VOL. XIV., NO. XXXVI.
ESTABLISHBD IN 18fi
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8AKAH B. HARRIS.
Editor
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:
OBSERVATIONS
l
Church Tardiness.
The difference between the attl
tude of a protectant minister towards
his congregation and a priest towards
his parishioners lias never been more
sharply defined than by the sermons
and hortations delivered by Father
Reed who succeeded Father Nugent
at the pro cathedral. In every
church in this town the minister
year after year ineffectually urges the
congregation to arrive at the time
when the services are supposed to
begin. Most of the services are adver.
tiscd to begin at half past ten Sunday
morning. If the number present at
that exact time, not livcmlnutcsorten
minutes later.were counted on a morn
ing of the most favorable weather, tho
total would be something under flttcon
not counting the ministers or tho
minister's wives, tho choirs or the
ushers. Yet all theso years the in
defatigable, patient preachers, richly
endowed with faiih and hope have
politely called the attention of their
congregations to tho fact that the
organ voluntary, tho hymn and the
opening prayer are parts of tho ser
vices and of the weekly offering of
worship, Ignored by the larger part of
the parish. Little children when
they first begin to take notice of what
tho preacher says hear him reminding
their fathers and mothers and tho
neighbors, of their tanllncss. These
name children may have a spotless
school record without a single tardy
mark for tho years they have attend
cd school and it seems a trlile queer
to them when they llrst begin to
listen, that thetr fathers and mothers
cannot keep iip with their own chil
dren, especially when they are only
obliged to try once a week.
Discarding the patlcnt.meek remon
strances of ids predecessors against
the. irreverent tardinesses Father
Reed announced to his congregation
several weeks ago that if they were
not in their seats when the services
at the pro cathedral began they would
not be able to get into them at all
that morning. Like the protcstant
congregations this one was so used to
reproaches for tardiness, that the
next Sunday morning tho parishion
ers began to arrive five, ten and fif
teen minutes late. But they stayed
outside and listened to the services
participated in by ttiose who iiad
noted the tirm lines in tills priest's
face. His example is .a worthy one
and if all the protcstant ministers
would follow it, it might, at first
reduce the size of the congrega
tions, but it would be the beginning
of a reformation we are in great need
of. Lincoln is late at church, late at
weddings, late at funerals, late at
card parties, late in reaching the
theatre, late in keeping all appoint
ments botli in public places and with
private parties. Father Reed accus
tomed to a better trained congrega
tion, is endeavoring to teach a part
of the population the Irreverence of
coming to church after the services
have begun and If he succeed in cor
recting the incorrigbles of one church
there is reason to believe (hat the
protestant ministers, if they had the
nerve, might teach their parishioners
the same lesson in the same way.
Of course there is a difference in
the two congregations. Catholics
bend the knee and bow the head when
they enter the church. The man who
speaks to tliem is clothed witli au
thority. He Is set apart from com
mon men and lie lias no hesitation in
using the authority which his re
nunciations and the discipline and
traditions of the church confer upon
him. The protestant congregation,
enters the church in quite a different
manner Most western congregations
do not even bow the head during
prayer. 1 think the western man
considers it too humble an attitude.
Being Just as good as anybqdy, he is
afraid the bowed head is an admission
of humility that might be remem
bered against him sometime. And
most of the congregation listen to the
minister critically and with no pro
tense of extraordinary respect. As a
matter of fact, most ministers are
spiritually far in advance of their
froward and obstinate congregations,
but their very goodness and humility
deter them from impressing their su
periority on tholr audiences. Thus
it will be a more difficult matter for
tho protestant ministers to enforce
promptness in ejiurch attendance,
but considering the very slough Into
which Lincoln has fallen in matters
social, commercial and political as
wollassacredotal, I think tlie min
isters should undertake the crusade,
heartened by Father Reed's persis
tent courage and convictions.
Newspaper English.
This title has been suggested for
discussion at the meeting of the Ne
braska state federation of women's
clubs to be held at Hastings next
month. Newspaper English invites
criticism by its looseness, the limited
vocabulary of some of those who write
for the papers, their frequent self
consciousness and the unskillful use
of many words to express ono Idea.
But bad as it is, there Is something
worse and that is tlie stuff that critics
produce when thoy send a contribu
tion to the newspapers themselves
The ordinary, professional newspaper
writer or reporter overworks a slender
vocabulary. He makes one adjective
vulgarity. Aftor alluding to a "black
crime committed by this Lincoln
papor from Which It escaped without
having its neck wrung'' she advises
Mrs. Draper Smith, tho able und
gracious president of tiio woman's
club "to request such publications to
keep out of town."
Tho article in ThoCourlorwhlch ur
roused Miss Falrbrothcr was sent this
papor by an Omaha correspondent
who was disgusted by tlie drunken and
lewd Omaha midway. Soveral of tho
best people in Omaha have spoken of
the coarseness and license of tlie mid
way and regretted that such sights
and sounds tdiould be allowed wiicrc It
is impossible to keep their children
from the contamination. Miss Fair
brother is one of the most radical or
W C. T. U. members, yet when it
suits her purpose to praiso an immoral
which the managers of the exposition
can not convert Into advertisements
for the show.
do the work nf t.lin iniinv..irlt,lmr nn-
dantlcally stilt in the dictionary, for and repulsive show she hus no scruples
- . . "" wll fill t.lin tnnnnnnra nf Iia avnrultlnn
lacK of exercise. The vocabulary of
tho ordinary man consists of only a
few hundred words. Tho emotions
and situations which human beings
daily experience and endeavor to de
scribe are of infinite variety and can
not be reproduced except by tlie use of country there
tlie words which describe them. There
is nothing new under tlie sun and all
these accidents and incidents have
happened before and have been named
by the language makers. To call
them by other names is to miscall
them and distort the truth, which it
Slow Pay and R. C.
In every city of consequence in this
is a book called by
different names but whose value de
pends upon its frankness and ac
curacy. In Lincoln it is culled tho
Blue Book und it records tho names
of those who make no bills they do
not pay promptly, of those who order
goods hero and there lightly and
is ttioetrortor all newspaper writers gracefully with no intention of pay
to -convey without distortion. But ing for them, of those who pay slowly
when the work of tho newspaper hack and of tlioso from whom cash must be
is compared with the occasional con- required before they arc allowed to
trlbutor, then and only then Is the walk off with goods. ,
former's skillfulncssapparent. On the Such a compilation must needs be
other hand when our work Is compared brutally frank and it is. The com
with the really skilled workmen who pliers pay no attention to the society
write books and good stones its faults standing or to the ancestral purity of
of construction and style discourage , the bl6od which flows through the
the most complacent. veins of the men and women they
Still there are a few rules of gram- rate. Their point of view is a single
mar and rhetoric oven the most unlet- one and is confined to considerations
tered writer should study, If not for of the ability to, and habit of paying
tlie older readers, then for the chll- bills. There Is a large number of peo
drens' sake. Miss Falrbrothcr of pie who can pay but will not every
Omaha, for instance, should study an where, and against the names of these
elementary work on grammar and 'people in tho ' Lincoln bluo book is
after she has memorized a few rules written R. O. which degree, being
concerning tlie use of a plural verb Interpreted means, "require cash."
with a plural subject otc, and espec- Many of these R. C's. can pay but
lally tlie directions governing the use' won't. Like, the whist player who
of pronouns and adverbs It would le would rather keep his trumps than
of advantage to her to study y take tricks with them, the confirmed
standard and very elementary work dead beat regards the liquidation of
on. rhetoric. In the prosecution of -a bill as so tnucli money thrown away,
her second year's work in rhetoric, which might have been used to buv
ono of her follow craftsmen may per
haps bo allowed to suggest that she
'devote particular attention to the
rules concerning tho use of metaphors
and tho confusion caused by mixing
them.
In the Woman's Weekly, of July 2!),
Miss Falrbrothcr, the editor, con
tributes a remarkable paragraph. 1
know It for Miss Falrbrother's work
by the faults of construction and by
the blinding rage which destroys her
aim, a rage which in personal converse
reduces her to a state of sputtering
tilings wiih from a merchant who
will not trust him, or saved to look at
and exult over. In the meantime his
credit Is ruined and that far more
delicate factor in commerce the con
fidence and respect of ono's follow
tradesmenIs irreparably Injured.
The stubborn disinclination of the
rich to pay their bills embarrasses
the tradesmen, who, of course, do not
wish to lose a customer nor offend an
influential ricli woman. If it wero
not for the people of straightened
means who go without necessities