The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-10-13
Friday. October l3. 1898.
SHELBY Ellis PHILOSOPHY.

1ELh ELI =
The return of Shelby Eli billiard to
journalism in this state is an event that
should not be passed lightly by. for
Shelby, despite his foibles. is one among
q thousand. As Il writer he is both fore
ible and unique. With an utter disre-
gard for grammatical amenities OF speech
or composition he plunges boldly into
the sea Of linguistic breakers, never hes
itating for a word to express his vehe-
mence of thought. for if it comes not on
demand, 10! he makes one. and be it
euphonious or not. there is no doubt as
to it's meaning. Shelby is a philosopher.
too. and emerging now from a bankrupt
and thoroughly remorseful condition, his
philosophy bristles all over the pages OF
the first issue Of the New Idea. his new
paper. The tone OF these reflective solil-
oauies indicates that Shelby's recent ex.
~perience has not been of a kind to
strengthen his faith in human nature. as
witness:
The bigoted and ignorant walk with
high and proud steps-with hob-nailed
~bOOts-where the timid and wise dare
not tread.
The INSCRIPTIONS liar is born with a
lie on his lips. and it's as natural for him
to lies as It is for a mud turtle to eat
mud.
The heartlessness of this world makes
= ue SO MAD sometimes we wish we were a
rattle 81 AXE and could bite ourselves and
die.
This is a strange world. 1t is full of
timid and deceitful humanity, said to be
made in the perfect image of the AL
mighty. We pity God from the utter
most depths of our little virgin heart II
He looks like some ow-down human cat
tie that pollute and contaminate the very
air which we breathe.
Another idea that has a distinct de-
velopment in much of Shelby's writing
is the antithesis of the generous spend
thrift and the man OF misery instincts.
Here are some reflections on this point:
A Ounce can save money. and by grit
and stint mas a snug little fortune.
The broad-guaged and improvident and
enterprising man invest ms money
and lose it-and like the illustrious Oh
yer Goldsmith. sleep in the streets with
uothing to cover him but the canopy OF
heaven.
We think that these improvident men
are built on that lofty architectural ny
pothesis and can't help it. 1t is as nat
ural for some men to jar loose their
money without the aid of giant powder
and enrich the people of the world. as II
is for the miser TO hoard VI his hateful
gold. and let the little feet of the orphan
patter on the frozen ground. and watch
the tears trlckle down the face of the
poverty stricken widow.
As to the consequences OF reckless en-
extravaganza he says:
When "a nan heedlessly persists in
sowing wild oats and will not listen to
the kind advice of his friends. the gates
of poverty will be reached and he will
be forced to the wall.
And elsewhere rounds up this train of
thought with the p~laintive statement:
We are urged by our friends to go to
the Fair as it would expand our dome OF
thought. We could not go to jail-if it
cost anything.
Two more extracts will suffice to show
the virtuous peculiarities of u friend
Shelby. Concerning The conduct OF his
paper he says:
II we cannot flourish and prosper on
our v~irtuous merits and intrinsic worth.
let us sink like a sculking dog beneath
the dark and tempestuOus waves OF sor-
rowful adversely. A man who has to be
b0lstered up by friends and chuckled
under the chin by the fair hand OF
beauty to make him a gorgeous success
u mighty small potatoes and d-n few
in q hill.
And as to its many lapses grammati-
cally;
Grammar is all right in the parlor. but
10 poor truck in a printing office.
Surely SO bright a genius should be
welcomed back to the fold most heartily.
Shelby. here's to you, but remember and
apply the maxim of a wise F.enchman,
Rochefoucauld, who held that-Philoso-
ply triumphs easily over past and over
future evils. but present evils triumph
over philosophy.
Buck Anthony, colored, of Early coun |