The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-01-09
PE0PLEMUsT BE AMUSED.
This holds as Good Of Washing-
ton as Any Other Place.
Gambling and Guzzling No Longer
Countenanced IN the National Cap
ital-Good Stories of Theaters
and Acto=s-
fspeclal washingeon Lettel.l


The poet told the truth, although
there will always be some doubt COM
corning the authorship Of the lines.
The words have a jingle of merriment,
wine and wassail, and indicate that
they were written by a man; and BY
Just such a man as Col. John A. Joyce.
But Ella Wheeler Wilcox claims their
authorship.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you
Weep, and You weep alone.
This grand old earth must borrow its mirth.
It has troubles enough Of its OWE"
Phillip Phillips, the celebrated singer
Of sacred music used to sing a verse
containing the words: Though you
may forget the singer, you will not for
get the song" and so !. makes 40 diff
ference from whose pen the lines came,
and it would make no difference If we
never heard Of the controversy concern
ing authorship-the words contain q
truth which is universal.
The moralists and theorists Of al ages
have discussed the best modes 0 fiiving.
There are ascetics to-day who believe
in the repression of mirth, even in chill
dren. There is a priestly class who live
in seclusion, and, meeting each other,
always make the cheerful allusion:
Brother, we must all die" There are
others who look upon the world through
glasses of a different color, and who be-
lieve in extracting all the pleasure pos
sible out of this ieeting existence.
Some Of them are the careless ex-
tremists who clink their bumpers and
sing: Eat, drink and be merry" But
there are still others who attain a happy
medium between extreme recklessness
and extreme asceticism, and they are IN
the majority.
People in the national capital who
live in the ease and luxury of comfort
able incomes, the families of statesmen
and of the higher salaried government
employees, the foreign ambassadors and
ministers, and the wealthy visitors who
make this a winter resort, are allin pur-
suit of pleasure. The majority of them
are reasonable in their quest of enjoy.
nlent. In the hotels where families Of
congressman spend the winter there
are little card parties given by the
ladies, whereby long evenings are pleas.
AMY pASSE0s 4AC 4allCS IA inc MS
floor of the hotel go visiting the ladies
on the fifth floor. and the ladies on the
second floor visit the ladies on the ninth
floor; and thus visits are exchanged il
the hotels just as calls are made a.
home from house to house.
Then there are other card parties ii
which gentlemen alone participate, anc
sometimes large sums of money chang,
hands. It is proper to say, however
that gambling for money is growing
less and less among gentlemen every
year. In my brief experience in the ma
tional capital it has been a pleasure t,
notice ths fact that gentlemen are doing
less gambling, and hat the habit is be
coming r-eprehensible. Forty or fifty
years ago drinking was not regarde,
as a grave fault, but the temperate,
spirit has grown during that time 81
that drinking is now regarded as +;
vice. Healthy public sentiment is thu
driving out the evil spirit of gambling
The most popular pleasure here is til,
theater, and many box parties are giyel
during the season. Washington is
small city compared with our CON
cial marts, and SO we do not ID
best plays long continued. III Sta
performers and their companies seldom
stay in Washington more than a week