davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
THE PRICE OF THEATER
TICKETS

A distinguished English actor, dis
cussing the American stage the other
day, bewailed the tendency of Ameri-
can managers to smother the drama
with scenic effects. He declared that
the scenery, not the play, was the
thing nowadays. An American actress
who announces that she is going to
lead a crusade against high priced
theater seats also places the blame
for them on the managers. 1t is un-
doubtedly true enough that they are
responsible. indirectly, for them, since
it was they who first turned their at
tention to scenic details and who led
the departure which resulted in the
gorgeous stage settings that delight
the fastidious eyes of the modern thea
tergoers. But It is doubtful If an
American audience educated to appre-
ciate this nicely of detail would be
satisfied with Indifferent or merely
adequate scenery. And it is the ex-
pensive scenery that is partly respon-
sible for the high price of theater seats
in the large cities.
However, the modern star as the
modern world knows her also has some
thing to do with that price. Popular
actors and actresses, like popular
writers, command for their work such
sum of money as would have dazzled
the eyes Of the stage and literary
geniuses of earlier periods. All the
world today is willing to pay a high
price for its anfusements, but America
is admittedly the most extravagant
country in the world in this respect.
Grand opera singers command a high
er price here than any other place In
the world. Actresses who please Sc
cure bigger return for their services.
Stage appointments are more lavish
than in any other country.
And American audiences pay. of
course. But it is their own fault that
they do. 1t may be cynicism, but it
is also the gospel truth that an ad-
vance in the price of tickets for any
theatrical performance is frequently,
in many of the large centers. sufficient
in itself to cause a large audience to
assemble. The people over here long
ago fell into the fatal habit of judg-
ing almost exclusively by the price,
and II is not surprising that theatrical
managers should have taken advan-
tage Of this weakness. The latter
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23

its defense. Nevertheless, In ordinary
times it is the stepchild of the house.
hold. We starve all those who take
up teaching as a business. We dis
courage them by present poverty and
the certainty of future dependence.
We either do not enact or do not en-
force conditions which would admit to
the teaching body only the most
highly qualified. We put few pre-
niums on efficiency. The most of us
do not even think, and too many of
us do not have sense enough to be-
lieve, that one of the first duties of a
community is to require every teacher
of preparation as extended and as
complete as the delicate and sacred
nature of this occupation demands.
The normal schools, IL this view, are
as much more important than the
schools of medicine or law as the mind
is greater than body or property.
1hey stand side by side with all the
great agencies of intellectual enIight-
enment and moral uplift. In making
progress toward this idea, good be-
ginning is to get rid Of the backwoods
notion that anybody can teach. and
that it is really a concession when a
little course in instruction is added
like a frill TO a high school. The
schools of this country need the best
men and women that can be found.
with the best technical preparation
that money and intelligence and en-
thusiasm and a true understanding of
their value to the individual and the
state can furnish.
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
THE ST. PAUL GLOBE. SUNDAY. APRIL %. 1905

new religions to prove popular have
TO have health article in their creed.
Methods of healing unknown yester-
day are today petitioning legislatures
for recognition. Like mushrooms, new
cures spring up in a single night. And
in their methods they represent an in
finite variety. Yesterday did you
walk forth in the cold gray dawn, bare
footed and hatiess? Tomorrow. II you
are impressionable and wish to keep
abreast of the times and to take ad-
vantage of all-that is offered, you may
be persuaded that any contact with
Mother Earth is debiiitating and there
fore to be Stunned and your out-of-
door costume may include overshoes in
all weather
1t is to laugh and therein lies the
value of these cures The majority
of them are harmless. Some of them
do real and lasting good by working
on the imagination of the patient and
persuading her or him that good health
has really been attained. One does not
have to be devotee of any Of those
health cults to believe that faith cures
many maladies and aids in all recover
les. The fanatics, Of. course. are fire.
quentiy harmed but IL these were not
harmed by popular cure they would
be harmed by something else. The
fanatic is foredoomed.- For the ma
jority of those who accept them, there
is little danger for they are not apt
TO cut loose entirely from the family
physician and even in the high tide of
their enthusiasm they seldom scoff at
the exact science of surgery.
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
NOT EVEN A BARK

The war correspondents, after their
fashion, get excited over the situation
in the eastern seas and talk a lot of
nonsense. Perhaps it helps them to
keep their jobs, but it is not OF much
use TO the newspaper desirous of facts
vice which these gentlemen send us
Is TO the effect that there is great
activity in the British navy, that it's
warships in Chinese waters are being
got ready for action and that this
pcrtends tussle between the lion and
the bear. They even go so far as to
add that it is in response to Japanese
clamor for the carrying out of her
agreement with Great Britain.
1t portends nothing of the sort, and
all this stuff is woven from the fila
ments OF the imagination. Great
Britain is doing exactly what every
other power with interests in the
Orient must do and is doing. Our own
ships in Philippine waters are on the
alert and ready for business. What
else could be expected, what else
would be even rational. when two hos
tile fleets are nearing each other.
when neutral rights must be preserv-
ed and territory protected? To do
otherwise would be like withdrawing
all the policemen from their beats in
a city at the crisis OF a great strike
or other event insuring widespread
disturbance
Great Britain's ships are always
ready. They are stationed in every
part OF the globe to look after just
such conditions as these 1t is their
business, when trouble is afoot, to
stand on guard and see that neither
British subjects nor British rights are
jeopardized. The same rule holds
with every nation having a navy on
the seas. AS for the Anglo-Japanese
agreement, that becomes effective only
when Japan shall be attacked by a
coalition of any two European powers
The secret alliance between France
and Russia has been made atrociousIy
evident, but it is not tangible enough
to call for the enforcement of this
compact, or to carry Great Britain into
war with Russia. There may be
many surprises preparing for the
world in the east. but the appearance
of-Great Britain through her warships
as an ally TO Japan openly and eff
fectively at this time is not one of
them.
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
POPULAR CURES

young person who earns a fair
living by dangling nightly from a
trapeze bar located just under the roof
of circus tent has written an enthu-
siastic health testimonial for her
stunt" She declares that it win keep
everyone in perfect health and urges
all who suffer from those ills to which
flesh is heir TO try the flying leap" the
triple swing and the Complete nj
rouette." In its present crude form. of
course, her "cure" viii not make q
popular appeal but it would not be at
all remarkable if some astute individual
should read possibilities in it and. un-
der Greek or Latin name. should
present it to the world as new health
cult. perhaps new school of medicine
For in this age when everything
seems to go, nothing goes quite so well
as that which promises the guileiess
public health and long life. Even the
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
A VANouIsHED ENEMY

Expressions of opinion at the anti
tuberculosis congress bear out the con-
clusions reached by the highest medi-
cal authorities throughout the coun-
try. For many years some Of the
ablest minds in the world have been
devoted to search for a remedy for
tuberculosis. This has generally taken
the form Of trying to develop an anti
toxin. Several times partial successes
have been announced. but up to this
date it must be confessed that no spe-
cific for the cure OF consumption has
been found.
The vanquishing of this dread dis
ease. more fatal to life than any other
to which humanity is subject, has been
practically achieved in a different di-
rection. We have learned to look to
prevention rather than to cure. 1t is
now reasonably certain that by the
spread of intelligence. by a careful OBJ
servance OF conditions found most IA
vorable to the stamping out OF this dis
ease, and especially by guarding
against its early development in the
infected and its spread to others, tu-
berculosis can in few generations be
as completely banished from the world
as is the black plague.
Here. as in everything relating to
sanitation. the general spread of
knowledge is the most desirable and
necessary step. OF the thousands of
cases OF consumption progressing to-
day toward a fatal termination, one
portion is beyond the reach of help.
These patients should be carefully iso-
lated and their remaining days made
as comfortable as possible. Another
portion consists of those in whom the
disease has not made such progress
that it cannot be arrested. These
should be just as carefully isolated and
treated for a cure. Plenty of nourish-
ing food, few simple remedies and
the constant breathing night and day
of absolutely pure air will effect the
desired result. If this is done. they
may look forward after recovery to
the balance of useful life to which
their years entitle them.
There is a third class. more numer-
Gus than either Of the others. that con-
stitutes the recruiting ground for tu-
berculosis. In this Will be found a
small, army of persons in whom the
disease germ has begun it's work un-
suspected. These are the really dam
gerous. because by them the affiiction
is perpetuated. 1t is of the utmost i'm
portance that an early diagnosis may
be had. All OF these cases can be
cured The trouble is that the true
character OF the disease is not sus-
pected. and it is allowed to develop
until 1t threatens the life not only Of
the patient, but of many others be-
sides.
We have, then. a complete pro-
gramme for the final extinction of con-
sumption. which needs only to be fol-
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
THE MAKING OF COOKS

The Endorsement given the Duluth
normal school by the state normal
board for inaugurating the teaching of
domestic science as part of its course
is likely to evoke some criticism. Not
that there is any objection to teaching
young women how to cook-not the
least bit of it. Any institution that in
creases the knowledge. OF the fair sex
in the art Of cookery is worthy there
gard and esteem OF man. But there
is a sort of fixed idea that the normal
schools are maintained for the purpose
OF educating young women dedicated
to the teaching profession and it will
be difficult to show some doubtful cit
izens that cookery has anything to do
with common school education.
Yet We are inclined to the opinion
that if the average young woman knew
more of the art of making biscuits
and proportionately less of algebra the
race would not suffer in the long run.
The poet who said that cooks were in
finitely preferable to books was not
taking any poetic license. He was
stating a bald fact which is patent
enough to those of US who have ar
rived at that age when the stomach is
an appreciable factor in the works of
man. No doubt we could get along
| without poets, teachers or books, but
cooks we must have. so there is some
thing most appealingly human in the
departure taken by the Duluth normal.
All the world knows that the young
woman who goes fresh from the nor
NAL school to preside over a school of
her own, there to teach youth to shoot
straight to the tree of knowledge, is
| only pausing little on the way to the
domestic hearth. In some cases the
pause is protracted. but it is seldom
full stop. Sooner or later the right
man robs the schoolhouse of its mis-
tress and if the man be a taxpayer he
will quarrel not at all because some
portion of the money be paid for the
| maintenance of the normal school was
expended in teaching his wife how to
make angel food and chop hash.
But it is not given to all of us to
have the happiness of marrying
teacher from the Duluth normal and
grouchy. ones who are deprived by ex-
listing conditions of that inestimable
privilege are likely to protest because
cooking is to be taught as part of the
normal course. We cannot see that
there is any particular harm in the de-
parture except that 1t may tend to de-
feat the original object of the normal
school and presently turn the Duluth
normal into a matrimonial bureau. For
IL 1t is delightful to WOO and marry a
pretty teacher, what measure OF Joy
would it not be to achieve the position
of husband to a pretty teacher who
could really cook?
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
A LONG LIVED PREJUDICE

1t will be remembered that when the
| actress Clara Morris came west some
seasons ago, a woman's club voted
against having her deliver an address
before it on the grounds of her being
an actress. The action of this club has
been duplicated by the Lyceum club
of London which has just blackbalIed
| the actress Ellen Terry, whose name
was proposed as member. To the
majority of people living in the world
and Of the world the action Of both
those clubs will seem irreconcilable
with the spirit of the times which in
sists that the individual shall be
judged as an individual and not with
the class in which her work or her
profession places her.
But it will seem remarkable for
another reason also. The prejudice
against player folk has finally died so
far as the general public is concerned.
Not only is it conceded today that the
man or woman who adopts the stage
as profession may lead a blameless
life behind the footlights, but the
world has not been slow to accord to
him or her fuil credit for the genius
which has illumined great roles. The
profession Of play acting is regarded
as an art and those whose high tall
ents have glorified it have been ac-
corded the recognition they deserve.
Prejudice, however, dies hard. Women
Joined the ranks of the players when
actors were stin held in disrepute and
what glory the greatest of them won
was won in the face of bitter preju-
dice. The unconventional lives of
some were accepted as further proof
OF the demoralizing influence of the
stage and the regrettable thing is that
the fact OF its being an outcast pro-
fession attracted to Ii many who had
no business at all behind the foot
lights. But against the effect of all
this well bred men and women have
striven until today it may be said,
in spite of the action OF the London
club and that other equally narrow club
OF this country. that they have re-
deemed the profession from the odium
undeservedly attached to 1t.
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
IN THE TOLLS

I'm TIE IOlLS
The members of the common coun-
ell continue to squirm in the grasp of
the street railway company. A sec
tion of the public has demanded a bet
ter service on the Como Harriet in
terurban line. To keep their good will
the council has ordered it, and the
company simply smiles and says it
will improve the service when it gets
| good and ready. Now the council,
between the fire Of. dissatisfied con-
stituents on one side and the con-
temptuous insolence of the company
on the other, is endeavoring to find
out what it can do.
The council is in a double dilemma.
In the first place 1t does not enjoy
confessing that in the agreement re-
Gently concluded the right of the city.
to proper service and its right to
determine what a proper service is
were not guarded. 1t does not like
this show down of hands. Within two
months of the time. when the surren-
der of the city was made, it has be-
come apparent that this was uncondi-
tionaL OF course that was obvious at
the time, but it had naturally been
hoped that the disclosure would not
come so soon.
There is divided line now as to
whether the city should retaliate by
trying TO pass an ordinance requiring
every passenger on a street car to be
furnished with seats, or whether it
should take up the entire question of
the compromise and test its legality.
In very ,shamefaced way the men
who were party to the late agree
ment are beginning to realize and to
admit where it has left the city.
From time to time certain men of
large property have determined to
avoid the uncertainties of wills. and
to see that their property was dis
posed of as they desired by portioning
1t out during their own lifetime. De-
pending upon the natural gratitude of
the beneficiary. they have occasionally
come to want. This is the position of
St Paul 1t has surrendered all right
to the control of its own streets and
all power to regulate street car serv-
ice upon them. 1t is beginning at a
very early day to taste the sweet re-
suits.
If any members of the council are
really in earnest in this matter, If
they are not putting up a false pre-
tense, If they are truly solicitous for
the rights of the people as against the
privileges OF the street railway COM
pany, they may be reminded that the
so-cailed agreement is not yet in
actual effect; that it is not worth, in
the opinion Of the best lawyers, the
paper it is written on; that it can be
overthrown readily by honest and
earnest attack, and that the six
months within which an appeal from
Judge Lochren's decision can be made
have not yet expired
1t seems to be up to the council to
quit talking and to make good. Either
it should let the street railway COM
pany alone and do what that corpora
ton tells it, or else it should take the
only other course; namely, instruct
the corporation attorney to take all
legal measures necessary to the over
throw of the spurious agreement and
the carrying of the city's case to the
highest court in the land.
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23

have made" stars. have set a big
price on them and the public has ac-
cepted them at the managers own val
uation- And that same public has ap-
plauded every new extravaganza in
the way of scenic embellishments.
Naturally it pays for it all in the thea
ter tickets. 1t rests. however, In its
own hands to put an end to much that
Is mere vulgar extravaganza on the
stage. and when 1t has done this 1t
win have a right to demand cheaper
theater tickets. s--f
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
SUNDAY, APRIL %, 1905
SHOULD STICK TO THEIR LAST

The old adage that the shoemaker
should stick to his last seems to apply
with especial force to the work of
normal departments in state high
schools that is now under fire We
do not care to discuss at all the merits
of the work done by these high school
anneXes. It may-have been high class
or indifferent. Regardless of this, it
is perfectly plain that it is not work
which such institutions should be
called upon or authorized to do.
The business of teaching is a pro-
fession. We are, OF course, familiar
with the popular notion that anybody
with an ordinary education can teach
school. To that is due pretty nearly
every fault and frailty of our system
of common school education. For the
work of teaching there is needed per-
haps not the same amount, but GER
tainly the same character of special
training that is required for the fur
nishing of a lawyer, doctor or
clergyman. The instructor Of first
rate ability is quite as rare as the
man Of eminence in any Of the three
professions named. He must have ma
tive fitness and adaptation to the
work, but in addition to that he must
have received that technical training
which it requires.
Now the addition of a fitting school
for any profession to the high school
In any city is an absurdity 1t is due
on the one side to the natural ambi-
ton of those institutions to make
themselves as complete as possible,
and on the other to the fact that a
true conception of what the occupation
of the teacher requires is in almost
total eclipse. We do not hear of the
high schools adding courses in law, or
medicine. or theology. They might
just as well do so as to add a course
in normal methods.
This departure would be pardonabIe
II the state had no system of normal
instruction. Teachers would have to
be prepared somewhere, and such
partial equipment as they might get
at high school annex would per-
haps be better than none. But il so
happens that Minnesota is furnished
with normal schools up to the limit.
We have enough to take care of all the
embryo teachers in the community.
We have enough. if they were prop
erly patronized, to furnish teachers
for all our public schools and send
them abroad for the enlightenment of
other states. 1t is a discouragement
to these and an unjust discrimination
against them to add a pretended nor
NAL course to the ordinary high school
work
There has grown up an absurd idea
that the school teacher should come
from the local community. Boards of
education everywhere are petitioned
not to employ instructors from the
outside; and at the bottom of every
project for training school course
In the high school is the scheme to
coax along certain high school grad
uates into the teachers OCCUPATION GO
that home industry" may be patron
lied. All this Is intensely absurd and
usually injurious. TO lop off the high
school annex will be one more move I'm
the right direction.
We pretend to be utterly devoted to
our public school system, and in
crude and superficial way we are. If
anyone attacks it openly, we rush to
The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23
Why She Wept

But. my dear" protests the young
husband. you have paid $56 for this
Easter bonnet, when 1 asked You not to
exceed SIS"
Yes. love-" she explains; "but. don't
from S72. and the $25 ones We're only
marked down from $50. 1 saved SIG. in
stead of only 50. You ought to commend
me instead of-booheo!-of-of sclding
me Judge.