The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-04
G. AS u AL
G. Q NJ NJ f N 7
October.

October.
The ivy flames in conscious joy.
The oak in purple pride.
And all the FURNISHED naples glow
Sunshine solidihed.
And tenderly from heaven dropt
or warm from earth uprist,
Floats, like the broodng peace OF God,
The Indian summer mist
A shadowy tinge CT purple dark
Dissolving into golden light
A drapery of dreams by day.
silver veil by night.
The old familiar woods and river,
Transfgured in its radiance. seem
The beauty Of the fields Elysian,
The rapture of a poets dream
And half concealed. half glorifed
By yelling distance sweet.
AT the horizons earth and heaven
In mystic marriage meet.
Sorrow and anger cease,
And all the weary world is STEPPED
In Indian summer peace.
Serene and blest and satisfied
With joy of labor done.
The earth lies rapt in blissful rest,
Crowned with her harvests won.
And so Sherlock Holmes isn't dead, after
ALL The news of his temperance on the
stage of life is given as gravely as that of
any real person; and is of
Holmes greater general interest,
Redfvfvus. indeed, than any news
about any detective actu-
ally living could possibly be. And after all.
what does it mean to be actually living?
Lowell says:
THE men who can give to one character
life
And objective existence, are not very rife"
Sherlock Holmes is probably the char
acter of recent fiction, who has permanently
acquired life and objective existence" One
could name characters by the score who
seem to be finer creations, but when 1t comes
to the questions. do they liver" "will
they liver" one hesitates. But Sherlock is
unquestionably alive and likely TO stay So
one of goodly and numerous company.
For If any one of US sat down to write out
the names of the historical and of the ficti-
tious characters we readily remember IL is
question which list would be the longer
Moreover, with few exceptions, Ii would be
the children of imagination we should know
the better and feel the deeper interest in
So great is the power of art, so wonderful
the gift by which poet or novelist can make
us see and feel and know the character of
his creation as we do not know the splendid
names on history's page. or even the friends
whom we daily meet.
There is curious difference between what
we think we like and what we really like.
When it is matter of production, we all
aspire to tragedy-when it
Tragedy or is a question Of enjoying
Comedy. what some one else has pro-
duced. we are all looking
for comedy. The tragic actor ranks higher.
and great poems which win the crown of
immortal fame, are all tragedies. We know
what the great, inestimable treasures of
mankind are, yet when we sit down to read
for solid enjoyment, most of US would rath-
er take up Mark Twain or Kate Douglas
Wiggin than Lear Othello. When the
hero Of novel is represented as writing a
great and successful romance-one that sells
by the hundred thousand, and places him
on the top round of contemporary glory.
this imagined great book is always unre-
lieved tragedy, showing plainly what the
authors ideal of true art Island yet, I
doubt not when he himself is looking for
something to read, he takes Chimmie Fad
den or Mr.. Dooley, by preference.
The people coming home from the circus
were not talking of the wonderful feats OF
agility and grace, or of the spectacular
splendors of the visit of the Queen of Sheba
to Solomon. it was the funny doings of the
clown that chung to their memories and
came uppermost in their minds-yet it is the
other things they went to the circus to see
Very few of the twenty-five thousand
would ever have dreamed Of going to the
circus to see the clowns.
Some Of the papers have been reporting
funny homemade signs worthy of Hosea
Biglows commentator, 1T kind o. puts a
moo SCOT Of close onto
'"Thisere Funat- word, thisere funat-
tick Spellin'." tick spellin' doos and
takes 'em out of the
prissen dress they wair in the dixonary,'
and doubtless the authors of the signs would
heartily subscribe to his next remark, "Et
/ squeeze the cents out Of 'em, it's the main
thing. an wut they wuz made for; wut's
lefts jest pummis" But the illiterate are
not alone in their original spelling of signs
Go into our most distinguished stores and
glance around at the stenciled or free-hand
| cards prepared in the establishment and
you will almost invariably find some of them
laboring under evil SPELL One Of our big
stores thus Wanted the 'Quatility'' Of its
| wares the other day.
Professional sign-painters usually spell
we'll. The possessive plural is their problem
Why, If it is correct to say ladies' and
| girls hats, it is wrong to say womens' and
childrens shoes, is mystery beyond them
And If they are corrected and told to pain,
women's and childrens the next sign is
likely to read ladies and girls.
One sgn-painter in this city has a fashion
| of using a Greek with a French accent
over it, for the character &. The result ha.
distinguished air. but the meaning Of II 1.
a mystery, until one has guessed its secret
Usually. we have quite brilliant pro
gTamme for presidents day, but this yeal
our committee wanted to do the thing will
| an extra flourish. 1T 1.
Our Presi- true they said ''tha
dents Day. Mary r. is a born ora
| tor, who thrill yol