Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1901)
4 i I .' 2 THE COURIER tuck up their skirts and remain in of the high-school boys but en masse, coterie recognized as the best. Ward rigid petition during the recitation. tLey forget what distinguishes the McAlister counted the members of it The untidyness of the downtown savage from the civilized, heirs of the once and announced that it contained blreets and of all public buildings is traditions of Sir Philip Sidney, from just four hundred people. Since his accomplished by the universal habit boors without breeding or traditions, death, the cumber has decreased. The of spitting. It is idle to try to reform Unfairness to an opponent robs any pressure on the outside is very strong men who have formed the habit of game of its pleasure and transforms and occasionally a new man or woman .pitttng.n .stairs, walks rand; floors,, its benefits, into injuries. Of their slips in. Several years ago Mrs.-Ayer. The brutal disregard of the crudest courtesy the Omaha high school fac- the wife or the patent medicine man, nni(nnfif cleanliness nnd of sanita- nltv ratne to Lincoln to nlav the Lin- was very near the outside circle, but tu.n and the universal ofTense to coin high-school faculty, and both everyone who wears skirts, are argu- sides played a smashing good game, ments which have been fruitlessly The young men of both teams are itod again ani again. clean-limbed college athletes, who If the boys in the schools and in the but a short time ago were undergrade university showed the effects of edu- uates themselves, cation and -reiineflient byaebangeln When the Omaha goal-thrower at- this oncTrespect 'there'-wouldbe hope tempted to toss the bail into the bas she was forced back. Mrs. Astor snubbed her and she went to Paris where she established herself in great magnificence. She had a splendid hotel on the Faubourg, and worked her way out of the "American colony" into the society of the haute noblesse. She was regarded as an eccentric Am- that the young woman of say 1920 ket, the Lincoln high school boys who ericaine with a plethoric purse that would not be obliged to walk through lined the hall hissed him. The as the human slime which revolted her sauit was so unexpected, so concerted mother and grandmothers. It is a and so determined that the young fel vcry unpleasant topic but the daily low was disconcerted and missed, sight of the public buildings and Every time in the first half, that he thoroughfares of Lincoln is worse, attempted to throw the ball the un Aod the hopelessness of a change mannerly insult to his race and the when the boys in the schools are per mitted to spit on the floors is depress ing. There are cities, like Denver, where men have progressed far enough to refrain from spitting on floors and stairs, but such a stage of civilization has not even begun to glimmer here. Were it not for the sunshine and the far off clean blue of the skies, the ugliness and discom fort of living in a town which has teen converted into purlieus would drive aP the women into the insane asvlum. Omaha team was repeated. Before the second half was plared, Principal Davenport explained the unsports manlike character of hissing tactics and Mr. Condon took away the mega phone which the principal offender was using to the embarrassment of women and the discomfiture of the visitors. The influence of education on char acter should be apparent. These boys have passed through the grades, and arrived at the high school with out attaining the beginnings of cour tesy, manliness or self-control. The - Sports and .Chivalry. Omaha goal-thrower was a stranger, a The sight of the lithe beautiful visitor and a Jew. Most of tbeaudi young women of Omaha and Lincoln ence are residents of Lincoln and who played a match game of basket Americans. But the Jew, with ad ball here last Saturday night, was a mirable gentleness and breeding ap- pleasure to a very large audience, peared not to notice the cowardly in- ooened easily. Mrs. Astor heard of her entertainments, and let her friends know that she was willing at last to meet Mrs. Ayer. They met in the salon of a common friend and Mrs. Astor was gracious. Mrs. Ayer said, in a tone of gentle inquiry, "Are you from New York?'' and when she mentioned the absence of her daugh ter, Mrs. Pearson, added, ''Yes it is hard to be parted from an only child. Have you any children Mrs. Astor?" J j Minister Ting Fang's Plan. The daily papers call him Mr. Wu, but as Wu is but a title Mr. Wu is scarcely more definite than Mr. Senor or Mr. Duke. Wu Ting Fang advised the Americans who consulted him in regard to what is best to be done with the American negro, that the black must be assimilated by marriage wih the whites. Somebody suggested that our advice to the Chinese might be received by the natives with the same horror. A foreigner knows nothing about our antipathies, repugnances, The young girls whose cheeks and suit. He was one to four hundred, ""s"1-3 ?uu 'vutau? pj"". -" eyes burned with ambition to do but he bore himself with admirable by the same token we know nothing credit to their respective nigh school?, dignity their absolute unconsciousness of their own good looks, their spirited carriage, their bravery and indiffer ence to hard knocks, their quick" obe dience to tlie umpire or referee and their physical endurance was a sur prise and a delight to the adult part of the audience. The teams were evenly matched and the score as it fluctuated between Lincoln and Omaha, kept the interest undimmed. Many of the high-schools in this country have a girl's basket-ball team and for the old-fashioned people who have not seen their young Atlantas play there Is a stimulating spec tacle in prospect. The plaited suits, the girls wear, are modest, and the freedom of the eager, strong, It is urged that the youth of the boysshould excuse them. It is because they are so young that their offense is so great. Youth is generous, and easily and unaffectedly chivalrous. The Lincoln schools have passed through vicissitudes of which the severity is now being demonstrated by the product. To the constant changing of superintendents and a of theirs and because of the essence of this truth can not work out their sal vation for them. j j Florida Freezes. The new plan of protecting the orange crop of Florida by providing a canvas hood for each tree is being used with success. The hood and lamp that keep the tree from being frozen in case of a freeze, costs 812. recent demoralized state of the high- The cost is large but a mature tree school may partly be attributed the low standard of sportsmanship and manners exhibited by the high school boys. The bad impression made on the visitors by the audience is unfor tunate, just at this time when the board of education has decided to ask the people of Lincoln to vote bonds quick young .creatures, their absorp- for new school-buildings. It is unfor- tion in the game and their unselfcon sciousness is proof of the healthful ness of the game and the propriety of the costume. Games and sports have a greater effect on the character,, than mere will produce $20 worth of oranges a year and will bear for years. The ex pense is, therefore justifiable. Magazine Literature. Although the monthly magazines are occasionally disappointing, their arrival in Nebraska somewhere be tween the twentieth and thirtieth of each month, is very welcome and di versifying. Perhaps the most inter esting literature of this kind is Will iam Allen White's Croker in Mc Clure's. Mr. White's style is simple and direct and his conclusions are ob- tunate,buta more liberal policy to wards the schools, adequate pay for the teachers and provision for the rapidly increasing attendance may alleviate the conditions which are now graduating such poorly cultured book-learning. It is especially true of youth into the activities of life. If a game like basket-ball where two the tax-payers, not discouraged by the viousand indisputable, when once he teams play against each other, where evidence mat education does not edu- announces them. He has the fac- the referee decides contested points cate, are willing to spend what other ultyof interpreting every man's in- wlthout appeal and where intelligent cities of Lincoln's size spend on the choate and inarticulate impressions cooperation between the players of a schools, improvement is certain. Prin- (that have not yet become conclusions) team is worth more than individu- dpaL Davenport of the high-school jnto final syllogism. With temptr- ally brilliant playing. To keep one's has acquired the respect of the boys ance iie analyses Croker, his relation temper, not to "get rattled," to keep and his influence is likely to place a to Tammany, Tammany's relation on constant sight of the ball and of the new Ideal of manliness and chivalry the one side to the city and on the kaleidoscopic changes of the players, ocrore tnem. nut in order to raise requires a cultivated heart, a trained Me existing deplorable standard of morals and manners the active coop eration of the people of Lincoln is indispensable. disposition, an educated eye, a clear head and steel muscles. A good basket-bail player is therefore well equipped for the problems, struggles, accidents and agonies of a woman's lot. The Courier has commented before on the low moral tone of the Lincoln A Famous Duel. Every town, however small bas its good, bad, and unclassable society. high-school.- Sportsmanlike,- clean, New-York is big enough, rich enough, other beast0 and lives up to a certain manly virtues are possessed by some old eriough to have a rigidly defined crude but rigid code. The half-tone other to the undigested foreign ele ment that if it were not for Croker and Tammany's claim to their votes would join the army of the disorgan ized and lawless. Mr. White agrees with Mr. Kipling that there is a law of the jungle as well as of organized society and that Croker is useful in enforcing the law of the jungle, that he Is a beast himself, understands from a photograph, that accompanies the article, was taken a week before the recent presidential election. It is doubtless only a curious coincident'.- and has no significance, but the broad straight nose, with the flattened no trils, the grave eyes whose only ex pression is a crouched watchfulness, the square face, and an additional stealtbiness of expression unavoid ably suggest a tiger, with all his steel springs coiled and out of sight. Clar.i Morris' recollections of the stage are appearing in several magazines. She is an artist after all, though she can no longer act. Her memoirs have the indefinable charm of a writer who knows how to convey an impression and what finish is and does not con fuse simplicity with the commonplace. IJer "Recollections of .Tohu Wilkes Booth" dare to do justice to Booth's in herited gentleness, chivalry nnd his toric ability in spite of his crime The critics seem to be sure that Kip ling's strength has returned to him or he could not have written "Kim.' a story of a holy man and his dis ciple an elfish, preternaturally shrewd small boy. It is mortifying to dis agree with the critics, because it is a sure sign of an uncultivated, or de praved taste; but this story does not exert the fascination of the Jungle Book or of Soldiers Three, or of the Gloucester fisherman's story, "not down where I live, not in Lincoln Nebraska." . The February Century is signalized by a really interesting psychological yarn by Mr. Howells, who, I thought had forgotten how. The kind of a man that is known in the west as "a smart Aleck," who accompanies Mr. Howells, and never lets a story pro ceed without his impertiment and conceited interruptions is in tbU story, "At Third Hand," too. But he does not spoil it. This objectionable Smart Aleck is called cousin some thing in Howells' sleeping car and elevator and flat farces. I wonder what New York and Boston people call their Smart Alecks. I know they have plenty of them because so many have come west. Howells calN his personification of self conscious ness in "At Third Hand,"Rulledge The English call him a cad. Chester Bailey Fernald's story of "The Lan nigan System with Girls" is an orig inal, breezy story that one reads with a smiles, and finishes with a sigh, and remembers. The heroine is a Miner va of a girl who bosses her father, but who is in love with love and accepts the first little man who tells her she is the finest girl'he's ever seen. Mr. Fernald does not write stories accord ing to old receipts. He's got some new ones and the women are crazy to try them. It would pay the Ladies' Home Journal to set him over a de partment. The serial in Harper's Magazine of more than ordinary interest is Gilbert Parker's "Right of Way." Mr. Parker is considerate enough of the feelings and taste3 of the untechnically liter ary to make his principal character fascinating, to surround him with circumstance that attract investiga tion and offers a foothold and hand hold occasionally to the unskilled mind that yet enjoys unraveling a puzzle for its own sake. A story b Edith Wharton is a Henry James story as a woman would tell it. If you like Henry James you are sure to like Edith Wharton's impersonation which Is perfect. "The Recovery" N an analysis of a wife's gradual realiza tion that her husband is not the great artist she supposed he was when she married him. Her growing convic tion that he is hopelessly provincial and the effect of really Inspired pic tures in dislodging his belief in hi?