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HIE BISK: OMAHA, SAITKDAY, JANUARY 24, 15)14.
13
Here Is Envy
Copyright, 1914, International News Service.
By Nell Brinkley
' ' - m II i i i - ' - 1
iVe Brinkley Says:
In Fable-land the bright-eyed rod-fox en
vies the dog who lies by tho hearth, his fine
plate, of dally meat unlabored for; and the
' foolish' dog, when his lone wolf ancestor, stirs
within, him, envleB .the red-fox his wilderness
haunts and his gypsy ways, his kills and his
piracies! The rakish little sparrow on tho
cold window ledge, poerlng In with a glisten
ing, eyej envies the caged canary his golden
body, his thrilling voice and his store of bird
seed. The golden canary, peering back, en
vies the urchin-bird his wide reaches of sky
and air, his daring, his cocky courage and his
gorgeous scraps on the roaring, living streets.
Tho daisy envjes the butorfly and the butter
fly sighs to be a daisy. The little yollow
duck yearns after the soaring lark and his
showers of silver notes the lark sings, "Oh,
to bo a lltle yellow duck and be able to float
so like a hollow gold ball on the breast of
the river!"
One night, only a little while ago, 1
watched the eyes of two of these femlntno
creatures whom we call "woman" and 'girl."
And In the black,, seductive eyes of tho one
and the wide gray eyes of tho' other I saw,
speaking aloud, so whomever listened might
hear the sparrow and the golden canary
the butterfly and the daisy the bright-eyed
red-fox and the llttlo house dog, The music
was rising and fulling trembling and swell
ing on the cloying stralris of a Spanish dance;
flower-petals fluttered from the drooping
wreaths 'round the gilded columns and from
the breasts qf dancing girls, gemming the .
floor underfoot. And the eyes of these two
aB they passed in tho swing of tho danco
sought each other out, homed and envied
envied envied! Once they sat at tho ex
treme ends of a long, soft couch and tho ad
miration and envy lived and burned from
Woman-face to Girl's and from Girl-faco
back again to Woman's, And I wished they
both knew. But neither did nor ever will,
perhaps. The little maid in her plain white
frock and her hair down her back yearned to
. be ono with this lltho and full-blown creature
to havo her limbs in the shcon of close
wrapped brocade her shoulders as round
and broad and baro her hair ns gold and
deeply waved pearls In her oars rougo on
her lips wisdom in her oyes mystery nil
nbout'hor tho chin, of a princess this abil
ity to talk to man the splendor of speech
and garmenting nnd movomont!
The finished, lovely and sometimes weary
woman had hor heart In her eyes and Hps
when sho looked long and often at tho little
whlto maid with her timid feet and modest
eyoB "Oh, to bo jUBt that again olghtoo
slim of neck with a sleek llttlo face
ion
all
round and well-washed and unpowdored
with my hair Ilka that so Boft and plain
to havo my eyes aB young and Ignorant and
astonished as that to bo so smooth 'of 11(1
with the satin of baby skin drawn over the
red to havo a llttlo frock like that all full
and whlto childish pink hands my gra
cious, what a lovely thing she Is!"
And so It Is both In Fable-land and '
Iloal. ... But If thoy two could only know If tho
daisy only know Just once Unit tho butterfly
envied and thought hor beautiful! If the
butterfly could only see that tho dnlsy envied
hor, why, thon, you see, thoy'd both be hap
Writers and Writing :-:
Have Ideas; Get to Know People; Avoid Su
perfluous Words; Beware of Imitations; Cul
tivate Power; j)o Not Write Beyond Yourself.
By REV. O. II. IWRKIIURST.
I
Every little while there comes a letter
from a young man or young woman who
expresses a desire to become a writer,
either for the press or some other form
of publication, and asking advice as to
how literary sue-'
cesa may be at
tained. These Inquiries
originate with three
different classes of
people. One class
is composed of
those who would
use the art as a
means ot courting
publicity arid of get
ting themselves ad
vertised. Such ap
plicants may be
curtly dismissed by
telling them that
self-conceit la too
cheap a motive to
clvo promise of
valuable results.
Other Inquirers want to commerclallic
their talents. If they have any, and are
actuated only by a sense of the dollar.
tL'mSoiibtfdly, the laborer is worthy of
his hire, whether his labor be performed
In the region of Ideas or of manufacture
or agriculture.
At the same time, It will have to bo
said that while a farmer may raise good
corn with no other thought In his mind
han the condition of the-"graln market,
one cannot do good writing with no other
thought in mind than the condition of the
literary market.
The higher the level at which a man
does his work, the, more will his success
be retarded by considerations of salary.
To the third class belong those who
have an Irrepressible desire to turn
Uhemselve Inside out, not for the notor
iety of It, and not became there may be
money In It, but with something ot the
Impulte with which a burled seed breaks
oit of Its Hhell and pushes Its way up
Into light and air.
.1 la only to this ' latter class if In
'qjlre'rs that It is worth one's while to
give much attention. Any modest person
twho Is sensible of being bound by fetters
.that ho would like to break Is generally
e person of promise and should be en
couraged. The first condition of sound literary
success Is to have Ideas.
A great many things admit of being
said that have never yet been said, and
tho man or woman that will find them
out and tell them will bo read. For people
are not fond of stale bread. It may be
nourishing, but It Is not appetlilng.
Even the most Intelligent of readers
demand fresh food for their minds, as
they do fresh food for their bodies.
The writer must be alive with what he
Is going to ray and not hammer Ills sen
tences out of cold Iron. It Is rather a
good rule to follow not to write any
thing till the very act of writing will
bring relief to the writer's own mind.
The reader's Interest in what Is written
iwlll never rise higher than tho writer's,
usually not as high.
If sometimes one's cistern of new ideas
runs dry, what remains to do Is to write
tome old thing In a new way. Costume
often counts for aa much as the body
.which It clothes. It not more.
With a class ot readers, and rather a
i large class, the way a thing Is said de
' notes more than what Is said. The case
with a good many women who wear
diamonds Is that they think less of the
.diamonds that of the brilliancy with
iwhlch they sparkle.
With such women paste diamonds would
'answer every purpose If only there were
'no danger ot their being suspected of
jielng paste.
All these peculiarities, ot people must bo
jkept in the writer's mind when he Is at
jwork; which suggeststhat a writer, to be
ucceisful, must know people aa well as
have ideas. Firing with a rifle will bring
down more birds than shooting with a
.blunderbuss.
-JJ
"Know' who tho people are that you are
writing for, then write for them. The
preacher who preaches to everybody con
verts nobody.
Therefore go straight to the mark.
Leave out every unnecessary work. There
Is a crayon picture hanging In a museum
In Berlin, the sketch of a vessel at sea.
It Is done In a dozen strokes. It Is all
In the observer's eye In an Instant and
never gets, out.
Too many tine words, and glossy phrases
spoil the effect. They are like a candle
held between the eyo and the page, which
hides the writing It was Intended to Illumi
nate. Weed out overy unnecessary word, and
when you have weeded once weed again.
Words reveal Ideas, but they may also
conceal them.
For practical effect Saxon Is better than
words taken from the Latin or Greek.
The Lord's Hrayer has been repeated bil
lions of times, and one reason why It
has never worn out Is that the words are
short and, with scarcely an exception,
Saxon.
Familiarize yourself with the best
authors, notable with the Bible and
Shakespeare, which aro good for the
heart, the mind and for instruction in
composition.
Writers ought not to read other authors
for the sake of Imitating them. Imitation
is a form ot theft and a confession of
poverty.
Each man must be himself in all that
he writes, and be true to himself; If he
Is not true to himself he cannot be true
to his readers.
One thing more. Never try to write a
large thing, a thing larger than yourself.
People walk more steadily and more
gracefully when they bring the whole foot
down on the ground than when they try
to go on tlD-toe. i
It is tiring to strain yourself, and mere
man that, it makes an unpleasant spec
taclo to others. The more a crow tries
to croak in the way a nlghtlngalo sings,
the more evident he makes It that ho is
only a crow.
Holes in the Air Found
by Aviators
By EDGAR LUCJEN LARKIN.
Q. "Will you please state your opinion
aa to tho truth about air holes, as given
by D. W, Htarrett in Aircraft of Fcbru
ary, 1912, and commented upon In the
Literary Digest of February 17, 19127"
A. I have not read Mr. Sturrett's
article, but looked up the note In tho
Digest commenting thereon. The phraso
"holes In the air" Is entirely new and
came with tho advent of the great science
of aviation. Dut tho coining of this term
has been unfortunate. It Is totally Im
possible for a "hole" to exist In free air.
The only hole In air known Is the
highly vacuus space within a Crook os
vacuum tube or bulb, or within similar
Blues bulbs, such as those enclosing car
bon and tungsten filaments In electric In
candescent lamps. And tho height of
human skill has been exerted to secure
these vacuua, which Is a "hole" sur
rounded by walls ot glass.
Tho writer In the Digest Is correct, for
he makes It clear that what has been
named "hole" Is a place whrro the air
and the atrnhlp are' both moving In the
same direction at the same speed. Tlut
an aeroplane must move to acquire any
lifting or sustaining power what ever;
this Is, move through the air, not with it.
If wind blows against the lower surfaces
of tho planes the lifting force per square
foot depends on the velocity ot the air.
If air la at rest, then lifting force against
gravitation depends on the speed of the
airship. Dut If air and ship are both mov
ing In the same direction with identical
speed, then the ship must fall.
Early flyers In ships heavier than air
naturally thought that they ha4 fallen
Into a hole or a well. Dut there Is just
as much air under the' planes as else
where, In the central vortex ot a whirlwind
where rotation around a vertical exls Is
rapid, the air Is partially thrown out by
centrifugal tendency, but there remains
plenty of air
To remove all air from an enclosure
has never been attained by the most ac
curate air pumps; there stilt remains a
few mllllonths of the original quantity.
Q. Where did the winter sollstlce occur
last year?"
A. At 2:45 a. m December 22, 1915,
120th meridian, standard time. At some
Instant during that minute the sun ap
parently began Its nothtrn motion,
really duo to the motion of tho earth. It
was farthercst south during a differential
time.
Q. A brick wall In a largo building In
Paris bulged out of plumb and was drawn
In straight by heating Iron burs of Iron
passed through and anchored, when upon
cooling tho rods contracted and drew the
walla with great force. Now, why will not
tho contraction and expansion of iron and
steel In hugo concrete buildings damago
the walls
A. This variation In lengths of heavy
steel bars and girders will Injure the en
closing walls, whether of stone, brick or
Portland cement, unless the builders
make allowance for It.
The risk Is not so great In California
as In the northern states. Thus a high
building oncloslpg heavy steel girders and
beams In Duluth and Chicago must be
bullded with greater care on this Import
ant point than at any place In Cali
fornia, In more equable temperature.
Thus, In' Chicago the cold has been 22
degrees below zero, F nnd 101 above, u
dlffeience of IK ilegrees.
Scientific tests have been made with
this result: A bar ot ordinary structural
steel Increases Its length by the .00000072
part with each added degree' F. There
fore, In from eight to fifty-story build
ings, with width from forty to 200 feet,
these variations become quite appreciable
and must be compensated for by placing
ends of brains, -burs and uprights free to
move. And electrolysis ot steel and Iron
Is another danger, one that arises from
fugitive currents of elertrlclty escaping
from mains and forming obscure circuits
In buildings and pipes.
The Knoxville Convention
J
By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.
One hundred and eighteen years ago,
January 12, 1798, James Robertson's
big hickory gavel called to order
the opening session ot the Knoxvlllo
convention, a gath
ering of buck wood s
men, whose coon
skln caps and long
pioneer rlflea were
for the time laid
aside that they
might try their
hands In tho great
game of statesman
ship. For twenty
six days they ham
mered away at the
Job of making the
constitution which
should create a free
m
B7
5U
and Independent commonwealth, and on
the 6th of February thoy donned their
coon caps, shouldered their rifles, and
scattered for their cabins In the wilder
ness. The pioneers had mado a new state,
and they had achieved their task not
only without waiting for tho "enabling
act" from congress, but In defiance of
the right of congress to order the census
to determlno whether or not the ter
ritory was qualified for statehood. There
wns the state they had made, complete
and ready for business, and If congress
did not want It,' why then o much the
worse for congress.
The constitution gave to the new
commonwealth the name of Tennessee,
the "river with the great bend," It
was a thoroughly democratic constitu
tion, more so, Jefferson declared, t,hnn
any before framed, and upon the one
vital question of the period It declared
Itself In no uncertain way.
"An equal participation in the free
navigation of the Mississippi Is one; of
the Inherent rights of the citizens of this
state, It cannot therefore, be conceded
lo any prince, potentate, ppwer, person
or persona whatever, a notice to France,
Spain, Great Drltaln and all tho rest Qf
them, that they had better keep their
hands off the "Father of Waters."
Toward tho end of Marc,h the new con
stitution was forwarded to tho presi
dent, who at onco laid It. before congress,
and for a month Its friends and foes
fought like Trojans over the question ot
Its adoption.
Tho federals swore that It was nothing
but a trick to get "moro votes tortTom
( Jefferson." Bald one of the federals,
"the people of .the country called ; Ten
nessee have cashiered the- government
i and self-created themselves Into a state.
Ono of their spurious representatives has
already arrived, and Is actually claiming
his seat." It may be Interesting to note
that the "spurious representative" was
no other than Andrew Jackson.
Led by Aaron Dtirr, the friends of the
self-created "commonwealth finally out
generaled the enemy, and by a very
narrow margin the victory was won on
the first day of Juno, on which day
Tennesfeo became- a member- of - the
"glorious union."
Next Monday
"The King ;
of Diamonds"
A roost thrilling serial of great
Imaginative range, tho annals
of another Monto Crlato,
By Louis F. Tracy
will start In The Bee, to run In
dally Installments, Start this
great story with tho first In
stallment Next Monday
a .J
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