(Transcription and
added headings by grandson Bruce E. Morton, 1988. See Genealogy
for Photos)
1. Young Fred Learns
to Always Ask the Why of Things
If there ever was a time when we should ask the
“Why”, it is now. Why are we, the
peoples of this earth here? Why are we
doing as we do? Why have we been so
slow in learning how to live peaceably and happily together? Is there a simple and plain course, which
has been hidden from our sight, which if discovered and followed would clear
the skies for all of us? When one comes
to the hour when he must close his eyes in the sleep of death, may he lie down
in peace a confidence knowing that he shall be raised to immortality when the
giver of life shall appear?
all-powerful. He was instrumental in
the creation of all things. We learn
this fact from the reading of the Word. (Four pages of Biblical exegesis
follow, which are deleted here. They
amount to a fundamentalist personification of the Creative Universe the form of
an all-wise, knowing, and powerful God, controlling everything.)
when He shall take unto Himself those who have believed on Him and are saved
from their sins.
some day if true to Him he will be repaid. So, often the honest investor is
disappointed. The eye of the Lord we
may know is (also) upon him. He who
sees the sparrow fall takes note of him.
It may not be in this presen day life, but in the life to come they both
may be recompensed.
“The love of money is the root of all
evil (I Tim. 6:30). Because of the love in the heart of money,
money receives its great power. This
power is exercised far beyond sound reason and justice. It affects the attitude of nation toward
nation, because it is in the heart of single individuals to use it for their
own personal glory and seeming apparent benefit. The attitude of nations may change toward one another when and if
the individuals living within them are converted. Surely the message of the soon coming of Jesus must take in these
thoughts. IF MEN DO NOT REPENT, IF THE
NATIONS DO NOT CHANGE, SURE DESTRUCTION AWAITS THEM.
they put out the weeks washing for our large family. What a blessing the automatic washing machine was when it came
into our homes! Who would wish to
return to the old days and see his loved ones labor as they used to labor.
We have our beautiful, durable streets and
highways. They are built precisely
after the blueprint given to us by God as He speaks through the voice of one
crying (out) in the wilderness. These
blueprints are found in Isaiah 40:3,4. We read these blueprints again in Luke
3:4,5. These blueprints were
perfect and needed no changing. “The
valleys have been filled and the mountains and hills have been brought low, the
crooked has been made straight and the rough ways have been made smooth.” This is for a purpose. These highways were built for our God so
that He through men may hasten the message of love for God and man.
raised, the snatch team detached, and the driver proceeded with his load as the
man with the snatch team helped to fill another scraper. This was the “last word” we might say of
dirt moving and on road building.
Needless to say, there was very little
bringing low of hills and mountains or filling of valleys. They went up over the hills and down through
the valleys and followed the course of least resistance. Many of our roads were very crooked. Horses and mules were used universally as
motive power for farm
and roadwork
They say
“Everything has it drawbacks” and it was found that the weak point in the work
of the small wheel tractor was on the point of dirt moving. They could be used efficiently in drawing
the cultivator and the plow. The weight
of the soil is around 3000 pounds to the cubic yard. These tractors could load and draw around a third of a yard of
dirt, or 1000-pound weight very successfully on solid footing. But on every job where dirt is moved, the
moment comes when dirt must be carried over loose dirt, as the fills are
made. When passing over loose dirt the
tendency was to overload the tractor.
There is where the trouble was found. To overcome this drawback was the
problem.
As the scraper reaches the loose dirt, it
naturally settles into it, and would inevitably take on additional dirt. Generally, the tractor wheels being in loose
dirt would lose their traction and begin to settle down lower and lower until
the axle or differential housing rested on the ground and the wheels were
turning in mid air, so to speak. Then,
the operator was forced to remove the dirt from beneath the portion of the
tractor that was resting on the ground, drop the load and try again.
The tops of
the hills were easily drawn down into the low places. Soon, however, the low places began to be filled with loose dirt
that was dry, if working in the summer months. If (one were) working in the
winter months, it would be damp. But of
course it (too) would be loose and soft.
8. Fred Morton’s Early Experiences in Earth
Moving Technology:
This
laborious work of walking all day behind a Fresno Scraper started me to
wondering if there might be an easier and more efficient way to do this kind of
work. When the small wheel tractors
came in to handle this work the trouble began, as stated above.
About this
time a nephew of mine who had been in the Army across the seas came home. We took up work as partners and worked so
for one year. I should mention that
these machines that I had, had been built on spare time, so to say. The needs of our family, there being six
children, were met by the joint work of my wife, and myself. She worked as a nurse, and I as a pumping
plant installer and repairman as well as a grading contractor.
All the
former machines had been built having wooden frames. A certain dealer said that if we would build them of metal, not
using wood in its construction, he would contract to take all of them that we
could build. The world again began to
look very bright. I had in mind an
all-metal machine, using a right and left clutch with sprocket and chain to
operated the blade. We built this machine. We debated for some time as to
the size of the bowl that we should use.
Eventually we decided to increase the size.
We finished
the machine, and in about the month of August, when the soil as dry, we took it
into the field. We had worked but a
short time until we realized that we had built the bowl too large. Though the mechanism worked perfectly, the
tractor could not pass through the loose dry dirt, and take its full load. We were terribly disappointed. We were tired from our hours of hard
overtime work. Our money was gone, and
we felt we must give it up.
About a
month later, we happened to meet in an implement house one day, purchasing
parts for pumping plant repairing. We
got to talking about the scraper. It
had been my child so to speak, and I could not forget it and give it up. There was a terrible need; and I felt in my
innermost soul that God was helping me. I could find a way to produce what was
needed. We were dissolving our
partnership, and I proposed to him that I pay him for all the work that he had
put in on it, figuring half the incidental, materials and so forth. I proposed to continue on alone. He accepted the proposition, we settled, and
each was again separate.
We termed it
the Morton-Hackney Self Governing Scraper. I say we, and I (must) mention Dr.
Hackney. Dr Hackney had been watching
me in my efforts to build a suitable dirt mover. When he saw that I really had the machine that would work
practically in all places at all times, protecting the tractor automatically,
and moving so much more dirt, he wanted to invest in it. He made his proposition and we worked for
several years as partners, sharing equally in the building. He, however, doing no manual labor, but
furnishing the necessary money for purchasing of materials, keeping the
building going, and the selling of the machine. This was his proposition to me, and the basis on which we
worked. Later, we had had our eyes
opened to the difficulties which one meets in the building and selling of such
a machine (even the most simple gadget brings great problems to those who
invent it, and in the building and selling). Then, he decided, as he said, that
“he had bit off more than he could chew”, and gave it up for good.
As to its
efficiency, I shall mention a few of many tests and operations which it was
constantly put through, which shall place the mind of the reader to rest on
that point. But first, may I give a
brief description of its mechanism? That night, around 12 o’clock, as I said,
the light broke through. I had been thinking: if I could construct a
machine so that if the natural pull on the tractor was increased from any cause
whatever, the blade of the scraper would automatically be raised, (then) that
would be the answer to all our troubles in grading the land. I also knew that at (other) times, it would
be necessary to hold the blade down and keep it from rising. This would (also) bring added pull at the
hitch, as when picking up a load in hard ground. I knew that it must be so constructed that it would automatically
take care of this point also.
The machine
that came to my mind, so vividly, would take care of these points and
more. This machine consisted of two
frames. The main frame was built much
as I had built it on the other machines, having two wheels at the rear of the
frame. Another frame, a sub-frame,
should carry the bowl with its cutting blade, which would pick up and carry the
load. The sub-frame was carried on two
rollers, one on either side. These
rollers rested on steel tracks, welded securely to the main frame, one on each
side.
The rear end
of the sub-frame was held at a given elevation while the front portion that carried
the bowl was raised or lowered as the rollers passed up and down in the loading
and unloading of the dirt.
These tracks had to be built on a steep
incline, so that the bowl, which had a solid bottom in it would rise high
enough to allow the dirt to pass beneath the blade when dumping in a given spot
or when spreading. When spreading and
in dumping, the bowl rose and tipped forward. As the last dirt was released, it
automatically rocked back and locked in a horizontal position. When it was desired to reload, the operator
pulled on a rope, thus releasing the lock the held it at the top of the track
allowing the rollers which carried to come back to the bottom of the
tracks. This brought the blade to the
ground where it automatically locked in its cutting position so that as the
tractor proceeded, it began to take on a new load.
When the
bowl was loaded to its capacity or to the capacity of the tractor, a quick
light jerk was made on this same rope. This released the lock, which was
holding it down and the pull of the tractor brought the blade out of its
cutting position and stopped its scraping motion. The thing that made this possible was the principle of one frame
working against the other frame, or in other words the rollers that carried the
sub-frame were always pressed firmly against the tracks. This result was obtained through a set of
two levers; one end of each being secured to the main frame near its front
portion while from the other end a chain ran to the tractor hitch. These levers had a series of holes drilled
near their centers that were used for the sake of adjustment. One could adjust the scraper to tractors of
varying horsepower by shifting the clevises into different holes. Chains ran from the clevises to the end
(inside) of the scraper bowl so that they would pivot, one at each end. When the pull of the tractor came upon these
chains and levers, the sub-frame with its load rose on its rollers until the
scraping motion was stopped. The deep
bowl with its load could then be carried along to the place of unloading.
When the
scraper blade reached the loose fills, the added pull would cause the rollers
to rise on the tracks (the locking device being released) just far enough to
allow the loose dirt to slide beneath the blade. And one could always place his last load as easily as he could
the first one. There was no more
stalling of the tractor. If one wished
to do so he could elevate the load clear of the ground and take it away in high
gear. For short hauls this was not done
because considerable loose dirt could be pushed before the blade. It was a point of gain to take this loose
dirt the few feet on into the low spot. With dry ocean beach sand or sand of
that nature, one case in 1000, hydraulic control was necessary.
One of the
first men to use the Self-Governing Scraper was a man who was grading a tract
of Hog Wallow land. He was using a
Fordson Tractor, and as usual because of the facts already mentioned, he had
been having trouble. He was not able to
purchase a machine, but we arranged to let him use one. He used it for several months, and completed
his work with it. The following is a
portion of a letter that we received from him telling of his experience with it.
“Having used
the ordinary scraper in my farm tractor work, and having used your improved
scraper and land leveler, I find that your style and construction of scraper is
far superior to (that of) the ordinary scraper. I shall be very glad to recommend it whenever, and wherever I
have the opportunity. Its
self-governing properties are all that you have claimed. With your scraper, it was always easy to
handle its original load which was nearly double that of other scrapers. Yours is considerably more readily handled
and one could without trouble always put the load in the desired spot. I have on several occasions to please
spectators held the bowl down until the tractor wheels had lost tracking and
the Fordson was resting on its drawbar, and then released the bowl. The tractor has always climbed out of the
holes in which it was resting taking out the full load of dirt. Its spreading features are perfect. I consider it to be an all-round practical
scraper.”
We decided
to go to see them the following day. Early that morning a young man with whom I
had earlier talked to about buying a large machine came to see me and said, “I
want one of your large machines. I have
a contract to grade a large tract of land at ---- and if you can build me one
that will move as much a 3 yards per load, I’ll get rich on this job. I have a
60 horse-power Holt tractor.” I said, “Well, we can build you one that will
handle 5 yards, or more, and you can pull it with your 60 horse-power
tractor. But, we cannot take your order
this morning.” I told him we were going
to see this Tractor Manufacturing Company (right away) and that if we were able
to do business with them, we would tell them of his desire to purchase one of
them.
He begged me
to take his order and send for the steel first, and then go and see the
Company. He was so persistent that I
agreed to talk to my partner and see what he thought about it. When my partner learned of this man’s
interest, he was pleased. It seemed
that our prayers were being answered. So he said, “Lets take his order and stay
away from the Tractor Company until we have it built and working. Then, we can
go and see the company.” He said, “It’s like a mine. The prospector goes out and finds a piece of quartz on the
hillside, out of which may be protruding wires of gold. He knows that there is a mine there. But not until he tunnels back into the
hillside does he have a real mine.” We
could not get rid of the desire to build a large machine of greater
capacity. So, we decided to take his order and to wait till later to go
and see the manufacturing Company. We
then would (indeed) have more to offer them.
(Because)
the machinery that we were using in our building (program) was so light, we
could not easily handle the heavier steel materials required for a larger
scraper. So, it took myself and two
other men nearly three months to finish it (the larger prototype). It was a success and would handle up to
seven yards of dirt at a single load.
It was so
much of a success that he wanted us to build him another one just like it. He said he could pull them both with his
tractor, as it had plenty of power. I felt that there would be difficulty in
loading and in unloading two machines, working side-by-side as he proposed to
use them, so we did not attempt it. This well-meaning young man became offended
at us and hired another shop to build him two machines unlike ours. He arranged
them behind his tractor according to his plans, and failed completely to
operate them. Money that he should have
put into gasoline to keep his work going went into these machines. He had not paid us for our machine and he
was though. We had to repossess our
machine and he was broke. How sad that these disappointments come to
well-meaning people. But the urge to
build still larger machines was ever with us.
Later after
we had used them, we received a letter from him that reads as follows: “To whom
it may concern. I have been using Mr.
Fred R. Morton’s Dirt Mover in a test against other scrapers, using both large
and small (models), and am pleased to say (that) without a doubt it is superior
both in the quantity of dirt moved and the ease with which it is done to any
implement I have ever used. I honestly
believe that either of these machines would more than pay for themselves in 60
days time.”
He soon was
willing to lay aside the machines that he had been using. He said that his company was going to double
the number of tractors, using two large ones and 18 small wheel tractors, all
(of them) drawing our Self-Governing Scrapers. Again, everything looked rosy,
as we sometimes say. They intended to
use these machines in both Merced, and in Madera counties. He told me to draw up a contract stipulating
that they were to be delivered in lots, and stipulating the number to be
delivered in each lot, and the said contract to include the two scrapers that
he was already using. He said “draw up
the contract and bring it over tomorrow and we will sign up and go ahead.”
I had the
contract drawn up by an attorney and took it over to the office the next
day. When I entered the office, he
stepped forward and said, “Mr. Morton, you could knock me over with a straw.” I asked him why he felt so. He said, “there is a little trouble between
the two men who owned the business. But
don’t worry. It will all be ironed out
in a day or so. Just let us keep on
with the machines we have there, and in a few days we can go right ahead. I could see that he really hoped and trusted
that this would be the case. But, I
said, “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. There is a company grading up a large tract
of land over in Fresno County. The
field manager wants to see them work on his soil so the owners of the
proposition may see them at work when they come from Los Angeles. When you have the trouble all ironed out, I
will bring the machines back and we will go ahead. He was very much disappointed but assented to it. To make this part of the story short, their
trouble could not be remedied and the company broke up and was dissolved. What a disappointment for all concerned.
I was justified in being in hopes that we
could do business with those people in Fresno County. Just a few days before, I was told to draw up a contract for the
above Cotton Company, I had taken the field manager of the Company in Fresno
County over to the Cotton Company’s job to show them our machines at work. On the way over there, I explained to him
the mechanism of the scrapers and how they worked. When we arrived at the job, he got out of the car and went over
to one of the machines and began to follow it around. He followed it for 5 minutes or so, watching it closely. Neither of us had spoken a word. Then he came over to me and said, “There is
no use of beating round the bush, or wasting words. I am sold on the machine. I only want you to bring them over to
my job, giving the same reason as mention above. The outcome was that they were taken over to Fresno County and
put to work. They too were using nine
small tractors and one 60 H.P tractor.
They were going to double up on their tractors and use ours scrapers
only.
Again we
drew an easy breath so to speak, as this number of sales would have given us a
very good start in their manufacture. But again, there was disappointment
awaiting us. These people were grading
that land and were cutting it up into small farms for a certain Sect of people
who wished to form a large colony there and live to themselves. Much of this
land was not of the best and families began to let their places go back to the
Company. As a result, they were not
able to continue the grading of new places.
As the time
for the Fresno County Fair was drawing on, we decided to exhibit a small
scraper. We made arrangements to use a
sizable spot of ground, which we were to rope off. It was large enough that we could put on a working demonstration
that would bring out the different points of merit (in the scrapers). This brought us much publicity. On hearing the tractor running, crowds would
gather and watch as the operator piled up large mounds of dirt, and then spread
them out again. The self-governing
properties of the scraper were well demonstrated. Before the Fair was over we had over 20 names of large dirt
moving contractors who were either moving dirt or planning to do so during the
coming winter. They all wanted me to
come and see them immediately.
Fresno has
always been known as a raisin growing country. To protect themselves against
the money powers (the buyers and packers) the farmers had organized what was
know as the “Fresno Raisin Combine”. At
this very time after closing of the fair, this Combine nearly broke up. There was unrest and loss of confidence on
the part of the businessmen. In time it
was restored, but too late for us. I
went to see all of the men. But all of them had cancelled their agreements or
changed their plans. At the last of my
trip, in order to see the last man I spent the night out, walking from my car
to a certain spot and back again, wearing a beaten trail, because I had no
money to pay for a room at the hotel where I might have been warm and
relaxed. The next morning I found that
this man was doing hour- work and was not interested in moving large quantities
of dirt.
A few days
later a letter came to us written by the man who had been the Field Manager of
the Cotton Company of which I have spoken. He had gone south to a place not far
from Los Angeles, and found employment with a company that was developing a
tract of land and selling it to people in Los Angeles. Some of these wished to move out into the
country and live on small farms. Others
were buying land as an investment. He
was anxious that we bring a large machine and six small ones down
immediately. Our disappointments had been
so many and so great that I had almost lost heart. But it was argued that here was practically a bonified order, and
that if we failed to accept it, we probably would never succeed.
So we decide
to go and see them first, and if possible make sure there would be no failure
this time. This gentleman was very glad
to see us. But, although he had
written as he did, he did not seem free to introduce us to the man in charge at
the office and sign up on a bonified order. He was sold on the machine. His intentions we believed were right, but
something has holding him back. However we did go back to Fresno and got
one of the small machines and took it to the place.
Eventually
it was made know to us that the Field Manager and the man who wrote out the checks
were not entirely agreeable to one-another.
We were advised to talk to the man who eventual would pay for the
scrapers. As he personally had never
seen one at work, we of course asked him if he would allow us to demonstrate it
to him. He agreed to take the
demonstration but said, “I’m only doing this as an act of courtesy, because I
am sure that I will not purchase it.” I
have just bought a scraper that my head scraper man likes, and that is the kind
I am going to use. I cannot watch the
demonstration today or tomorrow, but I will watch it day after tomorrow. We had waited around for about two weeks
expecting that each day would see some action. So we were willing to wait
another two days.
We went into
the field with two tractors of the same make and horsepower. One was drawing the new scraper that he had
bought, and the other drawing ours. The
land was very rough, with high hills and low spots, similar to the Hog Wallow
land near Fresno. The tractor that was
drawing our scraper was belching black smoke at times, showing a poor mixture
of fuel. This denoted a need for
carburetor adjustment. But it drew good
loads of dirt, and as the filing progressed, the governing properties were
protecting the tractor against stalling.
Soon we
heard the racing of a motor. The other
tractor was down in the soft dirt. He
had not reached the low spot for which he was aiming and was compelled to drop
the load short. He circled around and
tried to pick it up from a different angle. Trying several times and failing,
he drew aside and gave it up. He spoke
about the working of our machine, and I said, “Yes, it is doing well, but the
mixture on the carburetor is too rich.”
He said, “Why not drop the scraper and let me pull it with this one?” I
was waiting for that, and the change was made.
As our
scraper passed back and forth, it drew larger loads than the other scraper had
been drawing. And each load was placed
just where it was wanted. I saw the
opportunity to make the demonstration a little plainer still, so I suggested to
the driver that he take a full load of dirt, and pass right over the load that
he had dropped with the other scraper. He did so, taking on a full load. As the
scraper blade struck this pile of dirt, the governing devices caused it to rise
instead of drawing in. It passed
through the pile, piling the dirt still higher in the bowl, taking about half
of it along. The added pull was hardly
perceptible on the motor. That brought
the test to a climax. Looking at the
other scraper, the head man said, “I don’t want that scraper. Come over to the shade of that tree and lets
talk this over.”
As we were
building these, we were searching for other buyers. There was a company near Perris that was leveling a 1000-acre
tract of land. The also were cutting it
up into small farms. We contacted the
manager there and took him and his field man to see them at work. They were both sold on it, but like the
other man, they wanted to see on work on their (own) ground. As we were delivering the last scraper to
the Company, mentioned above, we went by this place near Perris. We suggested that we might build a weir with
which we might measure the size of the loads and compare them. A three-foot cube being a cubic yard, it is
very easy to form a weir by using twelve-inch boards, and nailing them together
in a square leaving a three-foot inside measure. In measuring, see that the ground is smooth and even. Set the weir down and fill it. Then pass the handle of a shovel over the
top of it to even it off. Then lift the
box from the ground. Do this three
times, and we have a cubic yard, lying in the three piles of dirt.
Again we
demonstrated, having two tractors on the same make and horse power. The ranch tractor driver took as large a
load as he could take, and the manager had him stop his tractor. Our scraper was loaded and drawn up beside
him. They shoveled the dirt from the
first scraper into the weir and measured it. When we had about finished
measuring the load of the Self–Governing Scraper, the manager said, “Well, we have double the amount of dirt in
this scraper. It lacks only 3 or 4
shovel fills, and we have tramped that much into the ground.” We receive an order for two machines to be
delivered as soon as we could, and two more to be delivered one month later.
One day the attorney came into the shop
and wanted to talk with me. He said,
“Fred, we are on the rocks. We might as
well face it.” I had been busy between
the shop and the field. I had thought
that all the expenses connected with the business were being taken care of
according to plans of the agreement.
But this was not the case and the Company went through insolvency. They said that if I would sign my patents
(plural?) over to them, (then) in that case I would be automatically released
from all responsibility, and that that would leave me clear. I was worn out from my hard work and
discouraged. So, I let them have what
they asked of me. I and my family went
back to Fresno.
I learned later that the Company had changed
the design of the scraper with the thought of being able to sell it at a lower
price. But, in doing so, they had lost
fully 50 percent of its efficiency. So, although they had built it according to
one of the claims of the patent, it was a failure. About three years later, I received a letter from them, asking me
to come, take it over, and start anew.
They said that they would give me 25 percent of the business. But, I had
lost confidence in them and did not accept their offer.
I am sorry
that I have failed in making the thing (the revelation), which I still believe
the Lord gave to me, a financial success. I only believe that the Lord has
allowed this to come to me for a purpose.
He knows that I was conscientious and worked hard to make it a
success. I sympathize deeply with the
thousands of poor men, financially poor, who have brought to us the many good
things that we have today. Because they
were filled with the inventive spirit, persevered in their work, and (yet) who,
the Lord knows why, eventually have gone to their rest, not having fully
realized the consummation of their hopes.
Some day I may know and understand the “Why”.
Through the
days of my labors there were many kinds of scrapers working upon our
roads. Today, we ride out and along our
Highways and often see a road building or road repairing outfits. I find that one of the several machines that
used to work besides my own is doing practically all of the work today. It has been many years since I have seen any
other than the La Tourneau dirt movers working upon our roads. Today they excel all others and have
virtually put the others off the market.
To the best
of my knowledge, I was the first to build a machine that carried a portion of
the load upon the power unit, while the balance of the load was carried on two
wheels behind the bowl. These are the
large machines that we see today, carrying their 15-20 yards of dirt per load,
and speeding along at 20 miles per hour. They are also built so that the power
unit is carrying much of the load. They
are indeed efficient machines and deserve to hold their place upon the
job. However, other implements may
someday take their places.
As promised,
I have only touched on some of the high places in relating my experiences in
inventions, and in my efforts to bring a good thing to the world. I have not told of the struggle that we have
gone through in trying to keep our children cared for as we wished, and to have
them educated.
We always
think of the “might have been”s. If we
had accepted the offer of that first dealer and built only small machines to be
drawn by the small tractor, we would perhaps have succeeded financially. Or if we had used the machine to build up a
good dirt moving business for ourselves, the Lord may have prospered us in
this. Today, it is too late for even
this. The aged are falling as it were
in decay. How many times I have felt
that if I could, I would like to give each man who invested and lost, the money
he had lost. This I cannot do. The things that we have, and prize so
dearly, have come at great cost.
Though I now have no money, I have new
hopes. Not hopes of joining the vast
multitude in the rush to win success in the field of commerce. But, the spirit of God has brought to the
world the many good things that we have.
If we listen, to its voice will guide us both in the getting and in the
use of them. There is a truth, which if
learned and allowed to work in the lives of all of us, could and would iron out
all the troubles (the wrinkles) in our lives. Each should find this truth and
build on it.
Though the
day is past when I may engage in the building of machinery, I may engage in a
humble way in the building of the Kingdom of God upon earth. We may go to the bible and meditate upon it
reading and thinking His thoughts after HIM. We may also bring these thoughts
to others and they too may read and grow in Christ Jesus. Above all things we need the Kingdom of God
within us. We need to look ahead with courage. It might be well if every
minister, doctor, lawyer, business man, farmer, mechanic, laborer, parent, boy,
girl, every one on the street and they that sit in their homes or on the
benches I the park (the aged), should take a look back (not as did Lot’s wife)
but that they may make past failures stepping-stones to something better ahead.
“I would build but I would build something better, that cannot be taken away”