They looked at the jug and then at the ground,
I new inside that they soon would pass it around.
They mellow out nicely though they slobbered a tad,
They soon were all happy rejoicing and glad.
I watched in awe as they keep passing the jug,
It would soon be to the point of generating a hug.
All is quiet as time has passed by,
There is no mention if a chicken can fly.
The man is very quite, moody at best,
Uncle Ab has decided to give it a rest.
As for the chicken his twitch has gone away,
He walks to the barn and no longer will sway.
I saw him one day looking up in the sky,
No longer wondering if a chicken could fly.
I hope you enjoyed this piece and it lightens your load just a tad.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Globe Trotting Five – The Supreme Court Rules Again
Hello, the head line today from http://www.worldnetdaily.com reads as follows;
Supreme Court rejects death penalty for raping children
Majority in 5-4 vote says it violates ban on cruel and unusual punishment!
"The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.
Justice Samuel Alito in his dissent,
"The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave," Alito wrote. "It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty."
There is a saying that goes, “evil will wax worse and worse as time goes on”, and it has. I say, arrogance has seen no height that it can not scale, nor no life it finds sacred, except the evil that waxes worse and worse.
There seems to a trend by our globe trotting five to lift the rights of the criminal and illegal individuals. While they lower the right of law abiding US citizens. They, the globe trotting five, have elevated their position to one of exalted absolutism. Once a person or persons reaches a state of life where they feel above and beyond any other individual human, the next logical step up is into the realm of the godly. They may well find at that point there just might be someone there before them and He may not be open to stepping aside for five would be apprentices.
It is the people that should and must insert their will and control into this ascending covey of would be immortals. I truly appreciate the words of President Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln said;
“I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court....At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of the eminent tribunal....”
This is a lesson for us as a people on how important it is to see proper individuals are appointed to this position. It is a life long appointment and should not be taken lightly. The ramifications of a bad appointee can be devastating. The ramifications of five bad appointees can be a freedom and liberty disconnect. When the Supreme Court moves from serving to ruling then we go from ruling to serving. In the bible they call that a doulos, which is Greek for a bond servant.
Friend, we need to study our history especially the history of the beginning of our government to understand the position that each branch of government has and their boundaries. And we need to exert pressure on congress to rein in the court and to make sure all future appointees fit into the guide lines of the Constitution of the United States of America. We should not let this slide by. That’s all for now my friend
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Supreme Court rejects death penalty for raping children
Majority in 5-4 vote says it violates ban on cruel and unusual punishment!
"The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. His four liberal colleagues joined him, while the four more conservative justices dissented.
Justice Samuel Alito in his dissent,
"The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave," Alito wrote. "It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty."
There is a saying that goes, “evil will wax worse and worse as time goes on”, and it has. I say, arrogance has seen no height that it can not scale, nor no life it finds sacred, except the evil that waxes worse and worse.
There seems to a trend by our globe trotting five to lift the rights of the criminal and illegal individuals. While they lower the right of law abiding US citizens. They, the globe trotting five, have elevated their position to one of exalted absolutism. Once a person or persons reaches a state of life where they feel above and beyond any other individual human, the next logical step up is into the realm of the godly. They may well find at that point there just might be someone there before them and He may not be open to stepping aside for five would be apprentices.
It is the people that should and must insert their will and control into this ascending covey of would be immortals. I truly appreciate the words of President Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln said;
“I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court....At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of the eminent tribunal....”
This is a lesson for us as a people on how important it is to see proper individuals are appointed to this position. It is a life long appointment and should not be taken lightly. The ramifications of a bad appointee can be devastating. The ramifications of five bad appointees can be a freedom and liberty disconnect. When the Supreme Court moves from serving to ruling then we go from ruling to serving. In the bible they call that a doulos, which is Greek for a bond servant.
Friend, we need to study our history especially the history of the beginning of our government to understand the position that each branch of government has and their boundaries. And we need to exert pressure on congress to rein in the court and to make sure all future appointees fit into the guide lines of the Constitution of the United States of America. We should not let this slide by. That’s all for now my friend
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Who Has Dominion Over America, We The People, Or the Environmentalists
Hello, the debate is on full force, should we drill or should we not drill? First there is no argument that we have plenty of oil in the ground waiting for us. And I for one wish it was in tankers heading for some brand new refineries. But, that is not the case. Instead we now have to get a co-signer to fill our cars up with gas, just peachy. What in the world brought us to this predicament anyway? Congress had to know this was coming or did they? Just maybe they were so busy playing politics that they missed the boat. I think it is very possible that some of our politicians had a great desire for power and money to the detriment of the people. We have not had a new refinery built in this country for over thirty years, that’s wrong.
We must hold our elected officials to task in this matter. They must answer for their lack of insight and, or their thirst for power and money. It would seem that we have a certain few who willingly dance to the tune of the environmentalists to the abandonment of the people.
These environmentalists would have us without the combustible engine; I believe that was in Al Gore’s book. They are so taken up with the idea that we are going to totally destroy this country that they would see us become a second rate nation. They would have us like a bunch twinkly toe fairies tra-la-laing through a pristine spotless environment with out a care in the world. Finally reaching the utopia that was promised. But our strength as a nation would seep away till we would become vulnerable and week and wide open for some muscled up two by twice dictator to step in and have it all. We would wake up and open our eyes to drilling and mining all over this land and watch our land devastated by people that don’t care.
I believe that God gave man dominion over the land and, yes, the animals too. Now that does not mean we are to abuse, misuse, mistreat, or tear into the land with reckless abandon. But we should and must extract what we need to survive. We should take care and do it right for our children’s sake and all of our posterity yet to come. This can be done and should be.
The argument for thirty plus years has been, you will ruin the environment and we will all die. I would suggest that if they would have been allowed to drill from the get go we would be just fine environmentally and supplied with enough oil. My reason is, the environmentalists would have been breathing down the neck of the oil drillers, and if one little drop would of ended up where it shouldn't be, there would have been an explosion of I told you so’s and screams of we are all going to die or something like that. The point is the monitoring would have been more that enough to assure save and clean production.
I have heard some of the lamest excuses of why we are not drilling. With the band on off shore drilling and other sites that contain oil, we have reached an inevitable situation. As they say the chickens have come home to roost. And those who stood in the way of drilling and building refineries must give an account of this and not just point their finger at someone else to blame. Even the Governor of Alaska was in the news with this, “Alaska Governor to Sen. Reid: Start drilling in ANWR! Sarah Palin confronts Dem majority leader, asks, 'What will it take' for Congress to act?” There must be action now. They say that even if we start drilling today it would take years before we would see sufficient oil in the market and the lowering of prices. But, that is not so, because once the band is lifted the speculators and the ones that buy oil would be relieved that the supply would increase and the price would immediately start coming down. That’s called economics.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of the environment. But it needs to be aligned with a little common sense. We should and we must be good stewards of the land because it’s the right thing to do. We can have what we need and still have a beautiful, clean and safe land in which to live.
We need to put our heads together and work towards self sufficiency in our oil supply. We can do this if we will just come together and work shoulder to shoulder. Our future depends on it. The politician need to refrain from trying to use this situation to advance their party or them selves. This is a disgrace and shame is upon them that brought us to this point. Lets get it right and do what must be done, God bless America.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
We must hold our elected officials to task in this matter. They must answer for their lack of insight and, or their thirst for power and money. It would seem that we have a certain few who willingly dance to the tune of the environmentalists to the abandonment of the people.
These environmentalists would have us without the combustible engine; I believe that was in Al Gore’s book. They are so taken up with the idea that we are going to totally destroy this country that they would see us become a second rate nation. They would have us like a bunch twinkly toe fairies tra-la-laing through a pristine spotless environment with out a care in the world. Finally reaching the utopia that was promised. But our strength as a nation would seep away till we would become vulnerable and week and wide open for some muscled up two by twice dictator to step in and have it all. We would wake up and open our eyes to drilling and mining all over this land and watch our land devastated by people that don’t care.
I believe that God gave man dominion over the land and, yes, the animals too. Now that does not mean we are to abuse, misuse, mistreat, or tear into the land with reckless abandon. But we should and must extract what we need to survive. We should take care and do it right for our children’s sake and all of our posterity yet to come. This can be done and should be.
The argument for thirty plus years has been, you will ruin the environment and we will all die. I would suggest that if they would have been allowed to drill from the get go we would be just fine environmentally and supplied with enough oil. My reason is, the environmentalists would have been breathing down the neck of the oil drillers, and if one little drop would of ended up where it shouldn't be, there would have been an explosion of I told you so’s and screams of we are all going to die or something like that. The point is the monitoring would have been more that enough to assure save and clean production.
I have heard some of the lamest excuses of why we are not drilling. With the band on off shore drilling and other sites that contain oil, we have reached an inevitable situation. As they say the chickens have come home to roost. And those who stood in the way of drilling and building refineries must give an account of this and not just point their finger at someone else to blame. Even the Governor of Alaska was in the news with this, “Alaska Governor to Sen. Reid: Start drilling in ANWR! Sarah Palin confronts Dem majority leader, asks, 'What will it take' for Congress to act?” There must be action now. They say that even if we start drilling today it would take years before we would see sufficient oil in the market and the lowering of prices. But, that is not so, because once the band is lifted the speculators and the ones that buy oil would be relieved that the supply would increase and the price would immediately start coming down. That’s called economics.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of the environment. But it needs to be aligned with a little common sense. We should and we must be good stewards of the land because it’s the right thing to do. We can have what we need and still have a beautiful, clean and safe land in which to live.
We need to put our heads together and work towards self sufficiency in our oil supply. We can do this if we will just come together and work shoulder to shoulder. Our future depends on it. The politician need to refrain from trying to use this situation to advance their party or them selves. This is a disgrace and shame is upon them that brought us to this point. Lets get it right and do what must be done, God bless America.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Monday, June 23, 2008
Our Founding Fathers New Their Bible – Do We?
Hello, I have been hearing comments about what people feel about religion. Some of these comments come from poles taken and questionnaires from the people in this country. After reading and contemplating the results I can come to no other conclusion than that our fellow citizens are bible illiterate. With no clue as to what it really says. And that is to bad because it was not always so. Our Founding Father had a grasp of the scriptures that would put most of today's preachers to shame in comparison. On our farm web site we have a section on our Founding Fathers, their quotes and our national documents, plus a lot more. How much did our Founding Fathers know about the Holy Bible, the following came from the CD called, "AMERICAN QUOTATIONS" by William J. Federer.
Holy Bible (during the period 1760-1805), was the source for 34 % of all quotations cited by our Founding Fathers. After reviewing an estimated 15,000 items, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books, monographs, etc., Professors Donald S. Lutz and Charles S. Hyneman, in their work "The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought" published in the American Political Science Review, revealed that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed 34 % of all quotations used by our Founding Fathers.
The other main sources cited include: Baron Charles Montesquieu 8.3 %, Sir William Blackstone 7.9 %, John Locke 2.9 %, David Hume 2.7 %, Plutarch 1.5 %, Beccaria 1.5 %, Trenchard and Gordon 1.4 %, Delolme 1.4 %, Samuel von Pufendorf 1.3 %, Cicero 1.2 %, Hugo Grotius .9 %, Shakespeare .8 %, Vattel .5 %, etc. These additional sources as well took 60 % of their quotes directly from the Bible. Direct and indirect citations combined reveal that 94 % of all quotations referenced by the Founding Fathers are derived from the Bible.
The following is from a speech given by the Honorable Benjamin Franklin. This speech came at a time when the Constitutional Convention was about to come unglued to say the least. God always raises up the right man, at the right time, in the right place. And we call it America, here is his speech, notice I have made bold the references to God, Prayer and the Scriptures. There is a prelude to the speech and a follow up as to what occurred after the speech.
On Thursday, June 28, 1787, Benjamin Franklin delivered a speech to the Constitutional Convention, which was embroiled in a debate over how each state was to be represented in the new government. The hostile feelings, created by the smaller states being pitted against the larger states, was so bitter that some delegates actually left the Convention.
Benjamin Franklin, being the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania, hosted the rest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being the senior member of the convention at 81 years of age, he commanded the respect of all present, and, as recorded in James Madison's detailed records, rose to speak in this moment of crisis:
Mr. President:
The small progress we have made after 4 or 5 weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other - our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding.
We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding?
In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. - Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending Providence in our favor.
To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.
And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of
establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.
The response of the convention to Dr. Benjamin Franklin's speech was reported by General Jonathan Dayton, the delegate from New Jersey and later Speaker of the House of Representatives, to William Steele:
The Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the address; nor were the members of the convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority, even greater that we may suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman senate!
Following Franklin's historical address, Roger Sherman of Connecticut seconded his motion. Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia moved:
That a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on the 4th of July, the anniversary of Independence; & thenceforward prayers be used in ye Convention every morning. [Dr. Franklin seconded this motion.]
The clergy of the city responded to this request and effected a profound change in the convention, as noted by General Jonathan Dayton when they reconvened, July 2, 1787:
We assembled again; and...every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated.
I have read this many time and I still get the chills reading it. It is one of the most powerful events in the birthing of our nation.
We need to follow in their foot steps and become students of the Holy Bible and reap the benefits of it. As I have said in other posts, we must recapture the power of who we were as a people. Our Founding Fathers were Called for a purpose and that Call is still relevant today, the Call has never been revoked. We need to understand it and embrace it.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Holy Bible (during the period 1760-1805), was the source for 34 % of all quotations cited by our Founding Fathers. After reviewing an estimated 15,000 items, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books, monographs, etc., Professors Donald S. Lutz and Charles S. Hyneman, in their work "The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought" published in the American Political Science Review, revealed that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed 34 % of all quotations used by our Founding Fathers.
The other main sources cited include: Baron Charles Montesquieu 8.3 %, Sir William Blackstone 7.9 %, John Locke 2.9 %, David Hume 2.7 %, Plutarch 1.5 %, Beccaria 1.5 %, Trenchard and Gordon 1.4 %, Delolme 1.4 %, Samuel von Pufendorf 1.3 %, Cicero 1.2 %, Hugo Grotius .9 %, Shakespeare .8 %, Vattel .5 %, etc. These additional sources as well took 60 % of their quotes directly from the Bible. Direct and indirect citations combined reveal that 94 % of all quotations referenced by the Founding Fathers are derived from the Bible.
The following is from a speech given by the Honorable Benjamin Franklin. This speech came at a time when the Constitutional Convention was about to come unglued to say the least. God always raises up the right man, at the right time, in the right place. And we call it America, here is his speech, notice I have made bold the references to God, Prayer and the Scriptures. There is a prelude to the speech and a follow up as to what occurred after the speech.
On Thursday, June 28, 1787, Benjamin Franklin delivered a speech to the Constitutional Convention, which was embroiled in a debate over how each state was to be represented in the new government. The hostile feelings, created by the smaller states being pitted against the larger states, was so bitter that some delegates actually left the Convention.
Benjamin Franklin, being the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania, hosted the rest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being the senior member of the convention at 81 years of age, he commanded the respect of all present, and, as recorded in James Madison's detailed records, rose to speak in this moment of crisis:
Mr. President:
The small progress we have made after 4 or 5 weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other - our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding.
We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which, having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding?
In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. - Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending Providence in our favor.
To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.
And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of
establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move - that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.
The response of the convention to Dr. Benjamin Franklin's speech was reported by General Jonathan Dayton, the delegate from New Jersey and later Speaker of the House of Representatives, to William Steele:
The Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the address; nor were the members of the convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority, even greater that we may suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman senate!
Following Franklin's historical address, Roger Sherman of Connecticut seconded his motion. Edmund Jennings Randolph of Virginia moved:
That a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on the 4th of July, the anniversary of Independence; & thenceforward prayers be used in ye Convention every morning. [Dr. Franklin seconded this motion.]
The clergy of the city responded to this request and effected a profound change in the convention, as noted by General Jonathan Dayton when they reconvened, July 2, 1787:
We assembled again; and...every unfriendly feeling had been expelled, and a spirit of conciliation had been cultivated.
I have read this many time and I still get the chills reading it. It is one of the most powerful events in the birthing of our nation.
We need to follow in their foot steps and become students of the Holy Bible and reap the benefits of it. As I have said in other posts, we must recapture the power of who we were as a people. Our Founding Fathers were Called for a purpose and that Call is still relevant today, the Call has never been revoked. We need to understand it and embrace it.
Sleep save, sleep sound my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Sunday, June 22, 2008
It Is Sunday Evening And A Great Day Of Rest
Hello all, it is Sunday evening and the day was great as usual. Family up early and cleaned and polished for church. It's a great feeling to gather in the Lord's house to worship and to fellowship. I enjoy the time I can spend with friends that I might not of seen since last Sunday. I can't help thinking back to the old day when every thing centered around the church on Sundays.
If you go back to the time of the Puritans their services were a tad different than ours today. They would arrive as a family and go to their family box pew. In some cases these pews were in the family for generations. They would come ready to hear God's word and any preacher that was not good for two turns of the hour glass was not one that would keep his job. They so delighted in the hearing of the word that they would sit for two hour sermons. On a table in the front was an hour glass. After one hour the tithing man would go to the front and turn the glass and the preacher would preach for another hour. Then after that they would go and eat their lunches that they had brought a long, then back in for another service. Speaking of the tithing man he also had a long pole he would use to take collections. He would have a basket or something similar hanging on the end to move down the pews for people to put their tithe in. But on the other end of the pole was a brass knob or pin, on one side and a feather on the other. This was to help people to stay awake in church. For a man he would get either the brass know as bob on the head or the pin would give a grievous prick. For the women they would get the tickling of the feather. But the tithing man took his job very seriously, and his position was one that was looked up to.
In our not so distant past Sundays was a day you didn't find many stores open, in fact when I was young there might be one gas station open on Sunday. If you needed things for Sunday you made sure you did your shopping on Saturday.
I remember my father-in-law telling when he was a kid back in the thirties they lived in South Dakota. On Sundays they didn't do much work, instead it was visiting day. they lived on a ranch/farm. And to get to there nearest neighbor they had to travel many miles by horse no less. They would reach their destination and were always welcomed and they would eat together and visit till it was time to head home. He said, if the people you went to visit were gone, maybe visiting someone else, you didn't just turn around and head home. He said, you went right on in, because the doors were not locked. They would cook and eat their meal there, leaving the dirty dishes on the table. That told the owners when they got home that someone had come to call while they were gone. He said, when you got home you might find dirty dishes on your table letting you know that you had visitors while you were gone.
I am sure you can think back to a slower time, a time when things seemed to make more sense. A time when black was black and white was white no shades of gray of almost black or white. Right was a definite thing and wrong was a definite thing, to be avoided by the way. Today wrong seems to gather everyone on it's side and right has grown dust and rusty for lack of use. There has to be a point of turning back to our values, or there is a point that we can not turn back. I hope we wise up to what we really need and embrace it. Our founding fathers laid a tremendous foundation in our nation composing of many things, but one of the most important is our Christian heritage. It is what gave them the strength to carry on even when the outlook was extremely bleak. The truth of the matter is that we ignore our Christian heritage to our own peril. It is the one part of our history that gets very little notice and gets absolutely no billing in our text books for the young and old. But it is the absolute necessity to our survival as a Nation. Remember this, people are judged and rewarded in the next life. Nations are judged and rewarded in this life.
Well, Sundays are a time for rest and reflection, after church of course. We need to pray for America that God will again smile upon us and bless us with a full measure of His grace.
Sleep sound, sleep save my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
If you go back to the time of the Puritans their services were a tad different than ours today. They would arrive as a family and go to their family box pew. In some cases these pews were in the family for generations. They would come ready to hear God's word and any preacher that was not good for two turns of the hour glass was not one that would keep his job. They so delighted in the hearing of the word that they would sit for two hour sermons. On a table in the front was an hour glass. After one hour the tithing man would go to the front and turn the glass and the preacher would preach for another hour. Then after that they would go and eat their lunches that they had brought a long, then back in for another service. Speaking of the tithing man he also had a long pole he would use to take collections. He would have a basket or something similar hanging on the end to move down the pews for people to put their tithe in. But on the other end of the pole was a brass knob or pin, on one side and a feather on the other. This was to help people to stay awake in church. For a man he would get either the brass know as bob on the head or the pin would give a grievous prick. For the women they would get the tickling of the feather. But the tithing man took his job very seriously, and his position was one that was looked up to.
In our not so distant past Sundays was a day you didn't find many stores open, in fact when I was young there might be one gas station open on Sunday. If you needed things for Sunday you made sure you did your shopping on Saturday.
I remember my father-in-law telling when he was a kid back in the thirties they lived in South Dakota. On Sundays they didn't do much work, instead it was visiting day. they lived on a ranch/farm. And to get to there nearest neighbor they had to travel many miles by horse no less. They would reach their destination and were always welcomed and they would eat together and visit till it was time to head home. He said, if the people you went to visit were gone, maybe visiting someone else, you didn't just turn around and head home. He said, you went right on in, because the doors were not locked. They would cook and eat their meal there, leaving the dirty dishes on the table. That told the owners when they got home that someone had come to call while they were gone. He said, when you got home you might find dirty dishes on your table letting you know that you had visitors while you were gone.
I am sure you can think back to a slower time, a time when things seemed to make more sense. A time when black was black and white was white no shades of gray of almost black or white. Right was a definite thing and wrong was a definite thing, to be avoided by the way. Today wrong seems to gather everyone on it's side and right has grown dust and rusty for lack of use. There has to be a point of turning back to our values, or there is a point that we can not turn back. I hope we wise up to what we really need and embrace it. Our founding fathers laid a tremendous foundation in our nation composing of many things, but one of the most important is our Christian heritage. It is what gave them the strength to carry on even when the outlook was extremely bleak. The truth of the matter is that we ignore our Christian heritage to our own peril. It is the one part of our history that gets very little notice and gets absolutely no billing in our text books for the young and old. But it is the absolute necessity to our survival as a Nation. Remember this, people are judged and rewarded in the next life. Nations are judged and rewarded in this life.
Well, Sundays are a time for rest and reflection, after church of course. We need to pray for America that God will again smile upon us and bless us with a full measure of His grace.
Sleep sound, sleep save my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
Saturday, June 21, 2008
OUR NATION'S HEALTH IN 1914
Hello, I hope you enjoy this article from my 1914 almanac.
COMMUNITY HYGIENE FOR AMERICA
OUR NATION'S HEALTH
ONE does not have to make long journeys to discover people who pin unwavering faith to "wise saws," often with an entire disregard for accompanying modern instances. In a consideration of the subject of health there are two of these proverbs that come to mind. "What is everybody's business is nobody's business" and "It takes the exception to prove the rule."
Our nation has a gigantic problem to solve in its appalling death rate and the astounding size of its disability figures. This solution must be reached by the American people, not alone by departments of health, either' Federal, State, or local. This is "everybody's business," and the sooner everybody realizes it the sooner will the national health improve. You see our first adage here gets the support of the second.
Statistics, often from their very size, lose their meaning in human life or human suffering or economic waste. Let us take them in tabloid form and see how they affect us. Early last year the bulletin of Chicago's health department quoted these statements:
More than one-half the sicknesses and fully one-half of the deaths in our most enlightened communities are from the preventable diseases.
Over 6,000,000 people will die from preventable causes in the next ten years, at the present loss rate.
Over 1,500,000 people are ill at all times from preventable diseases.
More than 25,000 are killed and 300,000 attacked by that chief of the filth diseases—the American plague—typhoid fever.
Over 285,000 people are killed by the impure-air diseases each year—150,000 from tuberculosis and 135,000 from pneumonia.
Over 200,000 infants under five years of age die annually from preventable diseases.
Of the 20,000,000 school children of this country not less than 75 per cent, need attention for physical defects which are prejudicial to health.
The sum of $500,000,000 is a low estimate of the annual economic loss from preventable deaths.
Doesn't that make it sound different? Do you notice how often the word preventable occurs there or is implied? Prevention! Here's where another old adage still holds good. An ounce of it is better than a pound of cure.
Prevention of disease is one of our biggest problems and into it two all-embracing considerations come: personal hygiene and community hygiene.
On the first of these America is being continually lectured, and when all the lectures are boiled down they are but one word—cleanliness. Clean skin, clean mouth, clean blood and clean muscles— yes, and one might add, clean mind and clean heart—these spell health. All the admonitions on diet, on exercise, on sleeping, breathing and clothing, on the use of the toothbrush and the bathtub, lead to one end—cleanliness. It was a wise advertising man who coined the phrase, "Clean teeth don't decay," and it might almost be paraphrased: clean people escape a mighty lot of sickness. We can say with all reverence, praises be that the bathtub is becoming less and less a stranger in our land every year.
Of the subject of community hygiene we hear far less, though it is in every way as vital. Here again, all arguments and all advice lead to that talisman—cleanliness—and this time it is not a matter for consideration in our spotless bathrooms or comfortable and airy bedrooms. That's only one-tenth of it. Did you notice that reference to typhoid fever? "That chief of the filth diseases— the American plague." Here is a strong indictment. How guilty are we? When we have answered that question we will also have disposed of a host of other scourges from spotted fever or spinal meningitis, yellow fever, infantile paralysis, tuberculosis and pneumonia, down to "la grippe," which, like the poor, we always have with us.
Once more we are back to our text—cleanliness. But _this time we must change its meaning. Writing of a tour in Japan some years ago, Sara Jeannette Duncan said: "The back yard in the American sense is as completely unknown to Japan as the empty lobster can that usually decorates it" That can, whether it held the plebeian tomato or the aristocratic lobster, and its usual accompaniments, are a national accusation. Oh, if we could only guess the ills we owe to dirty back yards! Yes, that word dirty is used with full intention. The belittered haunt of the prowling Thomas tabby is guilty of many crimes. In the first place it's ugly. And anything ugly that can be made passably good-looking by neatness owes a debt to humanity that is long overdue. In the second place, it harbors all sorts of decaying things, breeding the disease-carrying fly and contaminating the very air above it. There ought to be an amendment to the Constitution, making it anybody's legal right to raise a row over a dirty back yard, either his own or his neighbor's. Cleanliness of premises is a duty to self and to society. Most of us would rather hate to be accused of poisoning our neighbor's baby! That duty is the same whether our neighbor is just over the fence in a congested city block or four miles away across the valley.
This brings us to the two greatest of our community health problems, water supply and sanitation. If our homes are located in a city, town, or village where duly elected or appointed officers have these matters in hand, we have done our duty when our taxes are paid and our votes cast for the most efficient possible management of these affairs. But many thousands of Americans are not so located, and on the ranch or farm, or in the smaller village, each must be his own sanitary officer.
Then the problems arise. Is the world giving me and my household what it owes—pure water? Am I doing my duty to myself, my family, and my neighbor in the sanitary arrangements of my premises?
The first question is by far the easier to answer, for investigation will tell the whole story. If the conditions are doubtful, they are not hard to set right. What is the source of your water supply? Is it a spring or an artesian well? Fine. But look to your piping. Keep the water as pure as God gives it. Is it a well or a stream? Have a care. Know your soil, its composition, and the direction of slopes both on and below the surface. Is there any chance of contamination by drainage from any neighboring cesspool or barnyard? An unsuspected dip of rock or clay may be putting into apparently pure, sparkling water that which it is sickening even to consider, making a fertile field for typhoid and other germ diseases.
Its sewage disposal and its barnyards are the shame and menace of rural America. Our cities, with vast expenditure, are fighting disease. What's the use if from their sources of milk and butter supply, two of the most easily contaminated necessities, they run the constant risk of infection? The American farmer faces a stern duty, whether he be "small" or "large," poor or rich, and no matter in what form his produce is added to the wealth of the world. That duty is cleanliness. Cleanliness of supply, of output, and of premises.
Easier said than done? Yes, admitted; most worth-while things are; but there is the clinching argument: It pays—pays in health, in development, both mental and physical; pays in appearance, in self-respect, and, not least of all, in dollars.
No reasonable expenditure is too great for the proper care of these> problems. The day of cheap power in the gasoline engine, the hot-air pump and the windmill is ours. That helps vastly. Then, too, cement is no longer a mystery to be handled by experts; and as an aid to cleanliness of premises it is high in the list.
HEALTH SUGGESTIONS AND BIRTH REGISTRATION
Colds
It behooves our people to give full and immediate attention to "colds."
A cold is an infection, and a person with a cold is an infection-bearer. Govern yourself accordingly.
Keep away from a person with a cold. It's catching.
The victim of a cold is in a receptive condition for other and more dangerous infections.
Neglect a cold and you invite more serious developments.
Pneumonia kills more people than any other disease and it reaps its greatest harvest in wintertime; that's why we call it the Winter Plague.
Pneumonia is a dirty house disease; it is developed in ill-ventilated houses, not in the pure air of outdoors as many people believe. You can't contract pneumonia in pure air; you can very easily contract it in impure air. And remember this: you can't keep your house closed and have pure air within it. A closed house is a filthy house—no matter how fine the furnishings may be or how clean the visible things may appear. The most important thing in every home is that invisible thing—air.
Get good air and you'll keep in good health.
Diphtheria Pointers
Diphtheria and membranous croup are one and the same thing.
Diphtheria is highly contagious. It is a preventable disease.
If treated properly and early enough it can be cured.
Sore throat, chilliness and fever in children are danger signals. Look out for trouble. Call in a good doctor immediately.
A very severe case can be contracted from a very mild case.
Do You Legally Exist?
The following item appeared not long ago in the daily papers:
"NO SUCH PERSON; AND SO CAN'T WED
"By United Press Cable.
"PARIS, January 6.—You cannot be married, because legally you do not exist, was the Lorient registrar's answer to Mlle. Kergue's application to wed. Her birth had not been recorded."
Do you legally exist?
Have you legal proof of your parentage? In other words, has your birth been recorded? This is a matter of rapidly increasing importance in this country.
Failure to record the birth of children to-day will most surely result in much trouble for the man or woman to-morrow. Give your child legal evidence of its existence and of its parentage and save it future trouble and embarrassment, if not worse.
Measles Pointers
Measles is an extremely contagious disease and among infants it is highly fatal.
Ninety-five out of every hundred deaths from measles are among children under five years of age.
It is the height of absurdity to expose a child to measles so that "it may have it and get over it."
It develops in from seven to eighteen days after exposure, usually fourteen.
The disease is especially contagious before the eruption appears.
Immediately isolate a child showing symptoms of measles. Then get a doctor.
Airy Paragraphs
Dirty air kills more people than dirty water, dirty milk and dirty food combined.
Dirty air is the kind found in a closed house, a house without ventilation.
The .best method of ventilation, available to everybody, is the open window.
To be light and airy flood the home with sun-shine and fresh air.
The time to get fresh air is yesterday, to-day and to-morrow, last night, to-night and to-morrow night—all the time.
The End
We seem to take our health for granted these days, it didn't use to be that way. As you study back across history you will find our ancestors had to fight to stay alive in just every day living. It seemed there was some sort of nasty that would jump up and bite you with serious repercussions. I some times think how great it would have been to live in the old days. Until you read how they were dropping like flies when disease would make it's appearance and thin the population out substantially. I am thankful for the health I and my family have.
But sometimes when no one is looking I still wonder how it would have been to farm the old fashion way. I guess the truth be known I am thankful just to be free and on a farm, praise God!
Sleep free, sleep save my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
COMMUNITY HYGIENE FOR AMERICA
OUR NATION'S HEALTH
ONE does not have to make long journeys to discover people who pin unwavering faith to "wise saws," often with an entire disregard for accompanying modern instances. In a consideration of the subject of health there are two of these proverbs that come to mind. "What is everybody's business is nobody's business" and "It takes the exception to prove the rule."
Our nation has a gigantic problem to solve in its appalling death rate and the astounding size of its disability figures. This solution must be reached by the American people, not alone by departments of health, either' Federal, State, or local. This is "everybody's business," and the sooner everybody realizes it the sooner will the national health improve. You see our first adage here gets the support of the second.
Statistics, often from their very size, lose their meaning in human life or human suffering or economic waste. Let us take them in tabloid form and see how they affect us. Early last year the bulletin of Chicago's health department quoted these statements:
More than one-half the sicknesses and fully one-half of the deaths in our most enlightened communities are from the preventable diseases.
Over 6,000,000 people will die from preventable causes in the next ten years, at the present loss rate.
Over 1,500,000 people are ill at all times from preventable diseases.
More than 25,000 are killed and 300,000 attacked by that chief of the filth diseases—the American plague—typhoid fever.
Over 285,000 people are killed by the impure-air diseases each year—150,000 from tuberculosis and 135,000 from pneumonia.
Over 200,000 infants under five years of age die annually from preventable diseases.
Of the 20,000,000 school children of this country not less than 75 per cent, need attention for physical defects which are prejudicial to health.
The sum of $500,000,000 is a low estimate of the annual economic loss from preventable deaths.
Doesn't that make it sound different? Do you notice how often the word preventable occurs there or is implied? Prevention! Here's where another old adage still holds good. An ounce of it is better than a pound of cure.
Prevention of disease is one of our biggest problems and into it two all-embracing considerations come: personal hygiene and community hygiene.
On the first of these America is being continually lectured, and when all the lectures are boiled down they are but one word—cleanliness. Clean skin, clean mouth, clean blood and clean muscles— yes, and one might add, clean mind and clean heart—these spell health. All the admonitions on diet, on exercise, on sleeping, breathing and clothing, on the use of the toothbrush and the bathtub, lead to one end—cleanliness. It was a wise advertising man who coined the phrase, "Clean teeth don't decay," and it might almost be paraphrased: clean people escape a mighty lot of sickness. We can say with all reverence, praises be that the bathtub is becoming less and less a stranger in our land every year.
Of the subject of community hygiene we hear far less, though it is in every way as vital. Here again, all arguments and all advice lead to that talisman—cleanliness—and this time it is not a matter for consideration in our spotless bathrooms or comfortable and airy bedrooms. That's only one-tenth of it. Did you notice that reference to typhoid fever? "That chief of the filth diseases— the American plague." Here is a strong indictment. How guilty are we? When we have answered that question we will also have disposed of a host of other scourges from spotted fever or spinal meningitis, yellow fever, infantile paralysis, tuberculosis and pneumonia, down to "la grippe," which, like the poor, we always have with us.
Once more we are back to our text—cleanliness. But _this time we must change its meaning. Writing of a tour in Japan some years ago, Sara Jeannette Duncan said: "The back yard in the American sense is as completely unknown to Japan as the empty lobster can that usually decorates it" That can, whether it held the plebeian tomato or the aristocratic lobster, and its usual accompaniments, are a national accusation. Oh, if we could only guess the ills we owe to dirty back yards! Yes, that word dirty is used with full intention. The belittered haunt of the prowling Thomas tabby is guilty of many crimes. In the first place it's ugly. And anything ugly that can be made passably good-looking by neatness owes a debt to humanity that is long overdue. In the second place, it harbors all sorts of decaying things, breeding the disease-carrying fly and contaminating the very air above it. There ought to be an amendment to the Constitution, making it anybody's legal right to raise a row over a dirty back yard, either his own or his neighbor's. Cleanliness of premises is a duty to self and to society. Most of us would rather hate to be accused of poisoning our neighbor's baby! That duty is the same whether our neighbor is just over the fence in a congested city block or four miles away across the valley.
This brings us to the two greatest of our community health problems, water supply and sanitation. If our homes are located in a city, town, or village where duly elected or appointed officers have these matters in hand, we have done our duty when our taxes are paid and our votes cast for the most efficient possible management of these affairs. But many thousands of Americans are not so located, and on the ranch or farm, or in the smaller village, each must be his own sanitary officer.
Then the problems arise. Is the world giving me and my household what it owes—pure water? Am I doing my duty to myself, my family, and my neighbor in the sanitary arrangements of my premises?
The first question is by far the easier to answer, for investigation will tell the whole story. If the conditions are doubtful, they are not hard to set right. What is the source of your water supply? Is it a spring or an artesian well? Fine. But look to your piping. Keep the water as pure as God gives it. Is it a well or a stream? Have a care. Know your soil, its composition, and the direction of slopes both on and below the surface. Is there any chance of contamination by drainage from any neighboring cesspool or barnyard? An unsuspected dip of rock or clay may be putting into apparently pure, sparkling water that which it is sickening even to consider, making a fertile field for typhoid and other germ diseases.
Its sewage disposal and its barnyards are the shame and menace of rural America. Our cities, with vast expenditure, are fighting disease. What's the use if from their sources of milk and butter supply, two of the most easily contaminated necessities, they run the constant risk of infection? The American farmer faces a stern duty, whether he be "small" or "large," poor or rich, and no matter in what form his produce is added to the wealth of the world. That duty is cleanliness. Cleanliness of supply, of output, and of premises.
Easier said than done? Yes, admitted; most worth-while things are; but there is the clinching argument: It pays—pays in health, in development, both mental and physical; pays in appearance, in self-respect, and, not least of all, in dollars.
No reasonable expenditure is too great for the proper care of these> problems. The day of cheap power in the gasoline engine, the hot-air pump and the windmill is ours. That helps vastly. Then, too, cement is no longer a mystery to be handled by experts; and as an aid to cleanliness of premises it is high in the list.
HEALTH SUGGESTIONS AND BIRTH REGISTRATION
Colds
It behooves our people to give full and immediate attention to "colds."
A cold is an infection, and a person with a cold is an infection-bearer. Govern yourself accordingly.
Keep away from a person with a cold. It's catching.
The victim of a cold is in a receptive condition for other and more dangerous infections.
Neglect a cold and you invite more serious developments.
Pneumonia kills more people than any other disease and it reaps its greatest harvest in wintertime; that's why we call it the Winter Plague.
Pneumonia is a dirty house disease; it is developed in ill-ventilated houses, not in the pure air of outdoors as many people believe. You can't contract pneumonia in pure air; you can very easily contract it in impure air. And remember this: you can't keep your house closed and have pure air within it. A closed house is a filthy house—no matter how fine the furnishings may be or how clean the visible things may appear. The most important thing in every home is that invisible thing—air.
Get good air and you'll keep in good health.
Diphtheria Pointers
Diphtheria and membranous croup are one and the same thing.
Diphtheria is highly contagious. It is a preventable disease.
If treated properly and early enough it can be cured.
Sore throat, chilliness and fever in children are danger signals. Look out for trouble. Call in a good doctor immediately.
A very severe case can be contracted from a very mild case.
Do You Legally Exist?
The following item appeared not long ago in the daily papers:
"NO SUCH PERSON; AND SO CAN'T WED
"By United Press Cable.
"PARIS, January 6.—You cannot be married, because legally you do not exist, was the Lorient registrar's answer to Mlle. Kergue's application to wed. Her birth had not been recorded."
Do you legally exist?
Have you legal proof of your parentage? In other words, has your birth been recorded? This is a matter of rapidly increasing importance in this country.
Failure to record the birth of children to-day will most surely result in much trouble for the man or woman to-morrow. Give your child legal evidence of its existence and of its parentage and save it future trouble and embarrassment, if not worse.
Measles Pointers
Measles is an extremely contagious disease and among infants it is highly fatal.
Ninety-five out of every hundred deaths from measles are among children under five years of age.
It is the height of absurdity to expose a child to measles so that "it may have it and get over it."
It develops in from seven to eighteen days after exposure, usually fourteen.
The disease is especially contagious before the eruption appears.
Immediately isolate a child showing symptoms of measles. Then get a doctor.
Airy Paragraphs
Dirty air kills more people than dirty water, dirty milk and dirty food combined.
Dirty air is the kind found in a closed house, a house without ventilation.
The .best method of ventilation, available to everybody, is the open window.
To be light and airy flood the home with sun-shine and fresh air.
The time to get fresh air is yesterday, to-day and to-morrow, last night, to-night and to-morrow night—all the time.
The End
We seem to take our health for granted these days, it didn't use to be that way. As you study back across history you will find our ancestors had to fight to stay alive in just every day living. It seemed there was some sort of nasty that would jump up and bite you with serious repercussions. I some times think how great it would have been to live in the old days. Until you read how they were dropping like flies when disease would make it's appearance and thin the population out substantially. I am thankful for the health I and my family have.
But sometimes when no one is looking I still wonder how it would have been to farm the old fashion way. I guess the truth be known I am thankful just to be free and on a farm, praise God!
Sleep free, sleep save my friend.
For all is well down on the farm.
The Old Farmer
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