San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-08
OUT WEST IS VAGUE.
A RELATIVE TERM SUBJECT TO SEW
ERAL CONTINGENCIES.

One Is the Location of the Speaker wher
He Uses the Expression-The Ideal, the
Real and the "wid wooIIy"-An Incl
dent in Buena vista's Early Days.
When Horace Greeley said go west,
| young man, go west!' he should have ex-
planned how far west he meant. He should
have said whether he meant west of Chicago
or merely west of New York. for 1.-THE vest
is merely a relative term, and a place that in
some localities is spoken of as 1.-The west," in
other portions of America is mentioned as
! black east"
In Boston and New York even Chicago is
thought of and spoken of as 1.-The west" while
in Colorado every small town in Indiana,
every hamlet in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas or
Wisconsin is mentioned as "back east"
So the terms ''out west" and "back east"
are, after all, merely relative and mean only
so much or so little of the real east or west as
may enter into the conception of certain
localities. Nevertheless there are distinctive
sectional characteristics belonging to each.
There is an ideal west, a real west, cultured
west, and, alas and alack-a-day, ''too, too
utterly wild, woolly west!"
THE IDEAL AND REAL
The ideal west is 1.-The land of the free and
the home of the brave" 1t is redeemed. re-
generated and disenthralled from the tout
worn" creeds of a materialistic and often
corrupt civilization. 1t is not afraid to say
that its soul is its own lest it should lose
dime or risk the loss of dollar 1t has no
exaggerated ideas in regard to the value of
money. 1t has "old fashioned" notions of
propriety and has no foolish Alterations, |
fondly supposed to be 80 English, you |
knaow." 1t has strength without brutality, |
dignity without pomposity, sympathy with |
out ''gush," and discriminating hospitality |
that never fails TO render "honor to whom |
honor is due" The ideal west has liberty
without license, conformity without servility.
ambition without small trickery, and mag
niticent enterprise that means devotion to
noble uses
This is the ideal west and it is fair as the
moon, bright as the sun, and to all forms of
'genteel ignorance" it is indeed terrible as an
army with banners, for it has "frankness
in saying what others only think"
The real west differs from the ideal and is
open to the same objection advanced by Mr..
Howells' young lady who refused her lover
because he was ''too much of a mixture"
w.. |
where twenty-five cents will buy an article
worth fifty cents or one worth only ten cents,
according to the discrimination of the buver. |
There is modified west where certain land
marks enable one to feel that he has ''Cot ont |
II the wilderness" of utter chaos Reasonable
oncessions to long established and widely ac-
epted customs take away the "stranger-ln-a.
Tangerland" feeling incident to the totally
and one is given a leave to be"
hat discloses in a very short time the nature
nd extent Of his possibilities and limitations.
The cultured west is the ideal west and is
erhaps dream of Utopia, since it has both !
igor and elegance, both law and liberty,
over without tyranny, and an independ
nee whose most eager and joyous manifesto
on is to SuccOr the weak and comfort the /
lint hearted ana lend hand to help every l
,,.,G,- ., a.,