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EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER PHILADELPHIA, W&DltfESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1919
V
h-
Uticmnrj public Hciigcr
rUBLIC LEDGER COMPANY
"VTtOT It. K. CUtlTIB. PsuiMNT
niyrlfii 11. LuJlnnton. Vlco Tre'lilenti John C.
Jtyrltn. RrerfUry Riirt Treasurer! Philip H, i"olllii,
John H Wllllftina, John J Spurgfon. .Director.
r.DiTonuti bo.uid:
Cysbs 11 K. Ccnis, Chairman ,
DAVD B. BMll.Hr ... .Editor
JOHN 0. MAItTIK. .general llmlnon Manager
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rhlllflrlplila. Wrdtif.d... Ilrrrmbrr 31. 1 I "
STRIKE UP, REVELERS!
TT IS more than n new year which the
belis and whistles will announce to
night. A now decade begins.
Tho twentieth century had t-omc ter
rible 'teens. As always with youth, it
was confronted with problems of bewil
dering novelty, and seemingly insuper
able. But an older cycle is utmost neces
sarily a wiser one.
The "twenties" of a century ago, fol
lowing the Napoleonic upheaval, were, in
the main, years of world reconstruction
and enlightened progress. There is hope
in the precedent. There is always prom
ise in a stago that is beyond that of
stormy adolescence.
Pessimists may stop their cars tonight,
but they can't halt the calendar or legiti
mately condemn the new row of "U's"
until it has expressed itself.
MORE HOTEL EXPANSION
rpHE announced intention of the Hotel
Walton Company to build a twenty-
four-story addition to tho present hotel
win dc reassuring 10 mosc persons wno
have feared, in view of the contemplated
demolition of two other hotels, that vis
itors to town would not be able to find
lodgings for the night.
It will nlso reassure those persons who
feared the abolition of the barroom would
make hotel-keeping unprofitable that
men with experience in the business are
persuaded that people go to hotels pri
marily to cat and to sleep.
CARPET THE COURTYARD
TjlEW persons will regret the burning of
the small wooden building that has
occupied the northeast corner of the City
Hall courtyard for several years. Its
purpose was long since accomplished, and
it had been a disfigurement from the
'beginning.
The fire should call popular attention
to the condition of the courtyard, which
has been a barren waste when it might
have been made a beauty spot It has
been suggested that grass and shrubbery
should be planted in it, leaving room for
walks. There are merits and demerits in
this plan. The greenery would be attrac
tive six months of the year, but for tho
other six months the planting would re
semble any garden in cold weather. And,
tho way such things are done, it would
cost from $5000 to $10,000 a year to
maintain the gardens.
An alternative would be treatment
after the manner of plazas in Italian
cities. A patterned carpet of different
colored concrete and tiles could bo laid
ivhich would be a thing of beauty.
DOYLESTOWN'S LITTLE LIST
nOYLESTOWN'S flutter over its
XJ "Forty-five" is understandable. These
are desolating days for selected lists. It is
becoming fearfully difficult to determine
to just what class one really belongs.
A perfectly well-intentioned chap may
retire at night, firm in the conviction
that he is one of tho people, only to find
under the door in tho morning a pamphlet
informing him that he belongs to the
hnted bourgeoisie. Although it still ap
pears, tho Almanach de Gotha is an
archaism crushed in spirit, a catalogue
of tho dethroned and the erstwhile noble.
On the other hand, the volumes of the
Social Register are amplified with
alarming rapidity. "When every ono is
somebody," declares a Gilbertian sage,
"no one's anybody."
If there is assortment of the elite in
Doylestown, that pretty little country scat
is making a brave battle against tremen
dous tendencies. The present indictment
of its frivolity is a minor affair. The
point is that social lines have onco moro
been vividly drawn.
New York's "Four Hundred" is a dim
tradition, vanished with the sway of the
late Ward McAllister. Sky-soaring apart
ment houses south of the historic Mar
ket street barrier have frightfully ob
fccured views of the old Philadelphia social
iruiumrs.
A most particular plebiscite one, say,
of the D'Annunzio variety would be"
necessary to determine who's who in this
vicinity nowadays. It were a pity should
Bucks l)e boastful, but it almost has
tho right,
FAME AND KERENSKY
OIK JAMES M. BRRIE is inclined to
agree with Shakespeare's Cassius in
tho belief that "the fault is not in our
Stars, but in ourselves that we are under
lings." If this be true there is cold com
fort, as there certainly is cold lunch, in
the present lifo of Alexander Kerencky,
Tow u witter in a London "beef-and-beanery."
Although it is not possiblo to determine
definitely what would have been the fate
jof the ex-statesman if he hod had a "sec
ond chance," there arc indications that
lio was not the instrument, even under
different conditions, to save Russia. In
he enrly days- of his exile Kcrensky cut
it small figure in London and Paris. A
;;r?ater jijnn culd surely have made
, rpftethlng of tfcsct ppportunities.
., ft'twAy all, glufe mtatg, however, sra
premature. Garibaldi, in his Statcn
Island refuge, was a cnndlc-makor. Kcr
ensky can point to historical precedent
while ruminating on whether or not Kama
will ever nguln point in liln direction.
And it must be remembered that lie ul
icjc'y knows more about the goddess than
most of us mortals, for ho has felt both
her glorious caress and her ruthless
rebuff. Furthermore, she is not neces
sarily unkind to waiters. If the Gari
baldi parallel fails, there is still M. Kit?.
n3 an inspiration.
MOORE'S ELEVEN IN COUNCIL
HOLD THE STORMIEST SALIENT
Rumors of Bribery Show That the Ex
pected Onslaught on the New Mayor'3
Key Position Has Begun
TT IS difficult to believe that a direct
effort has been made to break down
Mr. Moore's suppoil in the new city
Council by means of bribery. The eoun
cilmen recently elected are not the sort
who take bribes. And cold bribery is the
crudest and most dangerous method
known to politics. If any one on the los
ing side lias been trying it the leaders of
the old regime are far more stupid and
reckless than they ever were supposed
to be.
If a plan is afoot for a raid or a job
in the new Council, evidences of it ought
to be apparent at the first caucus today.
Meanwhile, the councilmen themselves,
Mr. Moore, Mr. Cortelyou and any one else
who is intent upon maintaining the integ
rity of the new city government, will be
wise if they prepare for the sort of enemy
pressure that is moro dangerous than
bribery and for attacks and maneuvers
and indirect action that even honest men
find it difficult to resist.
With the rumors of yeslciday came un
expected proof of the advantages of a
femull Council. The men elected to sup
port Mr. Moore and his program are well
known. They have made their pledges.
They are easily identified. They wcro
permanently aligned and they are clearly
exposed and visible in the pitiless light.
Any break in their formation would be
as startling as a gap in the Market-street
skyline .such as might follow the sudden
movement of a big building. Similarly, it
would bo the subject of concentrated pop
ular attention, relentless questioning, end
less curiosity.
It would have to be explained, without
an hour's delay. So there could be no
escape for a tiliitor in a case like this.
Any deserter from the majority in a
fight between the new Mayor and the
powers lie defeated would proclaim his
treason as definitely as if he shouted it
through a megaphone.
No politician whose senses had not
deseiled him would ask any man to face
consetiuenccs such as would be insepar
able from such action. No elected repre
sentative could take the risk. For if the
slight reform majority were to bo de
stroyed in the new Council most of what
the city has won after years of effort
would bo lost.
The people would have reason to feel
themselves abominably tricke.d in a crisis.
And we Have only to remember the pro
posed gas lease of 1005, the defiant Coun
cil and the crowds that marched down
Broad street and the ropes that they
carried grimly into the chamber galleries,
to know what would happen.
It is possible to disAiiss the &uggestion
of extensive and direct bribery while ad
mitting that of late there must have been
a great feeling about in the dark, careful
soundings among the Moore supporters,
night patrols over No-Man's Land and
cautious propaganda from the opposing
trenches.
It was to be expected that the stamina
of the eleven men upon whom so much
depends would be tested out at this phase
of the business. They hold an exposed
salient. They will have to hold it against
more than one battering assault, and they
never can know how the next attack
will be made. For the present they de
serve help and support rather than sus
picion. When tho new charter became a cer
tainty the political boches ceased to fight
it. Ihcy determined to turn it to their
own advantage. To do that they had
only to get control of the new Council.
So it was upon the Council that their
interest centered in the recent election.
There were times when even the mayor
alty became a matter of secondary im
portance with the leaders of the old or
ganization. It was upon the small Coun
cil established under the charter that tho
present and future fate of politicians and
their cliques depended almost entirely.
If a clique devoted to the spoils system
got control, the leaders of that clique1
would have an almost unbreakable
stranglehold unon the city and the city's
government. They would have the benefit
of a simple mechanism, easily operated
and controlled, by which the election
machinery, the police and patronage sys
tems could be utilized for factional ends
year after year indefinitely.
Unless at today's caucus the minority
gives up some new recruits to the Moore
forces, the eleven men now on the new
Mayor's side or rather the three or four
who represent a safe majority are all
that stand in tho way of the old guard
and the goal they missed by a narrow
margin.
It is idle to suppose, therefore, that all
the members of the Mayor's party will
have an easy time of it. The strategy of
factional politics is strange.
Money is not the only nmmunitlon
known to the warfare of heelers and
their commanding officers. There arc
claims of sentiment and friendship and
there are business interests and the social
factor and the personal equation. There
are subterranean avenues of attack.
There are threats.
In desrerato emergencies even black
mail has been relied upon to change the
mind of a man who happened to havo n
badly needed vote.
So far ns available evidence goes the
new members of Council on the reform
side are not only bribe-proof; they arc
proof against the more subtle and more
dangerous weapons of the hard-driven
tribes opposed to them and the things
they are presumed to represent.
Heaven help them if they aren't!
It is plain that they havo been under
bombardment already, for where there is
smoke there must have been at least a
little fire. There is fight and the fever
of desperation remaining In the legions
of the old, regime, and, apparently, a,
willingness to make one moro wild chargo
before surrender.
Tho eleven arc out front and they
cannot budge. Any one who deserted now
would have to throw his reputation and all
thought of his own future wclfaro to tho
winds. .
The Vurcs and their friends will suffer
most because of such rumors ns are afloat
today.
They should bo tho first to get out into
the open with proof of their own inno
cence. I
The new Council cannot bo corrupted.
The people will not let it bo corrupted.
There ure points at which tolerance
oense.s. -
A public that rose in wrath and went
looking for ropes when the gas steal was
threatened isn't going to sit idly by and
be robbed of a hope that cost years of
patient effort and more millions than it
can count.
UUIVirCKOO OLHVtKr I WrtUULt I
MR. GOMPERS persists in his opposi
tion to the anti-strike provisions .of
the Cummins railroad bill and insists that
they would reduce the railroad workers to
a state of "involuntary servitude," which
he says would be "slavery."
The purpose of tho anti-strike provi
sions is to prevent the interruption of
railroad traffic. Mr. Gompers desires that
the railroad workers should have tho
right to obstruct such traffic when they
cannot get an increase in wages or a
reduction in the number of hours that
shall bo called a day's woik.
The right und power of the govern
ment to keep the trains moving bus, how
ever, been upheld by the courts in numer
ous decisions. One of tho earliest was
made in the case of the Chicago railroad
strike, when President Cleveland called
out the troops to protect the trains
against the violence of the striken. It
has been commonly understood that this
decision dealt only with the power of the
government to move mail trains, but the
decision is so broad as to cover all goods
and passengers carried in interstate com
merce. Thus the government at present has
the power to keep the trains moving in
spile of a strike, und it has power to hale
into court any one who deliberately inter
feres with the exercise of that power.
The Supreme Court has gone further
and pointed out how the government may
exercise its power to prevent interference
with interstate commerce, saying that
Congress undoubtedly possesses tho
power "to provide by appropriate legis
lation for compulsory arbitration, a
power which inevitably resulted from its
authority to protect interstate commerce."
The Cummins bill does not force "in
voluntary servitude" upon anybody. It
provides a way by which men who dis
agree with their employers as to wages
and hours may come to an agreement
without stopping work, based on the as
sumption that the men wpuld rather work
than bo idle and founded on the right of
the government to prevent any power
from interfering with interstate com
merce. The defeat of the anti-strike provisions
of the bill will not leave the government
impotent. It will merely make it a little
more difficult to exercise its power.
Not all of life is work.
Hill Leisure Needs Some of it is leisure.
Cash Hacking Not nil of oducntinn
should be devoted to
knouledRD of. how to make a living. Tart
of it uliould Le given to instruction on how
to use leisure wisely. A man should be a
good companion for himself. "Which is prob-'
nhly uhy Dr. Robert Lllis Thompson re
gards fireck and Lutin aR the most esscntinl
studies in school curricula.
Senator Lodge is con
With or Without fcrriug with n Demo
crat "other than
.Mr. Hitchcock." Senator Hitchcock may how
-onfer with a Republican "other thiui Mr.
Lodge." At which stage of the proceedings
it might be well for the reft of the senators
lo put au end to the making of fnees and
ratify the treaty forthwith.
There is sadness in
Unlucky Number the thought thut thir
teen American tor
pedobont destroyers must go to the scrap
heap. Thus docs Old Time put on the re
verse. In days agoue, where the torpedo
boat destrojers were found was in the "heap
scrap." .
Of course, members
Forgive anil Forget, of Councils aro not
Sny Wo obliged It take those
engraved resolutions.
The city is willing to let bygone.i be bygones.
The Washington correspondent of the
New York Kveuing Post says that the poli
ticians never speak of Hctbert Hoover ns
a presidential candidate. Which is the big
gest boost we hu! )ct seen for him.
John Barleycorn has a good name hut
a bud reputation. The first absolves him
from responsibility for wood alcohol; tho
second makes him indirectly liable for all the
trouble.
Teachers in schools nre paid no more
than farmer pays, his hired mat. to feed
hoirn. declared a speaker at a meeting of the
I'cunsy'vania State Educational Association.
This may account for the high rost of bacon.
Circulars from Nebraska officially an
nounce the. presidential candidacy of General
Pershiug. This puts tho ta-ra-ra on the
Wood boom-de-ay.
Music teachers draw attention to the
fact that there ure few musicians in pennl
institutions. Probably case hardened. It
is their victims who are driven there.
When Mexican correspondents aro hard
up for crises and resolutions und outrages
it i's never necessary for them to tell plain
lies. Rumor provides lots of ornamental
ones.
Snow flurries and hurries away. The
Old AVoman who is plucking her goose does
not care, apparently, when ho gets the job
done.
With each succeeding act the opinion
grows on a large portiou of the body politic
that Bryan is a fairly good dramatist what
ever lie may bo as a statesman.
A local cat has a gold tooth. The mas
tlcator would have been a valuable addition
to the Cheshire cat's smile.
The One Big I'nion is the union of all
the people of the United States, A law for
anything short of that is class legislation.
Do ou suppose that people will event
ually refer lo pre prohibition days as tho
cork ace?
MAYOR-ELECT MOORE'S
LETTER
Japanese Qovernment Puts an End to
Picturesque Proceedings at Paclflo
Ports No More Picture Brides
rpllfi announcement that the Japanese
Government proposes Hint no more "pic
turn brides" come to the United Stntes will
relieve the western ports of entry of ono of.
their most picturesque proceedings. In cities
like Seattle tho "picture bride" is better un
derstood thun she Is In ports like Philadel
phia und New York, where she seldom up
pears. Tho "picture, bride" Is a Jnpancsc
girl whose parents hnvc arranged by cor
respondence with a prospective husband in
the I'nitcd Stntes for her marriage on ur
rinl. Neither bride nor groom has ever
seen each other. The marital negotiations
have been conducted by correspondence, tho
pnrcnts of the girl usually desiring to knovjy
whether the prospective husband lias menus
enough to keep her, und the latter milking
Inquiry ns lo tho nge, height and accom
plishments of the prospective bride. When
the brides appear in a western port tho
grooms who Imve negotiated for them nlso
appear from all parts of the country, com
plete (ho marrlago nt the port, and then pro
ceed to the lxyiie the husbnnd bus provided.
The only means of identification, npart from
the certilicates required by the immigration
and shipping oflicinls, arc the photogruphs
that linve been exchanged. Ilcuce tho "pic
ture brides."
pilOF. LEWIS M. HAUPT, of Cjnwyd,
- is helping out on the redemption of the
point nt liarnegut City, where it is proposed
to build u couple of jetties or bulkheads to
stop the Cutting nwny of the beach nearby the
llghthoii'-c. I'rofesor Ilnupt is mi old hand
nt this business, having assisted nt other
points along (he coast where ebbing and
Mowing of the tides, bus shifted the suuds
even to the point of moving villages. The
professor spends a good deal of his time nt
llelmar, where he has a flue opportunity to
study tills situation. Professor Haupt does
not iilvvujs agree with tho army engineers on
such jetty work as has been done in the
Delaware river, for instnnce, and some years
ago had a lively dispute with them with re
spect to Aransas Tass, Texas. It was a part
of the old fight between the army engineers
and civilians.
rnun Rev. c. ii. Wooiston, n. n., is
-- still at it. There is no Christmas time
that does not find him gathering funds or
other resources to enable him to make n
successful Christmas for the children around
about the East Ilaptlst Church, of which ho
is pastor. Doctor Wooiston is one of those
preachers who helps to hold his congregation
together not only by sermonizing but by in
troducing certain special features, ns lllus
t rated lectures, which nhvu.vs help to uttrnct
and hold the attention of the joung.
COLONEL AND MRS. JOHN S. MUC'KLE
keep up their habit of cntertniuing prom
inent visitors from abroad. During the last
three or four years nn interpreter or two
might not have been nmiss in tho MucMc
household, nor would it have been nltogether
inappropriate if the world's "Who's Who"
had been readily nvailable. The entertaining
habit is characteristic of Philadelphia, and
there are indications that it will be sys
tematically organized during the next ad
ministration. During the war, of course,
many notable! foreigners were temporarily
guests of tho city and of many of our promi
nent citizens. ' Tho thought of Mrs. Cor
nelius Stevenson and others versed in the
pleasing practice of receiving visitors in ac
cordance with' established custom is that
something of this kind may be worked out
through the instrumentality of tho Mayor.
OUR'Philudclphiu boys continue to sprend
out. Those who go into the army and
navy are heard from occasionally, generally
with credit. Robert It. D. McCullough went
to West Point from the northenst section
and duly qualified. During the war he did
his bit, and now, advanced lo tho rank of
major, has been put in command of the
reserve officers' training corps nt Little Rock
College, Arkansas. The major came home
for the Christmas holidays and of course
received the usual welcome from the home
folks.
TnE Poor Richard Club, which believes in
advertising Philadelphia, might make a
nrolitnble contract with Receiver of Taxes W.
Frcclaud Kendrick. No one in recent months
has been making Philadelphia more talked
about than Mr. Ketidricl;. His duties as the
head of the Mystic Shriners have carried him
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from
Canada to Mexico, and he has returned to the
city with more testimonials of esteem from
fraternal bodies than can be comfortably
housed in a good size safe. Everywhere he
.lias gone tho tax receiver hns been hailed by
crowds, in which have appeared former visi
tors to Philadelphia, who were pleased to talk
of the men they met hero and the entertain
ment they enjoyed. Two other Philadel
phians who do much in advertising the city
by travel and speech making arc the
Iter. Russell II. Council whose lec
ture, "Acres of Diamonds," has been
delivered in nl the states many times over,
and James A. Flaherty, litjad of the Knights
of Columbus, who makes nu occasional tour
on behalf of thnt organization. As the Ameri
can Legion continues to grow we will prob
ably hear more of Franklin D'Olier and
George Wentvvorth Cnrr ns city boomers.
CHARLES II. VON TAGEN, of Logan,
one of tho new Couucil of twenty-one,
treasures among his souvenirs n program
which should bring back strange memories to
tho few surviving members of the Grand
Army of the Republic who were prisoners at
Libby. The program, entitled "The Libby
Prison Minstrels," was preserved and
brought homo by the counclin nu's father,
who was oni of those who had to put up
with the conditions in this memorable south
ern war institution. Tho managers of the
show as well as the prisoners were all Union
soldiers, nnd their entertainment was held
ou the eve of Christmus, ISM. There were
two parts to tho program of singing, danc
ing, banjo playing, etc., tho third part being
entitled "Countrymen in a Photograph tial
lcry," concluding with a masquerade ball
and "u grand walk-around."'- Mr. Von
Tagen would not pnrt with that program for
a good round sum.
THE Seamen's Church Institute of Phila
delphia is goiug ahead with its plans to
provide a hotel or general meeting place
where the moral and spiritual welfare of sea
men niny be provided for and where they may
bo aided to employment. The Idea is to pro
vide such a place ns will encourage seamen
to develop physically nnd mentally and to
provide entertainment for them while on
shore. The incorporators are men of public
spirit, who have been brought together
largely through tho influence of Bishop
Rhlnclnnder, Alexander Van Rensselaer, Ed
ward W. Bok, Edward T. Stotesbury, J. s,
W. Holton and Richard L. Austin.
J. HAMPTON MOOltlJ,
Tho Prince of Wales is being tonsid
ered for the position of viceroy of Ireland.
It Is thought Ills personal qualities might
endear him to tho people, rerhaps; perhaps
out, pu icuouu in uirre to ejiircc that n
I Prince of Wales will win out wjtcro a Diil,
' of Connnusbt'nict with uu jlit'lSrlus success
lie
US?
"LET THE
HP. '"If &V'T r1 WHll tSlwl i wSr "
Ftp mfjry"' J 10l'3ii&
atSSSWWaBfc;-'- u .-.-
AgFriiZAr J;y xp' .c- ,nf .J--r..-- j- .- ? j-,,
THE CHAFFING DISH
Our Head Is Bloody but Unbowed
M
ISS AMY LOWELL is quoted as fol
lows :
"I.oolc at tho 'colyums' in the dally
papers. These aro not funny, und yet they
pass ns being so. TJiey aro featured 1
practically every dally of Size In tho coun
try. They possess practically no humor.
There Is nothing funny about them. And
to think that tho men who produce them
go on. day Jn and day out, doing the same
thing. They ure ghastly and pitiful."
When Miss Lowell errs, she c rs with tho
gorgeous truancy and gusto of a brilliant
and positive mind. Wo ought to feci crushed
by this blast ou the slug-horn, but strangely
enough our bosom is uupriclad.
MISS LOWELL'S words nre justified in
the sense thut she has been the victim
of muny stupid und absurd discourtesies on
tho part of journalists incapable of appre
ciating her genuine talent just as she has
also been tho victim of stupid and absurd
praise by many who are ignorant of the
true genius of English poetry. But she is
wrong, wo hope, in her savage onslaught on
the colyumists. Surely her mistake lies in
assuming that the bumble colyumist is al
ways trying to be funny. Most of these
ghastly and pitiful creatures have no inten
tion o'f being funny much oftener than Miss
Lowell herself in her polyphoues.
A LADY'S tongue is a privileged member,
one of Thackeray's characters remarks.
Wc have no desire' to contradict or writhe
under tho bludgeon, but -we submit that ex
treme vivacity of statement lends Miss Lowell
into unfortunate mental blind alleys. When
she says, for example, that "Kipling is not
considered seriously ns a poet today; wo
have passed him by; it is a pity that his
latest volume was ever published," one's
feeling is only that of extreme regret for a
delightful mind so wantonly astray,
o
MISS LOWELL also says that "one of
tho hardest battles that the new poetry
has waged has been ngarost the pettiness,
the stupidity and the ignorance of the press."
Wp think that much (not nil) of tho so
called "new" poetry, hns a harder battle to
fight than that. It fights against the cssen-
tinl nature und destiny of English poetry
iiLir Ami h curious recoil unon Miss
Lowell's remarks is the fact that ulmostv
the only imugist poetry of any value is that
which has been professedly humorous in
effect.
WE FEAR we labor the sermon. Yet, to
conclude, Miss Lowell's copious output
is perhups an answer to her contention ns
to the virtues of merely "cadeuced" verse.
The writing of genuine poetry la a sore nnd
exhausting matter it blows out the fuses of
the mind. The prodigious industry of Miss
Lowell's pen surely suggests that the manu
facture of free verso docs not. very seriously
discompose tho inner nnd fragile citadels of
the soul.
Desk Mottoes
One of the first essentials in securing a
good-natured equanimity is not to expect too
much of the people amongst whom you dwell.
SIR WILLIAM OSLER.
A City Notebook
There is n curious little island of 6ld
Philadelphia to which Mr. lTrauk H. Taylor
lias called our attention. If you wiJI go to
32" North Third street you will find a little
ulley running off to tho west, between high
brick walls. This byway openo out into a
little courtyard behind some warehouses, a
space used chicflv for the unpacking of large
wooden cases. Beyond this yard is the play
ground adjoining tho Friends' Meeting House
ut Fourth and Arch. '
In the corner of the playground stnuds a
largo and rather fantastic tree naked uow,
and as we know trees only by their leaves
we have no Idea what nort of tree it Is. Its
braucbe lean over' a queer littlo dismantled
NEXT ONE FINISH UP.
and decaying shed, once used as a stable.
Tho tradition is that the loft of this little
barn was onco used by Ben Franklin for
some printing ventures, but v.-e believe there
is no positive evidence of this.
The shed has all tho evidences of consid
erable nge. The beams 6f the celling are
dark and robust, though the roof is falling
piecemeal. The old stable btalls and harness
racks arc there, and in somo of tbo alcoves
the names of former bteeds arc still written
ou the planks. One was called Dandy, an
other (apparently) cither Brain or Fraiu.
In a roar stall, as one approaches through
the gloom, clambering over packing boxes,
stands what ut first appears to bo a very
lifelike horse. Then one sfees it is a wooden
effigy, such us were once used by harness
makers as an advertising sign. Its large
and gleaming glass eye, catching a spark of
light, gives one almost au uncauny thrill
when first been in the dark and cold interior
of the barn.
Off at one side Ls a little lumber yard, and
a quaint little passageway among barrels of
paint and turpentine. Down this ouc passes,
through a narrow tunnel, nnd out on to
Murkct street by the old brown door that
you will notice between the btores numbered
ol5 and 317.
Sir William Osier
TnE obituary articles about Sir William
Osier generally omitted to say, what
ought to be said, that he wus uot only a
great scientist and a man of infinite personal
charm and kindness, but also a distinguished
man of letters. Ho possessed that stimu
lating union of qualities not often found, of
the scientific btud"nt with all the graces of
literary culture nt his command. He was u
great collector of books,v a friend of un
stinted generosity to many-an obscure und
ambitious student and a' writer of delightful
essays which are too little known to the
general public, no also belonged to that
close and secret fraternity in which tho mem
bership' is ruther curiously mingled, the lov
ctH of Anthony Trollopc; und bis most fam
ous but generally misunderstood pleasantry
about tho chloroforming of men of sixty was
in reality a reference to one of Trollope's
novels. Tho title of. one of bis books of
essays "Aequanimi'tas and Other Ad
dresses" gives un interesting clue to bis
own charm. Equanimity, tho old Horatian
motto, was his characteristic trait. Un
perturbed, unruffled, to face the perplexities
of life with unfailing grace and quietness
and humor tbero is no philosophy so se
curely rooted in honor and contentment.
Nothing was more expressive of him than
tbo telegram he sent on Christmas Eve to
.former colleagues on this side of the water:
"Making good tight, Christmas greetings nil
old friends."
SOCRATES.
Tho demand of New York Scotchmen
that "Macbeth" bo removed from bchool
currlculums, on the ground that It is" a
libel on the Scotch, is probably a sample of
Scottish humor.
Also ono may read between the lines of
Mr. Moore's statement that ho is on to tbo
little game and that he doesn't propose to
stand for it.
Perhaps tbo councilmen will forego tho
engrossed resolutions if they are given first
place in the mummers' parade.
D'Annunzio orders a pleblsclte-with the
insouciance of an early 1010 bon vlvant
ordering a martini.
Tho flrstnrrest fpr illegal sale of alcohol
is that of a Reading man. Evidently be
lieves with Bacon that Reading maketh a
full man. .
Kerensky.is now a waiter In a London
restaurant. If be bad taken the right tip
whllo be was boss of Russia, Lenino nnd
Trotsky might bo passing the roast beef.
Optimism will not die ythtic advertising
lhfls, ' t
PM DONE!"
.." ..f.V.-
FROM "WpODNOTES"
WHOSO walks in solitude
And inhabitcth the wood,
Choosing light, wave, rock, and bird,
Before tho money-loving herd,
Into that forester shall pass,
From these companions, power and, grace.
Clean shall he be, without, within,
From the old adhering bin,
All ill dissolving in tho light
Of his triumphant piercing bight;
Not vain, sour, nor frivolous;
Not mad, athirst, or garrulous;
Grave, chaste, contented, though retired.
Once again, the pine tree sung:
"Spenk not thy speech my boughs among:
Put off thy j ears, wash in tho breeze;
My hours arc peaceful centuries.
Tnlk no moro with feeble tongue;
No more the fool of space and time,
Come weave with mine a nobler rhyme.
Only thy Americans
Can read thy line, can meet thy glance,
But the runes that I rehearse
Understands the universe: "
The least breath bv boughs which tossed
Brings again the Pentecost;
To every soul resounding clear
In a voice of solemn cheer
'Am I not thine? Arc these not thine?'
And they reply, 'Forever mine I'
My branches speak Italian,
English, German, Basque, Castillan,
Mountain speech to Highlanders,
Ocean tongii's to islanders,
To Finn and Lapp nnd swart Malay,
To each his bosom-secret say."
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Internal revenue officers nre invariably
art students of still life. "
What Do You Know?
QUIZ
'1. Which one of the three Scandinavians
nations has the largest population?
2. What state docs Senator Pomerens
represent?
3. In what jear did W. J. Bryan first rur
for President?
4. What Is wrong with the spelling of this
word "Krisklngle"?
C. What was tho nationality of Magellan,
the first circumnavigator of the globe?
0. What is the salary of the speaker of tbo
House of Representatives?
7. Who wrote "Tho Story of a Bad
Boy"? '
8. Name two towns in tho Hawaiian
Islands besides Honolulu?
0. What Is a manometer?
10. Who was tho mother of Queen Elizabeth?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
1. Wood alcohol Is the distillation of green
wood. ,
2. Oman is a country In eastern Arabia,
bordering on tho Persian Gulf and "the
Gulf of Oman. It is ruled by a Sultan,
The capital is Muscat.
3. President' Wilson was sixty-thrca years
old on bis last birthday, on De:
comber 28.
4. Catherine of Aragon was tho first wife
of Henry VIII of England.
D. Three of- the great waterfalls of tho
world aire the Falls of tbo Zambesi I p.
Africa, the Falls of Iguassu in South
America and Niagara Falls.
0. The Isle ot Man in the Irish Sea has
borne rule. Tho insular legislature is
called tho House of Key's.
T, Hiram Johnson was the vico presi
dential candidate of the Progressive
party in 1012.
8. A hemistich Is a half of a line ot Terse.
0. Seth Pecksniff, the unctuous hypocrite,
occurs In Dickeus'it itonU, "Marti
Chuzzlewlt."
10. Tho nmiMUll is naliTs to Soytb
, JUwrfca. .
MMII11
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