The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-12-03

500, 900, to which SC. 900 have been added
during the past year, ] believe.
Perhaps the most amusing thing in the
periodical field during the year has been
the reiuvenating of old magazines, and
%singularly enough. all the three attempts
which have been made hail from Philadel-
phia. The first to take unto itself a new
lease of life was ''Godey's Lady's Book"
and although a great splutter has been
made by the new management and a large
amount of money spent. the experiments
has not taken on the healthful color Of sue
cess, and money has been going out with
but little coming in. Close upon the heels
of "Godey's'' comes the old "Peterson's
Magazine" spruced up and looking a hun
dred times more attractive than it ever did.
And. thirdly, comes 'Arthur's Magazine"
which promises likewise to confuse its old
readers by taking on a new dress. new ma
%terial, new everything in fact. Ventures OF
his sort are, I think, to be encouraged,
since everything fresh which comes into the
literary field means more reading. more
work for authors and artists, and in every
respect has a good tendency. The result
of all this literary rejuvenation will
be interesting to watch. 1t ia not an easy
matter to change ones color, but it can be
done-with money, with good management,
and with time. Thus far the first has not
been lacking, but the second is wofully alb
sent. Good editorial Judgment seems lack
ing. In the case of "Godey's' for example.
I know not less than a half dozen stories
and manuscripts purchased by them which
nearly every magazine in the land has had
o,l ro;,o&aI With :sDaforoopDo - IN ao ma
is also true, where three features" for one
issue are announced, all of which have been
several times declined by other editors. 1t
is possible, of course, that the other editors
may be at fault in Judgment, and that the
purveyors at the head of these new ventures
may be right. All this remains to be seen,
aud in the meanwhile there is not one of
us, 1 am sure, who will not wish success
for these or any other new departures in
the periodical field.
A few days since I was sitting in the com-
Portable library of Dr.. Oliver Wendell
Holmes. The day was raw outside and it
added to the cheerful welcome to be asked
to sit down before the open fire in the CRATE.
We had been talking of various things, and
then. as will happen, a silence fell-not the
silence of depression. but the silence of
restfulness and ease. 1t came just after /
asked of the famous poet:
Now that Whittier has gone, are you
not beginning to feel a little lonely.
doctor?"
He looked into tho fire, thought a mo-
ment, and then said, in a low tone, almost
inaudible, as if he had forgotten my pres
ence:
Lonely! Is a man ever lonely With his
books and his work around him? / have
my work. And yet"-and then came the
silence. "
We we're both way Town into the depths
of two of the easiest chairs in the room.
The log in the fire sputtered a little, then
broke into two pieces, and, as the released
flame shot upward INT made a weird but
strong light, | turned just a little and
looked at my companion in silence. The
face was still strong; only the shadowso OF
the blight tongue of flame seemed to
deepen the lines a little. Or. was it alone
the dancing shadows of the fame2 Ever
with the eyes lost in meditation, they wer,
still bright and full of lustre. The mine
was just as active. but it seemed to enjoy
> its little moment Of repose The finger
} tnat nave written 30 muCn ana so Doautl-
fully toyed with the gold eye-glass chain al
it wound itself round and round, as if j
were as fond of them as are the world o.
: reading men and women. There was little
to indicate the man of eighty except til,
) snowy white hair, and az l looked at Olive
Wendell Holmes sitting there so pictur
esque in his ease, so tranquil in hi
thoughts, 1 could not help thinking Just
moment of the closing lines of ''The Las
Leaf"
Longfellow gone! Thoreau, Emerson
Parker, Beechsr. Lowell, Alcott. all gone
And lastly, quiet and Quaker-souled Whit
tier. But Oliver Wendell Holmes still tai
ried, and ever youthful and bright, as
realized when, taking the card a servan
, had brought in, he scanned it and said I
me:
Escape for your life! Here's a woma
with a long tongue. / have to endure il
lash, but you needn't. Escape now, BIZ
: come again SOON"
Then there was a hasty grasp of the han
:. and from its heartiness and strength | fe
as if / had not seen the ''autocrat of Il
breakfast table" for the last time.
-, EDWARD w. Box.
10 Copyright.