Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-21
OF CURRENT

OF CURRENT INTEREST.
Speaker Reed has a decided aversion to
the pronouncing of formal eulogies in the
house on the lives and public services Of
deceased members. and. if the speaker
had his preference about it. there would
be no occasion for curious people to write
to Washington. as one of Representative
Lacey's constituents, the Post says. did
the other day. for all the eulogies that
were ever pronounced upon dead congress-
men because he loved that Iugubrious kind
of reading. This is not. of course, on ac-
count of any lack of reverence that the
speaker has for his deceased colleagues. but
he agrees with many other thinking people
that it would be in far better taste to pass
a simple resolution, with perhaps an ad-
journment as a further mark of respect for
the dead man. 1t is not recalled that
Speaker Reed ever delivered a euIogy over
a deceased member of the house. When he
was asked recently ospeak in eulogy of the
late Representative Milliken. he declined.
although the two men were excellent
friends and had served together in con-
gress as representatives from the same
state for nearly fifteen years.
1t is said that out of every 100 manu-
scripts submitted to publishers. not more
than one reaches book form. Ninety-nine
are returned to the authors, most of whom
feel the disappointment so keenly that they
never touch pen again. For this relief
| many thanks. 1t is one way to kill OFF
the increasing herd of authors. But pub
fishers are as fallible as other mortals. a
New York writer insists. The chances are
that they miss the best stories submitted
| and select some old thing not worth bind
ing. Their errors of Judgment far out
number those of the theater managers, be-
cause the field of operations is larger. The
doctrine of selection has not yet been re-
duced to the level of an exact science. and
they can no more tell what will be the taste
of the reader than the manager can tell
what will fill his auditorium with delighted
spectators. OF the 5000 books published
in this country every year not more than
half a dozen have a profitable sale.
A Florida editor, describing a tragedy in
that state, says: Like an assassin in the
dark, with stealthy, silent trea'l. tip-toeing.
he approached the bedside where beauty
slept in sweet innocence. Posing himself
above the silent. peaceful form. he grinned
IN devilish giee: then. closing his eyes and
gritting his teeth, the keen-bladed knife
WIS thrust into the warm. kind breast. Not
a word was uttered. He went as he had
come-silently. e%tealthily. The deed WIS
dcne." Compare the above agony. suggests
Frank Stanton with the brief. breezy de-
s%cription of a Georgia editor. writing on a
similar subject: Like d snake he cropc
through the window. set his foot on the
floor. stood over the bed where Uncle Billy
was allyn, reached for his pans and took
out sl6-all the money Uncle Billy had In
tine world-then cropped back to the window.
sw ung himself out. and slid right into the
arms of the high sheriff of the county!"
Rumer has it that American women are
organizing a new ancestral society-if any
thing pertaining to ancestors can be called
new" 1t will be known as The Order
Of Eden" its members being Daughters
of Eve" The membership will be limited
only to those women who can show proof
that they are lineal descendants from
Mother Eve. By this 1t will be seen how
hard it will be to gain admission. Revolu-
tionary Daughters, Colonial Danes, Hol-
land Majesties and Daughters of the Crown
will be as mere mushroom growths beside
1t. Curious, isn't 1t. the Sun suggests. that
while a past Is SO much objected to by
women individually. collectively they ask
for nothing more; the further back the
better? Thanks to its past. the Order Of
Eden must at once take rank as the most
exclusive of organizations. The sOciety'S
emblem will be the original. figleaf; its
motto. N Parvenues Need Apply"
The Church Economist prints the follow
ing letter. recently sent by a Pennsylvania
church to q business firm In New York.
"Gentlemen:-A cafe chcantant, together
with a market. will be given in the spa
cious rooms of the Parish house. December
9 and 10. for the benefit of - church. OF
this city. The object of the market is to
display and dispose of the wares of the
leading manufacturers throughout the
country. We therefore write to ask if you
will kindly contribute something in the
shape of sample packages. or the ike.
sending them by mail. freight or express,
prepaid. You can readily see this will be a
unique as well as a very good way of adj
vertising. Very truly yours etc.
Furnaces can be heated with oil at a low
cost. it is said. by using a new liquid fuel
burner which has a central oil tube end
ing in an atomizer, which is placed at the
mouth Of an inlet TO the furnace door and
surrounded by perforated nozzle. which dis
charges compressed air into the inlet with
the spray of oil. thus increasing the heat
in the combustion
e Jerome X. Jerome. who has relinauished
/. the editorship of both the Idler and To-
Day. has n short humorous novel ready for
publication early in the year. Literature
says that all Mr.. Jerome's books have been
translated into Norwegian. and in Ger
many, France. Russia and Scandinavia he
= is one of the very few English writers at
all well known
Senator Julius Caesar Burrows bas two
brothers. The name of one Is Jerome Bona
parte Burrows: the other keeps his Chris
tan names to himself, but MS initials are
!, S. S. They stand for something high
: sounding. because his father had no use for
|. names that were commonplace.
Mrs. David Watt, who lately died at
e Ferryden. Scotland. a small fishing village
: there she had lived all her life of 100 years
1 and 4 months. left 2s9 descendants-12 chill
dren 6 sons and 6 daughters. so grand
: children. 115 great-grandchildren and 7
: Observation-Disclosures.
- At the time of Daudet's death he was
collaborating with NJ. Leon Henrique on a
I new work. La Petite Paroisse.' and on the
morning of the day he was TO die, My
good Henrique," said the novelist, If any
thing were to happen to me you would be
able to finish 1t alone"
Having successfully carried his new vol.
ume of poems through the press Edmund
O Clarence Stedman proposes 10 devote some
labor to another anthology similar In scope
d to that In which he traversed the poetry
of the Victorian era, but dealing with