The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 24, 1895, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1895 25 A CALIFORNIAN IN PARIS, She Is an Artist, and Chats Entertainingly ~ About Parisian Art. QUARTIER LATIN DISCUSSED, Dress and Dirt, Students’ Haunts and the Value of Bohemian Training. The bohemian paradise of Paris is the old Quartier Latin. It has not suffered much at the hands of Baron Haussmann and his architectural transformation, en- acted in other parts of Paris, Itis here that the old-fashioned ideas of bohemia— noise and frolic—prevail. It is quite peopled with painters, but these latter are not the only students. This quarter also shelters budding lawyers, doctors, pro- fessors and savants and litterateurs, many of whose uames will some day become world renowned. A good deal of turbu- lent fun and practical joking goes on here. There are many short-lasting liaisons. Every Jack has his Jill, but as a ruje it is a very willing Jill. Itis very easy, being her code of life, for her to replace an old memory by a new love. French life is different from any other. Elsewhere you do as the world pleases; perhaps with some enticing millinar or dressmaker. After dinner you will see them dispersed through the various cafes, seated at one of the small three-legged tables upon the sidewalk. Boulevard Michel, or ‘‘Boul '" as the student phrases it, is the rallying point for the whole Quartier Latin, It is always crowded with students, models and workmen, and is always bright and gay. On this boulevard is the Cafe d’Harcourt, famous for its wild revelries and wilder riots. The cocotes, the female portion of the habitues, are recruited from the forlornest hopes of humanity., Sometimes the girls are pretty. Always they are becomingly and coquettishly dressed. But they have only to speak to dispel any charm they may have. Their voices are hoarse and disagreeable, The men are made up of a variety of nondescripts. Students are in the ma ity, with a sprinkling of soldiers. oW ribaldry, low jests and low songs are the order of conversation and entestainment. The badinage is sometimes bright, but always vulgar. W o The new student is exposed to all sorts of demands upon bhis liberality for drinks, flowers, etc., and he often regrets for weeks | afterward the money he has expended so ln\'i;hly upon these women. Iknow one such. He had accepted a girl’s invitation to pay her a “bock’” and she had taken it. The waiter had brought all the saucers of her previous drinks for a month and he had to pay $7—his pocket money for two months.” 1t might have been ‘his bread and butter. In many cases it often is. Of course he was furious, but that made no difference. He couldn’t take off his coat to fizht the waiter or the girl. He had to pay dearly for his “‘freshness.” That was all, Sometimes the lesson is long in learn- ing. When it has been mastered the girls let him alone. Another swindle liesin the bouquets purchased from the venders who infest the night restaurants. You may have to pay for her bouquets for the past month also. After midnight the fun runs fast and thigh. Then people appear who have not seen Paris by sunlight for twenty, thirty bere you do as you please. Your spirits always rise in Paris. The life of the young tist bere is the easiest, merriest, dirtiest existence possible. Money is alwaysata low ebb. The annual income or allow- It is at this hour ance of most artists is a mere pittance: consequently **borrowing” has become one of the old and well-established social archives of the Latin quarter. A manis apt to be looked upon with suspicion if he never borrows. e o o Is a bread-and-water diet necessary for generating a great artist? A question more often answered by the meagerness of the purse than by the higher choice of the stomach. Somehow we expect an artist to be always wearied and dejected. Tnis attitude seems to go best with® high think- 1d poor living. ne time there are many who lence and only reveal their di tressed condition to one as poor as them- selves, They starve to buy the few books 1d the s of paper necessary There are others who, t times to pay a few sous for shel- he streets at night. This occurs nong the American students. and even forty years. that the cafe is frequently tramped through Ly & company of students, marehing in single file, one behind the other, the line sometimes extending for a furlong. All |are shouting and bellowing. The word { monom the students’ term for such a procession. A famous cafe chantant is the Cabaret de la Boheme on the Rue St. Jacques. Its walls are decorated with fantastic scenes of student and carnival life. The music 1s accompanied by the fumes of bad French tobacco. The “stars’ of the | concert are from the lowest strata of the quarter. The business of the skirt-dancer is not to dance, but to show the assembled | company the secrecy of her anatomy. | When'a student has not been at a cafe | for some time he is called upon to mount | the platform behind the_piano and to give an account of his delinquency. Three piano-taps (French fashion) call the attention of the company. The account is often amusing and sometimes pathetic, not the acme of suffering. pon the earnest and sensitive student who has no allowance whatever and must nd for the necessities of life upon hi . ations 1 1. The b al p e and mi inding chains of economy, can- hampered. Poverty and priva- i s under- re many in for him who r no thought for the orrow lack of ducats is quite another When his allowance comes he all in, often upon Jill and her and then starves in a philo- 1 manner. He is never without his vever. Sunday comes and he )W one souin his purse. Then step in and rafle some painting §i veek be is the Next week he may help 10 s rtunes of another unlucky one. this life of luck and chance Sometimes they sell their embryo paint- ings at the numerous little picture-stores in this quarter, but it is not a profitable transaction oftex t is not brisk prices are friends, sophi e Ang . other idiosyncrasy shows in the matter of dress. It hasal- been a fad with artists to give expres sion to their principles by adopting some distinctive costume and fleeing from cleanliness as they would from leprosy. Their bands are never rubbed save with imaginary soap. Their finger-nails serve as paint boxes. But there is a reason for the horrid dre: and appearance of many artists, both men and women. It may rise from a lack of E e or act as a sort of bluff. “Poor fellow! he an artist! Why, he will never amount to anything!” is the encouraging phrase from his friends. This attitude of vour friends gives you a certain defiance. All the business portion of your world are scornful of your success. To them the pleasures of theimagination do not balance i plain dollars and cents. They do not understand your revelings in the beauties of the mountains of Southern Spain. So you say, “'L will be superior,” and garments try to indicate that superi- v.” You feel that a dapper appearance is against you, and in place of art yon cultivate the accessories of artin the fol- lowers of the Dusseldorf school. You don corduroy jacket and trousers and a slouch hat. You wear your hair long. Your gait is halting and your shoulders always slouched.” Though this school 1s dying out, one sees every variety of coiffure that has ever been known—ringiets are scented with tobacco, straight locks are laved with oil. eards are always in a disheveled condition. As for jackets, well, fancy all that you have ever scen, and even then you would find surprising cuts here. Trousers are spotted with drops of oil. There areall sorts of caps —from a Chinese cap to a striped worsted nizhteap, which does duty by day as well as by night. ibat head- gear the top hat is rarely seen within the sacred precincts of the art corner of Pari Professors wear them, and on Thursdays the college boys when led out in flocks for an airing. But often these men do something more than be guilty of boyish mummery, and, however we may take exception to their liberties and ques- tion their worth so far as the growth of art is concerned, it is neverihless true that they labor from morning till night at de- veloping their art and practicing their theories and we should rejoice. s op When a man becomes famous then he begins to attend to his toilet. Many of our famous illustrators to-day dress like stockbrokers. Often you continue in the old form of dressing because it pays. It advertises you and {ou don’t in the least care how poor people may think you or now many times they say ‘Poor Jack!” ‘When a man begins to attend to his toilet he also gives attention to his reading. He does not read indiscriminately, but selectively. Books treating of the ‘‘New ‘Woman'"in varied and hackneyed stages are not in his library. Bat there are men who happen to like clothes before they become famous. They wear their old ones in the atelier and streak the sides of their trousers with paint to their heart’s content. Their good clothes are reserved for the outer world. Such men have to stand a lot of “joshing’” from exertions the moral sufferings and | ve their traces on | 1, constantly oe- | vied with the worry of material wants | | an Atlantic liner as they | pro; | jest end song and dance. 10| when the man has had a serious grievance | which he does not care to make public, but is forced to do so because his imagina- tion will not work quickly enough to make up an effective, truthlike tale on the Toast-drinking follows and a chorus song. [he Bal Bullier, so well known in tke history of student life, has changed hands | and is not what it used to be. Its wild | revelry bas become mild frolic. It is con- i sidered slow and out of date. The regular | dances come off on Saturday, Sunday and | Thursday nights. Of course the ball of he year is the Quatre Aits at the Moulin | Rouge in the early spring. The students’ theater is the Gaite Mont- parnasse. It is small, dingy and cheap. | Saturday night is student night. They | may be seen all over the house, hats on | the back of their heads and smoking like sketch. The ts of ribald There is a woman here who has the reputation of | singing the smuttiest songs in all Paris. | What she doesn’t say in words she ex- presses by gestures, rivaling those of Roscius. e tout and homely, with a | mouth and smile which far exceeds her corporeal proportions. Scattered all over the quartier are bil- liard-rooms where the old and new stu- dents gather. Itis in these haunts that most of the choice French of the student islearned. When the cafes close in the | early morning hours, squads of students | go to the halles centrales to finish their fun in the all-night cafes there or to earn a few sous for the morrow by heiping the farmers unload their vegetables for the { early morning market. mme of the stage con and plan of life which seeks self-indulgence and sets aside right and wrong as things for which there is no place in “‘art” ? It is held by many that there is altogeth- er too much of that sort of thing to-day for | art. A man’s moral perceptions are dulled | day into night. When his moral percep- | tions are dulled his imaginative faculties share the same fate. His creations are coarse and blind or stagey and limited in conception. th The best years of a voung man'’s life are i given to bohemia. What does she give in return? Often empty husks, A There is here in Paris an old Italian of ood family and position who came ere a boy of twenty, brimming over with enthusiasm of what he would do for the advancement of art. He first tasted and then drank deep of the pleastres of bohemia. His art was rele- gated to the background. Long beforethe death of his parents he was disinherited and disowned. Since then he has lived from hand to mouth. That was many years ago. On his next birthday in March his years will number four score and ten. His greatest contributions to art have been exposed in the Cafe de la Cabaret de la Bobkeme. There are many careers like this, FLORENCE BLANCHARD. 25 Avenue Wagram, Paris, Oct. 22, 1895. ‘Note.—Next week Miss Blanchard's letter will tell the story of Pacific Coast art pilgrims in Paris. Miss Bianchard is LCnlllornYln, and l‘)""fi“?“m“”““i“gly of all subjects touched y her. STRANGE IF TRUE. The Apparently Impossible Occurs the Jsland of Canna. In September, 1892, the daughter of the blacksmith in Canna, an island of the Hebrides, was wandering on the shore, gathering driftwood for fuel, when in a small bay about a hundred yards distant frem her father’s house she picked up a piece of wood bearing the mscription, cut with a knife, “Lachlan Campbeil, Biibao, March 23, 1892, says Goods Words. On taking it to her mother she became con- cerned, as this was the name of her own son, who was a boiler-maker in Spain, and, as would be the case with most people, certainly with Highlanders, she could not get over the superstitious dread that this message from the sea was the harbinger of evil tidings regarding her son. The family of the proprietor did its best to calm her terror, exhorting her to wait for an ex- planation. 3 ‘When writing to her son she told him of what had happened, and was greatly re- lieved on receiving a reply assuring her of his well-being, but was astonished to learn that he verret:nlvl remembered how when on a holiday he had written, as described, t those who aren’t fortunate enough to have the extra good suit, as well as from those who are, fiuz who never discriminate be- tween the interior and exterior art world, There are stringy girls, too, who do not add to their general stringy appearance by wearing stringy gowns. They try to look as chic as possible. In this company of varied costumes the stndent of art passes his days and acquires ais knowledge. His evenings are passed at various cafes and theaters, often in the campany of hismodel or his blanchisseuse, on a piece of wood and had idly thrown it into the sea from a rock near Bilbao. We all know the power of ocean currents, and need not be surprised at this piece of wood having been carried about for six months, but the marvelous and, except for un- aoubted evidence, the incredible circum- stance in this ¢ase is_that this piece of wood, after its long drifting, should have been washed on the shore within a hun- dred yards of where the writer's mother lived, and that it should be picked up by one of his own familv and taken home. And what is the result of all this scheme* | the growth and well-being of high. ideal | | when he turns the night into day and the | Had any novelist dared to picture a mes- sage delivered as this was by means of an ocean current every reader and ceriainly every critic would have denounced the outrageous demand on faith. And yet the apparently impossible actually oc- curred in Canna. e THE SEVEN STAGES OF THE BICYCLE. BY LUKE NORTH, In Collaboration With the Late W. Shakespeare. All the world’s awheel, And all the men and women riding safeties; They wear their bloomers and thefr knee breeches; And one man in his time has many fails, The craze reaching seven stages. L frst the scoffer, Scorning and deriding the cycle's charm M then the grinning novice, with his hired wheel “And younger brother’spants, seeking to ride On steed unruly. And then, the coaster; wise! ‘Then a racer, Full of strange tales of races won before, Jealons of records, swift as lightning on his wheel, 2 the bubble reputation Even in the ten-mile run, 1 And then his sister; | In fair round outline, with bloomers and all grace, With smile serene and suit by tailor made, Full of witchery and modesty withal; | And s0 she rides to health. The sixth stage shifts Into the crank of wise and knowing mien; With knowledge galore and book at hand; His brain all run to pleasures of the wheel, And his head cram’d full of hygienic lore ‘And the rules of health; who tells you earnestly He would have died—alas, he had 110t!—two Years ago, but for his wheel, Last stage of all, Where ends this strange, encircling history, Is when the family takes up the craze, ‘And everybody rides—sans all but wheeling. 84w Faaweisco. November. 1895, Hurtling like a rocket down the dangerous grade, | THEWOMAN'S BIBLE HERE What Local Leaders of Thought Think About Its Start- ling Trend. “TRUTH HAS NO SEX,” THEY SAY Opinions of Archbishop Riordan, Rabbi Voorsanger, Dr. Dille and Promi- nent Women. Some five or six years ago Elizabeth Cady Stantqn announced her intention of retranslating and interpreting the first five books of the Bible from woman’s stand- point. The first volume of this work, the **Woman'’s Bible,” has at last made its ap- pearance and bids fair to attract much at- tention. The volume contains commen- | taries on, and selections from, the books re- ferred to, and the author saysin her pre- | face that it is her object to revise only such | books of the Scriptures as refer to woman, or exclude her altogether. When it is { known that all such passages combined would only form about one-tenth of the entire volume, the amount of work in- volved will not seem so great. Associated with Mrs. Stanton in the work gre about thirty other ladies, who, according totheir various statements, will devote their at- tention to the different branches of the work, such as disputed translations, vexts, Biblical history, old manuscripts, latest versions, etc. The work is not, as has been erroneously stated, a new Bible, only a revision of a comparatively smail partof it. having as its object, of course, the elimination of what the authors conceive to be tle in- justice to their sex, and much that is said 10 be unfit, from a moral standpoint, to be resented to children. This, it is be- ieved, is aimed principally at the rabbin- | ical /teachings of the old Jewish Bible. | Owing to the nature of the work it is i essentially a woman’s book, hence its name. There is much in Mrs. Stanton’s intro- | duction that may come as rather startling news to many of her readers. One passage ot thav nature may be quoted as follows: “The Bible teaches that woman brought sin and death into the world; that she precipitated the fall of the race; that she | was arraigned before the judgment seat of heaven—tried, condemned and sentenced. Marriage for her was to be a condition of bondage; maternity a pericd of suffering and anguish; and in silence and subjes | tion she was to play the role of a depend- ant on man's bounty for all her material wants; and for ail the information she might desire an the vital questions of the Lour she was commanded to ask her hus- band at home.” There may not be anything seditious in the matter guoted so far, but read the next paragraph and judge of how the large number of orthodox church members, both men and women, will receive it: “The only poiuts in which I differ from all ecclesiastical teaching is that I do not believe that any man ever saw or talked b God; Ido not believe that God in- spired the Mosaic coge, or told the his- | torians what they say he did about wo- man, for all the religions on the face of the earth degrade her, and so longas wo- man accepts the position that they sign her, her emancipation isimpossible. Whatever the Bible may be made to do in Hebrew or Greek, in plain Englist it does not exalt or dignify woman. My stand- point for criticism is the revised edition of 1889. I will so honor the revising com- mittee of nine men who have given us the best i i their abil: last one contained 150,000 blunders in ‘the Hebrew, and 7000 in the Greek. . “The Bible cannot be accepted or re- jected as a whole. Itsteachingsare varied and its lessons differ widely from each | other. In ecriticizing the peccadillos of Sarah, Rebekah and i{ shadaw the virtues of Deborah, Huldah and Vashti. In criticizing the Mosaic code we should not question the wisdom of the golden rule and the fifth commandment. Again the church claims special consecra tion for its cathedrals and priesthood. Parts of these aristocratic churches are achel we wouid not | Oriental seholars and text critics. None of the ladies are known as such in the world of let- ters. Idisapprove of the idea itself—to have a Bible the exposition of which shell be the work of women only. That would make the commentary one-sided. The work of education and salvation must be accomplished by the joint efforts of men and women. Ihave had no occasion as yet to change my opinion on that subject. Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper said: I do not want a woman's Bible; I do not wanta man's Bible. IlLelieve thatthe good old-fashioned Bible, just as it is, illuminated by the Spirit of God, will prove itself a lamp unto the feet and a light unto the path of every sincere and humbie disciple. Obedience is the principle of spiritaal disclosure—alike to men and women. It is not the Bible tnat hampers and shackles woman. It is lack of deep spiritual life that hampers and shackles woman. Look at Bible history and see what & record woman has made for herself there. Sce Miriam as she caught up her timbrel and san, the song of a nation’s exultant joy. God inspired her to do it, and it has come sound- ing down the ages for four thousand vears. Then there was that great teacher, Deborah— not only a teacher, but & judge in Israel. She was & woman of brain as well as of heart. She was brimful of courage, She stirred up the halting old King Barak to throw off tne Egyptian yoke. Look at Huldah, the prophet- ess, who lived in the time of that lachrymose old prophet, Jeremiah, who was Tull of Wweep- ing and wailing. The King had so much faith in the wisdom of Huldah that he used to send his counselors to ber instead of Jeremiah. She lived in the college at Jerusalem and taught the young prophets. She was acluull; sort ot theological professor, and so far as I know her theology was never called into question. Hannah was before the Lord in the temple when she sent up her song of thenksgiving. So was it with Anna, the prophetess, when she oroke forth into praise for the promised Mes- siah. Then there were Mary and Martha and Salome. The last named did not hesitate to ask of Jesus that her two sons might have the Dest places in his kingdom. She wanted them to be prime ministers—Secretary of State or Secretary of War, or something of that sort. Then there was Dorcas, full of good deeds, for whom everybody wept when she died, and “the honorable women not & few"” to whom Paul refers. The promise of God is clear and distinet: “On my handmaidens will I'Follrmumy epirit, and they shall prophesy.” There is nothing in the Gospel that places any limitations to_the rights and duties of women. We hear Paul quoted forever and forever in regard to women keeping silence in the clturches: but wedonot hear that Paul was addressing himself to Grecian assemblies, and the Greek idea of women’s sphere was that she should not rise above the level of domestic knowledge. She could not go to the door to welcome her hus- band home, lest some one should see her. A virtuous woman in_Greece was an ignorant. domestic drudge. Those who were enlightened were supposed to be of questionable repute. I wish Paul's commands in regard to women could be explained, when quoted so glibly. If Paul had only known how stupid people would misinterpet his words he would bave said Elninly' “It is not best for women to teach, ere in Greece.” 3 So I say again, the old Bible, justly interpre- tea, is good enough for me, Human life and experience is the best commentary on the Bible. Do God’s will and the doctrine will be clear. The letter kills, the spirit gives life.. It is the spirit and not the letter that makes the ible so valuable. Whoever would criticize the Bible must be spiritual, for spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Finally, the Bible is not alone in the predominance which it gives ta_the masculine element. Preachers, writers, lecturers, invariably usé the mascu- line pronoun—speak of “him” and say ‘““he.”’ Itis butan emblem of history. If this habit of speech is to be thoroughly corrected through and through, the “revisers” will find they have a very large job on their hands. E. R. Dille says: The women’s Bible? Ihave not seen it and can scarcely pronounce judgment from a few newspaper excerpts, but if they are a {air sampie of the volume it is not likely to add much to the iiterature of eriticism or of schol- arship, and _is calculated to do the cause of woman’s advancement serious iamage so far as its influence extends. As well talk of a woman’s multiplication table. Truth has no sex. I think a Bible for humanity is better than & man’s Bible ora woman’s Bible, Bible just as we have it, while it is everybody’s book, might be not unfitly called the woman's Bible, it has done so much mere for woman than for men. The debt of woman to the Bible is simply incalculable. It has emancipated ber from the tyranny of force and lust, broken the yoke of unjust” laws, given honor to womanhood, satetity to maidenhood and wifehood, holiness to motherheod. Hume says that in the Roman family the wife was a slave with every degradation that attends slavery. The husband had the power of life and Geath over his wife, she coming in the language of the law ad manem (**into the nang”) of her husband. But the Roman law, touched by the gospel, declured woman man’s equal, abolished the loose divorce laws that prevailed, and made the husbend’s obligation to fidelily and chas- tity the same as that of his wife. Among our ancestors in Northern Europe the old Teutonic tribes, from which our Anglo- xon race sprang. a wife was boughtand sold like any other chattel, and the husband was an absolute and irresponsible tyrant, who might break the limbs or put out the eyes of his unhappy wife. Butever since Christianity has held sway the home comes to its best in Northern Europe, and the domestic virtues flourish nowhere as among the Teutonic, Scandinavian and Celtic races. 00 holy for women to enter; boys ure early introduced into the choirs for this reason, women singing in an obscure cor- sely veiled. A few of the more ic denominations accord women some privileges, but invidious discrimina- | tions of sex are found in all religious or- | anizations, and the most bitter, outspoken enemies of women are found among the 1 men and bishops of the Protestant .Y Mrs. Stanton is too just not to say any- thing in favor of the other side of the ques- tion, and makes the admission that eve as regerds women the books under criti- cism are not wholly bad. Under this head | she says: “There are some general principles in the boly books of all religions that teach love, charity, liberty, justice and equality for all the human family; there are many yrand and beautiful passages; the golden rule has been echoed around the world. There are lofty examples of good and true women and men, all worthy our acceptance and example, whose luster cannot be dimmed | bv the false sentiments of vicious char- acters bound up in the same volume.” Those of the East who have spoken on i the value of the “Woman's Bible” are j unanimous in their expression of disap- | proval. The disapproval the book seems | destined to meet everywhere is principally | based on the belief of those most promi- | nent in church affairs that no reyision of | the Bible, or anv part of it, is needed. Lo- | cally the criticisms and opinions are just |as adverse as elsewhere. i Archbishop Riordan says: The “Woman’s Bible’ is absurd; preposter- jous. There is no such thing as u ““Women's | Bible.” There is but one Bible, and that is for all mankind, which, of course, includes all womankind as well, As for the new translations of certain chap- | ters by Mrs. Stanton and her thirty iady associ- ates, that 1s equally absurd. Is there an intel- ligent person living who believes that the | Bible has passed down through all these ages; been translated by the wisest and best men of a1l nations; confinually ():(ll’cd over by the greatest scholars in the Greek and Hebrew languages, to be at last found wanting or de- ficient in any way by Mrs. Stanton in this nineteenth eentury? Who are these women who constitute them- selves a competent commiitee to translate the Bible? Have any of them ever been heard of as great scholars, or even students of the Bible? Have they devoted a lifetime to the study of the languages in which the original | Bible was composed? And if so, why is it that their names have never appeared beside those of the men who have made a life study of the | Seriptures—men who belonged to no church, belicved in no creed—who were students only, i and translated the books without prejudice, wozd tor word, &s they found them, | _As to the 150,000 blunders in Hebrew aud c re. | And to-day where the Bible has not gone |'with its humanizing and refining influence, | woman is the slave of the stronger sex, brande | by the scars ot his brutal violence. One of the | women revisers alludes to the fact that most pagan nations to-day deny to women the pos- session of somls. In Chine, while you ean | scarcely buy n boy at any price, you ¢an buy a 1 1 for 10 cents. The market rules there a little lower than on our Barbary Coast in this City! The infantieide of girls in India and China is an ordinary occurrence; in some provinces one-third of the girls born are murdered. The Koran commands wife-beating. But where the Bible holds sway woman is man’s peer and equel, “two in_council, two | beside the hearth, yoked in all exercise of noble ends.” As Jesus Christ took the maiden by the hand and said, “‘Arise,” so he has lifted all woman- hood to a larger, nobler life. He glorified womanhood by being born of woman: allo -ed one poot outeast woman to weep herself back to virtue at his feet, and tanght when another guilty woman was before him that a guilty Woman is no worse than a guilty man. In his final agouy his last look was to his mother, a working-woman, he: hands hard with toil; his ti .t was to provide her a home; his last d her dear name. From the Bible all woman’s future enlarge- ments and (‘mnncl‘yntions must come. It is the ethics of the Bible and spirit of Christi- anity that are yet to give woman an equal place in the councils of state end church. H. W. Beecher was a consistent advocate of woman’s rights to speak in the house of God, and on one occasion one of the shrieking sis- terhood addressed the congregation of Ply- mouth Church at wearisome iength. At the close the Plymouth pastor rose and with significant emphasis said, “Nevertheless, brethren, I betieve in women speaking!” So in_spite of woman's fool iriends and in spite of the puerilities and hysteria of those who would put out the light of God’s word by which woman has been led to the queenly po- sition she holds, I believe in woman having, like the daughters of Job, an equal inheritance with their brethren. Mrs. L. L. White said: The effect of new translations, so far as they vary from the old ones, is and must be to un- settle belief in the divine origin of the Scrip- tures. When versions shall sufficiently multiply, a majority of the verses and chapters will have diiferent meanings attached, and faith, the basis of religion, will vacate her seat and rea- son will be enthroned. The right to translate the Scriptures is & natural right of man, and many persons have exercised it, and no fauit can be found if women do so. If the Bible is a divine gift it was bestowed for the good of hu- manily, and not for the glory of Ged, and a translation by women will no doubt render service to mankind. A woman’s Bible, there- fore, will be a welcome and useful addition to the literature of the age, if for no other reason than that of showing the difference between the times when women believed that they were destined forever to follow lines assigned them by the priesthood, and those of to-day, when women view themselves as reasonable’ souls, { 7000 in Greek, claimed to have been made in the revised edition of 1889, I can vnly say that i 10 two men clothe their thoughts in exactly | the same language, though the subject under discussion may be identical. 80 it {s with the Scriptures; no matter how many fimes trans- lated, or by whom, the glorious truths will re- main, as theyare and ever have been, and it seems to me that women should have but little fault to find with them. The Bible has made woman just what she is— the Joved and honored of all men. Compare woman’s condition in any land where the Bible is not taught nor believed, to the civil- ized, christianized sections of the world, and tell me what it is that women want to find in the Scriptures. It is just possible that Mrs. Stanton and her co-workers are striving for notoriety—a front geat as it were. In that case I see not inT to be desired, as every foot of front space is already oecupied by the woman of to-day. Rabbi Voorsanger says: Not having seen the advance sheets of the “Woman’s Bible,” I cannot express an opinion on its merits. Ishould say, however, that the ladies have done perfunctory work. We need nosuch commentary as they will be able to give us. I understand their translation is nothing but a running commentary on the text. and for such work we need exverienced capable of reading and interpreting the Bible according to their own light. Mr. Murdock, the well-known when asked for an expression of on the subject, said: ‘Woman is alive to her rights; she wants to vote, and there is no g reason why she should not. That she longs for the ballot can be easily understood, but what she wants of a new Bible is not so plain. Of all the absurdities of the present situa- tion themovement for & revised Bible, in the interest of woman, seems the most glaring. What need is there for authority of any kind? What will be the value of an authority gained through any new transiations, attempting to read out that. which unpleasant, and read in that which is desirable? ‘The Bible is no longer blindly worshiped, and the phrases which reflect the estimate ol female character, &8 held by the writers, have no great weight; at least no greater than the same expressions set forth in other books. Woman cannot revise history, and to attempt to twist the words of the apostles into some- thing more in accord with modern conceptions will rather have the effect of confirming the low estimate sought to be removed. Ellen C. Sarcent said: Ihave not yet read the “Woman’s Bible,” ublisher, thought which, by the way, seems to be a misnomer, sineg, according to those best acquainted with the design of the authors, it is a mere com- mentary on certain passages relating to women. The value of such an undertaking is a matter of oriuion. It seems to me a waste of time and force that might more advantageously be employed 1 other directions. Sergeant McFee of the Saivation Army, speaking for himself and wife, said: The Bible just s it stands is good enough for us. It is ‘along the path made clear by the teachings of the Bible that the souls of all repentant sinners have found their way to Christ Jesus. We want a more thorough and heartfelt reading of the Scriptures; we want more faith in God, more charity toward all mankind; but we want no new Bible and no new translations of the old Bible. Women have nothing to gain by it and much to lose. Christ was born of a woman. No greater honor could be paid her sex than this. Let her read and understand the Bible better and she will have less fault to find with it. Mrs. E. 0. Smith of San Jose said: I don't believe in it. I would as soon engage in straightening the ancient Tower of Pisa as in trying to fit 5-ul'x opinion of women to the women of the nineteenth century. Woman is engaged at present in making & new gospel, and he who runs may read it. In this uew gospel Elizabeth Cady Stanton is one of the greatest prophets. £0 abead and not trouble themselves with the misfit garments of the past. A'PATRON OF THE ARTS. He Is Willing to Put Locsl Artists on Their Feet at Very Low Rates. For the last few weeks a man claiming to be from the art-purchasing centers of New York has been visiting the studios of our local artists with a view to selecting the best work they have and offering a ridicu- lously low rate for it. His method is unique, but so far has not been particularly fruitful either to himself or the ar.dsts visited. He generally strolls quests to see sorething good on the ground | that he is a buyer. ! *I would like to buy some pictures fora | New York house,” he begins, “‘and I know | vou fellows out here are great painters, but | have never had proper recognition. Now I | propose to give it to you. My friend, I can see at a glance that you are just the kind of aman that would make a stir in New York if some of your pictures were displayed for sale by the proper dealers; yes, by the proper dealers which I represent. Now | supnose you just let me have that land- | scape, that study from still life, that ballet- Scotland. Those are pretty good, and I am perfectly willing—perfectly, sir—to give you a good stiff price for them. Ah, umph—ah, say $60 for the lot. Of course [ don’t want the frames. How does ihat large price strike you?” As a general rule it takes an artist about one minute to see that the art patron is no slouch in the matter of making prices, even {if he is from a great and powerful New York purchasing center, but Californians are just about as familiar with the import- ance that money plays in the great game of living as_others, and the art patron from New York is being rapidly under- stood. At last accounts he had not found any artists who wanted to be put before the people of the metropolis—at those rates— | and it is not likely that he wil. ip s b i | Peter Matthews” Guardian. The petition of August Geis to have Frank Schilling appointed guardian of Peter Owen | Matthews, an_incompetent, came before Judge | Coffey yesterday. An affidavit from Matthews | Yet the old | set forth that George Cavanaugh, Matthews’ | present guardian, was appointed by | machinations of Mary Ann Matthews, the ! ward’s only living relative, and that the ap- | pointment was a conspiracy to defraud him of | s property. Judge Maguire, who acted as Matthews’ attorney in the former proceedings, said he was willing to allow’ any one satisfac- tory to the ward to be named as guardian, and | in this state the case was laid over until Mon- dav. Matthews has an estate worth about | $20,000. ————————— | Perfumes were extensively used in | ancient Ezypt for the embalmment of dead bodies. Let her and her followers | in with the air of a severe critic and re- | dancer and those two panels of the coast of | the | AFTER STRANGE GRASSES, James B. Olcott En Route to Australia to Collect Seeds and Sods. IS SENT OUT BY HIS STATE. What California Should Do With Her Overflowed Lands—*Greening” the Deserts. James B. Olcott of South Manchester, { Conn., who has been for many vears in charge of the State Agricultural Experi- ment Station there, is at the Russ. Mr. Olcott has for years been devoting much of his attention to raising grasses, and he has an enormous photograph with him show- ing hundreds of kinds of grasses in plots at the experiment station. Some of these grasses have been obtained from Korea, Japan and other parts of the world, but the larger number of them are those produced in the United States, or at least on this continent. Mr. Olcott has been in California before in connection with the securing of grasses. He is now on his way to Hawaii, New:.Zea- land and Australia. He has never been in any of these coun tries, and believes that | his researches and collection of seeds and sods of different kinds of grasses will be particularly valuable. He is sent at the expense of his State, which, he says, is far in the lead in its ex- periments regarding grass, and will remain at the Antipodes several months. | “Australia is a great country and has in it many English graziers,”’ said he, “and I | want to get over and see them and see | the native grasses. The English have paid | more attention to grass-growing and the proper handling of &rivestock on it than any other nation. * Over eighty years ago a book was pub- | lished in England on the various grasses, | the subseription price of which was 500 | guineas, and there is nothing better pub- lished at this day. About 100 years ago the | Duke of Bedford began on hislanded pos- | sessious the first notable experiments in | grass-growing and his line since then Lave | continued it.” T think the experiments of | the English Government are now being carried on on the Bedford estates. | **California will do well to give more_at- tention to the raising of grasses. You | bave lots of overflowed lands which some | day will be put_in grasses. They are the | best Jands you have, Grassof some kind | or other will also be grown on the now | desert wastes, I had a talk with W, H. | Mills of the Southern Pacific Railroad some time since about this. He fully recognized the value of ‘greening’ them. It is a great field for research and experi- | ment. Nothing is impossible with tue | right kind of grasses and proper care, but | the grasses must grow into the affections of those who raise them. “I expect to ship both seeds and sod from Australia and cultivate them.” Mr. Olcott has probably had more ex- | perience in grass-growing than any other | man in the United States. It has become the passion of his life. ‘When you read in the newspapers, on | the dissolution of a ministry, that the Queen sent for any particular personage to form another, you must not suppose it was her own inclinations dictated the se- | lection. She is supposed to take the ad- “ vice of the retiring minister as to the suc- | cessor he may deem most fitted to the | office. | 107-109 POST STREET. KOHLBERG, STRA NEW TO-DAY—DRY GOODS. Dress Goods, Blankets and Comforters at Market-street Store Only. The other Specials on sale at both stores. 1220-122-1224 MARKET STREET USS & FROHMAN. Thrifty Folks Money- For Thanksgiving Week. Will Appreciate Our Saving Prices CALIFORNTA WHITE WOOL BLANKETS, 10 better made in these grades, and prices as low as these cannot be found elsewhere. 64x80 inches, regular at $5 00. .$4.00 pair 68x80 inches. regular at 6 00. 4.50 pair $0x90 inches, regular at $8 50. 6.00 pair MARKE[-ST: STORE ONLY. EASTERN BLANKETS, part wool, heavy and ‘warm, white or colored. EIDERDOWN COMFORTS, ings, “Nght as a feather,” $5.00, $6.50, 87.50 MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. TINTED DERBY SUITINGS, a beauti- ful and seasonable noveity, 5 designs in 40 different colorings, warranted silic and wool, full 40 inches wide. MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. §3= SCOTCH CHEVIOTS, 36 inches wide, new dark color effects, neat checks and mixtures, warranted all wool, & third less than value. .. MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. $2% Suit BLANKETS, COMFORTS, SPREADS. 1 SATINE-COVERED COMFORTERS, good patterns, good colors, full large size, and guaranteed white cotton filling. VERY SPECIAL-$1.50 each MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. MARSEILLES BEDSPREADS, full large size, choice raised designs, exira heavy weight, one of the best makes, value #3 50, 10-4 size, the 83,00 grade 1.2 PRICE ONLY $2.50 11-4 size, the &) . -, 11°4 Size, the $4 50 rad 83.50 MARKET=ST, STOREIONLY, MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. HONEYCOMB BEDSPREADS, Marseilles patterns, big enough to “tuck in” all around, bought to sell at $1 25, and good value at that. e SPECIAL PRICE, $1.00 MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. UNMATCHABLE DRESS-GOODS PRICES. ENGLISH STORM SERGES, the gen- uine articie, in the new rongh effects; it is 54 inches wide, come i navy and Dblack only, and has been marked as a trade-inducer.. MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. RIPLEY'S FINEST BLACK GOODS, in the newest weaves and patterns, a1l the novelty figured effects, width 41 $32 Sulg, $3:2 e Suit MARKET-ST. STORE ONLY. DOUBLE YOUR MONEY’S WORTH. 4-BUTTON KID GLOVES, the very newest style heavy embroidered bucks, large pearl buitons to match; soft, pliable skins; browns, black, tan, nmavy, green, chzmpagne, red, pearl, white and pink; fitted and guaranteed. Poorer gloves thai these @3} .00 sell at $150; better get several pairs at special price.. AR SOFA PILLOWS, 22 inches square, cov- ered with handsome and fine quality satine, with deep ruffle to match, 1.50 filled with downoline, the cushion bar- — gain of the season, at... . Each FINE EMBROIDERED SILK HAND- KERCHIEFS, not the cheap, flimsy quality, but leavy. silk, beautifully woried in white or colors, worth and 76c each: 6 of these would make a lovely Christmas gift: they were shipped to a man who couldn’t pay for them and we got a bargain: hence our special prices..... 15° AND 25° SILK-FINISHED VELVETEENS, 20 inches wide, a full line of staple colors and all the latest shades.. . o