The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1904-06-10
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:MAM6E And CONVERSELY
What is of chief significance in thv
result of the recent municipal cleo
tions in France is the decisive defe&
of the Nationalist, who have controll'
ed the governments of several large
cities, including Paris. 1t goes to
show that the French people are tired
at last of Chauvinism and its eterna'
Indictments to international conflicts
What the French need Is peace with
their neighbors; and they will ne
longer tolerate party that seeks to
disturb the friendly relations which
they have established on all sideS
Professor Lounsbury takes UP
another question of English in Harp
er's Magazine, treating it in the same
scholarly and entertaining manner az
in his paper on the split infnitive.
Now, in THE tSory Of an Idiom." he
carefully outlines the beginning and
growth of the use of would better for
had better, practice of recent incep
ton, but which bids fair to increase
if not checked by knowledge of the
real facts in the case. Would better.
says Professor Lounsbury, "is as I'M
grammatical as it is unidiomatic
statement which will challenge the at
tention of number Of people who
have been conScientiously il thought
lessly training themselves to the use
Of would better.
A Japanese house is the simplest
thing in the world. 1t consists of q
post at each corner and a roof. One
may say it is all on one floor. And in
the daytime it is all one room. If it Ia
a small house. The number Of roomy
in it depends on the number of bed )
rooms the owner requires. They ara
divided by night by papers shutters
fixed in grooves like the divisions Of
an old fashioned werkbox. There are
no doors or passages. Your bedroom
acts as a passage, and when you want
a door you slide back the nearest
panel.
Stanley, the explorer, had little con
fdence In the material value of tropt
cal Africa until after he met Living.
stone. But it was not long before he
became imbued with the sublime faith
of this great man that there was good
in Africa and in its peoples which
every popular influence of civilization
should help to develop. This faith
STRENGTHENED in him to his last days.
He never tired Of African topics. He
welcomed at his London or his country
home all who knew the work that Waa
being done and had confidence In It's
value. He lived to see predictions
realized that had been counted as idle
dreams. He was laughed at when he
said that few years more would see
Central Africa Joined to the ocean by
a railroad; but today trains are rWa-
ming regularly between the Indian
Ocean and Victoria Nyanza.
Mrs. Gertrude Atherton's remarks
on American literature in the North
American Review call forth some
pointed comment in Harper's Weekly
Mrs. Anterior, it will be remembered
complained of the bad effect OF the
magazines in demanding from authors
"anamic literature with vigor. audac-
ity and all American characteristics
bleached out of IL; and she derided
the magazine authors as good family
men. who eat we'll. rarely drink. and
are too dull to be bored by their own
wives" The Harper's Weekly writer
rejoins that, on the contrary. great
authors are almost incorrigibly adj
dieted to the comforts of life, and get
them If they can" and he cites Mark
Twain, Stevenson. Kipling. Dickens,
Thackeray. and Bret Harte as exam :.
pies. There is nothing. he says. the
matter with current American litera
ture. "The publishers print the best
books they can get; the magazines
nrint the best stories they can get; the
public reads the best books and maya
zines 1t can find. There is no CON
spiracy to put down talent. and some
notable minds that ought to be max
ing literature are otherwise employed.
We fear that there is no better reason
for 1t than the sordid on that the
other jobs pay better"
The Outlook says: The Department
of Agriculture reports most interest
ing experiments made by Professor
Poffa, of the University OF California,
upon men engaged in hard manual Ia
Dor most of the time and students
working to support themselves while
pursuing their studies. The professor
declares: Nuts are the cheapesr
source of energy, peanuts ranging far
ahead" The price. SO cents per LOCO
calories of energy, Is at less cost than
any animal food, or potatoes at 30