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

lem of farm labor seems to grow more
difficult of solution. and unless It Is
solved by the invention of more labor
saving machinery it is difficult to see
how conditions are to be changed. The
liking for life in city becomes contin-
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 a necessity.
~eA
If money alone could make men hap.
by there would be less misery in the
world. Nature is full of ccccntricities.
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
othcr 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 il Marshall Field.
the Chicago merchant prince. Surely
he is happy! lie Is worth 500, 100000.
There isn't a King in Europe whose
personal possessions exceed that
amount. Think of your own needs. and
see how much pleasure might he dc-
rived from SO great o fortune. But Ma
turc didn't give TO Mr.. Field the ability
to enjoy money. comments the Cincin-
natl Post. lie built palace. and II was
the home of discord. Marshall Field
.Ir. 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 its 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. lie 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 30. Is crowned with
snow ut 90. He has no confidants and
few friends. When you hunger for
great wealth. crave also the ability 10
enjoy it. for the one without the other
means lifelong misery.
~6
Within few weeks the telegraph has
brought TO us intelligence of the death
Of Roland Reed and the, II Is said,
probably pei manent 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 ana died Off
with strange rapidity. Here ana there
one like Mr.. jefferson or Mr.. Coullock
lived to 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 radical
change In the general habit Of life.
Both In respect Of this early surrender,
are victims possible 10 thoughtlcss in
dulgences 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 n world dominated by steam and
electricity. We all work too steadily.
The bow forever bent soon loses It's
resistance. Most Of us-and these men
were not eXceptions-whcn we pretend
to rest do not really rest at all. We
turn from the routine of labor to some
other thing that probably wears MS
faster than our labor. We take life
too seriously rs a whole ana work as
hard ut what we call recreation as at
regular labor. These men--and the
Others of us who have lived through
the same pericd-hnve been largely the
victims OF transition stage in clviliza.
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. 1t
has passed out of the old stage for
ever and can never 60 back into It..
Still less can 1t 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 he no
long time either, the new conditions
will breed men of the fiber to stand the
strain. There can be no other solu.
ton except the entire disintegratiOn
and reconstruction OF civilization. The
fate of these two men and others In like
case living as they did constantly In
the public eye, only emphasizes the
transition through which we have been
passing for thirty or more years, and
are still passing.
~SA
The prevalence Of divorce Is simply
| l,.,h 4.