IH.. I I I. I Jl
THE COURIER
subject. This union taken In con
nectlon with tin; increase of the Ilus
shin army is not encouraging to the
failliful who believed Hint the Czar's
proposal was the first, sign of Die
arrival of the inllliMilimi. Most of
the substantial territorial gains by
Russia have been acquired by di
plomacy rather than conquest, by
arms and In consideration of tills
fact, too, it Is not singular that (ireat
Itrltaln and the other powers have
not a child I lice faith in her profes
sions of entiredisinterestedness.
The Governor's Mansion.
The Covernnr's mansion should, of
course, be near his olllce, the capitol
building, but it is not necessi'ry that
It should be Just across the street and
the houses on II street the owners of
which are anxious to sell to the com
mittee, are too near the tall chimney
which all winter long drenches the II
street residences in thiol: blade soot.
The (inventor should have the best
there is in the city in location and
building and although the houses in
tills locality are handsome, modern
and convenient the smoke nuisance
is an insuperable objection.
Stotsenburg Guard of Honor.
Mrs. Stotsenburg with the body of
Iter husband arrived in San Francisco
nu Monday. The body will lie taken
to New Albany, Ind., for burial.
Governor J'oynter whose message to
the secretary of war asking for the
transfer of Colonel Stotsenburg to
anothet regiment, did the Colonel
such a mortal injustice, owes his
memory all the reparation in a gover
nor's power, to make. A guard of
honor, accompanying the body from
the western frontier of the state, to
the grave in Indiana, may express to
the widow and children that the state
recognizes at last her debt to the
stern, faithful, uncompromising sol
dier at the head of the regiment
which Ills obedience to military rules
has made first in renown in action
and in activity of all of the regiments
in the Filipinos.
Sunday Newspapers.
The English objections to Sunday
newspapers and London's almost
fanatical opposition to them, ignores
the fact that almost all the work of
the Sunday papers is done on Satur
day night. If the English are real
reformers instead of quacks they will
object to the Monday papers which
keep the compositors and pressmen
working Sundays. The quack's
method of curing disease is well
known. Ho tells the patient ho is
aMlictcd with a disease the patient
never heard of and describes his
symptons which, of course the patient
admits. Then the quack quickly
cures him of something he never had
and the convalescent thinks the
fraud a great physician. Those Eng
lish doctors of harmless symptons
may be able to prevent Sunday papers,
but they might with the same effort
stop Monday papers and really help
printers and pressmen who need a day
of rest once in seven more than any
of God's creatures.
The Astor Apologia.
Mr. William Waldorf Astor writes
in the Pall Mall magazine his reasons
for leaving America to reside in Eng
land Ho says that although the
family of Astor is descended from titc
nob'e Pedro D'Astorga, a distin
guished crusader, through an illus
trious line, his great grandfather the
founder of the contemporary Astor
fortune, was born a humble peasant
in the village of Wald-dorf, near
Heidelberg in Germany in 17G'I. This
is true, though the father of .foliu
.Jacob Astor was a butcher and not a
peasant. Though a butcher Is
technically and by class a peasant In
Germany. In 178:1 .loliu Jacob came
to this country and made the first
part of Ills fortune in the northwest
in furs. From the first he had the
energy and versatility of an Ameri
can and he would have made money
under any conditions. That those in
America were especially favorable at
that time to the founding of a great
fortune, is undisputed by Ills great
grand son who insists that the Ameri
can press has constant belittled his
grandfather's commercial genius. To
be exact, William Woldorfsays:
In America my grandfather's life
and character have been distorted
and caricatured until only an odd
travesty survives My the press lie
lias been continually derided and re
viled with that spirit of pure
malignity which pursues the success
ful man. It is not democratic to
climb so high.
Mr. Astor lias misunderstood the
object of the remarks in the Ameri
can newspapers concerning the origin
and business of Ills great grandfather,
the descendant of the crusader and,
the founder of the family. It Is uni
versal human nature and not speci
fically yankee human nature to re
mind those who have but lately
acquired high position and distinc
tion of their former humble condi
tion. The Astors were very careful
to let no dry goods, grocery or pack
ing house people into the circle of
which they were dictators in New
York. Only professional men, bank
crs, railroad men and certain stock
brokers had the entree to their society
Moreover, they were always declaring
the circle too large and continually
cutting down the four hundred to a
still smaller number. This was con
tinually necessary, from 'their point
of view on account of the new rich
continually creeping in and getting a
loot hold in spite of constant watch
fulness. Of course these new rich
had influence and their grievance
was bound to get into the papers in
the form of a question to the head of
the Astor family as to who he was
and what his forbears were. Has not
the worm a right to squirm? It is
all he can do. Then Mr. Astor com
plained of American socialism and
jealousy. From all accounts English
socialists are fiercer, more denuncia
tory of wealth, and more numerous
than American socialists and this
reason for a change of residence is
therefore not much stronger than the
other. The organization of trades
unions, and the understanding of the
rights of labor is much clearer in
England than in America, according
to the socialist lecturers, and sooner
or later William Waldorf will
acknowledge it, for he has the virtue
of frankness. The Astor fortune was
made In this country, the bulk of it
remains here and it seems both im
polite and unpatriotic for the heir of
a fortune made in America and In
consequence of distinctively American
circumstances to give us the cold
shoulder and to criticise us to the
English in the pages of an English
publication.
The University Stylists.
The first clay bird's nest that the
kindergarten infant models sends a
positive thrill of creation through the
child heart. A finished work by a
real sculptor is not nearly so much of
a sensation to the master as this
mussy lump that the child calls what
over he had in mind when he con
structed it. Of course, the said
sculptor has artistic ideals most dilll
cult to realize, which the said Infant
has not. Discontent grows with skill
and knowledge. What would have
satisfied an artist a year ago is made
unsatisfactory by a year's work.
Some of the story writing by the un
dergraduates at the State university
bears marks of the self complacency
and of joy in the mere handling of
words and in the construction of trite
phrases observed In the kindergarten
children when they begin to squeeze
and pat the clay into a shape of some
soYt. If this complacency were not
an obstacle to the production of any
oeuvrc It would not be mentioned
here, but a system which apparently
cultivates in the uninspired satis
faction witlt the commonplace is apt
to be barren of permanent result.
Ten years ago the literature manu
facturing process in use at the State
university had not been discovered,
or rather perfected as it is now. 1
can only criticise it, then, from the
outside and as to what appears to be
the results, after the process has had
a trial of seven or eight years.
Jn The Kioto, a periodical pub
lished by the students at the State
university may be found, 1 am told,
the work of the best students in the
department of English. The con
tents of the magazine arc short
stories, poems and what corresponds
to an editor's drawer or facetiae,
under the head of "yelps." The pro
cess of manufacture is most plainly
visible In the stories, where none of
the mechanical supports, nor the
ornaments of the structure, are con
cealed. The first part of the process
which the undergraduate authors are
taught is visualization, technically
so called, and consists in describing a
place so characteristically that the
reader can see or smell it without
ever having to move from his chair.
All the great writers, like Ian Mc
Claren or Harrie are said to begin
their stories by adequate visualiza
tion The principle is undoubtedly
sound, but most of the contributors
to The Kioto do not further go. In
some of the stories the type of the
hero s features, his clothes, the room
In which the student lias impaled
him, the various small sounds which
the hero might have heard and the
weather outside which usually has a
strong Nebraska flavor, are very
carefully and conscientiously de
scribed. Hut not to much purpose
for the effort at visualization ap
parently exhausts the author. Noth
ing very interesting happens to the
hero nor does he often do anything
except to think. A plot is only in
dicated and the denoument is rarely
unexpected. Such an ending to pre
parations so elaborate and pains
taking is disappointing to the pros
pectors for Indications that the pro
cess Is a valuable one. The com
placency In the mere handling of a
real workman's tools and of the
material Is a Juvenile characteristic
and can not Justly be attributed to
the system, unless it teaches that
anyone who masters the technique
may become a writer and can interest
or Instruct or at least amuse a public
vvhich buys books to attain one of
these three objects.
"While the students are learning
how to write, the writings of those
who have learned are not given the
examination which the learned head
of the department used to insist upon.
So tliLt the present day graduates
leave the university without getting
the wide view of English literature
from Heowulf to the Victorian age
which was thrown open to the alumni
of the eighties. Professor Sherman,
the head of the department is an
erudite scholar. lie has an accurate
knowledge of the literature of all
nations and an exhaustive knowledge
of English literature. Hut the an
alytic system in use at the university
takes a long time to learn and in the
learning the time for a survey of the
whole field Is consumed. If the
object of studying literature is to
learn to write, the system under con
sideratlon Is probably the best yet
discovered, but if it bo to get a
knowledge of life through the books
of those who have made literature,
the object is more quickly attained
by Professor Sherman's old method.
There are very few. however in
structed, tnat will over be creatively
important. Not one of the thousands
of able men and women who have
been graduated by the university
have succeeded in contributing any
thing to literature Hut manyv have
left the university witlt a reverence
for literature and for the men and
women who have made it, that will
forever sweeten and broaden life for
them. Words arc as easy and as
fascinating to play with as clay, but
millions of men have lived since
Michael Angelo and not one of them
have moulded clay into the shape of
Mobcs or David or Lorenzo di Medici,
as ho did.
There are many illustrious writers
in tltis country and England who
make an idol of style and method.
Tliey long ago delivered the message
as 'twas given them and since then
have been saying nothing in par
ticular with inimitable stylo and
grace. Such are Mr Howells and Mr.
James who have worked off make
believe plots and mysteries on us for
the last fifteen years. And there is
Dr. McClaren, Mr. Harrie and Mr.
Meredeth who are all apostles of
method technically called effects.
Hut the novelist and poet are still
as uninanufacturable as gold and will
still be the despair of literary
alchemists.
NOT WHAT SHE MEANT TO SAY.
"Are you still at work on your now
novnl, Miss Scrtbbs?''
"No, I haven't had an idea in ray bead
for several weeks, so I have been writ
ing a lot of letters to ray friendB."
Cholly I hear that Wiley Grannan
made a fortune on the turf in England.
Chappie Poor Jad. Gentlemen al
ways loso on the turf,
"Yes, I've had maDy troubles in my
lifetime,1' said the philosopher,
"and the worst or them never hap
penod," ho added after a pause.
COURIER
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