Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-04-10
THINGS IN NEW YORK
NEWS AND RAcv COMMENTS ev A
eRi0hT AND VIGOROUS PEN.


NEW yoRx, April o." Tody Hamilton,
of Barnum's circus, always has q good
etory 20 relate of interest 10 tho public,
and. - might be expected, his stories
usually hsvc moro or less bearing on the
circus itself. Not the least interesting OF
his narratives relate TO people who want
20 JOIN the circus, and great deal OF Mr..
Aamilton's time seems to have been taken
up by these ambitious persons. 1t Is
very poor country town that does
not produce at least one young man
who has been ellured by the gay
spaneles and trappings OF the ring, and Is
satisfied that O circus life is tho life for him.
Not iufreeuently it is young woman
WHO'S fascinated by the glamor and WISHES
20 become a great circus-rider and bow 10
the plaudits of the multitude. To these
persons Mr.. Hamilton always has stereo-
fyped form OF reply. He points ont the
dangers aud hardships of such life and
The small remuneration that comes as re
ward for 80 much effort. There is no black
spot in the picture to which he does no,
call particular attention. sometimes,
says MIR. Hamilton, my efforts TO deter
these people are successful. and sometimes
they are not. In one very weil-remeu,,,
bered instance they decidedly were not,
and he went on TO tell about 1t. III was
not exactly case OF person wsneine
20 join a cIrous," said be. 1t was
Brooklyn Young woman Of good family,
well educated and exceptionally hanu-
some. whose ambition was 10 60 upon Tue
stage. She was the stepdaughter OF
friend of mine-a lawyer-who loVed heI
a. his own child. Knowing that bad had
experience with such cases, be came 70 inS
for advice and assistance. lie prooeeueo
under my direction for time, but pnaIiy
reported that all his efforts were hseay
70 be in vain: that while he was
doing all hs could TO dissuade the
young woman from such course
she was going right ahead making
her arrangements TO enter upona drainalio
career. NV friend asked me as a maj el,
fort 20 call upon his stcpdaugnter anu
urge her il possible TO abandon her lnteI-
tion. and took the frat opportunity 10 90
30. l went TO his homo IN brooAiyn anu
as an old friend of the family TOOK t1e 10. ~
erty 10 point out TO the young lauy the
soliv Of the sep she was 80 seriously con-
formulating. She had been accustomed 70
The comforts of good home, and 1 laid
much stress upon the hardships she
MIGHT have TO endure in the event
that the dramatic profession proved
disappointing in pecuniary sense.
/ believe i even went SO lar a. -
suggest 10 her that 1t did not infrequently
happen that actresses were oOhEeu ~
pawn their wardrobes to satisfy the de-
mands of pinching poverty, and that the
chronicles of the profession showed that
the best OF them after bad season were
often obliged to count railroad ties IN
order 10 get back home. In fact. drew
narrowing picture of the hardships ana
poverty which attended even moderate
success, and went away from the mousse
believing that had saved this young lany
from life Of wretchedness and want; 10
nv horror" continued Mr. Hamilton,
81 soon afterward learned that, not
withstanding all that had been sald ana
done. she had actually gone upon the stage.
And now what do you suppose mas become
OF her - and Mr.. EamiltoD's voice grew
almost husky with emotion. foor
child, moor child" he moaned. she
was Edith Kingdom, and she hal not been
ON the stage great while until she was
the wife of George Gould"
"Then she is not counting railroad ties
o. you feared?" | suggested,
Counting railroad ties! !" chuckled
Mr.. Hamilton, why, she is actually
counting railroads that she owns or ex-
poets to own"
LAw-MAKISG WITH A VENGEANCE.
Since the New Jersey Legislature has
passed a law legalizinG the Reading, Lee
high VALLEY and Jersey Central coal con-
spiracy, and the New York Legislature
has amended the insurance code 50 as TO
lei in the Cet-rich-quick endowment so
cleties, il would seem that almost any
thing might reasonably be expected from
n State Legislature. at least from these
two State legislatures. In both these
cases the process may simply be cnarac,
teriZed as passing laws to make frauc
LEGAL. The public awaits the next step
with breathless interest and will be sur
prised at nothing. BY the time this cor
Iespondenceisin type. these extraordinary
laws NAV be repealed or vetoed. but others
equally extraordinary may have taken then
place. These endowment societies whlch
have lust been lecalZed by the New
Work Legislature against the earnest pro-
test OF Superintendent Pierce OF the State
Insurance Department, promise to pay
SlO0 for S25. and pay nothing. Their pros
pectuses are always allurlneand they eaten
gudceons by the thousands. III may De
nrced that any one who goes into a scheme
where 500 is promised for S25 deserves e
be swindled, but at the same time State
Iegislature should hesitate before II passes
laws to legalize this sort OF thing. Inc
gentlemen who carry on the green goods
business under some disadvantage shoulc
come in and demand legislation IN then
behalf. The bunco men cannot always de
pend upon the courtesy OF the police ant
under the new order of things shouit
ssk that their business and their persons
be hedeed about with the aegis OF the law
Jikewise the horse-th.ef. What protec
ton does the red-eyed law afford TO aim
To DO sure. after he gets into court be ha
n chance to prove that he Is not horse
thief. but simply an equine kleptomaniac
and has been so from birth. This. o
course. will acquit HIM. but az the sam'
time is it fair. ~ IL just. Is II rlght, be
tween man and men that hls busineS
should be Disseminated against by the lie
Cislature? Any reasonable person Will wo
not. OF course there is another, Wow OF TN
matter. While many are condemning th'
Legislature for doing these things there
are Others who take the same vieV
that the Legislature does. namely
That every swindle that is duly legaliZeS
and made proper reduces the number o
swindles just that much. TINS, II !
claimed, is III the interest OF public NOR
ais. and should be encouraged alike b'
press and pulpit. BY legalizing all tn
swindles IT Will then become imposslDi'
for anyone to be swindled. And whei
there are no longer any swindles Their
will be no inducement for anyone 70 b.
a swindler, and We will all becom
upright and honorable by law. Thi
will place all on common level as 4
honesty and the very rich man will, b.
statute, become quite as good as q poo
man. BY this means no man may be 81
rich but he can get through the eye of th
celestial needle. Sir Thomas More's Ito
pian Government will therefore become
beautiful reality. Here Is where the pub
licist rises superior to the preacher and mo
ralist. While the latter IA wasting bis tim
trying to persuade men TO be honest tn
former passes few laws making all crime
legal and ell men respectable. The lew !
p great thing, but 1t requires politician
TO apply its beauties so as 10 work tn
greatest good to the greatest number
THE LATE POET WHITMAN.
II Is safe 20 say that dear old Walt Whit
man has been more talked about in New
York SINCE his death than he was durini
the last ten years Of his life. When tn
news came that he had gone over the Darl
River there were a score of well-knowi
men in New York who recalled many inte
resting "reminiscences of the good era.
poe" as be was thirty years ago. He wa
3 familiar figure on Broadway in ante
bellum days. and attracted so much at
tention then for his peculiarly rugge'
health and magnificent physique as he die
in later years by the popularity OF much O