THE TORCH OF REAM >5, SILVERTON. OREGON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1S98.
5
My H onest O pinions.
them the best I had and met several
very nice people. Mr. Hay, who runs
(Continued from 3d page.)
Snake River, the hugest and
the hotel, furnished me hoard ami
giving wav, and the m ind weaken
up st im portant fork of the great
lodging and treated me very well,
ing wiih the body in disease, are
t »lund'ia, d iain s an im m ense c u n -
M r.H an nau and M r.Sm ith subscrib
very unreliable, to say the least.
in'. Its head waters rise in five
ed for the Torch, and d u rin g my
But such are alm ost in v ariab ly
different state-, reaching as far east
short stay in Salubrin, I met m any
seized upon by C hristians to distort
a - the Rocky M ountains in Wy-
w h o h a v e th ro w n , o f t tin orthodox
the real v iews oi a person after he
oming. I* or some distance, the river
yoke.
is dead and cannot reply.
Hows through sag eb ru sh plains and journey ’8 end.
Mr. Allison lives in th e country
, .
,
...
.
.
As to the C hristian religion, I
where the water can he used for
I proceeded directly to the home and I called at Ins home for a few
,
.
....
have studied it som ew hat, and am
irrigating, the land is very produc- of oiof Sorenson, who lives on the m om ents to acquaint him with our
convinced th a t it is not “ C h ristian ”
tive and no more delicious fiuit hillside, one mile from Council, the work and he expressed satisfaction
at all, only by adoption.
It is a
grows anyw here. 1 he Snake River thriving little city situated in the at learning th a t we are doing
warm ed-over re-hash of ancient Pa
peaches, grapes and w aterm elons v ajjev p v the sam e nam e. I found so much for h u m an ity in the nam e
ganism , adapted to the needs of the
are known all over the I nited y jr a n j Mrs. Sorenson at home and of Secularism . R etu rn in g to Salu-
present-day priest. It is a fraud
>tates. 1 his river flows across the jjja de m yself known to them . The bria, we proceeded to Middle \ alley,
pure and sim ple. Not only a fraud,
Southern end of Idaho and then Secular traveler is alw ays m ade eleven miles away. I he hike with
hut it is the most cruel, inhum an ,
forms the boundary between that welcome at their place. I was pleas- the new tires went nicely and we
m erciless and dem oralizing fraud
>tate and Oregon. Tow ards the V(| to meet Michael Johnson and were soon at the home of Mr. Kil-
on earth. I know of no religion
Northern boundary of Oregon, it family from Yale, Oregon, but was horn, a good Secularist, and a good
which is more so.
Hows through between towering sorrv to fearQ th a t they were to m an. I was kindly treated and
All system s of su p ern atu ral re
m ountains, loaded with rich depos- jeave for hom e early next m orning, enjoyed my stay over night. Mr. K.
ligions are frauds, and are founded
its o f gold, then the river makes a yJr j oh nSon is the g ra n d fath er of i subscribed for the Torch and express-
on th e ignorance and superstition
sweep through W ashington and L illian, our highly esteemed Liberal . ed a desire to give the cause a further
of w eak-m inded people, children,
joins the old C olum bia, on itsj U niversity student. I found Mr. “ boost’’ at another tim e Next
em otional women and designing
way to the Pacific Ocean, before 11, Sorenson nursing a felon, which m orning we took leave of the lx.il-
,,
,
i
, ,
, persons.
And the “church” he-
forms the boundary between O r e - ! nearlv ma(]e him sick. Mv le tte r horn fa m ily a n d w orked our w ay 1
„
,
,
'com es a refuge for rascals and a
gon and W ashington.
had not reached there yet, so there over m ountains and through valleys
feeder of scamps and hypocrites
Payette, Idaho, is ju st across the were no arrangem ents m ade for a ' to W eiser, where we stopped for a | wj1() <*gtea| (he HVery of heaven to
river from O ntario, Oregon, and it [lecture and we spent the evening short rest, and for dinner.
i serve the devil in”
Yet there are
«•as at th is point th at you last visiting. D r. Le?, and Mr. M arsh,
Mr. T riplu (I guess th a t is t h e ;
.<in the ch u rch >.
heard from me. I left Payette o n jth e photographer, called and we | way he spells i t ) owns an interst in It
Inonstr()Ug poor religion lb a t
W ednesday m orning, A ugust 24, spent a very p leasant evening. Mr. in a nursery at W eiser and prom is-j (jon>t bave 8ome ad h eren ts better
and with the aid of the hike reach Marsh resides in W eiser and devotes e d to s e n d us some trees for the j t |,an
There are some other-
ed Weiser, seventeen miles down the sum m er m onths to traveling.
diversity grounds.
, wjHe gOO(j people who “ profess re-
Snake river, at the m outh of Weis- He is an enthusiastic Secularist and
From W eiser to Baker C ity, the |jgjon” for policy’s sake, and m an y
er river. 1 never saw so m any wa- gaysit has never injured his business country is m ount; inous and sandy I u n believers both in “ the ch u rch ”
termelons. The farm ers raise them to tell people his exact Opinion on and I decided to travel by rail for a n H out of it, keep quiet from the
for the m arket and at this time all questions. 1 visited him a t his a change. The train was late and sam e cause, not caring to com bat
were busy hau lin g them to town place of business next day and had I passed the tim e in a discussion or en(l,,re. the vilifying, back-biting
for shipm ent. Of course there are a very pleasant tim e. He pointed ! with a C hristian Advent m i n i s t e r ! ^ o t[,Pr petty persecutions, in
other varieties of fruit, but this was his cam era a t me and drew th e slid e who expressed surprise to learn th a t| which “ church people” so much
A b ro a d .
at Weiser, as I thought th e o ld o n e s
would carry me to Council and re-
j u rn , hut at Indian Valley, ten miles
fron, Council, they failed, »o I took
j be ‘‘hurricane deck’’ of a horse ami
ro(je to my destination later in the
evening.
I h ad no saddle so had
to ride bareback ah a the stirrups
go^ a little long before I reached my
the melon season, and one could which m ade quite an im pression on the railroad com pany should g ra n t ¡n(l u |ge, tow ards those of courage
-t-e nothing hut melons.
the dry plate. I d o n ’t know w hat me a half-fare permit.
I snp- anj m ental independence,
Persecution is about the only
I stopped at W eiser for dinner, the outcome will be. The last I pose he was of the opinion th a t rail
after which we (m y dinner, the saw of the plate he consigned it to roads are ( h ristian instituitions, weapon th e C h ristian s have now.
hike and I) started for the interior the dark room, in a negative con- run in the interest of t h ristiain ty q'jipy d are not resort to argum en t
of the state of Id »ho. An extra dition.
and th a t the owners were all in defence of th eir system , so they
drv season m akes an ex tra am ount
We advertised for a lecture th at C hrietians.
use such force as is yet left then)
of dust, and the road in some plac- night and I was surprised to see so
Following down S nake River a to the extent of their ability.
es is very sandy, so the traveling m any out on sh o rt notice. I secured feA- miles, the railroad crosses into
Time was when C hristians had
was not easy.
Night overtook us i another m em ber to the Oregon State <')regon. Here, the Oregon Short power even over the lives of people
at Middle V alley, and we stopped I Secular I nion and m et several Line ends and the (). R. <fc N. he- : H istory shows th at they have never
at the home of a good C hristian la enthusiastic
Secularists, am ong gins, and at this junction, the town hesitated to use th a t power freely
brll, a „ y< Ignorant,b ru t-
dy who, although she was not well, whom are, Mr. < am p and fam ily, of H untington is situ ated ,d ep -n d en t j
treated tie well, and the next m orn- Mrs. Morrison, Mr. Hancock, M r-j " ¿ T town The train stopped for al and savaga, the wise and virtu-
ing I gave her some Secular tracts K ehrli and others. Secularism was ¿ ¡ nner anfj | put jn the half hour ous have ever been their especial
and a copy of.the Torch of Reason, introduced here a year ago by Mrs. visiting friends and eating peaches, j prey, and the dungeon, the rack, the
which I hope will prove th e prop- H osm er and Miss D ePeatt, who held
Upon boarding the train again, gtake? fjre a n j BWOrd, have been
er dose to cure her of her illness, some very successful m eetings and I encountered a M ethodist m inister th(,jr o n ly “ a rg u m e n t” to “ convert”
both of body and m ind. Idaho has secured several mem bers to the
we^reached Baker City, fifty people to C hristianity.
some very pretty valleys, and Mid- S. S. L. 1 here is a chance to build m jjeg d istan t, where my journey by
To “ hold no faith with the un-
<ile valley is one of them . If there , up a splendid organization at r a jj en d e d .
I enjoyed my' visit believer” , to d o e v il that good m ight
were not so m any barren motin- Council and I was invited to return with this m inister. He informed corne»^
them , has been sound
tains the country would he more this fall and assist in launching the II),; th at In is a lif l n y r in then o r(bodox doctrin. U nder the sav-
desirable to live in. Crossing a low organization on a hrm footing.
range of hills, we reached Salubria
S aturday m orning I borrowed a
valley, farth er up the Weiser, and saddle of M r . Sorenson, to go with
by far the prettiest valley I saw in the horse, and started on m y retu rn
Idaho. S alubria is a neat little to S alubria, where I was to lecture
evolution is rulod'over by God. age sway of C h ristian ity th e Roman
j
tj|at theocratic evolu- Em pire was destroyed; the arts and
tion
s
im possible,
for God sciences lost; and for tw elve hun-
cannot rule over evolution. Evolu- ,jrvij years civilization was carried
tion rules over God. I he God of backward
into degradation and
town in a th riv in g country, and
Secularists are not w anting there,
The editor of the paper is a S«cu-
larist and he express* d willingness
to arrange for a lecture S aturday
blan5.e to t he g(,d of the past. He barbarism .
¡g nubject to the laws of evolution
After the Infidel invention of
and evolution has changed him as printing and gunpowder, learn in g
well as S atan.
began to revive, though the church
5 ou m ay as well talk of d vilistic
all its m ight ag ain st
th a t evening. I reached the home of
the horse a t noon and stopped for
dinner. Mr. Johnson of Vale had
taken the bike to S alubria. where I
ha<l ordered the tires sent, so I rode
m ight, on my re tu rn trow Council the other ten miles in a freight Evolution needs no handle. It can ,L B ut under the sp irit of inquiry,
Valley. We stopped only a few wagon. T he w eather waa hot, the |,a ndlc itslf, and handle both God lonht. hkepticism, freethought, inti-
m om ents, and then journeyed on. farrm rs were busy, and my lecture and tlw devil.
d tlity , or by whatever nam e U
The new tires for the bike were left,’ was not well attended, hut I g^v»*.
P earl W. G her . , may he called, civilization began