The Topeka state journal., 1905-07-31
THE NoBLER AMBITION.

HE NO13141LEx AA13ll1ON.
One need not stand upon the mountain
Where big winds blow and there is little
Down in the valley and help make that
One need not lead an army in the field
AND this mad world with Joves dread
To win fadeless crown, If he but wield
The wand of Peace and so prevent a
| Lee Fairchild in Success Magazine.
Poet and Politician.
Bjornst5erne Bjornson, the poet-poli-
| tician who has been a conspicuous fig
ure in the dissolution of the union be-
| tween Norway and Sweden, has long
| Deen regarded by the Norwegians as
their most national writer With his
massive frame and splendid head, he
| looks more like fine old warrior than
man or letters, and, though his efforts
IN the cause of international arbitration
nave given him the name of the Apostle
| OF Heace, he is at heart a conlbative
| man. He does not appear to set great
store by his literary work. He declares
| tnat ne would rather see his name on a
spade than on a book, and, for the most
part, lives a patriarchal life nowadays
on his farm in the heart of Norway.
BJornson was once asked to mention the
| greatest pleasure that his poetry had
was when a delegation of political op-
| ponentS marched to my house and
smashed all my windows, for he
added, they had no sooner done this,
ana started to march home again, than
I heard them sing: Yes, we love this
| land of ours They had to sing the
song of the man whom they had at
| tackedi''
When Bjornson kept his seventeen
birthday three years ago, all Scandi-
navia, it may be remembered, celebrated
II with him, and congratulations were
sent to him from almost every civilized
| portion of the globe. The considerable
sum of money which his countrymen
subscribed as a national gift to the poet
and his wife on that occasion was de-
| voted by them to a pension fund for
| teachers, in whose profession Bjornson
has always taken the greatest interest
bJornson's father was pastor of church
IN the Romdal, one of the most beauti-
ful spots in Norway, and here his early
life was spent. Before he became di-
rector OF the Bergen theater, in 1851
succeeding Ibsen in the post-he worked
for some years in Christiania as jour-
lnalist Here he subsequently became di-
rector of the theater, and helped to Gre
ate national Norwegian repertory. He
IS an excellent hnguist. speaking Eng
| ish, French, Italian and German. APP
parently-since he cares so little for his
literary reputation-he writes because
he cannot help it. While actually at
WORK bJoFnSon ScrlbDieS rapidly, ana
1t is fortunate thing for the printers
that his wife transcribes his manuscripts
before they leave the house, for they are
mere masses of scrawls when he has
done with them.-London Graphic
Ryan's Personality.
In politics and philanthropy, Mr..
Ryan has moved as quietly as in the
business and financial world He is
still a resident of Virginia where he
has 4.000-acre estate. In the st.
Louis convention last year he sat as a
delegate from his native state Mr..
Belmont and Mr.. Sheehan were most
prominent in the mana cement of the
Parker campaign, but before it was
over no one gave more of advice or
money to the Parker forces than did
Mr.. Ryan. In New York his relations
with Tammany are friendly, but not
intimate, for Ryan is Democrat OF
the Cleve1and-Parker sort and, Tam
many politics does not seem to inter-
est him.
To learn that Thomas F. Ryan as a
dispenser of charity has given away
several millions of dollars in a few
years (S5.000,O00 some say) is almost
as surprising as the realization that he
is a financial power second only to
Rockefeller. Catholic institutions,
schools, churches and hospitals are the
principal beneficiaries, but the whole
list of them would make varied ex-
hibit of Mr.. Ryan's interests. His wife
is his almoner, and the Fifth avenue
house at the corner of Twelfth street
contains a well equipped bureau for
handling the many demands made
upon the Ryan purse. One can not
help counting it to his credit that he
has given away SO much and let SO
little about his gifts become known
An interview with Mr.. Ryan is apt
to be very one-sided affair. The in
terviewer does most of the talking,
while the man who is supposed tc
talk only listens. Those who have
business dealings with the capitalist
the sort of man who is thinking toe
hard to ta1k.-D. T. Pierce, in The
World Today, for August.
Misleading.
In Brooklyn, N. Y. there exists an
interschool baseball league, the va
rious teams being, quite naturally
known popularity by the names of the
institutions they represent, which
simple fact has just led to an amusing
incident. The mines of the religious
schools of the Twelve Apostles and OF
the Holy Family were meeting on the
afternoon in question, the innings re-
sulting in a series of ties which wound
up enthusiasm to the highest possible
point. In the ninth, with the score
standing at IL to 13 it sounded out
! side the fence as though pande-
monium reigned within.
| So PROBABLY thought one venerable
gentleman who CHANGED to be pass
ing. MY gracious!" he exclaimed
what on earth can be going on in
there ?''-and he stopped just where
he was in his amazement. His semi
question had been directed at no one
in particular, but a small boy heard
| it and stopped dancing from one foot
to the other, in sheer excitement long
enough to explain:
l "Oh, de Holy Family lickin' h
Ia An
geies Times.
Paclxingtoxn's Water.
One of the appalling disclosures