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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1916)
! , . . ■ ■ ——» The Minstrel By F. A. M1TCHEL i ■ 1 ...-* There was a kingdom belonging to the eastern Roman empire the sov ereign of which was at a certain i>eriod a young girl named Eudoxia. She was twenty years old and very beautiful. For many generations the royal family had intermarried among each other. This had resulted in keeping up cer tain hereditary diseases among them, and they had been very much thinned by death. When the queen was urged by her nobles to marry that there might be an heir to the throne the heralds were instructed to hunt up some person of royal blood whom she might wed. It was found that there was no man liv ing whom her majesty might marry who was not tainted with some hered itary disease. But a man, Harmodius, was discovered, who had descended from another branch of the royal fami ly, who was young and wealthy. It was represented to the queen that If she did not marry this person she could not marry at all. Furthermore, if she did not have an heir Harmodius would be the only person who would have any claim whatever to the throne. Now it happened that not long before this marriage question came up Eu doxia had been sitting in the royal gardens one summer day when from beyond the wall came sounds of music. A man was singing, accompanied by n lute. The princess listened and when the song was finished sent an attendant to command the singer to come to her. He did so, and his face and figure proved to be as charming as his voice. The queen kept him singing for awhile, then dismissed him with a gift, which he refused. Eudoxia resented this refusal, though In her heart she admired the man the more for It She had intended to com mand him to come again to sing for her, but since he would not take pay for doing so it was beneath her royal dignity to accept the service. Nevertheless she could not forget ei ther him or his music. Finding her self pining for him, she tried to drive him out of her mind. Not succeeding in doing so, she resolved to have him introduced into the palace surrepti tiously, for should it be known that she was accepting a favor from a subject it would create a great scandal. She sent one of her attendants whom she could trust to the musician with Instructions to tell him the circum stances which compelled the queen to send for him privately and admonish him to keep the secret. This allayed a feeling of resentment that her majes ty had not before invited him to sing before her again, and he went to the palace, where the queen received him attended by a single maid of honor who was in the secret When it was announced to Eudoxia that there was but one man whom she could legally marry she had become madly in love with the musician. She put her ministers off as long as pos sible in the matter of marrying Ilar modius, and when she could do so no longer directed them to bring her his portrait. This encouraged them, and they set out to obey the royal instruc tions. They returned much discon certed. Harmodius declined to fur nish his portrait. Eudoxia was not disappointed at this, for she was every day becoming more and more infatuated with the handsome singer who by royal com mand came frequently to the palace in secret to sing for her royal mistress. However, the cabinet insisted that the queen should marry, and since Harmo dius was the only man she could mar ry she must marry Harmodius. She resisted their demands until they threatened that if she did not yield they would get up a revolution and pu£ Harmodius onjthe throne. One day when the minstrel came to sing for the queen she told him that It was the last time she could listen to him. She confessed her love for him, but added that she was obliged to mar ry or lose her sovereignty. The min strel begged that he might sing one farewell song to her. He wns permit ted to do so and sang, expressing his love so pathetically that the queen broke down and told him that she would give up her kingdom for him. He told her that his love for her would not permit him to accept the sacrifice, and they parted. The queen now Informed her minis ters that she would wed Harmodlus or any one they chose. Preparations were made for tho wedding, while the queen wept in secret. She wns solicit ed to receive Harmodlus before the ceremony, but declined. When the marriage came off she* would not look at him. After they had been pronounc ed a married couple her husband said: “My queen.” Eudoxla started. The voice was that of the minstrel. She looked up, and there beside her was the man who had won her heart and for whom she had offered to give up her kingdom. Harmodlus had learned before any one else that he was the only man the queen could marry and, being possess ed of a winning voice, had sung to her from l>eyond the wall of the royal gar den and found her heart an easy prey. The two ruled as King Harmodlus and Queen Eudoxla till the Turks over ran that part of Europe in which their kingdom lay. The story of King Harmodlus and Queen Eudoxia was long told as an Illustration of the power of music, es peeinlly over a woman’s heart. Fmotional Acting. “You feted Juliet as if you wer» really suffering.” “I was. I played the part In a pair of very tight shoes.” — Philadelphia Bulletin. Depend*. “Is bolting a refining process, pa?" “That depends, my son, whether It Is done la flour mills or at the table.’’— Baltimore American. There's nothing half so good as laughing. Never sigh when you can sing.- W. Mackworth Prned. An Old Superstition. It was a common superstition in an clent Italy that if a woman were found spinning on a highroad the crops would be ruined for that year. In most sections of Italy a woman was forbidden by law thus to spin or even to carry an uncovered spindle on the highway. Heard In Court. “Your honor. I acknowledged the ref erence of the opposing counsel to my gray hair My hair Is gray, and II will continue to be gray ns long as I live. The hair of that gentleman is black and will continue to be black as long as he dyes."—Boston Transcript THE NEWS NOT GUILTLESS. The Omaha Daily News is a well informed newspaper, conversant with Omaha affairs. It seems a little strange, therefore, that it would ad mit to its correspondence columns such a libellous statement as that published in last Saturday’s issue with reference to the ownership of The Monitor. The Monitor has been published in Omaha for nearly a year and a half. Affidavits of ownership have been published as by law required three times. It is widely circulated and read by both races. It has received favorable comment by the local press, daily and weekly, and its editorial ut terances have been widely quoted. The News shows either wilful ignor ance or great indifference in allowing its columns to be used for slanderous misrepresentation. In this matter The News is not guiltless and should make reparation. , , , , , T T T . T T TT — .. _ Los Angeles, California " ^ , , .. ... . _ | | | | ! ft, | , .BBggg .. — . * « "* SIDNEY P. DONES Premier Real Estate and Insurance Agent of California. Manager and promoter of the Booker T. Washington Building. Business Manager of the Los Angeles Post. Business Manager of the New' Angelas Theatre. Anyone desiring information concerning business matters in Cal ifornia, should write Mr. Sidney Dones, 1011 Central Ave., Los Angeles, Cal. LOS ANGELES NOTES. W. D. Sandifor Lee Allen, formerly of Omaha, is now business manager of one of the leading dairy lunch rooms of the city, he is making good and a great change in the business is noticeable since he assumed charge. The Pierson apartments make things homelike for its patrons and should not be forgotten when you come to Los Angeles. Prentice, the drug store man, is still on the job and as busy as ever. The Hotel Rockiland is one of The Monitor’s first subscribers and will have an ad with us next week. Watch for it. - Los Angeles sits up and takes notice every time an Omaha crew hits town. The Santa Fe boys are live, but they are playing second. The wet and dry fight in California has been the hottest wraged political fight in the country, and it seems that the wets have it. It is reported hat G. Wade Obee is in Oakland. It is certain that he isn’t in this city. HIGH CLASS RACE PUBLICATIONS The Monitor received among its ex changes two race journals of exceed ingly great merit; one, The Journal of Negro History, the other, The Cham pion Magazine. The Journal of Negro History is a quarterly, the fourth issue of which has just been published, and is of the very highest order of quarterly jour nalism. Its general appearance, ex cellent choice of historical contents, and well known contributors, makes each issue a rare intellectual treat as well as a work of permanent value. It is the first race journal to special ize in the field of Negro history and is doing its work so well that no mem ber of the race can well afford to do without it. The journal is the result of a movement begun by a number of persons who met in Chicago, Septem ber 9, 1915, and organized themselves into an “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.” The aim of the association is to raise funds to employ several investigators to col lect all historical and sociological ma terial bearing on the Negro, before it is lost to the world. The Monitor is pleased to recom mend this journal to all of its readers and promises that it will prove a sur prise and mental pleasure. A letter addressed to The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, 1216 You Street, N. W., Washington, D. C., with 30 cents enclosed, will bring a copy o fthis most excellent journal. The subscription price is $1.00 per year. The Champion Magazine is the lat est monthly to make its appeanance among race magazines. It is a fine publication and its high optimistic tone makes it eminently worth while. It material is varied and of the most interesting character . One exceed ingly pleasant feature of this maga zine is what its illustrations, even to fashions, are purely racial in tone and representation. In this it has opened up a new field. The editor is Fen ton N. Johnson; associate editor, Binga Diamond, and business man aged, Jesse Biiga. The office is 4724 State Street, Chicago, and subscrip tion price $1.00 per year.