THE COURIER.
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give that very night. And, just as in
thf fairy talc, the prince followed the
persecuted girl and placed upon her
very lady-like linger the enormous
hut sanctified ruby, that would an
nounce from afar off to all the Women
in the house their engagement.
Adversity made Becky Sharp hate
ful, an intriguante and a liar. Upon
Mi-.. Fox-Seton's character it had a
chastening, glorifying effect. As a
story for les jeunes femmes "The Mak
ing of a Marchioness" is in every way
salutary. If other authors in Eng
land and America would study fairy
tales and the reason why young peo
ple like them and why older people
'.ike an adaptation of them, and apply
the results of their observation to
their own work, there would be less
dreariness for the unwilling reviewer
to wade through.
"Louisiana," "The Fair Barbarian,"
' the present story under discussion
and several other long, short stories
tfritteu by Mrs. Burnett, indicate to
my own satisfaction that she is at
her best in the long, short story. I
would not say a word against 'That
Lasso' Lowrie's:" but in effect that
is a short story. Mrs. Burnett's last
hotel, the name of which does not
cling, is a book of several hundred
pages, bulky and lacking in form, like
an edifice which has been built for a
boat or a church and changed into
the uses of a dwelling house. Forever
such a rearrangement will have a cer
tain picturesqueness and a flavor of
the sea or of the sanctuary: but from
tfh architect's point of view it cannot
be an altogether satisfactory dwell
ing, however patiently the household
may adapt itself to its peculiarities,
it has seemed to me that Mrs. Bur
nett sometimes writes one of her very
good long, short stories and then de
cides to lengthen it. In doing so she
.spoils the form, although her story
telling qualities are equal to the
"yirain.so far as susta ning the in-
' terest is concerned.
A TEST OF HUMOUR.
N'utliiii looks worse on a rainj day tlia" a
nalMni; skirt. '
I have tried to invoke my muse
To see if it could help infuse
Any humour, into this saying great .
Which has so passed from state to state
In this large cultivated land of ours
But fear, 'tis quite beyond my powers .
Yet I will guess one of the ways
Irony is marked in what he says;
The humour is, some are deceived
And think he means to be believed .
- S. E. A.
FOUR LEAVED CLOVER.
KM1LY OLIWIT.s
Faith, and hope, and charity :
Everywhere we find these three :
Why should mortals" ask for more ?
Why so madly seek the four?
Sad this life, and dark and drear :
Vain the world and living here
Did not Faith, our guiding star,
Heavenly glories see afar.
Earth her sorrow has, her woe ;
This we find where'er we go :
Only Hope can cheer the heart,
Strength for daily tasks impart.
Charity ! thou heavenly guest !
Thou the greatest and the best !
Thou of all the graces fair
Art most God like, -and most rare.
Thus we see, from day to day,
Many three-leaves on our way ;
But 'tis only now and then
That the love-leaf comes to men.
Love! 'Hi thou canst call alone
From each heart its sweetest tone I
1 hou alone canst satisfy
So we pass the three leaves by.
oo4frfrtooeo6o4eteo
1 6LHB8-
''It is prubablo that the world has
seen th Ia6t 'Woman's RuildiLg at cen
tsnnials, fairs and expositions," writes
Ellis Meredith in Amsleo's magazine.
'The constantly multiplying activities
of women during the closing years of
the nineteenth century have made way
for the woaian citizen of tho twentieth,
who will take her place quietly in the
affairs of the world."
The marvelous advancement in educa
tion and general culture which has
marked the last quartet of tho nine
teenth century ha3 been stimulated by
the newly awakened activities of women.
Twenty-five years ago the kindergarten
was regarded with suspicion, and manu
al training and gymnasium work were
looked upon as dangerous experiments.
The teaching of music in the public
schools came under the same classifica
tion, while (lowers and pictures in the
school room had not even reached the
experimental age. With the develop
ment of the woman's club movement
the standard of culture and education
was rapidly raised among the mothers
in our homes, and the intluence has ex
tended not only to their immediate fam
ilies, but to the school rooms, the libra
ries, and to the cleanliness and beauty
of the cities themselves.
Thirty two out of the fifty-seven coun
ty superintendents of schools in Colora
do are women and the office of state
superintendent of public instruction is
also tilled by a woman.
In New York city and in Philadel
phia special training is given to defect
ive and delinquent children.
The traveling library is one of tbe
greatest benefits which has resulted
from the woman's clnb. In nearly every
state where th re is a federation of
clubs, there is a regularly employed
librarian whose whole work is directed
toward the distribution of books in
vicinities where they will be appreci
ated. In Michigan alone there are over
two hundred traveling libraries, while in
Iowa the traveling library is part of tho
state library system.
The employment of trained nureeB
who administer to the wants of tbe poor.
is a charitable work which is undertaken
by women's clubs in many cities.
Tho establishment of industrial
schools is an important work which is
wide-reaching in its beneficent results.
This branch was introduced b tho
Young Women's Christian Association,
which conceived tho idea of evening
classes for young women who are era
ployed during tho day.
The noon lunches and rest rooms are
also prominent features.
Perhaps tho most comprehensive
work is accomplished by the New Eng
land Woman's Educational and Indus
trial union, which bravely wrestles with
tho servant girl problem in addition to
the regular industrial classes.
The natural result of tho increasing
common interests of club women is tho
desire to have a club house, and in many
cities this aim has been accomplished.
Tho women's clubs of Peoria. Illinois, of
Indianapolis, of Baltimore, the Mar
garet Louisa home and the Young Wo
men's Christian Association homes in
New York and Detroit are typical ex
amples of club buildings.
In Omaha the woman's club is look
ing forward eagerly to the possession or
a home, and an encouraging beginning
has been made toward the financial
part of the project.
urer, and Mosdames Van Wicklo, Sedg
wick, Fisher and Jerome vico presidents.
Thoy will inauguruto u crusado against
dirt and against everything that is detri
mental to tho welfare of tho city and
health of its residents. They will try
to point out tho advantages of cleanli
ness and order, and will oncourage indi
vidual olTort at beautifying the residence
portions of the city. This uiovomenl
will bo supported by the mayor and city
council.
An improvement club has been organ
ized in York, of which Mrs. Cobb was
olected president, with Mrs. C. Gilbert
secretary, Mrs. E. .1 Wigbhudu, treas-
ln tho future womon will bo admitted
to tho freshmon and sophomore classes
of Rush medical college.
Only sixty years have elapsed sinco
the invention of steel pons. In 1S70
there were not enough typewriters to bo
mentioned by census enumerators, and
only seven shorthand writers were re
corded. In 1S00 the census returns
showed .'13,131 stenographers, of whom
21,270 were womon. In 1893 tho number
of women stenographers in the United
States waB estimated at 120,000, with
salaries amounting to over STO.COO.OOO.
The profession of the stenographer
stands on a sounder footing than ever
before, says the Sunday Record-Herald.
Its present status has been reached
through the high standard of woman
hood found among the best exponents
of the craft. At one time so much that
was trivial, disagreeable and generally
unfortunate had come to be connected
with the very name of the profession
that many women shrunk from being
identified with it. All that is changed.
The best element realized that to raise
the standard of ability was the first step
toward bette. things, and that to do this
they must stand together, uphold one
another and by constant precept and ex
ample and combined effort bring about
a change that would alter public opin
ion. That this has been accomplished
is largely due to the formation of an or
ganization first known as the National
Association of Stenographers, but which
has since become the National Associ
ation of Business Women, and which
under both titles has effected commend
able reforms in various directions, not
the least of which consists of systematic
endeavors to turn competent stenog
raphers into fields better fitted to their
capacities.
In this country there is a decreasing
demand for the class of workers who are
ignorant of spelling, punctuation and
grammar, but positions are waiting for
good stenographers who are also good
scholars. Indeed no one need expect to
secure creditable or profitable positions
with the cheap equipment that contents
tho rank and file of workers.
No profession demands greater breadth
of general information. It is impossible
to make an accurate transcript of notes
without some knowledgo of the subject
treated. An idea of the catholicity of
material to be dealt with by a general
3tenographer and it must be remem
bered that there is at least one in each
prominent office building and hotel of
every citj may be realized by consider
ing that she may bo called upon to take
in rapid succession perhaps a medical
treatise, a letter between stock expertB,
an article on mining and metallurgy, a
patent law specification and an essay on
any OHe of the sciences, abounding in
technical terms tlowing glibly from tho
tongue of a specialist.
The following are extracts from Presi
dent Stanley's excellent address at the
Michigan Music Teachers' association
convention, delivered at Flint on June
23. It is a concise record of the rise and
development of music in America during
the laBt hundred years:
"As the foot traveler up the Alpine
mountains often realizes nought but
the labor of the ascent and only reaps
the reward of his exertions after the
hoights are gainml, en those of us who
for years have been working heart and
soul for tbe accomplishment of dofinito
artistic ends cannot hope at tho conclu
sion of each season to fully moaturo tho
results of our efforts, for thoearsof our
sojourn,liko tho milestones on tho moun
tain road, are but incidonta of tho jour
ney. It is difficult for.ua in this, tho
year of our Lord 1001, t appreciate tho
fact that our forefathers who lived one
hundred or one hundred and fifty years
ago, lived in eo far as music and art
are concernod--in tho dark uges. Nor
was this strange, for the early Bottlers of
our country were strenuously opposed
to ull forms of art, and made tho nega
tion of everything that looked to artistic
expression an unwritten article in their
creed.
"Our early history was not retloctod in
a rich heritage of folksong and folk lore,
thus forming tho material for tho po
etic expression of coming generations.
Free, independent, conscious of their
power, holding their destiny in their
own hands, the conditions were not
those that produced such u folk litora
ture as we find in Europe. Tho circum
stances attending their emigration from
the home country fostered tho spirit
which, though inimical to art, gave us
our freedom and our national inde
pendence. Where tho forests were to
be laid low; where the strugglo for more
existence called forth all the powers of
manhood; where strong races were en
gaged in the task of forming a nation it
was not to be expected that the milder
side of life should receive much consid
eration. The Anglo Saxon race finds its
highest artistic expression in poetry
rather than in music, and when at tho
time of the troubadours, in England, tho
divorcement of poetry and music took
place at an early stage of the movement
and more stress was laid on the former
than the latter, we witness the begin
ning of that glorious line of poets, than
which no race has produced a greater.
"It could hardly be expected, under
the then existing conditions especially,
that in tho New World tbe race would
reverse the order of things to such an
extent that music would be accorded a
foremost place. But in tho race as in
all races there existed latent possibili
ties in this direction; and when.after tho
storm and stress of the war of independ
ence, the arts of peace were again culti
vated, many turned to tho pursuit of
music. They were inspired no doubt by
news of the work of the loading English
composers who then, as now, frequently
wrote, as a German critic remarks, "es
timable. God-fearing music, though
somewhat dry" -and tho greater compo
sitions of Handel, Haydn, and a daring
genius ono Mozart later an incompre
hensible composer by tho name of Bee
thoven. I shall not weary ycu by a do
tailed account of the rise of psalmody,
of the theoretical books in which tho
blind led the blind into the pit. In tbe
early decadee of the century just passed
the humLIe ministrations of the singing
school teacher, that musical circuit
rider, began to bear fruit in a genuino
interest in tho art. Too much strees
cannot bo laid on the work of these men,
the unobtrusivenessof whose labor often
blinds us to its real value.
"Then came the convention a truly
American institution. It has been called
a music town meeting and thus a direct
outgiowth of a typical American pro
ceeding. It might be called a musical
campmeeting. Too often conducted by
6ome stirring, tactful ignoramus, whose
chief object in life was to sell his newest
book, it was in rare cases led by a man
of real ability and these gatherings often
led to permanent good. This annual
dose was administered for manj years as
regularly in some localities as was the
spring clearing medicine, composed
like some theology of sulphur and mo
lasses. With the advent of Lowell Ma-
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