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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1903)
-r9- :IJ ISS wnnj.t.wyHiiliiiini i;,n nnvmnpum w uipwf'iyjiw U'" The Gommoner 8 VOLUME .3, NUMBER 2. Once I Wm Pure." 0, the snow tho beautiful snow! Filling the shy and tho earth holow: Over tho houso-tops, over tho street, Over the heads of the people you meet, Dancing, Flirting, Skimming along, Beautiful snow! It can do nothing wrong. Flying to hiss a fair lady's check, Clinging to lips in a frolicsome freak; Beautiful snow, from tho heavens above, Pure aa an angel and fickle" a3 lovo! Oho snow, tho beautiful snow! o tho llalos gather and laugh as ' thoy go! "Whirling about in its maddening fun, It flays in its gleo with ovory bno; Chasing, Laughing, Hurrying by, . It lights up tho faco, and it sparkles . , tho oyo, And even tho dogs, with a bark and a bound, Emu. ?.t the crystals that eddy around. Tho town a a'."o, and its heart ia aglow, To welcomo tho fall ,of Clio VvJLiJul snow. How tho ' wild crowd goes swaying ' along, .,-- riuiung oacn oiucr wun mirtn anu ' with song; How tho gay sledges, like meteors, flash by Bright for a moment, then lost to tho oyo; Ringing, Swinging, Dashing thoy go, Over tho crost of tho beautiful snow: Snow, so pure when it falls from tho sky, To bo trampled in mud by the crowd rushing by: To bo trampled and tracked by tho thousands of feet, Till it blonds with tho tilth of the horrlblo street. Onco I was puro as tho snow but I foil: Foil, liko tho snow-flako, from heaven to hell; Foil, to bo trampled as filth of the street; Fell, to bo scoffed, to be spit on and boat! Pleading, Cursing, cm , Dreading to die; boiling my soul to whoever would buy Denling in shamo for a morsel of broad, Hatilldeall0 HVillg and fearlne the Merciful God! Have I fallen so low' let, onco I was puro aa this beautiful snow! Onco i Was fair as tho beautiful snow, With an oyo like its crystal, a hear liko Its glow, Onco I wasjoved for my innocent Flattered and sought for the charm of my faco; Father, Mother, Sisters all, God and myself I have lost by my Tho veriest wretch that goes shiver- WiU l?i0 .a, "ldo swcp lost I wand, .uvj uiii; For, of all that is on or about mo, I know There is nothing that's pure but tho beautiful snow. How strange it should be that this beautiful snow Should fall on a sinner with nowhere to go! How strange it would be, when the night comes again, If tho snow and the ice struck my desperate brain! Fainting, Freezing, Dying alone, Too wicked for prayer, too weak for my moan To be heard in the crash of the crazy old town, Gone mad in its Joy at the snow's coming down To Ho and to dio in my terrible woe, With a bed and a shroud of the beau tiful snow! Anonymous. By request. Amone Aly Letter. Thoro is scarcely a woman, whose namo appears at all frequently in the columns of the newspapers and per InfTWs of the day, but t that receives manyrfct,rTjLrpm other' women and not infrcquentlytruni iuon asking her to tell them tho secret of success; to help them to a better and easier way of making a living than the one they at tho tirao pursue. Strange to say, tho ono idea which dominates them is that in newspaper work journalism, thoy call it is to be found this ideal field of easo and financial remunera tion. "Just to sit at one's desk all day and write" this seems the easy life, greatly to bo desired. No thought of any further need than a pencil and a pleco of paper. Among these applicants for jour nalistic honors and emoluments, the majority havo not considered the mas tery of tho spelling-book at all neces sary; a les3 number have considered the need of an understanding of the rules of grammar and rhetoric, and the least number of all have given a thought to the absolute necessity of a wido and varied knowledge of things outside of tho school-books, which go to equip tho "newspaper woman" for successful competition along her chosen lino. For most of these false ideas which tho aspirants havo imbibed concern ing tho easo and lack of competition in this field, wo may hold as largely re sponsible the glowing assertions of the circulars sent out by the many "cor respondence schools," which promise to take tho "rawest recruit,'-' whether fitted or not by nature for the work and, by a courso of study, to be car ried on through the mails, give him or her the unchallenged entro into the holy of holies of journalism, turn ing the applicant out after a few weeks, or at most, months, capable of competing successfully with tho man or woman who has spent years in hard study and close, practical ap- Ksionf th FUleS gVOrnIns According to these circulars, the work is easy, the competition small JJ?S0B eXCellent' sittions always awaiting one. nrwi v 17? mnis5" fwii rasra 7iii -""; uu you are given your 4 ploma, you do indeed find that ''all lE'S.T ? ." tat you also 'r:tioTzir: not even understood the pass-word. Dear sisters, you complain of the drudgery of the homo work: have you never thought that there may bo tho same conditions in the work of other departments of industry? Let me tell you, there is drudgery everywhere in all things; and the hardest of all is the drudgery of preparation. No matter how high you go in the scale, the same "grind" confronts you, changed only In form and, perhaps, in degree; routine, humdrum, over and over always the same. To suc ceed in any occupation, you must work; you cannot stand still. It is' either forward or backward; if you pause a moment, somebody will crowd into your place; you will lose ground, and, once you get behind in the race, the struggle to regain may end only in defeat. Try to learn this lesson: "Whenever you are ready for something better the "something better" will be given you; when once you come to possess it you may find it not at all what you thought it; was; it may be a heavier burden than the one you are now bearing. Yet, if it be given to you, believe it is for your best good, d means of growth, or development Learn to dispel discontent by cheer fulness; to make the most of the little trials; to do even the meanest task3 with a courage and pride that shall glorify your labor, and that shall in vest even drudgery with a something divine.- It was the "good and faithful, servant" that was bidden to enter in to tne joy of his Lord. To You. Dear readers of the Home Depart ment, this letter is to you each of you, personally. I want every one of you to give my appeal careful, per sonal thought. I want to mako the Home Department of The Commoner so useful, practical, reliable, encour aging, comforting, cheering and sym pathetic that it will become a house- ;j58S8S3S38eeeeS323. Question Box. to m The conductor of tho TTnmn no. m m nnrtment will hn frind n,,. fl v questions concerning matters of & jjj interest to Housekeepers. Mako $ w your questions as brief as possible $ W and address all communications $ g to "Homo Department, Tho Com- $ rtv monor. Lirmnln NnVr W --, ...-., ,v, ... hold necessity something that will bo looked for, expected, and read in terestedly; something you will show to your friends as containing just what you want or need. To do this, I must know' what I am talking about; I must be cognizant of the tastes and needs of those to whom I am talking; I must know something of you, personally. So I propose ox changing information with you 1 want you to tell me, in a few clear concise sentences, what you think would please others, and what you yourself, would like me to talk about; wherein my words may bridge your difficulties; how I may supply your wants or show you a better path than that which you now tread. You shall write mo, offering sug gestions, criticisms which I shall 4ac-, Sept in tho spirit in which they am offered. Tell me what you know, ahd what vou would like to know; IL, do not quite understand the subjexfc upon which I am asked to talk, I shalL know pretty well where to find those who do, and who are anxious to aid. me In my efforts to help you. I real ize that much helpful encouragement and many useful hints will thus reach . me, and I shall use them as ably as I can in enlarging the influence oC. these pages. . w . You will understand, wont you, that, it will be impossible for your editor to personally answer your letters, "or that the letters can be published? Bu I shall carefully glean all the good, and give it back to you as acceptably,; as I can. ,a By just a few words to me, suggest; ing helpful ideas, you may enable moj to do untold good to spme'.poor, die-, couraged soul tnat is groping vuuuy- for just tnat one ray ot jigui wulii you. alone, are capable of sending jOUt Will you do W this kindness? fi$ "llobbl Burn.' a I saw the other day a recently pub lished edition of Burns' works, quite the finest I have ever seen. As I looked at the six large volumes with- their heavy paper, wide margins, clear type and handsome illustrations, I thought how much sorrow and suf fering and shame the 'money which they cost might have saved the man whose immortal poetry is thus en shrined. Poor Bums never had, inrlall, . ,his life, so much money as this single edition of his works represents. He and his family were indebted to charf . ity for the common necessaries of .life., during his last illness, and he was; actually dunned, up his death-bed, for; -a paltry debt of, $35, , - , , . . . Now they build monuments' "oE " bronze and marble to his memory, and" offer us the product of his genius in . ' books so rich and rare that he would hardly havo darod to touch them with , his ploughman's hands. I wonder if he knows how much has been done for him when he does not need it? He knew, only too well, how littfe,,; was done for him when it would haye availed. " ,r " The last time Burns was able ' to ' . walk out, he called upon a lady who -had been very kind to him in the days ' -of his sore distress; she had a .de--cided taste for music, and he proposed N that if she would play for him any favorite tune for which she desired new words, he would write them. She -sat down and played over several times, Che air to an old Scotch ballad, be ginning thus: jr. "The robbin cam' to the wren's nestr An' keeliet in, an' keeket in." ' ' The poet listened attentively, then,.! took out his nencil and Jn a few mbr ments produced what has always,' seemed to be the sweetest Jove-song in the language: '' "Oh, wert thou in the qauld blast ' ,& - On yonder lea, on yonder lea, - - ' My plaidie to the angry airt, r I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee.s : . -Or did Misfortune's bitter storm , V Around thee blaw, around thee blawi- " Thy beild should be my bosom, - ?. To share it a', to share it a'. Or were I in the wildest waste; ' v -i'V Sae bleak and bare, s.ao bleak and1" : bare, " ., ' The desert were a paradise, . l If thou wert there, if thou wert' J there. " : '- Or were I monarch of tho tnht 1X74 l-U i .. .. -a . ' . mi.", , w reign, wr tnee to reign,' Tho brightest jewel in my -crown Wad be my queen, wad be my queen. Long years afterward, Felix Men-. delssohn-Bartholdy saw these lines and was so struck with their ex quisite grace and beajity that he wrote new music for them. So -now thA nne J of Burns, wedded to the music of - i gam iff ".km ,. k . miitkU JNifi(M'tirMi4' t--itii&toJMiir