Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-01-19
Johns Lettsr.

Ever read Dante's Inferno-his vision
OF He'll In thirty-four cantosP 1t 10 said
to be ''classic." Our taste and molina
ton are not toward that style. The
Illustrations are by Gustave Dore and
are simply horrible, and are unfit for
the eye Of q sensitive child. A dime
novel of the blood and thunder type for
my boy rather than the classic Inferno.
IT'S a nightmare long drawn out. II
Dante was not insane his looks belle
him. Were there glimmer of truth In
the Inferno, or nightmare or epiieptic
fit of Dante, he who rules the universe
can find no special fault with the most
brutal monarch who ever sat upon an
earthly throne.
Here. as mine ear could note, no plant was
Except Of sigh., that made the eternal air
Tremble. NOT caused by torture, but Of grief
Felt by those multitudes, many and vast,
OF men, women and infants. Then to me
The gentle guide: Inquirest thou not what
spirits
Are theae which thou beholdest? Ere thou pass
Farther, would thou know. that these OF ain
Were blameless; and II aught they merited,
II profits not. since baptism was not theirs,
The portal to thy faith. II they before
The Gospel lived, thew served not God Alright;
And among such am /. For these defects,
And for no other evil. we are lost;
Only 80 far afflicted that we i've
Desiring without hope"
We count that classical lie.
The deserted Fugg farm has changed
owners. Probably twenty years ago the
owner would have had to search dill
gently for buyer at right around $500;
but now the buyer has searched him out
and found him, with $1,000 check for a
searchlight, 40 to speak. The check
bears the name of Clarence Foster. No
doubt that is nearer the value than our
northeastern neighbor received for his
wood and timber lot-S1, $50. The first
purchasing party without laying az at
the root of tree quickly sold 1t to No.
2 for $4,000.
Leslie Turner has taken the contract
to cut the ''soft stuff" and deliver 1t here
on the brook and river banks-a level
route up the valley and over the bog,
but long haul. Wash and 1--WE" pac-
ed it the other day and chalked it down
as four miles good and strong, or two
miles apiece, strong and good.
If you have wood and timber lot to
sell and don't know the worth of 1t, have
cheek enough to ask right around thrice
what you are offered for it, and thus
you will not get let down with such a
snap as that, and you would not feel like
slipping out back of the barn and kick.
ing Yourself black and blue. Too bad
that the original owner should be jewed
ont of his own in that manner. How
ever, it is the worlds way of doing
things. It is imputed as shrewdness-
not Righteousness. 1t is business. Over
reaching ia business. Cheating is bust
ness. S, likewise is "riddling" the in
wards, and dirty business at the best
The square deal is not 80 Catching" as
it might be, and many are immune any
how.
Had it not been for the gimlet-eyed
"Sun" we should have been slow to
mistrust that the governors address is
not a good one. And, even now we fail
TO catch up with the Sun. We still
think it equal to any address OF his
predecessors. 1t was claimed by the
opposition when the campaign was in
full blast that he didn't know enough to
% ROVoTnOIs 40 yoe Sno o''oSASS ~ NAS>
forthcoming.
What are your conclusions in regard
to the position of the president and
congress Roosevelt and TillmanP OursP
"Let the CALLED jade VINCE" and the
ungalled have no special cause for vino
ing, kicking or biting.
Took half-mile run on the river and
didn't sink, thus beating Peters record
1t wasn't faith that saved US, but twelve
inches of clear, blue ice. Then we cut
across country to the gathering place OF
East Hebron Changers, where and when
they met to celebrate the twentieth
anniversary of their existence as q
grange, and to burn the last evidence OF
their indebtedness, which was done, and
we'll done, and all things else that were
stuffing and all. Were
we an ordained reporter we might en-
large and elucidate, illuminate and ex-
plain, but, as it Is, will only say that it
was the best ever, and leave it for you to
imagine and for us to remember with
pleasure.