Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1899)
T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV E R T O N , O REGON , MARCH 2, 1899. private homes, which is very good when we can do no better, but most students, especially those coming from a distance and whose parents are not here, should be un- der our im m ediate care so as to have their regular study periods for each evening and be in bed regu- larly at the right time. All this can be done when we can give up our dining hall and sleeping ap a rt- ments to the purposes for which they were built. We have said nothing as yet in regard to our library. We have at preseht a few shelves of books, but we arc m aking no great effort to get more, for really we have no place to put them . Then there is very best we could, and th a t, too, bv those who were able to m ake our yoke easy and our burden light,but who seem to be only good at growl- ing. W e have been obliged, or so we thought, to continually solicit help, Some have criticised this very much and made us feel at tim es as though ' we were beggars and really doing wrong, but our critics should re- m em ber th a t we are pleading for the young F reeth in k ers of Ameri- ca and a chance to help th em , th a t the world m ay be better for our having lived. We are not beggars, We are doing all in our power to build som ething w orthy of our ¡cause. Is it begging to invite our e • ••• T 1 h llv«««« Liberal stz University siz J siz SIZ stz StZ siz nothing th a t adds to the interest friends to the “ ra isin g ” ? M any and actual knowledge of a school h an d s m ake light work. Let us all more than a good m useum , but lift a little and we will live to bless there is not much use of our try in g the day th a t we worked instead of to g ath er specim ens until we have growled. room for the purpose. A labora- But if we are not careful this ed- tory is absolutely necessary and itorial will be som ething like growl- will add a hun d red fold to the ing, and so we will stop with the good we are doing. prayer th a t every F re e th in k e r to Then again, as soon as our whom this p rayer m ay come will building is com pleted we can fix do what he can to keep us from up our grounds. B eautiful sur- both begging and growling and roundings have much to do in aid- give us a b etter chance to ing students in th eir clim b up Sci- work en ceH ill. All this will be accom plished as soon as our hard times W a n t of W it . are over, which, if our present prospects are any criterion, will be De W itt or, as some would say, gone in a few days. We will all do w ant of wit, T alm age has been our best, an d very soon our halls preaching one of his usual kind of will be decorated with pictures and serm ons on conversions and death statues of the great F reethinkers of beds. H e m entions a variety of the past and present, and o u r , ^ a t h bed utterances by C hristians school rooms with the grand Secu- more or less delirious, h o r in- lar mottoeR of all ages, which will stance, there is Jo h n Janew av inspire the youth to live noble, be-¡w ho ever heard of Jo h n Janew ay? roic lives. W aving above a brok- ~ s a y in g in his last m om ents, with en cross, the flag of our great re-j assurance th a t his New Testa- public will float from the tower, m ent does not w arran t: “ I shall proclaim ing to all, the doctrine of presently stan d on M ount Zion with liberty of thought an d the triu m p h innum erable com pany of an- of science over superstition and gels» and with tbe 8Pirits of Just men m ade perfect, and with Jesus, fear. the m ediator of the new covenant.” H allelu jah !” W o rk vs. G r o w lin g . Then the great Talm age, full of “ ’Tis better to whistle th an pride over Janew ay, says: “ Let some one preach a serm on on tri w hine” is as tru e in F reethought work as in any other, and although um p h an t infidel death beds— th a t 5 is, if be can hear or read of this la t we believe in tracking every evil to its hole and sm oking it out with ter kind. I never heard of one. Dot tell us of one.” 1 h at is as much as the hottest kind of criticism , yet a Talm age knows. continual growling th a t things are Now let us tell him of dozens. not what they should be will never A uthentic p a rtic u la rs are given in help m atters, and is as wrong as Mr. Foote’s work, Infidel Death the very wrong the grow ler growls Beds, of the last m om ents of over at. W hat good does it do to sit on one’s haunches and howl a t the sixty fam ous F reethinkers. There wind? We should get into our are plenty of triu m p h a n t d eath s, kennels and th in k , and then when am 0,’«9t th em - T ake, for ...stance, the wind goes down a hit, h u n t for th e death of Lucilio burnt meat. In other words, join with a t ,he s,ak e Toulouse for A the those who are working along tb e ! i,m bv C h ristian persecutors. He line of the reform we are interested wenl Pro u d ’y lo d e a lh ’ 8av,ngi in, study with them how te s t to “ C hriet Bweat*d , * ,<h Jfear a ,"d bring it about, and th en go a t it. weak" e88’ b u t t 1 d,e undaunted! If we don’t like the way others do, M odern in8,ance" are innum erable, we should do better ourselves. In [F ree th in k e r. T H E ONLY SCHOOL OF TH E KIND. SIZ SIZ SIZ SIZ F re e from S uperstition SIZ SIZ S trictly N on-Sectarian SIZ SIZ SIZ SIZ SIZ Pupils are Given Every O pportunity to Learn SIZ W ithout Being Hampered by Supersti SIZ tions and Dogmas. SIZ SIZ SIZ SIZ SIZ L o c a t i o n H e a l t h f u l SIZ SIZ S o c ie ty G ood. SIZ SIZ E x p e n s e s M o d e ra te SIZ SIZ SIZ \l/ Mz \tz \l/ \tz \lz our work of building a F re e lh o u g h t! Waodworken> don>t ,orget to Mnd „„ m u rs ity , we have often been or(jer for a get of th e F o rstn er Auger criticised when we were doing the B its. P rice. $2.60 by m ail. See ad. A Splendid Corps of Teachers and Good Facil ities for Teaching. For information, address J. E. H O SM ER , Ph. D., B. S. D., P R E S ID E N T, SILVERTON.