The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-03-15
Popular cRlHs.
They Come Unannouneed and Dis
appear As Suddenly.


LNzc8<9 I1eZ3E
4 carexorn philosopher naet TsS-
baAs reporter sd sasde him the re-
ceptzelc Of his secret woe. That which
bzrsiened the philosophers mind was
his inability TO trzee 70 its Erst cause
the inpressionabie nature OF the MAD.
not a. that quality Is found in irdi-
vlauzls, but in mankind collectively.
Superior strength Of wiiI. or natural
affinity. or any one OF q dozen other
forces. viii fully explsin the influence
Of one person over another. bat viii
not account for the manner in which
certain ideas. confined perhaps 10 q
few persons at first. spread rapidly
and finally sway whole communities
or nations. The names given 70 these
phencmona vary with the character
Of the impression. and the impression
itself may be lasting or il may disap-
pear a quickly and mysterionsiy as
Ii rose. a profound thinker gises
sosne theory TO the World, and il is
dubbed philosophy; = theologian dis
covers, or thinks he does, SOME new
meaning to scripfurai passage. and
points out new way 20 salvation,
which Is called religion; bat when q
general impression il made BY some
thing that has no connection with
either philosophy. science or religion.
il is confemptnously called craze
made butt for the ridicule of the an
believer
THE EIrE GLASS cuRE ALL.
In the last named class there is no
more conspicuous example than the
blue glass craze which was inflicted
upon the world by Gen. pleasonton in
a book printed IN blue ink and bound
In blue boards. The publication pnr-
ported 10 demonstrate that the blue or
aesinic ray OF the spectrum was the
source of life and panacea for ali the
ills to which the human flesh, and
mind, too, for that matter, was heir.
The new idea caught on. as il were,
and swept the country like Mani
toba zephyr. Blue glass windows,
blue glass Conservatives. blue glass
spectaeIes, and blue glass IN dozen
other shapes appeared as though they
had been summoned By witchcraft.
Every one who had an ache or pain
became his own physician and bathed
the affected part in the copious streams
OF sunshine filtered through piece Of
blue glass. Regular practitioners were
left to NOPE in their Offices. The
medical profession appeared TO be on
the point OF annihilafioa. The news
papers OF that day contained many
accounts Of remarkable cures effected
by this remarkable agency--cures
which few skeptics maliciousiy at
trshuted more 70 the absence OF pro-
leSsional treatment than TO the efficacy
OF blue glass. The reign of the
eerulean school, however, was brief,
and the actinic ray was allowed to re-
sumo its legitimate function of making
photographs.
Another craze which seized upon the
feminine mind and ragged with great
yirulence for season was the crazy
quilt" craze, which. IL must be con-
cesied, was feiicitously named.
Women are more prone to lose their
heads over novel idea or new bonnet
than men. and hence the enthusiasm
with which they took up the erratic
thing under consideration called for
no extraordinary expression OF aston
ishment. When the craze struck, il
struck hard, and womankind surren-
dered Internationally. Something of
this kind seems TO be essentially neces-
sary to the female constitution. a
natural and irrepressible force that
otherwise might lead nobody knows
where finds vent In the harmless occu-
patton OF making sickiy sentimental
notices. painting impossible flowers,
or sewing the odd ends of silken finery
into eonglomeraie mass and calling
the product thing of utility. The
crazy quilt affords an opportunity for
working up into ornamental and use
full shape all the silk. satin, plush, vel
vet and hroadcloth scraps that have
collected in the household during
many years, and as no woman was
ever known TO despise the ornamental.
no matter how she looked upon the
useful, the crazy quilt soon became
popular. IL has, however, gone the
way Of all crazes.
RisR AND PAIL OF THE ROLLER SKATE.
The most malignant type of this PEE
caiiar mental disease that has APP
peared in recent years was the roller
skating mania, which placed ali the
world on wheels and set the inhabi-
tantS thereof 10 chasing one another
around in endless circles, with no
other apparent object than an imhe-
ellie ambition to see who could keep
up the monotonous round the longest
Every village, town and city in the
land had its roller rink or Kinks. and
many shrewd SPECTATOR reaped
golden harvest while the craze was at
its height. Many another speculator.
not so shrewd, put all his capital into
a rink lust before the bottom dropped
out OF the fad and found himself the
owner OF big barn like structure of
no earthly use whatever.
The world has no reason 20 mourn
the fart that roller skating IS praeti-
eaiIv dead. Following hard uron its
heels came the toAoggan, which from
a rural point of view cannot be said 10
be great improvement.
The spectacle OF Young woman
seated on a shingle and shooting
down an lev incline with her feet
the sides OF young man in
front of Der Is not m edifying one for
cold blooded observers. however pleas
ant the situation may be for the
Young woman and young man. In
the mad rush for the bottom of the
slide. and as the velocity of The tohog-
gan increases, doubtless the weaker
vessel finds il necessary 10 cling
tighter and tighter to her bold eaya-
her. and doubtless the bold cavalier
fully appreciates that feature OF the
performance Added 20 the above nj
fractions is the spice of danger which
gives 10 the sport a piquancy that is
Often little more pronounced than
as recent events have
shown. but the probabilities of frae-
tmred limbs. dislocated joints and
hrnker, necks wili exercise ne restrain