.THE COURIER
There ib still hope that Mr. Oppenheimer and Dr. Tyndale will
succeed in getting "The City Council" on the stage. It is expected
that this long looked for event will occur some time next month.
If the yellow dog doesn't suffer too much it is the intention to or
ganize a new company and put the play on the road.
It is gratifying to the friends of Mr. William Reed Dunroy, one of
The Courier's most valued contributors, to note the increasing
recognition which his work is receiving. His prose and poetry as
they appear in The Courier are now being generally reprinted in
the eastern papers. His poem "Violets" was given an honored place
in a recent issue of the Philadelphia Times.
Citizens of Lincoln who incline to the use of the gun are juBt now
visiting the interior and western part of the state and bringing back
with them the most marvelous tales and also game well perforated
with shot. It is going to be a close race between Frank Cooke and
F. W. Brown, with J. H. Harley occupying a prominent place in the
field, to the beason's end. A judge should be appointed to take account
of the birds actually brought home, with an affidavit in each case,
and who would not be influenced by the Munchausenism in which
all three of these gentlemen are notably proficient.
Miss Leiter is going to marry Viscount Curzon and the Mrs. Mal
aprop of Chicago will become the mother-in-law of a title, according
to the World-Herald. The story of her attenJance at the reception
given at the American legation in Paris, when her daughter danced
with all the "etages," ought to go down in the chronicles of the family.
The same evening, when someone told her that Miss Leiter was out
strolling on the piazza in ball toilet, Buch an imprudent thing for a
delicate girl to do, Mrs. Leiter answered: "Oh ! no, indeed; my
daughter may look delicate, but she is the most indelicate girl I ever
knew."
If there exists any doubt as to the success of The Courier as a
prophet a comparison of the "Matrimonial Prospectus' published in
this paper last August with the matrimonial developments since
that time will effectually dispel it It was foretold that W. E.
Hardy and Miss Gertrude Laws, Ross Curtice and Miss Grace Burr,
Beman Dawes and Miss Bertie Burr, George Woods and Mies Ra
chel Brock. Lew Marshall and Miss Nellie White, W. F. Kelley and
Miss Martha MnCIure, of Mt. Pleasant, la., W. D. Robinson and
Miss Fay Marshall, the Hon. G. M. Lambertson and Miss Sherwood,
of Sauthport, Conn., would in the near future appear before the altar;
and subsequent events proved the truth of the prophecy in each in
stance. Reference was also made to two or three prospective
matches lhat up to the present time have not materialized. It is
believed that in one case at least there has been a change of plans;
but of the others The Courier can report progress. There is some
material now for another prospectus not so much as was at hand
last August; the coming June and October will witness the marriage
of a goodly number of people more or less prominent in society.
Two or three weddings are already known to be fixed for June.
Mr. Wack, whose engagement to Miss Ellen Beach Yaw was
spoken of in these columns last weeK, has submitted to an interview
and his story of the engagement is interesting. He says: "About
six years ago I was assigned by the St. Paul Globe to attend a musi
cals given at the home of A. B. Stickney, of the great Western rail
road. It was a very swell gathering. Incidentally, I was introduced
to Miss Yaw, who was on her way from studies in New York city to
join her mother, who has lived in California for many years. 'The
Yaw home is at Crescenta, in the mountains, about eighteen miles
from Los Angeles. Delightful place. When I met Miss Yaw at the
musicale I had not heard of her before. Her personality attracted
me very much and during the next two years we corresponded reg
ularly. It was about this time that I published my first novel,
'Alidpr, which is dedicated to Signor Jannotta. The signor is now
living in.Halstead street, Chicago. At that time he was living in St.
PauL Very pleasant man, indeed. I got the title from Signor Jan
notta's opera, 'L'Alidor, produced at the May festival in St. Paul in
1890. In my story it was the name of a mine. The novel was
printed first as a three month's serial in the Glolte and was so suc
cessful that I thought I would put it in book form. It treats of the
peculiar social conditions existing among the miners of the Mescaba
iron range. During my correspondence with Miss Vaw her letters
revealed a woman of peculiar mental force, of rare precocity, of un
usual individuality, and naturally there was a great attraction for
me in finding such unexpected talents. Miss Yaw was evidently
'taken' with my letters, for she asked me to write for ber a series of
essays on certcin subjects, on art, literature, the love of nature, the
beautiful in nature, domestic life, friendship, happiness, and certain
psychological and philosophical questions -a Eort of Emersonian
symposium it was. I did bo and from the essays and letters our
friendship grew. At the conclusion of my series of essays, written
at Miss Yaw's request, we decided to learn more of each other's
minds and began the exchange of 100 essays on various subjects.
Some of mine were in a serious vein, others were mildly humorous,
others mere sketches, after a Btyle of work I had been doing for the
Globe. There was nothing emotional er sentimentical in any of
them. They were written much as literary exercises; there was
nothing beyond, nothing more than the great pleasure gained in the
writing. The series of 100 essayB was concluded last fall. In the
meantime I had offered Miss Yaw encouragement and advice regard
ing her career as a singer. I wrote the first extended notice of her
and published it in the Globe. I aimed to give her a fair and honest
estimate of her ability and prophesied for her a great future. The
article was generally reprinted, as I have many friends in the east
and west. Since then 1 have endeavored to aid Miss Yaw in every
way possible, I am new pecuniarily interested in her tours. We
have been engaged about a year, but the fact I had supposed known
to a few intimate friends only. The date of the wedding? Probably
not before two years. You see I do not wish to interfere with Miss
Yaw's success and her studies. The public takes a greater interest
in a young artist if she be single. Miss Yaw goes to Paris soon and
thence to Switzerland and later to London, where she expects to
sing and hear the grand opera season at Convent Garden. Miss
Yaw and I have preserved the essays exchanged. Several publish
ers, with an eye to the sale which would accrue from Miss Yaw's
fame, have made me offers for their publication, but we have not
decided yet whether we will permit them to be placed in print, in
revised form." In age Mr. Wack appears to be under twenty eight.
His manner and conversation are easy and entertaining, and his dis
position, seemingly bright and sunny, makes friends for him readily.
Miss Yaw is twenty-three years old, and was Lorn in Buffalo, N. Y.
Her mother was well known as a singer of sacred music. The fam
ily moved to California when Miss Yaw was quite young and has
lived there the greater part of the time since. Miss Yaw's brother
travels with her. She has been studying and singing for eleven
years, but has been concertizing scarcely more than one year. Her
principal teachers were Delle Sedie and Bax of Paris.
BITS OF SIDE LIGHT.
(Written for The Courier.)
The latest calling cards are made of very thin paste
About board almost as thin as note paper. Beveled edges are
Paper, things of the long ago. Pasteboard cannot be made to
look rich, even if beveled and gilded. The characteristics
that diBtinguisn paper from other materials are thinness, lightness,
smoothness, cheapness. Artists have the sense never to alter the
character of a material. They do not emboss paper till it looks like
stamped leather, nor give it a gram till it looks like wood. The
more perfect the deception the more dispisable it is for being a
. cheat Wall papers should have first of all, the quality of paper.
The influence of environment on character is constant, unconcious
and in the end prodigious. Some homes are filled with articles that
look just as good as the genuine thing. The illusion vanishes only
when a strong light falls on them or when disappointed hands touch
them. A perfect copy of a basket of fruit in wax will cause suspic
ion of every other article in the room. - Children reared in a home
filled with veneered furniture, a log that never burns up in the grate
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