The sun., 1895-03-03
rHE mAx FROM BRooKBYM
Austher Lot OF UncsiIed-Cor Remarks By
the UAsettied citizen,


"Simple- hearted gang those Southerners are"
he began. Had n singer who led of between
courses and the way those boys hammered out
the reirains Of Old Folks at Home and Mas
sa's in de Cold, Cold Ground and My Old Ken
lucky Home and the way they encored was
quaint and archaic and befo'-de.waw."
"Why. Slck." interrupted, that's not
Southern. Northern diners can make pretty
Joyful noise when they start In"
"Ycs. but what starts 'emp u takes war
song something to stir the under current of
North Sea pirate blood that runs in us all. But
n sentimental ditty! just fancy trying What
IL Home without n Mother or 'Rosaic. the
| Prairie Flower at u Lincoln anniversary party ?
You'd be whelmed with Homoric laughter
"llut the best OF the Joke Is, these southern ma
drigals are more southern than am. Theynro
the songs Of the bogus niger; the thing, or tho
unthing. that that crude but surprising genius
stephen c. Foster. invented to fit his songs
| That Foster was fellow with genuine gift Of
song, us every ono knows. but with n much
! higher gift that every ono doesn't know; the
! poets gift of making an atmosphere and envi-
ronment OF his own creation, as Tennyson did
with the ldylls OF tho King and William Nor
r!s with the Earthly Paradise. And into this
| light that never was on sea or land he
| hoisted up this plantation unreality, darky
exactly ms authentic as Elaine the Lovers OF
| 'uui StJ nm W eIHRink ho'Ou'O"
as unreal as himself and. by George, singer and
songs are nearly as good as new to this day.
| But my point is the unconscious simplicity of
| that party Of good fellows. The sincerity with
| which they shouted forth the incongruous woes
| OF the impossible African was simply delight.
Fact is, I've felt for years that there was
| lost chord somewhere in the Southern makeup,
and this dinner has precipitated the floating
idea Old man." banging his fist on the table.
a class, have sense OF humor"
Nonsense" said l. they're much like other
Americans plenty OF fun in them"
"DjdingiO. Fun, yes; humor, no. Southern
young people have great deal OF charming
merriment, and animal spirits, and pastoral re-
partec, mostly Of the tu QOqUe order: and that's
mighty near their high-water mark. About all
the real humor in the South comes out in cam
paiGn anecdotes on the stump; not a few of these
are excellent"
-" But. Nick, how about all the school Of
Southern writers? How can you deny them
humor;"
strip off their dialect and sec what's left
Translate them into Plattdeutsch or Patagonan
and analyzc tho result. Apply any ordinary
tests and you'll find Southern humor as abun-
dant rs snakes in Iceland. How can YOU expect
anything else of people that take Sidney Lanier
seriously and idolize st. Elmo the most un-
the heroine cackles and the hero brays from
cover to cover? The only real humor from the
South that can think of is Frank Stockton's,
and he is an escaped Jerseyman camps mostly
in New York. and lives about near Mason
and D1on's line as he can get"
Nick" said !. you'll get shot for this sort
of talk yet some day. Here are the materials:
shake us up punch" And he shook.
1.-THE GRATED TnEEs.
For my own part. l happen to like Mayor
Strong and his way OF doing things. and my
neighbor is entirely at liberty to non concur.
But as an utter outsider l can't help being
tickled at the plight of the Republican ma
chinists. They in substance and in general
texture much the same crowd that has for
years been professionally aghast at tho shock
ing wickedncss of Tammany. hut always ready
for a deal on the quiet; that shouted for FolRer
and knitted him; that ran Mr.. Erhardt for
Mayor. Last year they saw a profit in
reform. and they outyelled the very
Mugwuinps, with the tongue OF scoffing
tucked snugly in the cheek of derision. Now
they find they have helped to set up man who
has the ineffable denseness to take them at their
word. 1t is awful. In vain they wink and
business The I" old man hasn't learned the
pl5 nr m rs1 IN ot by pptcs not sha Is
business, sure enough. The CONSERVATION all
along ,h 9Th, the line OF patriots is comicsl They see
on, on the tref ana the fraits tnm16lng
like the grated trees in Virgil;
NirdntltrQuc noras CrOndes ct non sud ponld.
The nords trondes-- the George W alton Green
cry. so to speak-they might endure. but the
there's tho rub What Shall be done H wi With h man
who persists in believing when we are not
Let us hope that the Mayor and the mecha-
nicians may strike mOdits Dircndi.
nI.-cAN YoU sALTIrP
Col Warnings odd but incisive delverance on
removing snow revives in my mind an old sug-
great helpr l am not physicist enough to tell
how stream OF water below freezing point in
Though II might not melt IL seems to me It
would disintegrnte II, and in some form, slush
the streets, What would happen in the sew sewers ns
is for engineers to tell. The slush might go
small ice gorges in the sewers and play the mis-
chief. But for light snowfall. which now.
costlIer to handle than a heavy one. would % not q
sea-water flushing do the business and do 1t
moderate main and dozen water plugs near
the East River would settle tho question at no |
Ersa, onH and Il one man with
worth risking little money TO settle IL. not to |
speak Of the other advantages which the advo- |
Gates OF saltwater plant claim for It, With
stern provisions that the hose wielder must be . |
citizen snd the sea water strict city sea water
even organized labor ought not to Quarrel with, |
this plan.
V.-MExIco AND GUATEMALA.
few weeks ago, picking up q southern Cali |
fornia paper. saw that one American gentle |
man OF Mexican descent, bearing the appropriate |
name OF De la Guerra, had offered his services |
70 Mexico against Guatemala. while a fellow |
townsInan or his had volunteered to serve Guate-
maIa against Mexico, 1t sounds odd and a
little Byronic, yet IL is natural enough when
you know the facts. The DE la Guerras
Wero one or the great arstocratic fam
lilies, Of old Alta California, and stoutiv
loyal always to Mexico and when without their
.LIhsoht anu IN their country's dire extremity,
sliied their loyalty just as Alsace- .orrane was
maze iuriously French by transfer TO Germany
lears have made good CalfOrnians of them
and to-day their standing in their own commu,
MY IL ot inc very best, yet their hearts leap up
rrSSsPohsiyc 10 the need OF ths old nationality
,,; ne really odd thing is To find good American
More than once lately | have heard peonle