Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-05-15

ROSARY OF "A RAMBLER.


Ine past few weeks have given little
else to the world for it's news than the
| uealhs OF noted men. Congressman
sailor business man, writer's and actor
| have by their deaths called to them
selves unusual comment and interest
WIN the congressman, the sailor, the
business man and the actor, there was
| but one side to the matter-the desire
to tell of their notable deeds and the
romance of their achievements But
| with the writer's there was vet more
| commercial side, when a noted writer
uies. IL is the publisher who profits.
Already in the city stores special edi
tiohs OF the poems and the stories of
Bret Harte are being featured" and it
VIII take but few days for similar
ealtions of the works of Paul Leicester
Ford to be offered for sale. After all,
the hablt is not so mercenary and
heartless as it may seem. The public
mind is turned to the life that has gone
out ana the works acquire, for the time
at least. new interest. And if the
| increased sales fill the pockets of the
publishers, they also serve to augment
the posthumous fame of the author.
With Ford, this will be true in an I'M
usual sense. The tragic details of his
death and the bravery with which he
bore it, will make the interest in him
great. BY the irony of fate the tragic
interest will be given where it is but
little needed, for Paul Leicester Ford is
name that will be remembered for
the good work of the man. not for the
sadness of his death. An fndefatiga BILE
worker, despite his bodily afflictions he
added to his brilliancy the qualities of
the dig. Death came to him as he sat
at his desk, working on what he be-
lieved was to be his greatest book Had
his expectations been fulfilled the book
might have proved to be the long
awaited "Great American Novel" For
as it is, Ford wrote one book that came
very near the high mark. He may prac-
tically be said to be one book man,
for "The Story of an Untold Love" was
clever. and "Wanted-A Matchmaker,
was pretty, and Janice Meredith" was
a money maker but it was ",The Hon.
orable Peter Sterling which made his
fame and will keep 1t secure. 1t might
have been better for that fame If the
other novels had never been written.
As one clever critic said, when he
could write a book like Peter Ster-
ling. 1t makes me positively angry that
he would write Janice Meredith Weak
in sentiment in portions and crude in
Others. as it was, The Honorable Pc
ter Sterling is still a powerful book.
Honorable is the fitting word for the
serious young student who worked and
thought and succeeded alone. Liberal
In thought. yet not fanatical generous
with his means, yet not a faddist: pure
in his own life, yet without the auster-
ity which so often goes with virtue
his is character which might we'll be
emulated by any young man, whether
or not he be a politician. Ford mar
have written some very trivial things,
but when he wrote his masterpiece he
atoned for them all. American political
life is debtor to him for the cIeanest
cut and cleanest drawn character
which has shown the world of readers
that man may be man and an up
right one, even tho he be leader of
people and a power in his party.
A real live curiosity was discovered
man who proclaimed aloud that he
would much prefer boarding to having
a home. When a woman says she has
such preferences it always seems
strange enough. but the lack of cares
and responsibility and work may COM
pensate her, in measure, satisfactory
for the loss of freedom and privacy and
hospitality. But man-honestly now,
did you ever see or even hear of a man
who preferred to board? 1t wasn't a
man who had been tortured by poor
housekeeping, either, for his mother
has been a notable housekeeper. Nor
is he inexperienced. For he has board
ed at all sorts and conditions of places.
Yet to a group of intimate friends,
when he told of his engagement which
is to be eliminated in a wedding this
fab, he said that he and his bride, by his
own desire, would live in family ho-
tel. 1t seems too strange to be true, but
that it is true there can be no doubt,
for the word of many witnesses can
not be doubted.
Do you people who live on "at home"
realize the longings that those who
have gone away have for the old town?
When you complain now and then that
the streets are dirty, that loafers lounge
at the corner of Main and Center, and
that the "old town is dead" do you ever
ask yourself point blank if you would
be willing to go away forever? And do
YOU answer the question truthfully2
Marshalltown may be no better, or
rather not different from many other
little cities all over the United States.
For every where there are to be found
people and congenial sur
roundings, but It certainly has the
power of engendering a very healthy
and sincere loyalty among it's one time
residents. Perhaps they remember to
put their loyalty In words more often
than do the men and women who have
never been forced by varying circum-
However that may be. when you meet
some one who once lived in the town
which is known as the glucose and |
Soldiers Home town." that one always
has a good word for Marshalltown A
man who has for many years been
away from the city and who has made
fortune and fame as a business man
and a useful citizen. was talking about
"the old home" the other day. ooh, /
YES" he said, "the cities are all right |
for the young man who wants to push |
ahead and make his money. But at I
home. we always talk about the time
when we shall go back to Marshalltown
for after all these years 1t seems like t