New Britain herald., 1915-05-29

SNAS oiSicio fUTaTleS flenQS nOpe IO the opening up of vast treasures of knowledge.
 Our Colonel at His Best"
 tGeorge Harvey. in The North Ameri-
 can Review,
 The United States of America is a large body of land bounded on the north by fishing, on the east by fight ing, on the south by anarchy and on the west by rumors of trouble. Its in- habitants are divided into two classes the People" and "Rooscvelt and Bryan,' both perennial Its govern ment Is of, for, and by the former. as unremittingly elucidated by the latter. Presidents come and gu, political par ties rise and falk issues spring like mushrooms from the fertile soil, only to be supplanted by others, which, too. in turn, wither under the burning sun; butsour unarmed citizenry is inn perishable, and Roosevelt and Bryan can never say die. It is fitting, then, that this venerable journal should sIgnalize the beginning of it's second cycle with due recognition of the sim ultaneous reappearance upon the first pages of our public prints of these our most cherished heralds of varie- gated. evangels, lest nothing of note should be omitted from the pages of historical romance.
 Although it is a matter of common understanding that the one is a war rior and the other a pacifist, both are colonels and both crusaders. At the moment two demons engage their re- srective energies-the Demon Boss n nd Q nny, -1Tf- shall have been dem molIshed others will arise in response to call; but sufficient unto the day are the dragons thereof; let the fascinating present transf1x our attention.
 Great was the popular rejoicing when our more admired but less be- loved colonel was haled into. court by enc Barnes, descended from Belial and designated by an imaginative witness as Nero the ruthless fiddler The people were wearied by tales of slaughter and eager for diversion such as might tend to relieve the tedium of psychological depression. Their in : terest in the aggressive plaintiff we rake 1t, was not excessive. Even the report that he was a Harvard man evoked hardly more excitement than the suspicion that he was also a bad man, so comparatively common have both become in recent years. Some. indeed, so we have been told, assumed that because he was a plaintiff his name was BardwelI and they con- tinued in this belief until they were informed in due course that formerly 1t was Jekyll, but now 1t was Hyde. In any case, the people wanted a hero. not Nero--and they suffered no dis appointment.
 We have never concerned ourselves greatly over the name of the Cuban hill which our militant Colonel as- cended, nor as to whether ne climbed on, foot or on horseback; the main point, it always seemed to us. was that wherever he arrived and how ever he got there, he thereby demon- strated the possession of exceptional strategic capacity. Unlike others less ooservant, therefore, we were not aur- prised when at the very outset, aI- though for the first time in his long and active career upon fields of battle he promptly assumed the defensive. thus obtaining the advantage of the first and fullest light from the lime as pretty an example of tactical skill s;s we can recall.
 Technically the case was that of one Barnes, alias Jekyll, alias Hyde, alias Nero. ct all, plaintiff, against Our Colonel, defendant. for having uttered libel
 Was the plaintiff thetype of person
 Was the plaintiff thetype of person uttered; if not, he could recover damages That was all. But did Our Colonel propose to contribute a fort night or more of valuable time as an investigation of the proclivities of one Barnes Hardly! If any character was to be diagnosed, it should be one worth considering; in word, his own. If anybody was to be tried, it should be himself. If wrongdoing were charged, it should be against him: if were to prevail, it should be his righteousness He was no Nero playing second fiddle: he was a Hero accustomed to lead the orchestra and accept the plaudits of the multitude.