The Washington herald., 1907-03-31

A host OF admirable stories are told by
Bishop Talbot In his delightful book Of
"reminiscences My People Of the Plains.
Here Is one Of them. told apropos OF the
frequency Of stage robberies:
II never had Bishep Kemper's expert
ence in the early days OF Kansas. The
bishop was the victim OF a hold-up one
night when he was the only passenger
The driver told the road agent, who had
covered him with a six-shooter. that his
only passenger was a bishop.
Wen, said the robber, wake up the
old man; ] want to go through his
pockets
When the bishop was aroused from a
sound slumber and realized the situation.
| lie gently demonstrated with the man be-
hind the gun. He said:
Surely you would not rob a poor
bishop I have no money worth your
while and ! am engaged in the discharge
of my sacred duties
Did you say you we're a bishop%
asked the road agent.
q. Yes, just a poor bishop
What church,
The Episcopal Church.
The h. you are. Why, that's the
church I belong to. Driver, you may pass
on. "
One OF the best characters in Felicity,
which has just been published. is the "old
man" an actor of the type Of Joe Jefer-
son or William Warren. The whole book
/ is bright with his kindly wisdom. Tenn
permanent. he said, @is human nature
only more So"
Felicity tells story of him. Il remem-
Der one day when was with him in Bos-
ton, she went on. "and we stopped in
front of one of the newspaper offices on
Washington street to watch a young
man write bulletins OF the latest news on
a big blackboard on the front of the build
ing Cholera. wrote the young man.
standing on a step-ladder TO reach. is
iraging in Vienna With an intent interes:
the Old Man observed 10 me, in quite
audible undertone. He spells raging
with one G. The young man turned
around, annoyed: there was a little group
of bystanders, all of whom looked puzzled
One g's right said the young man, bellig-
erently. The Old Mans face was a study
| in fnscrutabiIity. didn't say 1t wasn't
he remarked: I simply told my little girl
here. that you did 1t with one &. Some
body In the crowd Uttered. oh. we'll.
snarled the young man. inpatientiy, and
rubbed Il out and rewrOte 1t with two IS.
Then The Old Mand and / solemniy and
silently stole away and looked for a place
10 laugh. But he often REQUIRED to that
episode as an illustration Of how easily
people are discouraged, and. more par
ticularly. Of how little pOsitiveness most
iOf us have about our knowledge"
Dr. Mitchell Carroll professor of elassj-
cal philoIogy in the George Washington
/ University and chairman OF the endow-
ment committee, has just brought out a
new book on Greek women. This is the
first OF a series which a Philadelphia
publishing house viii publish on Women
| in All Ages and Countries" Dr. Carrolrs
special qualifications for writing such a
book are well known I'm the world of
scholarship He is already author Of
'The Women Of Ancient Greece pub
iished in 1903. and one Of the authors Of
Early Christian Women,' brought out
in the same year Much Of his work as d
graduate student at Johns Hopkins.
where he took his Pm d. in 1898. and
at Leipzig and Berlin in the following
year, was in the way of preparation for
such undertakings as these.
An exceedingly interesting chapter IN
Dr. Carr0lTs book deals with Sappho,
''The Tenth Muse as she has often been
called. whose personal character, SO nod
I ern scholarship is inclined to believe, was
greatly calumniated in the centuries after
= a. farart
of the case for the Lesbian poetesC, in
none of whose surviving verses is any
trace of that wantoness which has be-
come associated with her name. It is a
historical fact that she repulsed the poet
Alcaeus when he made advances, and a
/ recently discovered papyrus shows that
she keenly felt a brothers disgrace
Transactions Of a few OF the fragments
indicate TO the English-speaking reader
something of the wealth of Sappho' 5
poetry.
It is exceedingly difficult. as DR. Carroll
observes, to get true picture OF the
life of women in ancient Greece. because
the information has to be gathered
largely from Greek literature, which was
not only written by men, but also by
men for men. Thus the atteudanees at
the theater and the public assemblies
We're exclusively masculine, and before
such atteRdances gibes at the inferiority
Of women were apt to succeed. A some
what better idea is gained from Greek
art. where sculptures and vase painting
give a true picture of the occupations Of
maiden and matron in the home, at the
loom. in the bridal procession, and at the
wedding
For such scholarly work as this, which
DR. Carroll has just completed, the
library of the George Washington Uni
yersity is likely to be better equipped now
than in the immediate past. through the
accession Of the Wachsmuth and Henzel
collections