WOMAN'S EDITION THE DALLES TIMES-MOUNTAINEER
Contributed Articles . . .
speak to tin: s i:ton.
(First Whisper OM Lady.)
"The rliurch is, exceedingly cold today
I hope vou're. not chilled my poor Mrs.
Grey?
When" I hring a friend with me. its al
ways the way !
I must speak to the sexton about it"
(Second Whisper Young Lady.)
"How frightfully hot the church is,
mama !
Just see how dejectt-H my wretched
bangs are.
There's not a curl left! We must ask
papa.
To speak to the Sexton about it."
(Third Whisper Hheumatic Old -Man.)
"A current of air strikes my neck, sit
ting here,
The church isn't cold, but draughty my
dear,
There's quite too much air, for this time
of year,
I'll speak to the Sexton about it."
(Fourth Whisper Healthy Young Man)
"I say Dick ! This place is atrociously
, close !
If they don't open something, we'll have
to vamose
If I catch the Sexton, I'll give him a
dose
He ought to be "blown up about it!"
Service ended, the malcontents made
their threats good,
While, respectfully bowing, the bland
Sexton stood.
Assuring each one, he "would do what
he could,"
(Nor did any one of them doubt it!)
But wishiug within, as he'd oft wished
before,
That the calling of Sexton, required as
of yore,
The use of a spade (for when grumb
lings are o'er
Not a grumbler can well do without it !)
That at length he might quit them, sick,
well, young and old,
Whereif they were hot, or if they were
cold,
'Twould be out of the question for them
to make bold,
To "speak to the Sexton about it !"
Henrietta II Eliot.
JOURNALISM.
Nearly fifty years ago an eminent
Frenchman compared a newspaper to a
"man standing at an open window and
bawling to the passers by." In the
time of our fore-fathers the "man at the
window," was not bawling out sensa
' tions, crimes, fads and fancies (as he
needs must were he bawling now) but
of the short-comings and blunders of
men in high places. This characteristic
existed in our mother country, and still
exists there today, with less change
than it does in our own country.
It was the American press which
first established the idea of news gather
ing as t he prominent factor in editing a
successful newspaper. In the period
of the last fifty years, education has
become more general all over the world,
and popular education in the United
States has cultivated a taste for news
paper reading among all classes of our
people, and" in "'proportion the news
papers have been obliged to 'supply
that which is. most acceptable to popu
lar fancy It is to be regretted that"
this taste is fed largely upon sensational
gossip, criminal cases and murder trial
reports, with the excuse from the
editors that the wishes of the readers
must be gratified or the profits must drop
off. Many papers are issued at what
would be a ruinously low rate were it
not that their circulation is so immense.
For example the New York World, tri
weekly, is sold at two cents a copy, the
daily at one cent, and while they are
.supposed to contain all that is of inter-.
est to business men, statesmen and
politicians, they are over-flowing w ith
much that renders them unfit' for a
family paper. Still they claim a profit
of a million dollars a year on the capi
tal invested. ' Of course this income is
greatly enhanced by the profits from ad
vertisements which are so great an
element in the successful business en
terprises of the present day. There are
scores of other papers in our country
doing almost as well in proportion to
the capital invested. There is a vast
difference in the plans pursued by jour
nalists in this country and in Europe.
In Paris (which generally means
France) there is almost as much vari
ety in journalism asin the -IT. S. but
their success depends upon editorial
writing and in this line such men as
Theirs, (Juizot, Carnot and Brani weild
ed great influence or rose into political
power. In Europe, criticism and com
ment are the rule, while in America,
"news" is the one thing needful. This
may be due to the slow spread of pop
ular education abroad where the readers
are more confined to the best educated
classes who demand thoughtful criticism
in a good literary form. In England
great seriousness and regard for truth
is a requisite in good correspondent and
reportorial work, while in France no
weight is attached to these things, if the
articles are only droll or sprightly or
written in a finished style. Their best
writers in journalism gain fame from
editorials of high merit, and it is said
when a paper is started in Paris
that the simple collection of news or re
porter's work carries no weight with the
proprietors of the paer, but their
"leading article" and the art and theat
rical criticism must be up to the best
standard of that kind of work. It con
sequently requires a much less capital
to go into journalism there than it does
in our own country. With us news
paper work has become almost distinct
ly a news gathering process, leaving the
higher art of journalism a very small
and insignificant place, and it is for this
reason that it has become merely a step
ping stone to literary work of a higher
order.
There has been some discussion as to
whether newspapers were literature at
all. Whatever is written and read is
literature either good or bad. and news
papers have taken an immense hold on
the reading public in all civilized coun
tries. The hold they are taking on the
bulk of the people should be considered
a serious fact, for it is said, and I do not
doubt the truth of the assertion, that
they "are exerting more, influence on
the popular mind and the popular
morals than either the pulpit or the
book-press has exerted in five hundred
years." An unfortunate influence in
regard to such reading is that it unfits
one's taste for book-reading, and ren
ders it more difficult to concentrate
one's mind on one subject. The ordi
nary newspaper articles requiring four
or five minutes each, give one a habit of
drowsing about mentally, which is de
structive to concentration of thought. In
confirmation of this fact I quote from
Mr. Godkin of "The Nation" who says:
"There has grown up a deep and in
creasing scorn on the part of the book
reader and the book-maker, for the'
man who reads nothing but the news
papers and gets his facts and opinions
from them. This is true in every civil
ized country. Go into a circle of scien
tific or cultivated men in any field in
America, France, Germany or Italy and
you will have the mental food which
newspapers supply to the bulk of the
population, treated with ridicule and
contempt, the authority of a newspaper
as a joke and journalism of that class
used as a synonym for shallowness, ig
norance and blundering. The conver
sion of journalism into the highest
channels of thought will be one of the
serious problems to be solved by the
coming century." This from one of the
most eminent journalists of our country
is entitled to respect although one
deprecates his intensity and severity.
All honor is due to the eminent men
who have done so much to elevate jour
nalism in America, but one cannot but
remember that the ready pen has also
be en in the hands of cultivated women.
There is no branch of literature in which
she has not shone and none where she
has wielded a larger or more lasting in
fluence. She has paved the way to a
field of work wide, various and w hole
some for herself and for her readers. A
spirit has asserted itself, of late years,
which makes way for women in almost
all stations in which men are placed and
she has had the intelligence to take the
measure of the situation in reference to
journalistic work, and one may speak
with full assurance as regards the moral
issue.
Mrs. K. S. S.
In Australia spring begins August 20,
summer, November 20; autumn, Febru
ary 20, and winter, May 20. .
TAVO OLI PROGRAM S.
On running across an old program of
!So7, which had passed through one fire
ami three floods, and yet had been pre
served in a scrap book for these 31
years, my mind was filled with many
questions, and I could not help contrast
ing that time with the days of 1898.
The concert to which this program calls
attention was one given Dec. 11, 1867,
for the benefit of the Congregational S.
S., in Moody's Hall. This building was
erected by Win. C. Moody, who con
ducted a brokerage and commission
business here, in the early 'f0's, but was
no relative of the ex-governor of our
state. The hall stood on the property
directly east of the Columbia Hotel, and
was the gathering place for all enter
tainments at that time. Its career
closed at the time of the big fire of 1879,
which burned the Umatilla House.
The admission to this concert was $1,
an unheard of price, for this end of the
century ; for who would dare ask such
an amount at an amateur performance
now? Eeither the people of those days
had great cheek, or else had more
money, or else gave a much finer enter
tainment than we can give to
day. As our old world has swung around
the sun, these many years, it has grown
into the habit of later hours, for what
performance commencing "promptly at.
7 o'clock," would find more than a few
boys in the front seat, at the first rising
of the curtain?
The orchestra for the occasion consist
ed of Messrs r)ehm,Dettignen,Schultzand
Ross; three of whom have been called
to their long rest. A quartet "faith,
hope and charity" was sung by Mrs.
Ilogue, now living in Portland, and the
mother of Harry A. Ilogue, Miss Pent
land, now Mrs. S. L. Brooks, Messrs.
Brooks and Hand. It seems, in looking
over old programs, as if no concert were
complete without the voice of Wm. M.
Hand, w ho was an editor of the Moun
taineer, before it was merged into the
Times, edited by John Michell, and be
came the Times-Mountaineer of today.
Mr. Hand's ponderous, hearty, inflect
ive laugh, will be remembered by the
writer, and by many always, though 1
do not remember his singing. Tableau
No. 2 was of peculiar interest to me, in
that one of the actors was my sainted
brother "Ally" Wilson, whose drown
ing, near Mill Creek bridge, cast a gloom
over our little city. A solo Then
You'll Remember Me" was sung by Mrs.
A. W. Buchanan, whose husband once
owned the house now occupied by Mrs.
Thomas Lang.
A tableau which will be remembered
for its beauty, and because the two par
ticipants are now cut down by the
Scythe of Time, was one in which Mr.
Z. M Donnell, once a member of the
legislature, stood with a long white
beard, representing the Old Year, hold
ing a scythe, while the New Year was
personified by that blue eyed, light
haired boy, his son Laurie, who entered
the scene on a velocipede, a very new
invention at that time. Another
tableau which will be recalled by some
of my readers, was one, where Gov.
Moody was powdered, and dressed to
represent "John Anderson" while Miss
Annie Puck sang "John Anderson my
Jo John" in the sweet voice that will
long be remembered in The Dalles.
Among the older names, 1 recognize
those of Mrs. Comfort, now living in
Arlington' and J. D. Robh, then prin
cipal of our public school, and now
teacher in the Reform school, near
Salem.
Preserved for 19 years, in a sewing
machine drawer, I found a program of
the first OM Folks concert ever given in
The Dalles, dated Jan. 31, 1879. The
program, which began, "To all ye
peoples within ye settlement of Ye
Dalles, and all ye country round about,
and ye region beyond, greeting:" should
le reprinted, but I have space for only
a few of the foot notes, which 1 believe
w ere largely written by Dell Hinderman,
then in the employ of the). R. A: N.. and
living at Celilo.
"N. B. Now let silence reigne for
some minutes, as ye singers doe sorely
need to reobtain they're breathe.
- . ' '
"N. P. Any olde ladyes whose foot
stoves need fresh coals can nowe have
them sente in from neighbor Warner's as
her winnnen folkes will keep up a big
fire on purpose.
"N. B. All ye wimmen folks who
bring small babies must leave them w ith
our good Deacon Iirooks, so that ye
may not be disturbed by ye crying.
"N. B. And likewise ye maiden,
should not cast sheps eyes at the younge
meiie while they doe singe, for they are
timid when many eyes be upon them.
"N. B. Positively no live stock took as
barter, as Elder Stons can't 1)3 pestered
with 'em."
Mr. C. J. Crandall was the "Tym
eiste," his gifts in that line having been
enjoyed many times since, by the people
of our fit y, while the duties of Ilarpsi
chordistes" were attended mainly by
Misses Anna Lang ami Genevieve Wil
son. All of the names on the program
being ficticious I can refer only to those
whom memory recalls. They were Clara
McFarland, Grace Crandall. Anna Pent
land Brooks, Viola McFarland, Emma
Harmon Doane, Alice Mc F. Abrains.
Annie Bunnell Fleck, Anna Durbin,
now Mrs. Walker, of Gilliam county,
Mrs. D. B. Grey, and among the men
singers were Capt. Will Grey, who was
one of the prime movers of the affair,
Frank McFarland, Sam Gill, Wm Hand,
W. R. Abrains, Capt. Coffin, Eugene
Price, Emil Schutz, while Deacon
S. L. Brooks and Cornelias McFarland
were engaged in "finding ye wimmen
flokes good place ''
There is something very pleasant to
me in recalling if but for a moment, of
so genial an 1 aim s' picturesque a per
sonality as hi, who was always called
Father Harmo.i. He was indeed other
wisea hitorie character, having helped
to set up th. fi t locomotive ever run in
the United States. There are many yet
who remember him, but his kindly
smile ami plea-ant greeting, wiU soon
be a memory, with but few. His voice
was phenomenal. I have heard it char
acterized in musical technique by those
who understand it, but was not old
enough to remember it, to quote the
statements now. His diminuendo was
a thing, those who heard it can never
forget. He could make a note sound as
if dying away far over the hills, and it
is nuKt surely rare that vocal powers are
prolonged, as his were, to the eighties.
Lucy Wilson Peters.
A great many of Dr. Watson's stories
have been dramatized, with his com
plete sanction and such stories enacted
on the stage can onlv exert the very
best influence and tend to refine present
day drama. An interesting conversa
tion with Dr. Watson is found in the
columns of "Amusements," in the
March number of Woman at Home.
Watson is asked ; "Don't you think that
as there will be a theatre as long as
children act by instinct, and the grown
ups love to see good acting, what good
people ought to do is not to ostracise the
theatre but to purify it?" "How can
they do that?" replied Watson, "why,
by encouraging managers to produce
pure and noble plays, and supporting
well living actors, until the higher
drama be profitable and the lower left
to vicious people, where it will die
through destitution. You can never
reform by repressing; the Puritans tried
that method, and the result was the
grossness of the restoration. You only
reform by replacing. I wish well to
every man and woman who helps to
make the stage a blessing and not a
curse to society.
A new enterprise in the hotel line has
been inaugurated under prominent aus
pices, and is creating great interest in
the circles where it '-as thus far been
known. A corporation, to. be called
"The Woman's Hotel Company," is to
be formed, with a capital of a million
dollars, to erect one or more hotels for
self supporting women ; the first one to
oe for artists, teachers, clerks of the
higher grades, and students in art,
music and medicine. These women
form a class for which no provision
exists except the ordinary boarding
house, which rarely supplies the com
forts and refinements which many of
them can afford.
Mrs. Tyndall, the widow of Prof Tyn
dall, has remitted to the Royal Institu
tion a sum of 1,000 which she states
that her husband desired her, at such
time as should be convenient to herself,
to present as an expression of his attach
ment to the institution with which he
was so long connected, and of his- sym
pathy with its objects.
A. SANDROCK
IMRST-CLASS
Wagon - Making,
AND
GENERAL REPAIRING
Second Street, one block East of
Pease A: Mays,
THE DALLES, - OREGON
Real Estate
Insurance .
And Collection Agency.
Local agents for the Phicnix Insurance
Co. of Hartford, Conn., and the
Commercial l:nion Assur
ance Co., L'd of Lon
don, England.
Office with The Dalles Chronicle.
PATRONAGE SOLICITED
Qregon Bakery
and CJLr
i i
: A. KELLER, Prop'r. :
Am prepared to furnish families, hotels ax.d
restaurants with the choicest
bVad. ( lakes and Pies.
Fresli Oysters Served in
Every Style.
Second Street, next door to The
Dalles National Bink.
Cheap Cash Grocery
J. II. CItOSS, Prop'r.
..BAY. GRAIN AND FEED...
Seeds in hulk. Poultry and
Eggs hought and sold. Head
quarters for Morris Poultry Cure
Cor. 2d and Union Sts., The Dalles.
WOOD BROTHERS
PROPRIETORS OF THE
California Meat Market,
All Kinds of Live Stock Bought
and Sold.
No. 89 Secnd Street, The Dalles, Ore.
Telephone 76.
GUNNING A- 1I0CKMAN
Rl
AND HORSESHOEING
Dealers in Iron, Steel, Coal, Wh-eh;,
Axles and Blacksmiths' Supplier.
Special Attention to all classes of work. All
Work Warranted.
Telephone Second St., opposite .1. M.
Filloon s. The Dalles
GEO. T. THOMPSON,
Sonerai
ffitaccsmith
...IIojcsKsnoKiNii a Specialty ..
Wagon Shop in Connection. . .
EAST END, - - THE DALLES. ORE.
A. S. Mac AUlster & Co