Newspaper Page Text
The World of Labor.
j *
BY WILLIAM Q. QREDIQ.
CARMEN DEI.
I took the harp of fancy and touched
the silent strings.
Seeking to catcli the magic chord
Ot which the poet sings;
Softly tlie music floated and silence
grew to song,
And o’er my soul the rhythm rolled
The paens of the mighty throng.
I list to the soldier’s slogan, horn In
the din of war.
O'er billows blue from n frigate
crew.
Came the loud “Ye ho!” of the Tar;
I hoard the songs of the strens ring
out in mocking tone,
A cry of Dust from the realms nf Lust,
To the sphere of the great Unknown.
I heard the shout of victors sweep
from the sanded plain,
And the choking cries that feebly
rise
From those who strove In vain;
The plaintive plea of paupers, the
glad huzza of the feast,
From the cloisters dim the 'Vesper
hymn
And the iitanie* of the priest,
i
4
fThe softened voice of passion I heard
from lover's lips.
And walls of woe from hearts bowed
low,
Whose loVe is In eclipse;
The sombre stairn of tollers, in ca
dence deep and strong.
From the sweltering heats of the city
streets,
Swelled in my mystic song,
IStill there wiis something lacking, I
sought the truant strain
Where nature floats the beautiful
notes
}Mid t'w aisles of her leafy Fane;
A My faltering fingers trembled as I
■ heard the magic chord,
[And nerveless, numb, hung o’er strings
all dumb.
To the niJghty song of the Lord.
--Jack McClafferty.
"Wiun that which is evil, cleave to
that which is good.”
A rrnn that tailed one thins and prac
tice.® another is a living illustration f t
Inconsistency. When a man or a thins
pretends to be your friend lot them
prove it in a substantial way. Tall; is
dt'iAtp arv/}(6 is reading matter. Head
j the union label.
*v '
/Staves are made which hear the un
ion label . That is a guarantee that the
rr.tcve i?,a good, one.
Col. Ingersoll.' speaking of Man vs.
Machinery, made the following state
ments. which are well worth thought
ful consideration:
“Invention lias filled the world with
ecTjPstltore, not only of laborers, hut
of Mechanics —mechanics of tin* high
est '.kill. Today the ordinary laborer
Is. for the most part, a peg in th>
wheel. We works with the tireless-lie
feeds the insatiable. When the mon
ster stops, the man is out of employ
ment—out of VuVad. He has not saved
anything. The machine invention was
not for his benefit.
“The (•.her day I heard a man say
that it was impossible for good me
chanics to get employment, and that,ln
his judgment, the government ought to
furnish work for ihe people. A few
minutes later 1 heard another say that
he was selling a patent for cutting out
clothes, that one of the machines could
flo the work of twenty tailors, and that
only the week before he had sold two
to a great house in New York, and
that over forty cutters had been dis
charged.
“On every side men are being dis
charged ana machines arc being in
vented to take tlieir places. Wh o r.
great factory shuts down the workers
who inhabited it and gave it life ns
thoughts to the brain, go away; it
Stands there like an empty skull. A
few workmen, by the force of hnbit,
gather a'-out the closed doors ana bro
ken windows and talk about distress,
th° price of food and the coming wln
ster. They are convinced that they
haven’t their share of what they ( re
nted. 'they feel certain that the ma
chines jnn the inside were not their
friends. They look at the mansion cf
the employer—but have nothing them
selves. The employer seems to have
enough. Even when employers fall,
when they become bankrupt, they arc
far h' tter off than their laborers ever
Were. Their worst Is the toiler's best.
"Th'> capitalist comes forward with
his speckle. He tells the workingm n
that they trust be economical, and yet.
under the present system, economy
w-ule lessen wages.
‘ Tinder the great le w of supply an !
denvam l , , very saving, frugal, s >lf-de*
('!*'•)x wrrkma-1 Is unconsciously doing
hst little re can to reduce the com
vnr tN <f himself and his fellows.
’h~ » s’ovea who did not wish to rim
i •• helped to fasten cha ns on those
vie i' d. 1.0, the saving mechanic Is
e*rl ! flcntethatwages are high enough.
I) s the great law demand that every
waiker should live on the least possible
amount cf bread? Is H his Tate to
tyerk one day that he may get enough
so d to be able to work another? Is
tfe&t to bo Ms only hope-*-that and
death?
“Capital has always claimed and still
claims the right to combine. Manu
facturers meet and, determine prices,
even in spite of supply and demand.
Have the laborers the same right to
consult and combine? The rich meet
in the hank, clubhouse or parlor.
Workingmen, when they combine,
gather In the street. All the organized
forces Of soelcff; are against them.
Capital has the army and navy, the
hglslalure, the judicial and executive
departments. When the rich combine
it is fOr the purpose of "exchanging
ideas.’ If the poor combine, It is
“conspiracy. ’’ If they act In concert,
if they really do something, it is a
'mob.' If they defend themselves it is
treason. How is it that the rieh con
trol the departments of the govern
ment? In this country the political
power Is equally divided among men.
There are certainly more poor than
rich. Why should the rich control?
Wiiy should not the poor combine for
the purpose of controlling the execu
tive, the legislative, and judteia 1 de
partments? Will they ever find out
how powerful they are? A cry comes
from the oppressed, the hungry, from
the downtrodden, from the unfortu
nate, from the despised, from *ion who
despair and from; women who weep.
There are times when mendicants be
came revolutionists—when a rag be
comes a banner, under which the nob
lest and bravest battle for the right.
"How are we to settle the unequal
difference between man and machine?
Will the machine finally go Into part
nership with the laborer? Can these
forces of nature he controlled for the
benefit of her children? Will extrava
gance keep face with ingenuity? Will
the workman become intelligent and
strong enough to become the owners
of the machines? Will these giants,
these titans, shorten or lengthen the
hours of labor? Will they give leisure
to tlie industrious, or will they make
the rieh richer or the poor poorer? Is
man Involved in the 'general scheme’
of things? Is there no pity, no mercy?
Can man become Intelligent enough to
he generous, to be just, or does the
same law or fact control him as con
trols the animal or vegetable World?
The great oak steal.’, the sunlight from
the siraller trees. The strong animal
devours the weak—everything at th>
mercy of the beak, and claw, and hoof,
and tooth—of hand, and club, and
brain, and greed—inequality, injustice
ev» rywhere. The poor-horse standing
the street with his dray, overworked,
overwhipped and underfed, when he
sees horses groomed to mirror, glisten
ing with gold and silver, scorning with
proud feet the very earth, probably in
dulges kt the usual social reflection--:
and this same horse, worn out and old,
deserted by his master, turned into the
dusty read, leans his head on the top
most rail, looks at donkeys in the field
of clover and feels like a nih'bst.
“In the day of cannibalism t lie
strong devoured the weak—actually ate
their flesh. In spit ■ es all laws that
man has made, in spite of all advance?
in science, the strong, the heartless,
still live on the weak, the unfortunate,
the foolish. True, they do not drink
their blood i r eat their flesh, but they
live on their s lf-dcnial, their weari
ness, and want. Th. poor man who
deforms himself by toil, who labors for
his wife and children through all hie
anxious, barren, wasted life—who goes
to the grave without ever having a
luxury—has been the food for others.
He has been devoured by his fellow
men, The poor woman, living In the
bare and lonely room, cheerless and
fleless. night nnj day, to keep star
vation from their child, is slowly being
eaten by her fellow-men. When I take
into consideration the agony of civil
ized life—the failures, the anxieties,
the tears, the withered hopes, the lat
ter tealities, the hunger, the crime, the
humiliation and the shame—l am al
most forced to say that cannibalism,
after nil. is (he most merciful form in
which man has lived on his fellow-
■‘lt is impossible for a man with a
good heart to be satisfied with this
world i s it is now. No man can truly
enjoy what he really earns—what he
knows to bo his own—knowing that
millions of his fellow-men are in mis
ery and want. When we think of the
famished, wo think it almost heartless
to eat. To meet the ragged and shiv
ering makes one almost feel ashamed
to lie well dressed and warm—one feels
as if his heart were as rold as their
bodies. .
"In a world filled with millions and
millions of land waiting to be tilled,
when one man can raise the food for
hundreds, yet millions are on the edge
of famine. Who can comprehend the
stupidity at the bottom of this truth?
‘‘ls there to lie no change?
"Are the laws of ‘supply apd de
mand.’ invention and science, monop
oly and competition, capital and leg
islation always to be enemies of thost
ivlio toll? Will the workers always be
ignorant and stupid enough to give
their earnings to the useless? Will
they sui port millions of soldiers to kill
the sons of other workingmen? Will
they always, build temples and live in
huts and dens themselves? Will they
forever allow parasites and vampires
to live on their blood? Will they re
main the slaves of the beggars they
support? Will honest men stop taking
off their hats to successful frauds? Will
Industry.. In the presence of crowded
Idleness forever fall upon Its knejs—
and will the lips sustained by lies for
ever k'fis the robbers’ and Imposters’
hands? Will they understand that beg
gars cannot be generous, and that ev
ery healthy man who has had privi
leges with all others has no ritfht to
complain, or will they follow the ex
ample set by their oppressors? Will
they learn that force, to succeed, must
have thought behind It, and that ev
erything done, in order that they may
succeed, must justice?’*
Don’t forget the Clerks’ Association.
Appreciate the pood that others do
unto you. Show appreciation for the
self-sacrificing work of those who do
you a favor or a kindness. "If you
love me tell me so."
There Is a wonderful Interest In the
trade union movement these days.
In Chicago an effort is being made
to organize everything from the cradle
to the grave. In order that all things
might come to pass with respect to the
eternal fitness of things, they first be
gan with that necessary article rocked
by the hand that rules the world—the
cradle—and the union label is now put
on every cradle manufactured. Now
the Wood Worlters have started out to
have the union label placed on the cof
fin that is to be the abiing place of
our material bodies when we sleep for
ever. And, In keeping with this same
eternal fitness of things, the trade un
ions will organize a grave diggers’ un
ion. The Chicago Times-Herald, in
speaking of the movement says:
"Unless a body goes to its last rest
ing place in a union-made coffin, it
will lie refused burial in the cemeteries
In Chicago and vicinity if the plans of
the labor unions to organize a grave
diggers’ union are carried out. Already
they have compelled the placing of the
Union label on every cradle manufac
tured and it is the avowed object of
the unions to unionize everything from
the cradle to the grave, inclusive.
"A committee has been appointed by
the Woodworkers to unionize the cof
fin factories. They will ask that each
coffin bear the union label, Which is a
metal plate, with the words, ‘Union
Made, Amalgamated Woodworkers’ In
ternational Union of America.’ A large
humber of members of the Woodwork’
ers’ Union have been employed in the
inaknig of coffins, hut heretofore there
has been no movement to compel the
manufacturers to unionize their facto
ries and so none of the caskets have
borne the union label.
“To secure the use of union coffins
the Woodworkers, as Soon as they
have unionized the factories will at
tempt to organize the grave diggers in
to a union and have them decline to
inter a body unless it is incased in a
union-made casket. Tt is estimated
that there are about 150 grave dlggei-3
employed In the cemeteries of Chicago
and by organizing them the lalxir un
ions feel that they could control the
situation.
“ ‘We already have the union label
on all cradles made,’ said Secretary
John Lee, of the Woodworkers, ‘and
why should we not have union made
coffins and union grave-diggers? It is
to the interest of the labor men to have
every article used from, the cradle to
the grave union made. Other trades
have brought about the use of union
underwear, the drinking of union beer,
the smoking of union cigars, the con
sumption of union bread, and why
should we not organize our product?’”
No man is free who is restrained from
..voting accordingly! his own judgment.
White walking down Broad strei t
the other day I was attracted by see
ing displayed in the show window of a
certain pharmacy a large amount of
soap advertised and known to trade
union people to lie union-made. Who
keeps it and what was the brand?
Welt, if you are “on’’ you will have no
trouble in finding it. Possibly the
dealer may advertise it when he flmls
that he has discovered a gold mine.
Is the label on the newspaper yon
read? It should be if you are a union
reader. ,
T T nder the joint auspices of Typo
graphical T T nlon, No. 6. and the Social
Reform Club of New York, a circular
letter has been sent to religious, re
form and charitable societies advocat
ing the use of the Union Label as a
sign of fair dealing, which consumers,
as well as employers and wage-earneis,
should help to promote.
The circular was written by Ernest
Howard Crosby. He says in part:
“The principal organizations for the
benefit of the wage-earner ore the
Trades Unions, and they have devised
a kind of trade mark—the Union La
bel—which is an assurance to the cus
tomer that all the employes who had a
part in producing the work upon which
■this label appears enjoyed fair wages,
fair hours and proper sanitary condi
tions. We know of no other ».vay of
obtaining a like assurance, as it is
manifestly impossible for each custom
er to examine into the labor conditions
back of the goods he buys.
“We believe the time has come to
give hearty support to the efforts of
wage earners to help themselves, and
one of the best means of doing this is
to require the Union Label on our pur
chases.
“If it Is thought that this .is unfair
to the workmen who have remained
out of the unions, it must be remem
bered that they have usually staid out
for selfish reasons, unwilling to bs?ar
a share of the expense necessary to
Improve their own condition. They
have received great benefits from the
Trade Union agitation in their present
wages and hours, and it is no more
than right to ask them to join the or
ganization which has been their bene
factor
TEE -A.X7O-TTSfJf-A. HEEALD
"There are very few non-union men
Who would not at once Jpin the union
If their employer signified his desife
that they should do so, and if employ
ers see work going e sewhere because
of their inability to t upply the Union
Label, they will not >e slow to make
the recommendation. We believe that
such Joint action on ■he part of em
ployers, employees an i customers will
go far toward harmo llzing the inter
ests of all concerned, *• t
Patronize the Union Barber*
Yes, the Barbers are affiliated with
the Augusta Federation of Trades.
When the barber shops start to closipg
at 7 o’clock they will attend the meet
ings.
_____ *
Speak out In meetings
The Barbers meeting on last Tuesday
night was all right. There is mu:h
greater interest in the* organization at
this time than ever before. • President
Melntzer called the meting to order at
9 p. m.. Secretary J. Edward Kelly re
cording the proceedings and Financial
Secretary A. Jud Tolanß appropriating
the "dough." ht’ank Camor
iero took it from him jrf tpe end of the
session. J. *
Mr. George Rentz, tot Hickey’s Pal
ace, made an exposition of the ‘‘limit’'
question. It was dec.Wfed to hold it
over. Mr. Fred C. Clayton, of Dos
Passos Tonsorial Parlors, expressed
some practical views on the subject,
Secretary Kelly thought that the
union should cut the business short as
he had a "date.’’
Treasurer Frank Cfameriero, of
Bauer’s, staled that A. Bauer wanted
o union barber, and wanted him badly.
Altogether the meeting was right up
to-now and slid about a yard into the
tomorrow.
The early closing movement Is on a
boom.
The next regular meeting will occur
on Monday night, April 2, at Harris &
Murray's shops, on Campbell street.
The label is on the cradle.
Take a lesson from the crow. Fly in
a straight line, then you will not have
to Impersonate an eel In trying to ex
tricate yourself from the tangled web
you weave, my erring brother.
Good housewife, sweep your rooms
with a union made broom.
Rocked in a union cradle, fed on un
ion food, bathed with union
made soap, wrapped In union-made
fabrics, shod with union-made shoes,
nursed by a union nurse; studying out
of books hearing the unldn lal>el,
munching union-made confections on
the sly during study houis; smoking
union-made cigars, chewing union
made tobacco, making love at a Labor
Day celebration, going to war in a un
ion-made uniform, fighting under the
stars and stripes of the greatest Un
ion on earth; earning a living for hi
loved ones in a union shop; passing the
period of the sear and yellow leaf,
reading a union paper surrounded l>y
a group of happy children, the result
of the holy union es twin souls; carried
to his last resting place" by the tender,
sympathetic hands es fellow unionists,
buried in a union coffin in a grave dug
by union grave diggers, is the possible
future of the American workman, ex
emplifying the Seven Ages of Man
from a Trade Union standpoint.
Mr. Andrew Mulcay appeared before
the Industrial Commission in Atlanta
last week.
During the year 1899 there were (100-,
000.000 cigarettes less smoked than in
189 S. From this it would seem that the
cigarette smoking is on the decline.
Hiving the boys the benefit of the
doubt, we may presume that they are
smoking more Union-labod tobacco
and cigars.—The Tobacco Worker.
There Is no trade mark like the un
ion label.
The union label is doing more to put
the labor movement on a practical ba
sis than all other influences combined.
It is a fair business proposition that
organized labor makes to its friends
when the members say they will sup
port those who use the label on their
products. It give 3 the fair employer
the benefit of a eustuqpVthat is interest
ed in his success for the reason that in
his success the organized workers are
benefited. The label ds evidence that
what bears it was produced by well
paid workers who were treated fairly
and performed their labor in a place
fret? from unhealthy o t unsanitary con
ditions. The workingman or woman
who does not demand the union label
is not doing what common honesty re
quires. Too much stress cannot be put
upon the advantages coming from the
general use of the union label.—New
York Times.
From the Cradle to the flravet
“We are going to organize every
thing from the cradle to the grave,’’
says Secretary John Le, of the Chicago
Woodworkers’ Union.
Be a true man, just to thy neighbor
and always speak the truth, though it
hurts you. X
The Augusta Lodge, No. 3, of the In
ternational Association of Machinists
held its regular monthly meeting on
last Thursday night, the attendance
being good. Routine business was at
tended to. The iccent death of Mr.
Gus O’Connel caused a vanacy nn th •
presidency, and an ejection war held
for a successor to fill the office. Mr.
Dennis P. O’Connell was elected pres
ident. This left a vacancy in the secre
taryshinp, as Mr. O’Connell was secre
tary. Mr. W. W. Fell was elected
secretary ana Mr. T. E. Parr vice
president. Among other things, the
lodge endorsed President Dennis P.
O’Connell for the Legislature, amid the
applause of the lodge. President
O’Connell thanked the lodge in a neat
speech and promised to be faithful it
elected to the cause of organized labor.
Don’t talk union business in all sorts
of places.
Attend the services of your church
this morning in the proper spirit and
spend the rest of the day in restful
meditation in the open air.
Union-made soap is sold in Augusta.
Inquire for it.
The Tobacco Worker, the official or
gan of the Tobacco Workers Interna
tional Union, comes out this month in
new and improved form. From an 8-
page, 4-column sheet it has grown into
an attractive Journal in magaizinC
form’ of 24 pages, with a neat and at
tractive cover. The To!>aceo Worker
Is edited by E. Lewis Evans, and is
published In Louisville, Ky. The jour-
The Lyrics of Thos.
Bailey Aldrich.
Delightful Notes From a Paper Read
Before the Hayne Circle Tuesday
Evening by Mr. William Hamilton
Hayne.
The following delightful notes hur
riedly sketched by Mr. W. H. Hayne
for a paper read before the Hayne Cir
cle at Tuesday evening’s meeting are
through the courtesy of the author t
given to The Herald readers:,
THE LYRICS OF THOMAS BAIDE'S
ALDRICH.
Whenever we think of the physical
perfection of an ancient or modern ath
lete we can best define him in one
homely praise: "Every inch a man."
In like manner, a lover of Aldrich’s
lyrics can best describe his most con
spicuous poetic trait: “Every inch an
artist. This critical definition, how
ever, is not sufficiently inclusive to be
accepted as a full and fair estimate or
Aldrich’s lyrical characteristics and
achievements.
He is an artist per se; but inspiration
of thought, and melody In movement,
are the handmaidens of his muse. Art
presides over almost every, poem ha
has penned, and "tempers the wind”
of music to what would otherwise be
(too often the case with careless poets)
some "shorn lamb” of thought or In
harmonious rythm.
Aldrich seldom fails In his judgment
of his own work, and his remarkable
self-restraint is one of the chief sources
of his power. He rarely, if ever, sac
rifices quality to quantity, and proves
by omission and revision—in every
new edition of his works—the sincerity
and the soundness of his critical con
science. He once wrote me with re
gard to four lines I sent to “The At
lantic,” when he was editor: "A
quartrain should be flawless in thought
and expression.” He has always in
sisted upon this requirement, and tried
to All it, in the longest, ns well as the
briefest of his own productions.
In one of his exquisite early sonnets
—“Enamored architect of airy rhyme"
he gave this advice:
“O, wondersmith: O, worker in sublime.
And Heaven-sent dreams, let art be all
in all.’*
At that time, there was some danger
that he would allow the raretled at
mosphere of art to rob his muse of that
breath and bloom without which poet
ry becomes colder than statuary. Hap
pliy, this danger grew less and less,
as he walked upward in
"The light that never was on sea or
land.
The consecration and the poet’s dream,
and realized, with Longfellow,
"We listen and needs must obey,
When the angel says: ‘Write!’ ”
If Aldrich had lived in the Eliza
bethan age he would have held a high
place in that Joyful band of singers,
composed of Herrick, Lovelace, Suck
ling, Waller, Carew, Drummond of
Hawthorndenr, and all of the men
whose music filled
"The spacious times of great Elizabeth
with sounds that echo still!’*
Aldrich has written al arger number
of good lyrics (sonnets ore. of course,
only dignified members of the lyric
family) than most of the poets I have
named, and has done some admirable
narrative and dramatic work. I can
not stop to analyze the excellencies of
“Judith and HolofenesO" "Pauline Pav
lovna,” “Wyndham Towers.” or "Mer
cedes.” but I will say a few” words
about them.
"Judith and Holofernes” is a Hebrew
legend, told, for the most part. In
painstaking blank verse: "Pauline Pav
lovna” is a clever Russian story (in
dialogue) very gracefully handled:
"Wyndham Towers” is a weird English
tale, the blank verse of which is, in
the main, well sustained: "Mercedes"
is a Spanish dramatic sketch, princi
pally related in poetic prose. All of
these productions contain a few lyri
cal bits, in which Aldrich is undoubt
edly bird-like. The ? glimpse I have
tried to give of his longest poems, ts,
no doubt, unjust to them, but scarcely
to be regretted in a paper like this.
While Aldrich has proved his
ability to soar to a greater distance
than the limit included in “a swallow
flight of song,” nevertheless, it seems
to me. his fame rests more securely up
on his lyrics. What a charming plea
he makes for the supremacy of the
lyric muse in these lines:
"I would be the Lyric
Ever on the lib,
(. Rather than the Epic. *“v
nai and Evans will cleavfi a broad way
for truth and justice through the me
dium of the union label.
Have you registered?
The Augusta Federation elected its
delegates to the convention of the
Federation of Labor, to convene in
Augusta in April.
Express yourself.
A membero f the Retail Clerks* As
sociation told me yesterday that he
was a charter member of the Associa
tion, had ever since been in good stand
ing, but that he had the first person to
yet ask for his union card. He admit
ted that other clerks had been asked
for their cards further up the street,
but no one has dver requested to see
ills card. Guess who he is and ask him
for It. He prizes tt highly and is anx
ious to display it.
“Meet me at the Early Closing Bar
ber Shops.”
There*are many things that the true
trade unionist can do. Figure them
out and do what you know to be right
and proper.
Think first; then speak your mind.
Memory let’s slip.
I would be the diamond
At my lady’s ear,
Rather than the June rose,
Worn but once a year.”
And in the following quartrain on
Herrick (I read it some years ago in
a literary weekly) Aldrich again pays
tribute to the "goddes with the silver
flute:
"It often chances that the staunchest
boat
Goes down in seas whereon a leas
might float;
Wliat mighty Epics have been wreck
ed by Time,
Since Herrick launched his cockle
shells of rhyme.”
Where can we find, in our English
tongue, a daintier, or more delightful,
collection of lyrics than “Aldrich’s In
terludes? Many of these poems sing
themselves, and haunt the heart and
brain with the enchantment of their
melody, and the charity and strength
of their thought. What he says of, Her
rick’s "Hesperides” is singularly ap
plicable to "Interludes:”
“Antique goblets, strangely wrought,
Filled with the wine of happy though*-
Bridal measures vain regrets,
Laburnum buds and violets;
Hopeful as the break of day,
Clear as crystal, new as May?
Musical as brooks that run
O’er yellow shallows in the sun;
Soft as the satin fringe that shhifleS
The eyelide of thy Devon maids;
Brief as thy lyrics, Herrick, are,
And polished as the bosom of a star."
With rare precision and delicacy Al
drich describes the frost-work on the
window-pane, the noiseless falling ot
the snow-flake, the winter song of the
robin, the pains and pleasures of love,
the glow and grace of the spring-time,
and the coming of the summer rain:
"We knew It would rain for the pop
lars showed
The white of their leaves, the amber
grain.
Shrunk in the wind and the lightning
now,
Is tangled in tremulous skeins of
rain!”
A "Nocturne’’ has the color and fra
grance of a flower, reared in some "cli
mate near the sun:”
Up to her chamber window
A slight wire-trellis goes,
And up this Romeo’s ladder.
Clambers a bold white rose.
I lounge in the %x shadows,
I see t£e lady lean,
Unclasping her silken girdle
The curtain's folds between.
She smiles on her white rose lover,
She reaches out her hand
And helps him in at the window-*
I see it where I stand.
To her scarlet lip she holds him,
And kisses him many a time—
,, , ~ —iVaNns
Ah, me! it was he that won her,
Becase he dared to climb.’’
In “Friar Jerome’s Beautiful Book,*.
Aldrich has given light and life to a
monkish legend of A. D. 1200, and to
A Ballad,’’ A. D,, 1700, (telling the
story of the Lady of Bretagne, who had
many lovers, but remained true to the
sailor who returned at last to And hei.
dead) he has imparted the plaintive
sweetness, whose murmur comes to us
from the heart of a sea-shell;
"And she ever loved the sea, with its
haunting mystery,
Its whispering weird voices, its nev
er-ceasing roar;
And ’twas well that, when she died,
they made her a grave beside
The blue pulses of the tide, by the
towers of Castelnore.
And they called her cold: God knows—
Underneath the winter snows
The invisible hearts of (lowers grow
ripe for blossoming;
And the lives that look so cold, if their
stories could be told.
Would seem cast in gentler mold:
would seem full of love and.
spring.
I am a little surprised that Aldrich®® j
votes so many pages to “The LegenaMkJ
Ara-Coelli,” which is rather a woodeit; I
myth, hardly redeemed from du!hie*f|
by the poet’s wonted lightness of toifjHK
Quite different is the pathos of “BsHHk
Beil,” who “went out of this worldflHl
ours, covered with "white buds, tIHE
summer’s drifted snow;” or “The fa’isS""
ter’s Tragedy,” which tells the hapless
love of two sisters for the same manA
and "Spring in New England,” one ofs
the very best of Aldrich's longer ■
poems. Therein he speaks of I
. . . "The bluebird's venturous strain, 1
High on the old fringed elm at the gate, |
Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying
bough,
Alert, elate, * ■ \
New England’s poet laureate 1
Telling us spring has come again.” J
"Carpe Diem,” Is a characteristic spa.,
cimen of Aldrich’s arch vein: I
"By studying my lady’s eyes
I’ve grown so learned day by 3ay, t
So Machiavellan in this wise,
That when I send her flowers, I'ißj
To each small flower (no matter xviH
Geranium, pink or tuberose, 1
Syringa, or forget-me-not, Jm
Or violet) before it goes: }
Be not triumphant, little flower, *
When on her haughty heart you IwKi
But modestly enjoy your hour; ®
She’ll weary of you by and by.** 1
Aldrich is acknowledged to be oneJß
the finest of our quatrain writers.
polishes most of his four-line pieces
til they gain the glimmer, without
flatness, of beaten gold. Here are
good specimens of his skill in eondensii®
tion, and his faultless technique: ■
MASKS. ■
Black tragedy lets slip her grim
guise, V
And shows you laughing lips and ro-jB
guish eyes; \
But when unmasked, gay Comedy ap
pears,
How wan her cheeks are, and wlB
heavy tears. S
M YRTILLA. I
This is the difference, neither more nw?
Between Medusa’s and Myrtllla^P
The former slays us with its awfulness®
The latter with its grace. ■
ROMEO AND JULIET. ’ ">F
From mask to mask, amid the mas#
querade,
Young Passion went with challenge®?
soft breath:
Art Love? he whispered; Art thqjkt
Love, sweet maid? /
Then Love, with glittering eyelids,®!
am Death. >
In his poem called "Elmwood, jfri
Memory of James Russell Lowell,” Si
the lines on “Westminster Abbey;’*
"The Last Caesar,” which covers thaft
period of French history, extending
from 1851 to 18T0, In the contrasted
power and pure reflectiveness of “Two
Moods,” in the blended strength an!
sadness of "The Shipman’s Tale,” li
the remarkable group of “XXVIJf
Sonnets,” ranging in variety of them#
from the picturesque descriptivenetis cl
"Fredericksburg” to the noble meditak
tlons on "Sleep” and death; in
all of his mature work, -Aldrich has
fully carried out the promise
youth, when he wandered on the bank®
of the Piscataqua river, in his nativj
Portsmouth, or penetrated into soml
"leafy dale," B
“Drawn by the flutings of the silvers
wind.” V
Since the passing of Longfellow, anl
Lowell, and Holmes, and the "Curfew®
call” to Whittier, Aldrich— with thJ
possible exception of Richard Henrf
Stoddard—is the greatest singer of out*
Western world. He has gone a litthl
beyond his prime, hut I hope the day is
yet distant when the last couplet of one
of his most tuneful lyrics fulfils its
prophecy; —'
"In youth, beside the lonely sea,
Voices and visions came to me.
*
Titania and her furtive broods \
Were my familiars in the woods. '
From every flower that broke In flamed
Some half-articulate whisper came.
In every wind I felt the stir,
Of some celestial messenger, i
Later, amid the city’s din,
And toil and wealth and want and sin.
They followed me from street to street’!
The dreams that made my boyhood
sweet.
As in the silence-haunted glen.
So ’mid the crowded ways of men,
Strange lights my errant fancy led, ;
Strange watchers watched beside m«
bed.
lil fortunes had no shafts for me
In this aerial company.
~ i
Now, one by one the visions fly.
And one by one the voices die.
More distantly the accents ring.
More frequent the receding wing.
Full dark shall be the days in store.
When voice and vision come no moreZl
WILLIAM HAMILTON HAINE.
The bark of the ti tree and the outs
er bark of the Melaleuca leucodendron
is now used as packing for fruit, which
| is shipped from New South Wales. The
; bark is shredded to a sort of coarse
chaff, and is packed around the or
anges with the object of preserving
them while in transit. The effect is at
tributed to the 1 elaetleity of the pack
ing. and teh fact that it permits of
ventilation. There is said to be no
sweating unless the bark is cut too fine,
*
The care that the watches of rallß
way men receive is shown in the
lotions rioently adopted by
railway Cor its employees. Seventeen!
j-v.oiloil u:.t. hes are required,-land t.fl
must lie supplied with Breglfet |Kli
TJ-o watches must
o I i vory the. ■ months and nutfl||
. lilt:;::: I m flic inspector once a
for registration. No employe is KHHH
mittoil to set his watch or to cbflßJ
••no ia • unle.-s it should (I'ft *.
run down. —•