The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-20

L
| New York Apr. II, 1880.
/ 1t is creditahle to American manhood that
so much inte rest has been manifested in the
| case OF the cadet Whitaker. There seems to
be very general desire that the pending in
veStigation should be full and fair. The Sec
| retary of War has acted most becomingly in
sending the U. S. District Attorney of the
Northern District of our State, Martin l.
| Townsend to see that no injustice be done to
Whitaker. Mr.. Townsend is as good counsel
as anybody need to have and his presence on
| the scene is guarantee that the proceedings
| will be conducted with some regard to the
rules of evidence. Since the matter has as
sumed that favorable shape, it becomes posi-
BILE to suppress the sentiments of indignation
such an outrage is calculated to provoke until
| all means are exhausted of discovering the
| perpetrators And yet the theories that have
been propounded in reference to this subject
since the affair occurred ares SO preposterous
| from every logical point of view that one can
not help entertaining lurking suspicion that
they were conceived in the prejudice against
the colored race, which even the furnace fires
OF revolution have not sufficed to oblterate
from minds of the laser type. One thing is
very certain. The average youth who enters
West Point has as much of the vulgar antipa-
thy to African blood as sixth ward Irshman
He goes there snob, and when he gets there
he finds congenial fellowship of snobbery
which confirms instead of curing his fault The
testimony all goes to show that the cadets be-
haved like utter brutes towards their dark
complexioned comrade-that they hadn't the
decency to extend to him the merest forms of
courtesy. The question naturally arises wheth-
er school in which such brutalites are possi-
BILE is worth maintaining What kind of Pro-
fessors must there be there, who turn out such
ill-mlnnered pupils? 1t is safe to say that the
recent developments will add very largely to
the number of people who would be perfectly
willing to see the West Point Academy wiped
out. At the same time it is out of the question
to forget the valiant heroes who are ranked
among the post-graduates of the Institution
The Military School in which Grant, Sherman
and Sheridan were taught the art of war can
not wholly cease to be an object of interest in
the eyes of their countrymen while those three
noble soldiers are yet among the living. The
best way perhaps, to reconcile the conflicting
ideas is to exercise nicer discrimination in
the selection of candidates-to insist in fact
that no applicant shall succeed who cannot
produce satisfactory evidences that he is fairly
endowed with native refinement That would
help things materially, and do much to elevate
the standard of character in the army. The
negro question is new one comparatively.
We cannot tell how the pupils of a preceding
generation might have dealt with it if it had
n hair 1axy
| judge, however, that men of such genuine
greatness as those who came out of the civil
war with fame which will be the glory of the
Republic through all time could never have
| been, even in the thoughtlessness of childhood,
~ a'S'iu'eiy uestit0to of the finest traits of
humanity as to have insuted or slighteu a
member OF their class for any cause, much less
Tor so nslgn1hcanta one as disparity of condition
arising out OF the accident of BIRTH Perhaps
this offensive transaction may, as the ministers
say, be overruled for good in showing the ne
cesslty OF giving the young men who are aim
ing at distinction in arms higher and manli-
er training. The American people have been
accustomed to consider soldier as ALWAYS a
| gentleman. A few more revelations of the
way in which colored cadets are habituallv
treated at West Point, will render it not mere
ly general opinion but an established fact
that anybody who graduates from that semi
nary is presumptively rude and ill-bred fell
low, with the nature of a boor, and without
the self-discipline or self-respect requisite to
conquer or conceal his defects
Among the new and original contributions
! to popular amusement that have been made re.
Gently the musical monologue of "Eyes and Ears
/ hv ice 70 al D.,
| commendatory mention. 1t is no light proof
OF courage for lady to undertake to entertain
hall full OF people, ali alone by herself, but
| Miss Field has succeeded in winning the ap-
plause OF large and cultivated audiences with
melange which combines the features of lee.
| ture, opera and drama, and the interest of,
which is kept up from the beginning to the
| end. She opens with description of London,
in the course of which she introduces the cley-
or epigram which has already become famous:
England, country upon whose domain the
| sun never sets, possesses capital upon which
| the sun never rises" Her address is inter-
| spersed with songs at frequent intervals She
| sings eight altogether. Four of them are of
| her own composition, the music by George
! Grossmith, Jr Then she gives limitations of
readings and singings in social life in London.
and concludes with burlesque of Italian one
era. What with her talking, her sing
ing and her acting she keeps the
company in continual good humor. Miss
| Fields dramatic talent is readily accounted
for. Her father was an actor Of mncb
promise; New Englapder by birth. a
Missourian by adoption. His daughter was
born In Missouri but she has spent so much of
her life among the Yankees that they may
fairly claim her She untes much intellec-
tuality with spirit of independence and of
enterprise that have prompted her to
turn her gifts to profitable account 1t was
not necessity but inclination that led her to
enter upon the task Of making career for
herself. She has illustrated the best phases of
the woman's rights idea by showing herself
quite capable of competing for the prizes of
reputation and fortune with rivals of her own
or OF the sterner sex. This last project of hers
was certainly a very ambitious one. 1t re-
quired great deal of versatility to present the
composition acceptably, as we'll as of brain
power to prepare it. She has shown herself
fully equal to the exigencies of the occasion,
and will no doubt find her experiment re-
warded with still more ample gains and sub
stantial hoLors than she has already achieved.
Everybody reioices in the prosperity of
plucky and self reliant woman who has striven
in good earnest to make her way in the world,
and there is general qualification when she i'm
proves her fortunes by methods which have
not only the merit of originality, but bear the
stamp of genius.
The shifting panorama of metropolitan life
presents variety of striking contrasts. Flu
nerals and weddings, mourning and revelry,
| disaster and success alternate in quick and
| constant succession. 1t is not unusual for the
habituGs of the social circle to meet around the
bier of one friend in the day time and at the
| festiye board of another on the same evening
| Death has taken away three somewhat promi-
nent men since the week opened. Mr.. Elliot
G. Cowdin died on the 18th inst. after four
days illness, Mr. Mitchell, Que of the proprie-
tors OF the Brunswick Hotel, on the day fol-
lowing, and Rev. Samuel Osgood on the 14th