Life — May 14, 1896 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

* LIFE: “While there is Life there's Hope.” VOL. XXVII. MAY 14, 1896. No. 698. 1g West Tuirty-First Street, New York. Published every Thursday. $5.00 year in advance, Postage to forelgn countries in the Postal Union, $1.04 a year extra. Single cnples, 10 centn Rejected contributions will be destroyed unless accompanied by a stamped and directed envelope, The illustrations in Live are copyrighted, and are not to be repro- duced without special arrangement ‘ with the publishers. [Fe cordially congratulates Mr. John Hays Hammond on not being hanged forhigh treasonina far-away land. Itisdis- concerting to be hanged even athome, with modern conveniences to make the tran- sition easy, and sympathizing friends and ambitious newspaper reporters to beguile one’s last moments; but to stretch a rope in South Africa as the result of an episode that was all a mistake—and a sorry, sordid mistake at that—would have been utterly ¥ deplorable. Mr. Hammond seems to be a * good man of energy and able to command big pay in his profession. His mistake was in letting him- self be persuaded that the good old rule was still opera- tive in South Africa, and that no other law was to be taken seriously. Here's hoping for his early restoration to health, liberty, discretion and usefulness. In this age of great and jealous powers, armed to the eyes, and tel- egraph lines everywhere, it has come to be unsafe to knock any government on the head, even though it isa small one and the woods grow thick about it. HE fact that the Mew York Times, a newspaper with a great past, has gone into the hands of a receiver, seems to give ample ground for the suspicion that the maxim ‘‘Be virtuous and you will be happy” is of limited contemporary application to the newspaper business, The 7rmes has been considerably virtuous as newspapers go. It has followed its con- science in politics, has avoided sensation, and has striven to be decent. Incidentally it has told daily about all the news that was worth telling. But it has not prospered. It has not been cheap, nasty, impudent and unscrupulously ‘ enterpris- ing" enough to commend itself to one very great class of newspaper buyers, and it seems to have missed the inspirations which might have won it the support of another and better class. The newspaper business in New York is not just now an industry on which the mind can dwell with satisfaction, The success of some of the papers that succeed in Néw ‘York makes even more for the mortification of reasonable spirits than the reverses of such old neighbors as the 7imes, . . . EUGENE DEBS has accepted an invitation to address the students of Chicago University at the earliest date his engage- ments will permit. It has been under- stood that the opinions that Col. Debs affects are inimical to the rea- sonable repose and wel- fare of society, and some people may won- der that the Chicago students should be per- mitted to invite him to 3talk for their especial benefit. But it can hardly do harm. Fore- warned is fore-armed. Debs may be a wolf, but he is not a wolf in sheep's clothing. He wears his own hide and there are rattles in his tail, besides. If his views are unsound, the Chicago stu- dents ought to be able to locate the holes in them, else there would be something amiss about the quality of the instruction that Dr. Harper's institution diffuses. May second, Columbia Univer- A, sity dedicated its new site on Morningside Heights. It was a great day and fitly celebrated with banners and brass bands, aggregations of learned men, wise and eloquent addresses, and other suitable accessories. Columbia on its new site will be one of the most splendid of American Universities in appearance, as well as one of the richest and strongest and biggest. New York intends to be proud of her, and Columbia intends that New York's pride shall be altogether reasonable and well-founded. Hail, Columbia! . * . PARAGRAPHER of the Rochester Herald has done a pun, the atrocity of which demands especial de- nunciation. Commenting on certain occurrences at a recent breakfast of the Woman's Health Protective Asso- ciation of Philadelphia, he quotes as among the good things that were said a remark of ‘Miss Repplier—who, we imagine from her name, will be likely to have the last word anywhere.” Surely, a paragrapher with such an im- agination as that ought to pay a special fee for his license.