Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1903-07-25

fraction over thrty-four acres. and in
Great Britain and Ireland thirty
acres. Not only are the German work
ing people large caters of potatoes,
but they make varied and extensive
use of them for other purposes. In
dian corn Is not grown extensively
anywhere save in the United States. In
Germany potatoes take its place as
food for cattle. This has led to the
invention of special evaporating ma
chincry. for the large amount of water
i'm potatoes makes them decay quick
~. and they lose much of their food
value when they sprout. The evapora-
tor makes them available for forage
the year round. starch. dcxtrn. pota-
to flour and starch syrup are also pro.
duced in large quantities. but alcohol
is 10y far the largest product. Alcohol
in Germany Is made to play an i'm
portant part in economic and industrial
life. Heating and cooking stoves.
street and household lamps. stationary |
engines and locomotive motors. all are
fed by it. Both in the German and |
in the Russian navy alcohol engines up |
to three hundred horsepower have |
been used with great success.
~9A
What shall we singr' Is n question
frequently put when n number of
musicloving people get together. The
answer varies with the temperament
and taste of tie individuals. 1t Is not
| worth while for amateurs to attempt t.
rival professional singers. whose busi-
| ness 1t is to keep their voices in the
condition of perfectly tuned musical
| instrument This is the opinion of
Emperor william. expressed to the
conductors of the German singing 80.
| cicties at Frankfort recently. prclim-
mary to the award of the prize which
he gives every year. The singers had
| practised difficult music until they
could sing it with considerable credit
| TO themselves. but the emperor told
| them that they would secure more sat.
isfactory results. II. instead of trying to
initiate the philharmonic choirs they
were to devote themselves to folk.songs
You have the Rhine in your vicinity,
yet who of you sang Rhenish folk.
song? can only say to you that If II
single one of you had sung Men.
delssohn's Thou Beautiful Forest that
would have been n real relief TO us
He said that he would have n cheap
collection of national songs published,
and hoped that the societies would sing
some of the songs next year. ana
show the world what Il wealth of
poetry and art they contained. The
emperor's advice might well he taken
by American singing societies. The
English.speaking race has not so large
Il collection of peoples music as Ger.
: many. but there Is no reason why
: Americans should not sing the folk.
music of the world. All races are r..
presented here. and il should be pos.
sible to make the music of all the races
feel ut home on this continent The
songs that are near 10 the hearts of the
people are not the elaborate compost.
tions. but the simple melodies which
can be sung by mother sitting by
her firesidc. All musical critics agree
that ballad well sung Is ~ artistic an
achievement as the correct rendering
of what one critic aptly calls the ''fool
trills" In the mad scene In Lucia" So
, let us have more ballads and less trill.
Ing.
]. &eA
In one of his charming stories DIR.
Van Dyke remarks parenthetically that
we have often occasion to bless our
friends for their enthusiasms. This IL
very attractive little sentence, and
gives us one more occasion to bless DIR.
} Van Dyke, who Is always putting into
shape for us our unspOken thoughts.
The enthusiasms of our friends are so
many outlets from our own narrow
lives into the wide sea of experience.
But ii sometimes occurs to one to won.
: der why II Is that more people do not
have enthususms. Those who are en-
thusiasts, of one sort or another, are
, certainly happier, certainly get more
. ont OF life and give more to others
Q than the colorless people whom we all
=. meet too often. But some people
/. actually seem to think enthusiasm vul.
: gar. not to be cOuntcnanced In polite
/. society. The truth Is rather that the
T. person without enthusiasm for some
). thing is profoundly to be piticd. And
!, II one Is naturally not enthusiastic
h what then? But this, like all other
Y arts, can be cultivated. You know the
i old rhyme:
4 "Ihe world Is so full of Il number ol
g things,
r | think we should all be rs happy a'
o kings"
:. IL Is Zest In life, enthusiasm In thu
q pursuit of some object that makes peo
: pie interesting, and that takes MS on
>. of ourselves and makes life interesting
d Do we not all know the upllft, th'
II sense of new life, of fresh power, tha
}. comes from contact with one who Is q,
1 enthusiastic lover of art of books, o
!. nature, of music, or even of somcihin:
II quite outside our usual line of thought
# We are refreshed as by II mountain
= breeze after sultry climb, when w
is meet an enthusiastic friend. Are w
If doing our part towards Others 10y Civ
I. ing them the inspiration of our cnthu
a. siasm. or are we shutting ourselves NJ
n to ourselves, narrowing Our lives 4
lt their most commonplace limits; 1t !
Is one of the greatest of mislortilncS to b
,r incapable of enthusiasm. We miss or
y loyment for ourselves, ana Il chanc
II to brighten our friends--nOt to mention