| Show THE THEY KEPT THE FAITH there have been published in the weekly inter lucean a hundred or more letters from men who cast their first votes for fremont or lincoln most of the first voters for lincoln served in the union army and a ma dortly of them became home makers in the newer west after the war all of them are telling stories of the kind that illuminate history for example one man severely wounded at cold harbor in 1864 and who saw in gen mcclellan his ideal soldier went to the polls on crutches and voted for abraham lincoln be cause he thought lincoln s platform was right and mcclellan s wrong another man who with ten thou sand other tan on soldiers was a ans oner at florence ala doted a alaci bean for lincoln the confederate author ties desiring to ascertain the sentiment of the union prisoners es a polling place and decreed the prisoners should vote white or black beans white beans for acciel lan and black beans for lincoln the emana abed and despondent men marched up to the polls and voted black beans for lincoln many 0 them saying all hell cannot 1 us vote white beans in other cases first votes for lin coin were cast in rebel stockades in others again on the eve of battle or on long marches or after battles of hose who voted tor lincoln in 1860 some came from the old whig party same from the democratic and not a ew from the free so 1 party letters hae been received from men who voted for harrison in 1840 clay in 1844 john P hale in 1852 premont in 1856 and lincoln in 1860 the sp nt that runs through all these letters is that of devotion to inn ciple pride in leadership like that f lincoln and exultation in having started right in the career of citizen alp the story of a man who rode fifty miles to vote for lincoln or who walked ten miles to vote for grant or who wounded was carried to the polls clutching a t c et for lincoln in his hand may seem extravagant in this day but they have the pathos of hero ism and they show what stuff the fighting amer can of forty and forty four years ago had in him when men come forward by the score to testify to the r pride in the fact that they voted for lincoln in troublous times there is afforded to the younger and indifferent voters of this later day a lesson in political con science and political conviction the first voters tor lincoln were men who stood fast when danger threatened who fought and won through their demotion to principle and who today rejo ce in the memory of duty done and faith kept chicago inter ocean BEAUTIFY THE EARTH the zeal for gardening that of late years has animated urban breasts has been looked upon by many as a fad but it has been proved to have deeper roots than belong to the genus fad and to have been more steady and more sturdy in its growth it Is more than a fad to the business man ho may be seen emerging from a seed store with his arms filled with bare graceless sticks that are to bear june roses it is more to the school boy who thinks a plant in the ground is worth two in the botany and it is infinitely more to the slum inhabitant to whom a chance tor a richer life has come in the form of garden opportunities down with the billboards and up with the gardens Is to be the cry in vacant lots it is to be hoped that the time Is not tar distant when all the bare places the unsightly rubbish heaps and the bleak schoolyards may be transformed into beauty spots achl cago tribune THE KISSING HABIT ethnologists tell us that among the primitive races kissing was unknown the lapps and maoris to day s amply rub noses even the aver ge native of japan still knows nothing about kissing the french and the germans are the great kissing races the learned erasmus who visited england in tu dod times says that the bucco investment as universal and that everybody kissed so that he that he was being kissed to death while there but science Is now mal ing a severe war on this too prevalent habit the new york medical journal says that it is the efficient cause of much inside ous bacterial infection even the em geror of germany has been forced to modify the habit boston globe GERM THEORY RUN MAD now that the scientists are discover ing everything to be germ infested and dangerous only one more point of at tack remains that will tail when the germ hunters discover that the human breath is swarming with bacilli and that the only way to be entirely safe Is to stop breathing already the flat has gone forth that we must atoo eat ing and drinking so that the last al is perhaps merely the logical conclusion of the whole germ theory baltimore american A GREAT MANS VALUE A great man is a gift in a measure revelation of god A great man alv ing for high ends is the diviness div inest thing that can be seen on earth the value and interest of history are derived chiefly from the lives and services of the eminent men whom it comm emor ates indeed without these there would be no such thing as history and the progress of a nation would be as little worth recording as the march ot a trading carava across a desert philadelphia ledger SELF COMMAND it goes without saying that what ever positive moral element there Is in courage comes not from the ab sence of tear but from its presence and the self command exerted to over come its effects the normally con man except in moments of ir ble excitement is frightened by any danger that confronts him this does not necessarily mean that he Is panic stricken but only that be Is conscious of the gravity 0 the it nation in which he finds himself it is then the part of manhood for him to take himself in hand and repress any demonstration of his fear which might react in a de ng way upon him self the courageous man makes up his mind that no matte what comes and no matter wl at threatens he will keep cool and do the best he cn he knows when he thinks it over calmly that his only hope rests in neer let ting go of himself but being constant ly in such a state of mind that he can tal e advantage of any opening that offers the frequent exertion of this self control results in gradual harden ing or seasoning so that although he never overcomes his fears it is pro gres easier for him to avoid being overcome by them the actually fearless man if we can imag ne one is not likely to be very highly organized for a fine organism means emotional susceptibility and substantially all savages are brave he may be a worthy enough person but more or less wooden he must be classified in an exclusive category since he possesses a trait of distinct lalue to aimse f and his fellows but devoid of any high moral quality As the ancient philosopher explained why the gods wished tor nothing by noting the fact that they had already every thing that heart could desire so we may say that the tearless man de serves no special credit for his good conduct in the face of peril because aft Is under no temptation to behave badly washington post OUT OF THE HARNESS AT 60 the death of mark hanaa at a time when waning physical strength had alveral times warned him that it was time to quit suggests an argument in the bankens magazine in favor of the early retirement of business men who have accumulated enough to secure them against want notwithstanding repeated arguments and admonitions n this direction the list of those distinguished for their successful attainment of wealth and fame who have continued their astren bous activities long after diminution of strength has warned them of the approaching end continues to be a very long one american business men prefer to die in the harness public opinion has not been tolerant of those who give up the strenuous struggle before their strength has wasted away indeed the man lays off the harness at 60 to devote the remainder of his years to follow ing personal tastes and proclivities Is very apt to be regarded as eccentric moreover men like russell sage cling to the daily grind ot business because it is their life to give it up Is to acl knowledge now ledge that the end is approach ng that the span of life Is about completed aiom this ac knowledg ment the sturdy captain of some great industry shrinks chicago record herald THE EVIL OF WORRY doubtless there has been more or less worry since adam hid in the bushes but it is a curious physiology cal indeed it may be a psychological fact that real worry the worry that has a definite cause Is not so wear ing as the imaginary worries that we persist in taking to bed with us we cannot rest and bausy at the same time and it is not hard to guess what will happen to the brain that insists on fretting and worrying when it should be enjoying the serenity of re pose there are doctors who can ex amine your eyes and tell you whether yo i have kidney disease but how much better it would be it some specialist could arise who can locate worry and pluck it out as it were by the roots it is a baleful source of poison at best and at its worst it Is ruinous happy the man who is able to take the measure of his worries and troubles and value them for what they are happy thrice happy is the man who can present to theli at tacks the impenetrable armor of se renley his years shall be long and full of charity his head shall be in the sunshine and there shall be no shadow about his feet old men will follow him and little children shall be his companions atlanta Cons titu tion SECOND WIND the runner who sets out on a two mile race usually passes through two distinct stages of exhaustion in the first quarter it the pace be fast he feels the first symptoms of breathless ness the throbbing temples the surg ing in the ears and the tightness about the chest that makes so many men drop out before completing halt the distance this might be called acute fatigue but if he can keep on the dis tress passes away the heart and lungs work a little harder and at last succeed in catching up with their task of the increased stream of sewage brought to the lungs by the blood to be carried off in the form of gases by respiration the distress disappears from the face the lunga seem to regain the power to expand and a crushing weight appears to have been lifted from the chest the head becomes clear and the muscles act with renewed vigor and elasticity the man has got his second wind outing help whoever whenever you can man forever needs aid from man E W allcox t |
