Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1903-05-16

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the matter up for Its material rather
than Its spiritual signifcances, 1t Is
quite probable that they would have
agreed upon another point---that that
which Is good, strong. possessing the
merit not only Of inheritance but Of
performance, Is sure to survive.
What Is excellent,
AS God lives, Is permanent.
Save within narrow lines occasion.
ally and mysterlously drawn by fate,
or destiny, or providence, or whatever
name we may choose to give to the
force that the Indians call the Power.
that-Makes, the meritoriOus race, the
deserving family, cannot commit sui.
eide. "Fine families" wither away, to
be sure. They narrow down to sin.
gle life. and that Is some day snuffed
out But can we be sure that they had
not, by the acts ana choice Of their
members, imported into their owl,
veins the poison of which they Ian.
gulshed? Physical vigor alone does not
tell the whole story Of the fitness to
survive. We have seen stalwart
swarms enter our country from Europe
which have faded away almost at a
breath, because they had not moral
strength. Nor does mental strength
alone suffice. by any means. Life lies
at the point Of equilibrium. Nature Is
partial to those who respect her. She
condemns to death those who do not.
Moreover. while she has Obliternted
more than one people who loved her
without wisdom, she has never signed
the death warrant Of a rnce or people
who kept IN eye upon her prohibitions
rs well as upon her permissions. II
In this land, to-day, nature dooms fam.
lilies or racial strains to extinction, It
Is because It IL better that they should
be extinguished. And II there is a race
or an element that fancIes that II Is
committing suicide, II should cease to
hnttcr itself. II Is simply fulfilling the
sentence of m ineXOrable, vastly
bencficent. law.
The author Of paper on the ques-
tIon, "Are Women WittyY" recently
read before wOman's club. answered
the question In the ALTERNATIVES; but
the examples of feminine wit which
she quoted hardly justified her con-
cluslon. The relation of women to
wit has been appreciative rather than
.p L.. oil t, Inn an
Appreciation Is as necessary as crea-
tlon, for no wit fiOurlshes without an
audience. Modern women are mar
velOusly quick in seeing the point OF
even the subtlest wit. In an audi
ence a shrewd observer may note that
the laugh Of the women ut a clever
joke precedes that of the men by an
apprcciable number of moments. Oc-
caslonally a woman makes a brilliant
mot, as when u Boston woman re-
Gently said In discussion of the quail
tiles of the sexes. "Oh. men get ana
forget, ana women give ana forgive"
This power Of epigram Is rare, fact
that Is scarcely subject for regret.
Women need not bewail their failure
to be witty so long as they have a
keen feeling for the wit that Is In
Others. For their own part, they may
well be content to cultivate that gent
Ter grace called humOr, which be
gets the smiles that have no cruelty"
~6A
A curious and interesting bit of naval
history ends with the sale OF the old
United States gunbOat MOnOcacy, on
the Asiatic station. The vessel, side
wheel "dOuble-ender," was sent to
Eastern waters In 1865 because of her
light draft. With her four big smooth
bores and two rltied muzzle- -loaders she
did great service In the war on Korean
pirates In 1871. The next year she
stuck fast In the mud of the Yangtse
River, ana remained there twenty.eight
years. Then In 1900, during the Boxer
outbreak, she was hauled out ana re-
fitted, and although an object of amuse-
ment to foreign naval officers, again
proved her worth; for her light draft
enabled her to do work impossible to
the foreign feet. Monocacy is a title
which should not be forgotten. 1t
ought to descend to a SON, or rather,
let us say, to a daughter, since the
Sale law does not apply In the navy.