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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1897)
IKC4- R- t bl fc '- &v fei VOIr 12 NO ?4l ", $" "jjjg VT ? - .' ESTABLISHED IN 1886 PRICE FIVE CENTS P-r ,v- 7-X ' -- v-3 i. ft. r-vy , . b V H.l'VvOflKL J9LvLBRr H - -.- LINCOLN. NEB..5ATURDAY. OCTOBER 9. 1897. ' " Entered in the postoffice at Lincoln as second class m atteb. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY THE COURIER PRINTING AND PUBUSHIH6 GO Office 1132 N Btreet, Up Stairs. Telephone 384. SARAH i'. ICARRIS. - Editor )? DORA BACI1ELLER Business Manager br r Subscription RateB In Advance. p-. Per annum $2 00 E&- Six months 100 W'r Three months 50 jlfrf'- Onemonth 20 tf "- Single copies 05 Jifet - . - 5 OBSERVATIONS. : h . In Scribner's Magazine for Septem ber there is a sketch of the Nashville Centennial, written and illustrated by P. Ilopkinson Smith, a clever littera teur and accomplished art critic. For many reasons it is a charming article. Its light touch, its gleams of humor and sentiment playing about the blade of criticism, its scraps of anecdote and its avoidance of tedious descripeion, no less than the modest length of it, make a combination quite unlike most writings of its kind. But perhaps the feature that concerns us most of all, in view of our own coming exposition, is its revelation of how the great out side world of letters, art, and intelli gence generally, puts up to its eye the lorgnon.of experience, and gives out cold its comments, good, bad and in different, on the event. It is always a useful lesson to study liow others see us; and it is also Ji wise thing to provide beforehand that they shall not see us in an unfavorable light. The West is a very youngcoun try; we ought not to forget it. In matters of art it is very, very young; we have not had leisure nor opportun ity for the luxury of study. A West ern trait is independence; this we are often disposed to flourish in the face of questions whereof we know very little. It is oftendinleultto convince us that we don't know everything. We are prone to resent the insinua tionindeed, the less we know, the quicker we resent it. as no doubt the managers of Nebraska's great enter prise find daily, to their sorrow. We have invoked the eyes of the world to rest upon ourselves and the spectacle we are about to provide. Do we re alize what that means? A few of us do. Our safety lies to u.e a worn old simile in the handsof the men at the helm. The people of highest intelli gence are the ones who most feel their own limitations, and the importance of the mistakes which they must avoid. For every one, however intel ligent, is capable of making mistakes. Witness some of the Nashville in stances quoted not unkindly by 31 r. Ilopkinson Smith. Tt is delightful, his description of the Memphis build ing "a solid stone pyramid made of tongued and grooved plank.5' which is 'not really sinful, except so far as it is ugly:" a reproduction of the pyr amid of Clieops. with additions and variations by the local committee! As it bears no likeness to anything in the heavens above or the earth be neath or the waters under the earth, one could fall down and worship it and still escajKi the charge of idola try.' Also his note on the Woman's Building, the duplicate home of An drew Jackson, in passing which, "courteous observers never look any higher than the cornice," because of a nondescript annex sitting in the mid dle of the roof an effect which he compares to a French bonnet jnirehed on the lace-draped head of a Spanish teat'ty. True, he makes up for these sallies by the warm praise bestowed in other quarters, particularly on the Parthenon, which seems to be the brilliant part of the whole exhibi tion. As every citizen of every city in the great West is. or ought to be, vitally interested in our approaching Exposi tion, we may venture to hope that the Directors will read thoe "Notes on the Tennessee Centennial" and kin dred writings. It is more than inter estingIt is instructive tohearwhat is said of people in cur own circum stances, by the multitude outside whose approval or disapproval means so much to us. financially and all other ways. Graceful and good-humored as sarcasm like Mr. Smith's may be, it cannot be enjoyable to the targets of it. And it is far from being advantageous except in an educa tional way. Take our case. Nebraska is a remote point to most of the culti vated world whom we hope to wel come here next year. They are not coming so far to see mistakes, however amusing. Tosee a remarkable assem blage of wonderful and entertaining things, set in a beautiful framework of perfect huildingsand ideal grounds, against that lovely Nebraska baek ground which Nature has furnished, the whole showing the firm hand of wise management and the artistic skill of the designers this they will think worth journeying to, we hope and believe. The outside world will find out very quickly which it has to expect here, and the gate receipts, railway, hotel and shop receipts will announce the world's decision. There fore we trust that the Trans-Mississippi management and the architects will not permit anything to escaje their vigilance and be set before our future guests that may draw upon us their ridicule which might easily hapiKHi if the greatest strictness were not observed in repressing the efforts of many who are unacquainted with what is right and beautiful in art, and suited to an occasion so momentous as this. Norshould anytliingbe allowed within the Exposition limits that will do less than rouse the admiration of those "who know." Nothing but the best throughout ought to satisfy us. and nothing less will make the Trans-Mississippi Ex position worth having done, cither in the way of finance or otherwise. Any thing short of complete success will be about as bad as complete failure, and for such failure the "men at the helm," each and every one, managers, designers and all, will stand responsi ble in the eyes of the public that they should bear well in mind. But indeed, if what has already been accomplished may be taken as an earnest of the final whole, our reputa tion is safe, and we have nothing to fear from the art critics of all the world. General Neal Dow, who died last week in Portland, Maine, where he was born, began his fight against alco hol at a time when all families of any consequence served liquor on every hospitable cccaskn. Through his efforts and his pr paganda Maine finally passed a bill prohibiting the Selling of liquor in the state. Gen eral Neal Dow was to temperance what John Brown was to emancipa tion. Both of them were men of one idea. They would not compromise with expediency. They were not afraid of death or even of ridicule. For the matter of that, a real reformer is so convinced of the potency and solem nity of his mission that the humorous aspects of one man's single-handed fight against most of the people in the country, does not amuse him. Brav ery is so rare a virtue that the pos sessor of it can afford to get along without humor which is common enough. When Neal Dow began to make his appeals he was ridiculed, called a fanatic and a fool or a dream er, according to the point of view of his assailant. To the politician hu was a fanatic, to liquor dealers he was a fool, to the clergy a dreamer. But neither a fool nor a dreamer could ac complish Neal Dow's work. Only an unselfish fanatic with one idea and of John Brown heroism, could do what he did, with unquenchable insistancc through a life which lasted ninety four years. jt An English woman has written a pamphlet in which she strives to prove the inherent mental inferiority of women. She says that no one can discover a time when progress was not due entirely to the male sex. This shows that before laws were enacted, Iwfore nations were assembled, before literature was, or the arts, woman already occupied a place a little lower than man and no subsequent progress has changed their relative positions. The first step upward our Simian ancestors made was in the care of the young by the mother. To protect them from storms and from other wild an imals, our grandmother ape built a shelter and shared it with the father, who appreciated the comforts of the shelter so much that when another ape tried to enter, he fought him. The female encumbered by her help less young did not fight much better in her forest days than she docs now. From the first battle in defence of the hollow tree or the woven shelter of forest boughs, the male became the de fender and the fighting increased his appreciation of that which he fought for. Love for heroffspring stimulated the wits of the female to still further protect them. While the male was lighting she discovered fire, utilized tne skins of beasts for clothing, built better shelter and was in the way of outstriping her fighting companion, whose battles and physical immuni tics made him far stronger than she when, because of the natural increase, the problem of ex istence demanded the associ ation if the fighters under one head, the tribe was formed, and the non-c.mhatants had no share in the councils of campaign-; for which they were disqualified from furuNhingany fighters. Since that time the fighters have ruled and women have been like a subject nice. They get their way, like slaves, by diplomacy, they do not, like their masters, take it bcaitse it is their right. Having failqd to estab lish the original pre-historic inferior ity of the female the English author, whose name escapes me, fails in her main proposition, w liich is that woman was created unfree and unequal, and should only be allowed to pursue hap-
