The evening times., 1899-04-21
The Loss OF m Ideal.

inspired the poet ana ueiisnteu tne puo-
Usher for, 10. these many years have no
foundation in fact, but such things occa-
sionally happen. The latest instance OF
this unhappy state of affairs is reported in
connection with the poetry Of James Whit
comb Riley. As every reader Of his songs
is aware, Mr.. Riley is a devotee of the
rural and the bucolic: and, as perhaps not
all these readers know, his inspirations
have been drawn mainly from the little
town of Greenfield. Indiana. which has
been doing its best to live up to its name
ever since II was christened. Mr.. Riley
has rhapsoiized about that town after this
manner:
And the dust in the road is like vc.vct
And the Tagweed and ieEne and grass
l. sweet n the scent OF the lilies
ci Eden of old, as We pass.
That was written about the main street
of Greenfield. and leads one to suppose
that il is a somewhat remarkable street
Do the youngsters who shuttle along on
their way TO school. kicking UP the dust
with their bare brown feet, recognize its
velvet-like qualities? Do the farmers
who pass over that road with their loads
OF potatoes and cabbagss understand that
the MULLEN and witch grass and smart
weed b. the roadside are perfumed Ike
altar or-roses? Do they stop TO philoso-
phize over the fragrance when they catch
some of the aforesaid weeds in their vege-
table gardens. or DO they use inno7ent rus
tic expletiyes and pitch the intruiers ovec
the fence? That is point on which the
post has hitherto been silent.
But the public, in spite OF the GoIbts it
may have had in reading the lines above
quoted has sympathized with Mr.. Riley
in his love for the plain people and the
airly days" the times when speech run
flee as the songs of birds" 1t has pie
tured Greenfield as q peaceful. paradisia-
cal hamlet, where the political bunco man
came not. and the inhabitants were not
perJurbed by political scandals. bacaus.
they voted for Andrew Jackson at every
election. Ii is. therefore, shock 10 dis
cover that the grand jury has returned
nine hundred and pilety-one indictments
against citizens of that town for cheating
The county. When speech ran so free
in conversation with Mr. Riley. hands
were busy in manipulating the books a.
the courthouse, ard brains were dsvising
ways to hold cut interest on the public
money. No wonder the gcileless farmer
of Greenfield advised the blase and world
weary man of wealth to come and settle
in his neighborhood,
Nine hundred and ninety-one indictments
is considerable number to be levied on a
small place, and it seems as if neari- all
the responsible and able bodied male in
habitants mist BE affected by this action of
the grand jury. To be sure the aged
srandfathers, the innocent children. and
the happy young girls celebrated in Mr..
Rileys poems may not be involved in all
these yards lid fathoms of dupIicitv. The
good housewives of the neighborhood will
sill 20 on making the sort of pies that
mother used to make, and for. that matter
Mr.. Riley can still spend his summer vaca-
tions in Greenfield and spin out ballads.
without either the pies or the ballads being
the worse for the events of the past winter.
But the halo has departed from the little
Indiana town, and henceforth the rich man.
satiated with the worlds tawdry pleasures
and hollow successes. may continue to read
the poetry of Mr.. Riley, but he will not be
led by any literary enthusiasm 10 choose
Greenfield as a place of rest for his worn
brain during his declining years. A town
which has succeeded in having itself in-
mortalized in verse as the champion rural
simplicity factory Of the United States.
while in reality it was cheating the county
out of Government funds, is too shrewd for
the average millionaire to live in when he
is tired.