The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-10-20
MY IDEAS OF THE SUBLIME AND
 BEAUTIFUL.

My learned and spectacled friend, l presume, will roll his eyes with in- dignation, shake his head with dissent and lower 6 drowning brow of disap- probation at my absurd ideas of the sublime and beautiful but, I crave his indulgence, and would ask hin Co read my essay in the same spirit they were penned. l wot of what I write. I.-ExTRA NEws.-ALL ABOUT THE SUBLIME
 Self-preservation, terror, pain and danger are the basis of the sublime. A young looking old maid is sublime, because grand example of self-pres- ervation; the griping collie, as well as a tooth jerking, is also sublime, be- very painful; and a woman's tongue Is sometimes sublime, because very dangerous. Sublimity caused by terror can best be illustrated by the following incident: "An express wag- on loaded with promiscuous baggage and green emigrants was being driven through one of our crowded thor oughfares, when a roustabout, antici- pating free ride, adventured to jump into the vehicle. Crackers and ginger nuts what confusioni what conster- nationi what heart rending screams 1! The emigrants' wives clung to their husbands, the children to their moth- CTS, and, in turn, the whole five-and- twenty greenhorns held on desperately to the unfortunate driver" (The emil grants who had never seen a negro, had taken him for his Satanic majesty.)
 Here is another striking instance Of terror: "A colored ragsmuffin stood at the door of the engine house. ad- miring the fiery steeds. The fire bells strike nine. Horses r1sh to the en- zine. The nigger kid tears away white with fear. Twenty paces from the engi ine-house he stops; strikes a frightful attitude, with his fists on his launches; his hair, like spikes, starts out his roofless hat; his eyes fly out of their sockets; and shoots out the oc- ciput of his pants, his shirt tail, stiff as q poker"
 The sources of the sublime are many, such ss darkness, obscurity. power, vastness, infinity, disorder, difficulty and magnifcence. Among that which is productive of the sub lime, we may mention the negro for his darkness, the toper for his infinity of drinks, the book agent for his To- quacious power, the dyspeptic for his difficulty of digestion, the stutterer for his disorderly pronunciation, tine snowman for his obscene veracity, the Utah husband for his vast number of little Mormon kids and the dime museums for their magnificent attrac- tions.
 That winged summer dragon, the mosquito, is, on some occasions, an ob- ject of the sublime. To wit: his aw- ful warlike voice the power of his teeth; his dagger-poiDted toes; his thirst for bellyfuls of gore; sDd who never dies but when gorged with blood, blood, blood. And the unhappy victim wakes with his head swelled to . pumpkin, and holdin9 his injured cocoanut, enjoys the highest feeling of magnitude. tThsrs. I'H s.z<.ss ~i.h eGervescent Joy in having the oppor- tupity to here work in magnitude e . source of the sublime.)
 am surprised that suspense was never mentioned e . source of the sublime. One who has applied to . politician for position, hos 1sit what grandeur there is in suspenss. He never foTgsts thst memorable answer, wait-i Nark tho sublimity of the dash expressive of saspsnss sxtspdine to etsrnity.) The applicant waits . moDth,-no position; two, thrss, six, twelve months-; fOur, eight ten, twenty years -; (alwsys . dash) --; |-; and to feel the truly sublime you must wait-i
 An appropriate expression, or even |a word, may denote . high degrss of