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THE COURIER.
X
word to them to mind their own
business and go home. But they
closed in on him and he spent uis last
days in the little Island for which
President Kruger's passage has been
booked and where his house is being
papered, painted and repaired for his
venerable occupancy.
Peculation.
Rome of the first news that was
printed in all of the newspapers as
soon as the American occupation of
Cuba began, was about the corruption
of the Spanish revenue and post office
officials. In spite of periodical reve
lations of corruption and stealing
principally by American municipal
officers, we are still not beyond ap
pearing shocked by authentic inform
ation of Spanisii thievery. The rem
nants of the shocked look still linger
ed upon our national countenance
when news of the steal by the United
States Director of the Posts, Rath
bone reached this country. Our only
excuse for American administration
in Cuba is to show the Cubans how to
govern honestly and effectively. It
is fortunate therefore, that postal
criminals and defaulters are inevita
bly punished by Uncle Sam. No
branch of the service is so merciless
towards a defaulter as the post office
department. Mr. Ratbbone's crime is
exaggeratod by the disgrace which he
has brought upon the United States
administration in Cuba. In this
country faith in the integrity of post
office offcials is so rarely shaken and
defaulters are so quickly captured
and imprisoned that an irregularity
like that committed by Rathbone
creates no heresy in the system. But
the Cubans that have heard stories
about how the ice man runs New
York, will have their worst suspi
cions continued by Ratbbone's mis
appropriation of funds. Rathbone
committed treason as well as robbery,
for he has brought his country into
disrepute in a foreign land. Captain
Oberlin S. Carter, who is serving a
sentence for plain robbery, perpe
trated by way of a harbor contract,
committed a misdemeanor ic contrast-
Rathbone has made the United
States ridiculous and injured the
effect of the example the government
is trying to set.
A Spring Sunday in 1900.
In the days of our grandfathers,
Sunday was an indoor day. Verdure,
blue skies, the robin and the melo
dious meadow-lark, the spring fra
grance of the earth, the trees and the
flowere, it was acceptable self denial
to shut them out and read a morbid
book of martyrs, or the gloomiest con
clusions of Job, or threats of David.
The idea of propitiating an offended
'deity once a week by shutting our
eyes and our ears and by barring out
the scented breeze has insensibly dis
appeared. Friends lunch together in
the evening, all the streets are filled
with strollers in pairs or in groups.
Sunday is perhaps even more of a
family day than it was in Puritan
times. Fathers take their children
to walk, read to them or tell them
stories. The streets are full of family
carriages. The nearby timber on the
banks of Salt Creek shades the moth
er, father and children. The air is
full of a quiet rust'e and the hum of
voices. The effect is not one of Puri
lan somnolence and repression, but
of movement and an indolent spring
gayety.
The deportment of those who still
believe in all that Calvin confessed
and announced is much more human
and hearty than the most heretical of
our forefathers. For such a one was
constrained by his neighbors, by his
wife and his son's wife, by his busi
ness partners, by his customers, his
clients, or his patients and all their
female relatives to an observance and
a conformity that his heart and his
mind had no share in.
Relievers in the verbal inspiration
of every "thus saith," whereunto and
Selah in the Bible ascribe the seizure
of the Lord's day, and the human en
joyment of it, to higher critics who
have made the decalogue a purely
human document. There was an idea
among the older theologians that God
demanded that every minute of the
Sabbath day should be used in wor
ship. Not on account of the benefit
man received from adoration, tbengh
that was admitted, but as tribute to
an exacting deity who gloried in the
humiliation of the worms he had
created, and as penance for sins for
which otherwise they would be
scourged mightily. We have traveled
far from that conception. Unitarians
are no longer the only ones that hear
God in the lark, that worship him in
the Armament, that realize the globe
whirling through space, and the ma
jesty of the sun, moon and stars. And
on Sunday in the spring time in this
part of the world, the doors to the
houses are open, giggling lovers are
indispensable figures in the idyl, the
unaffrighted children play with their
darling week day toys and all Ne
braska that is not sick-a-bed or eating
dinner is out of doors.
Three Score and Ten.
At forty years every man and wo
man has seen sickening sights. At
forty years every man, at least knows
that nearly every other man is for
sale, some are bargains and others are
dear at the lowest price. Considering
that enthusiasms are quenched, that
faith in man is almost destroyed, the
cumulative evidence of ingratitude,
treason and the purely commercial
emotions of the times, sixty years is
long enough to live. At this age
almost every one is certain that the
world is hollow and that the men and
women moving around upon it are life
less, as dolls except for the power to
eat. Formerly men and women were
distinguished from automata by speak
ing and by the power to love and
think. Machines can speak as well as
men now and only the hearts of the
very young and ignorant still beat
faster at true stories of a life sacrificed
for others.
A Miracle Play.
A miracle play of the fifteenth cen
tury called The Third Shepherd Play,
was given by the Yale Dramatic As
sociation at New Haven on "Wednes
day. Frank Lea Short of the Amer
ican Academy of Dramatic Arts is
the director in charge of the presen
tation. Mr. Short's residence in
Omaha for a few years stimulated, or
more exactly, created a school of dra
matic art in Omaha and several
spirited and unusually interesting per
formances by local students were
given there.
Of the miracle play given by the
Yale students on Wednesday, Mr.
Short says:
"The 'Third Shepherd Play is one
of the Towneley cycle of miracle plays.
These plays were a great factor in the
creative period of English drama,
furnishing inspiration to Sbakspere,
Ben Jonson, Congreve and many
other writers of the period. The mir
acle was originally of a religious na
ture, being in fact presented in the
churches. They became so popular
after a time that the churches were
insufficient to hold the crowds and
the plays for a time were given in the
churchyards. But a desecration of
the graves followed, and in course of
time the plays came to be presented
on huge carls drawn through the
streets. About this time the clergy
ceased to control their production,
the characters being taken by mem
bers of various trades guilds, the
wheelwrights, the smiths, etc., etc.
As the competition among the guilds
increased the plays became more
elaborate. The wagons, or rather
scaffoldings on wheels, on which they
were given, were divided into two
stories; the lower was curtained off
and used as a dressing room by the
actors, while the upper served as the
stage. These carts were always
drawn by twelve men; there is no in
dication of horses ever having been
used for the purpose.
"All the music used will be of the
most ancient character, from the
period preceding the Palestrina. We
have spent a great deal of time ran
sacking the libraries of New York in
search of the manuscripts of this old
music and have been fairly success
ful. All the other details pertaining
to costume, language, etc., we have
taken tne greatest pains to arrange
with all possible historical accuracy."
In "The Third Shepherd Play," the
curtain rises on an old English street
on a feast day. A crowd of towns
people is seen, craftsmen, ballad
mongers, flower girls, etc., while in
one corner a crowd of men at a table
are throwing dice. The whole crowd
is represented as waiting for a mir
acle play which is expected to arrive
shortly. After a time a hjrald an
nounces that the pageant is coming
and a moment later the great car,
nearly fifteen feet in length, is drag
ged on the stage by twelve towns
people. The pageant halts before the
audience on the stage and the play
begins immediately. The first part
of the performance is in the nature
of a farce. The characters are three
"Shepherds," a sheep stealer "Mak"
and his wife "Gill." There is a great
deal of boisterous talk and joking
both among the real actors and the
supposed audience on the stage, and
the farcical part of the drama ends
with the tossing of the sheep stealer
in a blanket. Therf suddenly the na
ture of the play is entirely changed.
An angel appears before the "Shep
herds" and announces to them the
birth of Christ. The men are struck
with awe, and procuringpresents they
lay them at the foot of 'the Manger.
This Is the usual ending of the Town
eley cycle of plays.
Preceding the production of the
"Third Shepherd Play" the associa
tion will give a dramatization of
Chaucer's "Pardoner's Tale," which
dates from the same period. The
work of dramatizing has been done
by H. D. Westcott, of the class of 1900.
It is entirely a play of symbolism.
The curtain rises on a crowd of rogues
who are supposed to represent the
Follies. While they Btand there the
corpse of one of their comrades is
brought in and the rogues decide to
avenge his death by finding and slay
ing Death. The play carries them
through the various adventures of
their search until finally they find a
pile of gold at the house of "Avarice."
A dispute arises, the rogues slay one
another and thus find Death.
& Tyrrell, RIcketts iRicketts, Messrs.
W. J. Lamb, W. B. Price, John J.
Gillilan, W. R. Comstock, ScLwind,
Deweese, Ernst, Msely, R. Ryan, F.
H. Woods, W. C. Phillips, George El
men, J. R. Inkster, A. M. Baird, Cox,
J.B.Wright, Mann, R.J.Greene, C.
H. Morrill, E. Bignell, Tyler, D. D.
Muir, Greenlee, Hatfield, Dr.Giffen,
Dr. Finney, Dr. Garten, Dr. Ladd,
Judge Broady, Chief Hoagland, Gen
eral Amasa Cobb, Mrs. Harris and
Bayard & Guerin. Messrs. George
Bunnell, H. B. Sawyer, H. J. Win
nett, Louis A. Ksensky, F. S. Stein,
George M. Walsh, O. N. Humphrey,
C. A. Parks, L. C. Richards, Central
Granaries Co., Sulpho Saline Bath Co.,
W. O. Faulkner, President Woodman
Accident Association, Paul Holm,
J. H. McMurtry, Thomas Cochrane,
A. R. Talbot, W. M. Leonard, E. P.
Hovey, Alden M. Phelps, Frank Ir
vine, E. E. Brown, H. F. Rockey, W.
B. Linch, A. W. Lane, E. E. Spencer,
L. C. Burr, J. H. Ager, Doctor Wente,
Harwood & Ames. Messrs. W. A. Mc
Clure, A. B Minor, W. J. Bryan, E.
J. Burkett. C. O. Boettcher, Z. S.
Branson, A. E. Campbell, W, L. Cran
dall, Walt L. Dawson, S. A. Smith,
D. A. Frye, C. De France, Central
Granaries Co , J. E. Houtz, C. H. Im
hoff. W. H. Love, O. F. Lambertson,
James Manaban, Eugene Munn,
Mathews Piano Co., O'Neill & Gard
ner, Sam'l. Petterson, Oliver Rodgers,
M. B. Reese, A. Roberts, C. L. Sksen
sky. C. L. Smith, Sinclair, Fred Shep
herd, A. S. Tibbetts, F. M. Tyrrell,
C. R. Tefft, Fletcher L. Wharton, G.
H. Walters, Fred Williams, Robert
Wheeler, Victor Vifquain, O. J. Wil
cox, Nelle Whitcomb, R. D. Stearns,
J.H.Graves, Oliver Johnson, J. G.
Dorr. D. C. Berry, James Heaton, G.
H. Walters, Robert Wheeler, Frank
M. Blish, L. J. Dennis, Hunter Print
ing Co., H.Trowbridge, J.E. Riggs,
Fred Garvey, H. Eiche, Chas. T. Neal.
Lillian Sterling, John Bauer, W. A
Hawes, Union Fuel Co., Rboda H.
Stewart, R. C. Manley, E. W. Brown,
Western Union Telegraph Co., Thos.
H. Pratt, Hoge & Benton and Wm.
McLaughlin.
The following names have been re
ceived in answer to Stotsenberg let
ters. The total amount now on hand
will be reported in these columns next
week: C. H. Dietrich of Hastings,
W. A. Huntley of Oregon City, Ore
gon, Bertha J. Bobbins of Lincoln.
Mrs. D. E. Thompson, Flora Brandea
of Seward, W. G. Jones of Marquette,
Nebraska, Mrs. C. E. Davis, Susie
Larimer, Mrs. Mark Tilton, Mrs. Ma
theson of Omaha, Mrs. R. M. Turner,
Mr. H. C. Shedd, Mrs. H. H. Glover of
Grand Island. Mrs. George E. Mac
Lean, Mrs. George H. MacLean, Mrs.
John Griffith, Dency W Stephens, S.
W.Miller, MaryE.B. Ely, Bessie
Turner, Major Edgar S. Dudley and
Jennie B. Brown.
BECAUSE.
The Stotsenberg Fund.
The contributors to the Reception
fund who have sent me an order on
the unexpired balance are O. J. King,
W. Wlttmann & Co., Funke & Ogden,
J. B. Trickey & Co., Perkins, Sheldon
& Chamberlain Co., Lincoln Drug Co.,
H. W. Brown Co., Judge Waters, J.
H. Mockett, John S. Reed, F. W.
Brown Lumber Co., Foster & Smith
Lumber Co., Buckstaff Bros., Stearns
No more I hear his footsteps
Upon the silent street,
No more the measure of his tread
My pulses madly beat.
The joy and expectancy
My heart no longer feels.
He comes I know not when because
My love wears rubber heels.
Town Topics.
"Well," said Mr. Giddinge, at length,
"I'd buy a typewriter from you if you
would give me the proper sort of a guar
antee." "I'll give you every guarantee in rea
son," said the agent "What do you
want?"
"I wish you to guarantee that it will
spell correctly."
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