The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-04-14
LETTER FROM A MARIAN.
A Visitor From the Planet, Mars, Writes Of His
Views of Richmond

onies and tragedies which one sees
/ OF men here who continually decry the
town, calling it wicked. vile, corrupt,
and as horrid as the tabled Sodom and
| Ctomorrah. So far as | can see, the
| Indictment is absolutely false. There
| is not enough yigor, vitality or yirile
strength left in the town to produce
such things. The Emerson of this
planet once said that it takes a little
wickedness to make muscle. I don't
know. The good red blood, the clear
brain, the hearts OF oak, the manly and
self-reliant vigor OF true manhood
leave the town as soon as they can
fly the coop. The whole atmosphere
is one of Sissy boys Charles"
pink teas violet rays" "slow mu-
sic" Sometimes the place seems like
the baseless fabric of dream. 1t
don't seem human. The real sin is in
pretending TO be what you are not. |
have never yet seen a plum tree pre-
tending that it was weeping-willow.
Being good at home and compelling
others to conform, and then going
abroad to be something else under the
cover of night is the life of the emascu-
lated anthropoid. l see men who con-
stitute themselves guardians of 1.-The
herd demanding certain conditions in
their town, but violating these condi-
lions when they go to the neighboring
city.
They have an organization here of
which its members are proud, called
the Commercial Club. 1t was organ
lied away back in the prehistoric past.
| cannot find from dusty archives or
from the people what its real meaning
is. Just now it is engaged in trying
to revise the classic drama. Each
year it produces the tragedies of The
Ghost" and THE Banquet of the Sew
Ell Wise Men of Thebes." The figures
glide across the stage like pale spec
tres and the Ghost cries,
Whittier wilt thou lead me?
Speak, I'll go no further"
AS this miracle play is presented I'M
der soft, violet-rayed lights and to mu-
sic on flutes, the effect is said to be
quite charming, in perfect keeping
with the subdued tone of the town.
And this remandS me, very dear
Marena, of the time we read of the
Banquet of the Seven Wise Guys of
Il
back upon the feast of reason and
flow of soul, because there was a horse
race in the town he wanted to see, and
how we laughed over it and decided
that this man was the wisest of the
bunch and perhaps the wisest guy
that ever lived.
Another strange thing. The people
here never take recreation until they
are so run down with worry that they
cant handle it. So their pleasures are
all perfunctory and very serious. You
know that we MartianS rest while we
work, and are SO self-lubricating that
We can recreate every minute we want
to. We can turn from one thing to an
other quite easily. We can dismiss
and recall at WILL This is recreation
through diversity. Such a thing is i'm
possible here. Diversity of amusement
is mortal sin and against the law.
MOnOtony is the law of life The ONLY
Sunday recreation allowed is visiting
the graves OF your ancestors. | had
read at home books of explorers in
to this country and had imbibed the
idea that the people here were in re-
ligion monotheistic, believers in one
fered from the polytheism of the old
Greeks, who had so many gods that it
makes you dizzy to run over the in |
ventory. But | was misinformed /
have just read a book by a celebrated
scientist called Mark Twain, and in |
his work he names about one thousand
gods worshipped in his country The |
Americans carry much larger stock |
of gods than the Greeks did. but they
sell at much higher prices and have
no bargain counters.
| am dreadfully homesick | want to /
get away from the petty ieaIousies. |
the distasteful chickering's, the con- |
slant strife of this planet Life some /
times seems SO mean and little here |
1t lacks grandeur and noble abund- |
ance of soul. If l get glimpse of the |
beautiful, it is sometimes seen among
the very poor and meek of earth /
Higher up 1t grows warped and Grip |
pied and has no contour. | will sail I
next month by the Jupiter |
line on the ship Venus, going by the |
Milky Way. [ shall stop-I shall So |
journ rather-at Vega-that luminous |
star, more luminous TO me than all |
others because SHE dwells there. | |
shall see her-then perhaps you shall |
see us both in Mars. not twain but /
one. In my anticipatory joy I recall |
your noble words. Whom the gods
love die young, no matter how long
they live"
My love to Stella and Rhodius.
Yours fervently.
MYOMIA.