The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-01-17
THREE KANSAS ROCKS.

70 be, and We hope will be. in ever,
Kansas library.
The first ia "Wild Rose Petals," by
Miss Lydia NJ. Jackson, Geo. W
Crane, Topeka. publisher. A dainty
book, containing, as the modest pre-
lace states, 'tales from many land
which have never bef3re been told,
and which are here told in charming
way. a good many of the poems show
little too fresh q recollection Of tbs
Hiawatha meter, and there are &C
casional slips in measure and rhyme
but these slight faults are easily com
pensated by the many quaint conceit'
and pretty fancies which are woven
into the verses.
From these "Wild Rose Petals" a
little book of sixty pages, written out
of the heart of a sensitive and delicate
woman, to the personal Recollectiont
of Pardee Butler" a volume of 4OC
pages filled with the exciting exper.
fences of a rugged, combative man,
there could hardly be a greater step
in the whole world Of books. BY pro-
fession Christian minister, by nature
a fighter, Pardee Butler was q type
Of those hardy soldiers of the church
militant who have always been found
in the very van OF civilization, bearing
aloft the banner of the Cross, defend
ing with aggressive zeal their peculiar
sect, but ministering to all with i'm.
partial tenderness in the day Of their
calamity. Born on the Western Re-
serve, of long line of Puritan ances.
tors, hatred of slavery was part of
the blood and bone Of Pardee Butler,
and so when the call came to save
Kansas for Freedom, he went because
he could not help but 60. And in THE
book he tells the story of things he
saw and heard and did there during
the five years that the struggle lasted.
And thrilling story it is, as the story
must ever be that has on every page
the names of John Brown and Jim
Lane and Charles Robinson and
a hundred other names of men and
places that the fierce heat of those
days burned ineffacesbly into the
memories of every true Kansan. 1t is
an intensely interesting book and by
far the most valuable contribution to
early Kansas history that late years
have given us. 1t is published by the
standard Publishing Company"
Cincinnati. and there ought to be de-
maud i'm Kansas alone for the entire
edition.
The third book--'the best of the
wine for the last Of the feast"--is "The
Rhymes of Ironquill," this particular
volume most welcome because it comes
with Compliments of Ironquill' in.
scribed upon the fly leaf. Passing out
from the house of q friend in Washing.
ton after an evening of somewhat
transcendental talk, Mr.. Ware glarced
up into the northern heavens and
catching the glitter from the brilliant
that marks the caudal extremity of
the Great Bear, remarked, "When my
time comes to take. promenade
through the ethereal realms, I'll wear
Arcturus for bosom pin.' The ex-
travagant fancy caught the ear of his
friend who insisted that il must 60
upon the title page of the new
Rhymes" So here it is, "I'll wear
Arcturus for bosom PIN" and from
that line to the Interrogation mark on
the last page the book is filled with
the unique personality of tie choicest
spirit that ever called Kansas home.
There are the old favorites that ap-
peared in the edition of 1855. "The
Romance" with the scene laid
ION the shores OF Yellow Paint,
Where the pillows loudly roar.
Where the blue eyed zephys faint
And the blue-eyed women snore, -
the Stables" with their wit and
wisdom, "The Washerwoman's Song"
and a score of others that Kansas
would be lonesome without. Then
there are plenty of new ones, "rhe
Admission of Hic Jones to the Paint
Greek Bar" among them. This is not
a new one, strictly speaking. The
REGISTER recalls printing it half a
dozen years ago, setting it up from a
much worn but carefully preserved
copy furnished by Judge Talcott. The
author did not think enough of it to
put it in bis first book. but there was
such a universal "kick" from those
who had read il that he did not dare
to leave it out of the second. Then
there are "John Brown" 1.-THE Or
gan Grinder" 1.-THE Medicine Man."
The Kansas Dugout," "Fear Ye
Him" and numerous others that have
not been in print before, some of them
some serious, but all ilsm-
ing with the true fire which gives as
snrance that Kansas has at least one
real poet.
In letter addressed to the writer Of
Ihese comments some time last sum-
mer, I1onquill declared it to be his
to quit writing poetry. "Hu-
man nature is 30 constructed, )" he Gays,
50 that people are unable to believe that
a man can do more than one thing;
that if he can make a speech and run
for Office he is absolutely useless for
any other purr"se, and that if he can