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Items of Interest Gathered Here and There
Tlvo Compliments in One Day.
On June 12 Richard Watson Gilder was present
ed for the degree of Doctor of Letters by Prof.
Brander Mathews at Columbia University, and next
*to Governor Hughes, who was also honored with
a degree, the editor of The Century Magazine re
ceived the wannest welcome from the twelve hun
dred people present —a pleasant little ovation that
came after Prof. Brander Mathews’ graceful intro
duction. He said of Mr. Gilder:
“He is a poet of varied accomplishment, in whose
lyrics there are melody, beauty, and grace. He has
been for many years the editor of one of our fore
most magazines, which is ever earnest in fostering the
literature and the art of our country, and which he
has made the advocate of every lofty cause. Feeling
keenly the noble responsibilities of citizenship, he
has been a leader in social uplift; and to him we
owe the solid foundation of tenement-house reform.
In honoring the poet and the editor, you are honoring
also one of the most useful citizens of this metropo
lis of the Western World.”
On the same day there reached Mr. Gilder’s
office the following letter:
M MUSIC COMPANY,
New York City.
June 11, 1907.
Mr. Richard W. Gilder, New York City.
Dear Sir —I have been informed that you have
achieved some success in a literary line, and, as I
am in search of poems that can be set to music, I
take the liberty of addressing you. I wish you
would kindly co-operate with me at once, for, by so
doing, I feel confident that both of ns will be ma
terially benefited.
In the first place 1 would like Ig have the oppor
tunity of examining some of your work. If 1 find
that it comes up to my standard, I shall be more
than pleased to make you an offer upon it irnme
diately; but in case I cannot use it 1 shall return
it to you at once, if postage is enclosed for that
purpose. I do net require that vour work be type
written, or put in any special form, and I make
no charge whatsoever for examination or criticism.
As you are no doubt familiar, there is a great
deal of money in song-writing; yet many ixcelleu*
songs hare bem written that have never been p <b
lished simply because the author lacks confidence
in his own work. It is my business to discover
these true poems, no matter from whom they come,
and to turn the author's talent into money for both
the poet and myself. Do not feel that because you
have some simple, little ditty at home you need be
ashamed to present it to me —its very simplicity
may be its charm.
Therefore, I ask that you send in your manu
script without further delay, for right now is the
time of the year that the big -music publishers of
this city are looking for next season’s successes.
Respectfully yours,
Diet. M-l. E M .
Such is fame! —Life.
R *
Sermonic Strategy.
Ministers who are vague on the subject of sermon
architectonics have commended to them an “awful
example.” It has been extracted by several re
ligious journals from a late number of The Atlan
tic Monthly, and conveyed to their clientele. In
that magazine a supposed “occupant of the chair
of military science describes in the terminology
of bis own profession a sermon which he heard un
the preceding Sunday.” It runs this way:
“I went to church yesterday and witnessed a
series of operations that filled me with dismay.
The minister began by seizing a text as a base of
operations. I observed that the base was not se
cure, but this made no difference, as he was evi
dently prepared to change his base if the exigencies
of the engagement demanded it. His first mistake
was one of overcaution. Tn order to defend himself
from an attack from the higher critics, lie hal
strengthened his front by barbed-wire entangle
ments in the way cf exegesis. This was an error
The Golden Age for September 5, 1007.
of judgment, as the higher critics were not on the
field, at least in sufficient force to take the of
fensive. The entanglements, intended to keep a
hypothetical foe from getting at him, prevented
him from getting at once at the real enemy. He
thus lost the psychological moment for attack.
“While he was endeavoring to extricate himself
from his own defenses I trembled for the issue of
the affair. Having finally emerged into the open,
he was apparently prepared for vigorous operations.
I watched intently for lhe development cf his plan.
I was bewildered by the rapidity of his evolutions.
With a sudden access of courage he would make a
wild charge against ar. ancient line of breastworks
which had long been evacuated, Then he would
sweep across the whole field of thought, under
cover of his artillery, which was evidently not fur
nished with accurate range-finders. The next min
ute he would be engaged in a frontal attack on the
entrenched position of modern science. Just as
his forces approached the critical point, he halted
and retreated to his textual base. Reforming his
shattered forces, he would sally forth in a new
direction.
“At first I attributed to him a masterly strategy
in so long concealing his true objective. He was
I thought, only reconnoitering in force, before catt
ing up his reserves and delivering a decisive blow
at an unexpected point.
“At last the suspicion came that he had no ob
jective, and that he didn’t even know’ that he
should have one. Tie had never pondered the text
about the futility of fighting as ‘one that beateth
the air.’ As we came away a parishioner re
marked, ‘That was a fine effort this morning.’ ‘An
effort at-what?’ I inquired.”
The Cumberland Presbyterian (Nashville) comes
to the rescue cf those who, bewildered by the
satirical presentation of some of their own efforts,
may wonder what Uie essentials of a sermon me,
and gives ibis trenchant recipe:
“First, that it shall aim to convince the hearers
of something which God would have them be or
do, secondly, that it shall hit what k aims at.” —
Literary Digest.
R R
What a Woman Doctor Can Do.
Advice to women physicians was given recently
by Professor Osler when distribuciag prizes at the
London School of Medicine for Women. He point
ed out that four avenues of usefulness were open
to women who had studied medicine We quote
a report from The British Medical Journal. Says
this paper:
“The first, which he commended to those who had
a liking for science, was work in connection with
the scientific branches of medicine. There were
many women specially adapted for working at the
highest problems of scientific medicine, and a great
deal of the best work in bacteriology, in histology,
and in many departments of pathology was being
done at the present time by women. The second
line of work which women could very well follow
was in connection with institutions, especially asy
lums for the insane. Throughout the United States
there were at the present time many women phy
sicians doing excellent work in asylums. The third
sphere of activity for women was general prac
tice. Though it was a hard life, there were many
women who were very successful in general prac
tice, and able to meet worry’, care and trouble,
and the daily anxieties and annoyances incidental
to practice. Women were especially adapted for
dealing with the diseases of women and children,
but the difficulty in that connection was the mis
trust and distrust of women for women; an im
portant duty for the students he addressed was so
to conduct their lives that every woman would have
trust in them. When a paternal government insti
tuted a proper system of school inspection it was
the women who should carry out that work, and the
filling of such positions by women would be of
incalculable value to the community. The fourth
field of work for women was India. Probably
there was no place in the world where so much
good could be done by women as in India. Those
who decided to go there would perhaps live harder
lives, but probably they would lead happier lives
than those who remained in this country. He
urged those who had the desire, to go out to India
and help their unfortunate sisters there. Profes
sor Osler concluded by advising the students to
accept as their philosophy of life that they were
in the world, not to get what they could out of it,
but to do what they could for the happiness of
others.”
R R
Forest Destruction.
The failure of the passage of the bill providing
for the Appalachian forest reserve during the last
session of Congress is attributed chiefly to the in
fluence of Speaker Cannon who balked at the ap
propriation, desiring to see rhe Republican party
face the next presidential campaign with a full
treasury.
However that may be, it is doubtful if there was
sufficient interest in this important question among
the Congressmen of either the North or the South.
The evils of forest destruction are not sufficiently
appreciated. On this subject a late bulletin of the
National Forestry Association says:
“Other causes may operate, but destruction of re
sources is fatal. Before the forests of Lebanon
were destroyed Palestine supported in affluence
ten million people. The mountains have long been
denuded. Forbidden slopes, barren and ugly, rear
their weird forms sharply above dismal and deso
late valleys. Scarcely four hundred thousand peo
ple remain in all the region, and most of these are
m wretched, hopeless poverty.
“Syria, once maintaining a multitude of prosper
ous towns and cities—-Antioch having a popula
tion of half a million —is at present the scene of
irreparable ruin. The destruction of Syria’s for
ests, began 2650 B. C., followed by the disap
pearance of her soil and the decay of her industries,
would alone have produced this effect. Babylon,
cnee capital of the world, is a heap. Nineveh and
Carthage, once the seats of mighty civilizations,
and abundantly equipped by generous nature for
permanent life, are desolate wastes. Man de
stroyed the forests, and lands which once flowed
with milk and honey were transformed into deserts.
“The Appalachian Reserve question is not local
or state, but national. The problems involved are
interstate. The evils of denudation affect most se
riously distant communities and the nation itself.
The states containing the forests cannot be expect
ed to reserve them for the benefit of other states;
while states outside the forest area, but suffemig
from the - denudation, are powerless to help them
selves. The nation alone can act.”
It is thus seen that timber famines and fabulous
prices for building material are not the only evils
to follow the destruction of the forests. When
countries are denuded of their forests they even
tually become deserts. Fortunately the government
has already reserved nearly 150,(100,000 acres —all
in the West —to which will no doubt be added ere
long the proposed Appalachian reserve. The gov
ernment is also spending great sums in reclamation
work. Even some of the railroads, such as the
Pennsylvania and the Louisville and Nashville, are
planting trees, in wise preparation for the time
when they can obtain crossties only from their own
reserved forest lands. There is hope that the
country generally will be roused on this subject
before the present system of reckless waste and
destruction has done irreparable injury.
R R
We are ruined, not by what we really want but
by what we think we want; it is wise, therefore,
never to go abroad in search of our wants.
R R
Don’t object that your duties are insignificant;
they are to be reckoned of infinite significance, and
alone important to you. Were it but the perfect
regulation of your apartment, the sorting away of
your clothes and trinkets, the arrangement of your
papers “whatever thy hand findeth to do, do with
all thy might and all thy worth and constancy.”
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