davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

as he used to sign himself, was a name
familiar to Eastern editors long before
his Western critics discovered him. He
is now more than 80 years of age, and has
been contributing to Harper's and Scrib-
ner's and the Atlantic for nearly a quar-
ter of century But not until the ap-
pearance of THE Man With the Hoe did
he wake up to find himself famous.
This fame has not turned his head He
speaks modestly enough of his own per-
formance to the reporters who flock to
him for interviews.
'I am man of the hoe" he said to one
of these. Il am a child of the furrow.
All my youth was passed on farm and
cattle range among the hard. severe con-
ditions that go with that life. So when l
write of the man with the noe l write to
some extent of my own experience"
Mr. Markham has been for many years
the principal of a school in Oakland. Cal.
Ten years ago, he tells us, he made a visit
to a loan exhibition in San Francisco. and
then for the first time saw Mflets paint
ing, The Man With the Hoe"
Millet's Painting.
81 sat for an hour before the painting
and all the time the tenor aud power Of
the picture was growing upon me. | saw
that this creation of the painter was no
mere peasant. no chance man in the
fields but he was rather a type. symbol
of the toiler. brutalized through long ages
of industrial oppression. ! saw in this
peasant the slow but awful degradation
of man through endless, hopeless and joy
less labor | saw in the peasant betrayed
humanity, for. Cain to the contrary. we
are all more or less our brothers keeper.
This picture stuck in my memory for ten
years, until my Christmas vacation, and l
wrote out the impression of it that had
been sprlngng up through my soul all
these years
But We who now have chance to read
Mr.. Markham's verse in its entirety can
recognize that in many prelude to the
final utterance he breathed the same spir-
1t of altruStic love for the oppressed and
hatred for system which produces un-
conscious and unintentional oppressors.
Here, for example, is a little waif now
housed in his palace of art:
Armageddon.
We sit here and whisper and wonder
OF the that coming earth.
When the stopped. silent toers in thunder
Shall ask what the ages worth
There II be curses and cries for the reasons,
And tempest of feet the stairs;
And kings will turn white in their treasons
And prelates grow pale at their prayers.
Therell be cries-there'l be beating of ham
rners,
There1 be knocking at gates-there'n be
By night-theren be whirlwinds of men.
Is not this "The Man With the Hoe" in
miniature?
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

How will 1t he with kingdoms and with kings
With, those who shaped him to be the thing
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God
After the silence of the centuries?
Great stormful power is here, great
emotion, but no great originality of
thought nor metriCal perfection of form
in the. utterance. Emotion is much
thought is much, but form is much also.
1t is in the union of the three that really
great poetry consists
Western Poets and Critics.
The fecund West. which spawns great
poets by the scores and follows them up
with great critics by the hundreds. in
order that the latter may discover the
former has decided that here is the
greatest of all the great Western poets.
Some great critics go further. One as
serts that THE Man With the Hoe
touches the high water mark of Ameri-
can achievement in verse. Another, more
modest. but still a master of i'll consid-
cred superlatives, thinks it the best thing
written by an American author in quar-
ter of a century. A third holds that 1t
stamps the author as "one of the great
est thinkers in the world" A fourth,
more weirdly impressionistic in his Ian
guage. declares that "he goes down into
the dim places of the dead; he reaches
III lltdI Nv al III pl dy u " tHt L dtlltI Oh
Life" A fifth says, This poem comes as
the cry of the zeitgeist."
A large number of great Western critics
join in agreeing that Markham is the
foremost name in poetical literature since
Tennyson and Browning.
where's your Wully Shakespeare
nOw?' cried a hot Scotch in the gallery
of the Edinburgh Theater. rejoicing over
the success of John Homes Douglas"
where's your Ruddie kipling now?" ap-
pears to be the unexpressed but secretly
eXultant interrogative of coordinate crit
icism in the West.
Is 1t Great Poemp
OF course this is all nonsense. "The
Man With the Hoe is not a great poem
in the sense that the masterpieces of
Tennyson or Browning, or even Kipling,
are great poems. One may still hold to
the comparison with THE Marsellaise"
and the Ca Ira" But neither The Mar
seillaise" nor the "Ca Ira" is great
poem. Both were great rallying cries as
THE Man With the Hoe may prove to
be- They voiced prevalent. and event
ually dominant mood. They possessed the
stormful energy of passionate protest. All
this is true likewise of the newer lyric.
But of all three it is true that they have
not the majesty or authority of the high
est poetry.
And the fun of the thing is that Edwin
Markham, or Charles Edwin Markham
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

nd % S a him Ph eur heard @
hange and rushed accept and the two dogs t0feh M b
vantage watchne Holo
1;
a tod bd you you he wasn't hound exclaimed Mr. conss~0h
Returning encounter rubbed
@ the for
1hen ss ysy
@ 5sTs @ a for ds 5onnS % Rsp @ the lot the
% me where my @ horse hest Jhnn @ Bal m Had 3 Joe an Mkw
Well then Johnny Bapter fifteen Of not the big
@ with & S0qhe @ na wG 9um outside of d p gt as h 5s corn the
Q
well hope Buster y sn 5 s ey 1s ya @ the % ne o said Joe Max
& @ w IN could the boy & n give ANY anhng 60 but
% sfssS .a%s5s@s s5%s
1 9 ssa h twice. because promised
Fsrs esng 5s %nn@ % d t4si Mau%ai S5fd Buster John
the @ they tss s ns 'SS @
ss @ good
call you joe vhe9
tomorrow
"Why, who ever thing?"
The lady looked Mr. Dennis who
On my horse. behind me-"
why, think he win be perfectly with joe"
help % % make n 60 nsn 6 ' of hn said Mr. Dennis emPA 1T will
the aa would fS7 M Is an exclaimed
d Buster john john Joe Nz" asked
least thirty pounds than smallest
nothing for mother
nns ssHs 1s os oV
would John begged
to be This
He
enjoyed
for he
bed and triumphant
rolling in bed heard
Where's this famous who was to go along and take care
everybody ready the Great North Ame
can
the matt
this be the of
bed and
wake
here a
remarked John.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

It being the smoker night. There was a
hrst-class programme and Sir Knight In
ger of Los Angeles, the one man brass
band, entertained with his speciaIties for
some time. Sir Knight Powell of Sacra-
mehto rent was present to receive in
strucuon IN the initiatory work and he
was SO well pleased with the work of the
Yam ts lnat ne made arrangements to have
ne ne team VISIT the capital city and confer
she SaeSreeS on number of candidates
Ior sacramento Tent. He promised that
those who go TO the CITY of the mains
viii oe. well taken care of. After the pro-
gramme refreshments and cigars We're
served IN the banquet hall and while
there the Sir Knights We're honored hv
a visit from the ladies of San Francisco
rive and new programme of entertain
ment was started.
Last Tuesday night Golden West Tent
received twenty-five applications which
were referred TO committees Fourteen
aaoceptee candidates were initiated by the
team or the tent IN good style This in
thIeased the the membership to 203. During
Tue evening there was an instructive talk
70 Goe Ihe new members by Deputy Supreme
Sommander ]. NJ. Erfnerins This was
followed by a musical programme. i'm
promptu, but none the less acceptable,
ana an address by a Sir Knight on the
Importance of avoiding delay in the paw
ment OF all tent dues. The speaker also
TOOK occasion to pay a high compliment
TO the efhciency of Deputy Ermerins who
with the assistance of the membership
succeeded in period of two months In
increasing the membership from 80 to 203
a record which entities him to the honor
OF be1ng the most energetic deputy in the
fraternal field of San francisco. The tent
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE EASTERN STAR

Next Friday evening twenty nine
members of Mission Chapter, ladies and
gentlemen, will present for the entertain
ment of members and their friends in Mis-
sion Music Hall. at Howard and Twenty
first streets, farce entitled Mary Ann s
Predicament," an original production, the
work Of number of the very bright
minds Of the chapter, and they are not a
few. AT the meeting last held the chap
ter balloted for candidates and received
several applications. The chapter now
has membership of 20O is most prosper
Gus in every way, and the members feel
that much of this is due to the members
of Mission Lodge, f. and A. M, by rea-
son of their stanch and loyal support
ern Star to Lake County last week was
a very enjoyable one, and all who went
were pleased with all they saw in that
picturesque county.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
Is It a Great Poemp


District Deputies Shaler and Spencer
Gner dne ofilGers l9 ar are Henry II. Davis, M. w;
O.; w. NJ. Joseph, r.. NJ Porter, F.; F.
Rothman, Rec; ]. Henry, G.; A. Wheeler,
j. W.; j. Thompson. O. w. The selection
OF past master workman and medical
examiner was deferred until the next
meeting. This lodge was organized by
DR.: F. F. Lord and ]. E. Slinkey.
Valley Lodge on last Wednesday night,
after the initiation of four candidates,
was treated to a surprise by the social
committee in the nature of smoker and
collation. in addition to a programme
OF vocal and instrumental music and
story telling.
Magnolia Lodge has voted $500 to be
used in the celebration of its twenty first
anniversary which will fall on the 10th
OF July. There will be banquet for the
members and their wives at one of the
downtown dining rooms. c. T. Spencer
of this lodge has made arrangements to
form a lodge of the Degree of Honor, to
be composed of the wives and lady reia-
tives of members of the lodge. 1t is ex-
pected that the lodge will be organized in
q short time
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

The wall of the Wandering Dead" ex-
presses the same idea in another form:
Wan of the Wandering Dead.
Death too. is chmera and betrays
And yet they promised we should enter rest;
Death is empty as the cup of days.
And bitter milk is in her wintry breast.
There is worth in any world to come,
Nor any in the world we left behind
And what remains Of all our masterdom?
Only cry out of the crumbing mind.
We played all Corners at the old Gray Inn,
But PLAYED the King of Players to our cost.
We played Him fair and had no chance to win;
The dice of God were loaded and we lost.
W. WIN dr itaress darkness and the rush Of rains;
We drift as litter on the windy lanes.
Hope is the fading vision OF the heart,
= Knocking spirit throwing UP wild hands
S',e led us with music the start.
To leave us Mt dead fountains in the sands.
Now all or days are but cry cor sleep.
Fer we weary of the petty strife
place where we can lose the feel of life?
Where we can be as senseless as the dust
: he night wind blows about a dred-up well?
Where there IS no more labor. no more lust
Nor an flesh to feel the Tooth of He'll?
Our feet are ever sliding. and We eem
As old and weary as the pyramids
Come God of Ages and dispel the dream
Fold TIE worn hands and close the sinking
lids
Troro Is No new road for the dead t. take:
Wild boarts among the W Ids astray-
Wild hearts that cannot wholly break
But linger on though life has gone away.
We arc tho sons OF Misery and Ed:
Come. tender Death, with all your blushing
wings,
And let cur broken spirits he dispcled-
Let dead men sink into the dusk of things.
Finally. here is a little poem in which
he expresses true valuation of his own
verse, as mortal and pershable thing
vet a thing by which the immortal sense
of right shall be quickened into birth:
These Songs Will Perish.
These songs will perish like the shapes of air
But star-eyed Truth greater than song or
singer
Sweeps hurrying on far off she sees a CLEAN
Upon peak. She cried to of old
To build the enduring. glad Fraternal State
Cries yet through all the ruins of the world
Through Karnak, through the stones OF Baby
Ion
Cries for moment through these fading songs.
On winged feet form of fadeless YOUTH
She goes to meet the coming centuries
Ana. hurrying. snatches up some human reed
Blows through 1t once her terror bearing note
And breaks and throws away. 1t Is enough
If we can be bugle at her lips
Gft tGr hnr sa.,f
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
AN EASTERN CRITIC "oN MAN WITH AND WESTERN CRITICS

From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald.
" HE Doubleday & Mcclure Com
pany have in the press for imme-
date publication "The Man with
the Hoe and Other Poems i" by Ed
Il win Markham. As a wildly iubf-
liant West is looking forward to
this book as the great literary event Of
the generation, it is well to stop and make
a few remarks upon poetry in general and
then specify the particular place which
The Man With the Hoe" should occupy
in contemporary verse.
The poet, then. If he be something else
than a mere artificer of jeweled phrase
Is the prophet of a new dispensation.
Social convention is the thin upper crust
over volcano that may at any moment
break out into fierce action. Good honest
easy men go 20 and from their daily tasks
treading on this thin crust with no fore
knowledge of the possible upheaval that
at every moment threatens it's integrity.
They accept what is as what ought to be
Content with a condition of things that
yields comfort to many and aff1uence to
a few. they have no consciousness of the
angry undercurrents surging within the
breasts of the awful majority to whom
affluence is an impossibility and comfort
an iridescent improbability.
But the true prophet, the true poet.
ticulate clamors from the deeps. He puts
these inarticulate clamors into articulate
form. The dumb and soulless majority
claim him as their spokesmen. Good
honest. easy men of the present may fail
to recognize in his audacious utterance
the tocsin of the past, the alarum of the
future. They continue their pathway to
and fro upon the crust of present conven-
tton. Mayhap they look upon him as a
fool or, worse still, as an anarchist, per-
versely and wickedly seeking to overturn
the established order which brings plum
pudding to some and bread to many
But the folly of one generation becomes
the wisdom of the next. The French Rev.
olution had its germ in the "Marseillaise"
and eliminated with the Ca Ira" The
--ristocrats who turned a deaf ear to the
former and continued their mad dance
over the PROSTATE form of the plebeian
woke to see that form resurgent, and
ended by finding themselves strung up to
lanterns to the music of tne latter.
Is such revolution impending in Amer
ica-a bloodless revolution this time,
fought not with bullets, but with ballots?
If so, Edwin Markham will prove to be
at once its despised prophet and its ac-
cepted high priest. He sang his Mar.
seillaise" in many hymn In honor of la
Dor, whose sound and fury signfied moth
Ing for the moment. Then he caught the
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
INDEPENDENT FoREsTERs

Last Tuesday night Court Yerba Buena
elected three officers to fill unexpired
terms and they will be installed next
Tuesday. There was an unusually large
attendance and during the evening there
were suggested means by which the court
can add to it's membership.
Last night Court Apollo. gave an enter
tainment and dance In Mission Opera
Hall. Fhere was presented a good pro-
gramme of entertaining numbers and the
dance was enjoyed by the many young
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE NATIONAL. UNION

The assembly of the National Union for
the State of California Will meet In Red
Mems building on Post street on the Goth
inst. at O'Clock in the afternoon for the
purpose of electing a representative to the
Senate, appoint an executive committee OF
i've and choose it's officers. Past President
Fred ii. Hastings, one of the most ener-
getic workers in the order, one who has
spent 1nnumerable nights In visiting coun-
ellis In. and out of the city to propagate
the principles of the National Union. viii
be candidate for the position Of State
representative, and If he has proportion4
ately as many friends among the repre-
sentatives to the assembly as he has in
the order at large he will be elected by an
overwhelming majority Ni'
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE NATIVE SONS.

The membership of Mount Tamalpais
Parlor No. "a has appointed Emmett Hay
den, w. F. Magee, s. Herzog, A. E.
Scott, w. ]. Eden, l.. A. Hughes, F. NJ
Angellotti and w. s. Dreypolcher a COM
mittee to arrange for a proper celebration
Of the Fourth of July in Marin County
this year. 1t has extended an invitation
take part in the parade that will be held
In San Rafael.
Atamont Parlor Of Occidental Sonoma
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
FRATERNAL NEWS
'o1oo q o0oo ooooo y 10U oo ooooooooou

county. The officers are ]. H. w. Riley.
N. u; Dun Levy, r. s.; c. jackson. T..
and A. Jackson, f. s.
Ihere will be a celebration and dedica-
non OF an Odd Fellows hall in Wheat
land on the 14th inst
Ihere is movement to organize an as
soclation in Redding to be known as the
Veterans Association of Northern Cali
fornia.
The grand patriarch and the grand sec
retary will visit the encampment at Hol-
lister tomorrow night
oriental Rebekah Lodge will hold an
open meeting next Wednesday night
when there will be a good programme and
dancing, and there will also be given an
explanation of 1.-The mysterious lunch
recently given by the lodge
Tomorrow night Loyal Rebekah Lodge
Will hold its election for officers for the
ensuing term. There will also be initia-
tory work. Fhis lodge is arranging for
an apron and necktie social to be given
on the night Of the 18th inst.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE ODD FELLOWS.

Fruitvale Lodge. recently instituted at
Fruitvale, Alameda County, by District
Deputy Grand Master D. A. Sinclair, is
in hourishing condition and bids fair TO
become one of the foremost lodges of the
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
he Nan With the Hoe

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world
Who made him dead to rapture and despair
thing that grieves not and that never hopes
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the OK?
Who loosened and let down this brutal Jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this
Whose breath blew out the light within this
brain?
Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
To have dominion over sea and land:
To trace the stars and search the heavens for
To feel the passion of Eternity?
Is this the Dream He dreamed who shaped
And pillared the blue armament with light?
Down all the stretch OF He'll to its last gulf
There is no shape, more terrible than this
More tongued with censure Of the world S
More filed with signs and portents for the
More fraught with menace to the universe.
What CULTS between him and the seraphim?
Slave of the wheel of labor, what TO him
Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades?
What the long reaches of the peaks of song
The ritt OF dawn the red reddening of the
Through this dread shape the suffering ages
look;
Times tragedy is in that aching stoop:
Through this dread shape humanity betrayed.
Plundered, profaned and disinherited,
Cries protest to the Judges of the World
A protest that is also prophecy.
o masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
is TINS the handtwork you give to Cod
Ihis monstrous thing distorted and soul-
quenched?
How Will you ever straighten up this shane.
GIVE back the upward looking and the light:
Rebuild in It the music and the dream:
Touch 1t again with immortality;
Make right the immemorial infamies
Perfdous wrongs, immedicabIe woes?
- masters. lords and rulers in all lands
NJ" VIII tNe Future reckon with Mon
How answer this brute question in that hour
When whrlwinds of rebellion shake the world ,
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

one could desire. This parlor which has been
designated as THE Beauty Parlor" on ae-
count of the large number Of young and
handsome native daughters who belong
to IT, promises to become one of the most
popular of the city.
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
NATIVE DAUGHTERS.

The anniversary ball given by Golden
State Parlor in Union Square Hall on the
night of the 25th of May was one of the
delightful events in the history of the
parlor. There was a good attendance Of
members and their friends, who, under
the supervision of the committee consist
ing of Misses M. Tietjen, A. Ackman. i.
Fahrenkrug, Rosa Day, L. Meyer and F.
Won Staden enjoyed a very fine pro-
gramme of dances. Golden State is a
live parlor and always has host of
friends.
The members of Alta Parlor had a night
at the Steeplechase last week, and it was
such an enjoyable event that there is not
member who is not glad that she did
not stay away.
Calaveras Parlor has elected Miss M.
Mcfarland as it's delegate to the Grand
Parlor.. This parlor which was instituted
but few months ago, has now a mem
bership Of thirty-five. and it is expected
that at the next meeting five more will be
initiated. At the last held meeting the
parlor was visited by Mrs. Lena Hike
Mills. the grand president, and for her
benefit there was an exemplification of
the ritualistic and floor work. The visiting
official was loud in her praise OF the work
of the officers, it being as perfect as any
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

County has arranged for the celebration
of the Fourth of July by a picnic and
barbecue at Alder Glen Park during tho
day and grand ball in the evening in
Williamson will be the president of the
day: Miss Lucy Palmer will read the
Declaration of Independence and William
Cowan will deliver the oration
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE MACCABEEs.

oan francisco Tent at it's meeting on
the last Friday in May had a large at
tendance of members and MANY visitors
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

late hour. "4''ti ="
hiEh Chief Ranger McElfresh has been
confined TO dark room i'm his home In
Los Angeles for several days in conse-
Iuence or an operation performed on his
Courts Acacia. Friar Tuck. Madrone.
Alcyone and San Francisco held a meet
ing last Thursday night in Red Mems
building and made arrangements TO give a
monthly social for members and their
Iady friends and such friends as they
might wish to invite
There are good prospects for a new
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04
THE AMERICAN GUILD.

At the meeting on the last Friday in
May Mill Valley Chapter No. 46S elected
the following named to serve for the cur
rent term: L. L. James, P G.: ]. E.
Bundy, G.. W. f. Weaver V. G.: John
Burt, S. and T.: Mrs. NJ c. Schluter, c.;
B. Grethel, w; c. j. Dowd. c.: DR.. j. ].
Spottiswood, M. E.. w. E. Weaver. C. ].
DoWd, b. Grethel, trustees. The new of
fcers We're installed by Deputy Supreme
Goyernor r. w McGarvie. This chapter
VII, VIII give. a social in GertheTs Hall, Mill
have promised fine collation. and plenty
OF icecream it is almost an assured IA ~
shat att there ere VIII be large attendance and
a so99 tlme Tor all. The chapter bids fair
berShiD 49, AAASii-
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

ANCIENT ORDER OF WORKMEN.
Last Wednesday night The Old Friends
Lodge No. 1854 was Instituted in the Pyth-
ian Castle by Deputy Grand Master e.
Danforth, assisted oy District Deputies
Kidd, Cunningham and Wigmore and eX-
The San Francisco call., 1899-06-04

mob with the "Ca Ira" now famous as
ms Man With the Hoe All readers Of
the Herald, into which that poem was
copied on its first appearance, will re-
member its poignant cry for justice and
atonement
1t rang through the land and awoke re
sponsiVe echoes everywhere Provoked
by Milfet's famous painting emphasized
by the quotation from the Bible. God
made man in his own image" it was rec
ognized as a protest against the extant
order for which not men but man is re-
sponsible. Why. it asked. are some men
foredoomed to hopeless toll. while others
who profit by their toll dwell idly in
pleasure halls, and clothe their unpro-
ductive selves in purple and fine linen ?
Who made the one a slave, the other a
master?