Evening star., 1938-07-10
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Yesterdays celebration Of 1ndepend-
ence Day" says The Star of July S, 1888,
Independence Day amons omso the 1ne g,e%5e neonIe
Celebrations. OF more sensible
views than have re-
Gently prevailed concerning the best
method of honoring the occasion. Old
fashioned appeals to patriotism. which
Is never out OF fashion, characterized the
more serious reminders of the events
celebrated and in recreation out of doors
sports were conspicuous feature of the
merry making and the desire to make a
racket was held in check proportionately.
Neither the suggestions of pleasure nor
the promptings of patriotic duty require
that the day should be spent in burning
powder and exploding fireworks
\ y X
"One Of those comical errors which
show how necessary 1t is for writer for
Y;4.r..,a the public to know
OH" something Of what he
Horticulture. is writing about" says
The Star Of July 6,
1888. appeared in the columns of a
Boston exchange the other day in an ex-
tended obituary of the Rev. James Free
man Clarke. Speaking of DR.. Clarke's
literary work, the article stated that he
was an enthusiastic botanist. and. in COL
laboration with sister. had published a
work on the propagation of exotics in
this country, which was regarded as a
standard by the leading horticulturists of
America. AS a matter of fact. DR.. Clarke
and his sister did publish. few years
ago. a little volume entitled 'Exotics,
containing a number of dainty poems
from foreign sources, most of them un-
familiar to American readers and trans
lated into English with view to preserv-
ing as far as possible the idiomatic
flavor as we'll as the metrical form of the
originals. The writer of the obituary no.
tice had doubtless seen the outside of the
cover Of the book and jumped at con-
clusions for all the rest"
Every wheelman in this city" says
, The Star of July T. 1885, land a good
Manslaughter man many ~. people ., who never
by Drivers. value an assurance Of
safety in crossing the
streets on foot, will breathe more freely
on learning of the conviction of Joseph
M. Chase of manslaughter yesterday.
This was the coachman whose reckless
driving kept a whole neighborhood in
terror for long time and resulted final
ly in killing Principal Paul. a citizen
whose life the community could i'll afford
to lose. A number Of reputable witnesses
who were ready to go upon the stand and
swear to the speed at which the accused
was driving at the time of the accident,
the mental condition he appeared to be
IN, the insufficient warning he gave his
victim and the manner of his behavior
when he discovered what he had done
leaves little doubt in the mind of any one
who has watched the progress Of the
trial that the jury brought in an entirely
reasonable verdict The prisoner may
thank his stars that the prosecution was
willing to take so lenient q view of his
acts, under the circumstances, as to make
no charge of intention to do Professor
Paul bodily harm: for some other men of
Chase's type have laid themselves open to
such an accusation by their mode of
treating wheelmen and pedestrians and
the authorities have been simply await
ing good opportunity to teach them a
lesson. 1t Is to be hoped that the warn
ing conveyed by Chase's case especially
II the sentence be proportioned to the
offense. will sufIlce to deter these trucu-
lent fellows from persisting in course
which may yet bring one or more of them
to the gallows and surely every reckless
driver who has been merely thoughtless
will take their lesson to heart"