THE COURIER
A.
i
rv
A
yt h
k
;
1 1
been adopted of dividing the subject
for the next meeting into heads and
sub-heads and writing them on slips
of paper for distribution at the meet
ing before the discussion of the pro
posed topic. Discussion is as peremp
tory as the preparation and reading of
the papers. Mrs. John Parker Bronk,
the president of the league and one of
the founders reports that: '"The bish
ops say that it is the only organiza
tion of the kind in the world and
they hope that brandies or chapters
throughout the United States may be
established."
Women form four fifths of most con
gregations. If it were not for their
interest, work and influence, churches
would be in a bad way in this and
every other country. Without their
detaining banc's and voices many
more men would wander off to a club
on Sunday mornings or intrench them
selves behind the interminable sheets
of the Sunday papers. Especially in
the methodist church are the women
zealous and effective workers. Yet in
that church the women are excluded
from representation more than in any
other, unless it be the Roman cath
olic, which is without semblance of
self-government. It therefore has been
not entirely without a sense of satis
faction that most women listen to the
reproaches of preachers and others
who talk about- how church work is
neglected for club work. The only
privilege woman has in churches is
that of washing and wiping dishes at
sociables, cooking cakes, salads and
fowls for "delegates" acd church en
tertainments and selling tickets for
concerts at the behest of the trustees
'who need the money" but are too
proud to sell tickets. These are not all
the privileges women are allowed in
the church but the others are similar.
When it comes to the dear privilege of
giving advice, or bossing or of tilling
any of the ornamental and dignified
church offices it is not considered
seemly that a woman should be ap
pointed or elected to any of them. It is
not at all surprising therefore that a
large number of women have slipped
away from the drudgery of unap
preciated manual labor into places
where she may hold dignified and
honorable otlices, which, arter all, are
as dear to woman as to man.
G. F. W. C. Educational Committee.
"Information before Reformation,"
has been the motto of the educational
committee of the federation. For
two years of the four years of its ex
istence the members studied schools,
their needs and deficiencies, and how
women may increase their efficiency.
The committee has evidently decided
that four reforms are necessary, for
it advocates the introduction of man
ual training, the incorporation of
kindergartens as a part of the state
system of public schools, the main
tenance of vacation schools in the
larger towns, where statistics show a
large increase of crime committed by
juvenile offenders during the summer
months, and the systematic teaching
of morals in the public schools. Miss
Eans, the chairman of this com
mittee explains in her report that she
does not mean the teaching of any re
ligion, but that she does think that
a more exhaustive exposition of the
beauty of holiness, the rewards of
virtue and the misery of breaking the
moral law, would mane better citi
zens of the little boys and girls we
spend so much money to cultivate in
to something useful. "I would have,"
she says, "morals taught by concrete
examples, beginning in the kinder
garten, with stories of great and good
persons, and bring the work up
through historical examples, biogra
phy, famous essays, and the like. The
educators would have to devise some
working plan, but they have evolved
ways of teaching history without giv
ing offense, and they might, I am
sure, do the same thing with morals."
Miss Evans says that the committee
desires the extension of kindergarten
work into country schools, and there
fore advocates special training of
country-school teachers in kindergar
ten methods. In Minnesota, where
the chairman lives, club women have
carried out some of her suggestions in
regard to cleanliness and decoration
of school-grounds and school-houses.
The City Improvement society ot Min
neapolis offers prizes to the children
for the prettiest and neatest flower
gardens. The seeds are given to the
children and the gardens arc planted
In the home yards; the prizes are line,
large pictures, and the gardens are
graded eo that each school-room works
in unison in an effort to win a picture
for its walls. The club women visit
the gardens and advise and encourage
the gardeners. Last year twenty five
pictures were given away. The result
not only improves the school-house
but the work itself has a valuable
moral influence. Whole neighbor
hoods have been improved by the sub
tie teachings of these neat and attrac
tive little gardens.
"Babs the Impossible."
There is a choice of villains in cur
rent fiction. Conan Doyle's villains
are lithe, thin-moustached, saturnine,
and silent. They lay intricate and
very interesting plots, so much so
that we feel kindly towards them be
fore they are foiled and decapitated
or run through, for the time they have
killed for us while they have been
trying to kill the hero or alienate the
love of the heroine from his nibs.
Anthony Hope's villains are as brave
as the bravest hero. They are dash
ing, graceful, impudent and until the
end where, of course he must die, Mr.
Hope's villain has a hero's luck in
war and love. He does not viciously
gnaw a scraggy mustache, but if lie is
a knight he slays his enemies and his
plume waves in the thick of the bat
tle in saucy triumph. With the legs
and bearing of the matinee girl's idol,
Anthony Hope's villain has sincere
mourners, when the end of the tale,
and the artistic tyranny of composi
tion condemn him to a violent but
sudden death.
Mr. Howells' villains are just taint
ed with vice or suspected of it. They
are convicted on gauzy circumstantial
evidence that has no effect at all on
anybody but a Boston literateur, a
dainty man who can distinguish and
separate from a tangle forty-nine dif
ferent shades of the same color and
correctly classify and locate all the
odors which float into his laboratory
fmm the back bay window. Mr.
nowells' villain is vulgar rather than
vicious. He breaks the laws of the
table, of the drawing room and of my
lady's boudoir and his actual offen
siveness is as culpable, until we con
sult the statutes, as if he had mur
dered or robbed somebody.
Mr. James' bad men are stingy
sneaks, or latterly, very repulsive,
fast ghosts with a cockney accent and
a taste for corrupting little children,
strong enough to bring them back to
earth in all their hicdous waistcoats
and big.plated watch chains and fobs.
Mrs. Sarah Grand spices her books
with enfants terribles. Her most fam
ous children, the "Heavenly Twins"
made the book they christened her
first success, though she had publish
ed others. "Babs the Impossible" is
the name of a new serial, just begun
in .one of the weekly magazines.
Babs' real name is Lorraine. She is
the despair of her governess because
she will not learn out of her books.
She says of them: "Those beastly
books," and when corrected, "those
objectionable books, the more I try to
master them the less I learn. But
when I don't trywhen I persevere
long enough in not trying then
things come to me things that 1
seem to understand better than the
things which have been explained to
me, if you know what I mean." Her
governess in trying to excite Babs'
emulation says that Julia, Babs' sis
ter will be a credit to the family and
that when she comes out, people will
be amazed at her bri'liant accom
plishments. Babs replies: "When I
come out they'll be amazed at my bril
liant ignorance, and that will amaze
them most it's not so common." Mrs.
Grand uses dashes like a school girl
essayist or letter writer. She lias an
original mind, an unconventional
habit and a determination to work
out her own salvation, "an if" it be
destruction she is willing. Her rapid
pen or typewriter does not wait fur
inspiration bat hurries along and the
movement and air of her stories arc
their chief attraction to westerners
who live in a high altitude where
torpor is unknown.
J j
Delirious Furniture..
Some of the monthlies devoted to
women, homes and man have been
running illustrations of what the cap
tion designates as "artistic furniture''
Tables with shelves or carving below
the board, so that only legless men
can sit close enough to them to play
cards or to eat, narrow arm-chairs,
with arm pieces so high that only the
armless man that writes with his
toes can beat his ease in them, and
beds set in a square hole in the wall
where no air or light from sun or
globe can reach the sufferers who
must rest on them, are some of the
articles which publishers have select
ed to teach women how to make home
a happy and beautiful place. The
man who drew the plans for this in
quisitorial furniture had only one
idea, to draw something unique. He
went about his work with entire for
getfulness of anatomy. The Ladies'
Home Journal secured the furniture
architect's first plans and lie had
many imitators. Chairs that cannot
be sat in, beds that are caves, impos
sible tables and night-mare divans,
book-cases and escritoires will cer
tainly not be mistaken oy the sub
scribers to this periodical, for ad
juncts of a happy home. If any man
can honestly lay intemperance to
domestic torture this original furni
ture will drive him to drink.
Land-Grabbing.
The spirit that presides at every
meeting of the City Improvement
Society of Lincoln is a desire to help
the city officers in the enforcement
of law, first by keeping the law them
selves, and secondly, by example and
precept to help the community keep
the law. If the society did no more
than faster the spirit of law and order
its mission were beneficent. At the
last meeting of the society a new
attempt was reported of a land owner
on the corner of Eighteenth and M
streets to extend his lots into the
street. The sidewalks zigzag in and
out at too frequent intervals over the
city. If the council decide that the
streets are too wide then each lot
owner should be given his share. As
it is a few privileged ones are taking
from the city what they have no legal
right to.
THE CHINESE SITUATION.
(V .NfllE r. NKWMAN.)
I tit by the sea and listen,
For the waves are bringing me
The tale of an inland city
Tbat lies across the sea.
The tale of a frenzied people .
Who live in the centuries old,
Who never have heard the footsteps
Of Time on the mountains bold.
Who never have caught the music
Of the great cathedral song,
"Jehovah a God of the nations ;
The world is marching along."
They are dreaming still of Buddha,
Confucius and the rest,
And save for the cruel slaughter,
' Twere less than an idle jest.
But the world looks on in wonder
At the might of an ancient faith.
A wail comes over the waters
Like the rush of a tempest-wraith.
The air is full of a tremor,
Of longing and fearful dread,
Lest the message of the morning
Sound the requiem of the dead.
O, eyes that are weary of watching
For the flag of our native land,
Shelled, in the angry city,
A brave, dcfenseless.band.
Are ye the nation's martyrs,
Ye Messengers of Peace ?
Death struck in the mad arena ;
No "Thumbs' to grant release.
Must life then, be the forfeit
For faith in her country's aid ?
On the altars of the nations,
Such costly incense laid.
Yet all the flags are floating
Just eighty miles away.
While jealous old commanders,
Dispute the right of way.
Yet all the flags are floating
Just eighty miles away;
While all the bells are tolling
From sea to sea today.
O, give the Yankee soldiers,
I pray you, Mr Hay,
The longed-for marching orders,
They'd reach Pekin today.
Turn loose the brave young heroes
Who fought at old San Juan,
They'd "foe" the Chinese rebels
And traitor, Prince Tuan.
Do this or let the nation's
Their flags could float no aigher
Half mast their worthless ensigns,
Above the funeral pyre.
And freedom sit in judgment,
With all her banners furled,
Surrender arms, ye nations,
Tis Buddha rules the world."
An egotist ia like the Ancient Ma
rinerhe holds ub with bis glittering I.
J. F. HARRIS,
No. I, Board of Trade,
CHICAGO.
STOCKS
AND-
BONDS.
Grain, Provisions; Cotton.
Private Wires to New York Gty and
Many Gties East and West.
MEM BEE
Nw York Stock Exchange.
Chicago Stock Exchange.
Chicago Bord of Trad