Newspapers / The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, … / May 23, 1897, edition 1 / Page 7
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THE WILMINGTON MESSENGER, SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1897. FAMINE AND COlTON. HOLIDAYS THE WORLD OVER. FACTS THAT ARE WANTED. HISTORIC IBON "WHEELS. FALSE TO ART. The Influence of the Indian Famine Upon " Cotton Consumption find Price. Colonel A. B. Shepperson, of New TT ! . A x orK, in au anicie on xne current num ber of Textile America presents some striking facts regarding the famine in India and its effect upon the price of , cb'tton. The famine, he regards, as the .,worst of the century, affecting 95,000,- 000 persons, within an arear of 213,000 square miles, one-third of the entire population within one-fifth of the ter ritory of India. In spite of the large number of persons engaged upon the relief work, Colonel Shepperson be- 1 lk1-. Uni A. l X. M " icrs, nittL me iiexi crop oi grains in India will be increased largely, and that the cotton crop will be reduced. This deduction is made from the ex perience of the famine of 1876-78, but parallel with the reduction in the crop a decreased demand for cotton by the spinnners of India and Europe may be expected, as the destitution of such a large ijortiop of the population will prevent them from usinif the goods. Quoting the Manchester market report for cotton of April 10th that "cloth is dragging in India goods, and makers who depend on orders coming round from Calcutta and Bombay are expe riencing a bad time," Colonel Sheper son, who speaks with authority, says iiiiiu nt; tears mai condition or the Manchester trade may continue for a long time, and that a diminished sup ply of cotton coincident with a dimin- ioncu uciimiiu iianuipaieu as a result oi me jnuian iamine will not appre ciably influence the price of cotton in the world's markets. The information in the article of Colonel Shepperson is not always read ily obtainable. It is valuable in itself, but particularly worthy of considera tion by those who might build expecta tions of enhanced ' prices for cotton upon the status in India. Manufactur ers Record. ltebeli and Confederates. The Brooklyn (N. Y.) Eagle notes that some of the Virginia papers have taken it tn 'tsftwtr frr 'fotllnf flu- k ,ti,i! - o mvuiui ii iiuici n rebels," and It tries to justify use of the epithet on grounds which it states as follows: "We fail to see in this term any cause for offense. That they were rebels against the government is true, but the mere fact .of rebellion is no shame to a man if he believes that his cause is right-. Wash ington was a rebel, and we are all thank ful that he was; Cromwell was a rebel, and England is the better for that fact; Mazzini, favour, and Garibaldi were re bels and they united Italy; several not bad rebels have come from France and Germany, and nobody alleges that they did not have the good of the people at heart; there are rebels now fighting in uua against long injustice and oppres sion, and they have the sympathy ot most of the world; as between the rebels in Crete and the Turk is there no choice? It is rebellion that has thrown over every throne, royal or vice-royal, which has been planted on "the soil of this western world, and it is rebellion that may make republics universal within a century. If the title of Confederate bet ter "suits our southern friends there is no objection to the nse of it, yet we fail to understand the sensitiveness about the old name." As the Eagle virtually disclaims , any desire to use the term merely because it is offensive, and claims to use it only be caiie it is proper and pertinent, and po litely appeals to logic to sustain that use, we can discuss the matter with it in cold blood. "We submit to our contemporary, then, that it can probably understand this sen sitiveness about the old name if it will j consider carefully- some parts of its own' argument Whether the southern soldiers were "rebels" is, of course, a simple ques tion of fact, and to say "that hey were rebels against the- government is true," is to beg the question outright,1 not to argue it. The highest authority in this country is "the people." Prior to the war the northern and southern people were divided in opinionon the question of to which "government," the State or the Federal, they owtd primary allegiance. The southern people held to the idea that they owed it to the. State Government; the northern people that they owed it to the Federal Government. Who was to decide the question when the sole judges of its merits disagreed? Could the northern people decide it far the southern people? Then the southern peo ple could decide it as well for the north ern people. In the conditions, both peo ples decided It for themselves. The south ern people were as loyal to the govern ment which they recognized as supreme as the northern people were to the gov ernment which they recognized as su preme. The two peoples stood on pre cisely the same footing. The application of the -word "rebels" by the one to the other clearly has no other warrant or authority than that of any other epithet which men may apply to those, their equals, who differ with and oppose them in matters of opinion. We prefer, howrever, that the Eagle shall attain to a right judgment by its own efforts and reflections. We suggest to it, therefore, that it consider carefully and with strict impartiality, the ques tions itself has raised: (1) Whether the States (prior to was of exactly,, the same character and authority as the gov ernments against which Washington, Cromwell, Garibaldi fought, and those against which the Cretans and Cubans are fighting to-day; and (2) whether the people of the South owed to that Fede ral Government (prior to 1SG5) allegiance of the same character 'as; the Cretans and Cubans owe to the governments of Turkev and Spain to-day the violation of which constitutes them rebels in fact? If "it is rebellion that throws over thrones." and it "it is rebellion that makes republics" of monarchies and if reoublics differ from monarchies mainly in the respect that in a republic the government is the creature of the people and not their master; and that it ' derives its .just powers solely from the consent of the governed; ant is sub ject to change by them, as a matter of ritrht. when they deem a change nec essary to their safety and happiness it would seem that the Confederate sol diers and citizens really held- a vastly different relation to the people of the Northern States, and their accepted gov ernment from that held by the Colonial American, Italian, Cuban, and Cretan "rebels," in fact, to their several and nrrmer erovernments. and that it is sim ply an -abuse of words, therefore, to call Confederates "rebels." If the Eagle win study this view of the question, it will un derstand it and adopt it, we are sure Charleston News and Courier. The Man Who Won't Subscribe. "ivviin x-rkii .isle :i mnn to subscribe for vnur nnnr ntid he savs : "Oh. I never read much, and besides times are toon plagued tight, tor uous sase apoiusuzt to him for the mistake and. leave him. Life is too short to waste time trying to teach a jackass how to sing soprano. All gentlemen nowadays read newspapers and lots of them. Show us a man who lives for years in a towrr or country and never subscribes for the paper published there, and we will show you a man whose head is shaped like a piece of pie, with the point up, and whose ignorance is only exceeded by his gigantic gall. A country newspaper is an institution that works day and night for every decent man in the community: therefore every decent man in the community is in honor bound to assist in its support. The great trou ble is that some swell-head galoots fancy they are making the editor a present when they take his paper. We have the nrofoundesf sympathy for the man who lives in a country for years and never subscribes and pays for his country paper, "if that poor fellow was to encounter an idea in a lane, he would turn and fly the other way with the tail of his garment , v,o. atmrvsnhere. Don't waste much time on such cattle. One of them t . v. r..-rya fx lroon warm in nas not enougu o' hades. Farmville Journal. In Latin-American Countries People Work Only Two Hundred Days a Tear. A computation made a short time ago showed that among European countries the two In which wages were highest and the hours of labor least were England and France, whereas the two countries in which wages were smallest and the hours of labor longest were Italy and Russia. In some countries of the world an expla nation of the apparent dearth of progres sive industry among the inhabitants is to be found, perhaps, in the recurrence of holidays of a religious, patriotic or purely social character, and many persons who are familiar with the industrial usages in some cities of South and Central America say that there the number of holidays seems to exceed the number of working days. There are in such countries usually not fewer than a dozen chnrch festivals; and there are besides patriotic festivals. A similar state of affairs exists in all Latin countries, and is to be found in the United States, too, when one turns to the legal festivals of Louisiana. There is the holiday of Jan. 8, commemorating the battle of New Orleans;; the MadriGras on March 2, in New Orleans; confederate memorial day in April, Good Friday, All Saints' Day, election day, Louisiana La bor day, on Nov. 25, and Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Florida celebrates the birthday of Jefferson Davis; Texas, the anniversary of the battle of San Ja cinto, and Alabama the day of Mardl Gras. Deducting the Sundays and holi days, the number of working days in the United States, exclusive of the gulf States is 305. In Russia there are 267 working: days; Great Britian has 278; Portugal, 283; Spain, zyo; Austria, zvz; Italy, 298 Bavaria, Belgium and Brazil, 300 each; Sweden, 304; Prussia and Ireland, 305 each; the Nether lands, 308; Hungary, 312. It has been found impossible to get any accurate figures from the South American countries, but 200 is the maximum esti-' mate of actual working days in many of them. Or course, if the number of Sun days be substracted from the total num ber of days in a year, there are left 313, and if one-third of the other days avail able for work are set apart for holiday purposes, it is perfectly clear why there should not be more than 200 Working days in a year. In Anglo-Saxon countries and in the United States the special effort of w.orkingmen has been-not to reduce the days of labor, but the hours of labor in each day, and thus there has been within the last twenty years a larger reduction, really, of working time in the United States and in Great Britian than in the Latin or Latin-American countries. New York Sun. , Liquidized Marble In Statuary. It has been the dream of sculptors since time immemorial to devise some substance which can be worked easier than bronze and marble, and yet be as durable. At first sight this hardly seems to be a Question of much con sequence, but its importance can easier be judged when it is stated that at various times European governments have offered large prizes for a materi al that should answer these require ments. The difficulties of the solution will be apparent from the fact that there has invariably been found some fatal defect in the substances sub mitted for award. It seems that at last this problem has been solved successfully by Mr. George Julian Zolany, a New York sculptor, whose expeciments in this direction have extended over a number of years. Bronze ad marble being very expen sive, the sculptor's work is usually " cast in plaster, a material which is very objectionable on account of its I excessive fragility. Terra cotta, al though much more durable than plaster, is very little used, as it has the fatal disadvantage of being liable to crack in the fire, in which case the work is altogether lost. Thus the scuptor only has bronze and marble by which his work will survive him. But unfortunately both are so expensive that to people of ordinary means, the asqu isition of statuary generally re mains an unmateralized wish. This new compound apparently removes this obstacle, as statues of any kind absolutely durable, can be produced at a comparatively small cost. Under such circumstances it seems fair to assume that sculpture will probably make great strides toward a popularity which it has not enjoyed for nearly 3,000 years, the great period of Greek art a time when the possession of such works of art were as necessary to the people as newspapers or magazines are to-day. They Must Go to Bed at Ten. Blackshear, (Ga).,city council has passed a sort of "curfew" ordinance. Any citizen or person found upon the streets after 10 o'clock at night is liable to arrest, unless an "urgent" ne cessity can be shown for his presence there. The night marshal is required to place the names of all such persons upon the docket, and to require them to appear in police court to render their excuse. The object of the ordi nance is. if possible, to prevent the congregating unon the streets of the town at night of a certain rough ele ment, to whose charge is laid all sorts of deviltry, in the hope that such things may be prevented in the future. .This element is:.known as the "Brahma Gang. Recently a notice was posted in a conspicuous place pledging the "gang" to desist from further mischief in the event of the election of certain disreputable characters, together with two prominent citizens as mayor and councilmen of the city. The notice was accompained by a warning that the "gang" would make it uncomfortable for the person tearing the notice down. The notice served its purpose. The city council is determined to put a stop to the operations of the "gang" hence the "curfew" ordinance. The or dinance has its humorous side, and has provoked no end of good humored criti cism, notwithstanding erally approve it and the citizens gen- praise its object A Clincher. A clever young teacher of a class of children, between the ages of ten and fourteen, varied the monotony of their studies by little talks on the best books and "their authors. Then: to finish the v work of the term, and fnd what the children had .really "marked, learned, and inwardly digested" of her subject matter, she planned for a certain day a discussion by the class of whom they considered the greater author. Scott or Dickens. The children at first were a little backward in expressing their views, but gradually warmed to the discussion. Dickens's gijeatness grew to colossal proportions, -jawing to the quick-wittedness and appreciation of a small admirer with a rjeadv tongue, and consequently the staunchness of Scott's adherents began io waver, till, in a burst of contagious enthusiasm one small maid sprang to the rescue. "But, Miss Anthony, Dickens can't be, for, don't you know, men always say, Great Scott!' and never 'Great Dick ens!' " Harper's Drawer. The Importance to Our Schools of Accu rate Histories of the Civil War. (Baltimore Sun.) The United Confederate Veterans Association has indorsed eleven school histories of the United States written by Southern authors, among the last additions to the list being those of Mrs. Susan P. Lee and Rev. Dr. J. "William Jones, the latter publised by the R. H. Woodward Company, of Baltimore. Dr. Jones served throughout the war in the Confederate army and had a per sonal knowledge of many of the inci dents of which he writes in that part of his historry which treats of the con flict between the States. He presents briefly, but forciable, the causes which led to the ' withdrawal of the Southern States from the Union and the war which .began at Sumter and ended at Appomattox. Inhis preface Dr. Jones says he holds himself prepared "to sus tain every statement he has made by the most unquestioned authority." The history begins with the discovery of America and is brought down to the closing days of the second Cleveland administration. In urging recently the necessity for a history of the civil war that would present the facts without sectional "bias, The Sun was not unmindful that a number of very valuable works have been written by Southern authors dealing with special phases of that great conflict. Among these books may be noted Col. William Allen's "Jack son's Valley Campaigns," "The Army of Northern Virginia in 1862," and "The Campaign and Battle of Chancel lorsville." These are fine specimens of painstaking and accurate history. Rev. Dr. John Johnson of Charleston, S. C, who was engineer in charge of Fort Sumter, has given us a military classic in his "Defense of Port Sumter and Charleston Harbor." Col. William Preston Johnson's "Life or Albert Sid ney Johnson." Col. Walter Taylor's "Four Years with Lee," Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's "Life of R. E. Lee," Gen Jubal A. Early's "Memoirs of the Last year of the War." Gen. Joseph E. Johnson's "Narrative," Gen. John B. Hood's "Ad vance ' and Retreat," Judge Romain's "Memoirs of Gen. G. T. Beauregard," Dr. W. M. Polk's memoir of his father, Gen. (Bishop) Leondias PolkJ Admiral Semmes' "Service Afloat and Ashore," Dr. R. L. Dabney's "Life of Stonewall Jackson," Jefferson Davis' "Rise and Fall of the Confederate States," A. H. Stephens' "War Between the States," Mrs. Jefferson Davis' memoirs of her husband, Dr. A. T. Bledsoe's "Is Davis a Traitor?" and Major H. B. McClel lan's "Life of Stuart" are volumes worthy of a place in any library. Among the most valuable publica tions relating to the war are the twenty-four volumes of the Southern Historical Society's papers. They touch on every phase nd period of the war, and, according to such critical and disinterested authority as the Lon don Saturday Review, "contain a mass of information relative to the war without a careful study of which no historian, however limited his scope, should venture to treat any fragment of that most interesting story." The contributors to these papers were among the ablest military writers and most ga'llent soldiers the country has produced Of course, a history of the war be tween the States written by a Southern author will not be of value if lit de parts from the facts at any point to cater to sectional prejudices. This is the objection which has been fre quently made.and very justly, against histories by Northern authors. Neither the United Confederate Veterans nor the Grand Army of the Republic should desire anything but a fair state ment of the facts. No patriotic man in the South or in the North wants sectional feeling perpetuated by com ing generations, and much can be done to prevent this if North and South, naught extenuating and naught set ting down in malice, would agree upon a presentation of the facts of the war which would do equal justice to the people of both sections without need lessly wounding the sensibilities of either. Sectional history is valueless and mischievous, and it is to be hoped that the day is near at hand when the true story, told without coloring or prejudice, will be taught in every school in the country. Death Rate Among Negroes. Twenty-five colored ministers and physicians met Dr. LeHardy at his of fice at noon yesterday and listened to a lecture on sanitation and the proper care of the sick. Dr. LeHardy told them that the death rate among the colored popula tion is unnecessarily high and that there is no reason why It should not be reduced by giving attention to certain matters. The abnormally high death rate among colored infants, he told them, is due largely to unskilful mid wifery, many persons professing to he 'midwives who are in on way qualified to act as such. Frequently, he said, no 'midwife is called, and the infants die from unskilful treatment at the hands of ignorant persons. Dr. LeHardy said there should be some regulation of the business of midwifery, and that he would call the attention of the sani tary board to the matter with a view to securing an ordinance requiring mid wives to be licensed and to be regis tered at the health office. Another cause of the high death rate, he said, is the fact that in very many instances physicians are not called to attend the sick until too late for any good to result, there being many deaths reported, where there was no at tending physician. He told the physi dans and ministers that they should bring to the attention of, their people the necessity of ventilation. That they should tell them to throw open their doors and windows and thoroughly ventilate their dwellings as often as possible, and that all their clothing and bedding should he aired and sunned at least once a week. He told them also Xo instruct their people to promptly re port to the health officer damp and ill smelling yards and decaying fences and houses in order that these matters might be investigated and prompt ac tion taken. The ministers and physicians thanked Dr. LeHardy for his words, and the in terest he had shown in the colored peo ple, and assured him of their co-opera tion. After the interview with the health officer the ministers called on Mayor Meldrim and paid their respects to the "best mayor Savannah ever had," as some of them expressed it. They also mentioned their petition for the ap pointment of another colored cify physician. Savannah News. DISRAELI AND GLADSTONE. Two Bemarkable Men Very Different In Character and Temperament. I heard nearly all ,the great speeches made by both the men in that parlia mentary duel which lasted for so many years. My own observation and judg ment gave the superiority to Mr. Glad stone all through, but I quite admit that Disraeli stood up well to his great oppo nent, and that it was not always easy to award the prize of . victory. The two men's voices were curiously unlike. Dis raeli had a deep, low, powerful voice, heard everywhere throughout the house, but having little variety of music in it. Gladstone's voice was tuned to a higher note, was penetrating, resonant, liquid, and full of an exquisite modulation and music which gave new shades of mean, ing to every emphasized word. The ways of the men were in almost every respect curiously unlike. Gladstone was always eager for conversation. He loved to talk to anybody about anything. Disraeli, even among his most intimate friends, was given to frequent fits of absolute and apparently gloomy silence. Gladstone, after his earlier Parliament tary days, became almost entirely indiff erent to dress. Disraeli , always turned out in the newest fashion, and down to his latest years went in the getup of a young man about town. Not less differ ent were the characters and tempera ments of the two men. Gladstone changed his political opinions many times during his long Parliamentary career. But he changed his opinions only in defference to the force of a growing conviction, and to the recognition of facts and conditions which he could no longer conscientiously dispute. Nobody probably ever knew what Mr. Disraeli's real opinions were upon any political question, or whether he had . any real opinions at all. Glad stone began asa Tory, and gradually be came changed into a radical. Disraeli be gan as an extreme radical, .'. under the patronage of Daniel O'Connell, and changed into a Tory. But everybody knew that Gladstone was at first a sin cere Tory, and at last a sincere radical. Nobody knew, or, indeed, cared, whether Disraeli ever was either a sincere radical or a sincere tory. Justin McCarthy in the Outlook. To Mobilize the National Guard. A 'Project which Is of great, interest to the 'National Guard, and which is now being agitated, is the proposition to mobilize the entire National Guard of the United States at Omaha, Neb., during the Trans-Mississippi and In dustrial Exposition, the department of promotion of which has been for some time in correspondence with the Adju tant uenerals of the various States. It t understood that all the Adjutant Generals are in favor of the plan. As this proposition involves the massing of some 150,000 troops, it is an extensive and a very costly undertak- ng. Legislative and congressional ac tion will be necessary to carry it out, as well as the co-operation and sanc tion of the War Department. The as sembling of such an army of troops, if it should prove practicable, would necessarily furnish an opportunity for practical military instruction on the randest scale, and the Adjutant Gen erals of the various States are request ed to state, first, how they regard the proposition; second, whether they and the officers and men of their commands will put their shoulders to the wheel and use their influence with the mem bers of their Legislatures and of Con gress to assist in" securing the neces sary legislation and appropriation to defray the expense, which, though it would be heavy, should not prove an insurmountable obstacle When divided among the several States and the fed eral government. The benefits in the way of practical instruction in field manoeuvres, and the opportunities which such an occasion would afford to the commanding officers and staff of the National Guard organizations to familiarize themselves with the duties in a practical way of which they have now only a limited theoretical knowl edge, would warrant all the expense Which would be entailed. It is not ex pected that the mobilization could ex tend over a week or ten days at the outside, and under the proposed plans the troops of each State would bring their own camp equipage. The Story of a Captain. "If I hadn't seen It with my own eyes," said the old forty-niner, accord ing to the Detroit Free Press, "I wouldn't be a tellin' it. In our camp we had got kinder civilized and, unless a fellow was strung up immediate fur lif tin' dust what didn't belong ter him, or ridin' off with a hoss not hav in' title ter th' same, we locked him up and held him fur a fair trial. We had reg'ler officers an guards, an' the con victs had ter work gettin' wood an' cleanin' up 'round camp. "One fine-lookn' feller came in there with his wife, an' she war finer look in' nor he was. I never knowed yet whether he done it or not, but it war charged that he was caught crawlin out from a tent with his pardner's swag. We caught him an' put him inter th workin' gang till the gran' jury could set on him. He had a mighty fine hoss that a lot of us wanted ter buy, but his wife wouldn't sell, an' took care of him as good as a man could do. On a Saturday night that feller broke guard. While we were chasin' 'round a Chinerman notrfied us as how th man was' at home with his wife. They -must have heerd us comin' fur there was a rush f roiri th back door, there Was as purty a spring inter th' saddle as you. ever see, an' all of us went clatterin' after th' big hoss, while his rider waved a hat an' mocked at us. We follered fer miles, droppin' out one by one till me an th" sheriff had th' trial. We could change hosses, but fur ten hours that there big black kept th' road an' showed us his heels. Then his rider jist coolly got off and set down on a log ter wait fur. us We galloped up with guns in both ban's an' ordered a surrender. Durn me if it wasn't th purty woman, an we never see either of 'em again." Why He Attended the Ball. The story is told of a colored preach er who was very much opposed to dancing and was very loud in his ex nottation against it. Secretly he loved the music of the violin and the dance had an irresistible charfai for him. On a certain night a ball was to be given and the preacher went so far as to threaten to expel any of his flock who dared attend the ball. But on the night of the ball the violent parson was seen sitting in one corner of the hall, patting his foot and swaying his body to the music of the dance. One of his friends ventured to express surprise at seeing the parson at the ball, but the preacher defended himelf by saying: "Lawsy Massa! I hates dis mightily, but I's de shepherd, and I's bleeged ter look arter my flock. I's got my eye onto ebery one ob dese here onchris tian, pop-eyed, dancin nigers, and you see ef I don't make 'em smell fire and brimstone for all dis next meetin time." During the "War They Ground Powder for the Confederates. Near the entrance to the Historical Buildlng.at the Centennial Exposition, placed on an uneven slab of stone, stand two enormous iron wheels, high er than a man's head, and connected by a bar of Iron some four feet in length The rims are two feet wide, and the centre, of solid iron, is punctured by holes some two or three inches in di ameter. The wheels are covered with rust, and bits of the corroded iron have fallen to the stone beneath. These wheels, which excite considerable cur iosity, were the wheels that ground the first gunpowder manufactured in the south during the civil war. Up to that time the gunpowder had been captured from the north, but in '63 eight pairs of wheels were made In Woolwick, Eng land, for the Confederate States, and ran the blockade, coming into the country at the port of Mobile on the steamer Spray. They were sent to Augusta, Ga and were used to make all the powder used from that time to the end of the war. When Sherman made his march to the sea, he burned the powder mills and these great iron wheels, which were not damaged to any considerable ex tent, were unused for many years, un til General Miles secured them, at a cost of $1,700, for the Sycamour Pow der Mills, at Sycamour Creek, David county, Tenn. They were used there for many years, until improvements in the methods of making powder made them unecessary. This old oair.which has been lying idle for a long time, was sent by Major Lewis, the present own er of the Sycamour Mills and the di rector general of the Exposition, to the Centennial grounds as a relic .of the war. Newspaper Waifs, "What cowards these men are! Here I am forty years old, and not one has had the courage to propose to me." Filegende Blatter. Naturalized Punctuation. "I' fancy she calls it a debut because debut sounds for eign." "But it doesn't when she speaks it." Detroit Journal. "I tell you, the man I respect is the man who can change his opinions." "And the man I respect is the man who can change a $10 note." Tid-Bits. Mrs. B. Day. "I could have bought ten volumes of Zola's works for four dollars and seventy-five cents." Mr. B. Day. "Why, that's dirt cheap !" Puck. Spellbound. "Mrs. Dawson seems to have great influence with her husband." "Influence? Why, she can get that man to drink sarsaparilla tea.' Cleveland Record. . Carrie. "I met Harry to-day, but he didn't even look at me." Nettie. "For goodness sake, what is the matter?" Carrie. "He was on his his wheel." Bos ton Transcript. A juvenile Attempt. "Mamma, teacher told us to say a text when we dropped our pennies into the plate." "Well, what did you say?" "I said that one of Dana's 'Put up or shut up.' "Chicago Record. The well-read King. The missionary had worked himself into a frenzy. "You are the only men," he shouted, "on the face of the earth who kill your neighbors without the slightest cause." "Oh, I don't know," remarked the King; "there are motor-men." Puck. "Mr. Gibbons, said the teacher of the class In rhetoric, "point out the absur dity in this figure of speech: At this time the Emperor Frederick hatched out a spheme." "Well, he might have had his mind set on it." Household World. Fred Had Weakened. Sweet Girl (an xiously) "Did Fred I mean Mr. Nice fellow call to see you today, papa?" Papa. -vYes, and to oblige him I con sented. I suppose time hangs heavy on nis hands." Sweet Girl (mystified) w wny, what did he say?" Pana-'He requested the pleasure of a series of games of chess with me. The first ones we will play this evening, arid after that every third evening during the winter. I hope, my dear, you will keep out of the library, as chess is a very absorbing oc cupation." New York Weekly. A Great Scandal. It is understood senators and repre sentatives are commenting upon 'the almost reckless manner in which traf ficking in army appointmnts and pro motions is going on. Mr. Bailey, of Texas, has several times offered bills to pipe out the retired list and to re duce the pay of those In active ser vice 25 per cent. He and other con gressmen hold army officers to be an aristocratic body of men drawing sala ries and often performing little ser vice. Their opinions are apt to be strengthened. The tendency of late in the appoint ing power to disregard entirely the question of seniority and jump officers over the head of their seniors, thus disarranging rank in the upper grades, creates friction and discontent and generally upsets the whole personnel. General Harrison started the practice of ignoring rank in many cases where there was some big plum to deal out. The latter weeks of his administration will be long remembered in the army for the reckless manner in which offi cers were advanced over the heads of their superiors when vacancies in the higher grades occured. . During the last administration there was little opportunity for this exercise of authority in dealing with army ap pointments, and on the whole the rule of seniority prevailed. It was recog nized when 'General Ruggles became adjutant-general and when several of the department heads were promoted. Since March 4th last the present ad ministration has made a record which knocks General Harrison's to smither eens. Already two brigadiers have been made major-generals, and before the programme is . carried out two more will be advanced, and all this in a week or ten days. Washington spe cial to Baltimore Sun. Longest Railroad. (Scribner's for May.) The dimensions of the undertaking are enormous. From Tcheliablnsk, the western terminus, to Vladivostock, th present eastern terminus, the length is 4,7411-3 miles; in other words, it la much the longest railroad In the world It goes west from Tcheliablnsk, pass ing the southern edge of Russia's great Siberian dominion, through Ob and Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk, then takes a sudden turn around the southern end of the great Lake "Baikal, and follows the Amoor river along the northern "boundary of Manchuria to" Vladivo stock. Until it reaches the Yenesel river, the road passes over a steppe country that renders the engineering very simple; but beyond that, In the vast mountain region above Tartary the cost of construction has been heavy. When the three great railroad bridges are taken into account, Russia will -pay at least $175,000,000 for the privilege of reaching the Pacific. But Russia has always wanted to reach the sea. She is practically an inland coun try, with the Baltic, frozen up half the year, and the Arctic and White seas eternally blocked with Jfoiar ice. Deaths In Modern Fiction A General ( Criticism. I wish some one .with the proper love for statistics, and patience with them, would tabulate the deaths in modern fiction. ; I believe the number would be found to be out of, all natural propor tion, even5 for unhealthy climates and. therefore, open to the criticism or fals ity in art. In any usual experience of people and things a dramatic death is rare. The crisis of our own and other lives, when We have the wisdom to recognize them, bring with them the instinct to play the part with some little pagean try perhaps, realizing that for once we have the center of the stage, but it is strangely seldom that we get the aid of such a drop-curtain as death. We pull through and "peter out" much as oth ers do. So simple, so commonplace, so natural is all this that, if among our flesh- and-blood knowledges there oc curs a dramatic taking off, we feel at once shocked and cheated, as if some one were playing us a trick. Why, then, are the writers such reckless homicides? It has become a matter for the literary paragrapher this meeting with an author still teary round the lashes from recent slaugh ter. By his, own confession Ian Mac laren wept so hard over one killing that his good wife began to dose him for an Incipient influenza; Mrs. Hum-, phry Ward's eyes are reported to be extremely moist over the death of Sir George, and we know that the author of Tess' pitiful end took it as hard as the rest of us. Why, then, do they do it, if it hurts them so. and if a fortu nate death (a we must be persuaded) is life's rarest 'distinction? - . The reason seems to grow (paradox ically enough) ut of either the strength or the veakness of the author. With the deaths of Anna Karenina and Tess of the D'Ubervilles, comes a sense of their necessity their naturalness; one feels their deaths were Inevitable. In each case the heart of the reader is wrung, but his reason is convinced. But these ar great books books where life has carried the writer into ways of her own knowing, not things cunningly contrived to please or In struct. With kJude. and a long, long bllowing, it is far otherwise. Not a few lovers of Mr. Hardy feel that af ter his vain watnderings this strong, yet most lovable man, and even the dis agreeable under and over developed Sim Had nfnn ifnr thPTYiepl VAa n. rpns-- onable continuance of the pale joys they had found, and that Jude's lonely difficult death was a gratuitous wound. Among the lesser writers these will ful homicides are simple evasions. The psychological novel soon runs into a pit, or a pool where the hero and his 'problem" are . abandoned together. The younger Miss Murfree, in her novel "Felicia.f began a most, subtle and delicate study of the love of two brilliant young1 people under condi tions both new ( and possible, and then solved her pretty and really solemn vexations by tihe cheap expedient of a death in a theater fire." It must be aidmitted, however, that those who hung on bravely have often fared no better. David Grieve became what Mr. Carlyle calls "an - indis tinguishable whidder." and there are fnlVs not n. fpw who hold it as a grievance against Mr. Howells that he never lets his heroes do anything so extremely marked as to die. Perhaps it is all referable to the temperament, for which there is no clew. It may all depend upon wheth- .' er he feels called to realism the things which happen to you and me; or to romanticism the things that might, but don't. Book-Buyer, l An Offer and a Declination. The New York Tribune states that the Rev. Dr. J. N. Hallock, editor of The Christian Work of that city, has declined the presidency of the West minster University of Colorado, which was recently offered him at a salary of $10,000 a year, because he feels it his duty to remain with The Christian Work, which he has done so much to make a force in religious journalism" The salary declined by Dr. Hallock is said to be considerably larger than his present or prospective Income, and there is no doubt that his declination was a sacrifice of personal Interset to a sense of duty. This is by no means a solitary instance of clerical altruism, but it is not less commendable because it does not stand alone. The average clergyman and we are far from in timating that he is not a good man finds no great difficulty in accepting a call that promises a. betterment of his worldly affairs. In such matters the path of duty and the material in terests of a minister and his family are generally regarded as coincident. The clergyman is not exempted by his pro fession from the necessity of providing for wife and children and other de pendents. His life is notfree from the condition that surround and control the layman. He knows that old age Is not a productive period, and that If It finds him in poverty his position and that of his dependents will be far less agreeable than if it finds him with a competency laid by. Only the hyper critical can blame a preacher, ora di vine engaged in editorial or education al work, for taking reasonable fore thought as to worldly matters. There is now sitting in the executive chair at Washington a man who is said to be the only real democratio President this country has had in many years. The head officer of over seven ty millions persons, he walks about the streets of the capital unheralded and unattended, speaking familiarly with all his acquaintances, nodding to thosa who happen to recognize and salute him and grasping the hand of his old friends whether they are dressed in silks or gunnysacks. He treats all alike, and his simple tastes have become so well known there has grown up in the hearts of the people of Washington an admiration for their President the like of which has not been known for years. Philadelphia Inquirer. He Was Too Good to Live. "I don't like to ride my bicycle now," said the fair young girl, "because of the wind." The young man blushed slightly. "Co-couldn't you use strips of lead or something?" he stammered. .- "Strips of lead for what?" The young man blushed again. The room seemed painfully hot. "Why, in the hem of your skirts," he stuttered. "My skits?' echoed the tall beauty. "I'm not talking about my skirts. It'a my frizzes that the wind blows out." And the youth went forth into the cool night and butted his head against the first lamp post. Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Wilmington Messenger (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 23, 1897, edition 1
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