[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County Iowa McMurray, Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors.]
Today, on Memorial Day, we honor those who have fallen in service to our country. Thankfully, there are few, if any, of our direct ancestors who have made the greatest sacrifice. No one who enters military service knows if they will be called to make that sacrifice, but they march off despite the risk. For those who survive, any war leaves scars, both physical and mental, that last a lifetime, and their families also pay a price. Please take a moment today to think of all those who have fought for our rights, because they felt it was their duty and their honor to protect them for posterity.
Freedom is never free.
(Continued from yesterday)
We last left Will McMurray, Harry McMurray, Roland “Rollie” E. Benjamin, and E. E. Lambert, all cousins, as they were steaming along the rails across the prairie for the 30-mile trip from Newton to Des Moines, Iowa. Their destination was Camp McKinley, named after the President who had just declared war on Spain in April, 1898.
The Iowa State Fair Grounds had been converted into a staging and training camp. Our boys from Newton were assigned the amphitheater as their quarters. “They are having a good time and getting used to “army diet”… We’ll bet the boys won’t go hungry,” stated the newspaper report.
Lieut. Col. E. E. Lambert was appointed as the Provost Marshall for the camp of 3,000 men. He was charged with enforcing all camp regulations and was responsible for all the property within the fairgrounds. This was quite an honor- and a huge responsibility- to be appointed to such a position. Each Iowa regiment appointed a detail of 17 men to report to Lieut. Col. Lambert for special duties within the camp.
The Iowa National Guard did not provide enough soldiers for the national quota to be fulfilled by Iowa. The Iowa Governor thus issued a proclamation that any men who had drilled as a National Guardsman or in a military school should provide their name to their local sheriff, who would pass it on to the governor for enlistment.
Will McMurray was a Second Lieutenant in the Guard, so he would have been paid $114 per month for his military service; his brother Harry was a Sergeant, and his pay would have been $17.50 per month. Their cousin, Lieut. Col. E. E. Lambert, would have made about $250/month.
The government provided flags and tents to the men, but according to the newspaper, did not furnish clothing or food. Two men went along with the Newton contingent to work as cooks for them, so it is not clear where there food came from, especially since there was also mention of the Newton soldiers having to get used to “army rations.”
Military camps are of course very regimented, and we know the schedule followed by our ancestors at Camp McKinley:
Schedule at Camp McKinley, from The Newton Record.
(To be continued…)
Notes, Sources, and References:
The Newton Record, 28 Apr 1898, Vol. 4, No. 40, Page 1.
A Military Tattoo in this schedule is a musical signal that the day is almost ended. Interestingly, the word “tattoo” comes from a Dutch term, doe den tap toe, from the 1600s. It meant “turn off the tap,” referring to a beer tap. The tattoo would be sounded from the military garrison so that innkeepers/tavern owners near the base would end the service of beer to those in the military. Soldiers should then return to their quarters. Military tattoos have become elaborate musical performances in the years since. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tattoo for more information.
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Will McMurray and Harry McMurray- Off to Training Camp for the Spanish-American War
Lieut. Col. Elliott Ellsworth Lambert, Provost Marshall of Camp McKinley, Des Moines, Iowa, possibly around 1898. Posted with the kind permission of our new-found cousin.
[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County, Iowa McMurray, Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors.]
(Continued from yesterday.)
Will McMurray and his younger brother Harry McMurray, their cousin Roland Benjamin, plus the other Company L, National Guard of Newton, Iowa members met at the Old Armory at one o’clock on Tuesday, April 26th, 1898, for one last time. The nineteen men and two cooks formed up to march off to the train station for their trip to training camp in Des Moines, Iowa. Lieut. Col. Elliott Ellsworth Lambert (1863-1948), above, another cousin on the Benjamin side, mounted a very handsome black charger and the horse pranced off down the street. A large crowd had gathered at Lister’s Opera House to see off their sons, brother, fathers, friends, and neighbors. An “eloquent prayer” was offered by the Methodist minister, and the Mayor spoke briefly. A minister of the Christian Church gave the benediction for the young men, and the crowd heartily sang the hymn, “America.”
Company L once again formed up to march. About forty veterans from the Civil War, members of the G. A. R. (Grand Army of the Republic- a group of Civil War veterans) led the Knights of Pythias and then “the heroes of the day,” Company L, in a march to the train depot. The young men bravely sang, “The Battle Song of the Iowa Troops” written especially for this war, trying to distract themselves from the sadness of the moment.
A special train of six coaches arrived at the train station at about three p.m. to rousing cheers. The cars already contained young volunteers from Davenport, Muscatine, Maquoketa, Grinnell, and Student Cadets from the State University at Iowa City.
“Soon the last farewells were spoken and the last kisses received from the mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts. There was scarcely a dry eye or a lip that did not quiver in the vast crowd…”
The Newton soldiers marched into their own car, which was added to the train. The steam train chugged out of the station as the crowd waved goodbye, and likely many more tears were shed.
“Thus the boys have won their first battle, and though hallowed by tears instead of blood, it was one of the hardest battles that they will be called on to meet– the sad goodbyes with loved ones and going out from home for the first time with the possibility of never returning.”
(To be continued…)
Notes, Sources, and References:
“Our Boys March Off to War,” The Newton Record, 28 April 1898, Vol. 4, No. 40, P. 1.
Lieut. Col. Elliott Ellsworth “E. E.” Lambert was the son of Reuben K. Lambert (1839-1918) and Cynthia Adeline Benjamin (1841-1925). Cynthia was the sister of Hannah Melissa Benjamin.
The photo of Elliott Ellsworth Lambert appears to have embossed on it “G.L. Bates” and to the left of the name, probably “Newton,” to the right, “Iowa.” There was a photographer named G. L. Bates in Newton Iowa at least from 1901-1902, and one, possibly the same person, in Prairie City, Iowa (near to Newton), from 1884-1885. See “Langdon’s List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers” at https://www.langdonroad.com/ban-to-baz.
The ‘hymn’ “America” was originally a poem, and sung to as many as 75 different tunes before being first published in 1910. We know it today as “America the Beautiful.” See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful for details.
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
The McMurray Brothers– Will and Harry– and the Spanish-American War
“Our Boys March Away to War” headline in The Newton Record, 28 April 1898, Vol. 4, No. 40, P. 1.
[Are you related? Yes, if you are a descendant of the Jasper County Iowa McMurray, Benjamin, or Lambert families. This would include having Dr. Edward A. McMurray, Dr. Herbert McMurray, or Maude “Midge” McMurray Cook as ancestors.]
In a previous post some time ago, we mentioned that William Elmer McMurray (1874-1957), his brother Harry James McMurray (1876-1962), and their cousin Roland “Rollie” E. Benjamin (1868-1950?) were members of the Iowa National Guard at Newton. They were in Company L, Second Regiment in 1898, even before the April call to war by President William McKinley. Tensions leading to the Spanish-American War had been building for some time, including the January explosion and sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor (“Remember the Maine!”), and Spanish atrocities in the Cuban War for Independence.
The sinking of the USS Maine after an internal explosion, 1 Jan 1898. Via Wikipedia, public domain.
Those in the Guard likely knew that they might be called soon for actual fighting in a foreign land. Will was just 23, Harry 21, and Roland was 29. Will and Harry were not yet married; Roland had married four years before but had no children. Were these young men excited at the patriotic thought of serving their country, traveling to a foreign land, proving themselves as men? Did they understand the politics of the situation? Were they afraid, but courageous enough to continue in the Guard anyway? Probably some of all the above.
On 22 April 1898, Congress authorized an increase in our military forces, and the very next day President McKinley declared war on Spain (including in the Spanish colonies such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines). It had only been 35 years since the horrors of the Civil War, and those dark times were still fresh in the nation’s collective memory. Newspaper headlines included “Newton Again Witnesses the Scenes of 1861-1862” as their young men marched off to war.
“Dreaded war, with all its train of heartaches, sorrows, suffering and devastation, is again upon us… we are living over again the sad scenes of 1861-2– giving up sons, brothers, husbands and fathers, the very flower of our young manhood, to battle again for the old flag and in defense of our country’s honor.”
The article continued with “Last Tuesday’s scenes will never be forgotten by the people of Newton.” The parents of Will and Harry, Frederick Asbury “F.A.” McMurray (1850-1929) and Hannah Melissa (Benjamin) McMurray (1854-1932) [AKA “The Scary Lady” by some of her descendants- you know who you are] must have been beside themselves with sadness yet full of pride as their two oldest children marched off to war, along with their McMurray and Benjamin cousins.
William Elmer McMurray, five years later, in 1903.
Orders were prepared quickly and Company L was to be “hastily” transported to Des Moines, Iowa, about 30 miles west. They would rendezvous with other Iowa troops from across the state, drill, and receive their final equipment before heading off to war.
The train was to leave Newton at three p.m. on Tuesday, April 26th. Every business in Newton closed that day at 1 p.m. and the school children were dismissed for the afternoon. The town was decorated with the stars and stripes, patriotic fever infecting the town. In a town of about 3,700, it was estimated that two thousand persons filled the streets to see their boys off.
Will McMurray image was cropped from a family photo. We do not have a photo of Will, Harry, or Roland in uniform- does anyone out there have a photo from this time, or any other time? Please contact us if you do.
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Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, 1892: Poem Transcription
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, June 1st, 1892, Berkeley Cal. Owned by author.
While the fonts in Edward B. Payne’s poem, “Waste Philosophy” are just beautiful, because of the age of the booklet (128 years old this June 2020!), some are hard to read. Additionally, in the family copy there are some words that have been underlined- we are not sure why those particular words, but the underlining has been eliminated in this transcription.
Herewith, as Edward would have said and in the spirit of National Poetry Month, is the transcription:
Cover:
Waste
Philosophy
By
Rev. E. B. Payne
[Edward Byron Payne]
June 1st, 1892
Berkeley
Cal
=======================================
Page 1:
Waste
Philosophy
Rags and bottles, sacks and bags,
Who can tell me now, for sure,
What bottles, sacks and common rags,
Have to do with Literature?
And yet these wise and witty three,
Committee of the reading club,
Have laid the heavy task on me,
To solve this problem—there’s the rub.
=======================================
Page 2:
The poets, in their lofty dreams,
Are silent, when of them I ask,
If e’er the Muse yet took for themes
A rag, a sack, an empty flask?
The writers of the world’s romance—
From them my suit no answer brings;
They eye me with a scornful glance,
They spurn such unromantic things.
The Essayists, when I question them;
Just dip their pens in blacker ink;
Each thought of their’s a shining gem;
Of paltry things they cannot think.
Indeed, from early A, B, C,
To Literature’s most recent day,
When was its subject known to be
A bottle, sack, or rag, I pray?
=======================================
Page 3:
I’ve even searched our Draper through,
To know from that all-learned man,
What such things, hap’ly, have to do
With civilization’s growing plan?
But Draper’s thoughts run high, or deep,
They dwell on force and law, and cause,
‘Twould make his genius all too cheap
On paltry things like these to pause.
But there is one, who helps me out;
In what the page of letters lacks:
With joy I hear his lusty shout,
Who buys our bottles, rags and sacks;
As home he drives with motley prize;
Just follow up this forager,
And hearken-!—he’ll soliloquize:
You’ll find him a philosopher.
=======================================
Page 4:
“These rags” (just listen to him preach)
“These cast off rags all teach, I s’pose
The end pretentious pride must reach:
It all, at last, to tatters goes.
“This big, despised, rejected heap
Of rags (who now reflects will find)
Proves very weak and very cheap,
The vanities of human kind.
‘Twas Eve and Adam, so they say;
In Paradise, invented Clo’s,
And from that far ill fated day;
The silly strifes of fashion rose;
“Did Adam think him better dressed
Than Eve, with her new apron fine,
That his descendants cannot rest
Unless in raiment they outshine?
=======================================
Page 5:
“The world thinks high of showy dress;
And stares and gapes, admires and blinks;
‘Tis folly, they must all confess;
To one who gathers rags, and thinks.
“E’en silks and satins fare, I ween,
At last, like common coarse-webbed shags,
Wardrobes of greatest Belle, or Queen
Become, in time, but tattered rags.
“I’ve heard a proverb—just the word—
Deny the truth of it who can?
“ ‘Twere well if everybody heard—
‘Tis not the coat that makes the man.”
“But, under coat—and corsage too—
Or fair or mean, ah! well I know!
The heart that beats, if false or true,
This ranks us either high or low;
=======================================
Page 6:
“The bottles? Yes, there’s quite a lot,
Of various shapes, and every size.
If I should tell where each I got’
‘Twould make the neighbors ope their eyes.
‘Though some; no doubt; were innocent
Of aught that works to man a harm;
And some a gracious perfume lent
To give to beauty added charm.
But some, I fancy, held enough
Of venom; virus, pest and gall,
Of poison; bane and nameless stuff,
In their insides, to kill us all.
The druggist’s label here I see,
With physic simples deftly blent,
In mixture, nostrum, recipe,
And every known medicament.
=======================================
Page 7:
“To me the apothecary’s vial
Is vile indeed, and charged unto death,
Give me my choice and surely I’ll
Prefer to die of want of breath.
“And here are some which held; no doubt
What druggists sometimes slyly sell;
And what, with license or without,
Some folks would have, whate’er befell;
“They’re empty! Ah! bad luck; I say!
Yes, drained of every lingering bit;
No drop to cheer the closing day,
Or quicken up my lagging wit.
“In this (sniff; sniff) was bottled beer;
And this (sniff; sniff) held bottled gin;
And this (sniff) ‘twas bottled cider here—
All names they say; for bottled sin;
=======================================
Page 8:
“Alas! There’s naught in any flask;
For only emptied ones I buy
And not a question do I ask,
And if I should, they’d not reply;
“This dozen here, with corks, I had
From Widder Green; old Green is dead,
But long before he died (how sad)
His nose had turned a bottle red.
“These Judge Law, the magistrate,
Had stored away—they make it plain,
That every dinner which he ate
Was helped along with good Champagne;
“And these I found behind the house
Of parson True—but there’s way
T’ explain—keep still’s a mouse—
He only moved there t’other day;
=======================================
Page 9:
“I s’pose he found them, empty there;
And, hating what they held before,
The while he breathed a fervent prayer,
He tossed them out the wood shed door.
“I’ve heard him talk of ‘bottled tears’
And ‘bottled wrath’ and ‘bottled woe;’
And if he meant strong drinks and beers,
Upon my word I guess it’s so.
“These bags; ha; ha! These sacks, ho, ho!
One, two; three, five, eight, ten,
Twelve, fifteen, twenty-O;
More gain in these than most would ken.
“Gascon Puffer sold me three—
Of all his boasting; vaunting kind,
Greatest braggart yet is he;
Just a swelling ‘bag o’ wind.’
=======================================
Page 10:
“And that old gossip, tattler, clack,
Widow Jay (all know her well)
Sold me this great wide-mouthed sack,
I call her old Bag-a-telle.
“These five small ones came from Cribbs;
That old Money-bags, Lickpenny, Cheat!
When worms get at this greedy Nibs
They’ll find his heart too hard to eat.
“The rest I’ve gathered here and there;
Of good and bad. Go ‘long, old nag;
I guess, ‘bout some ‘twere hardly fair
To let the cat out o’ the bag.”
Ye students of the world’s advance,
And civilization’s fruitful laws,
In every common circumstance
There’s something over which to pause.
=======================================
Page 11:
Did not Carlyle see fit to write
The deep “Philosophy of Clothes?”
And e’en in humbler things we might
Find Principle and Truth—who knows?
There’s wisdom hid in empty bags:
In empty bottles you may find
A moral: and ‘neath worthless rags
Are lessons for the watchful mind.
To our committee I would say
That, though they gave a grievous task,
Yes I’ll forgive them right away
And gracious blessing for them ask.
For them, may bottles harmless be!
May more than rags protect each back,
And in the end, then let it be
That Peter ‘ll not give them the sack.
Notes, Sources, and References:
Apologies for not being able to figure out how to make the transcription two columns to follow the pages in the booklet. A WordPress widget for columns and then trying to use HTML just did not work; adjusting line spacing did not work either. <sigh> Probably operator error, but I’m a researcher and writer, not a computer whiz (sadly).
Thank you, thank you, to one of Edward B. Payne’s descendants who is a fabulous transcriber and typist. She makes it much easier to get this information out there and found by the search engines, so that you can enjoy it.
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, June 1st, 1892, Berkeley, California, likely self-published. The Bancroft Library at University of California-Berkeley also holds a copy and has provided one to me in years past, but these blog posts are from a family copy so graciously shared by a very favorite aunt! (Thank you!)
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2019 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly, i.e, reference this blog.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, 1892: The Poem
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, June 1st, 1892, Berkeley Cal. Owned by author. (Click to enlarge.)
“Waste Philosophy” is a small printed booklet of a poem written by Edward B. Payne in 1892. The booklet is just 6-7/8″ high and 4-3/8″ wide, with 2 cardstock covers and 6 inner pages, 5 of which are printed double-sided. There is no note of the printer, but it appears to have been printed on a press. There are four holes punched through the booklet on the left, with pieces of string in two of the holes, although the string seems to be much more recent than what might have been there in 1892.
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, p1. (Click to enlarge.)
The first page gives us an introduction- why is the author on a quest to determine how rags and bottles, sacks and bags, are connected to literature?
Words are underlined throughout the poem, but it appears they are only in the family copy. Edward’s daughter, Lynette, may have made them using a ruler and pen. We have not yet found a correlation between the words underlined. (Any ideas?)
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, pp2-3. (Click to enlarge.)
In the poem, Edward asks poets, writers, and essayists to help him answer the question he has been given. Without satisfactory answers from any of these persons, he moves on to the “draper”- a person who sells cloth, clothing, and dry goods. The local Draper apparently is quite a learned man, but unfortunately he does not have an answer to the question either.
Without an answer, Edward thinks of one who might concern himself with smaller things than the poets, writers, and essayists of literature would bother. He hears the cry of the local ‘Forager’ who buys bottles rags, and sacks from persons throughout the area. He already knows the Forager is a philosopher, something that most would not assume of a person who is of the ‘lower class’ of society. Edward himself was a Christian Socialist and he was also educated as a minister at a very liberal college, Oberlin, which was instrumental in the Abolitionist movement and helping the common person, no matter the color. Edward spent much of his life lovingly working to help people ‘lift themselves up by their bootstraps’- working with them to better their lot in life, rather than just giving them handouts, as many think of Socialists these days.
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, ppp4-5. (Click to enlarge.)
It is interesting that EB (as Edward B. Payne is lovingly known in our household after many years of research) uses the word “preach” when speaking of the reply the Forager has to the central question this poem asks. Edward himself was an eloquent preacher, as stated by his parishioners and colleagues, newspaper writers, and friends. His father-in-law was a very effective lay preacher, so EB knew that a divinity degree was not required for one to have important things to say. The word is also a clue that there are some big ideas that will come of the Forager’s comments- ones that could give new meaning to a human life.
Of course, “Preach” also rhymes well with ‘teach’ in this stanza- that’s important in an ABAB rhyme pattern.
The Forager describes the rags he finds as sometimes coming from the finest clothes. He states that a ‘coat’ for men and ‘corsage’ for women don’t make the person finer- it is “The heart that beats, if false or true” that “ranks us high or low.”
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, pp6-7. (Click to enlarge.)
The Forager moves on to describe the bottles he collects. He knows that some are innocent, like perfume bottles, but others can be poison, in many senses of that word. In the 1890s, there was no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure the safety of what we consumed. Medicines were adulterated with other drugs or cut with chemicals that were a poison, or there were ingredients that so diluted the original drug that it was ineffective; oftentimes the product just did not work but the advertising or salesmanship was so impressive that people bought it anyway. Other drugs were powerful narcotics that persons would become addicted to easily, and for life. Sadly many died due to the cure, rather than the disease.
Apothecaries/druggists also sold alcohol at times without having a license to sell it, as a saloon would have needed to purchase from the city. Alcohol for ‘medicinal use’ was common, even before prohibition in the 1920s, and was often given to women who had physical complaints. EB was an advocate of the temperance movement, as he had seen the pain of alcohol addiction many times in his professional life. As a young minister in the tenements of Chicago he worked with D. L. Moody in the poor immigrant communities, and he also ministered in mill towns in New England. In fact, he gave up his ministry at a wealthier New England church, in order to minister to those who needed him more. He and his wife also sheltered in their home a young woman who most likely had been escaping from domestic abuse by her husband, and EB testified at a trial concerned with her disappearance. While we do not know if excessive alcohol use was involved, it is well known that alcohol consumption was very high in these poor communities with little hope of a better life. Edward worked to help decrease the use of “bottled sin” in communities, and reform the laws of cities and our nation.
The Forager has been at his job- and life- long enough to be able to identify what spirit was in each bottle at one time. It is ironic that he laments the fact that there isn’t a drop left for him, despite what he knows to be true of the dangers of alcohol.
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, pp8-9. (Click to enlarge.)
The Forager continues to preach that he has had bottles from some of the pillars of the community, and he wants Edward to “keep still’s a mouse” with what he tells. Even the parson had empty bottles, although they might not have been his, since he had not lived there very long- or had he drunk the contents quickly?
Bags the Forager gathers have stories to tell as well. He uses the bag as a personality metaphor- a bragging person is a “bag o’ wind.”
“Waste Philosophy” by Edward B. Payne, 1892, pp10-11. (Click to enlarge.)
A woman who was a gossip and tattler ironically provided a “wide-mouthed sack” and the word “tell” is in the name he calls her. A greedy, cheap man provided only small bags, and the Forager states that when that man is dead, the worms will “find his heart too hard to eat.”
The Forager summarizes his “Waste Philosophy”: we can find wisdom, morals, and lessons in the humblest of objects, if we but look for them.
Edward finishes his poem by an appreciation to the committee that charged him with “a grievous task” of finding out how literature is related to “bottles and rags, bags and sacks.” He has found that those simple objects tell us much about the human condition, and give us guidance in our own lives. While he doesn’t say it directly, this is exactly what good literature- and good poetry- does for its readers. The Reverend then offers a blessing for the committee concerning their bottles and eventual rags. He ends his poem with another blessing that is a play on the word “sack”- that St. Peter will “not give them the sack” when they get to the Pearly Gates.
Spoken like a true- and clever- preacher.
Notes, Sources, and References:
“Waste Philosophy” by Rev. Edward B. Payne, 1892, Berkeley, California. Scans are from a family copy that was lovingly given to the author.
References to the various episodes of Edward B. Payne’s life related in this article can be provided if desired. They are not being added here today because of the time involved- it is more important that the time be used to sew masks for those in need during this pandemic. While a meticulous researcher and logical debater, I feel EB would concur on this better use of time.
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