The Commoner
AUGUST, 193A-
:3i
Whether Common or Not
I
The Oli! "Homo '
Tno old ' pm y stands , sereno and
stanch Jin the- days of yore. .
But gone h 1,0 aU.ho. voices and the
welconu at. ue dpor,
No footprint marjtg, the paths within
its garden desolate,
Trday 'tis, memory takes my hand
and leaajum .through the gate, .
Till in my. fancy blooms again the
garden row on row.
Tho larkspur and the marigold
sweetflowers ot long ago
The roses grow beside the wall as in
forgotten Juues,
The iris and the lavender distill their
rich perfamKr
Tho while I picture other days, and
shadowy forms appear,
Dream faces smile 'mid candle light,
and sweet old spngs I hear.
The brido upon;, her -wedding - day
comes softly down the .stair,
An old man dreams a dream of youth
within his preside chair.
The picture changes and a boy with
manhood iji. his eyea ,
Goes forth to" ?eek his fortune rob,
the years, that make us wiser
Dear house, long;- since in stillnes3
left today you seem to wait
To welcome home the boy again,
grown now to map's estate
I pick a rose beside the. door in ten
der reyory, . ,
Thankful for a!i the past holds dear
in precious .memory.
Esther Trowbridge Catlin in the
Springfield, Mass., Republican.
Tho Old Piano ;
A piano dealer of this city hauled
a load of old, wdrnout square piano?
iu a. vacant lot last weeK ana maae u.
bonfire of them. He had got tired
of having them around, uselessly fill
ing space, and so he burned them.
And. as the flames crackled and
leaped no one in the crowd that gath
ered gave a thought to the tender
memories that clustered around
those old, square-legged pianos. It
was just a bonfire, nothing more.
But surely many a wraith of by
gone days might have been seen tak
ing a ghostly shape rin the curling
smoke if someone there had been
blessed with sentiment enough to
look for them. The unfeeling crowd
said it was .the heat -that made the
rusty old strings sine in the way they
did when the flames reached them.
But it was not so. It was the spirit
that dwelt in the old piano the spir
it of other days the last fond touch
of unseen hands upon the ivory keys,
yellow with age, and worn as thin as
paper by the pressure of dainty fing
ers that have turned to ashes years
and years ago.
No one knew the story of any piano
in the blazing pile. In what homes
they stood, wha.owned them, how old
they were, no one knew. But they
were very, very old. They were pio
neers of music and culture. They
came out into this western country
with the first white folk, before the
railroads, when this region was wild
and sparsley settled, when the own
ership of a piano meant wealth and
Position, and a refinement rare upon
the frontier.
The getting of a piano in those
days was an eventful undertaking. It
would probably be bought in New
York, would come by rail to Pitts
burgh or Cincinnati, and from there
by boat to St. Louis and up the Mis
souri on one of the old stern wheeled
packet that "gragahoppered" over
the sandbars and made slow progress
against the muddy current in the
deeper leaches.
There was sure to be at least one
young woman in each of the homes
where those pianos went. That much
of the story we do know. The rest
of it must be left to the imagina
tion. ' ,
Take that old one there, at the
bdttom of the pile, the varnish of its
mahogany case black with age. Can
not you see the girl waiting there at
the gate of the farmhouse, her sun
bdnnet pushed back from her face,
her hand shielding her eyes from the
setting sun as she watches; and how
she claps' her hands as the ox team
turnd the bend in the river rdad and
she gets the first glimpse of the big
pine packing box in the wagon.
Yqu can see the new piano later in
a corner of the big front parlor, the
girl with the fairy face and figure at
the keySj and bending over her a
young man of the countryside who
listens with a look upon his face that
only lovers wear.
Wild roving Indian maid, sweet Al-
fretta,
Where flow the waters of the d)lue
Juniatta.
It has been many a long year since
you heard that song, hasn't it? May
be, if you are one or tne younger gen
eration, you never heard it. But it
was a prime favorite with .lovelorn
maidens in the days when this old
piano was young;
The old piano was a member of
the family, and its spirit was in tune
With '"every emotion that ruled the
household, whether of jo or sorrow.
And it knew much of bbth. It vi-
roi?a'ted tenderly with lbvej it pealed
grandly the wedding march; it croon
ed many a lullaby in .the long
evenings when the smell of wild
honeysuckle floated in through the
opened windows; it sobbed mourn
fully the old funeral hymn, "Asleep
in Jesus, Blessed Sleep." It was
proud to do that last melancholy
.service for its dead mistress, although
its spirit. was almost breaKing as it
sang.
And so the years went, and the
old friends went, and with them went
the sweet old tunes, and the sweet
old ways. The square piano became
"old fashioned" and its spirit out of
tune with modern ways. It still re
tained its pride, but poverty came to
it It sank lower arid-slower in the
social scale until it became an out
i o aiiotiinr rfilic of better days,
with rheumatic joints and keys that
rattled, and the spirit of joy was
dead within it It was time to mingle
its ashes with the dust of the earth.
Kansas City Star.
velope, on the back of which ho had
scribbled somo notes.
"Here's (ho whole plan in a nut
shell," he said. "Read this, list."
And the Jlst was as follows:
No girl bead on tho cover.
No "blurbs" about our own stuff.
No specul war correspondence.
No illustrations by James Mont
gomery Flagg.
Nothing about Walter Johnson or
"Ty" Cobb.
No maguzino lovo verse.
No back-to-the-farm Junk.
No article on elllclency.
Nix on Robert Chambers.
And no editorial on "Youth."
Kansas Ci'.y Star.
Erastus Plnkley, "if It hadn't been to
woman's lovo ob dress."
"What has dress got to do with
it?" asked the Jailer.
"Well, my womenfolks, dey Wahn't
satisfied w!d catln do raos' ob d
chicken. Dey had to go an' ptd
feathers In delr hats an' p'radc 'em
as circtim-clrcumstanshial ebidence."
Everybody's.
Strictly Up to Date
Uncle Daniel Dewberry wandered
around the big department store, idly
watching the scintillating colors of
the electric fountain.
"Well, sir," said the clerk suavely,
"what can I do for you?"
"I want a toothbrush," began
Uncle Daniel, and then before he
could say any more the clerk was
tumbling down, boxes like circus tents
at a one-night stand.
"Yes, sir; you want the latest
Parisian importation with the remov
able handle?"
"No, bub; I"
"Ah, I see! You want tho Japan
ese special antiseptic bristles " '
"No; I "
"Ah, how stupid of me! You want
a toothbrush for the madam "
"Will you please "
"Oh, for the baby, eh? Well, here's
a peach, the 'baby gjcand.' We
Uncle Daniel brought his horny fist
down on tho counter.
tlVnitnrr mon " tin Viiirwlnrnfl "lol
me say a word! I want a toothbrush
for our old cow. These pasteurized,
hygienic, antiseptic dairies are using
them, and we want to be up-to-date,
too!"
And then the clerk collapsed.
Chicago News.
Hitrf From Sharp Witfl
Those who put everything on their
back 'shouldn't complain of the
heavy load they havo to carry. -
Philadelphia Telegraph.
Many , ;nan takes a burst of hot
air for a Utsh ct wit.
Thero Js nothing contradictory In
ono and tho same person having a
clear conscience and a muddled
mind Deiurct News.
Most good intentions bloom about
bedtime.
Every theory seems perfectly good
to its originator until ho tries to put
it into practice.
One reason why somo of us can
not afford to make as much outward
show as o'hern Is that wt$ llvcmoro
I comfortaby. Albany Journal.
Tho dllforcnco between recreation
and dissipation Is largely tho differ
ence botveen cetting hot and keep
ing cool.
There are pome people who arc
likely to e influenced by anything
but facts Nashville Banner.
An experienced employer attache.?
littlo importance to written recom
mendatior.s. Ho remembers how.
many ho Las himself given and how
littlo they really meant.
If any rno tries hard to sell you
something which hu says many oth-
.ers are ea',er to buy, It is likely to bo
to your advantage to let one of tho
others buy It. Albany Journal.
a
Ho Wnsn't Hissing tho Show
One of the ushers approached
man who appeared to bo annoying
those about him.
"Don't vou like the show?"
"Yes, indeed."
"Then why do you persist in hiss
ing the performers?"
"Why, m-man alive. I w-wasn't
h-hlssing! I w was ss-slmply s-s-s-ay-ing
to S-s-samray that the s-s-sing-lng
is s-s -superb." Milwaukee Journal.
A Sad ltlfstako
"I Wouldn't o' had no trouble wif
do constable ner nobody," said Mr.
TipJ from Toxaa
Probably when a dentist looks Into
the jaws of death he discovers cavi
ties that ho doesn't want to fill.
What has become of tho old
fashioned young man who wore -hi
hair long and wanted to bo known
as a political manipulator?
No matter how much a man may
pride himself on his intelligence, ho
is never quite as good as a horse at
eating cbro off the cob.
Our Idea of a total failure Is a man
who hurries away from home before
breakfast In order tp get a drink
down town.
Moreover, the man who thinks he
understands woman isn't much more
mistaken than tho -woman who Lays
she understands Browning. Dallas
News.
Arid There Was No Relief
A sad-eyed man turnedis back on
the magazine stand and sighed .n
diBwhaf8..the matter??' asked the
news, dealer. "Can't you find what.
y "should say not," the ad-yel
man replied. "And every month, it
Sems to me, things get worse. I
ESS" to buy a popular ma ga --
Every other popular- magazine in
America Why doesn't ?me one ge
nut a magazine and call It toe ite
S.J If an editor only knew what to
oml no could hecome famous over
n"?It"Sounds logical," the dealer
i t ot'R hear some more.
?SWS- n arsW m " ett'
TJHS9I0
I COVMMB TKEE
rvfaJiCTnATKt&rtdcmt40worUiofniercbandiM. We placed a rWada fa fee
papers, Got a few agents started, in 2 years our aeentc were selllnr over JlOO.OOfcOt
-worth ofcood for us a, year. WoIuuXJurtafewdoUaracapltaJj no experience. gooa
our agents were selllnr goods all over tlie U. 8. and In many foreign ' countrtec Wa
cat in our office ana na people evMTWuerevcnainruaoracnanamooerDyuaiJ.
Vedlta'tbavetodoaaycamraialijorpeddllnfc, Agents (sold our goods, we starletf
atliomeworlcedcvenlnEsatflrrt. Soon we quit ourjoba and put all our time to the
Mailorder ABencyBudneae. JWemAmM ammzfag mccUMiUs tor wail.
Vhy can't you Co MWell? I wlU fcelja ,
"! '"Mf A " kf AAA AA - WL
we nave lawn in uver $i,uuu.uu a vayn
Think of a botimm UcethatbymalL
ureat waute hs error ltf,(w a yi
XJatanf T1m mIm fraaa fan tMumt
ytmxvroMU Suppose you atartsd la your owa
tiome wlta a rcoodeeUlrirarUciec, plae tid Jn U
Ulncyourrooda aU over toe coantry.wiiy cesidA'S yen tuictt In ! .
day? ZwlUartyou;wiUciveyeu ftfto Inetruettoa Course FREB to artody;
Ripply you with circular adverUafflg IS meritorious apcdaltlea. printed wltu
your name ana aooreas on. awmieuyeu bow anawaere xo aaveruae; 2 wiu
p-uceanaaioryoB jtaj.. Awiuipyqaiuixcza.aiicujuna.iewBKiin;
aoersHtaco-ojatore,MimwHh ambH&ra, enthnalaam aad bad&fcone. You.
dotrtBeedMrcaenu: wu;Bwjree. i aoypiy to wltb com
plete equipment. Kyoa waat to etacl In afatrtnatlnfcproatacla fawtaefi.
write me. givroc m www w wn iwwwjcw awm a wm wme yoa s
vmt: leuer, teutogj yea . x w tsu you vom tmmom raeu; now
many concern bar made, from 16X09 te IWfiOa year PROFIT la
the very aame tnMmtm to which. I want to atart yew. Yo nwet
nod delay. My er K Uaaited. Sitdewa aad. write1 m KOW.
US. hiimt, Tttt lie Mum-Mitt O,
412rtcUriNiNtt M Wt
tWW-JTM
s
V
1
M
0 '
-!. ',
V
. f
nCt.