Tin
8
The Commoner.
Whether Common or Not.
The Price.
It Is your fault, your very great faultthe fruits
of a bloody lust
That tho smiting hand of an angry God has hum
bled you in the dust.
With strong-armed hosts and a greed for gain
you have trampled on human rights;
And like the bully you always were you whimper
when God's hand smites. -
Your island Is filled with widows' moans and
. mothers weep bitter tears
For the bleaching bones on the far-off veldt that
.rot with the passing years.
Yet bones still bleach and tears still flow, for
your lust for gain Is strong,
And your stiff-necked pride keeps your armies
out to work a blood-stained wrong.
It is your fault, your very great fault", yet you
moan at the price you pay
And add to tho rivers of tears that flow from
mother eyes day by day.
But still you tread in tho path of wrong, still fol
low your plans to steal,
And bog4 all the world for sympathy when tho
smiting rod you feel. ; .
But your awful crop of widows' weeds, your
chorus of mothers' moans
Will greater grow as the trail you tread is marked
by tho veiat-bleached bones.
The veldt-bleached bones of your strong young
men the victims of lustful pride
Who, facing the guns of liberty at. your, com
mand, have died.. u, , 'k..
The lesson you. learned in 76,, a lesson full fraught
- 4th. pain, ., .,.....,- , ,,",, ,
A&. the ,y ears roll on and your ,lu8$ grows. strong,
it seems 'twas learned in vain.
But rivers of blood through the Boer veldt are
making you count the cost
And teaches again that freedom wins, though
of tea a fight is lost. t
Though your lords proclaim and your captains
boast "of bloody battles won,
You know full well in your inmost heart that the
war is scarce begun.
And we who are seated supinely by as freemen's
blood you let
God stir our souls to our old-time deeds, once
more, lest we forget; " r
22
Unreasonable. - ; . ,. s ;..
The longer we live the more we wonder how
some men can be-so unreasonable.
"I have to pay too much for my groceries and
hardware," protested tho farmer.
"But potatoes are bringing $1,30 a bushel," wo
replied; s
"True, but there- are no potatoes;" said the
farmer.
Just as if this were any excuse for his protests.
OurWeaderful Language.
There was a young maid in Djjbuqu'e
Who wanted to marry a duque.
' The title ah wed
"And later she said,
"This marriage of mine was a fluque
Danger Ahead. - .'
. The decorated general of Venezuela and the
ornamented general of the United States of Colom
bo met under a flag of truce.
"Shall we fight?" . . , .
"Is that not what we are here for?" ...
''But I hear rumors that the United States of
America will intervene." .;,-.
"Ah, il the rumor is correct we would better
Join forces.- Will intervention be brought about
on the grounds of humanity?"
"So I understand."
"Then wisdom dictates that wo make friends.
Remember Cuba."
Thus it will be seen that even in far-away
South America an ulterior motive is quickly
recognized.
22
A Plutocrat.
"You complain that your assessment is much
too high?"
"Yes, sir. Far too high." .
"Suppose, then, wo cut in half the assessed
vaiue of your piano, diamonds and carriages and
add to the HSt tho five bushels of potatoes' you
have in the cellar."
But the complainant had fled. Unfortunately
he had found the board of equalization deter
mined to make both ends meet, 'though one end
should be potato.
22
Sentiment vs. Business.
"In God we trust," a motto bright
On Uncle Sam's bright coins we: saw.
But well we know each greedy trust
Winks at the motto that they just
Put trust in Dingley's tariff law.
22
Gessip.
"That Mrs. Bilkins is a confirmed gossip."
"Has she been talking about you?"
"O, .no. But she came over here yesterday and
I told her all about Mrs. Jilkers, and now she is
trotting all over town telling it to everybody she
meets, knowing that I am so busy making jell I
can't leave the house."
The National dame.
' "I didn't know Jones ever played ball."
,.. ; "Well, .does he?" , ' . . . '
"Yes. Yesterday I saw him stop at three bails
and inoke a strike. Struck his 'uncle' for a ten
ner on his gQlf outfit"
' . 2i
Exceptions.
"'Blood is thicker than water" quoted the
man who was inclined to favor the British cause
in South Africa?
"O, I don't know," retorted the Boer sym
pathizer. "Some of the titled blood our American
heiresses are marrying is mighty thin."
. Truly we live in an. Iconoclastic age.
22
41
An Allbf.
'You are charged with having used monev to
procure your election," said the chairman of the
investigating committee.
Senator Graball leaned back in his chair and
smiled.
"Gentlemen, I can easily prove an alibi. In
vestigation will prove that I had more money after
election than before."
What could. tho committee do? Clearly the
senator's defense was sufficient.
225
Narrow Escape.
"Did Jones tell you about the big fish he
caught?"
A "No. I told my story first."
W. M JVI.
The New "Speaking Portrait.
Once more the genius of M. Bertillon has
triumphed over the . identification difficulty, and
he has come forward with a system which ap
proaches very near perfection.
"Lo Portrait Pearle," as Mr. Bertillon calls his
method, consists in form of a card that may be
carried in the pocket, on which are noted down
those characteristics mat have the most fixity in
the individual and the most variability in differ
ent people. "The anthropometrical system," said
.M. Bertillon, "necessitates the detention of the
criminal, whoso .measurements . are taken with
the aid of compasses, but tho verbal portrait
which aim at the criminal at liberty, may be ap
plied unknown to him and from a distance.
"This description, based on a knowledge of
human anatomy, any one can master with a little
preliminary study, and it is of so much precision
that it applies solely to tho person it represents, to
the exclusion of all others. It is composed, for
each individual, of from ten to fifteen distinctive
signs, which should alwaya be borno in mind by
an officer in search of a law-breaker. The verbal
description has the advantage 0ver a photograph
in that it can be turned up in any place at any
hour and transmitted by telegraph' or telephone."
Examining a verbal portrait, we find that it is
divided into three chapters The first deals with
the color of the eye, hair and face, the second
with tho characteristics of the forehead, nose,
right ear and build of body, the third with an
analysis of tho profile and face.
When looking for his man the detective car
ries in his mind only the most characteristic fea
turesthe fixed features, such as the eyes, nose,
forehead or ear. These the criminal cannot alter
at will, but he may dye the color of his hair or tho
cbmplcxion of nis face; ho may mdo his mouth
under false hair or disguise his build of body by
padding his clothes or in other ways. Therefore
the officer carries in his mind a kind of caricature
of the person to be recognized, concerning himself
at first with only the most exaggerated features
and taking no heed of those which would be de
scribed as average. Everyone knows how easy it
is to recognize some vrell known personage from a
caricature, which is far superior to the best photo
graphs for this purpose.- Pearson's Magazine.
Edward's Peers.
b. . London The members of the uprlvy, council
sat as a court of claims a few days ago tosicori
sider various hereditary traditional rights and
privileges claimed in connection -with the forth
coming coronation of the Mng. After the registrar
had commanded all persons to keep silence on
penalty of imprisonment, he read thirty or forty
demands, Including the following:
Tho Duke of Norfolk To act as chief butler
of England.
The Duke of Newcastle To' provide a glove
and to support the king's arm.
The BishoD of Durham To support the king
and queen.
The Duke of Somerset To carry the orb.
The Earl of Erroll To haVe the silver baton
tipped with gold. . '
The Dean of Westmlnster-To instruct the
king and queen in the rites and ceremonies .and to
have the cloth, etc., for fees.
Lord Grey de Ruthyn To carry the golden
spurs.
Colonel Brown To bear the' canopy over the
ki-3 and- queen.' . : ..
The Earl of Shrewsbury To provide the glovo
for the king's right hand and support the hani
while holding the scepter. . . . .
Sir Wyndham Anstruther To be grand carver
for Scotland.
The Duke of Buccleuth To Tide by his ma
jesty's carriage. . . ,
. Tho Marquis of Winchester To carry the cap
of maintenance. " .'. ..' ..
The lord chancellor announced .that all claims
must be presented by October 31 and the court
then adjourned. New York Evening Sun.
Salemina, wishing to know what was consid
ered a good score by local players on the Bally
castle links, usked our young friend: "What they
got round in here?" and was answered: "They
tries to go round in as few as possible, ma'am, but
they mostly takes moro!" From "Penelope's Irish
Experiences."
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