Evening star., 1923-09-10
The Fragile
Vessel
BY DIR. FRANK CRANE.

I had hardly got back to my hotel In
London when I received a telephone
call from the hospital 1t was from Dr.
Sanford. He announced briefly that
my young friend Markham was dead
The news came as shock, although
had been expecting 1t. No matter
how long you have been anticipating
death and how certain you are 1t Is
on the way, it always shocks you
when it arrives. II Is like trying to
close door which sticks and will
not shut without slammfng.
/ hastened to the hospital When
! the doctor took the sheet from Mark
hams face and gave me a last look
was surprised at its serenity. i had
known Markham for two or three
years and had never. seen his fea-
lures when they were not agitated
by some strong enthusiasm or emo
tion
I went down with the doctor to his
office and we talked a while. He had
been both friend and physician to the
deceased man.
Markham" said DR.. Sanford, was
one of those men who are bound to
be misunderstood. There are certain
souls from whom, more than from
OtHcfSs we SnOulQ WIIlnOlQ luQEf1eHI.
This boy was one of them. Nobody
but the God who made him could
consider his case with any sort of in
teIligent equity.
He was not like the rest of US.
The trouble was that his emotions
and impulses were entirely too strong
for hiA machinery. Neither his body
nor his mind was tough enough to
withstand the forces they were made
to contain.
H. Ii.
an engine of tremendous power, of
such power as to rack. strain and
eventually break the hull"
There are people like that. l sup
yes" returned the doctor. there
are fragile vessels for whom life and
its forces are too much.
Take the matter of love, for in
stance. With some the coming OF
love is simply the gentle expansion
of the soul, like the opening of a
flower. They love. they mate and
they bear children, and it is all as
unexciting as moving from one house
to another
phase of this elemental instinct is a
violent experience. Their whole af-
fectional life is q series of volcanoes
and earthquakes. Their progress from
one phase to another is inVariaoiy
turbulent revolution. never smooth
evolution.
That was Markham When he fell
in love with that woman all of us
knew 1t. We could see that some
thing had happened to him, something
terrible and shattering. 1t was as II
he had encountered some new ele-
ment which had chemically changed
his soul absolutely.
"And Diane was not a bad woman,
nor even an unworthy one. She was
good enough in her way. The trouble
is, she was simply a large, beautifui
COW, placid paste. She never under
stood Markham and the poor telioW
| wrecked himself against her immov-
ability as one would smasn glass
bulb against stone.
And it was the same with every
other passion that Markham had. He
could not drink easily like gentie-
man. He drank, as he loved, IKE
madman.
and IL was the same way with his
spiritual nature. He was deeply re-
| ljgious. But he had no ballast or
common sense or normalcy suitapie
to carry his tremendous spread OF
| sail He wore himself out SHINING
and repenting For him such thing
as poise and growth was Impossible.
The three great stimuli OF men
intended to save them from orutlsh-
ness and make them as gods, We're
the things that ruined him. broke ms
heart. wrecked his nervous system
and have left his body in there as
| broken shell. Love, alcohol and COG
were too much for him. Ihe Nessei
was too fragile"