Life — September 23, 1886 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

Wile there's Life there's Hope.” SEPTEMBER 23, 1886. No. 195. 1155 BRoaDwAy, NEw York. Published every Thursday, $3 a year in advance, postage free. Single copies, 10 cents. Back numbers can be had by applying to this office. Vol. I., $1.50 per number ; Vol. II., 25 cents per number ; Vol. III., IV., V., VI. and VII. at regular rates. Rejected contributions wil be destroyed unless accompanied by | a stamped and directed envelope. F it be considered, as seems reasonable enough, that the mission of Envoy Sedgwick was to set the American mind at rest about Editor Cutting, it must be granted that | the envoy’s efforts have been crowned with overwhelming | success. The American mind has ceased to take heed at all of Cutting in its keen anxiety to know the truth about Sedg- wick. It has been demonstrated in Cutting’s case that such narratives of Mexican happenings as find their way north by the ordinary news channels are quite unreliable, and that a | | brother. special agent is a necessity for discovering the truth. Every kind of rumor has been let loose about Sedgwick, and the need of special personal investigation is manifest; and yet Mr. Bayard will scarcely venture to send another messenger. Sedgwick is too busy with Cutting’s case to give the neces- sary attention to his own, but Cutting has little to do, and. knows the people and the language. It suggests itself that he is the proper person to look into the allegatious concerning Mr. Sedgwick, and to determine in how far forth they are | supported by underlying facts. Sedgwick's report upon Cut- ting, supplemented by Cutting’s report upon Sedgwick, would let the light into the whole wretched international tangle and give the State Department all the information necessary to its intelligent action. * * * T is probable that the prize liar of the Southwest has turned loose upon Sedgwick the energies which have so long been employed in the capture of Geronimo. It seems to be absolutely ascertained that that doughty chief has at last | been really taken, and is actually out of harm’s way. The greatness of his crimes has combined with his adroitness and the final disposition of the captive is still in doubt, there is a rumor that he did not surrender until assured that his life would be spared, which makes it appear probable that he will | join his braves this winter in Florida, and assume the réle of | an interesting invalid. It is true enough that Geronimo deserves hanging, but his demise is desirable rather for reasons of public safety than to accomplish the ends of jus- | tice. So far as concerns that consideration, the ethics of a Chihuahua Indian are so distorted that his death does not satisfy justice much more than that of a bad elephant. What | is desirable in either case is to put the brute out of the way of doing damage. * * HE sympathies of the great public, which are always ready to respond to the call of genuine distress, have been justly stirred by the misfortune of the city of Charleston. It is a new experience for an Atlantic city in America to find its foundations getting out from under it, but our countrymen in South Carolina have found little comfort in the novelty of their case. They need help, and help in such a case means money. Subscriptions for their benefit have been opened in all the great cities with comfortable results, which are still accumulating. Charleston’s case is a very hard one, and | LiFe is confident that the aid which is offered her will be proportionate to her necessities. Her relief should not be left to the rich alone. One dollar given by a poor man can express as much sympathy as a hundred sent by his rich * * * HE lawn tennis industry is in the thick of its annual succession of tournaments. The Newport contest really settled the championship for this year, but there are plenty of local players East and West who continue to try conclusions with racket and ball. It is sometimes a surprise to LIFE to notice the willingness with which active young men compete for the honors of the lawn. The game is a good one, and provides for exercise and fresh air, but to be notoriously skillful at it, seems, on some accounts, scarcely more desirable for a private citizen than a reputation for sur- passing adroitness at billiards or the renown that follows a superlatively agile dancer. To pull a university oar, or wield a university bat, is a distinction that is evanescent enough, and yet these diversions seem to us— heresy though it be to confess it— sources of more substantial fame than tennis-playing. Still we are told that whatever we do we should do it with all our might. A great many men play | tennis, and it is proper that they should play as well as they | can. That they should wish to know who does it best is endurance to make him universally respected, and it is cause | for general congratulation that he has given in at last. While | simply human nature, and tournaments are the result. They answer a good purpose, and LIFE would not have one less of them, and yet they seem to be the exposition of a somewhat trivial form of sport. However convenient and pleasant it may be as personal exercise, tennis as an exhibition can never share the popularity of our own base-ball. comicbooks.com