The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-11-23
Magazines, &C.


Harpers
The funniest thing in any OF the December
magazines we have thus far encountered If
Rose Terry Cookies Narrative OF Is. Mum
Chouson. of Dedham, of his Adventures in the
Island of Knowarc." To give IN inkIlng OF
IFS STYLE we can do no better than give short
clipping;
The streets were clean rs Il new pin, ana
mortal still though YOU could hear llttlc
folks laughin' and caCklin' in the cool gar
dens and pleasant houscn by the side OF the
way
where air your public schools seq /.
Here" seq he, stoppn' before long low
house, like n shed some, that seemed 10 DC IN
ed up with rows o hogshcads, among Wlich
several men was steppin' round and talkin
on, loud, one at IA time; there's the school
But don't see no children
mo. YOU can't see through "A milestone no
morcn the next man. We head up ile ooSs
nj six wear old in big barrels, and feed and ed
doocate 'em through the bung-hole till the age
of twenty They're extension barrels, SOS
the boys can grow
| ,caS took aback | was kinder rilcd
What" seq l. "all your boys in barrels
None o them things folks lay such stress on
in teachers COnventOns-nO home influence,
no manly sports, no evcrlastin' friendships, no
Sunday schools, no-"llcre sort o give IN;
breath seemed to peter out But he took up
the talk
mo, Sir! Cats and pigs and chickens live
out all their days in peace here; nobody Il
tvrant over mother and the girls from dawn 10
dark; no broken bones nor cracked skulls.
Our boys don't never get drowned, blowed up
with powder, tangled up in burr saws, spit
with hatchets, spilled ofln horses, run over III
the streets, nor damned to bits under irc-eh-
gines. We don't have boys swearln' ana spit
tin on every street corner; stralnln thelr
backs a-boatracin' and their tempels bettln' a;
no colleges to upset their manners and morals,
and let EN- herd together like swine, and then
turnin' of 'em loose on world lynn in WICK
edness, AS our old parson used to call ii. No
body here's killed at baseball, nor mangled
iuuthcr. Marbles, peanuts, and tire-crackcrs
never poster us. We have peace"
"IIow dclighttuln' sen | kinder involuntary
"Morc'n all that, we don't never have no Ill
vOrccs. Them boys come out at twenty year
old so orful meek and pleasant and grateful
their wives don't have no trouble with 'em AT
ALL
The December number opens with four oId
Christmas poems by Ben. Jonson, George
Wlther, s. r. Coleridge, and Giles Fletcher,
and which Abbey illustrates with three re-
markabc pictures There IS also an illustrated
article on "England's Great University" con
tributed 10y VI. ID. Conway, which gives aeon
prchensye view of various colleges OF OXFORD,
the social life of the students, and other inter
estlng details of the institution. This is fol
lowed by the effectively illustrated adventures
of the "Rcd River Colony told by Gen. Chef
lain, descendant Of one OF the colonlsts, while
a beautiful paper on Mendelssohn and Mosche-
les, covering an interesting era in the progress
of music both in England and Germany, ai-
fords music lovers IA rare treat All the other
articles stories, sketches, poems, and the Ed
toria Departments are of an equally mcrltorl-
Gus character. In fact, the number is, as usu-
| al, perfect, except in the matter Of price. In
this respect we think the publishers can well
afford to set IL good example by reducing the
price of the magazine to ante-bellum rates.