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Sftg Mirror Edited ana Published by the Inmates of the Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater, Minn. ■Entered at the postoffice at Stillvvutei, M 'nil., as second-class mail matter. Contributions solicited from all sources. Rejected manuscripts Will not be returned. THE MIRROR is issued every Thursday at the following rates: One Year - SI.OO Six Months - -00 Three Months - -- -- - - - - - 25 To inmates of all penal institutions - - - 50 e f s. per year Address all communications to THE MIRROR, Stillwater. Minn. THE MIRROR is a weekly paper published In the Minnesota State Prison. It was founded In 1887 hy the prisoners and is edited and man aged by them. It aims to be a home newspaper; to encourage moral and Intellectual improvement among tl e prisoners; to acquaint the public with the true status of the prisoner; to disseminate penological information and to aid in dispelling that prejudice which has ever been the bar sinister to a fallen man’s self-Fedeniptiou The paper Is entirely dependent on the public for its financial support. If at any time there shall accrue a surplus of funds, tin? money will be expended In the interests of the prison library. TO INHIATEB. For the information ef new arrivals and all others desiring to send The Mirror to friends we wish to sav that ihe privilege will be granted by complying with the following rules: Write your own name and regvater number and send same to this office with name and address of person to whom paper is to be sent. Each paper must be kept clean and folded in the same manner in which it is received and placed in your door every Friday night. All inmates are requested to conip’y with this order whether sending out a copy or not. 4TIUKCII NOTICE, Service in the Prison Chapel at nine o’clock every Sunday morning. Protestant and Catholic service every alternate Sunday. Rev. C. E. Benson and Rev. Fr. Corcoran chaplains. &152Ee525252525252555Z52H525Z525152525252j£l 1 Life. | In The game of life 3 Jjj Is one of strife, ™ nj The weak and timid drop, Cj gj The brave and strong, “J Cj Plug right along jQ jj] And some day reach the top. Qj Cj Life yields no snap jjj Jjj To any chap, Cj g No rosy road to treasure; jg Cj No tender foot >3 jjj Can find a route |j{ rQ That may be trod at leisure. Cj Jjj For one and all, S jfl The great and small, Cj CJ Life holds a prize—dad burn it fjj Cj Beyond our reach, 3 jO And says to each: Cj iu “Now go to work and earn it.” Cj —Detroit Free Press. S !HrasasisdsHSSsas2sasasas^s2SEszsasaszs2sas[xf EDITORIAL. “This i call life. To live every minute of every day, without haste, without rest; to learu what may be learnt, and to be cheerfully ignorant of what does not matter to me; to love all women and. one in particular, and all men that I care to; not to hate any man, but to be ready to tight if I have to; to make the most of the good things, music,art, books, nature; and to make the least of the bad things. To be rea sonably honest and truthful in moderation; to sell my shirt for a pal, but not to get into that situation more than necessary. To be temperate, but to eat and drink whatever I choose, independently of all meat boycotts, prohibition laws and health culture schemes. To pursue an ideal, without talking about it. To keep an open mind and a cool head, a civil tongue and cleau collar. To worry all Iwanfto, and no more; to avoid boring and being bored, knocking and being knocked. Not to preach and not revile; that is to be neither crook nor hypocrite, if it be grant ed me to be neither; to condemn no man nor princi ple unheard; to keep my faith between myself and the Almighty, or my unbelief to myself alone.” The above is the platform of Anglicus, a former local poet, philosopher and musician. It is a mighty good creed to follow. “To condemn no man nor prin ciple unheard.” That’s the stuff, but very few live up to it. And even when granting a hearing bow apparent is the desire to color the truth! A great man or a man of large experience is generally fair toward others. The subordinate is usually the one who likes to make a display of his power or vent his spleen upon some one to show his authority. Gen erally he is a sycophant to thoseabove him and atyrant to those uuder him. Napoleon, at St. Helena, often referred to this trait in human nature, whioh he denominated a weak ness—a frailty. He tells of a time when he was the Little Corporal in an Italian city where he met a beautiful woman who wanted to see eome troops in action. Napoleon, to please her and satisfy his vanity, ordered a company of soldiers to take a redoubt of the enemy in her presence. This was done, but the lives of several soldiers were lost. “It was a need less sacrifice of human lives to gratify a whim,” said the Great Corsican, at St. Helena, “and is one of the sincerest regrets of my life whenever the incident recurs to me.” Napoleon, who sacrificed men in batile by the hundreds of thousands to win his victories, never theless shuddered at the unnecessary loss or even discomfort of a single soldier. He fed and clothed them well, bivouaced and laughed an d joked with them in the trenches. “Every private of the Grand Army carried a marshal’s baton in his knap sack.” Napoleon never condemned anyone without cause and only upou Ihe presentation of indubitable evi dence, verified and corroborated. The Napoleonic code of which he was the sole author, is today the law of Europe and it is based upon the firm foundation of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY. A real ruler governs by kindness, conciliation and consideration of the weaknesses and frailties of human nature. To take advantage of the possession of power, was in the opinion of this marvelous man, an unpardonable sin and au unforgivable offense. He regretted each and every injustice of which he was the author —even to the humblest servant in the field or in his household. Some persons are quick to exercise their limited authority for the purpose of using it as a weapon or a bludgeon. But they are not the ones who achieve real greatness. Those who become permanent, dom inant factors in life are they who speak. softly, weigh all matters carefully, act cautiously and “Condemn no man nor principle unheard.” Mr. Eugene V. Debs says he will not be a can didate for President again on the Socialist platform. He says lie has spent several hundred thousand dol lars of his own money in chasing the Presidency and in the future he purposes saving his earnings. If this latter statement be true Mr. Debs will become a capitalist—one of those horrid monsters whom he lins been denouncing for lo! these many years. “History will do me justice!” exclaimed Napo leon the Great while a prisoner at St. Helena. His tory has done Napoleon justice. Fifteen additional years of tranquil repose as the ruler of France and Napoleon would have absolutely governed Europe— temporally and spiritually. The marvelous Corsicau immortalized everyone associated with him —includ- ing his jailors. Emma Goldman —the famous female anarchist— has joined others in proclaiming that no married wo man should become the mother of more than two childien. That kind of advice is the most arrant nonsense. Motherhood is the noblest heritage and attribute of womankinds The more children within reason the better. Said Henry Ward Beecher: “Some men move through life as a band of music moves down the street, fiingibg out pleasure on every side through the air. to every one far and near that can listen. ” And some men move through life as a hurdy-gurdy—rasping the nerves of all who come within the zone of their ra diation. Leguminotherapy is a new discovery touching on and appertaining to the eating of vegetables. Boiled carrots are good for bad tempers. Eat ’em and be good. They are especially recommended to spunky wives and obstinatehusbands. Most vegeta rians are good-natured persons! Bernard Shaw is another queer chap. He ad vocates the abolishment of governmentand marriage, in addition to other outlandish propositions. It looks is if Shaw is running short of press agency dope. “A merry heart inaketh a cheerful countenance but a scheming brain witheieth the heart,” observed Napoleon in his exile. But a cheerful countenance, does not always indicate a merry heart. The Rockefeller Foundation is a good thing for the people of the world. It will concentrate a vast amount of wealth and be the means of extend ing help the moment aid is necessary. Physical Culture is a magazine which is edu cating the public along the proper hygienic lines. Upton Sinclair is contributing some readable stuff to this popular publication. Those who find work irksome will now have an opportunity of charging it upto Leguminotherapy— eating vegetables. A very valuable publication is the Technical World Magazine. This conservation business is mostly conversa tion racket. Reflections. The world today is awakening to the realization, that in order to meet the demands of an ever and rapidly increasing population and necessity of supplies, more land must be opened up and prepared for occupation. This is especially true and obvious in the United States. Considering the age of this glorious laud, that is, since it was known as the United States of America, we do not hesitate to prophesy that it will ultimately be the storehouse and Motherland of coming generations throughout the world, from which all other nations will, in large measure, have to look to for staple supplies. There are other virgin territories it is true, as in Africa, Canada, and even far distant Alaska, but the United States is situated in such a position that practically all of her territory lies within zones which are'benefi cial to agriculture. Then, again, her magnifient rivers, which so bounteously nourish the soil, fer tile prairies, ore-laden mountain systems, expansive forests and mul titudesoflakes,all combineto make the future prosperity such as no other continent can equal. If we compare Africa’s possible future with the future of this country, we readily note two main contrasts of vital importance to prosperity and commercial progress, namely, cli mate and the general geological formation of the land. While Africa may possess untold undis covered wealth, a difficulty imme diately confronts mankind in the transporting of her products to the civilized world insofar that Africa’s geological formation is such as would make it very expensive to the farmer and producer, particu larly in the interior, to transport his produce for shipment to the world’s markets. Climate, however, also plays an important part in this difficulty of transportation. We all know, more or less, what Afri ca’s climate is, generally. Those portions of the continent, such as the Congo territory, Uganda, the Upper Nile territory and British East Africa, of which explorers re port so favorably, are, with sonic exceptions in the last named ter ritory, all situated in higher alti tudes than the seaports, and hence have congenial climates. The sea ports are all situated on low land, those nearest to this promising territory lie in the torrid zone- and are more affected by the fierce rays of the tropical sun and attendant unhealthy climates. Turning again to the United States w© at once see that the geological formation of the land and also the climate, alleviate the problem of transportation. It is obvious that her climate is that which is most tolerable, inasmuch as thousands of people from all climes, have been pouring into the States and Canada during the lust decades and have noinconvenience in getting acclimatized. In conse quence, therefore, of this demand upon the United States, vast terri tories, formerly supposed to be use less for agriculture, are being pre pared for occupation and cultiva tion by means of irrigation. This new work which the Government has taken up is of vital importance and should be encouraged and pushed on until all that land, now lying as God created it, is prepared for occupation and cultivation. At this time all the world has its attention attracted by the press, to the tour of our noted ex-Presi dent, Theodore Rosevelt and the wake of public impression,influence and discussion, w h ich his tour through Europe has stirred up. We citizens at home are proud of Roosevelt, for he is bound to create m the mind of the public he meets, sentiments of appreciation for, and ties of friendship between, the peo pies of the United States and Eu rope. Able lecturer as he is, Col.- Roosevelt will voice the attitude, while, by himself, exhibiting the highest standard of American citi zen, of America and Americans towards Euiopeans— the aim and goal being universal peace and friendly relations in commercial intercourse. At the same time he will undoubtedly correct mistaken impressions, which Europe may have of the American citizen. The receptions he lias so far received are unprecedented for respect shown any distinguished Amer ican or other, and hence America is brought to the European mind in just that way, which compels ad miration and respect. The Vatican incident and that of the Egyptian native students were not of such importance as to curb the royal and respectful receptions since accord ed him. We are eagerly watching for the effect of his London visit and the outcome of public impres sion* and sentiment towards the i Colonel, and so in a measure to wards us at home. It is pleasing to note that Roosevelt, after a most notable career as former Pres ident of the United States, left home shores in an unostentatious manner and will return laden with honors, to be accord> d a reception, such as never before has been given an ex-President. It simply reflects the faith and confidence of Amer icans in him. We might draw an object lesson: A small boat sails over the water and its wake is hardly perceptible, except on very quiet water, whereas the mighty Atlantic liners leave a wake which remains visible for miles in the rolling ocean. So it is with all of us. If we accomplish great things, live an active life and force our selves through difficulties by dint and perserveraiice and attain a po sition in the eyes of the public which commands attention, our in fluence, personality and daily full life, will leave a noticeable wake in the sea of publicity and fame. If on the other hand we do not ac complish anything but simply live for our own pleasure and have no interest in the welfare of others, we are like the small boat. A small boat cannot sail for any appreciable length of time on the ocean, and even if it manages to keep afloat it is almost invisible. So, a selfish person or anyone who does not try to attain distinction in some walk of life is invisible to the public eye and hence as of little use iu life. Which boat would you like to ber Which boat are you like? Wake up! Do something and keep do ing it and you’ll find you’ll sooir grow to be a person who is an ac quisition to the great game of in tellectual attainment. You all have the material, and if you lack per serverance or ambition cultivate their acquaintance. They wont turn away from you whoever you may be, wherever you are. Professional Patter. If the movements that some of the danseuses execute on the stage, can be called dancing, then so can the motions a lumber-jack goes through when lie is shooting a rap ids on a log. Now t that Barnum and Bailey have opened the season at Madison Square Garden, it wont be long before the roustabouts will com mence reaping their harvest of nickels and dimes from the side-wallers for letting ’em sneak in. It has been said that there is no thing new under the sun. If that is true, there are some gigantic pre varicators among the cirous man agers; for the majority of them olaim they will have an entirely new outfit when, they open the season. Acrobatus. Pshaw.