Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-02-13

/ ~ titSit AAHHLt Dc AAist @'-St'' ~
think they have a hereditary right
to live at the public expense
Mckinley has turned down Fred
Grants application for a Cabinet
job. Let us hope that he will snub
the other Sons Of Fathers ia like
manner.
The following CHEEKY circular was
issued by q progressive Chicago
firm few months sinee-and is
still appropriate:
Hard timesl Hard times Come
again no moreih
We all sing il, we all hope It. but
do we know what hard times are2
We sing it while we eat beef steak
at 20 cents a pound, oysters at so
cents a dozen. and three kinds oil
bread at the same meal; we shout il
while W. smoke cigars. two for a
qqQrter, we think it while we stretch
our comfortable legs en- Brussels
carpet, before a blazing CRATE, with
e!l-groomed boys aud eXpeaslVely
clad girls around us, we shout it to
our neighbors across our smooth
lawns, or through eur plate glass
windows groa1 i us we read our
morning aad evening papers, our
plentiful magazines and our costly
libraries. we dream of it in our soft
and springy beds. while our coal fed
furnace keeps the whole house warm,
we meander about it in our we'll
equipped Offices, shout il through
our telephones ring the changes on II
as we send kilograms and take ex-
IpensiVe summer outings. We meet
in our political, s eioi, literary and
business conventions, and ring the
changes on il while we are spending
/ fortunes with railroads, hotels, res
taaFaFts and places Of amusement.
And yet IN these days we do not
know what hard times are, we tbs1k
we do. bat we do not,
The writer knows Of a time within
his remembrance and he is no
patriarch, when, in one of the rich
est parts of one of the most favored
States in the Union, the whole town
of some two thousand Inhabitants
possessed altogether not over $500
in money all exchange was by bar
ter, there was no cash payment
because there was nothing to pay
with. Among the best and richest
families (and there were many who
thought themselves we'll to.do) beet
steak was u onceva- week visitor;
round beef was a luxury; oysters
were am unheard OF dainty; corn
bread was the usual wheat the rare
food. the cheapest pipe tobacco was
dissipation eeld bedrooms, scan
ty wood fires, wooisey aud calico
were in the house, 6xs window
panes were helped out by bats, old |
papers and rags; a weekly paperI
was an extravaganza, and served |
several families. Ten books made a
good, fair library; beds were Slated
or corded; rag carpets were Dccas
ional, ingram scarce. and Brussels
a tradition; TIE sole vacation was a
ride to the annual picnic in the one !
horse shay; nobody had time, money!
or heart for conventions or amuse-
ments. We men worked from 5. a.
q. 10 Z p. m. (the aristocrats short
aned the tiwe by two hours, and
The women worked at all hours.
And yet Il IS doubtful If there
was in those times such universal
spirit Of unrest and discontet. such
eoaee t of growing, as today.
is it fair2 Are we iust2 Can We
sfford to waste time in bewaiiing
lard times, when times are easy on
IS, and treat US far better THAI we
leserve2
a manager tonee said with
buckle: "'The mails have been good
Q oas hopse today the first one ,
'rought an order in every letter
nd the last one brought a remit.
ance in every letter.
We al know mayhap we are. {
ersons who would have said; Alas. I
e have fallen GA evil times; the {
rst mail brought no money and the !
lst mail brought no trade.
Let US put aside these ugly tenn. il
ess Of ours, look toward the sun. 4
nile at the shadow, all sunshine ,
axes the desert; its pretty !
Grid, senor;;" ENJOY its beauties. h
t Is borrow no trouble, shed LIGHT a
4 cur neighbors; quit us like men q
I'd times viii seem. las they are. 6
,od. =
Ex-Gov. Long, OF Massachusetts 9
rs given 1T ant fhnf ha 1,.,< -