Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1903-08-29

chorus girl is former society
leader"
French assassins are now close rivals
of French duelists in bloodthlrstiness.
They hurl the deadly tomato.
As a little diversion to get the mind
of the public off revolution and such
things hermit priest in Russia is to
he canoniztd as saint. Better that
this man should he saint. the czar
doubtless argues, than that lie himself
should he an angel.
~H)~
1t Is a genuine refreshment to the
soul nowadays to met man who says:
II want work and II does not matter
what it is. so long as it Is honest and
fairly paid for" There are men whose
courage and nobility were never sus-
| pected when they were prosperous,
who. when adversely came upon them.
threw off their coats and pride and are
working at jobs they used to give as
| favOrs TO other men.
~e~
| One of the latest uecrees issued from
the temple of fashion. where so many
| worship. Is to the effect that bric-u.
brac has outlived its usefulness and
must depart. Just where 1t Is to go Is
not specified. but it can with safety
be placed in the garnet or thrown at
the members of the feline opera COM
pany which insist on giving midnight
concerts. with the back fence as a
stage. Good reasons are given for this
decree. Bric-a.brac has so multiplied
in many parlors that the visitor has
to he very careful lest he sit down on
some frail ornament or knock half n
dozen incongruous and wholly uninter.
csting pieces of glass or china Off the
center table or the mantel. Reducing
the number of these things may. there.
fore, prove a distinct blessing to nlei,
the ma jorlty of whom are more or less
awkward. and cannot fail to lessen til,
burdens of the housekeeper and of tn,
maid who Is expected to dust all thi.
collection of animal and mineral freak.
at least once week. -.
, ~S
I. In the year 1854 n Massachusetts
, clergyman who had broken down
, physically resolved to find amusement
5 for spare hours and strength for his
I nerves In the culture of flowers. The
, sightof II hedge of sweet peas decided
him to make the sweet pea his spe
tlalty. At that time there were only
Il dozen varieties of this flower II
D "as easy to make u collection. and by
attention and experiment the kinds In
creased and the collection grew until
q III, minister had nineteen varieties
+ Thrifty. odorous. beautiful-mission
|. AIRY flowers. too, for one year he sole
4 a hundred dollars worth of seeds fol
, the benefit of the home mission funt
!. of his church. The next important de
:. ,elopment was u little book abou
: sweet peas. which had a circulation OF
!. fifty thousand copies. Then the cler
g!mnn took vacation trip abroad
and exchanged ideas with English flor
lists They had already heard of him
and In his own country he was be
n coming known as an authority. II
1894 he performed the important tasl
of naming varieties-there were fifty
d by that time-for the California seed
a. growers. In 1900 he representa-,
America In London. at the two hun
;. d,edth anniversary of the introduction
O OF sweet peas into Great Britain. lie
!. 1t be noted that this clergyman III,
not neglect the demands of his pro
fessioiI. the main business OF his life
That he Is authority In another field
Y AMI therein could command an OK
: pprts remuneration, Is due to the lie
q termination with which he began, ~
s know al that was to be known abou
u this one flower" Busy people ough
&c have a fad" Il spare-hour diver
siOii employing another set OF facul
|. ties than that which they use In tn
@ daily struggle for bread: but the wis
5 plan is not to attempt to cover to-
), ihu,h ground. 1t Is much better 4
10 succeed with sweet peas than to fal
) Ut Il .-hower.garden. Specialization
i.,'nns mastery. which involves til
sacrifice Of no pleasure, and leads t
N large increase OF profit.
d ~ee
,e The ministry seems to be losing 1t
attractions for young men. The pa
OF clergymen Is better than 1t one
was, though In many instances it
~ very small yet. The churches ar
y. finer, but comparatively fewer peopl
y attend them. The simple days of old
W fashioned faith and primitive idea
have passed. The puritan period Ia
vanished. Whether II be science 0
a commercialism or liberalism or educa
l. ton or the freer exercise Of though,
D. any OF these or all Of these that hav
II Influenced religious thought and col
e duct. there has been change With
D. the church and without.
u ~~
u Some figures have just been issue
J. covering the growth of electric rail
u roads In the United States. They ar
u astounding. The increase In lively
:, years has been 1874 per cent. L
u 1880 there We're SIPS miles OF singl