The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-10-14
UNDER THE LASH.
BY ANGLlcUs.

Eden, Geo. B. Harris with Les
bion flute, Peary and Cook in the
whales belly, Taft drinking sack
and Belasco competing with
Aeschylusf
"MUcH of the girl has been rele-
gated to the past" was sentence
which appeared in this column last
week. Much of it has, there is no
doubt about that. The compositor
has hit upon a great truth. In
fact, without undue exaggeration,
it might be said that most of it
has. Now what was intended was
the much more prosaic statements
that, "much of the evil has been
relegated to the past" Somewhere
between compositor and scribbler
the alteration lies. Whether he
with his magic wand translated the
prose of the original into pure poet
ry, or whether | happened to be-
thinking about girls at that mo-
ment, I don't know. The terms
have entirely different meanings,
which should not be confused. It
is not proper at all to change the
prayer to read, ''but deliver us
from GIRL any more than it would
be to publish song under the
title, My Evil From Kankakee.
While this may seem to be hair
drawn distinction, sufficient care
can hardly be taken to use words
in their exact meaning. A general
resemblance is not grounds enough
for making an alteration of this
nature. The author who conclud-
ed his novel with the words, $50
he looked into Mabelle's face, and
saw love, and wonder, and great
happiness shining in her eyes,"
was disturbed when he read in the
proof, $50 he looked into Mabelle'st
face, and saw love, and wonder,
and great hairpin sticking in her
eyes" "Alone in his sorrow, he
bent his head in utter abasement,"
was not improved when it came
out, "alone in his surrey, he bent
his head in under a basement"
When "the service deemed proper
for such hasty wedding" appeared
with damned" for "deen ed,," there
was wailing and crashing of teeth,
which phrase was itself transform
ed into "there was wiping and
washing Of feef,'' on one occasion.
The temple at Bayreuth still
holds service in an unbelieving
age, but the worshippers are main
ly Americans. The aesthetic soul
Of Richard Wagner would shudder
if he knew that his chief support
ers are not the German common
folk whom, with incredible opti-
mism, he aimed to please, but a
race of barbarians from over the
water. But Wagner has always
been most popular in America,
and very possibly best understood.
To understand him as he wished
to be understood, it is necessary
to be one remove from an idiot,
and a humbug plus. In Europe
they overdo the idiot part but fall
; short of the humbug standard.
Whereas the American makes up
for his deficiency in idiocy by a
hundred horsepower humbugged-
ness. To revel in the atmosphere
of Bayreuth is easy for anybody
that likes good music, but to wise
up to the can't of leit-motifs and
art theories would make strong
men weep. It is such futile drivel
that it's professors cannot agree
among themselves. When the day
comes in which all the beer bred
theories of art have been engarbage-
canned, then and then only will
the cheerful farmers boy whistle
Tristan at his work. Get away
from the idea that Wagner's mu-
sic is something peculiar to Bos-
ton, and you'll find, listening with
: an unprejudiced ear, that there are
Coma poinhtu fpo funos in ~ MoI