Opinions of Great Papers on Important Subjects.
X
I fio Nforricd and Singl '.
ilIIC census reports note n considerable decrease
In the number of births among the native pop
ulation of the United States. American men
and women are not ho much given to marrying
an formerly. Many who do marry, postpone
the event until youth has passed, and for this
and other reasons they rarely have largo fami
lies, and very frequently no children at all.
Whether this decrease In the number of fruitful mar
rlnges among the Ainerlenn-boru population Is the fault of
the men or the women Jias not yet been determined, but
very probably It Is the fault of .both 'If fault it be. The
bachelor maid Is becoming as prominent a feature Ln our
social life as the bachelor man, and she has many apolo
gists. Hut those arguments which are advanced ln defense
of her pc-Mlllou are founded upon nothing noble. They are
taken from an epicurean philosophy of pure seltlshness,
which, If widely adopted, would put an end to the nation.
The condition, however, Is not so bad yet as to cause alarm.
There are more men r.han -women ln the United States, so
that If all were paired olT n4'oat many men would have re
mained unmarried. The 70J'J3,.'l87 people within the area
of enumeration of the last census ar divided Into ."D.OoD,
242 males and J17,2M,Mf females, giving an excess of males
of l,81fi,0l)7. Of the males, 2S.000,H.'M ,no single, U.O'WJSO
married, 1,182,20.! widowers, H1.0O1 divorced, and 121,412
Ytvtioso marital condition Is ynknowiu Of the females,
20,520,310 are single, 13,815,003 married, 2,721.504 wld&cd
114,005 divorced, and 41,331 wlpse marital condition is un-
.known. Hut the number of those classed as single Includes
children anil all persons undct the marriageable age, no
It will be seen that marriage among adults Is such a pre
vailing practice as still to be almost universal.
The reason for the decrea.se in the number of marriages
tind the birth rate among native women mlgnt be found in
i tlie statistics regarding the working classes. There are
r,31W,012 females engaged In gainful occupations other than
I agriculture. Those millions are made up In large part of
the 4f iris and women In factories, stores and olllces, and the
bachelor maid usually graduates from among them. Kan
sas Olty Journal.
The Maneuvers at Mantissas.
1 sOTIUN(' Is so soothing to the wounds produced
Iby the civil warns oblivion, and nothing makes
I them blood afresh so quickly as the sight of a
Ibuttlelleld on which the visitor or ills relatives
once paused through the horrors of fratricidal
bloodshed. When an ojd soldier stands on the
heights of Gettysburg a profound lnelnncholy
seizes him, and, compared with ti'jo scene before him, a
graveyard Is a pleasure garden or a banqueting hall. It
takes weeks to shake oil' the depression.
How anybody could project a reunion of Northern and
Southern soldiers on a Southern battlefield, and, not con
tent wllh that, bring them together as hostile armies and
arrange for thorn to light over again In mimicry the bloody
encounter that took place on that spot forty years ago, is
Incomprehensible. It was asking entirely too much of hu
man nature, and it was In striking contrast with the wis
dom of Charles Sunnier, who, pleading heartless Koine
even as an example, succeeded In excluding from the Capi
tol so much as a picture that would recall the civil war.
The location of the maneuvers should have been in
flonie beautiful spot, 1.000 tulles, If possible, trom any battle
Held, and the pitting of a Northern army uid a Southern
army against each other should have boon avoided like a
pestilence. Chicago Chronicle.
mlrably within the confines of university walls often have
little application In the outer world, and especially In the
business world, for which constant training and alert' watch
ing are absolutely necessary to success. It is certain that
no man over gained o high position In the commercial world
without courage to face Innumerable obstacles, enormous
risks and perils of which the scholastics never dreamed.
The successful business man carries a weight of re
sponsibility for himself and others which Is comparable to
that of an able commander of a large army. He may pause
in the face of the enemy, he may right about face, he may
retreat, or even wine to a truce, without being guilty of
cowardice. The business man need not 11 y Into the face
of labor unions In order to prove his courage to sit all over
them ln order to prove his power.
The object of the business man Is not to display his
valor or prove himself a hero. He wishes to make the best
possible out of existing conditions, and many a strike has
been averted and many n problem solved by the cool cal
culations of the keen-Blghted business man.
To the mere looker-on ihls may seem like cowardice
and the wish to avoid a light. To the practical man of af
fairs It Is good business seu.se. and ought to be commended
as such. Chicago Chronicle.
Arc Business Men Cowards
IKES1DENT ELIOT, addressing Hie St. Louis
laluinul of Harvard, recently, Culled Americans
cowards lit that so few of them dared to stand
against the crowd. He spoke with special ref
erence to business men In facing conditions
I that exist among the labor unions. It Is easier,
doubtless, for a college president to stand aloof and
ay what ought or ought not to be done than to know
the entire situation of affairs and then to net with dis
cretion as well as bravery. The theories that work ad
I s II
11 J
The Cost and Tolly of War,
1 1 13 war In the Far East, according to the com
putation of a well-Informed newspaper of 'Paris,
Is costing the Husslan government ut least
if 1,000,000 a day, and the expense Is Increasing
dally. If the war continues for years, as the
experts say it is pretty sure to do, Kussla will
-accumulate a burden of debt that will rest
heavily upon many future generations.
Of course, $1,000,000 a day is not a surprisingly great
sum for a first-class power to pay for the conduct of a
war. Uussla lias been throwing millions after millions
since the new policy with regard to the Asiatic portion of
the empire was put Into operation. Nobody knows how
much the Trans-Siberian railway has cost, but It is an enor
mous amount; and the expenditures on Port Arthur, Dalny,
Harbin, Vladivostok and the other outposts have run Into
the hundreds or millions. Indeed, It was pretty well known
to the Japanese as well as to the rest of the world that
Russia's treasury was in an extremely bad way at the
time war was declared.
Hut the $1,000,000 a day is. after all. only a small part
of the bills Uussla has to face. Her losses of battleships
have meant the destruction of hundreds of millions of dol
lars' worth of property that must be replaced, and the
prospective capture of her great towns with their arma
ments must make the Czar's heart sick.
Considered as a plain business proposition, the war with
Japan does not seem to be a very good investment, liven
though Uussla should win at last, she will have to defend
her possessions more expensively than ever, and how many
years of ownership of Manchuria will be required to make
up her losses? Chicago Journal.
111
Selecting and Managing Men.
ANY men mistakenly think that because they
work hard and try hard they must eventually
succeed to some extent. This does not follow.
Some men carry on great enterprises with little
apparent effort. Their success Is due to skill
ln selecting ellleieut executive heads. Many a
business man breaks down trying to supple
ment tlte work of Incompetent heads of departments simply
because he does not know how to choose the right men. A
ninn of commanding ability does not worry himself over de
tails. He makes out his program and then selects men
who can carry it out to the letter. Indeed, Is Is a sign of
weakness for the head of a concern to bother about little
details. It shows that he lacks the insight, the business
sagacity, the ability to select and to manage men who can
do things ellicleiitly.
It Is a great, art to duplicate one's self in another and
multiply one's self many times by selecting those who are
vastly superior to ourselves, but who did not happen to
have had our opportunity to do the thing themselves.
Success.
l'rctmut loiwiry Treat muiit.
! The Dutch peasant lives wllh canals
all about him, and reaches his cottage
by way of a drawbridge. Perhaps it
is In the blood of the Dutch child, says
a writer In M. A. P., not to fall Into a
canal. At all events, the Dutch moth
er never appears to anticipate such a
possibility.
One can Imagine the average En
glish or American mother trying to
bring up a family In a house surround
ed by canals. She would never have
u moment's peace until the children
were In bed. Hut then the mere sight
of a canal to the English child suggests
the delights of a sudden and unexpect
ed bath.
An Englishman Inquired of a Dutch
vonian, "Does a Dutch child ever by
liny chance fall Into a cnnnlV"
"Yes," she replied, "cases havo been
known."
"Don't you do any tiling for it?" con
tinued the questioner.
"Oh, yes," she answered. "We haul
them out again."
vh't I niiin la," pynl'Hnpd thn
Englishman, "don't you do anything to
prevent their, falling In? To save them
from falling ln again?"
"Yes," she answered, "wo spunk
them."
AN INTERESTING SCENE IN HOLLAND.
Family Pride.
"Ia it true that your cook has left
you, Mrs. Jones?"
"No; she'll be back in Septombir.
She insists that some member of the
household must go to the seashore for
the summer."
-" H -fl A ft
ttr
""OLD-3
FAVORITES
Jf t Were n Voice.
If I were a Voice a pcmimslve Voice
That could travel the wide world
through,
I would lly on the beams of the morning
light
And speak to men with a gentle might,
And toll tlioin to be true.
I'd fly, I'd lly o'er land and sea,
Wiherever a human heart might be,
Telling a tale or singing a song,
ln praise or the right in blame of the
wrong,
If I were a Voice a consoling Voice
I'd fly mi the wings of air;
The home of sorrow nud guilt I'd eek,
And calm and truthful words I'd speak
To save thorn from despair.
I'd fly, I'd lly o'er the crowded town,
And drop, like the happy sunlight, dow,
lntxt the .hearts of suffering men
And teach them to rejoice again.
If I were u Voice a controlling Voice
1M travel with the wind;
And, whenever I saw the nations torn
Hy warfare, jealousy or scorn,
Or hatred of their kind,
I'd fly, I'd fly on the thunder crash,
And into their blinded bosoms flash;
And, all their evil thoughts subdued,
I'd teach them a Christian brother
hood. If I were a Voice an immortal Voice
I'd speak in the people's ear;
And, whenever they shouted "Liberty,"
Without deserving to be free,'
I'd make their error clear.
I'd fly, I'd fly on the wings of day,
Itebuking wrong on my world-wide way,
And, making all the earth rejoice
If I wore a Voice an immortal Voice.
If I were a Voice a ervaliug Voice
Pd seek the kings of earth;
I'd liud them alone on their beds at night
And whisper words that should guide
them right
lesions of priceless worth.
I'd fly more nwift than the swiftest bird.
And tell them tilings they never heard
Truths which the ages for aye repeat.
Unknown to the statesmen at their
feet.
Charles Maekay.
Parents were responsible for the
misdemeanors of children between tho
ages of 7 and 14. Over that ago they
were required to receive themselves
the penalty of their own misdoing. JFor
breaking any of these laws tho llrst'
time, the punishment was a sevcro
reprimand from the chief executive of
the town. If any daring child escaped
for a moment the family corral to
frolic upon tho public highway, this
uu toward action would not fall . to
bring his parents Into open disgrace.
The picturesque attire worn by tho Dutch peasantry has a great attrac
tion for artists, and tho American artist shown in the illustration is evident
ly no exception to tho rule, for he is bargaining with a determined looking
peasant as to the value of the nether garment which he holds in Ills hands.
Tho more patches there are the greater becomes the value from an artistic
PURITAN BLUE LAWS.
HIiitutcH So Severe a to Sec in Iiupon
ible Were Unforced.
Itls generally admitted, even by the
advocates of a sterner religion than is
usually professed in this twentieth cen
tury, that tho Sabbath was made for
man, and this interpretation includes
recreation in the Injunction to rest. In
the days of I'urltau dominion there is
as little doubt that the idea prevailed
most effectually that man was made
for the Sabbath.
Tills religion of it people who be
lieved in taking literal Interpretations
of the Old Testament as their guide In
the government of a country which
they had misnamed the 'land of the
free," reached the height of lis Impos
sible demands at the middle of the sev
enteenth century. A statute framed in
Huston in Hi.":i regarding the penalties
for breaking the laws of Sunday ob
servance Is the severest of any formed
before or since, and shows what u day
of dismal gloom this day of rest must
have been.
In the days of the Puritans an ob
servance of Sunday meant an attend
ance at all the church meetings, and It
meant little else. Worship in the pub
lic meeting house was compelled by
law. When the bell tolled out Its sum
mons, all must go, willing or other
wise, and notwithstanding the difficul
ties In tho way of the journey. This
often meant a tramp of many miles
over rough ground where one carried
his footgear in ills hands.
At tlie time tills severest of all stat
utes was passed in Hoston, no one
was allowed to go anywhere on Sun
day except to church, unless there was
some extraordinary need or the errand
was one of mercy. No one aviis per
mitted to go from one town to another
on that day or to enter any public
house for a drink, t'uards were sta
tioned at the edge of town Saturday
night at sundown to see that no vehicle
passed either in or out of the city from
that time until the close of the follow
Iiik day. and labor of all sort was pro
hibited,
Een children were not allowed to
be seen In the street nor young men
and women to promenade. In fact, It
was because the worthy town olliclals
had heard of the grievous niisdeme.i
nor of childish laughter in public high
ways, and had been Informed that cer
tain young people had committed the
offense against Cod of walking In the
Holds on the Lord's day, that the stat
ute regula'tlngg penalties for these
faults had be n om.L'd.
It was of no more avail to the of
fender of that early day to plead ig
norance of tho law than It Is to-day.
Still, to make assurance doubly sure
that all Inhabitants knew what these
Sunday laws were, ministers were re
quired to read them from In front of
the uieetlng-hoiise twice during the
year. Then woo to any one who chose
to ignore them, for the hand of inex
orable law, not 'tempered by mercy,
lUltt.
STARVATION DIETS.
These Moke HreiilcfiiHt PooiIh iLonk
hike llik'lient Luxury.
The hardest fare that six strong men
and a boy of Jo ever kept ullve on
was the daily menu of the Wlndover'd
survivors, who were cast up on tho
Irish coast near Kilsegg. They lived
for sixteen days on stewed ropeyarn,
without a crumb of any tiling else to
belli digest It. except water; and
though it made them ill. they kop?
alive on it, and did not waste away
vi ry much.
The Windover was a bark carrying
salt between Spain and the States,
with an English crew, and she was
dismasted and abandoned about a
thousand miles out on tlie Atlantic.
Three of her crew were killed by fall
ing masts, and two others were wash
ed overboard; but the seven othern
took to the whaleboat and set out for
Hritaln. Heing ln too much of a hur
ry, they took too little food, but three
large butts of water, besides tlie tank
the boat already held. The result was1
they ate up their provisions in fouq
days, but had water enough for a
month, and, after starving two days'
more, they tried boiling lengths of tar
red hemp rope into a pulp and swal
lowing it. They had u keg of paratllno
wax. and though It made them very
ill nt first, they eventually contrived
to live on the boiled hemp,' the tar,
boiled to a jelly, adding to the nourish
ment of tlie rope.
Two men who went to a small isl
and off tlie Irish coast a little wliilo
ago kept themselves going for ten
days on a diet almost as bud. Tliev
anded In a boat, which was smashed
by a wave on their trying to relaunch
her, and they were left on tlie bare,
rocky island, which lias only u slight
scalp of coarse turf, without fowl.
Fortunately there was a spring on tho
island, but nothing in the way of food
but gulls, which they could not catch,
iiid nothing to make a lire with as ii
distress signal. There ate not eveu
tny shellfish, as there Is no beach, and
the pair bad to subsist for tlie ten
days on cold, raw seaweed washed up
by the tide. For two days tho.v"
starved, but after that they tackled
tlie seaweed, making three meals a day
of it. until rescued.
A diet of boots Is one of the com
inonest of last resource foods; and,
though it is hard for a well-fed pen
son to imagine that any one could mas
ticate and digest shoe leather, n paif
ot long sea boots will keep a mu s
alive for a fortnight, if he has a little
water. Loudon Answers.
LONESOME SHEEP HERDER.
IHb Diitic-M Siuiple I'eediilKt Watering
and Protection of I 'look.
The herder nia.v live in a tent, bul
he Is just as likely to sleep right out
doors, rolled up In his blankets and
ttirp'; it may lie that, where the feed
is uniformly good, a rough cabin with
some outlying shelters will be erect edi
Ills duties are very simple; he liitisl
take his band, day by day, where tlierd
will be .sulllclent feed and water: ht!
must keep them banded together mil
must protect them from wolves and
coyotes. In fact, his duties are ulto
gether too simple; the stories of herd
ers driven insane by the lonelinesi
and monotony of their lives are sol'
doni overdrawn, and only a few out ol
many are told.
From day to day and week after
week lie may go without seeing a sin'
gle human being, nothing but shcepi
slice), save ids almost human doy.s
and scarcely u sound In all the gre;
treeless waste, save the Incessant, mo
notonous, distressing baa-iialina of lb
band. Who can wonder that, when
night falls, and these sounds gradual!;'
die down to silence, the herder, ivsti.- )
ln the sweet relief, suddenly rises
anger to slay the foolish sheep who 1
untimely voice would start the wlio.j
band Into the noise that lias oppress )
the day? All over the sheep count i l
In the mountains you may see w
crr It known ms "herder's motrl
monts;" they are piles of stones whh I
have been slowly gathered by tin
herders and built into fantastic forms
the attempts of tlie men to save them
selves from the Insanity, that couiei
from perfect idleness. Frequently thej
Hud the bleached bones of a man o
the bench hinds, n herder who lui
'' ii-twwi, fnlnd lois flvtm ""nj
under the strain of the great waste i
and the life with tlie band; who has
shot himself. His band has wandered
away, dropped over a precipice, or co
alesced with Home other band. World
To-Day.
A man lias no light to give his wit'ei
away when she boasts before company 1
considering that she never gives bin.'
away by looking surprise'.! when he
offers her the rocking chair when com
U any Is present.