The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, March 22, 1902, Page 3, Image 3
THE COtJKIEK 3 turn of the little black and tan mother, the tory would be lacking In -point and finish; The son would not have - the opportunity to prove his real dis tinction, heroism and devotion to his mother. It Is this filial devotion of a 'prize winner, the great "Wyndham -Kid" who has taken all the blue rlb bons and about whom all the other dogs are talking, that attracts atten tion and makes the Kid a hero of ro mance. The "mother" Interest Is un failing, but it Is questionable, if in the case, of quadrupeds, It Is justifiable 1 from a realistic point of view. ' Youti and Frkadibip The friends we make after we are fully matUre.In mind and body do not amount to much emotionally. That Is we can see them come and go and come again with equlnlmity. It Is a question if the mind ever stops grow- " Ing, but It is certain that at the mo ment of physical maturity the emo tions, except in the case of silent poets, ebb; not to flow again except under a strong influence. To be sure, old fellows fall In love and spinsters are occasionally bewitched, but It is of friendship I speak. The boys and girls in the university are making friendships that will last 'them through life. When they get to be men and women and are harnessed to their respective loads, they will make friends for less romantic and more utilitarian motives. And then they will not grip their friends to them with hoops of steel. Not that there is no policy in college friendships. Oh no! The fraternity system is founded on a commercial basis. The man who can pay his bills and something over to the advantage of his fraternity is rushed by all the Greek letters in the first semester of his freshman year. The little boys who have trouble to pay the rent and furnish the rooms of the chapter house are naturally anx ious to secure the help of the students, otherwlsenqt disqualified, who are best nblet"ovnelp them. Tet with these restrictions, It is still true that In col lege generous Impulses Influence the choice of the undergraduate. After wards, the face ceases to Hush except when the man It masks Is detected In a crime or a foolishness. Friends are selected because they are useful and the impulse to deny ones-self for an other is unusual. Before the harden ing processes of business or society ef fect the change the young man and woman make their friends, their real friends, for life. Yet there Is no one to tell them while they are weighing va grant impulses towards this one and "that one, that It Is a choice for life and that they will not have a second chance, that presently the something that se lects a friend will be dead and that every other man has made his choice for better or worse, and that after wards to them men and women are human beings more or less Interesting but Incapable of making the heart beat faster. And If one stood by the youth and told him that it was May and ex patiated upon the importance of his choice, the youth would think his ma ture friend an Interfering, Impertinent old duffer who is getting very tire some. Each little polywog must learn to swim and to keep out of the way of fishes that eat polywogs and to shed his own skin. The frogs who have been through it all and realize that if they had been wiser as polywogs they would not be handicapped 'as frogs, are obliged to watch millions of little poly wogs tying themselves into knots that can never be straightened out. They croak, but the polywogs know it is croaking and pay no attention to it. Singing Singers are interested In the pro posed law to restrict the teaching of singing to those who can pass an ex amination on (1) the anatomy and physiology of the throat and all parts of the system used in singing; (2) the pathology of these parts, particularly the ear, nose and throat; (3) the theory of sound (as physical" afr waves), and acoustics (perception of sound); (4) the theory of voice training in every detail; (5) the history and literature of voice training and of voice use; (6) the theory of music and of sight read ing (vocal); (7) instruction in the practice of voice use; (8) the pedagogy of voice training; (9) languages, Eng lish, Italian, German, French; (10) mu sical Interpretation in opera, oratorio, lied, ballad; "(H) piano playing. There would be fewer singers and fewer teachers if such a law could be enforced. But great singing masters would have larger conservatory class es. They would be better paid and there would be fewer agonizing disap pointments. There are so many girls who can not sing and so many teachers who can not teach. Both have been able to make a successful bluff and any re pressive measure would be a boon to middle-class families (middle-class as to fortune). j jjj! In spite of the law, and In Nebraska it is not severe enough, prohibiting quacks from practicing, there are per haps two dozen men and women in this small town who get their living by practicing on the credulity of the citizens. But if it were not for the law the town would be overrun with quacks and the way of the regular practitioner who has had the con science and the will to obtain an edu cation would be rough. If there were no law or no penalty for its infraction or evasion the public would not be able to discriminate between the qual ified physician and his Imitator. The girl with and without a voice who goes to a city with the combined resources of her family imperfectly concealed In a little cotton bag around her neck Is not protected from the wiles of impecunious, Ignorant and un scrupulous singing teachers who tell her that she has a phenomenal voice but that she will have to begin all over again and unlearn what she has already learned at the cost of much effort and expense. The girl who has no temperament and no voice Is not likely to learn the truth as long as her money lasts. vhen that Is gone she is bundled home to an impoverished family and to scornful village audiences who knew she could not sing before she left home. There are dozens of such cases in everyone's experience of village life. In cities It Is different. The people are more sophisticated. The whole family hears good playing and singing at one time or another and family idol atry occasionally collides with common sense. But the isolated village family, convinced that the oldest daughter is a genius, is the pathetic prey of "the foolklller. The daughter's succession of failures means nothing to the fam ily but the prejudice of an Ignorant, envious public. The daughter herself finally learns the truth but she is too proud and too conscious of the blow to father to tell him. A brutal, truthful vocal teacher might have told her and the family in time, but pupils are scarce, quacks are many and the family of the good teacher needs clothes and food. "When the girl really can sing and goes to a city to learn how, it is only by good luck if she finds a teacher who can teach her to sing without ruining her vocal instrument. The size of the rep utation has not much to do with the ability to teach. A strenuous exam ination such as that proposed by the law would topple over some exalted reputations. Rupert Hughes in the Criterion says In an article on the need of a law to protect pupils from ignorant teachers, and good teachers from the irrespon sible competition of musical . quacks, that "In Paris is the lair of one of the most famous teachers in the world. More prominent artists have come from her studio than perhaps from any other. Therefore one would naturally argue that she is the safest teacher to be foun i. A closer glance will show a long, long catalogue of young wo men who entered that lair simply to ett th flnlotilnc- tnnoh nut to thplr voices. Jrheyfgot It. Several of theJEV most famous of this woman's pupils, although you can find their photo graphs with their arms about her and with Inscriptions of that gushing sort that pupils give their singing teachers, privately declare that her teachings are vocally and morally Iniquitous and that they count themselves lucky, not so much to have graduated from her teaching as to have lived through it. It is also recommended by the advo cates of restricting teachers of the voice to individuals who have passed a good examination in the subjects ad verted to, that the bachelor of singing be required to pass an apprenticeship of two years in the studio of a licensed teacher, before being allowed to prac tice on his own account. The Toman Behind the Counter Habitually patient and pleasant, the woman behind the counter Is occasion ally cross. When she is, the shoppers are indignant, and sometimes com plain to the lloor-mnnnger or others In authority. The woman behind the counter has no privileges. She can not, or does not plead ill health, the weather, or the bad temper and super fastidiousness of her customers. After u year or two of service behind the counter she knows the requirements of the position and when she fails to meet them she is her own most severe Judge. A few days ago in a Chicago ten cent store before a counter filled with ten cent Easter rabbits and other Juvenile recognitions of the day, a large belligerent woman bullied a meek looking young woman who sold the symbols every day for forty days. The customer had selected a rabbit with an eye gone from his papier mache head. She did not notice the loss until she was about to hand it to the clerk. Then she saw It, and the spirit which years of crowding in to bargain coun ters had developed, was aroused. "Here! you can not get that oft on to me," she said. The clerk looked at her steadily and the woman returned the glance until the meaning of the steady eyes penetrated. Then she Hushed and said to the young woman: "And I won't take any smartness either." The clerk still silently select ed a perfect rabbit and handed It to her and the customer walked off with conscious pride. The clerk said: "I never pay any attention to those peo ple. It Is not worth while." The Sample Package Makers of headache powders, spavin cures and rheumatism panaceas are In the habit of distributing free sample packages of their remedies In the yards and doorwnys of the unprotected and unwilling citizens. It Is. an In fant's habit to put everything he thinks Is made to eat Into his mouth. In the first creeping, crawling stages of Infancy he does not discriminate between articles of diet and of hard ware, and consequently many neglect ed "creepers" die of a needle or a pin or a tack. At a later period when they have asserted their privilege to walk they are fascinated by small packages done up In wrapping paper that may be untied or torn open. Many children have died from the ef fects of eating the contents of sample packages thrown Into the yard or doorway by mistaken druggists who think this a better way of advertising than in the newspapers. The evil ef fects are not confined to children. There are plenty of men and women who think it Is a bargain to get head ache medicine in this way and wel come the first headache for the oppor tunity It affords them to try the medi cine. Last week a young woman named Brown of Miller City In Iowa was driving through the streets. A man distributing headache medicine threw a package into her carriage. She took the powder a few days later and died with all the symptoms of strychnine poisoning. The stuff was compounded in Savannah, New York, and the sheriff of Miller City has gone there to procure another sample of the headache cure In order to have It analyzed. All medicine Is more or less poisonous and the distribution of JACOB H. NORTH. Jacob H. North, democratic nominee for councilman from the Second ward, came to this country with his parents In 1872, and has lived In Lin coln at his present address for the past twenty-nine years. He attended school until fifteen years of age arid the following eight years worked at and learned the trade of bookbinding at the State Journal Co. After returning from a vacation and a visit to his old home In England he en tered Into business with his father under the present firm name of Jacob North & Co. He enlisted In company F, Second Nebraska volunteers, in May, 1898, and was discharged with that company In October of the same year at Fort Omaha. Returning home, and his father's health falling, he assumed active management of the firm. The great shock caused by the death of Mr. North, sr., In September, 1899, was a few days later followed by the destruction by fire of the entire plant and building on M street, but with the united efforts of his two brothers, Arthur and Sam, and hl3 sister. Miss Emma, the business Is being put back to the successful position formerly enjoyed. Mr. North is an active member In the Knights of Pythias and Masonic fraternities, and has fraternized with the Royal Highlanders, Modern Woodmen, Maccabees, and Sons and Daughters of Protection. Although not a communicant he feels at home at the Hory Trinity church. He believes in looking on the bright side of life and In living temperately. He looks after his own Interests, but also believes the other fellow Is entitled to consideration until proved otherwise.