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region. The streets are dotted with groups of three and four men, coarsely-clad, grim-visaged, sturdy, and solid; the weather cold and shivering; the prospect all but inviting. Not knowing which way to turn, I naturally inquired for the office of the Messenger. Once there I inquired for the proprietor, Mr. Winehart, and at once introduced myself to him. I found him to be a young man of 35, a genuine type of the modern American –lank, thin-visaged, keen eyed, quick-witted, and resolute. After a few words I inquired if he had received my note. He replied that he had, and had published it; upon request I was handed a copy of the paper.
The day was cold and depressing, the town uninviting, and the man who stood before me as chilly as an iceberg. Imagine, then, my situation when I read the comment on the announcement, which advised the workingmen of Coal Center to receive Agitator Parsons with –rotten eggs, and throw him into the river! I said to myself: "steady, steady –there is hard work ahead!"
"Well," said I, looking up and addressing the editor who stood near by, "how is this?"
"That's our opinion of agitators in this region,: he replied.
"I should expect such treatment from the coal syndicate," said I, "but not from those whom it oppresses."
I remembered that the Messenger was the only paper in the valley which stood by the miners in their long strike, and while wondering at its hostility toward me the editor said:
"Well, sir, those are sentiments. These infernal agitators are a curse to us. They have ruined this valley. They have kept the miners idle and they ought to be drowned."
While he spoke his jaws were firmly set and his countenance determined and pale.
"Well, sir," said I, keeping perfectly cool, "I have seen the papers of this valley abusing you because you stood for the struggling miners, and I judged from it you were something of an agitator yourself," and I eyed him closely and I perceived I had fired a shot that struck him. "And," said I, "you certainly must concede that Thomas Buckle, the author of the 'History of Civilization,' was right when he said, that the barrier to all progress and civilization
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