THE SUNDAY OEEGOmAlT, PORTL-AJSD, JUNE 22, 1902.
32
SBRMOMS'By FOUR PKOMINENT MEMBERS OF THE, LA1T
THE eUHSE OF STRIPE- FCTR GOUD
By Professor L. Ferriani
FOR several years I have studied care
fully the greed and egotism that Is
becoming more and more evident
among children of this generation, produc
ing a race of born usurors, and I, have
tried to find the cause for this greed that
Is so disgusting In man, but that Is in
finitely more so in young children.
We all know; of course, that the strug
gle for existence is dally growing harder
and that the instinct of self-preservation
and a certain amount of egotism is not
only excusable, but absolutely necessary,
to success in life, but we are not justified
in raising children in whom egotism domi
nates all other feelings.
An education without a foundation of
altruism dcvelop's a child's egotism, and
if we do not continually teach our chil
dren that eelf-gratlflcatlon Is not the
highest aim in life, if we do not teach
them the beauty of self-sacrifice", we will
transform them Into heartless, unfeeling
fihylocks.
From egotism to greed there is only a
very short stop, and the step from greed
to usury Is still shorter, and from the
times of the old Greeks and Romans no
living being has been despised so much
as tho miser. t
Antlsthenes said: "The miser can never
be virtuous," and Plutarch says about
greed that Is the hardest form of tyr
anny, which drives you to want and grasp
things, and at the same tlmo'prevents you
from using them, which stimulates your
appetite and prevents you from enjoying.
"When children grow up in the midst
of a family where the love of gold is the
only god, where the parents always speak
about the pleasure of making money as
the chief object of human life, these chil
dren will naturally develop into what
Goethe calls "men with buttoned pock
ets,' and their hearts will be closed
against all higher and ideal feelings.
If the accumulation of wealth is al
ways shown to the boy as the most desir
able thing in life, it will gradually destroy
in him all sense of charity, love and af
fection; he will get tho Impression that
with money he can accomplish everything;
with love nothing, and he will naturally
spurn love.
His thoughts will get accustomed to
moving within one narrow circle drawn
around the center of his only god money.
He will in time become a miser, and
usurer, the most deadly enemy of modern
society. He will be as Cain, who only
feels hate and inspires hate.
There is no sight which is so painful to
me as the sight of a child that ought to
feel love In Its heart for all the- beauties
of this world, thinking of nothing but
money and the power and pleasure of
possessing it.
There is in every child a certain
amount of egotism, but -we the parents of
children are responsible; we have it in
our power to diminish this egotism by
teaching love and charity, or develop it
by preaching the gospel of gain and the
love of money.
In many families, especially among
those wlio have suddenly become rich,
the words "love," "Christian charity,"
"brotherhood" and "altruism" have been
devoured by the fever of money, and in
stead of these their children will only
hear talk about principal, interest, profit
and gain.
Parents of this kind, who only adore
the golden calf, have absolutely no right
to have, children, and would do a kinder
act it they killed them immediately after
their birth than they do by raising therri
to grow up knowing no pleasures In life
but those that can bo bought for money.
To get material -for tills article in con
demnation of this kind of education I have
put questions to 100 children, and their re
sponses contain the strongest condemna
tion that I can imagine.
These 100 children all belonged to' the
educated and moderately well-off classes,
and it is not without reason that I have
selected just this kind.
Children who have known starvation.
who have felt wants and needs of all
kinds, and who have received little or no
education, naturally have a false idea of
the value of money, and from this false
idea very often rises their envy of the
rich, and for these reasons I have se
lected no children among the extremely
poor.
The 100 children might be dlcided In
three different categories.
First category:
Seventy children who knew that If you
were rich enough you might be 'the mas
ter of the whole world.
Second category:
Twenty children who knew that money
-would buy everything.
Third category:
Ten children who knew that to be per
fectly content and happy you must havo
lots of money.
Among all these 100 children there, were
only seven who knew that with money
you might do good. Remember, I say
"mlght dof" not "ought to do."
Among these children I found 12 usurers,
of whom I shall speak later. For the
present I shall classify them physiologic
ally In this way;
Egotists to a certain extent, 35.
Pronounced egotists, 4S. .
Indifferent, 17.
Greedy. S3.
J Usurers, 12. '
In the class of egotists there were 52
per cent girls. In the class of greed 3 per
cent. In the class of usurers 1 per cent.
I put a number of questions to these
children, and shall note. 15 answers here,
which are the most characteristic and
show their moral state the best.
1. (GirL) When you have money you
are happy, because you can amuse your
self. 2. (Boy.) "With money' you can do
everything.
3. (Boy.) My father is very rich; ho
can do anything he pleases. He com
mands, he orders, and everybody obeys.
4. (GirL) To enjoy life you must be
rich.- x
5. (Boy.) I am rich now, but when I
grow big I will become a millionaire.
G. (GirL) "When my uncle dies and he
Is sick now I will have money enough to
marry any one I like, and" mamma says I
ssnall marry a Prince. .
7. (Boys.) Mamma has told me that
you can buy everything for money.
8. (Girl.) If I should get poor and have
no money to enjoy myself, I should die
from eorrow. '
9. (Boy.) Papa has tqld me that to be
strong and Independent you must have
plenty of money.
10. (Boy.) Money Is happiness, for mon
ey will buy everything.
11. (Girl.) "Without money you can
have nothing good to eat, no servants, no
box at tlie opera and no carriage.
12. (Girl.) I do not see how a person
cares to live without money. The poor
must be very unhappy.
13. (Girl.) How nice It must be to be
rich, so that you can have everything bet
ter than all your friends.
14. (Girl.) "With plenty of money you
are sure to have no sorrow.
15. (Girl.) I know when I marry I shall
have a fine trousseau, but I will marry
no one but a very rich man. He does not
need to be good or noble If he has only
plenty of money.
These answers and hundreds of others
that I have received are as instantaneous
photographs of the minds of children that
have been brought up In families where
the greed for money dominates all other
feelings.
They show the pitiful sight of children
that hope for the death of their parents
to become rich little girls still playing
with dolls thinking of marriage only as
a stepping stone to riches and I cannot
Imagine anything that could make you
feel more sad than all these little souls
that have been deprived of all true pleas
ures in life and that shall never be able
to see anything higher than money.
Among the boys I shall point out eight
young Shylocks.
1. Sold to his friends blank books, that
cost himself nothing, for a higher price
than they could be bought for in the book
store; and not only this, but from every
blank book he would tear out a few sheets
that he would sell separately.
2. "Would lend money to his little broth
er at 60 per cent Interest.
3. Sold pens given to him by his undo
at 50 per cent profit.
4. Stole fruit in a garden and sold It
at twice Its value.
5. Sold candy on credit at GO per cent
profit.
6. Lent his books, pens, pencils, etc.,
to others at regular fixed rates.
7. Lent money at 100 per cent.
i o.. com nam or nis mncn ana lent tno
money to others at 20 per cent per week.
These facts speak for themselves. It
is a brutal language, but It gives us many
valuable hints, showing us how necessary
It is to eradicate all traces of egotism
from the mind of a child or we may
blame nobody but ourselves if our child
turns out to be a rnlser. a usurer, or even
a thief, and this Idea ought to make us
use all our efforts -to plant In the fertile
soil of the childish mind the seed of love,
and keep our eye open for any tare that
might show its head and endanger the
moral character of our children.
LINO FERRIANI.
Copyright, 1902, "W. R. Hearst.
WHAT CONSTITUTES -REAL HAPPINESS?
By Hon. W: Sourke Cockran, L. L. t.
O X.IFE can be claimed successful
unless It be a happy one. Happi
ness is the object of universal en
deavor, and happiness alone Is success.
Of course, when we speak of a happy
life we do not mean a condition of un
interrupted bliss. Sickness, death and
other disasters He In wait for every man
even the most successful making diffi
cult the progress which overcomes them
wounding and blistering the feet which
they cannot arrest.
The cup of success cannot be quaffed
without tasting some bitter dregs of disap
pointment. Perfect happiness is not of
this earth. By a successful life we mean
not one which has escaped all sorrow, but
one which by comparison with others
has achleevd a larger degree of happi
ness. There is nothing about which men think
so much or which they desire so 'ardently
as success, and yet I venture to say there
are few who would be able to define it,
and not very many who have even a clear
conception of it.
That which today we bolleve absolutely
essential to our happiness tomorrow we
may regard as an obstacle to it. The
event which as we approached it we be
lieved to be a disaster, looking back at
it we find to have been a stepping-stone
to prosperity.
To discuss success intelligently, it is ,
then necessary to agree upon what It is.
Having ascertained in what it consists,
we can consider how it must be achieved
and how it may be maintained.
"What is happiness?
Is it fame?
Some wise men hold that fame is post
humous and notoriety contemporaneous,
but without pausing to consider the
grounds of that belief it is cortaln that
the only fruit which fame or notoriety
brings to its living possessor Is the sense
that his fellow-men are curious about him.
To bo gazed at In the street or in a
public conveyance soon palls upon the
mind; from being a source of satisfaction
it becomes a source of embarrassment.
The prominence which has cost a life
time of Industry and self-denial to acquire
can be forfeited in a moment, by an ill
considered act or a maladroit expression.
This sense of insecurity in its possession
robs It of all enjoyment, and speedily
convinces any man with sufficient wit to
become conspicuous that no one can be
considered famous until he is dead. A
reward which can be enjoyed only beyond
the grave Is not a temporal success, and
therefore is not within the purview of this
discussion.
Is power happiness?
I am inclined to mean that it Is far
from being it. Ask the possessor of It and
he will tell you that it is an obstacle to
all contentment. Power is a good deal
like commercial credit. A man can pos
sess it only while he refrains from using
It for his own benefit. An attempt to
utilize it for personal gratification destroys,
it.
"Wherever power exists It must be ex
ercised chiefly for Its own preservation;
and this is true whether the potentate
be the Czar of all tho Russlas or the boss
of an American city.
The imperial autocrat cannot appoint an
Incompetent favorite to the command of
his armies without exposing his throne to
destruction by foreign invasion or domes
tic revolt. He cannot even gratify his
own caprice in the appointment of a spy,
for his very life depends upon the vigi
lance of his police.
The American boss must use all his
power to enlist the aid of those best quali
fied to maintain his boss-ship.
If he treated the appointments or nom
inations to office controlled by him as
porsonal perquisites to be bestowed on
personal favorites, his power would not
last a twolvemonth. A man can always
forqe his appointment on any potentate
by making himself the most capable
that is to say, the most useful to the ap-
! pointing power.
I I do not say that this capacity "which
Imposes Itself on power Is always one to
be approved by the moralist or encour
aged by the patriot. It may be meritorious
or it may not, according to tlie system
which it is enlisted to uphold, but, what
ever the form of ability which authority
requires for a prop, tho possessor of that
ability can always dictate terms to the
possessor of power.
"What, then, in the last analysis, is the
potentate but an agent to distribute
among the capable the theaters on which
they can best display their capacity? And
to exercise this function of assigning men
to different fields of activity, the man of
power must pass his days In an atmos
phere which encourages baseness and
mendacity, which stifles honor and loyalty.
The competition for his favor Is so keen
that ten thousand active wits study every
weakness of his nature and play upon It.
The. real friends who would tell him the
truths he ought to hear are pushed aside
by pretended friends, who tell him the
untruths which he wants to hear.
While his power lasts the sycophants are
numerous to the point of embarrassment;
when It falls his true friends have been
alienated, and the false ones Instantly
abandon him to a solitude unbearable, af
ter the atmosphere of adulation to which
he has been accustomed.
We have the authority of the closest ob
server of human nature who ever com
mitted his thoughts to paper for saying
that It Is not happiness or ropose, but
uneasiness and discomfort, which a crown
brings to a human head.
Is knowledge happiness?
Tho utmost that a life devoted to study
can hope to accomplish is to discover the
fountain of knowledge; not one of us can
ever hope to slake his thirst at it. There
fore, if knowledge be, happiness, then in
deed is happiness unattainable.
Is wealth happiness?
Look at those who possess it and tell
me If you think they are a happy race.
Who that has observed In these cata
combs of modern cities called safe depos
its, the owners of millions, gloomy as the
passages through which they move si
lently, almost furtively, to compartments
appropriately named vaults, where in an
Isolation absolute as the grave they count
their securities or change them, will say
that, judged by appearances, the very
rich lead lives of unclouded Joy?
The millionaire always appears to be
melancholy, but nowhere is he so sad as
In the midst of his treasures. He is the
only human being who, by the common
observation of all men, has never shown
gayety, and who Is universally considered
incapable of it. I have heard of jolly beg
gars, but no one has ever heard of Jolly
millionaires.
The cripple sometimes smiles on the bed
to which ho is chained. The blind are
cheerful In the occupations to which their
affliction restricts them. It Is as natural
for a workman to sing while the object
of hl3 labor assumes a form In which it
will be at once the monument of his In
dustry and the source of his wages as it
is for a mother to sing over the cradle of
the child she has borne. But who ever
heard of a millionaire singing a comic song
or whistling a merry tune as he clips cou
pons in a subterranean cell?
From a somewhat extensive observation
of life I can say with perfect sincerity
that In my judgment hopeless misery ex
ists nowhere except among the idle rich.
The man, whatever the difficulties of the
pursuit, is always animated by the belief
that its possession will be a golden key
by which he can unlock the door to bound
less happiness, but the man whose wealth
is limitless knows how little money can
buy, and from that fatal discovery there
Is no escape.
After he has "built a house, purchased a
yacht and established a carriage, what
more can the rich man do for himself
though his millions be countless?
The luxuries which he coveted while they
were beyond his reach became common
place' once they are In his possession,
while the sense that there Is nothing more
which he can acquire robs his pursuits of
their keenest Interest.
Poverty may compel a man to renounce
luxuries and even comforts, but it leaves
him the blessed Influence of hope. There
is nothing to revive the gloom of the
hapless mortal who has discovered tho
limitations of a check.
If wealth, power, fame and knowledge
are not happiness, In what does It con
sist? Is It unattainable? No, so far from
being unattainable it Is not even difficult
to reach. It Is at our feet, and, as often
happens, we stumble over the substance
which Is close to us while straining after
its shadow in the distance.
Happiness consists not in our posses
sions, but in ourselves; not in what wo
have, but what we are. I think happiness
may be defined as absorption In some form
of effective labor.
Tou may say some men are unhappy
though they work every day nay, some
men declare their occupations are sources
of discontent because they are arduous.
Do not be deceived. A man's hands may
bo busy, yet he may be unhappy, but It
13 because his mind is not occupied by hl3
task. Where all the faculties, mental and
physical, are absorbed in any form of in
dustry', there is no time to feel discontent
and still less time to express It.
Happiness is effective labor. Our pos
sessions are often sources of disappoint
ment, but the labor spent in acquiring
them Is always a source of satisfaction.
W. BOURKE COCKRAN.
(Copyright, 1002, by W. R. Hearst.)
EVILS OF TOO MUCH MOM Eg' By Mrs. John A. Logan
HE indubitable evidence submitted
1 by Professor Ferriani of appall-
ing tendency of Americans down
to the second and third generation to
sacrifice everything on the altar of mam
mon Is a melancholy thought. The cos
mopolitan character of our people Is such
that strains from every race flow through
the veins of the American Nation. The
prodigious enorgy, dauntless pluck and
tireless patience of the generation just
vanishing has left to their progeny colos
sal fortunes, and while discretion has not
always been inherited with them, the
spirit of accumulation is assuredly abroad
in the land. Eagerness for gold is a fa
miliar characteristic. The first and ever
uppermost thought of men, women and
children is of money. How much can they
get out of anything does it pay, and
such ignoble questions are tlie first to
rise when anything is presented. Were
we not confronted dally by these facts
one would be disposed to doubt the cor
rectness of the hypothesis.
Truth compels almost everyone to ad
mit that they aro guilty of the serious
mistake of helping to encourage tho spirit
of doing everything for a promised rer
ward. A majority of parents give their
children money If they will be good, if
they will do certain duties they are
promised monev compensation, not in
frequently they are promised pay if they
will follow a certain diet, or if they will
forego sweets or something that Is not
good for them, when they should be re
quired to do these things from principle.
They are encouraged to hoard, to dis
courage extravagance, when they should
be taught discretion and sound judgment.
Parents who laid tho foundation of their
own fortunes by thrift and economy
naturally feel that the same policy will
be as fruitful for their children, arguing
that having provided something with
which their descendants can bogln life,
they should by strict application of the
policy which they pursued amass great
fortunes much earlier in life. We know
parents who double everything gained
by their children, thereby stimulating
them to the utmost exertion and almost
niggardly economy.
It is difficult for parents of the present
day to Induce their sons and daughters
to remain beneath the parental roof until
their majority, and few are willing to
turn over their earnings for the support
of the family, claiming if they support
themselves they should havo great credit,
and nothing more should be required of
them. In tho olden time children were
obliged to serve their paronts until they
reached their majority, and we arc not
certain that It was much better for them
than the present custom of allowing them
the freedom they now have. They had
more respect for their parents and deeper
affection for the members of the family
they felt were In a wise dependent upon
them.
Another prodigious Incontlvo young peo
ple have to acquire fortunes by fair
means or foul Is the Immeasurable In
fluence money has In tho world. We see
dally men without refinement or princi
ple suddenly become very rich without
inquiring into the means by which these
fortunes are made. They are taken up,
everyone accepting their Invitations and
vying with each other in heaping social
attentions upon them, and in. every way
flattering them. Crowned heads join
in the mad rush to fete them, expecting
sooner or later to use their ducats In the
furtherance of some scheme or to aid In
the liquidation of some monetary obli
gation. Paraphrasing the adage, "Tho
King can do no wrong," one would think
that In the eyes of the world the "rich
can do no wrong." No matter how much
of boors they may be, they have only to
be lavish with their money and they are
forgiven breaches in polite society, per
sonal vulgarity, atrocious manners and
want of principle. It is not surprising
that babes understand the supromacy of
money and leaA to feel the want of it
almost before thejj are out of their
cradles. The nufse girls as they push
their baby carriages In the parks discuss
the financial condition of their mistresses
and dissertate upon the distress of their
charges according to their Idea of the
wealth of their employers. Money is the
cry everywhere.
Tlie very servants of your household arc
constantly comparing the evidences of
money or tho lack of it as they go about
earnestly or indifferently, as they are im
pressed by your circumstances. Your
superior position from a cultivated stand
point through your inheritance of an illus
trious name makes little Impression com
pared to the display and style of your
millionaire neighbors. It is not surpris
ing that the desire for money should
dominate every class of society and fur
nish the motive for almost every action
of a people who hear nothing else and
who are educated to place It above every
thing else.
NotnIng is too sacred to be weighed by
the standard of gold. The holy state of
matrimony is far too often entered Into
from mercenary considerations. Men and
women are equally guilty of being biased
in their choice of a life partner by the
amount of money one or the other may
' have. ' Poor girls think they cannot marry
a poor man and help him to acquire for
tune and fame. A poor man hesitates to
undertake to supply the requirements of
society unless tho young woman he mar
ries have a fortune.
Some of them have been so selfish and
avaricious as deliberately to seek to mar
ry some one whose income will multiply
) and make it unnecessary for them to
make any effort in life.
There can be no hope for a change In
the ambitions of the youth of the Nation
unless those of mature years, who have
all to do with the present and future of
our country, take alarm at the present
overestimate of money and lack of appre
ciation of the higher and nobler possi
bilities of mankind. Intelligence, integ
rity, morality, education and Chris
tianity, If encouraged, are the forces that
can eradicate the baser elements that
have wrought the great change In Ameri
can ambitions. MRS. JOHN A. LOGAN.
(Copyright, 1002. TV. R. Hearst.)
THE PHILOSOPHLj OF GOOD TEMPER
By Harriet Prescott Spofford
j F IT were necessary to give an opln-
I ion as to what is the first and chief 1
constituent of a happy marriage one might
hesitate for a moment over the thought
of many almost indispensable virtues, and
dally over that of absolute trustfulness on
both sides, but one, if thinking and weigh
ing deliberately, would decide presently
that the real requlslto for happiness in
marriage is good nature. Not that a tem
pest once in a great while may not be
worth while to clear the air and to show
how good tho other is, but in the long
round year the sunshine and fair weather
is tho best.
What will you not pardon to a sunny-
faced rogue? A man may commit count
less peccadilloes, a thousand offenses
against good taste, even be guilty of sins,
but an unfailing sweetness of disposition
will win forgiveness for them alL A
woman may be extravagant, a poor
housekeeper, even slatternly, or a provok
er of scandal, but there Is no disruption
In the household of which she Is. mistress
as long as with a smile she acknowledges
her fault, though her sin Is ever before
us. A pair of dimples has saved many a
little scamp from a whipping; they are
Just as useful when the scamp is oldor
and tho dimples arp slipping into
wrinkles. For the dimple Is not only evi
dence of the smile itself, but it stimu
lates tho smiles of others.
Who can rebuke too sharply or too fre
quently ttW reproach is always received
without retort, without affront? Who is
not made to feel upon tho spot that good
nature is better than any impeccability?
We have, most of us, seen exquisite
housekeepers who all but follow the In
truder about with a broom, who are
ready to dust the chair you rise from,
require overshoes to be left outside the
door; who, if you take a book from one
room and lay it down," carry It back be
fore your eyes; who make more circum
stance of broken china than of broken
bones. And moat of -us prefer for a com
panion the home-body, who makes no fuss
about anything, but who Is tender and
caressing and gay and consoling and
sympathetic and always sweet-tempered,
although there be fluff on her floors and
nicks on her dishes and no meal ready at
Its appointed hour. And most of us,
again, rather than with the petulant and
fault-finding man, or with the stern and
sour and solemn Incarnation of all the
virtues, or with the lofty and superior
soul, without whose wisdom and learning
, tho world could not revolve, would choose
companionship with tho off-hand, Happy-go-lucky
fellow, who, if the dinner is
late, say?: "Never mind; it will be all the
better w'hon it docs come," or if we our
selves are late for church or theater or
outing, says: "Well, we will enjoy it ail
the more when we get there"; or, if the
servants are rebellious, condones It by de-
olarlni.- Wa nnn't fixnpfit nerfectlon for
j the price we pay." And this man may
have his bettor faults; he may not be at
homo as much as you would like; he may
be too careful -about the spending of his
money; he may have various habits un
pleasant to you; but you Jove him quite
aside from them; you regard them as ex
terior affairs, for which he is hardly re
sponsible; you find some one else to be
blamed for them, he himself Is the sunny
crcature who brightens gloom wherever
he goes, and of whose love you feel as
sured, whether in truth It is yours or not.
And after all the assurance of love pro
duces happiness.
In fact, good-nature Is a charm that
never dies. Beauty fades, accomplish
ments fall, but good-nature survives till
all else falls to dust. It blends the oppos
ing and contradictory elements like a for
tunate solvent. It acts precisely as sun
shine does, and where you find It happi
ness flourishes and life is enriched. In
any individual It declares the existence
of a calm and strong nervous tempera-
ment, and nothing lends Itself more to
peace and prosperity In a household than
that. It Is a blessed , thing, then, that
such a trait can be established; that re
pression here and expression there, and
determination everywhere will make it
grow and thrive and become a habit. It
Is the outer embodiment of love; and tho
man who Is seldom without It Is the one
to whom the town turns, on whom the
beggars smile, after whom the children
run, whose presence soothes trouble, and
whose wife is sure that even if she
wears her old bonnet, she is lovely
in his eyes.
HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD.
GRASSHOPPERS $1 A BUSHEL
HOV THEY HAVE RUINED THIS YEAR'S f CROPS IN THE
.GARDEN SPOT OF UTAH
GRASSHOPPERS are worth 51 a
bushel in Sanpete County, "Utah.
The market is practically without
limit, and cannot be overstocked. Men
and women are engaged in the work of
collecting the Insects. Boys and girls find
profitable employment at the work. The
grasshoppers are numbered by the million.
They are killing tho crops, ruining, tho
trees and denuding every plant of Its
foliage. Great armies of them darken
the sun and hover xllke clouds of dust over
the green fields and gardens. Wherever
the destructive pests attack a field of
grass or grain they take the entire crop,
leaving dust and 'desolation.
One year ago the grasshoppers visited
Utah and destroyed the wheat fields of
Sanpete. They deposited vast quantities
of eggs and departed. Examination of
soils show that 76 eggs were left' in a
space of two Inches square. When the
time for hatching came on the entire
country was a living mass of young, rav
enous grasshoppers. The chickens and
turkeys were taken from the homes and
turned Into the wheat fields to destroy the
insects, but their work was of no avail.
Then the plows and other agricultural
implements were dragged over the ground.
Now the Insects are gathered in bags and
boxes and burned. The farmers and busi
ness men have contributed ,to a fund for
extcmliating thepets.
The rnty occupies one of the most im
ports grain growing sections of the
state. It is ofton referred to as "the
granary of "Utah," because of the exten
slvo wheat fields. Last year the' crops
were destroyed and wheat used for seed
and flour has been imported from Wash-
I Ington and Oregon. The grasshoppers
threaten to kill the grain and vegetables
of the gardens and ruin the alfalfa and
wild grass fields. The area over which
they are traveling Includes 15 prosperous
towns and villages, the homes of 20,000
people. The grain is all Spring-sown and
practically ruined. The Mormons have a
system of Summer-fallowing and seeding
only in the Spring. Their -crops for this
year will be a failure, and the land for
next Spring will be filled with the eggs of
grasshoppers.
Dances are held by the people for the
purpose of raising funds for exterminat
ing the grasshoppers. At Ephralm a
novel dance has been given. No tickets
were sold "and money was not accepted.
The only admission fee was a bag con
taining at least one-half bushel of grass
hoppers. This represented the ordinary
price of a dance ticket 50 cents per
couple. When the first dance was- over
therf participants witnessed a midnight
bonfire, made by throwing 75 half-bushel
bags of grasshoppers Into one funeral
crematory- Thus the proceeds of the ball,
amounting to $37 30 actual cash valuation,
went up in smoke, while the dancers
shouted and sang eongs of ZIon,as a re
quiem to the departed insects.
Mantl. the county seat of Sanpete, was
the second settlement made la the Terrl-
l tory of Desoret, In 1819. It is the Tempje
City of Central "Utah, having a granite
structure representing a cost of over
51.000,000. erected for church purposes. The
entire county was claimed by the Ban
pitch Indians, and in 1855 was deeded to
the Mormoa Church by Arroplne, the pre
siding chief. The same year the crops
were destroyed by grasshoppers. Indians
then said the bad spirit had sent the in
sects to curse the Mormons because ot
their robbing the red men of their lands.
The Indians now number less than 100
survivors of the once powerful tribe, and
are presided over by a white bishop, in
their 'ward known as Indlan'ola.
The Mormon prophets have been preach
ing famine for many years. They have
warned the saints to lay up stores of
wheat against a day when the land would
not produce anything. Because of this
teaching and persistent preaching of the
doctrine, as a revelation, tho Women's
Relief Society of Sanpete has several
thousand bushels of wheat stored in sev
eral church granaries, to be used In times
of famine. As the crop failed last year
on account of grasshopper depredations,
much of the. stored grain wae loaned to
farmers this Spring to rcseed the lands.
But that remaining In bins will be kept
until Winter to bo apportioned out to the
poor people. If nothing is grown this year.
The coming of the grasshoppers is used
as a text for exhorting the saints to more
strict discipline and obedience to the
priesthood. Tlie preachers have claimed
that every visitation of the insects hatt
been in the nature of a curse from the
Lord, because of their wickedness. At
least 35 per cent of the residents of San
pote County are Mormons, and the large
majority of them are from Scandinavian
countries. Thoy observe the elgns of the
times, and listen to .the prophecies of
their leaders. In 1S67 the grasshoppers
destroyed the crops and scattered the
seeda of poverty. In their panic-stricken
misery the- people called upon their proph
ets for deliverance. , It Is alleged that the
earth was made dark and the sun Tefused
to shine for a period. When light came
the ground was covered with sea gulls
from the Great Salt Lake. These birds
devoured the grasshoppers and left as
quickly as they had come.
Tho grasshoppers work for a period of
six weeks or more, and fly away to other
fields. Their departure Is marked by
great clouds -that obscure the sky. Where
they go la not known. It Is claimed that
o.-Vir. thov riicnnnpjir Inirrouns. that few
eggs are left for the- following year. While
present in tne neias, on tno lawns au
gardens and over the orchards, they are
the subject of much consideration. Pray
ers are made for deliverance from their
ravages. Men who lose their all use lan
guage not suited for publication. Preach
ers exhort and talk famine; singers chant
with more, perfection the hymns of ZIon;
and everywhere a seml-rellglous atmos
phere pervades the fields and homes. But
the poor people get the money of the rich
for gathering the grasshoppers, and their
departure leaves the people on a more
universal plane of human existence. The
hoppers are considered both a curse and
a blessing.- JOEL SHOMAKER.
Honey In the Treatment of Barns.
The editor of the Georgia Journal of
Medicine and Surgery, for March, says
that In the treatment of burns of any de
gree honey has proved very successful.
It should be pure strained honey not glu
cose or cane syrup mixed with a little
honey to give It what the Germans call
the "schmeck.'; The burn is covered with
it and kept coy&red. Pain will be alle
viated and suppuration prevented. It Is
not necessary to sterilize the honey, but
If there should be any darkness, or dirt
in the injured area It should be mopped
off thoroughly with absorbent cotton.
Says the editor: "Honeyacts by exclud
ing the air, by its chemical composition,
and by its. specific gravity preventing
germ life," .
COMMANDED TO THE QUEEN
A DELIGHTFUL STORY OF ROYAL ALEXANDRA AND
AN AMERICAN WOMAN
HERE 13 a brand-new story of Her
Majesty, Alexandra, soon to be
crowned Queen and Empress. It was told
with quiet glee by the other actor in It.
to various and sundry American friends.
The other actor Is tho wife of a famous
shipowner, and head of a firm of ship
builders. Thus she has been for years
the heart and soul of various noble char
ities connected with English merchant
marine. She is further credited with hav
ing influenced her husband in affairs of
fairly International importance. Alto
gether, she Is a3 near to being a personage
as a long purse, a clear head, a warm
heart, and a charming social tact can
make one In the home of hereditary dis
tinctions, the British Isles.
One of the latpst charities Is a great
seamen's hospltaL Royalty deigned to
lay the corner-stone of it, and afterward
to express great Interest in its success.
It began to be hinted that a peerage
would reward the people who had built
and endowed It. That was an agreeable
if distant prospect. It seemed to grow
suddenly nearer and clearer when the
lady found herself abruptly "commanded
to the Queen" and that within the brief
space of an hour.
"What did I think of first?" she said,
in telling it: "Why, that I had not a
single absolutely new rag to appear In.
Clothes? Oh! Yes plenty; and fine
enough for court-wear, but, then, one
wants special things for special occasions.
What made matters worse'was, a myself
had a luncheon on hand we were, In fact,
Just sitting down to the table when the
royal message reached me. I dare say
I turned all colors as I read, but luckily
nobody noticed. Instantly I sent word to
my maid to get other clothe3 ready, then
went on entertaining my guests as best I
might, through the first courses. I knew
to a fraction of a second how long It
would take to dress and drive from my
home to Buckingham Palace. I knew
also that while tho Queen horself Is never
very punctual. It would not do at all for
me to be late, and still less to be early.
You can fancy my state of mind, lunch
ing against the clock both ways. Pres
ently, I left my sister to explain my go
ing, and was soon rolling oft to see the
Queen.
"Of course, I thought of many things
on the way, but chiefly of the hospital.
It must be that which had caused the
Queen to send for me. Then foolishly, I
let my mind stray to a schoolmate, one
Mary z , who it happens had been a
girl friend of the Queen, in the days
when King Christian was not a King at
all, only a poor Danish Prince, and glad
to increase his Income of 51200 a year by
giving lessons In drawing to the pupils
of a girls' school. Mary had told me
many stories of her friend Alexandra. I
knew also that In the annual gatherings
at Frledensborg the two nearly always
met. I wondered a little if they had met
this last year. It had brought cnanges to
both a crown to Alexandra, and a sec
ond husband to Mary, who had for years
been a widow and thought to be Incon
solable. But my. mind did not linger on
her very long my concerns our con
cerns, indeed, were so much more Imme
diate, and living. I had a fair general
Idea of how such private audiences went
off. but was hazy as to whether I should,
kneel or merely courtesy and kiss hands.
"The palace authorities coached me the
least bit. A lady in waiting met me, took
me up stairs and along passages, and at
last left me to myself after telling me
that the Queen, though quite deaf, hated
of all things to have voices raised in
speaking to her. I must speak rather
slowly, and very distinctly her own quick
Intelligence would do the rest- As to de
portment I must follow her Indications
stand or sit, or retire, at what I Judged
to to her will. But she would make it
easy for me this I was assured sho
made everything easy as far as court
etiquette permitted.
"Before I had time to get nervous a
lackey whisked me into the presence.
There stood the Queen, looking very
sweet and unroyal, smiling, holding out
her hand, and murmuring my name.
After our formal-Informal greeting, she
led me to a chair a little at one side, and
sat down herself in another almost touch
ing it. And then she said with a yet
more engaging smile:
" 'I am 3 glad you have come. I want
to talk with you over Mary Z s second
marriage. She has told me often how
much you were her friend. Do you think
she can possibly be happy with a man so
unlike her first choice?'
"And that was, I found out, absolute
truth. For at least half an hour we gos
slpped. talking over our friend's affairs
with the most bourgeoisie Interest. After
wardwell, her majesty said kind things
of us my husband and myself and es
pecially kind ones of our hospital project.
But that was wholly incidental she had
sent for me to talk over Mary's mar
riage." Which goes to prove how well Kipling
knew womankind when he wrote:
The Colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady
Are sisters under their skins.