The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-11-16

have an attractive twinkle, and Will Wat
sons Monthly Miniature, which has given
Biddeford reputation that her great mills
have failed to bring, is fallen upon eagerly by
the men who use scissors and paste. The
Miniature, now just entering upon its second
volume, is one of the notable successes Of
the year. It has however one grievous
fault--it only appears once month. 1t is
the most striking Illustration of the much
abused zone man power" furnished lately.
But Maine does not have all the credit
that belongs to her. Some of the best
of her paragraphists are on the stats
of the great papers, and Maine does
not get the credit Of their brilliant work.
There is Mr.. E P. Mitchell of the Sun, by
general confession one of the first newspaper
men 10 New York. His political burlesques
are known of all men, and though We may
sometimes quarrel with the injustice of them,
we are forced to admire the genuineness of
their wit. Mr.. Mitchell has, too, fine liter
ary sense, delicacy Of taste and nicely of
judgment, that give to his purely literary
work more than ephemeral value. Another
journalist of whom Maine has abundant rea-
son to be proud is Mr.. G. G. Couiard, the
conductor of that department of the Boston
Herald-Men and Tnings-to which readers
who take large and general interest in pub
lie affairs, always, turn. Mr.. Couillard's
wit is of biting quality. He cherishes a
healthy dislike for shams, dislike that some.
times leads to an impatience of expression
that would be offensive were it not so evil
dently sincere. But his criticisms on men
aud affairs have a way-awkward indeed for
those who carp at them-of getting justified
by the event. His quick sense rarely mis-
takes. Another Maine Journalist, who started
late in the race but easily took the pole, is
Mr.. George B. Goodwin OF the Boston Post.
The All-Sorts column of the Post bas long
been the delight of readers of that excelently
conducted journal-a journal tnat was the
sheet-anchOr OF Massachusetts, Democracy in
the Butler storm-but since it has been un-
der the direction of Mr.. Goodwin it has shown
delightful exuberance of humor, a quick
wit, surprising even in the famous All-Sorts.
Mr.. Goowin's bow is always strung, and the
shafts he aims at the flying follies of the day
rarely miss their mark. Boston journalism
has still another Maine recruit, Mr.. Horace
| NJ. Jordan of the Globe-a gentleman of wide
and varied experience in newspaper work, of
| extensive information and scholarly tastes.
His quick eye and cultured though rather
fastldious taste are noticeably apparent in the
Sunday edition of the Globe. There are yet
other Maine journalists, not named here, to
be found in the very front ranks of their pro-
fession. But they are not paragraphists; they
| are the leader writers who shape the course
and voice the opinions of the foremost papers
of New England. Among the polit-
| ical writers must be classed Colonel z. A,
| Smith of the Boston Journal. His wide and
accurate knowledge of political history, and
intelligent study of current events finds ex-
preston in nervous, sinewy English that it is
| pleasure to read. OF late he has found time
| to contribute "Boston Letters' to the now
prosperous Somerset Reporter, paper which
| has under the energetic management of its
| new owners got fresh lease upon life.
1t has been complaint in Portland that
| audiences at musical entertainments are inn
| Fortunate in their demands for repetitions of
| pleasing numbers on the programmes; and
not little has been said in condemnation of
the careless disregard of the comfort of sing
ers shown by exacting hearers. Many of us
have thought this grievance peculiar to our
| own city, but the complaint appears to be gen.
| eral. New York aud Boston concert-goers are
making it. The evil, however, is not that
people call for repetition of musical selec-
tion, vocal or instrumental, that greatly
pleases them-that is natural and proper
enough. The trouble with our audiences is
they are too kind. The first number, or the
second, or the third, hits their fancy and
they demand an encore. That given, they
begin to fear that the other performers will
feel hurt unless recalled, and so applaud
every new face that appears on the platform.
This weakness OF the American public is so
generally understood that the getters up of
| programmes almost always make allowances
for it, and musicians take as much care with
the selections they confidently expect to give
| in response to the "unexpected' recall as
they do with the numbers that appear on the
bill. And they feel aggrieved if they are not
called back. One rarely hears performer sim
cerely complain of an encore. The complaint
is made by those innocent or unobseryant
ones who believe that the length of concert
is indicated by the printed programme.
| Speaking Of concerts, would not the
State do well to require all loiterers to come.
like Love and Fate. treading on woof? and
the ushers-they too might with advantage
wear list slippers. 1t is anything but pleas
ant to have man with creaking boots tip toe
up an aisle. and conduct to seats of which he
does not clearly know the location, persons
| whose soles cry out with every step they
take. Likely as not while the baritone is sing
| ing u Balen the usher is vainly attempting
to seat in letter the people who belong in
letter E. Perhaps the grievance is not heavy.
but it is certainly quite as bad as many in
regard to which the interference of the
| State is invoked. The growing party of
Grumblers might give it place in their next
platform.
The current Scribnar's has chatty and
entertaining paper, reading IN parts as though
made up from the gossip of Partisan journals,
descriptive of Eugene Scribe the French
playwright. The author treats the subject of
his sketch witha warmer praise than the
rest of the world has been minded to give.
The extravaganza of the eulogy recalls, by
the sense of contrast, Heine's bitter sentence.
Heine was on his death bed, breathing with
great distress. The physician who was ex-
amining his chest asked, "Pouvez rous
sitIer?" "Helas, non" was the reply, '.pas
meme les pieces de N. Scribe"
"A correspondent who signs himself
"Mahl Stick" moved apparently by indig-
nation at ignorant criticism, drops the brush
and takes up the pen long enough to write
these lines on
| ART CRITICS.
| Ths artist has finished his picture at last
After months of study aud toll;
It's ship that Is driven before the blast
| Through seas that hiss and boil.