74 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ical; the innocence of the little plays and 

 the absence of abbreviated costumes is 

 positively refreshing." 



In its interior arrangement the theatre 

 is quite different in appearance from our 

 own, the boxes being on three sides, di- 

 vided into four floors reaching to the roof 

 and resembling our galleries. They are 

 plain, dirty, uncomfortable affairs. Down 

 below the choice seats are those directly 

 in front and that they are very near to the 

 deafening orchestra is no drawback. At 

 4 o'clock in the afternoon the matinee be- 

 gins and does not end until 8 in the even- 

 ing. It consists of three or four short 

 plays and admission is paid either by the 

 piece or. by the afternoon. There is" a 

 prompter who has a stand before the stage 

 and he reads the lines in an undertone a 

 few words ahead of the actors. As his 

 gestures can' be quite plainly seen by 

 those seated on the sides of the theatre 

 and as his voice even is often quite dis- 

 tinctly heard by them, it does not enhanee 

 the interest of the play. 



"The result of the war has, without 

 question, improved the general standing 

 of Americans in Mexico, and through the 

 same cause many Spaniards find that they 

 do not receive quite the same homage 

 from the native populace that they did 

 before their recent ignominious defeat. 

 These changes are not marked to the cas- 

 ual observer, but they exist and will work 

 to the advantage of American enterprise 

 and trade in the Republic." Modern 

 Mexico. 



The arrest of Jesse James, the son of 

 the noted out-law, brings the ''James 

 Brothers" once more to mind, Frank 

 still survives, being 55 years of age, and 

 recently paid his nephew a visit at Kan- 

 sas City. In a talk, with a reporter he 

 made a few remarks which, outlaw though 

 he has been, are worthy of repetition. 

 He said that some one, hearing him en- 

 dorse the policy of the present adminis- 

 tration, asked him if he had turned Re- 

 publican. Said he: "I replied that I had 

 not. But I told him I'll believe old Gen- 

 eral Joe Wheeler above any man on earth, 

 and I believe my boy who is now in the 

 regular army and got as far as Tampa. 



There's the authority of the highest an 

 the lowest, and it's good enough for me. 

 McKinley is my President, the flag is my 

 flag and I was an outlaw to the Union for 

 four years and to the world for fifteen, but \ 

 this is my country and I love it and hun- 

 dreds and thousands of detectives and a 

 price of $20,000 on my head couldn't drive 

 me out of it and it didn't. This is my ad- 

 ministration and I'll stand by what it did 

 even if I didn't vote for it. That's why I 

 let my only boy go into the army." 



A Spanish newspaper description of 

 Theodore Roosevelt is an example of un- 

 conscious and unintended humor, and will 

 cause American r-eaders many a hearty 

 laugh. The item in question is quoted 

 from a Madrid newspaper by the Saturday 

 En ninq Post and reads as follows: 



'The commander in chief of the entire 

 American army is one Ted Roosevelt, 

 formerly a New York policeman, who \rus 

 educated at Harvard Academy, a com- 

 mercial school (there being no universities 

 or colleges in America). His body-guard 

 is termed 'rough rioters.' " 



The Literary Digest of recent date, calls 

 attention to an article written by Mr. W. 

 H. Sargent in which he points out the re- 

 semblance certain mechanical appliances 

 bear to natural objects. It is interesting 

 to note, for example, how closely the hay- 

 tedder resembles the grasshopper's legs: 

 the pillar of an upright drill that of a tree 

 trunk in size and shape; the pulsometer, 

 the human heart: while the illustration of 

 a hay carrier is so much like that of a 

 crab that one wonders at never having 

 noticed it before. 



Mr. W. H. Hamlin, farm superintendent 

 of the Santee Normal Training School. 

 Santee Agency, Neb., writes that they are 

 trying to raise $3000 with which to put 

 down a good artesian well for irrigating 

 purposes. Of this amount $900 has al- 

 ready been contributed. The AGE wishes 

 them success in their efforts. 



In the August issue of the AGE mention 

 was made of a shooting affair that oc- 

 curred between two farmers of Idaho 

 Palls, Idaho, as a result of a dispute over 

 water rights. Mr. Johnson, the one who 

 did the shooting, was convicted at the 

 trial which was held not long ago, and a 

 damage suit will probably follow. 



