Today's Feature

Mary Elizabeth Lease Portrayal.

News release

The Powers Museum, of Carthage, Missouri, presents Glenna Wallace of Seneca in a costumed portrayal of Mary Elizabeth Lease in honor of Women’s History Month at Grace Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall, 820 Howard (two blocks east of the Carthage High School, south of Chestnut) March 23 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. Glenna is newly retired after teaching 35 years at Crowder College in Neosho. She currently serves as tribal secretary to the Eastern Shawnee. The Mary Elizabeth Lease presentation was part of the Heartland Chautauqua program presented by the Missouri Humanities Council this past summer on the grounds of the George Washington Carver National Monument.

Mary Elizabeth Lease (1853-1933), American lecturer, writer, and later political activist who championed diverse public cases including the plight of the farmer, would take issue with the phrase "America, the Bountiful) theme of the MHC Heartland Chautauqua in 2005 and 2006). She and her husband spent ten years trying to make a living farming, but lost everything in the financial panic of 1873, which was anything but a "bountiful" time or experience. Later she became the voice of the Farmers’ Alliance, making more than 160 speeches in Kansas alone, achieving world-wide fame and attracting national attention with what has been described by her enemies as "radical utterances." The most famous quotation attributed to her, which she denies ever having said, supposedly encouraged farmers of Kansas to "raise less corn and more hell." Lease didn’t make a big issue of the misquoted commend because she believed it to be "a right good piece of advice." Always known for her powerful voice, both physically and influentially, she has been described as hurling sentences "as Jove hurled thunderbolts." born Mary Elizabeth Lease, her detractors referred to her a Marry Ellen Lease or "Marry Yellin" whereas her supporters referenced her as Queen Mary. While simultaneously being accused of being a "virago" and a "petticoated smut-mill," Mary Lease was known to be able to influence hundreds of votes wherever she spoke, and the opposition did not want her in their area near or during election time. As one source stated, regardless of whether Mary Elizabeth Lease did or did not explicitly call for more "hell raising, Lease was a powerful voice of the agrarian crusade."

Mrs. Lease visited Carthage several times including 1891 when she spoke for the Farmers’ Alliance and again in 1897 as part of Suffrage Day at the Interstate Chautauqua Assembly that summer.

For more information on the program, please contact the Powers Museum at 417-358-2667 or pmuseum@ecarthage.com

Stench Report:
Friday,
3/17/06

No Stench Reported

It’s gotten to the point that when I pull off a full size sheet I’m tempted to tear in in half. ‘Course the fact that anyone would worry about the cost and still use paper towels at all is a little odd. The thought of usin’ a damp rag that can be rinsed out doesn’t cross the mind of most anymore it would seem. Easier to pitch that little spill in the trash.

Maybe some enterprisin’ marketin’ expert will come up with half-half sheets for those wantin’ to really get the most from their disposables. Call it a dribble towel.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Oil Stains Ruin New Driveway

Q: Last fall we had a beautiful gray paver driveway installed, and it really looks beautiful. However, during the Christmas holidays we had lots of company, and someone had an oil leak that we noticed after everyone had left. We have tried everything you can think of to remove this stain from the paver bricks. It is on one brick completely and slightly on three adjoining bricks. So far, nothing has worked, and we are at a loss. I am hoping that you might have some good ideas. -- Dolores G., Toms River, N.J.

A: Unfortunately, it sounds like a pretty deep stain, and since it’s an oil drip from a vehicle -- meaning the oil likely is "dirty" from running through the engine as opposed to "relatively clean" oil like that just purchased from a store -- the stain may be permanent. This is because brick pavers -- and concrete pavers, or any masonry for that matter -- are quite porous and absorb liquids quickly.

You’ve been treating this stain for some time without any improvement, so you may have to take the most drastic course, which is replacement of the stained paver. A do-it-yourselfer can loosen and lift out the paver, being careful to set the replacement so that it sits flush with the rest of the bricks. Paying attention to the level of the underlying material (sand, usually) is crucial, as is remembering that this material gradually settles under the weight of the paver. If you aren’t sure that you can make the replacement fit exactly, or if the pavers are prohibitively large, call in the contractor who installed the driveway to make repairs, or contact a driveway repair specialist.

One recommended method is to mix mineral spirits and whiting into a thick paste, apply directly to the stain, and allow it to dry (about 24 hours). These powders can typically be brushed away, using a synthetic-bristle cleaning brush so the stain can be scrubbed a bit.

Bleach, vinegar and lemon juice do not work well on oil stains.