The Richmond Virginian., May 30, 1910, CITY EDITION, Image 10

About The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920

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TO RIAL
History and Flowers
I Ok May 30th the people of Richmond in
memorial day exercises cover th<* graves of the
' Confederate de-ad v\itb flowers; at Keren Pines,
the Grand Army of The Republic does simi
lar tender service to the 1 nion dead who are
buried there.
Of ail the blood and passion, of all the heart
ache and disaster, there remain to-day in the
very theatre of the greatest of modem wars
only the instinct of loyal pride and that pure and
-tkdioate sentiment which yet avails, after fifty
years, to
“Reach a hand through Time to eateb
“The far-off interest of tears.
Of the stalwart legions of young tnen who
fixed upon an already historic laud the final
seal of immortality, there remains miraculously
in active life a number of those who, toiling
in war. toiled the harder to repair it« ravages,
and who yet survive to see the fruition
of their hopes and to appreciate the long-clouded
humanity of their Destiny. There remain
othe rs of «hat glorious youth, looking with dim
but steadv eves toward the one end whieh they
never thought t<> fear. There remain a few of
those dear, indomitable war-time widows, the
fragrance of a girl-hood sacrifice still sweetening
an imperishable charm. And, fewer than all,
then- remains here ami there some survival of
-the old slave,--“Uncle’' or “Mammy,”— still
true to old ideals, still resentful of new condi
tions, mute protest against the cataclysm that
broke over and about his once happy head, the
one type which existed of itself mid whose com
plete obliteration there is nothing to restrain.^
jl These are the living monuments, which will
live in nu mory when they, too, shall have come
to inhabit mounds decked with flowers. Na
ture has healed tin* wounds in human hearts, and
covered with green the scars of ancient battle
fields. The three hours that intervene between
:Richmond and Washington, in contrast with the
four \ears that once were needed for the journey,
•re svmliolieal of a new ja-aco and a new hope.
It is, Isitli North and South, roses instead of
cannon; and the responsive throb of a Nation
toward a tradition of valor purified of the taint
of hate!
A Lack of Red Blood
Now that the insurgent forces in Nicaragua
are admittedly beaten, the world will watch with
pmosed interest the process by which Secretary
of State Knox will undertake to descend with
the maximum <d’ possible grace the trie up which
g|w imdatpd ctiTntring.
—All the world, except Philander Chase Knox,
knows that there is a government of Nicaragua,
and even he can no longer escape the self-evident
truth. There are American citizens and Amer
ican property in the country, and the Washington
administration must, of necessity, have someone
with whom to deal. Yet by reason of the peculiar
brand of Pennsylvania diplomacy, it appears that
both sides in that unhappy country are insurging
against each other. The administration, accord
ing to Washington philosophy, is non-existent;
and this notwithstanding the self-evident truth
that without, a government there can he no re
bellion.
Indeed, were it not for the incident that the
little brown people to the South are sufficiently
in earnest to bombard each other with cannon,
and to amputate one another’s limbs with the
deadly machete, the condition in which Washing
ton has theoretically placed Nicaragua would be
practically identical with the condition of the
Republican party as disclosed in the Senate and
House. There is the same doubt from day to day
as to who is the party and who is not. The game
confusion as to who is loyal and who is in revolt
The same series of hysterical White House <h“
Uunciation on one day, and alarmed and sudden
silence on the next. The same cabinet officer of
none too limid motive, all thumbs in the effort
* to knit the cover of devious ambition. The same
squalid disclosures, the same patent hypocrisy, the
tome ridiculous pretension, and the same inorti
Ljfjrtng folly. In abort, in the Department of the
■'Premier'’, the same disgrace as in the Depart
ment of the Interior.
It was not without reason and entirely re
sponsive to a clear insight that Attorney Brandi-in
fixed upon a spineless indecision as the high
vice of Ballinger. Irresolution, in fact, seems to
bo the bane of the administration. One and all,
from the President down, they seem to blow hot,
and then to shiver at their own temerity. The ad
ministration is rotten with cowardice.
How many people to-day remember the high
crime by which Theodore Roosevelt despoiled
Colombia of the Canal Zone? At least it was
merciful in its suddenness. It involved rolv
bery, perhaps, but not murder. Compare that
"quick, decisive, brutal, but successful enterprise
\ .with tlto backing-and filling, the halting und
pulling, the roaring and puling which have char
, f torized this entire Nicaraguan travesty which
has left a country torn with war and a handful
of demi-savages hacking at. one another’s threats!
And all without result. In the beginning, per
;■ -baps, Knox contemplated some sort of return r*n
e_g8gement of the Panama coup. If so, the shadow
of indecision, the evil genius which paralyzed the
' brain of L’Aiglon, stayed his arm and turned his
•, ahifiing eye before ho had done more than to
•reate confusion and prolong a useless bloodshed.
Whatever happens to the future of the Cabinet,
•»d whoever is next called to the White House,
thing is certain: the American f**oplo are
titled to bo served, well or ill, bv men of red
<1!
y—y ~ The Man in the Ranks.
We doubt if the public appreciate the vah
of the- now National Guard. 't he days of the
militia arc no longer the days of parade. The
MKciency of the e-lUzon-S>Td ier lias ceased to lie
measured by the social graces of the individual.
I he basis of the military organization has shift
cd to n basis of work. The conditions under !
which it la Mrs arc those of war. There is a new 1
h* riousness and a new nnaming in the organi-1
zafion a“ a whole.
The new practice of instruction camj>* ami
marches for officers, serving in the capacity of
men in the ranks, is one that might to vastly im
prove the service. In the last analysis a coin- -
mand is no la tter than its commander. A com
mander must know his ground and understand
his men. He can do neither save and unless he
has been over the one and Men the other. The
great manufacturer is one who combines a knowl
edge of the scope of his business with an insight:
into and experience of its smallest details. The
treat general is lie who, planning a campaign,
does so in the light of the private, whose hide
on^ft covered himself.
West Pointers, of course, gain this equipment;
of discipline and special knowledge of the point
of view of the ranks during their student days.
Heretofore the militia officer has, in many cases,
taken command and attempted to learn to order)
with none or slight experience in knowing how
to obey. The officers’ schools by which it. is
sought to remedy these defects are of inestimable |
value to that arm of the sen-ice upon which the
government, in time of war, must chiefly lean.
Dr. Koch and the Conquest of Disease.
The death of Professor Robert Koch, the fam
ous German bacteriologist, recalls what in one;
way was a veritable scientific tragedy.
Koch was perhaps the foremost investigator j
of micro-organisms in the world. In the study)
of baccilli he probably led the profession. Ilisi
discoveries in large measure revolutionized the
treatment of many diseases and set the formula
for the hunt of the germ as the means for a search
for the cure. In these respects ho was a bene-!
factor to the world at large. lie was one of the
noted pioneers of the germ theory, that has revo-1
lufionized the practice of medicine and surgery, i
which he saved thousands of lives and which to- i
day acknowledges not more than three or fourj
diseases of which it is not the master.
i ot it was in connection with Ins greatest
achievement that Dr. Kocli made the error which
has dimmed his fame. Tn 1882 he announced
to the world his discovery of the tuberculous
bacillus. He had demonstrated what others had
but guessed at. So far his discovery is the basis
of practically all existing knowledge and all ex
isting hope concerning consumption. But eight
years later. Dr. Koch announced a cure for tho
disease. Having discovered the causation, he
declared himself to have found the specific.
Many had announced such a discovery before,
hut none of the standing of this, the logical man
to make it. The world stood at gaze, while Pro
fessor Koch prepared to work his miracle.
As 16 well known, the miracle did not happen.
The scrum failed to do what was promised for
it. Admiration turned to laughter, honor to
sneers. The man who had discovered the haecilltis
of Asiatic cholera, as well as of oomsumption,
was made the butt of the world's cruel disap
pointment. D» spite his eminent achievements,
he will be remembered chiefly for the one thing
in which he signally failed.
There is a deep pathos in this story of an able
and honest, man carried away with the over-con
fidence of success. Vet it remains the truth that
when some great doctor shall give the world the
specific for consumption ho will necessarily share
his honors with the man whose reputation wtis
broken in the search. Koch did not trail the
beast to its lair, hut it was he who set the world
to tracking its spoor!
Even good has corne and will come of this
monumental failure. It has emphasized tho
mystery of life and of disease. It has made
cautious—-even overly cautious—the greatest of
professions. It. lias impressed upon science the
obligation of certainty in its announcements.
Not for long, if ever, will a reputable physician
or scientist declare that to bo true which he does
net know to be true. In the piling up of ex
periments, in multiplied verification, is the very
hope of truth itself. Not again will the world,
unhappy in the scourges which afflict it, he sub
jected to a similar Tantalus-like experience,
i Even in his one failure. Dr. Koch was of sor
;vic< to mankind.
A Harrisonburg man lias just completed a min
iature reproduction of tho national capitol, in
constructing which lie used up 750 hours. Rpeak
ing of wasted energy!
“The Richmond Virginian submits
♦ he absurd query. ‘Why is a widow?’
There are no why nor wherefores about
the IIoust»n widow. The widow is
strictly the gift of a kind and consid
erate Lord to some worthy and saintly
servant.0—Houston Post.
Judging from the Post’s raptures, a man with
a red-headed wife is not yet safe in Texas
against an inclination to assist the Lord in the
widow industry.
It is to he hoped that if the railroad hill passes
at all, the Senate amendment putting express and
telephciu i cm panics under the eon fro1 of the in
terstate commerce commission will stick in con
ference. The exemption of these growing
agencies of interstate commerce from nho law
affecting other agencies of business between the
States has in the past had a “fishy” look.
Governor Hughes’ call for an extra session of
.the New York legislature evidences a desire on
.his part to give his undertakers all the trouble
possible liefore his burial in tlie Supreme Court
btnch in October. _ __
C. 1*. Connolly, h magazine writer, has auctl
Assistant Attorney Oeneml Lawler for $20,000
damages for slander. The average muck raker
certainly has a certain reputation, but we doubt
if a jury will assess its value at. the* amount
named.
It is an Arab enstorn t*> refrain from treach
ery against one who has eat- u one’s salt. Is tho
reason for the Carpenter appointment to Morocco
an educational one?
Ballinger's attorney has at least made the con
cession of raising the Secretary’s accusers from
the- reptilian to the animal kingdom. Even
Kerby is no longer a “snake "; according to At
torney Vert roes he is now become a “creature”.;
Virginia Comment
\ Sevision*. Storm.
Kcottmille Enterprise: The wind storm which
swept over this section last Tuesday evening was
the worst w« have had for years. Trees, fences, hay
houses and telephone poles were blown down and
the wheat badly damaged. Main and Valley streets
were filled with limbs and leaves blown down. 1*.
II. Agee’s hav houses was blown down, two large
trues on the High school bill and a large locust In
front of Mr W. D. Patteeon’s house were uprooted.
So far as we can learn no one was hurt and no
dwelling houses destroyed.—Charlottesville Progress.
Stung by the lire.
As the result of reading an account In tho Evening
Bee of the arrest of George V. Tucker, a negro and
auspicious character, and In his possession was found
a number of articles believed to have been stolen,
Tom and Claiborne Stevens, colored farmers of Keel
ings, this county, called at the police station this
morning and Identified a number of articles the police
secured from Tucker. The residence of the two
Stevens brothers was broken Into on May 17 and a
suit of clothes, a pair of trousers, a hat, pair of shoes,
two pairs of suspenders, a sll\ er watch, and a bank
containing about two dollars stolen.
Tucker was arrested last week In the woods near
Schoolfleld. when seen prowling about with a bag of
clothing. The colored farmers this morning Identified
nearly all of the goods stolen from their house.
Tucker was unable to give a clear account of how
he came In possession of the property and Is being
held for robbery. All of the garments taken from
the two Stevens have been recovered, and the police
arc on track of the silver watch, which Tucker is
thought to have sold. The accused will be given a
trial this afternoon before Justice of the Peace Fitts
at Schoolfleld.—Danville Bee.
HtaiinUm leader.
We regret to see our friends, the automobllists, get
ting In bad In so many places, and being criticised so
sharply. They have never struck us as being such
a hard lot, and we would pass one any day with
out taking him for a criminal, though we admit
we are very Innocent guys ourselves, and don’t know
a great deal about the ways of some folks when
out of sight of an officer. < >f course we don’t mean
a Staunton policeman, for they aro as Innocent as
we arc. and like us. never see anything If It Is an
Inch from their nose, or noses, such as blind tigers
for Instance or even tigers with two eyes.
Automobile friends, "wot hev’ you been doin’" to
our Churchville friends ? We know the Churchvllle
folks are as square as a die, or as straight as a shingle,
which ever you prefer, and they are not going to
holler unless they are hurt or very near tt. Ws Just
simply do not believe It was any Staunton man, for
we have never seen one of them speedtng at over
forty miles an hour, or at most, say fifty up Central
avenue or Gospel Hill, and we cannot believe they
vrould have exeoeeded this at Churchvllle. Why
should they? There are too many pretty gtrlB to
be seen at Churchvllle to be rushing through the
town as If going to the train or responding to the
boarding-house supper-bell. There ought to be no
trouble dodging an automobile going at this moderate
gait, and we hope Churchvllle will not press the
matter.
Tlwasn Horrible Signboards.
No. we don’t say where, but they are there all
the same
Some time ago the dwellers In one of tho suburban
settlements in the vicinity of the Palisades, at New
York, with an ax and a saw and In the darkness of
the night, rid their town of a number of unsightly
signboards. As the Philadelphia Public Ledger re
marks, they undertook to do the right thing In the
wrong way. but there are many who will sympa
thise with them.
It Is n big concession to the ‘spirit of com
mercialism," which Is blamed for so many things,
that we are willing to sacrifice the unsurpassed
beauty of the Virginia scenery to the most objec
tlonable form of advertising—the signboard.
Such a sacrifice Is to be expected In the country
near the centers of trade and commerce of the nation,
but even there they sre not necessary. How much
more unnecessary, therefore, are they here?—Lynch
burg Advance.
The Talk “Down Home”
Portents at Cwklebnr tad dtnwon.
’Squire Henry McWhorter brought to this office last
Saturday a cooklebur »Md and also a Jlmaon weed,
both of which had several fully daveloped bura on
them, even at this early season of the year. Such
a thing as fully developed cooklebur and Jlmson weed
bura at this season U quite rare Indeed, and some
of the ’Squire's friends here think It goes to Indicate
that there must be a fully developed candidate some
where down that way. It may be, that later de
velopments will serve to bear out this conclusion.—■
Waxham Enterprise.
fight Follows shouting and Prayer.
A well known cltUen of Cabarrua county was
here las; Friday and reported that In his neighbor
hood the oolored people stayed up aboat all night
on Wednesday night of last week, praying and shout
ing, thinking that the cornet** tall was going to
wipe the earth and all things thereon out of existence.
The next day two of the women who had taken
active part In thw service engaged In a fight and tried
to do to each other what they bad been In such
fear the comet would do for all.—Monroe Engineer.
Sunday Closing.
Occasionally the Record receives a call from tome
man, bringing with him perhaps two others, who pro
ceed to say that If Greensboro is going to stand by Its
Sunday closing ordinances they propose to stsor Clear
of the town hereafter This Is their privilege. Put
whon you hear these gentlemen talk you will be led
to suppose Greensboro is the only town In the coun
try that has these laws. Of course all well Informed
people know better Even In Richmond the Sun
day closing ordinances are far stricter than In
Greensboro. There you cannot buy a newspaper or
cigar at any hour of the day on Sunday; "here you
can buy up to 10 o’clock. Not always, but most of
these kind of men want something stronger than
soda water on Bunduy.—Greensboro Ksoord.
The Itncn to Ply.
The newspapers of the country have been pretty
igood to the Chronicle and the Observer. In the
matter of the fall down of Aeroplanist Hamilton,
and among those who have extracted some humor
out of It, Is The Richmond Virginia. "North Carolina
lisa not yet down or Been ’em tty.” says our con
temporary' op the Jc.emu. “For -this reason. It It
highly Important that Mecklenburg fly flrst, and since
Weavorvttle is ordering aeroplanes nnd tha ’Sap
phire country Is to amuse its guests with flights over
the mountains, aud New Hanover Is breeding a crop of
aviators likely at any moment to sail grandly out to
sea, time la of the essence. Charlotte will fly yet,
‘and thut quickly. The question Is, whether, by
reason of this untoward Incident, It will be quickly
enough.” Editor Gray, knowing this town, knows
how to else I* up. Yea, air, Charlotte is going to
pull off the tlrat flying stunt in this part of the
country, regardless of u baC start.—Char’otte
Chronicle.
Hrat’ing to Meet the Weevil, _
Judge Hennott. of tVadesboro. Is again raising his
voice In warning to the farmers against the coming
of the boll weevil. ’The hiding plnees,” he says.
"are tbs fortifications of these laIk. firing your
old fields Into the domain of the plow. Turn them
over, and year in and year out shear down the
Shubblc. ho that thin eighth plague of our DPOf
llUMMilTi1 wTtT" TTruf tin on guard with bow and
arrow pendent for the round. Head ev«ry bulletin
any government issues on the subject.” Xhla latter
point la the same the Chronicle has boon trying to
ImpreiM on its farmer readers. The farmers of the
State should inskc liberal drafts upon both the Federal
and State agricultural bureaus for literature, of which
there Is an abundance. A postal card to either Wash
ington or Raleigh (to congressman or State secre
tary will bring a Hit of the respective publications,
from which the farmer can select froe a valuable
library.—Charlotte Chronicle.
A Query.
The policemen of the city have Just donned their
new summer suits Is it true that the average police
man wears out the scat of his trousers before he
does hla shoes'/—Grcnsboro Record.
Punishing an A nan won.
When Ex-President Roosevelt was In Egypt he
caused quite a stir by roundly denouncing the assas
sination of Bou,tros Pasha .tlu Egyptian prime min
ister. which had occurred some little time prior to
his visit, and upbraided those who condoned the
crime on the ground that Its motive was political.
The former President was roundly criticized by the
Egyptian nationalists, and even some of the British
authorities were disposed to think his Interference
untimely. In Englamd there was a general disposi
tion to criticize the British authorities In Egypt Tor
not hastening the punishment of the assassin as a
warning to the nationalists’ agitators. The otllclaJs
on the ground, however, decided that the wisest pol
icy wag to treat the criminal Just like any other as
sassin, hence his trial was In no sense hurried, but
permitted to come up In due course.
Recently the young student who perpetrated the
murder of the prime minister and sought to Justify
hi* offense by claiming that he was actuated by a
desire to punish Boutros Pasha for betraying the
best interests of his country to the foreign oppres
sors, was tried and promptly convicted bits con
viction was as promptly followed by his sentence
death—and in due time he will be hanged like a
common felon. By thus following the customary
course and due process of law the British authori
ties have done all that was possible to prevent the
young student, Wardanl. rrom being honored os a
martyr.
Itesplte this proper and wise course cf the Egyp
tians authorities, however. It is pretty certain that
the Egyptian nationalists will seek to make the rate <
of Wardanl a means of Btlrrlng up nationalists' en
thusiasm. Such crimes as the young man com
mitted although nearly always futile .always llnd
Imitators, hence It would be wise for the i-'
officials In Egypt to keep a sharp lookout for seat
tton. Ever since the regeneration movements In
Turkey and Persia Egypt has been restive, the Mo
hammedan population believing that the Egyptians
are quite as capable of ruling their own country as
are their eo-rellgionists, the Turks and Persians. The
situation on the banks of the Nile Is similar in
many respects to the status of affairs In India, al
though on account of the smaller site of Egypt the
trouble Is not so menacing or so disturbing to British
Interests. With the force which Great Britain main
tains in Egypt, there Is not the smallest chance that
an uprising could be successful. The native Egyp
tian army Is kept for the most part In the Soudan,
and Egypt proper Is garrisoned largely by European
troops. It would not, therefore, be possible for t
upletng to assume anything like serious proportl'*
before the troops could be got Into position to enpp
with It.—New Orleans Picayune.
Thonthti«M 1 Vo text.
To many not familiar with true conditions, the
action of the English delegetoe to the World's Sun
day School Convention In protesting against the bar
ring of negroes from the Bible class parade last
Friday In Washington might seem strangely out of
place. In a measure It was. In that the Englishmen,
not understanding conditions In this country, set about
to tell their hosts lu a strange country how they
should deport themselves. "Where Ignorance is bliss
'tis folly to be wise," and the Britishers, with good
Intent, perhaps, "butted In” where "angels fear to
tread."
But their error Is excusable for the reason that
the negro In England occupies a very different posi
tion to what he does In America. Over there he
and other races of his color are looked upon as
British subjects. The British empire embraces many
| lands with many races, black, copper-colored and
'•Indifferent,” and as such they claim and receive
| the rights and recognition of subjects of the British
| crown. Then, too. there Is no past history, such as
| we have In this country, to place a barrted between
the white and black races. The question of slavery
never divided the United Kingdom a* It did the
State*, and hsnee the negro In England has never
been relegajled to world of cuspidors. The few
negroes that are found In England find no pleasure
or profit in violating every law of the statute bonks:
they conduct themselves as orderly cltixens, and ss
long as they behave as such the color of their skin
does not debar them from the full enjoyment of
that liberty t^iTch every other citixen heart* of.
To return to the English delegates In Washington,
their action, as we have stated, was Ill-advised, and
was taken without due oonaideratlon of conditions
existing in this country. “When you are in Romo"
It Is folly to attempt to tell the Romans what to do.—
Asheville Citixen.
"Jokers."
By this time the public Is fairly well conversant
with the Republican device of practically nullifying
the effect of legislation popularly de-nanded by the
addition of so-called "Jokern." For Instance, when
In a previous session of Congress the question arose
of legislation requiring the publicity of campaign ex
penditures, to which Speaker Cannon was notably hos
tile, he saw to It that there were tacked on to the
bill certain provisions relative to elections most of
them taken from old bills Introduced during recon
struction days, which no Southern representative could
possibly vote for. The Mil. with this joker, passed the
i House, but was killed by the Democrats In the Senate,
Just as Speaker Cannon Intended It should be killed
| Thereafter the speaker went around the country tell
| 1ng how the Democrats refused to vote for the pub
! llolty of campaign expenditures
This device has been used by the Republicans over
and over again. It la the device which has mads the
Income tax amendment almost hopeless of adoption.
It Is the device that has been utilised to carry through
some of the most monstrous provisions of the present
tariff law. It Is the device that has been used to
emasculate most of the progressive legislation of the
last decade. It is the device that Cannop used to
obtain financial legislation to bis liking two years ago.
We do not kaow exactly how to get rid of these
Jokers'' without first getting rid of the Republican
party, a thing to which we have no objection. "Jok
; ers" and antedated summaries and exonerations pre
pared in the offices of the men accused and billion
dollar Congresses where retrenchment was promised
i all these things are as deplorable as they are disas
trous to the public Interest. Thore Is one way In
: "h‘oh to «** ** them. We all still retain the
right to vote, and In the South we also still vote
right.—Charleston News and Courier.
Tfic Black "Mammy."
Replying to a friend who asks us fo> an editorial
on th« subject of a monument to the "black mammy,"
lot us say that the Index-Appeal has already ox
prescad Its views on that matter. The proposition
j seems to us sentimental and puerile, and a step in
I the direction of making such memorials absurd By
association, kindly attention and fidelity to duty
! the black mammy has greatly endeared herself to the
1 children she reared as u nurse and to their parents
But that Is a domestic matter df Individual concern
of personal affection, and til no sense rises to the
t dignity of a great public service which deserves to be
i commenimorated In bronae and granite. The black
t.lsve that bore the heat of the midday sun and the
i burden of the labor with plow and hoe to produce
I ,ha wpr on which subsisted the comfortably houu ed
family. Including the black mammy herself fur more
! deserves the tribute of a memorial shaft. Especially U
i this true of the negro slaves In the south during the
trying period of the war between the States, when
| their own llherty was at Make, and when they put
| the opportunity and temptation aside for duty as they
, understood it. History furnishes no nobler or more
! flume no example of self-abnegation and of self-jiaerl
llc-e than may be found In the patient and loyal South
ern slave of llll-’it, and for that self-sacrifice and
loyalty, which saved the white race from insurrec
tion and massacre, the slave of the Bouth dearevua
a noble monument among the noblest of Confederate
memorials !n the capital of the late Confederacy.
Such a monument would embody a sentiment
creditable to both rueeu. But as for the bla' k
mamnayq, she has had her reward In a luxurious ease
not -dreamed.Jit by the rest of her race, and In tho
affection and bounty of those whom she served. The
blaek mammy deserves all love and praise, but hors
was not the life and service for monuments.—^Peters
burg Index-Appeal,
PUBLISHED EVERY DAY EXCEPT SUNDAY
BY
THE RICHMOND YTROINIAN COMPANY. U«.
SAMUEL W. MEEK.Busines* Mhiih
S. B. WOODFIN.Muitioi Edito*
Rugtiem Office: Tim Virginian Building. Uonroor and Ksaa StreetV
RICHMOND ... .VIRGINIA
Dally one year, poetage raid.gt.OJ
Taily eii month*, poetage paid.. .13.00
Daily three month*, poetage paid.11.00
Filtered a* weondwtaee matter. January 2*. IOIOi at the peat-offlel
at I!iclmiond, Sa., under aot of March i, 1879.
On Memorial Day
(Copyright, 1910, by Associated Literary Presg.)
Down the broad pike leading into Centerville came,
all arrayed in rusty blue, the bent, wtaened rigure of
a little old man. An old-fashioned soldier's cap wa»
perched Jauntily on his head and from beneath thla
fell a few scattering locks of gray. The aged
e‘rrf„n leaned heavily on hi* cane. Time had rob
J**"a Hath way of muth of hi* endurance.
The ears of the old warrior were no longer keen.
Si • w. dW not hear the honk-honk of a motor be
nind him. The touring tar that uwept around the
It S1* “urv* *hru»t him aalde eo roughly and gud
denly that he wag thrown unconscious to the ditch
at the side of the road.
With barely a perceptible ewerve, the great ma
chine kept to It* mad nay. The knocking down of
the gray old soldier wa* but an Irritating Incident to
the pleasures of a record-breaking ride. The chauf
feur wae not one to flaunt the number of his car in
the face of a victim.
Fred Corliss, In hie wheezy little runabout, cams In
the wake of the flier to tho inert mass of mangled
blue by the roadside.
Ezra I Lath way, a thin stream trickling from his
temple, roused himself and suddenly made a waver
ing attempt to regain his feet. His gaunt frame,
balanced precariously on two totterly and emaciated
legs, showed signs of sudden collapse as Corliss came
to a sudden stop and leaped to the old man's as»
sis tame.
' Why. Unci® Kxra!" he exclaimed, “what’s ths
matter
"Uncle Ezra Hathaway, as he was familiarly known
to ail residents of Centerville, was a popular favorite.
Who'd a thought,'" came from the recovering
octogenarian, testily, '"that I'd a lived to come through
th’ horrors an" evils of war to be downed at last by
one of them pesky benzine buggies?''
Young Corliss gave a relieved laugh. With his own
handkerchief he carefully stanched the blood emanat*
ing from a slight cut In the old man's forehead and
assisted the reluctant veteran toward hts own lit
tle machine.
'Tm all right, Fred." protested the Injured man.
"No use in my botherin’ you to carry me into town.*
Huf Corliss, a tall youth with a determined eyg
and resolute Jaw, persisted.
Uncle Kara lived some miles out of Centerville On
Memorial day he Invariably arrayed himself in &
well-worn suit of blue, and uot only walked Into town
but marched with the comrades of his post to ths
little cemetery a half mile beyond. This, as the
years rolled on, was becoming more and more dim
cult to the old soldier, but he never acknowledged
the encroaching infirmities of oid agv—even to
himself
> ou shouldn't do this," remonstrated f'orltss,
siting himyslf beside the old gentleman und idart
ing the machine. "There la n<> s«ns> In It. Tod
have horres and a buggy, and the walk u too much
for you—let the liability of accidents. The road* are
not what they were ten years ago These touring
ears keep a pedestrian's life In danger, unless hts
sent* of hearing la wonderfully acute."
“Huh." snorted Uncle Errs. "I set* myself riding
into town after walkin' it all theca years."
The old mart's seamed face was strangely pale.
It was evident that the accident had Jarred him mot#
than his resolute old lips would acknowledge.
In front of the Horton domicile Just sktrlting the
town. Uncle Kira succumbed to a sudden f (felting
spell, and crumpled against his companion with
closed eves and pallid countenance
This was doubly unfortunate.
The Hortons were the last people in the world whom
Corliss cared to ask favors f?ln<e the < ngagement be
tween vivacious bally Hurton and bred had been
br-'ken off by mutual consent—an engng< men! planned
In the infancy or the two hy their purents—the youth
had felt a strange sense of agSTlevanee. although,
previous to this, he had believed that his future was
spoiled by this prearranged match.
No one could have cause to complain of s
lack of charms in the young woman In question.
This was evident its she came tripping to the door
in response to Honin'* knock
The girl was So pretty at :i budding row in June.
Her eves were wells of twinkling sunshine, and even
now they beamed mischievously as they fell upon
the broad-Fhouldered youth before her.
•"Your!” she sold, and the careless laugh in her
voice whs softened hy the vivid touch c f red dotting
her cheeks.
"Yen. it Is I.” ho answered shortly, his proud head
alert and his strong jaw thrust out ttt a more de
termined angle. "I am not here however, to cal!”—•
he could not resist the thrust—"but. t<> ask a favor.
Uncle Ezra Hathaway has met with an accident, and
iwema to be seriously hurt—how seriously I don't
know . He fell Into a faint, or stupor, just a* we
were opposite this honor, and »•> I must oak you to care
for him while 1 go b-r a doctor."
As the explanation pregrtssed. the expression on
the girl's face underwent a change The coquetry died
from her eves to give a chance to a womanly look
of grave concern.
"Father." she called, suddenly "Come here."
An elderly man enme leisurely out of the house,
and, in a second, the situation was made clear to
him. The unconscious vetqran was lifted carefully
from the runabout and taken Into the house From
afar came the stirring rhythm of drum and Ufa. The
comrades ef the old man were gathering to do honor
to their hero-dead.
On hla way to the nearest doctor's the brain of
Corilrs was a mad Juntl le of riotous thoughts, all
;thtaly •catling the keen sorrow he felt at Uncle
Ezra's predicament. It had suddenly come to him—
and with startling emphasis—that this Huffy, furhe
lowed girl with the gold in her hair was vitally ea
nentlal to his future happiness HLs black eye* took
unto themselves a tender light hitherto unasaoclated
with thoughts of the muld, but his knowledge of her
would not allow him to believe that she would come
back to him wtthout a struggle, in fact, he was
sure that she did not love him at all. It was she
who had suggested that the llfo-long engagement be
broken.
The doctor, a fussy little person with straggly
mutton-chop whlrkers. steel-bowod glasses and a
double chin, hurriedly entered the machine and the
return trip was made In record time. From behind
came onto them the music of ruffled drums, and the
plaintive minor of the fifes. The march to the
oemetory had begun.
"He Is badly shaken up," diagnosed the Utile doc
tor. “He wants rest and quiet, otherwise there la
nothing more serloua the mutter with him—no frac
tures, nor anything In the nature of bruised hones.
However, he must not be moved for several days."
•'An' to think," complained the octogenarian, who
! had now recovered consciousness, "thet. after all this
1 trouble I’m a-goln' to miss the dolus' to-day for ths
' tlrrt time since the war.
"Don't feel had,” soothed Dolly, n tender note t«
I her voire, ns she placed a cool, soft little hand on
the brow of the old soldier. He was now in bed
In the Horton home.
Oorllst. gazed at the girl wistfully. Every moment
It whs bclnii brought home to him that he had lost
a Jewel.
"Darn such lucki" grumbled the discontented TTnet*
Ezra.
The eves of the repentant lover sped u telepathic
message to the brain of the maid and. responding to
thit. che turned her head and looked at him and—
I blushed.
On the broad veranda, u» the young man was
I taking his leave, he suddenly turned to the pretty
I girl who had accompanied him
"Must the engagement remain broken?" he asked
plaintively. .
"Why, 1—I thought you wished it so,” she replied,
i eyes cast down, "but if you don’t, why, of—of
| 00!*i';.n»—”__I_1 I-» '
I To the ear* of the jubilant Corliss, speeding
! homeward some moments' later, came the stirring
j notes of "Th* Girl I 1-eit Hehind Me.” The veteran*
j were coming back.
—If grafters never ‘•qneated It woutd he ft much
more dangerous practice so far as the public Is con
cerned than It Is. The fact that thieves are sura
sooner or later to^ fall out 1* th« aaUaUoa gf un ,
public.—Commercial IrlbUM,