The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-02-25
Rumblings of the Holiday.
[BY j. IL

ers in the heart of supposedly deprayed
men, was we'll manifested on our late
holiday by the spontaneity of the ap-
plause given, by the audience proper,
to the orator of the day, as well as to
the others who catered to us on that
occasion. Truly there must be some
mystic chord within us attuned to no.
BILE acts which lacks but the master
hand of our better self to bring into
clear relief the true man that nature
would have us to be.
Xxx
The writer sat next to one who might
be called typical convict in so far as
outer appearance counts. He had the
sullen, careless, logged expression so
we'll beloved by caricaturists in depict
ing criminals la mode. But, behold,
when the words Of the song describing
the father pathetically soothing the
infant whose mother was on the same
train in her burial robes, reached him,
large tears involuntarily trickled down
the hardened face and his features
were delightfully."- softened by the mag
ic wand of past days whose bright halo,
may we hope, will yet be his beacon.
light to happy future.
*
How decidedly pleasing it was to the
eye, as it scanned the rostrum, to see
there so many representatives of true
womanhood. And what thoughts of
the might have beens' the sight
brought home to us as we recalled the
halcyon days of unfettered freedom,
when we were wont to build airy homes
of respondent beauty over which some
particular fair one was to reign as d
mighty empress. But remember the
motto of this paper and, mayhap, those
airy homes may yet become actual re-
alities. Never forget the spirit of the
oft-repeated quotation, I'm the lexicon
of youth there is no such word as fail.
Bear in mind, alsO that in this wOrka-
day age, youth is reckoned, not by years,
but rather by the willpower and vim
still at the disposal of the individual.
There are many old men of thirty
where there are numerous young ones
of sixty.
Xxx
AS we recall bygone days why not
jot down, on memory's papyrus, some
thoughts that naturally find lodg-
ment with us during our incarceration.
Especially do those messengers of con-
science come to us the more effectually
on the recurrence of national holiday.
The innate pride of the true American,
be he free or fettered, will always be
uppermost on those suspicious Occa-
siOns when the mind wanders back to
schoolboy days, when, intuitively, every
fibre of even the truant could be
worked into enthusiastic frenzy, as we
read of the glorious Washington, the
beloved Lincoln and many others
whose deeds we revere. How often
the greater number of us resolved to be
the ideal Washington and Lincoln COM
bined. Does it not do you good, even
at this late day to think of this, happy
past? Emphatically it does; far more
so than any thought OF possible plum
der or self-enrichment in these days.
Well, we ask, what are we to do? Just
take dart, dip it in the tears of our
present misery, and jot down on the
tablet of the mind few sensible
thoughts. AS punctuation marks use
the words, mother, sister, sweetheart
or wife as may fit the case in point.
Then if those thoughts lead you to a
repetition of folly, 60 ahead. But if,
as they certainly will, guide you into
fields of honest industry and true hap
piness, be man, follow them. Then
when you regain liberty naught can
change the strength of the character
thus achieved.