THE COURIER
V
t.
hitu and he Is too old to learn new
standards. Neither would Senator
Murk Ilunna loom so large on the
horizon as to scare the people whether
there were any reason for fear or not.
Accustomed to command, there Is
no doubt that the Whltehuuse, should
Dewey occupy it us president, would
be the quarter deck and he would
reign alone. A republic is more Jeal
ous of favorites than the people of a
kingdom und a suspicion that the
policy of the administration is dic
tated by someone why is not the
president will do much to undermine
his populaity. Justly or unjustly
President McKlnley is charged with
too large a respect for the council of
Senator Mark Ilanna whose inspira
tion is derived entirely from Wall
S treet. Most of the unfortunate ap
p ointments which the President has
made are ascribed to Senator Hanna's
Initiative and there is no doubt that
the campaign managers of next year's
campaign with President McKlnley
as the nominee, will be embarrassed
by the attacks the democrats will
make on the score of undue influence.
A man of military habit, great pres
ence of mind and of proved self-reliance
is needed as president and the
Dominating convention which has
sense enough to nominate such a man
will be likely to elect their candidate.
Now that Admiral DeVey has ex
pressed himself positively, as opposed
to an abandonment of the fight until
the Tugals are conquered the anti
expansionist and peace-at-any-prlce
men will have to abandon Dewey or
Edward Atkinson. The former seems
to have been of more service to the
country and his thorough going
Americanism as expressed in his first
speeches in America, is most reas
uring. Simplicity.
The decorations of a. recent New
port wedding emphasized the effec
tiveness of simplicity in design and
color. Instead of smothering the
bride, Miss Havemeyer, and the
groom, Mx. Winslow, in flowers, palms
and, ferns, the room in which the cer
emony was, pronounced, was decorated,
by green wreaths of laurel, which de
pended at regular intervals, from, the
center of.the,ceiling to the top.of the
aide walls, falling from there to the
tyor. The windows, and doors of the
large room were hung with, white,
satin curtains looped back with white
ribbons of the same material Limit
ed to green laurel and glistening
white satin, the. full values of the
texture and the colors were allowed to
deliver thair message. Every guest
went away with an un blurred, impres
sion of that lovely green and white
auom. The simple design, the two,
pure, ccol colors, the absence of the
torist's horrid stereotyped designs
without meaningand with the natural
beauty of the flowers almost destroy
ed) gave a hint to the guests of what
can be accomplished by simplicity
and. by allowing the grace of a vine to
display Itself over a background of.
white satin, uninterrupted by the ap
pels of American beauties, orchids
and every other flower whoso culture
costs money and whose lavish use im
passes guests more with the wealth
Qf,the host than, with the beauty of
the flower.
A learned doctor has admitted that
he occasionally gives drops to shorten
useless suffering and a learned judge
approves of ihe doctor's habit. If
either of these men or hundreds of
others were infulliblo, if thoucands of
human beings had not recovered and
lived useful and ornamentalllves after
tha duct-re had prtmcunced their Ill
ness fatal and incurable, the doctrine
would bo less vicious No man has a
right to kill himself, While doctors
know so little and there ur so nttmy
chances. Many a man .who' has put
off killing himselr tilt morning has
found that bis .health is better,. kis
for: unes more hopeful Tiy dayHglitaad
his relativeorhtaifctessebfitixious.
Only the man who does not believe in
infinite kindness aad wlsdoas is jasti
fled, even of hisMelf, ta cooimitttag
suicide. Aad evea that man by kill
ing himself claims to know that the
future is hopeless.and denying infinite
knowledge kills himself because he
claims to know what only supernatur
al wisdom can know. Besides we
have not yet learned what puzzled
Hamlet and a man that leaps in-the
dark is likely to strike harder than
the'one who lets a Friend take hold
of his hand and lead him through the
undiscovered country over green pas
tures aod oeside still waters. Ttiough
the rod has been heavy and though
the flesh smart, still the patient one
who waits for r,he messenger will be
glad of the hand that reassures and
restores him. From a religious point
of view suicide is an impertinence, a
failure of faith. The suicide, by kill
ing himself claims to know too much
and denies supernatural kindness and
wisdom. The agnostic denies his creed
too when be kills himself. Only the
infidel can be a suicide and consistent
and he. is a bad sportsman. There is
something admirable in staying in the
game to the finish even if it be a los
ing game and all the luck has been
against one since the game began.
Doctors being made of clay it is not
wise to expect a flawlessness in them
not possessed by other men. And
why should men of clay hold the issues
of life and death. If doctors are al
lowed to put patients out of their
suffering, wnat of the unscrupulous
ones who study medicine as they do
law or the ministry? Such men, and
they are rare in these professions
might be bought to kill arich man with
tired-waiting relations. If he had only
to plead a design of putting his patient
out of his misery there would un
doubtedly be more murders. So long
as the heart beats and the mysterious
disorder whicb has caused it to quiver
can nofbe positively known, it is pre
sumtuous and unjustifiable in the
human physician to stop it, and a
.law which would permit it would be
unwise and lead to consequences un
forseen. The Gad Fly.
To read a book'tbat the critics have
called' great and' wonderful and to
find it tiresome and meaningless is an
indication that one's literary evolu
tion has not proceeded' very far.
Nevertheless it is better to admit
that one 'is not on speaking terms
even with Shakspere than to claim an
intimacy and admiration which does
not exist. After thirty years de
voted more to reading than to any
thing else, even the humblest is
likely to have a modest respect for
his own literary taste and judgment.
And' this self-respect does not wait
forany publisher's or critic's confir
mation. On the contrary, it survives
the critic's denial of its existence and
the publisher's scornful contumely.
To the omnivorous and indefatigable
reader in middle life his own literary
judgment is indisputable and final.
He cannot be convinced that n book
he finds tiresome and pointless is
inspired. This is, of course, not ad
mitting that indefatigability and
omnivorousness will produce, in time,
a correct taste. The liking for all
sorts of literature and non literature
is a sign of a gourmand rather than
cf an epicure. I suppose tho former
is quite as apt to be satisfied with his
discrimination as tho latter, and
llterary.distaste is no easier to argue
away and ignore than the one the
palate presides over.
TteGa'd'Fly-rs'the story of a man
.whom the author -tells you over and
wor again Is brilliant, witty, original
yet'thebwtk records not a wise or
witty saying-of his and his conduct is
noconatonly -stupid.- The other
characters whom she calls maiielous
andwicteddo nothing wrong and say
aothtng remarkably silly. Rlvarez,
the hero, Is such an egotistic zany
that his sister-in-law dislikes him,
and she would be a freak sister-in-law
if she did not. The hero is the il
legitimate son of a priest who is the
real hero in spite of his sin for which
he has done pennance and been long
since forgiven. Montanelli, the
priest, ih clever, wise, generous, lov
ing. He has brought up his son with
an extra-solicitude, ne Is willing to
relinquish, a cardinal's place, if his
son, who does not know of the rela
tionship, desire it. But when the son
finds out that the priest has not told
him all the truth he writes a cruel,
hateful letter and goes to drown him
self and if he had succeeded, the rest
of the story would not have been
written and that would have been
worth a life, like the hero's. Instead
he hides on board a ship bound for
South America and is beaten and
maltreated by the people the fool
killer hires to slaughter fools. He re
appears on Mrs. Voynich's pages, a
cripple from his South American ex
periences. He has acquired a reputa
tion which is as mysterious as the
wealth which accompanies his ad
vent. The author does not explain
where he got either and he does noth
ing to earn an honest living or to
justify the reputation, which Mrs.
Voynich adorns him with. Finally
lie is imprisioned for being a revolu
tionary and meets the cardinal, his
father. He tortures him and pro
poses an impossible and futile repara
tion like the selfish cad he is. The
saintly old Cardinal refuses though
his tender heart is torn by the suffer
ings of his son who had' accomplished
hiB own fate and who died' happy be
cause he fancied it was a martyr's
death and he had played that role all
his life.
The Gad Fly is one of those books,
may their tribe decreasel-with a
suspended situation. You who have
not read it), will read it, expecting,
continually, to come upon a situation
wherein the hero will do something
to justify the author's praise and his
star role. Something impends from
the beginning to the end of the book
and the hero' gets more and more
nauseating and self-conscious till his
final execution, which is the only
pleasant thing we have to look back
upon. Egotists such us Rlvarez, who
continually look in upon themselves
and fancy themselves entitled to bet
ter treatment in the world than they
get, who revenge fortune's buffets by
crucifying those who really love them,
are unfortunately common enough,
but, for mercy's sake, let us not make
heros or heroines out of them. Every
Uttlo kitchen maid whose innocent
heart is glad because the family were
pleased to be pleased with her bis
cults or pies or Irish stow, is more
worthy of exaltation than prigs like
Rlvarez who never served anybody,
and who let tho first severe blow of
fortune turn them into snarling, snap
ping brutes, whoso snapping and
snarling is no more acceptable be
cause It is epigrammatic.
When an author announces that
her hero is great and brilliant and wo
find him selfish, stupid and hateful
wo are inclined to distrust her ability
to draw pictures for us. And what-
ever the critics may say about Mrs.
Voynich's book, and I have yet to
find one who did not approve It, ie
can never be oracle or prophet tr a
few; not that she will miss us.
Life Insurance for Women.
it was only a .few years ago Ui.u
insurance companies would hot insure
women though mortality statistics
show that the averago life of woman
is longer than that of man. Never
theless the companies would not
take the risk of insuring womens'
lives. The mystery ascribed to her
motives and actions, the difficulty of
making a working hypothesis or table
of possibilities which applies to women-as
well as tn. asen restrained the
companies for many years from niak
ing any effort to secure the patronage
of woueak Within eight years the cum
panles, forsoa undiscovered reason,
began seeking the business of wo
men. It may have been on account
of the increasing number of women
in business, women who supported
themselves and others. Such women
were anxious to be insured, in order
that In case of death those dependant
upon their earnings might not be left
destitute.
An incident of the change in the
attitude of the companies towards
women as customers, was the employ
ment of women as agents and solici
tors. They have been very successful
in the field nd employers and em
ployes are wondering why the field
was not thrown open before.
The unwritten law of clubs and of
all social life is that business and
shop are excluded. Among men these
rules arelusually respected. At least
there are very few agents who will
venture to expatiate at the club or
when making a call; on the excellent
qualities of an article it is- their avo
cation to sell. But some women have
not been long enough in the business
to appreciate the enormity of-intro-ducing
business to an unarmed hos
tess or her guests. For Instance an
Insurance agent from Omaha recently
requested the editor of this paper to
mention a certain insurance company
to her friends who might happen to
call. The lady from Omaha said that
she was going to establish a depart
ment of insurance in Lincoln and'
would reimburse the publisher of The
Courier for her efforts to introduce
the name of the insurance company
into the conversation of the society
people of Lincoln. The impropriety
of making such a request bad not
occurred to her. Everything else was
forgotten in hoes of making "the
department or female insurance1' a
success.
City DasugeSuJh.
Property holders claim rJltut they
can sue the city for tearing up a con
demned walk abutting (in their prop
erty. Indisputably they can sue and
mounts will bo small compared with j
tne money paid for broken iiinos
In self protection and until1 prop
erty owners can bo 'held responsi
ble for the ucidents occurring' by rea
son of dorotivo sldo walks, all tin)
bad walks In the city should be do
stroyed
A Newsy Newipap.
Admiral Dewey arrived im the hur.
borof New York on Septembers')'
Tho daily papers oft Omaha, QhU'iW,
St Loins and nl great daily panTi
contU'iied iiitorviows with tihoAdiuir
al and nt.li.'is on Mio morning of r,o
27th Tin- Sniiraska. ,State Jounuli
pr.nted unui tliu miuo scull oil T M
day ui.ir g tho ' 2Lh. Accord! ; U
all other p-ipfis ttio Olyiupu urn -a
in Now Yoi'K atiout sevo'i o'clock. "
the2Uth Accord 1 1 to Clio rovonni
Jour dl ol Clin 2rith hu'arr.vod o i ii r
Illuming of tin 27UI.