The herald., 1896-03-09
An EVAAGEL|ST|C singer
And the SideshOw Method of
Advertising Him
HUTCHINSON HAS AN INNING
A Variety Of Subjects the Basis for
Criticism
Some People Can Be Decent Anywhere, While
Others Are Never Clean Except
Physically and Temporarily

EDITOR HERALD-To secure the sonorous
voice of the great Ira d. Sankey was no
doubt the proper thing for half dozen Of
the local churches to do last Sunday but
to adopt the circus and sideshow method
of advertising him for half dozen places
at the same hour-promise all crowds that
he would certainly appear during the
service, and infiict all sorts of speakers
upon those who waited while the circuit
was being completed, was a plan that
found disfavor with thousands and pre-
vented many from hearing the great
singer.
! was among the many. went, in the
afternoon, to the great tabernacle where
"Sankey was to sing" After listening to
some imported and alleged talker for an
hour was informed that Sankey had sung
and had departed for another meeting.
One who styled himself the manager"
told me that Sankey would sing at the
said tabernacle at $50 on that evening.
At $50 was there to hear Sankey. Half
a dozen men spoke on the money question
and kindred subjects; the ''manager" con-
sumed half an hour with the statement that
the convention had been an absolutely per-
feet success. but that he could make many
Improvements for next year. After an
hour had been consumed in this fashion
Mr.. Sankey appeared, and straightway
the man who had consumed the time of
the afternoon meeting arose to consume
another hour of the time of the great
throng that had already waited an hour
to hear Sankey. Many who had other
engagements for the evening left the hall
in disgust at such methods of holding
audiences.
The children of this city have never be-
fore suffered from such raging epidemic
season of mumps, measles and dipbtheria.
That half of them are not dead is due al
most entirely to the midness of the cli-
mate, aud not to the advanced" medical
fraternity with which we are afflicted.
Those diseases have ragged here for the
| last three or four months, and measures of
isolation and quarantine have hardly been
| thought of. Children with their necks
swollen with the mumps have been al
| allowed to run in the streets, to meet
| tho school children, who seemed to have
| no protection except that afforded by the
| teachers.
| 1t is rumored that local attorney of
| some note was lately barred from practice
by a local judge, and that when he con-
| fessed that he had lied and talked quite
naughtily he was again taken to the bosom
of the court for such consistency and such
self-purgation.
l Iwor der what would have been the fate
| of Judge Utley or Judge Ryan. deputies of
| the late district attorney, or of Judge Dill
| Ion himself, if any such case had come up
| two years ago and either of those had been
| implicated therein.
! The contracts for the new school houses
| caIl for doubla floors with a 1aypr Of heavy
| paper between to deaden the noises of the
' school rooms. Some strange evasions OF
the contract are reported. Competent
| witnesses state that one long sheet of paper
did duty at the Sixth-street school for all
that building. They state that the said
sheet of paper was placed as if it were to
be properly covered up, and was moved
along as the floors were laid, over the
whole building.
"Thrift, Horatio, thrift"
The ornamental and bracket work on
the Cambria-street school house is so badly
cracked that it looks even worse than the
rustic of the same building. A city official
states that some of the ''joints' of that
building refuse to come closer than half
an inch, and that many Oh the rainspouts
of the school building are innocent of
solder.
Meanwhile, we have waited one year
SlIlC9 we VOteu fOOO,OUU LOT new SCHOOLS,
and we havo four buildings nearly done
out of fifteen contracted for.
A college chap who is ''proud'' of his
''sheepskin'' granted by his sever dear
and motherly alma mater'' is sorry that
should make an attack on the ''local uni
versities.'
The innocent fellow whose only ed
ucational attribute and protecting garment
is ''sheepskin" from "local universi ty''
need not fear any lack of covering. The
| "sheepskin'' in question will cover him
completely, but he must be spry and nim-
BILE OF foot, or some grammar school lad
will step on him, or some high school youth
may inadvertently annihlate him. He
must be careful not to expose his ignor-
ance, even in the presence of a Miss in the
normal school.
As for "local universities" we have none
not even good college.
We have half dozen private sch oo!s or
academies, half supported by various re.
ligious denominations that seem unable to
tolerate each others children in the same
school, and that seem willing that the chill.
dren should pun in their time at fourth-rate
schools and academies rather than associ-
ate with each other at great university
such es they could well maintain in unity.
The same peculiar people favor schools
located in almost inaccessible quarters,
and seem to fear that the young men and
young women who run over the city half the
night cannot be trusted to go to school in
the daylight i'll a building conveniently
located in the city.
Compare the ''academies' at Andover
and Exeter with our "universities," and
learn to call things by their right names.
The best university in the world is the
cheapest institution for the best boys.
With the adoption of new dictionary
the schools and the public are confronted
with numerous difficulties in the way of
marks to indicate pronunciation .and ac-
cent. The works that have been in use for
hundred years are better than any de-
vised since, but each author of new die
tionary tries the wicked plan of substituting
some new system of his own, simply be-
| cause he did not have the honor of devsng
the old system.
1t is easy to make a dictionary better
than any now in use, but the letters of the
alphabet and the marks of pronunciation
will answer their purpose for some time
In all probability there are not three
people in this city who understand the
markings of the three great dictionaries in
common use.
The late difficulty encountered by the
house of representatives at Washington in
Its attempt to secure reading clerk is a
good example of our so-caled "advarce
work in education," especially in the way
of reading.