The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-06-19

Two boys we're killed In the last fortnight in
armed conflicts between strikers and the police
thorities- in the coal regions of Pennsylvania
and at Pawtucket R. I, where the mill workers
are on strike Of course the boys were not par
Elephants in the disturbances in either case; they
were merely interested spectators as is almost in
variably the of those injured by rioters police
when riot is being quelled.
Perhaps the best way to prevent this injuring
of -combatants in conflicts between labor sym
pathizers and the police would be for the latter to
let it be generally known that when they called
upon to defend property they will mean business
right from the start; to let the people understand
that they not buffng; that if they have
occasion to unsheath their clubs they will them
and if it becomes necessary for them to draw their
revovers they intend to shoot, not into the air. but
into the crowd. Such resolution would, of course.
meet with much opposition from sentimentalists but
it would certainly have the effect Of keeping non
combatants and too curious people away from the
vicinity of an angry mob, and would consequently
prevent more less undeserved suffering. AS things
are managed now, encounter between mob and
the police is good show for the bystander,
who, because he is pretty the officers will not
be permitted to fire, places himself in the most
conspicuous place possible to enjoy the fun. In the
Chicago teamsters strike the only persons injured
we're the police and some bystanders.
SEVERAL weeks ago a learned Judge decided
that Rostand purloined 'Cyrano de Bergerac'' from
one S: E. Gross and now Chicago claims that
another of her sons has had the laures of literary
fame ruthlessly ripped from his throbbing forehead
by another foreign invader This time Gilbert
Parker is the vanda, and it is up to him now to
prove that he did not steal the plot and of the
dialogue of 'The Right of Way from david Lock
win, book written by John McGovern and charged
up to profit and loss by it's publisher twenty years
ago. McGovern is not related in any way to Terry.
He lives in Chicago, The charge is made in ap-
parent good faith; it is backed up with some as
tonishng condolences Of plot and situation, and it
will undoubtedly boom Mr.. Parker's book into
another edition-which is just his good luck.
On general principles inclined to believe
MI. Parker is guilty His past reputation is against
him., An author who deals in French Canadian
dialect is pretty to be homcidal horse thief
who would not hesitate to kill baby for the coral
round it's neck, much less steal tho plot of book
this according to way Of thinking. But then
everybody doesn't think as we do in this respect,
and consequently those who are pressing the charge
against Gilbert Parker tresding thin ice and
are apt to make themselves very ridiculous before
they get through. It is easy to denounce q writer
as plagarist, but it is extremely difficult charge
to prove. To do it is necessary to olinch your
argument with facts Even the decision of the
district court is not conclusive believes now
that Rostand stole 'Cyrano" from Mr.. Gross any
more than they believed it before the decision was
announced. The charge is simply absurd. There
is nothing under the sum- all human situations
are trite and the novelty exists in the way they
presented.