THE COURIER.
11
.-
Mr. Woodward's personal animosities
and private political ambitious, have
no place in discussions conducted
with a v'ew to the Improvement of
the. lire department.
The town is dry as tinder and the
winci blows all day and all night with
a velocity, that i trust the weather
service Is fast enough to keep track
of. After months of searching Mayor
Winnett has found a man of brilliant
reputation as a lire lighter and as a
captain of a station. Because his ap
pointment disturbes the political ar
rangements of the chairman of the
fire department, it Is contested. Mr.
Woodward forgets that the misguided
people of his ward elected him to rep
resent their interests in the city cottn
ell, and that the intcrestsof the whole
city Imperatively demand better lire
department, and a more forcible head.
The Courier hopes Chief Clement
will not be discouraged. Mr. Wood
ward will not remain in the council
forever and his influence in the coun
cil is not so great as ills noisy conten
tion would make It appear.
Admiral Dewey
We love him for the thlrgs he does
not do as much as for the mighty
deeds he has done It is so easy for
Him to be a gentleman, so easy to for
get Himself and to be interested in
other people and other things. lie
hates a scene and gusli and sloppy
scntinnnt as much as Kipling does.
He lias shown his love for children
and their frankness and unconscious
ness and their universal distaste for
gush and false sentiment. When the
Admiral was dining in Boston the
other day at the home of Mr. Mont
gc tiiery Sears, lie was attracted by the
little son of the house of Sears. The
Admiral showed him his sword and
asked him if he would not like to
take it in his own hand to show h's
little sister, that she might examine
it at cluse range. "Oh, no; thank
you," the little fellow said, gazing at
It in awe, his eyes dancing in his ex
cilement; "1 should be afraid the gilt
wou'd come olL" Then the Admiral
laughed more heartily, his compan
ions sa'd, than they had heard him
for many a day.
The attributes of greatness, besides
the accomplishment of great dcedsi
arc simplicity of thought and speech.
Some men, like Ilobson, do a sudden
brave deed, and then reveal by their
greediness for pra!se that the deed
was greater than the man and that it
was not worth doing, if for the rest of
liis life he must be prating of it. No
ouo has asked Admiral Dewey to
lecture lie has not told "all about
the battle of Manila Bay'' in the
magazines, though probably he has
been requested to. No women have
liad the audacity toklsshlmln public,
no matinee girls' letters have been
published, though, of course, the
ninnies have written them and for all
these things we are duly thankful.
i
The Vulnerable French Spo
It was a Frenchman who called the
English "an army of shopkeepers,"
but the English with all their econo
mics and sharpened Instincts for bar
gains are not tli3 clever shopkeepers
the French are. In the Dreyfus case
Frenchmen were indifferent to justice,
to the world's slu.ckcJ outcry over
the proceedings of the trial and the
sentence, and to the exhibitions of
cowardice offered by the highest
officers of the army whenever tliey
testified. When Dreyfus had been
condemned, however, and tlio French
were convinced that the attendance
at the exposlt'on would be seriously
lessened by an all-national, dhtrust,
and disapproval of France and its In
stitutions, Dreyfus was pardoned
Not because there was no proof
against him, not because they pitied
his long cxi'e, but because the word
of tourists were so disgusted that- they
would not attend any show given by
Frenchmen. National and official
disapproval of the conduct of the
Dreyfus matter was, of course, out of
the question. There is little doubt,
though, that the French would rather
have received official criticism from
other nations than sutrcr the losses of
a tabooed exposition.
Immcd atcly on the publication of
the sentence the newspapers of all na
tions expressed the opinion that the
universal disapproval of it would have
an Immediate eirect upon the attend
ance, and thereupon Dreyfus was par
doned. Advertising agents understand the
influence of sentiment upon gate re
ceipts. 1 liestar whom they announce
and seek to popularize and endear to
every heart has yards of gushwritten
about his devotion to his family, his
bravery, his love of home and mother,
while not much Is said of his capacity
for acting, the only thing which the
public pays its money to see and. in
which it lias a Justifiable interest.
The seasoned advance man knows
that if lie can only make a hero out
of the man who p'ays Hamlet or
Uncle .Fosii crowds will go to see him
for the same reason they look upon
the common little bed in which Presi
dent Lincoln d'ed. The bedstead is
uninteresting enough, but everyone
sees the gaunt frame and noble head
or Abraham Lincoln lying there, and
the cheap little frame is exalted. As
.Jove used to give unfortunate and ob
scure ladies whom Juno's spite had
tortured and destroyed, a place as
star or planet after their earthly trials
were over, so we immortalize the
commonest things that a hero has
used.
Perhaps the French who make a
point of sentiment, though they have
done more than any other folk to
crush It. understood quite well, in ad
vance, the influence or the Dreyfus
trial upon travelers who would other
wise go a sightseeing to Pails. At
any rate M. Dreyfus owes his present
freedom to the very correct commer
cial foresight of his countrymen.
Gush.
When emotional causes have soften
ed the hearts of a people and made
them responsive to poct'C and wholly
sentimental appeals it is perhaps ex
cusable to relax the reserve and put
aside the conventions with which we
commonly protect ourselves But
there are uncomfortable and irrepres
sible people who pers'st in dragging
the soul and the heart and the blood
into ordinary conversation. To such
the bathetic, absurd "mother" songs
are addressed fram the stage of every
vaudev.lle theatre. There are people
whose constitutions or stomachs do
mand sweets In sickening proportion.
The dietary of the average adult con
tains very little sweet. Enfants be
ing devlnely patient, or stupid, or
more likely being protected by ab
sentmindedness against the banal
ities of the talk addressed them
by grown up people are obliged
to listen to very silly talk. 1 have re
peatedly seen a baby endeavor to tuck
his head out of reach of an individual
generally a woman who has been
talking silly to him and who makes
signs of an intent on to be more offen
sive still by kissing him. All babies
prefer men to women, and it must be
because the latter take them as a mat
ter of course and are not forever slop
ping over. Tlio yearlings have not
had the educational opportunities of
contemporary Ameiica. They are
without exception dignified, reserved
and wellbred, though to listen tu the
mother destroys all belief in heredity.
Sentiment, paraded and forever in
evidence, is an unspeakable ho re.
It Is doubtless the mainspring of
much that is beautiful, but the
woman who wears her heart upon her
sleeve, who uses sacred, motherhood,
womanhood, our country, home, God
aud my child too frequently, will bear
watching.
Men are not such Inveterate gushers
Being made a little lower than the
angels, and first, there was no ncces
sity for variation. Besides if a man
be inclined to overdo sentiment the
ridicule of Ills virile companions goes
far towards curing him of the foolish
ness. It is said that a noticeable rcf
ormition lias taken place in Ilobson
since his isolation among his fellow
olllecrs in thcFilip'ncs. He no longer
mentions the Merimac and obeys
orders without the arguments and
poses which he effected Just after his
adventure with the Merimac intro
duced him to the country.
I hope these "few thoughts' may
catch the eye of the American news
paper writer who invariably seeks to
find the way to emotions to which
there is no thoroughtarc. The admir
able composure, reserve, and freedom
from any desire to precipitate a scene
on the part of Eng'ishmen and women
might be copied by Americans who
arc ready to shed a maudlin tear on
call.
o
The Luzon Friars.
General Fumton's remark that
there would have been no Tagal rebel
lion if it were not for the Spanish
friars has excited some Catholic ap
prehension that when the war was
over, the protectant United States
might not be quite tolerant. General
Funston has explained that he meant
the monastic friars not the priests
who are qui tejd liferent from tlio friars
that are discribed as extortionate and
oppressive. The Tagals, who unwill
ingly support them, hate them, and
since tlie island has been the field of
war.tlie friars have been kept prisoners
and been treated with extreme severi
ty by the insurgents. The tyranny of
the friars, long before the arrival of
the Americans, incited the Tagalo to
rebellion against Spanish rule. Not
that the natives wish to leave the
Catholic church. Quite the contrary,
they w sli the Luzon clergy to be re
leased from the supremacy of Spain.
'J lie same condition obtains in Cuba
where the saying is current that
"The worst man in the world is a
Spaniard and the worst Spaniard is a
priest. 'J lie Americans who have
gone to Cubi will dispute tills saying,
for tiie verdict or all Americans who
have returned is that the Spaniards
arc much more trustwoithy and are
much cleverer than tlio half breed
Cubans who are tricky, treacherous,
and cowardly. The Spaniaid may
have the faults of the aristocrat; but
he has also liis virtues bravery, self
respect, and truthfulness.
The Reporter's Revenge.
Mr. Isclin has not the noblesse
oblige manner so particularly grate
ful to reporters. He treats them as
though they wero an impertinent,
superfluous class to be Ignored when
possible and snubbed and d'soiplined
always. When one of them recently
asked him a perfectly proper question
In regard to yachting Mr. Iselln lsald
to have said "I don't know and I
would not tell you it I did." A man
who lias been snubbed, even if ho is
only a reporter, cannot turn in any
enthusiastic report of tlio boat or of
its owner, if the latter is tlio man
who has Just humiliated him. Mr
Iselln complains that the public Iih
not appreciated his patriotic efforts i
keep the cup in America. Well, the
public reads the papers and the papors
arc made up of stuff written by the
army of reporters whom Mr. Isel n
considers vulgar and impertinent.
The public is not admitted to Mr.
Iselln's confidence, and the only way
we have of finding out what a nice
man he is, and sharing his hopes and
fears, of sympathizing with him and
of learning all about his yachting
suits, s through the reporters, and ho
does not like reporters. A friend of
the family used to talk disapproving
ly about "hotty" people and, I fear,
she might nave included Mr. Iselln in
tills class. There is no doubt, however,
but that Americans, reporters, and
all, were glad he won the race.
Hi ' L
I ''k.
BBBIIBjBWBIBMMi " lining I, pnn.'B ..
'Lest We Dash Our Feet Against a Stonz." v
At Greenville, Ohio, last week, Mr,
Bryan said: "I dare the Bepublicars
to defend the title by purchase of 10,
000,000 men. They assert the right to
be in the Philippines by purchase, and
that, tco, after having paid a less
price for human beings than we pay
for hogs."
The New York Sun calls Mr. Bryan's
attention to the faettMat he approved
the treaty, that he even went to
Washington and used his influence
and power of persuasion to get it rati
fied. If he objected to the purchase
of 10,000,000 men as he chooses now to
call the treaty, it was scarcely frank
to pretend tohls followers that it was
unobjectionable. Having once ap
proved the treaty it is unusual even
for a politician to attack the measure
he used his best endeavor to secure
the passage of.
The Early SettUrs.
Nebraska farmers who came to i his
country in the sixties and seventies f
because they . had not money to buy
land in the more populous portions of
the United States, who pre-empted
lands here from the government, who
founded families that as years puss
will become the aristocracy of the
state, deserve the credit of having
founded and developed thlp great
state. In constantly belittling the
accomplishment of the Nebraska
farmer Mr. Bryan is doing liim an in
justice During the lean years wc
have just experienced the fanners
paid oil their debts. This year's har
vest will be spent for contemporary
needs which have a way with tlio
farmer as well as with tho dweller In
a city, of expanding and contracting
with his income.
These early settlers arc old men
now. They overseo tho work of tlio
farm but no longer take an active
part in it. Tho extent of the change
they have wrought In Nebraska is
f'-.rgott en or overlooked by those who v
seldom drive over tho prairies. They J
have transformed thousands of acres
of grazing lands into cultivated fields
and tli us Increased their producing
capacity by ono half. In conveying
the impression to tlio audiences ho
speaks to that Nebraska Is a poverty
stricken, forlorn state, Inhabited hy
anarchists railing uguuist all kinds of
Institutions. Mr Bryan traduces theso
old men who walk over their farms
aud examine their stock, quietly ex
ulting in the work of their hands and
In their early faith In u now .state, In
bread stuffs and llesli foods Nebraska
is among tho very largest dopotsla
this country. In the forty-five states
she Is not lower than fifth. Consider
ing tlio very short tlmo wo liavo been
competing with Iowa, Missouri, Minn
esota, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, tlio y
achievment Is remurkablo and do '
serves envy rather than commiseration,