OCR Text |
Show HE way to begin living the ideal life is to begin. A girl of 16 saw this line printed on a butchers calendar some 40 years ago. It was a rainy afternoon, with the grim outside world was growing dark. The girl tired, puzzled, more than a little frightened and sad, and dressed in shabby mourning. THEY STARTED THE WHOLE AFFAIR . . . of the d labor bill which occasioned one of the hottest battles in modern congressional history are Rep. Fred A. Hartley (Rep., N. J.) (left) and Sen. Robert A. Taft (Rep., O.). Sponsors of the labor reform measure are shown here as they met on the senate side of the capitol to discuss the final showdown on the bill which took place in rs It was shabby mourning because it was cheap mourning, as so often much-debate- the senate. NO PRINCE CHARMING . . . When Albert F. Lange of North Arlington, N. J., stepped off plane in London, he announced that he had arrived in England to marry Princess Elizabeth. Officials promptly shipped him back to the United States. Lange said he has seen the princess in a mist in his dreams ever since he was five. LOOK, GIRLS, A REAL ARABIAN PRINCE . . . Three girl students at the Bayside, L. I., high school appear reasonably thrilled over meeting a genuine Arabian prince. He is Prince Nawaf Ibn Abdul Aziz (but whats the initial?), the son of King Saudi of Arabia. Prince Nawaf, all decked out in his regal raiment, visited the school in order to get a rough idea as to how American youngsters receive their education. DOESNT LIKE CLOTHING . . . Not a cloth eater is this royal walnut moth, enlarged to about three times its natural size. Just emerged from its shell-lik- e pupa, this moth will have a wingspread of five inches. ft mourning clothes must be. She had worn it only a few months hard and bewildered months. She took her packages of codfish or sausages or whatever it was and went home, thinking of the words on the calendar as she went. When she got home she told her sister she was going to live by those words for a year a year anyway. She was destined to live only 20 more years, and die beloved and admired, and the happy mother of children. But she never forgot that the way to begin living the ideal life was simply to begin. She began in the little group of orphaned brothers and sisters who were waiting for the sausages. She didnt say much about it, but everything she touched from that time on was touched with magic. Butter was rolled into balls again, as in her mothers gracious day. A picnic meal was served among the pines that surrounded the reservoir across the street. A pair of new stockings awaited a pair of tired feet; the new cake of soap in the bathroom was scented and rare. She would read a poem at dinner; bring home an even less fortunate friend for supper. Often the flowers that kept the house sweet were only field flowers from vacant city lots. The Ideal Life. Often in winter, in the shabby living room that was dining room, too, when the fire burned, and the brothers grumbled over the carving of model boats or plans for the machinery that was presently to make their fortunes, with an older sister idly playing old songs at the piano, the two youngsters busy with homework and the cat placidly asleep in an old aunts arms, she would look wistfully about. This is ideal, isnt it? The family income for more than two years averaged $85 a month for seven persons. It was a long time ago; it couldnt be done now, financially. But it was done without debt and without undue anxiety then, because economy and thrift and simplicity were ideal, and the way to begin living the ideal life was to begin. This is not a fairy-talthis is simple truth. And it is true of the lives of thousands of women who have found out, whether they ever put it into words or not, that the material conditions that surround them are not the important ones that love, service, order, peace of mind are all conditions of heaven on earth, and that, as the wisest voice of all 'told us two thousand years ago, the kingdom of heaven is within each and every one of us. What can you do? demands Nadine Powers of Buffalo, N. Y. Sidneys pay is $37 a week, no more and no less. We have two kids perhaps we shouldnt have had two kids, but we love them, and when were not worried to death we love each other. Horribly Discouraged." But what with Sidney coming home dead tired every night, and Sheila and Peter getting up to 14 and 12, more expansive all the e, v ASSISTANT SECRETARY ... OPOSSUMS FOR FLATMATES It isnt every boy who has eight opossum (or possum) pups for pets, possibly because it isnt every son boy who would want that many. But Jimmy Harris, of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harris of near Geneseo, HI., thinks its great fun. Some of the eight are shown here as they cling to his clothing and pereh on his head. They, were captured, with their mother. . . . Charles Saltzman, of the New York stock exchange, ' has been named by President Truman as assistant secretary of state in charge of occupied areas affairs. He succeeds John J. vice-preside- ' nt Hill-drin- g. j THE HAPPY LIFE True happiness doesnt depend on a high income, social position or beauty. These things may help, but we all know people who have everything, and yet are miserable. Miss Norris reveals the "secret of the hap py life in todays article. Its something everybody knows, but few have courage and sense enough to apply the rules to their own lives. Miss Norris tells a story of a poor girl, left an orphan at 16, who had to care for her younger brothers and sisters and an old aunt. With an income of only $85 a month, she managed to keep this family of seven well fed and clothed. More than her achievement in keeping the borne together, however, was her cheerful determination to maintain a spiritual haven for her relatives. It was a matter of attitude and of little acts, like reading poems, keeping flowers on the table, fixing the meals attractively. Almost any woman, says Miss Norris, could begin this new joyous way of living any time, if she would just determine to begin. It is merely a matter of facing things squarely, of doing the best that can be done under the circumstances. After the family affairs have been put on a sound basis the atmosphere of the home must be made cheerful, happy and sweet by little attentions that mean so much more than any costly goods. time, and food what.it is, why we just are never caught up, and bills pile up day after day. I cant seem to keep the house attractive and in order, we need paint and paper, new draperies, new dining room furniture. What with incessant dishes, dust, shabbiness, money shortage, I get horribly discouraged. We have four rooms and what Peter calls his cell, a little slice of space off the kitchen, just big enough for his bed. His chest of drawers stand in the tiny entrance hall. The dining room is Sheilas bedroom; we. eat in the kitchen; two of our seven windows look out on a dull street, two on a line of. bare backyards, three onto air wells. Sheila will soon want to be where? She entertaining friends and Peter want to join skating, swimming, tennis clubs; some of their friends ride, go away for the summers. Sid and I want to do our best for our children. We have sacrificed everything for them. But we know now that we simply cant make the grade." This is a typical letter. But the ideal life is in rfeach of Sidney and Nadine, if theyll look for it. It would lie in their case in a more realistic attitude toward the things they may properly give their children, and ffie things those children must earn for themselves. It might mean a move to the country, or the taking on of larger responsibilities in larger quarters, or forming some plan any plan, that will inspire them all to want the real rather than the show. Not easily, perhaps, and not swiftly, but their lives, and all others, can be freed of fear and anxiety. And the way to begin is to begin. |