VtJft l3i" r?a ,' V a.. ' ; EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER PHILADELPHIA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER U 1018 4 , mm, ft h iA B i. 0 Hublic Hedaec 1MB EVENINOTELEGRAPK aRTbLIC LEDGER COMPANY YRt!8 M. K. CUnTlS, ParsiDitNT " H. iaidtnston, vice Freaiaeni: jnnn u. iecretary and Treasurers Philips. Collins. '& 8. wii Williams. Jonn J, Bpurajeon, Directors. r v& EDITOnlAL HOAHD: ., --s (jtrob H. K. ucbtis, i.'nairman fvii E. smii.kt Editor .4EL C MARTIN.... Ocneral liuslness Monster ttwwl ilallv st Pfafln I.Knnrn llulldlne. Independence Square, Philadelphia . uarfTRal... iiroaa una .ninui mrrnn Cirr ....... Press-rnfoti llulldlna York.. 200 Metropolitan Tower ..,,., o Font lwuainr ions Fullerton llullillne 00.......... 1202 Tribune Uulldlng NEWS DUIIEAUS. iirnTviM rtrsEAtr. N. E. Cor. Pennsylvania Ae. and 14th Bt "York IlcaEAU The Sun llulldlne ndom BuazAi- . . London Times rif subscription terms &"!. VrMtwA Priim I.rnnn la mrvA in auh ki5 1 In PhlladHnhla and aurroiindlnr towns atu r7u1vi Mfa Af Ivalva 1171 nt iwsf" tvMk. tlfl ahlft BV Af rawpu earner. ttfLi-'lBy mlt to points tiutMde of Philadelphia, In V h ITnltfxl Rtaoa. Canada, or UnltM Htattii pom lTt. . .... .- ....... --. ....... . , ifjfrMtont pout use free, fifty (.10) rent per month. fe.." "T i oouara per yrar, pijime l".,"'SMVt S&v To a" f'ffn countrlM one (ill dollar per LMSv Wic Subicrllwra wUhlnic iddre chahred Jjlawwt .fivt oiq km wen as new naares. W-i i, - i i.i... Sjf-S aavsaa a,.. a m. v as- r elnave MIIV rAri "r,,f BlLLt OT WAU11I MI3tUit m1'" jwvk krt R.'74y AaMrest oil communications to Et'Cnln Pu SStt -Ldntr, Independence Square, Philadelphia uMfc aKBAl.A t it.. A..am!..1 Tva. t't: mcoiuct Ul II1C BBU.iaicii a icsb li l .. . UX-t THE ASSOCIATED rRESS is cxcltf i Mvelv entitled to the use for republication t!'1 )OJhrtce credited in thit vaver. mid also k.-g.thti local news published therein. PS v jtll riohts of republication of special dls- ftzj patches herein arc also tescrrctl. mo j . . Pklladrlptilt, WrJn-idi;, Srplfmb-r 4, 1H v LET'S HOPE ITS SO I 1UTR. LEWIS, thf local fuel adminlstra- "tor, eaya that there Is enough coal In the cellars of the householders to last until ' January and that the distribution system ta WA.lrlni. ...nil I n KtVinsa tn nn .1 n 1 1 V. J v 9 nutflviiifs bv ncn nidi nitric in 1IU UVllUi f' all mill get the amount ordered." L'Vj .a . .. ...... If k tiui is gooa news it it is true. t 3 i aj. wny ao bo many or me new war pias i awm tn inA hn urlttpn hv Imllt.. nr trpn I? ttlemen trained In the confectionery buslnes-? ,THE KAISER IN THE POTENTIAL MOOD 44TTN8HAKAELY brave and hard as SHjJf J steel." wrote the Kaiser In his Sedan rU.St Dav message to Berlin, "we look forward fa! closely united. We will and shall success fully overcome all storms. May God rant It!" It la not 80 many weeks ago that Wll- HeWfi -was more certain about God. Or was It Gott? He was telling his people that God was with them and that lie Would see them through to the successful 'Ml, "God will grant it," Is the wa he 'would have put It then. Can It be that events on the" western front have planted In his mind the seeds of doubt regarding his foreknowledge of the purposes of the Almighty-" At this time of the ear the politicians fcefln to search their souls for words ailc- Xft iajUate to make the farmers understand how !, Much they love them. MR. DANIELS ON THE FUTURE . lAiravorrA rt v nivtrr c ,A- vAAn nt.tn b..RLiavtiuAf.tvA w. t.tij una uccu tunino fltf a blrdseye view of the future. The men lpj0W In Franie, said he In a Labor Day rj .. ... , jaaaress, win "control the country on their Return. They will Insist upon Govern- fAtlt Alriln nf alt utllltla. a3 W Unect that thn unMlprx In Vrunnn re working too hard to concern them selves with abstract theories of economics. TYhen they come home they will certainly temper and clarify opinion in the United States. They will be a tremendous force opposed to pedantry and pretense They will hate dishonesty. They will detest fs?s-ieorruptlonlsts and piffling politicians. But 'tjfl It Is doubtful whether they will "control" fv?ithe United States. They will not wish to '"controIH It- No zrntln. nn mnttpf tiniv rrt;K .... .... Wr VXAitsu, i.ail (.U111IU1 tt lice imuon. A Wh- Mr, Daniels must take another look at L'- the years to come. ii. une ot xnese aays tne Jokenukers will .,Wtk up and call the German Chancellor von it Vnrlfnv b4a ' - THE MISSION OF THE ORCHESTRA mRATIPTING assurance that the Phlla f' delphla Orchestra will sustain Its con tirt aeries at a time when music both as ji solace and as a stimulant acquires par- t-Yjular significance Is at hand in the sea- aj'Mat sale which has Just opened for old bscrlbers. i1. Musical art in wartime has unquestion- '? sblV a deen snlrttual value. Kverv one nf "the belligerents has heeded its appeal. Opera and orchestral concerts flourished S in Paris when the Hun waa almost ham mering at the gates General Pershing lelieves that good music is an essential Ijlght in the war zone. At his request JXTftltAf T)nmrnph Iq nnw ancrnvAH In Im. liilsfovlng the artistry of American .nllltarv rl'S .Tfcands and already some two hundred learl. fc-Dars have become hla pupils. &S ''For centuries music hna rif-mnnti-atAri Pthe scope of Its ministry to spiritual needs i"Air inspiration to the fighting man. It touches more subtly those at home whose a.thoughts are less quickly translatable Into R)-4'iThe. Philadelphia Orchestra, under Mr P'-cfiiamlrritvaiV-'.. aH-mlraKl HIpaa li-,tn .. ....11 tfiirfT,,w u i 1-v.iiuii, ma YC11 Mrproua ot us soui-cieanslng mission this rfSHPf.1 -m uuuiiuio juay rejoice mat tne Itspacesa of "Americanizing" the organiza- ftlnvolved comparatively few changes ; its personnel and that the large meas- i of public support Insures the continu- of the regular concert cycle In the ?r-fa'oademy. Instead of dining In Paris, the Kaiser Is ttHUflf In Berlin. -KSSiL THE PEACE DATE j'-TUSNERAl. MARCH has definitely ex- i-pressed the opinion that with an army Ljif i,-i,v0.000 Americans in France next ner the war can be ended in the fall. Ttw President has explained in his wheat nxing proclamation mat tne uov- at la risking a loss of $500,000,000 event of peace by the middle of Jb explained from Washington that lUon does not wish to be understood a peace date, but when his state- r.-naldered in connection with the by Central March, It Is : M,pretMlKl9 to Infer that yjMfclii; toi tie THE BROKEN SWITCH No Seasoning of Grandiope Speculation Really Nicessary to Enjoyment of Ire Victory Feaft THE smnsh across the Drocourt-Qucant " switch stimulates speculation to an extent that may cause facts to be obscured by hopes. Sufficient unto the day is 'the victory thereof. Adjusting our outlook on the war tq this principle is productive of pleasure without fore shadowing any possible disillusionment. It is obvious, of course, to every one that, given the present rate of Allied progress, the Germans will skurry out of France before winter sets in. The conception is so gloriously overwhelm ing that it is enough to make even n habitually cocksure prophet timid. Any mental picture of the imminent redemp tion of French soil must be painted chiefly with hypothetical colors. If the German hordes are really blindly staggering under Foch's alternat ing blows, if their plans for resistance on previously prepared positions hav-a been utterly confounded, f the progress of freedom's armies is meiely preliminary to a vital military decision, it is almost as easy to imagine the Huns across the Rhine as across the Meuse. They are destined to pass beyond both rivers. "How soon?" is n teasing ques tion. It is betterto leave it open. Prior to August 8 it vns impossible to forecast Foch's plans. Today they seem easier to interpret, but this simplicity may be merely superficial. By the same token nn attempt to read the mind of Ludendoiff, however one may detest him, savors of presumption. To reason thus conservatively is not to espouse the irritating gospel of "the man who is always taking the joy out of life." Chariness of forecasts in the present in stance clears the tracks for jubilation founded on the firmest basis that of vic tory cleanly and brilliantly won. "The future," said Paula Tanqueiay, "is onlyf the past entered by andther gate." If that is true we shall keep up the march to the east. But existing facts are so inspiring that the temptation to peer under the curtain that hides coming events might today be profitably resisted. The history of the last week justifies the assumption of a festal mood by all liberty-loving patriots. Lens which has been in Hun hands since 1914, Lens which exacted from Britain tolls as bloody as any in her annals, is tottering. Presumably, the progress toward the city's suburbs from the southwest gave the conquerors con trol ot Lievin, in the vicinity of which lie the precious coal fields. The struggle for them, which endured through weary months of 1917 and before, ends with a celerity that is fairly startling. The third great barrier, the Drocourt-Queant switch, between Bapaume and the Pitts burgh of northeastern France, has been occupied and crossed by English and Colonial troops. The northern end of the Hindenburg line has been flanked and thousands of prisoners bagged. The pressure which the French and Americans are exerting in the storied region of Coucy-Le-Chateau once a medieval show place vying with Carcassonne bites into the high ground of the Crremin-des-Dames and foreshadows an imminent thrust to Laon. Success for this movement, cou pled with what has already been accom plished in the north, should make the Hindenburg line negligible. The reduction to impotence of this much-vaunted barrier may perhaps mean the fall of St. Quentin, La Fere, Cam brai and even Lille. Long-distance prophecy need not be invoked to support this vision of victory. If thefe events are to happen this year they will almost certainly occur very soon. The odds are in favor of their consummation. The redemption of theso important places is not dependent on an entirely new movement, concerning which specu lation is futile. If the Allies win them back they will simply be carrying an existent and surpassingly fine victory to its logical conclusion. The aftermath is involved in uncer tainty. Certain military experts picture a Hun retreat to the Meuse and the Belgian frontier. The stuff that dreams are made on, though tempting, is insub stantial. There is ample food for joy in the contemporary victory feast. Foch may vastly extend the menu before this year closes. Meanwhile the sweets which he has provided taste all the s.weeter if we strain not after the unknowable. To the list of worlo events of Importance recorded yesterday must be added the case of the lady who returned from her vacation to And that she had left the gas range burn ing all summer DELINQUENCY AS A DISEASE THE Indiana Constitution, we believe, was the first to set forth the modern theory that the purpose of criminal courts Is to reform the criminal rather than to punish him. a The most advanced penologists of the present day accept this theory. It has been acted upon by the Municipal Court In this city, which has Just established a department of diagnosis In charge of a group of able physicians, whose duty it is to examine the delinquents to discover whether they are physically or mentally defective and to suggest methods of cure when the defects are curable. The normal human being is not a crimi nal. He obeys the laws. He respects the rights of others and respects himself and adjusts himself to the conditions around him. There is something wrong with the criminal. It may be only incomplete education. A boy who has had no proper training and has been thrown among evil "companions will contract the dhiense of crime Just as he will contract typhoid fever or mumps when 'exposed to conta gion or when he takes into his system the dlstate germs. becoming civuisea wnti IMMt hev lUaaL charge of the Municipal Court deserve credit for lining themselves up with the most advanced and most humane system of treatment for the unfortunates who come within Us Jurisdiction. The iieB that the Alllci arc advancing In various parts of Ilussla casts considerable doubt uron the report that "Lcnlne Is out of danger." REGISTRATION FOR HOME LIBERTIES THE Government counts primarily on patriotism to secure a full registration for' the army on September 12 The bosses count prlmnrily on Indifference to securo a slim teglstratlon on the days when nil cltl7ens of Philadelphia must qualify for casting their ballots for Governor In No vember or else be temporarily disfran chised. A high spirit of devotion to demo cratic institutions will prompt millions of Americans to sign up for their country on the great military registration day. It Is not the fear of punishment which will move these men to be loyal. They would be ashamed In this instance to be other w Ise. And yet the political bosses, ever quick to see that all their henchmen are duly qualified for voting, count dellbeiately every jeor on the Indifference of citizens with regard to purely political registration. Thousands ctf Phlladclphiaus, often the very men willing to lay down their lives for freedom, neglect to safeguard their franchise. Were the privilege of claiming It denied them, the chorus of protests would be agonizing. As citizens mav regis ter or npt, Just as they please, a duty of vital Import is often seriously neglected. The citizen of Philadelphia who falls to register on any one of the three specified days September f. September 17 and Oc tober fi will be barred from voting for Governor of Pennsylvania In the Novem ber election. On the principle that free dom, like everything else, should begin at home, the requirements of political regis tration davs should be heeded In the same spirit as that In which n man makes him self available for the army of liberty. Nothing would give the bosses more dis comfort than to see this fall on the voting list the name of every Phlladelphlan over twenty-one. Register tomorrow! We have been told rn Vou Illume l!? repeatedly that we must not get too sanguine on account of the successes of the Allies In the past weeki There is still a long road before us, but when wo see the British approaching Camhral on the two main roids from Arras and Bapaume, and at this writing onlj eight miles away on one road and eleven on the other, c Just can't help crying "Well done, John Bull 1" Anil the chap that tries to prevent us from uttering that cry Is likely to need a beefsteak for his lamps Uncle Sam"s elglit Vnwilllnc l'uplla een-year-olds are to be educated at Gov ernment expense. And we also are doing a good deal to educate the Hohenzollcrns at the public expense-. George Meredith used Iler Are I.atllei to say that woman would be tho la-t thing civilized by man Nowadays we sub- Btitute Hohenzollern for woman. Judge Bohnlnell, standing pat or Is it put? on his wet platform, Is still assured that he can make the demon safe for ift mocracy, though that Is a task which the demon himself gave up long ago Perhaps the reported demand for foot wear In Germany was occasioned by In superable calls for running shoes. The Yanks Chum Up With Their Allies !E of the most familiar forms of Ger man propaganda is to spread among the people at home rumors that tha sol diers of the different Allies do not get on well together. Every now and then you will overhear In the smoking car or on street corners some such remark as this: "They tell me that the Yanks and tho Tommies can't endure each other." The gross absurdity and untruth of these false hoods aie contradicted by all leports from the men on the spot. An excellent Illustration of the cordiality and good humor prevailing between our men and their Allies on the other side Is afforded by the following quotations from recent letters from Corpoial Sherman G. Coates, of this city, which his father, Joseph Hornor Coates, permits us to re print. After landing -In England early last May, Sherman Coates wrote from Folkestone: 'The people are very cordial and hos pitable. I think we are going to get on fmely with the Tommies They are as much Interested In seeing If we know anything as we are In learning it from them." A week later from France: "I've just come back from four days' boarding school in the stable of a fine old chateau, where I had a bully lme with a fine bunch of Tommies who Were billeted there. The course was rather Intensive, but very Interesting, and our English officer-Instructor a Jolly good sort. I'd like to know htm socially. In London ,he and his father are manufacturers of playing cards, and he presented us each with a deck be fore we left " Later from France: "We've been more or less associated with a fine bunch of Scotch soldiers and officers, and have found them extremely congenial They seem to have a great deal of admira tion for us Yanks, especially for our In curable good spirits and Joviality And the Americans are falling In love with English football, and are rapidly acquiring some skill at it. It Is a big surprise to me to see how well the Tommies and the Sam mees are hitting It off together; It's mighty nloe. too. "We're moving around a good deal and getting acquainted with all our numerous kinds of allies English, Scotch, Cana dlans. Anzac, French, Algerians, Italians and Chinese! The last are a hot bunch! Everybody Is treating us royally, and we are on chummy terms with them all. The Scotch and French are our special friends, and Canadians next. We're also getting acquainted with a big number of varieties of French drinks, most of them pretty bad. "Our captain, who has been away for some weeks. Is to rejoin us today, and there will be some great howls of joy, as we are all extremely fond cf him." Corporal Coates went through the thick of the recent fighting on the Marne, and has since been detailed to an "Army Candl dates' Bchaol," whfc aeems to Jndiqate that a,. Jju h nrnmnaa1 to naMsnlialnii . ' THE CHAFFING DISH TTINDENBUlia seems to have been badly derailed at that Wotan "switch." Tho National Bakers' Service Board has sent out n bulletin urging all housewives to keep their bread In tho Icebox, But the prudent housewife is too canny to keep tho precious loaf In any such public spot as that. She knows tho habits of tne prowling husband when tho rest of the family has gono to bed. Bhe keeps tho loaf of Bread (n the right-hand bureau drawer, hidden by the folder of thrift stamps, and the.guest-room blind that came down last June but hasn't been put up yet, In spite of repeated promises on the part of the head of the house. 'The Microscope Now that the British have retaken Lens, the Kaiser will look smaller than ever. Many of those who havo been making fun of our last summer straw hat (which is still going over our top) will miss it when it is gone. When the Kaiser talks about the Impos sibility of the Allies gettlnc to the Rhine he fives his mind firmly on tho distance from Camhral to Cologne, which Is 170 miles. But he Ignores the distance from tho Vosges front to the Rhine, which Is I less than twenty. - v In a bookstore the other day we saw nn anthology advertising Itself as con taining "ov'er 600 poems of Pep, Point, Punch and Push." It's an 111 bird that fouls Its own trade, and yet we don't believe there are as many as 600 really good poems In tho language. Has Cvntliia Hay Fever? Dear Socratrv am a pounp pill ulth brown eyes and a phlegmatic disposition. I,atclu 1 have felt iciy irascible. I think I hate hau fever, but I on tiot smr. You ate aln ajjs so polite, tton't vou tell me how to be tei taint CYNTHIA. My Dear Cynthia I am very glad to hear from ou again. The last time you wroto It was to Inquire "What Is a Boob?" nnd I hnve often wondered uneasily Just how vou Intended to use the information I sent you. About hav fever: The mere fact that you can sit down and write qucTi a frlondly and nlco little note makes me doubt whether jou have It. For the real hay fever unfits a. human being for anything except homicide nnd umbrella stealing. If ou had hay fev er yon would bo walk ing down tho street yearning for some one to look harshly at you, so that you would havd a colorable excuse for smiting him or her wUJi a crowbar. ' The only possible excuse or explanation for the antics of the Kaiser during the last four years Is that he may have hay fever. a Hay fever Is n. bad case of bolshevlsm In the membranes of the nose. When your nose acts like an I. W. W." nnd attempts to terrorise the rest of your system by frequent explosions, outrages and sabot age, then the diagnosis is plain. An emi nent scientist has described the symptoms of hay fever as maklr.fe the sufferer feel as though his head were a pumpkin loaded with dynamite. This is true, though there is also the sensation that one's head Is a phonograph playing an endless record of marimba music plus chimes ot Normandy. Tho origin of hay fever is doubtful. Some say that it was a retribution for the first practical Joke, which took place (as Is, well known) on the ark. Noah's wife "and her three daughters-in-law were fed up with the continual weather fore casting done by Noah and his sons, who kept on saying that they were sure It would be a fine day tomorrow. So the ladles retired to their private sitting room and were solacing themselves with a little game of bridge and some remarks on the manners and habits of those ladies who had not taken passage on the ark. But Noah and his sons thought to amuse themselves by letting loose among the ladles one of the two mice on board. They did so, but as a result they were punished by hay fever, which seems an excessive tribulation for so slight a breach of con duct. Those who suffer from hay fever are wont to console themselves with the thought that it Is only people of powerful Intellect who are subject to this disease; but this Is only asserted by the sufferers themselves and must therefore be dis counted. Seneca, the famous Roman philosopher of the first century, suffered from hay fever, and as I suspect that you are a bit of a highbrow, my dear Cynthia, I shall quote to you what Seneca aays of it In one of his letteis. Omnia corporis aut incommoda aut pcricula per me transie runt; nullum mlhi vidctur molestius. And this IS translated by Dr. Richard Gum mere, the headmaster of the Penn Charter School, as follows: have passed through all the ills and dangers of the flesh, but, nothing seems to me more troublesome than this. But old Seneca, who was a kind of Pollyanna and Dr. Frank Crane rolled into one, continues by saying that even In the suffocation of the disease he con tinues to cheer himself with brave nnd glad thoughts. However, he committed suicide In the year A. D. 65. It Is to be hoped, Cynthia, that if you really have hay fever you will not weakly succumb, like Seneca, to a detestable cheer fulness. There Is no cure for the ailment: It Is only slightly assuaged by the violent death of personal enemies and by gjed news from the western front. This is the one time of the year when any atrocities you may commit will be understanding condoned by your acquaintances. In conclusion, my dear Cynthia, If you really haye hay fever you are to be con gratulated. You enter upon a fraternity which Is bound together by a community of suffering unknown, to the laymen. When you see a piteous figure groping along Chestnut street, pockets bulging with handkerchiefs and eyes bulging with tears, with a vermilion nose and a phial of medicated cotton for sniffing, rush up, to him and embrace him. All sorrqw will be forgotten in the Joy of tho meeting. For even hay fever has Its compensations. 361. dlers who have fought side by side on some stricken eld know no holler fellowship of pollea makes theywhole Woill, i Kim.7Tjti -- m 1 1 a i t- . ..' .aViV- CnX.n .u-.b OF RHflH9VHHt)aBBaBaBVSalj7 aV'QlslewiBW' Vail bsiaLRiKlBWfP1a1l(VPM'Bl .V.7aA ,t . f JlilAPWaaAnaVfVak laTaV to . BE HqP( ITUB9lsxrak 'Jh. H XnasflaR" mbflltMm TTiCBaJaaaaaaaaaiaafasaaJ TaL "fXj -' Wajlfftfl km pVi m i Vf. vjtf TRaiaCaruc StJaB?.tafcuJj ' gJaBanP tt V 1wMl2SZk&3'TwBr9i19BBuKKR. i. i Jfly V a , raT j KlfWaWffw aJasaRM I F J a4saaPaPJa iJRitoBRaaaaaaaak " jf pHfcJ JBhB rr, ji JvRRRRRRHaaaHRscSHflHaiW AJnUaaVSaaSaMaRKClaat a "' r ajBiaasRJKat4RBrr-uiajBRajnanaH.4nKKEiJXU trr'iEEi taBaawaaQRaBaaBRaRm. ."v . .iaaan;sir7BaBaaB: ." -. 'i'i 'I'll ' m wwnivi i" ii i WMii '" fflrifc riiin1 ' r v t J-fSZr1: li'.."!" " TWSmmBm WtWX.yffiHB&J.. ' M lf jL&T?;?s t . r?a.vJ jvs r. .,..-, -i j's,"ua tUflrHMjRWR sfkr-;.,. vseiKwaa.'waRVMa. FaRawn .' v,jivi ." jwkti .! -r,-r jack - - -, - a i aaan mib i i aaaaa i a &m?rwM- r h. i,.. w3fflSffi&6nmas:Y&i8 ..-ft -c-.,c,EcjRt jrtMUxii vva,-rf:n -- - rczi- asBcwtasnriRi. v. .THE GOWNSMAN Of Poets nnd "Poets" 44T)OETS! Bah! Mushrooms! Both are iT liable to spring up in a night, an w here ; some of them are a great delicacy, properly dished: others are deadly: and ou can never exactly tell. which Is which. Be side", there are about as many kinds of poets as there are of fungi, and they are similarly conspicuous as contrasted with the rest of the vegetable world In their gaudy and striking coloration, their uselessness, and' In the happy brevity of their lives. Pity It Is that It Is only mushrooms that wo can call by hard names. There Is the language of poets ; there should be a special nomenclature ot very hard terms applicable to poets at least to some of them." Tliua spoke the objector. AS ON'n of the penalties of wearing a very long gown a very long while, the Gownsman Is the recipient of many volumes of verse. In fact, he maintained for some years a fourteen-foot shelf whereon to stable these gift horses, Into .whose mouths It Is not mannerly too curiously to peer. But even this ample space did not suffice to shelve this perennial crop, and In various attempts the volumes have been variously disposed. None to Leary's; Leary deals only In standard poets, only In poets who have been dead a long while, not in poets who are dead now. Some to the paper man i but It appears that the printing of poetry on white paper reduces its market value, even In these times of scarcity. Some of the volumes havo been lent In the hope based on long experience with the loaning and Mra Ing of books that they might neve re turn. But the punctiliousness of people In the return of things which they do not want frustrated this generous endeavor to diffuse poetry, for Its moral influence, among those who habitually confuse their Ideas as to min,. onri thine. One or two volumes of manji dry leaves have served admirably thft purpose of starting a wood fire; but the?" Gownsman would advise against this as none too certain a disposition of poetry, as much of our annual growth Is rtmarKaDiy suc culent and apt. In the escaping of the Juices, to make your fire smoke and choke up your chimney The veracious Gownsman remem bers an evening spoiled by an abortlvo at tempt to light a fire with a volume of Mies Amy Lowell. One wonders whether the poetess could, perhaps, be addicted to but perish the thought! Her volume was cer lalnlv a smoker. It Is safer, If you want to be sure,' to leave the poets In lighting a fire. For tfe purpose, the Gownsman has found nothing like a disquisition on Shakespeare; pre-eminent here, as everywhere. tTTHEN you receive a volume of verse, W acknowledge It at once before you have -had an opportunity'' to read It. This will save you some white lying and if you have a conscience salve It. The best formulary to use In replying to a poet Is that of Dr. Holmes. "Dear sir, I have received your book of poetry. Believe me, Blr. I shall lose no time In reading It." The oracle at Del phi scarcely ever did better than that. For to the poet, whoever could "lose time" in reading what he has written? To the pro faneand the writer may have been ambng tnem the phrase may mean well, some thing else, it you must use adjectives and there are those who cannot live without them"nterestlng" Is altogether the most efficient, though unhappily much overworked. For a volume of "poetry" may be "Inter esting" In several ways: As literature (occa sionally, as intellectual gymnasium, -guistlc nihilism, or as a psychological exhibit, if a more or less curious departure from the "sweet ways of human wont." BUT to return: In acknowledging a book of verse, the one thing not to have 'done Is to have read a word of It, Such action hampers the free play of your critical 'mind, tleB you down to specifications and leaves you the difficult problem. "Shalt I lose .the truth, or lose my friend?" The Gownsman is no casuist, but he has heard that "truth Is hung on every tree" which la so much the worse for truth. But as to friends, they are rare In this cold, hard world. And shall a tman lose his friend merely because his friend, happens to think himself "a poet"? THERE'bK. popular belief current that to be a poet is to be something queer. 'And ilka most popular beliefs this one has a' basis Mnv fact, T)i 4ir to write ,vf sse- ;cmuyr w ,. wy punjr jn BHBBaNS-Br c r -JBBaT LITTLE WEIGHT, LUCKILY i9mBLLi u kit JVai evv Into megalomania. If a first appearance would cuie, the matter might be simple. But this form of personal gratification grows with that, whereon It feeds; and the head further enlarges, but not always proportionately the brains within. It has been said that once In her life every woman has been beautiful, doubtless In some edges quite brietly. So some men are poetical by moonlight, in springtime, in wooing time but do not carry their poetry homo with them later. More over, a wise dispensation of Provldenco has ordered It that the majority of mankind shall bo poctkallv Inartlculute and eviu that among those who will write, many shall be Incoherent. Has the reader never perpe trated an Immortal ode li his dreams, only to have It turn out In the nornlng a rat-tat-lat sort of thing that would be discreditable to the obviousness of Walt Mason? r, THE musical consort of the world's poetry the poetaster Is the megaphonlst, noisy, lll-dlsclpllned; but even he cannot drown the grand swell of harmony which Is the world's ljrical soul. The poetling, on the other hand, pules on the flute or pulses on the lute, happy In his own fatuity but nobody marks him, and the sounds he makes echo not far bejond his own hearing. Be tween these two are the poets, the major poets, the commanding poets, few as the greater stars and as far between; and the minor poeta, so-called not wholly because, for the most part, they sing plaintively, but merely because they' are less than the great ones, although often as true, as tuneful, as beloved. CONCRETELY, the poet Is often a v ery In teresting specimen of the lace. The Gownsman has met some poets In his day or rather In theirs. He has narrowly escaped meeting some others. He was once in a London station out of which Tennyson had Just taken his departure. He once barely missed seeing Browning at a garden party. He went skating on the Schuylkill one fine winter afternoon, as a boy, and missed a lecture abominably delivered by Matthew Arnold. These were some of the things which might have been. But he is proud 'to recall that he was one who helped "all unbeknownst" to make a granite tomb for the yet living good gray poet. Walt Whit man; that he knew the ever courteous Sted raan, that he met with awe James Russell Lowell, that he has listened to Mr. Yeats In private inonoloque, had the adorable Mr. Masefield In his own study and sat with Mr. Frost on his down New Hampshire hills. But 'the Gownsman has caught the contaelon of egotism from this converse with poets. PHILADELPHIA Is full of poets; they bustle In our streets. To range among them offhand Harrison Morris was a poet as delightful to read as to know until "the Iron entered his soul" ; and Francis Williams la reported to havo written an epic on Lincoln, a fine thing for a loyal son of Cln clnatus to do. Good gray Hanby Hay has courted his Muse as a lover for a lifetime, and she has been compliant. Doctor Watson has practiced poetry as successfully as medi cine for years, and John Haney has written it as well as he has taught It. Wharton Stork Is a large metrical magnate, so to speak, for not only does he make poetry and translate It; he likewise garners and pub lishes It for others; and Harvey Watts Is a veritable wizard with his pen, for better reasons, but also because he contrives to write Over There over here. Horace Trau bel has nobly maintained the great traditions of Whitman over the river ; and Richard Heckscher, though no longer with us, is not forgotten for the .fervency that was his. Owen Wlster once wrote a certain poem but we will not allude to It. And, "youngest wren of nine," there Is our own Kit Morley, reaoy, vvuiy, souna, in wnose education the Gownsman claims a modest part. Tne Gownthian will not gratify the vanity of a' certain Philadelphia poet, who took his tal ents and his crotchets away with him to London, by miscalling all theBe "the shillings' and pence of Philadelphia poets." None shall pound so ungraceful an allusion out of your Gownsman, who apologizes for the scores that he has left unsung, KINDLY, simply, gracious Joyce Kilmer has gone, "a minor poet," If you will, but leaving the world the happier, the better for his song. Like England's Rupert Brooke, Kilmer went blithely to war, a volunteer, a patriot, a martyr to a great cause. In his own fine 'words of Brooke: But let no cloud of lamentation be Wbereon a warrior's grave, a lyre Is hung. me Tcifuea m Muiutn tongue. i 'i.i'm sui fpnswxi&. iiiyyin . -i-.r : T r &&a&'!r- - " " ., . ir-LJrlT,Ji,'! rf" .y " Kr"FrwJ IDYL OF LAYING IN rflHE provident prattle of coal being -1- chuted lh summer, Thd slilpshaplng anticipations of the July plumber, The householder's gloat over fat bins en riched with refections, Proud paterfamilias pott'rlng round drool ing directions. To painters and patchers and gutterers and all that rabble Whose service engages tho utilitarian's bubble AH this has n ring thut Is more than a little otbcordant And apt to engender remarks rather sav agely mordant, VThat rate all prevision a postuie and pat ently phony, From the man who suspects that the win ter will find him still "stony." Thus again Is erected the sctlptural tenet of balance And the poor man's one talent tacked on to the man of ten talents. ' STANLEY KIDDER WILSON. The young lady who Explained! tried to kill Lenine Nrftay merely have wished to Bee gasless Sundays established In Russia. There are men so Meanneaa mean that they stroll around at this time of the year and give their straw hats to charitable institutions . The War In Verne for the shortest war poem we would con tribute this: , Kaiser Wiser. Hun Done! We say these things Tlila U with regret, but It Unpardonable does seem that the British are "putting,., the scar in Scarpe Haig's motto Is evi dently Scarpe diem. Any one who follows A Nautical the war news closely Observation will be forced to the conclusion that the German navy Is made up of what you might call fatherlandluhbers What Do You Knoiv? QUIZ? 1, What natural product aires particular valni to the eountrr about Lena, in the war lone? . What la a tierce? 3. Who waa Simon llollrar? 4. When la Ulna Arthur supposed to hare Hrrdr A. What U the aliened orlain of the term "Daio"? 6. Who waa Admiral Ton Spte. 7, From what heathen sod la the name Wed nesday derhrdf t 5. What I" an ullanthiia tree? D. Who said. "Architecture la frozen music"? 10,-VVIiut la the capital of Rumania? Answers to Yesterday's Quiz 1. A necturlne Is a kind of peach with a smooth, flowpJcis skin und firm flesh. 2. William C. Krdfleld la Kerrctnrr of Com merce und William n. Wilson Hecretarr ot l,uhor. 3. The Mnuro Doctrine waa first defined In a presidential messuae of Jamea Monroe, sent lu t'onarrsa In 1853. 4. I.atuklu In applied tq a UInd of tobacco which mis shipped orlalnallx from Latakta, n port In .Sjrlu. but Is now crown else where, 5. Shawmut la snld to hdre been the Indian name of Boston. 0. The I'arseea are a neoole ot India, nnmberlna about 1)0,000. Their ancestors cmltrated from I'rrsla in the seventh century mien the Arabs overran that rountrv. Ther are followers or the rrllslon of Zoroaster, which Imoltea fire-worship. 7, Adum Hnllth, n. noted Scotch economist, waa - rsvX'aStbnbiuSXiYn'Tm" ' -::v & 1. Mararlllea Is tha seen lams sttr (' t v-ruacf. , - "-'Vi ' ', t. Tkuak.li.Ja aeekva tb 144 My' jjw J 1-il . I x -SS ' m -3l 4 r (- -v -v s. i. w-0Ha-w--?au i . y l".., i) f.r . m Vi.w- lajjiJi :j- yr . A . T.'TEaL: -rr-'i ? .TTIEilBL.'.'t!.. - ' "1 '! "TT-' as aaa k avaamaPBJRFK aaaafc i - .'Jiena, . "'"' a J 'I a -fc. ' -BarK.cr . t . l . m - a"" . - Br. BBb .Km..XJZ.J I l.Z.ia . it atjfBB ,vaTRl3RaaaMsasaBV, iiMaaRBaL3RRaM,iJfc .jtt lffa ajjaajjtvjaBajMBjaaaaa)aiarSRRBBaaaB
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers