The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-10-04
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY e. HOUSE
(From Philadelphia Public Ledser.l

Sweet to the palate is the honeyed
word. When we, just the other day,
correlated stories concerning Mr..
Teagle, Mr.. Lasker and Mr.. Cain and
called it a days workwe felt that we
had marked an ebbtide in our efforts
to instruct. amuse and entertain the
public. It seemed to US, If permission
be given to change the metaphor. that
we had descended to the depths of fu-
tility. And when we sent the copy out
we wrote the word Junk" on the mar
gin.
And now we learn that we tickled
Mr.. Richard H. Waldo pretty nearly
to death. Mr.. Waldo, who is the pub
Usher of Hearst's International. men
toned in the connection, has written
to say so. He waxed enthusiastic. He
went so far as to invite US to read his
magazine regularly. We cannot do
that, of course, but because of his let
ter the birds sing for us again, the
flowers bloom and the winds of chance
and circumstance sough softly to us.
When we do what seems to US to be
fairly good column-we never yet
have done what we considered a really
good one-we leap and frivol from
sheer joy. Content fills us and we
have the instinct to kiss the public
When we do a bad column ours is a
cave of gloom. We toss in our sleep
and awake, ever and anon. from fitful
slumber TO cringe in humiliation and
to pick at the bedelothes. Mr.. Waldo
has made" the day for us. May we
murn1ur our thanks.
Mrs. SeliSman, of New York, we
learned from the papers, has the dis
tinction of finding the man under the
bed for whom the wimen are reputed
to have 1nnlxod O2
furniture. And thus does the second
Oldest and least amusing joke in the
world justify itself.
Properly worked up and done by a
master paragrapher, the incident
ought to get over big in the Literary
Digest's comic "filIums" In the
hands of any one of the Digest
GIFTED scriveners it should be a uni
versal anodyne of grief.
Those who were worried because of
General Pershing's remarks concern
ing the war may compose themselves.
Mr.. Gompers has indicated he isn't
going to do anything about 1t.
Mr.. Gompers does say. however,,
that he is proud of Labor's loyalty
during the war. And that brings new
thought into the discussion. Should
one be proud of the loyalty of a
group of his fellow citizens int time of
war or should he consider their low
atty as the perfectly natural thing
under the circumstances? We should
be glad to have Mr.. Gompers's re-
action Oh that point
In our own town, as an Instance,
We recall that the bankers the mer-
chants, the manufa cturers, tho clergy.
the law and medicine were all loyal.
Eut we don't suppose it ever occurred
to anybody to be proud of it.
We notice, quite incidentally, of
course, that our favorite newspaper
continues to spell it Muscle" Shoals.
Many encomiums upon The Widow
of the Pine Cottage'' have been re-
ceived at this deslt.ss WeTbelieve we
| finally have found What the people
of Philadelphia like in the way of
literature. and other selections of a
similar nature will be printed from
| time to time.
The copy of MeGuffey's Fifth
Reader from which tho selection was
| taken has the name and address,
| "Odelia A. Biever, Harrisburg, Pa
written on the fly leaf in lead pencil
1t also appears in three or four other
| places in the hook. On the second
fly leaf is a shorter poem of three
stanzas written by the same hand.
! The Reader probably was printed
about 1870. It would be interesting
to hear from Miss Biever, if she still
! is alive, or to learn what became of
her. if anybody knows
The verse is interesting as indicat-
! ing the literary tastes of Fifth
Reader pupils in that day and age.
| 1t runs:
She gives thee all-she can give no more,
Tho poor the offering be:
I Her heart. her heart is all the store
That she rnn offer thee.
| Thev seemed to those who saw them meet
The kindly friends Of every day:
Her smile was still serene and sweet,
His courtesy was free and gay.
| Yet IL by one the others name
In some unguarded hour was heard.
| The heart you thorght was cold and tame
Would flutter like n captive bird.
As to whether the literary tastes OF