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Show STATUE TO LONGFELLOW. A short time ago a statue to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was dedicated in Washington with appropriate ap-propriate ceremonies. In the west about all the attention at-tention paid to the event was the announcement by telegraph that the dedication had taken place. Most of the eastern papers published a reproduction of the memorial and gave a short sketch of the life of the poet, but there was nothing commensurate to the occasion. Perhaps Longfellow has lost his hold on the hearts of the American people; perhaps he is no longer considered the greatest of American poets. Xo one attempts to hold up the verses and poems of Longfellow as perfect examples of rhyme and rhythm. Indeed there are many defects which even a second-class rbymster would now avoid, but there can be no doubt that Longfellow caught the passing note of his day and generation and built about it a harmony that is pleasing even in this critical day. It is probable, however, that Longfellow has not suffered more than any other poet in the busy world. It may be said with slight fear of contradiction contradic-tion that the American people do not care much for poetry any more; they know the price of silver and the market price, of their favorite stock, or perhaps the odds offered on their favorite horse. Poetry is a dead weight, like music and the drama, and in some eases, like religion. Wo are too busy to pay much attention to these things; besides, there is no money in them. Happily there are a few left whose business activities permit them to take a lively in terest in poetry and literature in general, and this statue to Longfellow is one of the evidences that we are not all money grabbers. The finer things of life must be preserved for the coming generations if thosa generations are not to become a sordid and irreligious lot. Longfellow may not have been a great poet, but he was a great idealist, and the statute to him is a fitting memorial. |