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Whether Common or Not.
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The Better View.
Mr. Morgan, Mr. Morgan, with your stacks of yel
low gold,
And your hold upon the country's sail and steam;
With your planning and your scheming and your
brain with business teeming,
You are moroly chasing down a phantom dream.
Always thinking, always grasping, for a larger
share of wealthi
You are missing richest blessing oyery day,
For your gold is dead dross merely dross that's
sure to cost you dearly,
For it makes you miss the blessings by the way.
Rockofeller, Rockefeller, as you hunt around for
oil,
With your eyes upon the ground beneath your,,
i feet, . . '
And your thoughts on treasure turning and your
greedy gold lust burning,
You are missing all that makes life's 'bitter
Bweet.
Always hunting, toiling, longing, for a greater
stock of wealth,
You are missing richest blessings every day;
For though gold may bring you power it will n'of
buy you one hour
Of contentment as you tread life's weary way. .
Just a toller, singing, merry;t with a'heart that's
full of hope ( ' ' ,
And a smile at those who only think '6f pelf ; ",J,H
I am happy if my singing only one result 'is
bringing . ' ' '
Joy to those whom I love 'better than' myself! Jl
True I'm missing gold and glory, but you're wel
come to it all . ......'
rve no tlmo to waste in wielding mammon's
might. , , r . . u.:r v. l.:.
AH the gold that's in your coffers less of real true
pleasure offers
Than anw.elcome from myiloved-on.es every.nigkt.
''- Not Eligible.
The Managers of the great trust were seeking -a
man t'oiit at the head of tlieir mammoth Con
or .
The Commoner.
"an' I hcv noticed thet th' fellers thet air makin
th' most money these days Is the fellers that buy
nothin' an' noil it ag'in at a higher price."
Modern Definitions.
Water A stock diiutant.
Margin The difference between -a sucker and
a steerer.
. Hope The only thing a poor man can use
without paying rent.
Subsidy The measure of public credulity.
Dividend A chemical mixture of oil and
water.
War An excuse for highway robbery.
Indemnity All there is left.
cern.
Man?1 had been considered but no selection
made. 'A? last an applicant appeared. lie was
questioned, and all his answers were satisfactory.
- "I move you that he be selected," said ono.
manager.
But before the motion could be put another
exclaimed:
"One moment, please. Did the applicant begin
lifo as a bay in our office?"
With a shriek of dismay the applicant fled
from the room, knowing that his chance for get
ting the job was nil.
- ""I have never been an office boy," he sobbed.
An Unfinished Job. '
"I am a self-made man," proudly exclaimed the
great financier.
We gazed upon his bald head and were im
pelled to ask:
"Why didn't you thatch your roof better?"
When too late we discovered that wo. had
queered our chance of becoming a partner inline
business. ' '
. . . .
v , ' fc Political.
A bird JnA the hand is. worth two in -the bush,
f And a political "pull" Is what keeps, a man in
the "push." x
Uncle Ebcn.
"I hev bin readin' th' papers conslderbul of
late," remarked Uncle Bben as the grocer carried
the cheese into the back room and locked It up,
Now and Then.
The man who thinks of naught but pelf
And centres all his hopes on self.
Will be discovered by and ;by
Stuck tight and fast in the needle's eye.
Financial Failure. ,
"HcHo, old man! Whatimikes you look so
sad?" '
"Just lost $200,000."
"How in the world did you come to "lose so
much? Speculation?"
"Yes. Miss Gotrox refused me."
A Needed Precaution.
"I move you, Mr. President," said the small
stockholder, "that this company appropriate'
money enough to buy a life boat-"
Naturally the motion had to be explained, for
the meeting was one of directors of a railway
corporation.,
i "L want , It," -explained the small stockholder,
"so: that ,1 can row ,to shore when the-water is
squeezed out of. our stock." W. M. M.
An Off icious Censor.
A Russian press censor named Krassovsky,
in the .reign of Nicholas I., was the bugbear
of poets. He not only blacked out all that hs did
not ap-rove, but he often favored the poet with
criticism. A poet named Olline wrote the follow
ing verses, and was rewarded with vhe following
crjyy.cfisms by the censor:
What bliss to live with thee, to call thee mine,
My love; thou pearl of all creation!
To catch upon thy lips a smile divine,
Or gaze at thee in rapturous 'adoration.
Censor Rather strongly put. Woman i3 not
worthy for her smile to be called divine. -
Surrounded by a crowd of foes and spies,
When so-called friends would make us part,
Thou didst not listen to their slanderous lioa.
But thou didst understand the longings of my
heart.
Censor You ought to have stated the exact
nature of these longings. It is no matter to be
trifled with, sir; you are talking of yo-. soiil.
Let envy hurl her poisoned shafts at me,
Let hatred, persecute and curse,
Sweet girl, one loving look from thee
Is worth the suffrage of the universe. .;-.. .
Censor Indeed? ! ! You forget that 'the uni
verse contains czar, kings and other legal author
ities whose good will is well worth cultivating I
should think! "" '' .
Come, let us fly to desert distant parts,
Far from the madding crowd to rest at last,
True happiness to find when our (two) hearts
Together beat forgetful of the past.
Censor The thoughts here expressed are dan
gerous in the extreme, and ought not to bo dis
seminated, for they evidently mean that the poet
declines to continue his service to the czar, so as
to be able to spend all his time with his beloved.
Current Literature.
"Pay, Pay, Pay." r
The address of the British chancellor of the
exchequer shows that the nation last year spent
$265,000,000 more than its revenues. Besides run
ning in debt $265,000,000 last year the people of the
British Islands paid about $77,000,000 of war ex
penses out of their taxes. The war expense
therefore approximate $1,000,000 a day. The debt
has been increasing at the rate of about $750,000.
a day. .
Under the new budget the income tax will bo
14 pence in the pound, which is nearly 6 per cent.
The loyal Briton, in addition to his other taxes,
must pay 6 per cent of his income into the na-.
tional treasury. Last year the income tax was 5
per cent.
Among the other new taxes imposed are $1
on every 112 pounds of sugar imported, 50 cents
on every 112 pounds of molasses and 40 cents on
every ;112 pounds of glucose. An export tax of
25 cents a ton is placed on coal.
Notwithstanding the additional revenue which
will be derived from these taxes, the chancellor
estimates the deficit for the coming year at about
$205,000,000, and asks authority to borrow $300,
000,000 in order that there may be no danger of
running short of money.
The cost of the Transvaal war to date is
placed at $750,000,000 in money expended by the
government alone, taking no account of the losses
to individuals, the cessation of gold mining, th
loss of life and the large number o men reduced.
to invalidism by wounds or disease.
Rudyard Kipling wrote some verses at the be-,
ginning of the war. They were intended to inspird
contributions to the support of families of soldiers
at the' front. The refrain was, "Pay, Pay, Pay."
When Great Britain has paid the bill for z.e'.
South African war it will, indeed, have paid the
price that Kruger said "would stagger humanity." .
Denver News. ',...
t
The Dry Goods Trust. .
A New York dispatch to the Chicago Tribune
tells the story of the Dry Goods trust in these
words:
J., P. Morgan & Co. announced today some of
the details of the dry goods combination which the
banking house is financiering. They offer for sale
. $5,000,000 of the first preferred cumulative 5 per
cent stock of the Associated Merchants' company '
a corporation existing under a special charter
granted by the legislature of Connecticut with an
authorized capital of $20,000,000, of which $10,
000,000 is first preferred stock convertible at pleas
ure of the holder into second preferred cumulative
stock or into common stock; $5,000,000 is second
preferred cumulative 6 per cent stock and $5000,
000 is first preferred stock. The $5,000,000 of first
preferred is offered at par and is recommended by
the firm as a mercantile investment of the highest
class.
John Claflin states that the Associated Mer
chants' company purposes to acquire various dry
goods businesses or interests in this city and in
several other large cities of the United States. It
lias already acquired from Mr. Claflin and his as- .
sociates 45,000 of the 90,000 shares of the capital '
stock of the H. B. Claflin company, 12,000 of tho
18,000 shares of preferred stock of the Adams Dry;
Goods company, and 6,000 of the 18,000 common1
shares and the business of James McCreery & -Co.,
of Twenty-third street, including merchandise,
good will, leasehold, and working capital.
Mr. Claflin agrees to undertake the work of
making the investments for the company in other
business. Mr. Claflin in his letter remarks that
"tho advantage of close co-operation between
. wholesale and retail business is recognized, and;
the remarkable earning power of the great retail
stores in hard times as well as in good times is
shown by their Bucqess in the last decade."