The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1885-10-31
Ro"mss. :Ass'ao's. i i'tio".
PIIINEAS OWENS.
COMMON CLERK AND POETASTER
y M EMOIR.
BY FOLGER NcklNSEI.
CHAPTER V.
SHADOWS AND EVENTS.

SllAl L EN-
SHADOWS AND EVENTS.
My Office in this babbling mart O
newspaperdom stands up tall and bar,
between its brothers each side of tn,
thoroughfare that, in day, becomes thu
populous stream carrying strangers ane
old habitues by on its stole current te
business Or pleasure, as fortune ma,
have marked them; and at night revel:
in ghostly echoes of sunlight sound:
and transactions while the regular tread
of the Waterman, like the beating O
hammers Oh an anvil, makes hideou
haunting song.
Many pass my door; few enter it
few know of the deeds wrought in thu
basement below me or in the LITTLE
noiseless Offices above and about me
OF all secret, mysterious, conservative
places in the world, or out Of it, the
office of a daily newspaper stands SUI
premely first. The author of stirring
"leader" that may have just aroused the
world to the facts of an iminent peri
or Gained it by the official assurance O
perfect safety in one public quarter OF
another, may mingle with the masse:
about him without more fear of recog.
milton than down town pork packer
or west-end salesman need have.
And SO my office stands among the
other gloomy tongueless marshalls O
the row and passers by distinguish it no
from the boot shop on the right, the
pharmacy on the left, or the tailor's
over the way. But, Benny seeks it ou
from week to week as our friendship
flows along, and we still toss back il
our chairs for our accustomed feast O
reason ard time-sweetened Henri
Clay. He came in frequently while
Phineas remained away to discuss this
point or that in reference to his pro
gress in his new fund life and task
Benny drew his chair up closer and his
eyes sparkled more than usual ONT
drowsy afternoon as he said:
"There hasn't been much of tn,
dramatic yet in Phineas' career, ha
there Dan Nothing fiercer than melo
drama has crept in, so far, that 1 Cal
see. l hope it will never reach a tragic
stage his nature doesn't fit such things
Dan. They would rob his expression
of that tenderness, that mellow human
ity, yon advocate so strongly ;passionat
as iron oppression, and rurderous rag
would be things as unwelcome to hin
as were the raspings of Lancioto'
knife to the ears of fair Francesca"
As l sit writing Phineas Owens me
moral to-day l feel half inclined to re
ject Benny's criticism. 1t is all mat
ter of taste, however, and depends upol
just how different natures estimate diff
ferent traits in fellow natures. No,
that | recall Benny's speech, l almos
owe an apology for the lack of rec
flre-and-brimstone drama in the Poet
tasters life. Your genuine hero, say
the critic to the author, must have al
episode, final huge plunge into dark
ness, carrying down hopes and fortune:
breathing blights, tragic stern terrific
This, | admit, Phineas did not or wa
not !; yet, look at him as he struggle
on in that little town with his first boil
enterprise Tall, strong, face S
openly marked with determination tina
vivid imagery might discover flake
of the iron crucible wherein it wa
moulded clinging to cheeks and chm
Outwardly, a man cloaking an inwar
spirit ignorant of unrest till throw
down at the feet of freedom anon
meadows and hills, then beginning ii
everlasting surge towards those eide
heights the young aspire to climb, {
small rivers when past narrow bank
and rocky distractions plunge headlon
towards the bay and sea.
Is it not picture, play, drama
The wisdom of greater minds onl
created thirst within him for an homes
share of it; handsome, manly, cage
gifted, trusting his own hand IN the D
vine hand and following forth old creed
old systems laws and prophecies, t
his own day should come with its tow
of his own fashioning, bearing in vii
dows and on turret new symbo
moulded from lessons of the old, ho]
ing that it might stand for others of {
elder day as those of a younger tin
stood for him. Vertically, play,
drama Not with the actual Sparta
fire of historic crime, but equal in
seven scenes to such. o, boy! FIJI
at the foot of the hill, but half way
its summit, nay, but short way fro
its base, just enough to see the beauti
' l,n