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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1900)
!W" v ? " i THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, 'APRIL' 22, 1900. STYLE. The writing of the present day will have but a small permanent place In literature. It has historic value as the record of our literary activity, but it is not necessary to the thinking mind in the sense that Homer and "Virgil are necessary. Dante and Goethe, Shakes peare and Milton. Since Tennyson, no poet, since Burke no politician, is clas sical. We fall short in both essentials of literary achievement, we have nei ther form nor matter. The substance of the author's message and the garb in which he sends it forth are both of great importance. Neither is negligi ble. With either alone, comparative eminence can be achieved, but the high est places are for those who have thought and style, each in superlative degree. The great thinker who is an Imperfect writer Influences humanity; but indirectly. His own message Is a closed book to the general mind, which must be reached through attractive writing: while perfection of style, com bined with barrenness of thought, may be sure of an audience but of no con verts. For thought, there is no recipe. Only the man born with the passion for study of books or research In Nature, or with both combined, can leave the world wiser than he found it. The mat ter of style is more susceptible of ac quisition, though within limitations. The marvelous gift of language is born In a Keats or Thackeray, and perhaps no study can supply the true literary faculty when wholly lacking. But the annals of literature are full of the testimony of gifted writers as to how they trained their faculty of expression. Some saturated them selves with the ancient classics, some carried "Hamlet" In their pockets for years, some forbade them selves to read any writing of Inferior order lest their style should be vitiated. There Is little evidence today of this devotion to style. The reason is that our writers neglect to form their vo cabularies and their syntax from the masters of English prose. An Illustra tion of a beautiful style Is given on this page today in extracts from one of the "Old World Romances" of Edgar Allan Poe. It may be taken as a companion- piece to Washington Irvlng's essay on Westminster Abbey, printed two weeks ago. Nothing that Poe or Irving had to say Is of any concern to a thinking mind today. What thinking they did was lit tle enough at best, and has no bearing on problems of the present day. Poe's revolt against the tyranny that domi nated the world of letters has passed into criticism. Irvlng's history has been corrected and superseded. But their Imaginative and reflective prose Is a fountain of delight for the leisure hour and an admirable school for the literary aspirant. They have no mis sion to clarify the thought or guide the life: nothing but charm for the ear, solace for the pensive hour, and a model for all who seek through literature to impress themselves on mankind. In the precision of their writing lies Its charm. Every word fits into Its place like the keystone in the arch. Every sentence Is a polish! gem. In the strife for literary recognition he who equips himself with the charm of ex pression lays hold on a weapon his adversaries will have difficulty to with- lstand. There comes a day to every literature when style is everything, and then Is I the hour of its decline and fall. The enthronement of realism Is confession that detail has conquered Us. Form Is more than matter, appearance more than substance. Great discoveries In nlnd and matter become familiarized ind we dwell on the countless minor things that make no difference. When Greece discovered herself, when the Renaissance and the Elizabethan Age rediscovered Greece and first dlscoT- ered the real world in which we live. literature was born and then born again. But today little seems left to us but retrospection, and painful pursuit of detail; the romantic poem, the en cumbered painting, the musician run to technique, the society drama, the prob lem novel. Occasionally a man like Lecky or Matthew Arnold shows us what high thinking and pellucid style can do even today, when they are com bined. But the arid waste of current literature shows nothing, perhaps, but that we are waiting for somebody or something. What new worlds ore to be discovered or ancient thought re- k-lved that shall give us another Golden Vge? Says General Joseph Wheeler In a hate Issue of the New York Independ ent, In the matter of our trade with China: "To obtain the best success In dealing with the people of China and the Philippines, we must send thither Intelligent agents, who will study their customs, prejudices and preferences. and we can then offer them what they wont in the shape most pleasing to them, and In the way which best suits their convenience." And when he adds. "If we take over our goods and Insist upon forcing both our goods and ideas upon them, we will fall far short of the highest attainable success," he makes a statement that accords at once with common sense and Intelligent knowl edge of human nature. Western meth ods may be the best methods; certainly Western peoples and nations are Justi fied In believing that they are. But It Is worse than useless to expect Oriental peoples to accept this view cheerfully and with alacrity. The practical fail ure, after years of persistent effort, to Induce any proportion worth mention ing of the whole of the people of the Chinese Empire to discard the religion of Confucius for that of Christ should be of suggestive value In formulating our trade tactics with China. Though a simple-minded people, the Chinese have very definite Ideas of what suits them, and they will not have, except In Insignificant measure, what they do not want. Simply and plainly stated. we must cater to the desires of the Ori ental peoples if we would build up to the limit of Its possibilities a trade with them. A NOBLE TYPE. General Hazard Stevens biography of his father. General Isaac Ingalls Ste vens, Washington's first Governor, Is the plain and simple record of one of the many men, hard-headed, indomita ble, bustling with energy, full of shrewd common sense, whose personal sacri fices and bravery freed the Northwest from the domination of the red man and made It safe for white settlement. Coming West when Washington was created a territory and shortly after the United States had extended Us au thority over the Oregon country. Gov ernor Stevens' first duty was to treat with the Indians and obtain their relin quishment of title to lands held by them. In a few weeks he added many thousands of square miles. to the public domain. His treatment of the Indians was that of a conscientious public offi cial, mingled with the humanity of a noble soul. "You are my children," he said to the Indians at the Point Elliott council, "for whom I will strenuously labor all the days of my life until I shall be taken hence." Upright to the lost degree, he suffered no advantage to be taken of the passing race which the white man was supplanting. He heard the red man's complaint In gen erous spirit, and firmly insisted that no treaty be signed until full under standing of all Its terms had been had. The resolute spirit and prompt sa gacity of the man were brought Into play when, at the Chehalls council, he reprimanded the refractory and lying Tleyuk. and tore the chiefs commission the Government had given him. It was a courageous act. and It was also ef fective in its consequences. Knowing the admiration of the savages for per sonal courage. Governor Stevens deter mined by a sudden surprise to overawe the pompous Tleyuk and check the rising passions of his 350 tribesmen. History abounds In acts of personal courage by men who have been the ex ponents and defenders of civilization on the frontier. Witness John Smith and a few followers In early days in Vir ginia rushing Into Opekankano's lodge, seizing him by the long scalp-lock, dragging him before his astonished tribesmen, holding a pistol to his breast and forcing him to furnish corn to the starving people of Jamestown. Wit ness Governor Duval, accompanied by an Interpreter, riding boldly Into an Indian war council In Florida, in 1823. and breaking up the conspiracy of Nea mathlo. Witness the courage of Gen eral Joseph Lane, when violation of an armistice had put himself and ten un armed men at the mercy of 700 Rogue River Indians at Table Rock, in South ern Oregon, In 1S53. A few defiant words said with the utmost composure changed the murderous Rogues from their purpose to massacre General Lane and his associates, the excitement sub sided, and the peace negotiations were continued in amity. For another kind of courage, but withal faithfulness of a white man to Indian compacts, wit ness Joe Meek's devotion to his Nez Perces wife. When he was asked why he could not abandon his wife and cut loose entirely from his wild life, the brave old mountaineer placed his hand over his heart and replied: "I could not do that; It hurt here." Though the treaties negotiated by Qovernor Duval, General Lane and .Governor Stevens, and the intrepidity of Smith, were followed by fierce and destructive Indian wars, the eminence of the services of these pioneers to civ ilization is nowise impaired. The out breaks were reactionary, and, one might almost say, the natural results of the confinement of savages within definite territorial limits, or reservations. The negotiators vere not at fault. They blazed the trail for the white settlers; numbers settled the question of race supremacy, though In the meantime the new race suffered in life and property. What Smith was to Virginia and Duval to Florida, that also were Stevens to Washington and Lane to Oregon. Ste vens and Lane represented in the high est degree the type of brave men who pushed the frontier of civilization west ward from the Mississippi, until, skirt ing the shores of the Pacific, it came face to face with the awakening civili zation of the Orient and the ancient home of the Aryan race. It Is fitting In General Stevens' case that the son should commemorate the heroic deeds of the father. But It Is one more solemn reminder that the nineteenth century will mark the passing of the era made glorious by the great deeds of the pio neers and of the large majority of the men and women who fitted this country for the hearths that burn so brightly In thousands of happy homes. IICVIVAL OP LOVE FOR TREES. Tho demand for rapid transit has been one of the pronounced features of an age governed by energy and domi nated by haste. In response thereto, the street railways have been given right of way In crowded streets, bi cycles have been granted the privileges of sidewalks, forests of unsightly poles strung with hissing wires have sprung up In cities, and shade trees the growth of years and the heritage of beauty from the painstaking of a past generation have been mutilated be yond all semblance of natural loveli ness or wholly uprooted. Beyond an occasional sentimental sigh from a middle-aged person who recalled the date, away back In his childhood, of the trees' planting, .or perhaps a tear stealing silently down an aged cheek at the memory of the time when these venerable trees were slender saplings carefully protected from possible harm by municipal or parental decree, the trees have generally fallen before the demands of modern life, without a sign of regret at their sacrifice. Of late, however, it is said that senti ment in favor of protecting tree life against the ruthless encroachment of modern Improvements has been revived In New York City, where for years every tree that stood In the line of what the world today calls mechanical prog ress has fallen, without exciting protest and seemingly without causing regret. Instead of the decree "cut It down" be ing executed unquestionably, protest has arisen and a hearing before the authorities demanded by tree-lovers to consider ways and means whereby the tree held to be "In the way" might be protected without sacrifice of the pub lic convenience. In support of this statement It Is cited that a few days ago a certain site in Central Park was suggested as the best place for the statue of General Sherman, which the members of the Chamber of Commerce are to give to New York City. The spot chosen Is In every respect admirable, but the plac ing of the statue there would .require the destruction of several fine old trees, and there was an Instant and strong objection to its selection. Even a fine statue of the hero of Atlanta. It Is held, must take second place to the grand work of nature as unfolded In these trees. Again, the Rapid Transit Com mission was compelled to give a hear ing to a committee of an association in favor of having a contemplated under ground railroad so constructed that the fine trees In the Boulevard Parkway may not be destroyed. It was shown that the road In this street. If built by excavation, would kill most If not all of the trees on the route: If by tunnel ing, the trees would be preserved. The latter, however, would be the mora costly method of construction, but the commission gave assurance that all that Is possible will be done to save the trees, and that even so Important a public work as rapid transit would not be allowed to ruthlessly destroy them. Every lover of trees will rejoice In this revival of the spirit for their pro tection. This sentiment does not, of course, extend to the commercial and business centers of the great city, where every vestige of tree life ha long since been stamped out, but It broods tenderly over public parks, where It Is held that a magnificent tree, the work of nature during the greater part of a century. Is more befitting to the landscape than a monument hewn from granite or molded from bronze to commemorate the deeds of a mili tary hero. Not that the monument Is not In every way a worthy and desira ble expression of public gratitude for a grand public achievement. The expres sion simply voiced is: "Let a site be chosen for the monument where its erection will not make necessary the sacrifice of the trees the landscape's greatest beauty." It Is not asked or expected that sentiment will be the su preme arbiter In all cases In which trees stand In the way of modern Improve ments. But simply that. Instead of hastening to cut them down, an effort will be made to preserve them. If pos sible, even at considerable cost In de vices to evade their destruction. pnoiuniTios op recreation. The New York East Conference of the Methodist Church, at Us recent session in Danbury, Corin voted almost unan imously for a resolution requesting the General Conference to strike out of the "Book of Discipline" the specific Injunc tion against members attending horse races and theaters, and against indulg ing In dancing and card-playing. The resolution was advocated by Rev. Dr. Rice, of Wesleyan University; by Rev. Dr. J. M. Buckley; by Rev. Dr. George P. Mains, and by Rev. Dr. H. H. Beatty. These eminent Methodist clergymen held that the attempt to legislate evil out of the great Method ist Episcopal Church has proved an evil In itself. Rev. Dr. Rice said: We do not -want such prohibitions. For my self I do not believe In card-playing; 'theater going or dandejr, but I think It Is a. sad mis take to have such opeclno clatvra In the Book of Discipline. Let na get at It In & practical way. Let ua coiiect our blunder and start right. Dr, Rice said tlit many sincere and honest Christlans'do not agree with the church authorities as to certain forms of amusement; that the prohibition was so repulsive to young people that they hesitate to join the church, and some go to other churches. Dr. Rice held that the conscience of the Christian should alone be the Judge of what form of amusement he participated In. Rev. Dr. Buckley held that the only things that should be specifically prohibited are those which are essentially Im moral. He declared that he had al ways voted against tho adoption of these restrictions, and believed that they were the great promoters of the things they were intended to prohibit. These eminent clergymen are right. They have the wit to perceive and the courage to confess that churches are made repulsive to many well-disposed persons because they are voiced and conducted by narrow-minded, bigoted Puritans, who are not content to de nounce what Is really sinful, morally Indecent and pernicious, but denounce things that are not sinful or Indecent at all. Humanity is naturally gregari ous and of social habit. The world Is sure to seek recreation, and the denun ciation of decent recreation because it is quite possible to abuse or misuse It Is absurd. There Is nothing that Is good that has not its base counter part. Pious speech and action Is some times presented In the base form of hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness. Does that fact furnish a reason for the dis couragement of the cultivation of pious thoughts and practice? It Is possible to dance indecently, to gamble with cards, and present Inde cent dramatic spectacles; but to pro hibit on this plea all dancing, card playing and the theater, would be as shallow as It would be to forbid the creation of literature because it Is pos sible to write and print Immoral or in decent prose or verse, or to forbid the pictorial arts because they are some times prostituted to indecent and im moral purposes. A woman who dances decently Is no more responsible for women who choose to dance Indecently than a woman who speaks decently Is responsible for a woman who speaks Indecently. The same stupid logic Is contained In the view that because some men are intemperate to their own Injury and to the outrage of law and order, the sale of alcoholic liquors as a beverage should be prohibited to all men. All this logic is absurd which holds that because somebody has abused a thing nobody shall ever be legally permitted to use It again. Everything that helps to keep life full of light and from becoming a howling wilderness full of morose misers and hypochondriac monks Is stupidly placed under the ban by your Puritan because It has been perverted to base uses and dragged down to the level of the ditch. Reason revolts from this absurd confu sion of the use of recreation and the abuse of It. Intemperance In love de generates Into Jealousy; disappointment In love sometimes breeds vlndlctlve ness which prompts to murder, or breeds depression which ends In suicide Intemperance in love leads to adultery. Illegitimate births and social evils of all sorts. Because of this shall sane human society embrace the Shaker faith, prohibit marriage and repress all love between the sexes? Shall we treat sexual love with contempt because out of its Intemperate exhibition great so cial evils afflict mankind? We punish crime, and we do not allow any man to plead In excuse of his crimes "the woman-ave toine and I did eat;" nor do we allow any man to plead in ex tenuation of his crimes his Intemper ance In drink. THE MAX BEHIND THE OXIOX. "The Man With the Hoe" was In town yesterday. He came from "out Yamhill way," and brought a hundred sacks of onions with him. He sold the onions, and In the afternoon returned to the farm bowed down, not with "the weight of centuries," etc., but with the weight of $650 In shining, yellow gold, which one of the "oppressors of mankind" had paid him for the onions. As is usual at this time of the year, the man with the hoe found the air freighted with the direst political walling, and, had he listened, from many a free-lunch coun ter and street-corner orator he could have heard how the accursed gold standard Is making paupers of us alL The onion-grower, however, escaped the knowledge of the dreadful predica ment he was In by hurrying back to the farm, to bring In another load of onions before the price goes down. The price paid for onions In the Port land market yesterday Is the highest that has been reached for many years. The scarcity and attendant high prices are, of course, unusual, but rare Indeed Is the season when growers do not se cure prices which insure them goqd, substantial returns for the labor of pro duction. Last year at this time pota toes were selling at $2 per sack, ena bling a great many small farmers to market the output of an acre or two of land at a figure sufficiently large to maintain their households for the re mainder of the year. Mr. David Rlggetto, who sold the above-mentioned lot of onions, does not place all of his eggs In one basket, but conducts his farming operations on a plan sufficiently diversified to enable him to always have "a certain amount of produce which will command good figures. Last year both potatoes and onions brought him In a good income, and this year the onion crop Is more than making a stand-off for the low prices of potatoes. Mr. Rlggetto has no monopoly of this business, but a study of his methods and a practical applica tion of the same will knock that "brother to the ox." etc., portion of Markham's theory higher than Gllde roy8 kite. Honest toll and well-directed efTort will bring Its reward. Just as it ever has and ever will, "world with out end." The propensity of children boys unable to earn their own shoe leather and girls without household knowledge sufficient to sweep a room or boll pota toes to get married is a serious one, which all persons, whether related to them or not, should refuse to aid and abet in any manner whatever. Of course, the divorce of these heedless youngsters can, and frequently is, se cured by parents not quite ready to give the madcaps over to the conse quences of their folly, but the under taking Is at best vexatious and un pleasant. Perjury that falsifies In re gard to the ages of juvenile candidates for matrimony Is of a type that. In the best Interests of the community, should be dealt with as provided by law, while the magistrate or minister who goes through the mockery of the marriage ceremony between children deserves not only the condemnation of all responsi ble, right-minded people, but he should be visited with such penalty as the law provides necessarily Inadequate for this grievous offense against the family and society. One of the legitimate results of the better knowledge of America on the part of the Japanese growing out of our advent Into the Orient Is Increased Im migration of the little brown men Into this country. The stopping at various Japanese ports of American Army transports was an object-lesson to the people extremely impressive. Even common soldiers spent money like water there. The Japanese stared in astonishment when they saw Uncle Sam's boys In blue with as much gold In their pockets as a man In that coun try could earn In a year. This must be the land of promise, the new eldo rado, to them. It Is here, no' doubt, they locate the bucket of gold at the end of ttie rainbow. Thousands have come rainbow chasing since our volun teers passed through the Mikado's Em pire, and they are but the advance guard. There need be little fear of im migration from the Philippines, for the people are too lazy to hunt work, and the change In climate Is too great; but from Nippon we may expect a flood. The American ship Abner Coburn has been chartered to carry coal from MoJI, Japan, to Hong Kong, at J2 50 per ton. The Coburn has Just arrived at Hiogo from New York, with general merchan dise, and proceeds In ballast to MoJI to load. In this trade the American ship Is in competition with German, English, Japanese, Norwegian, Italian, Chinese, and, in fact, with ships of every other nation that has a flag on the high seas. Mr. Smith, of the ship ping subsidy grafters' literary bureau at Washington, In a recent letter to The Oregonian. stated that the only profit made by American ships was while they were employed In the Amer ican coasting trade, from which all for eign vessels are excluded. Such being the case. It seems passing strange that an American ship would be sent so far from home In competition with the fleets of the world. The charter of the Coburn, however. Is but one of a great many cold, hard commercial facts, re garding which the subsidy grafters maintain a very discreet silence. No one should be surprised that the members of the Chicago Ambulance Corps have thrown oft their mask and developed Into a fighting organization. Its very composition was enough to In dicate, its character. The men were all pf the violently anti-English type of Irishmen, and had seen service In the National Guard and the Spanish-American war. One of the qualifications boasted of at the time of their de parture was their expert marksman ship. Of course. Miss Barton was de ceived by their representations and their possession of a complete ambu lance outfit, which a few of them, the surgeons of the party, will doubtless use, while the major portion go Into active service. Being an upright and honest woman, with her heart in the noble work of the Red Cross, Miss Bar ton may readily be excused for her ig norance of the methods of the Chicago Clan na Gael. One of the little organs accuses The Oregonian of "personal hostility to Sen ator McBride." This is silly. There Is nothing against McBride that amounts to iserlous objection, beyond the fact that he is a cheap little political trim mer who practices the small arts of 1 politics 'for his own advantage; that really he is nobody and nothing, and that men of ability and force ought to be sent to the Senate of the United States. Is It possible that a crushing monop oly Is going to deprive the people of the diamonds they should have for their fingers and shirt fronts? If the De Beers trust prevents the opening of the new diamond fields, how long will the people endure the denial of their rights? Here Is an opening for Bryan that dis counts his plea for the stamp taxes on parlor car tickets that are grinding down the tolling masses. Colonel Colson Is the latest great Kentucklan to vindicate the unwritten law of the hair-trigger state that the right to bear arms and use them on one's personal enemies must never be abridged. It Is pleasing to know that Dr. Daly regards his election to Congress as cer tain. The voters of the First District will at the proper time persuade the doctor to change his mind. Chicago has no use 'for Candidate Dewey, but when the time comes she will tender to Admiral Dewey a genur lne Western welcome. TIIE PERFECTION OF BOSSISM. Considerable Life Left In. the Old Tribune Yet. New York Tribune. One of the marks of modern civilization Is the oboUltlon of useless and antiquated ways of doing "things. Having perfected machinery to perform work, we do not go through the senseless mockery of ac complishing it by hand. No farmer with his reaper and binder pays a tribute to ancient prejudice by employing a dozen fellows to stand about his fields with sic kles and give an Imitation of old-time har vesting. No railroad company transacts Its real business by express train and pays teamsters with wagons to drive about the country to fool people into the notion that the transportation business is thus carried on. With malls, telegraph lines and express companies at their command people do not, unless they want to adver tise themselves as freaks, send messenger boys half around the world to deliver let ters and packages. But in one sphere of activity people seem to have neglected to adapt practical means to practical ends. In politics we have the political trust, the political steam engine, the political automobile and all the other instruments of high civilization. Yet long after they have performed their work we sent the small tradesmen, the horse treadmill and the ox team of poll tics over the course of their operations, making a senseless mummery with super fluous and Idle motions. Take, for in stance, the state convention to be held in this city next week. Several hundred people, dressed In their political work-' lng clothes, with carefully made-up marks of political sweat upon their brows, will be assembled at great expense from nil parts of the state to give a dramatic representation of popular government In operation. There will bo speeches and resolutions and votes, and when the play is finished the public will be invited to Inspect a certain political output as the result of their labors. As a matter of fact those wares are already made, fin ished, polished and on exhibition. The modern political steam engine has at tended to all that, and the hand labor ers' convention, has about as much to do with it as an assembly of geologists on Vesuvius has to do with a coincident erup tion of that volcano. Mr. Thomas C. Piatt has already made all the necessary speeches, adopted the resolutions and cast the votes. Tho resolutions as agreed to are an indorsement of President McKIn ley. with a demand for his renomlnatlon. and an Indorsement of Governor Roose velt, without a demand for his renomlna tlon. The votes as cast and counted show the election as delegates to the National convention or Thomas C. Piatt, Cbaunccy M. Depew, Benjamin B. Odell and Theo dore Roosevelt The fine, well-oiled and powerful triple expansion engine has done ail that, as everybody knows. While in the matter of resolutions there seems to be a con spicuous omission, on the whole the work seems to be as well done as can be ex pected of machine-made goods, which in the market, are not generally considered up to the standard of old-fashioned, hon est hand work. But this is an age of ma chinery, and we expect our politics as well as our furniture and shoes to be turned out from a factory. But what is the sense of going through the elaborate and costly farce of sending all tho factory goods out to cottage laborers simply to havo them brought in to the political fair with a transparently false label, "hand-mado"? If It deceived anybody It would be dishonest. But it doesn't de ceive a soul. Everybody knows where and when the goods were manufactured, and It is a mere waste of time and money not creditable to the practical sense of the American people to keep up this sol emn pretense. Let political as well ns commercial facts be accepted as they arc. It Is folly to go to the expense of hold ing a state convention merely to make a dumb show of doing what Mr. Plntt has already done. Both honesty and economy are subserved by frankly letting Mr. Piatt's action be final. Golna; to Cnpe Nome. J. Gordon Temple. The Cape Nome feTer's got our town. It aeems to flll the air; Ef they all go thet aes they will, 'twill butt the place, I awear. BUI Jones la aellln' off his things, an' so is Jerry Black; Jake Simpson aez be'lll mors his store, as' Smith's begun to pack. The Wldder Nott's a-teartn up, an" sex ahe'a goln. too; The Newhy girls her started thare, so what will Jonc'sburg doT 01 Grandpa Sykes Is all thet's left, but he's too old to roam: They'll send him back to Kansas, while the rest go to Cape Nome. We listen to reports from thare, a-tellln" how the gold . Is beln' picked up eVrywbare, an ot the rich claims sold. An' ma, she drops the paper then, an' aez: "Fer pity sakes. j They're seratchln up the coarsest gold Jest ustn' garden rakes! They say t ha re's nuggets bis as fists, an 10- ounce pans an slch; Ef fools an' tenderfoots her luck, we orter trtke It rich!" An' pap sez: "Mebbe It's all rite, but If a too fur from home": But. Jest the same, he's sola on the first boat to Cape Nome. We're fig'rln' on the rashuna thet we want ta take along: We're got advice from everyone, so "nuthln won't go wrong. There's half a ton o' bacon, an' five hunderd- weight o beans. Dried apples an' pertatocs well, ye don't know what It means To-buy things whed ye git thare, whare the prices are so high Te kaln't begin to tetch. 'em. fer they're "way up In the sky. Why, eggs Is ninety cents apiece, an" honey, by the comb. Is eighty cents, or beef Is worth one-fifty at Cape Nome! But thare's one thing- thet hurts me. an sum body else, I know; Ef 'twa'n't fer my sweet Carrie, why, I' wouldn't hate to go. I see her tender blue eyes now, a-swlmmln' In her tears. Her fondest hopes o'erbalanced by the presence of her fears. So, at the time o partln', when she sez her last "Good-bye," . I'll brace up-an' be cheerful, tho' I know I'll want to cry; Fer to me she's the dearest girl beneath the starry dome. An' I Jest long to prove It when I come back from Cape Nomel Portland. April 3D. MASTEREIECES OF LITERATURE-! "The Masque of the Red Edgar Allan Poe. Death"- The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. .Blood was its avatar and its sen the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body, and es pecially upon the face, of the victim were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow men. And the whole seizure, prog ress and termination of the disease were the incidents ot half an hour. But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his do minions were half depopulated, he sum moned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and wit these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the Prince's own eccentric yet august taste. Tho external world could take care of Itself. In the meantime It was folly to grieve, or to think. The Prince had pro vided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were lmprovisatorl, there were ballet-dancers, there were mu sicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was tho "Red Death." It was toward the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince Prospero enter tained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. It was a voluptuous scene, that mas querade. But first let ma tell of tho rooms In which it was held. There were seven an Imperial suite. But in the western or black chamber the effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood tinted panes was ghastly In tho extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of those who entered that there were few ot tho company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there game from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so pe culiar a note and emphasis that, at each laps eof an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, mo mentarily, in their performance, to heark en to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gny company; and. while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as If in confused revery of medi tation. But when the echoes had fully ceaserd, a light laughter at once per vaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as If j then own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clerk should pro duce in them no similar emotion; and " then, after the lapse of CO minutes (which embrace three thousand six hundred sec onds of the time that files) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were tho same disconcert and tremulous ness and meditation as before. But to the chamber which lies most westerly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who centure; for the night is waning away, and there flows a ruddier light through the blood colored panes; and the black, nesa of the sable drapery appals; and to him whoso foot falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears who indulge in the more remote gayctles of the other apartments. But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went wblrl lngly on, until at length there commenced the sounding of mUnlght upon the clock. And then the music ejpsed, as I have told; and the evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things as before. But now there were 12 strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus It happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, into the medi tations of the thoughtful among those who reveled. And thus too it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of tha last chime ha'd utterly sunk into silence, there were many individuals In the crowd who had found leisure to become aware ot the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention ot nw single indi vidual before. And the rumor ot this new presence having spread Itself whispcringly; around, there arose at length from tha whole company a buzz, or murmur, ex pressive of disapprobation and surprise then, finally, of terror, or horror, and ot disgust. There ore chords in the hearts ot tha most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally Jests, there are matters) of which no "jest can be made. The whole company. Indeed, & emed now deeply to.ceV that. In the cos tume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure waa tall and gaunt and shrouded from head to foot In the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the counte nace of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had dlfllculty In de tecting the cheat. And yet all this might havo been endured If not approved by tho mad revelers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type ot the Red Death. Ills feature was dab bled in blood and his broad brow, with all the features of the face, was be sprinkled with the scarlet horror. When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as If more fully to sustain Its role, stalked to and from among the waltzers! he waa seen to be convulsed in the first moment, with a strong shudder, either of terror or dis taste; but In the next, his brow reddened with rage. "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of tho courtiers, who stood near him "who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements." He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and bad approached. In rapid impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained the ex tremity of tho velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was a sharp cry and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospjro. Then, sum moning the wild courage of despair, a throng of revelers at once threw them selves into the black apartment, and, seiz ing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped In unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any tangible form. And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come, like a thief In the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despair ing posture of his fall. And the life of tha ebony clock went out with that of tha last of the gay. And the flames of the tri pods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held Illimitable domin ion over all. i wr;XH.ir.. a --ill." -V. J; jr . i lSli','gAfe'te,. ..--j i-ia.,1..-.-. v...- H1 &. i?6mf aa. it-1 , iSi MUAnJiA.. a ;U j. . tl jU- -J-t , .-jCA-.