Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-05-04

lem of farm labor seems to grow more
difficult of solution. and unless 1t Is
solved by the invention of more labor
saving machinery 1t Is difficult to see
how conditions are to be changed. The
ually more general. and with the rapid
growth Of urban industries employ.
ment Is provided for all who come.
Some method of turning the tide back
from the city to the country may in the
near future become necessity.
If money alone could make men hap
py there would be less misery in the
world. Nature is full of ecccntrcities.
She gives to one man great riches and
denies him the ability to spend them.
Men have been unjustly called misers
who simply didn't know how to rightly
get rid of their gold. She gives to an
otner' man love for children. and denies
hem TO him. She gives to still another
Il heart throbbing with good impulses
and sorrow for the suffering of others.
and he lacks the ability to earn more
than enough to scantily supply his
bare wants. There Is Marshall Field,
the Chicago merchant prince. Surely
he is happy! He Is worth 800. 600. 900.
There isn't King in Europe whose
personal possessions exceed that
amount. Think of your own needs. and
see how much pleasure might he de-
rived from SO great q fortune. But Ma
ture didn't give TO Mr.. Field the ability
To enjoy money. comments the Cincin-
natl Post. He built a palace. and II was
the home of discord. Marshall Field
Jr. lives In England. holding almost no
communication with his father. The
other day his daughter. Ethel Field
Tree. was divorced and her child given
to it, father. The charges made against
the butterfly wife was desertion. She
made no defense. Mrs. Marshall Field
died abroad and was buried in foreign
soil. And so the old man is left, al.
most deserted by his children. His life
Is solitary and secluded. He knows
how to work and doesn't need TO work.
There Is no spur of ambition to make
labor sweet His shoulders stOop. and
his head. gray at 80, is crowned with
snow at %. He has no confidants and
few friends. When you hunger for
great wealth. crave also the ability TO
enjoy It,. for the one without the other
means lifelong misery.
~SA
Within few weeks the telegraph has
brought to us intelligence Of the death
Of Roland Reed and the. II Is said.
probably pei mnnent mental breaking
down of Maurice Barrymore. two men
widely.knOwn on the American Stage.
1t Is a curious fact that when the old
system. gave way TO the new. and the
people of the stage ceased to have
homes, became wanderers through
three.quarters Of each year, living In
trunks and subject to the multiform
exposures Of unremittcd travel, they
began TO develop diseases and died Off
with strange rapidity. Here and there
| one like Mr.. jefferson or Mr.. COuldOck
lived &c an advanced age. But they
are rare exceptions. Within the first
ten years after the modern travelling
system began the majority Of the old
| stock actors had passed away and few
Of them reached advanced years.
Neither Reed nor Barrymore had
yet passed middle life. Both, bar
ing some organic disorder, should
yet BE- IN the best period Of man.
hood. Both have broken down long
before they should so far as ordinary
Judgment can determine. Both seem
to have felt the effect of a radical
change In the general habit Of life.
Both In respect of this early surrender,
are victims possible to thoughtlcss in
dulgenccs to some extent. but far more
certainly TO the general change In
methods of living during the last thirty
years. We all are obliged to keep pace
with world dominated by steam and
electricity. We all work too steadily.
resistance. Most of us-and these men
were not eXccptions-when we pretend
to rest do not really rest at all. We
turn from the routine of labor TO some
other thing that probably wears us
faster than our labor, We take life
too seriously as n whole ana work as
hard ut what we call recreation as nj
regular labor. These mcn--and the
others of us who have lived through
the same period-have been largely the
victims of q transition stage in civlliza
ton. They. in common with many
others, have not been able to bear the
strenuous strain. What then? Should
the world seek to turn back to the old
methods? 1t cannot II 1t would. l,
has passed out OF the old stage for
ever and can never go back into It.
Still less can II import the old methods
into the new conditions. They who are
unable to adapt themselves to those
new conditions must just drop out OF
the race. In time. and 1t will be ne
long time either, the new condition,
will breed men of the fiber to stand the
strain. There can be no other sOlu
ton except the entire disintegratiOr
ana reconstruction OF civilization. The
fate of these two men ana Others In like
case living as they did constantly IL
the public eye, only emphasizes thu
transition through which we have beer
passing for thirty or more years. ant
are still passing,
%6A
The prevalence Of divorce Is simpl,
| mol al