The courier., 1902-03-29
OBSERVATIONS
BY SARAH B. HARRIS


For a fortnight the morning collect
Nebraska, and no service is more well
come The monotonous two notes, or
Is IL three?-is the harbinger Of the
yearly renascence and the flowers are
not more welcome or the pale green
ness overhead and underfoot. The ira
la la. ira Ia Ia. ira la la of the robin
which begins at dawn and lasts until
the sun is above the horizon Is mo-
notonous. There are sweeter bird calls.
but none more dear. The robin
chooses trees near homes. He likes
human society. and we like him, God
bless him! He comes so early in the
year that the crumbs and grains pro-
vided by human beings are his only
food. He comes before the tender,
juicy young worm has wriggled out
OF the quilt his mother knit and swad-
died him in last fall. Nobody knows
the day when the worms will crack
their wrappings and crawl out from the
earth and from the trees to be warmed
by the sun. So the robins come early
and by the time the worms do get out
the robins are very hungry and mil
lions of delicious worms and bugs catch
a sight OF the sun and experience the
first fresh air and warmth of their
existence and the very next minute
feel themselves doubled up in the mid
die and sliding down a pink chute into
a crowded stomach. From the worms
point Of view the robin is a gigantic,
cruel, brassy- breasted monster with an
unnatural appetite and voice like
the trumpet Of doom or the doleful
call to the tomb. To us he is a dainty.
golden-breasted benehcent creature
who preserves the grain and the trees
from vermin. His morning song is the
call to seed-time. an introduction to
dandelions and violets and to all the
poetry and fragrance Of summer time.
4 x 4
Psofeaional Pride
An undertaken under a photograph
of himself In one of the Chicago papers
advertises that his services are dis
tinguished by an unusual regard for
the feelings Of the lately bereaved and
that he realizes how rude is the intru-
sion Of all strangers at the only time
when the undertaker's services are re-
quired. The advertisement informs
those In need Of an undertaken that
this one by long and assiduous prac-
tice has acquired a soothing manner
so that his presence is comfort
rather than an abhorred necessity. Al
90 that during his long services as a
funeral director Mr.. B. has had pro-
fessional relations with the most prom
inent families Of Chicago. having con-
Quoted funerals at one time or an
other in most Of them. Mr.. B., in his
new establishment, has directed num-
ber Of evening funerals which thus far
have been a great success. 1t Is very
delicate task to enter a home where
the distraction Of fresh bereavement
makes the lightest word Of a stranger
seem intrusive to the ear Of the affiict-
ed one, unless it is moderated by gen.
uine sympathy or by a deftness OF
tone and manner attained only through
long experience. Mr.. B. is related to
one Of Americas greatest poets. Mr..
John G. Whittier. whose name he
bears"
The consciousness Of tact is not a
sign that II IL not possessed by the
man who is proud of his exercise OF
successful evening funerals and Of an
acquaintance with a large number OF
Chicago's distinguished dead il suspi-
cious of the lack of that tact 30 sooth-