Life — January 1, 1885 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SLSDRE HE 7rzbune states that the frost king is abroad ! He is, ishe? Well, if he is, he’s left a mighty good substitute at home ! . . N the absence of an European Canada, defaulters on the | continent are more popular with the people than here. They have at least the decency to shoot themselves if they fear to face justice. We commend the practice to the members of the default- ing fraternity in New York. . . . *[Be= Philadelphia Bud/etin has an article headed, “ Enoch Arden Improved.” This is good news. We thought he was dead, . . . T is presumed that the reason why the fashionable society youth of New York parades the street in dead winter | with a spring covert coat is that his coat-of arms keeps him warm. The latter articles are not expensive in this country. There are several coat-of-armories in the city where ances- tors can be obtained at five minutes’ notice, with crests ready Terms reasonable, . N exchange says : 4 “ The revival of sealing-wax has led to the invention of pretty little spirit-lamps, which are quite an adjunct to a handsome desk or writing-table.” How does this affect the pocket-flask industry ? . . . WING to the accession of the Democratic party to the Treasury, paper collars are not in demand to so great an extent as formerly, and the mills threaten to shut down. Now, in view of the fact that the latest novelty in station- made. ery is a perfect imitation of a handkerchief in the last stages | of laundrying, how would it do for the paper collar companies to sell out their stock to “ fashionable people” as the latest thing in note paper ? It seems to us that this would be as reasonable as using handkerchiefs for the same purpose, and might aid other in- dustries in working off old stock in shirts, white ties—for telegrams, for instance—in a pleasant, social way. Invitations to skating parties written on paper lung pro- tectors would be highly apropos; proposals of marriage on paste-board table-cloths would look well, while hand-in-hand would go a rejection inscribed on a papier maché mitten. This opens a tremendous field for speculation. MORE FUN AHEAD, HIEF ENGINEER MELVILLE proposes a new and elaborate plan for reaching the North Pole. We are not sure that this is a bad idea, Twelve good (ha !) Ameri- | as consistent with ‘ contemporancousness can men-of-war filled with convicts and commanded by the cream of our insane asylums in charge of the enthusiastic Melville, might accomplish wonders in the arctic seas. Of course there is nothing to discover that anybody cares to know, but it would be an excellent means of getting rid of our convicts and men-of-war. Our men-of-war are dangerous | things to ourselves, and it is infinitely fitter they should go to the bottom loaded with convicts and arctic explorers than with sensible sailors. OLLA-PODRIDA, ULIAN HAWTHORNE has bound together two of his best shorter stories in a small volume entitled “ Prince Saroni’s Wife, and the Pearl Shell Necklace.” The former is not a pleasant story, but its construction is ingenious, original, and altogether admirable. The solution of the mystery is en- tirely unexpected. That an improbability is back of it all need not detract from its merits as a work of the imagination. There are many hints of the elder Hawthorne in this story. The vein on the Prince’s forehead which wriggled like a ser- pent when his anger was aroused is suggestive of the great Romancer’s Symbolism. . . . R. HOWELLS is an eminent writer of a school of fic- tion far removed in spirit and execution from the Hawthornes. He has educated his readers to expect from him accurate portraiture of details. A Pre-Raphaelite must be judged by his own standard. It is, therefore, hardly con- sistent for Mr. Howells to defend (in the January Century) several anachronisms which have been pointed out in the early chapters of “ The Rise of Silas Lapham.” “It is the effect of contemporaneousness that is to be given,” says Mr. How- ells, in excuse for his anachronisms. Anachronisms are about as thefts with honesty. * * * IFE gives a cordial welcome to Babyhood, the new mag- azine devoted to the care of infants and young children, he infants of the present are our future readers, and they can't be too well taken care of. We have an eye on our fu- ture prosperity in commending this magazine as well as a be- nevolent interest in the general welfare of humanity. It is under excellent editorial management—Dr. Leroy M. Yale and Marian Harland—and its business affairs are directed by experienced publishers. . . . TH latest compilation of choice selections from English literature is called “ Treasury of Thought: Mother, Home and Heaven.” This edition is intended entirely for country readers. It is desirable that there should be another edition for the city, in which the sub-divisions shall be “ The Cooperative Nursery, the French Flat, and Paris. Drocu, comicbooks.com