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8 Entered at Second Class Postage Rates. WOMAN’S WORK, A. MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE AND DOMESTIC SCIENCE. PUBLISHED MONTHLY, AT ATHENS, GEORGIA. ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR. TEN CENTS PER COPY. EDITED bjj KATG GARLAND, Assisted bv the Best Talent. How bona Whether we are young or old depends largely on the . standpoint from which we view the question. I heard i 10 a child asked as to the age of a gentleman relative and We Lived? she replied, “Why, he’s old; he must be at least thir ty!" When she reaches the age of thirty years she will perhaps think sixty is just beginning to get old. One man or woman may feel very old at the same period of life that another feels quite young, and it has been said that we are just as old or just as young as we feel. Many of us are growing old faster than we should: all of us are constantly growing older, and in the course of nature we must inevitably reach the end of our allotted time. To some, the years pass but slowly; to others of us they speed swiftly by, and on a near “to-morrow” our earthly record shall be closed. Some one has said that time does not fly, that time is stationary— the same yesterday, to-day, and forever—while we come on this stage, linger for a short while, and pass away to be known no more on earth. Perhaps it matters little to us which way the problem is stated, for the result is the same: we know the things of this world for a season, and then we go to that great beyond from whence no mortal return eth. By faith alone we may know just why we must go, and where we shall go, but faith tells us that it is all a part of God’s great plan —that we should earnestly, cheerfully, happily do our fullest possible part towards the realization of that plan. In the highest and best sense it matters little how long we live, but it matters much indeed how well we live. The pupil who is mark ed perfect in each lesson will leave a fine school record whether the term is a long or a short one; but if all the marks are a discredit, then there is no hope for achieving a worthy result by prolonging the term. So it is in our relations with our fellow beings: if our every influence is for the uplifting of humanity we may expect the “well done, thou good and faithful servant” as a badge of honor at the end (?) —no, at the real beginning of our existence. The body may grow old and weak, but the spirit may be kept young and strong and hap py forever. If We Could Haven’t you heard persons say they wish very much . . to know just how many years are left to them on Only earth? They could then make intelligent plans to rorctell! accomplish everything possible during the allotted time! They could accomplish so much more if they only knew the length of life, so that nothing will be left unfinished when the end shall come! Alas for the discontented, murmuring spirit of humanity! I can imagine no greater calamity that could befall us than if we might have foreknowledge of the date on which death shall come to each of us. What suspense and confusion and misery would be our lot if we could count just the number of days or months or years that are left for our labors here! I seriously doubt if most of us would really ac complish anything worthy of intelligent and spiritually-endowed men and women. Each day we would count and recount the number of days remaining to us, and lament the insufficiency of time in which to do anything worth while. Every plan and every interest would then seem to require a longer period than that left to us, and so our lives would be worse than wasted. Most of us accomplish but little at best. Few if any among us are living up to the possibilities of our endowments and our oppor tunities. I think the principal reason for this is the fact that we are always looking for big opportunities, to the neglect of the important little (?) ones which are ever at hand. It would be a great blessing to us and to those about us and to all who are directly or indirectly af fected by our lives, if we would faithfully perform our part in all things great and small as they come to us—leaving the question of results to an Allwise Power who will direct as to the length of our lives and the fruits of our labors if we but labor diligently. • ♦ • For What The purposes of a life are of far greater importance than the length of that life. One man may accom . ... n plish more for the welfare of humanity in a day than We Living.' another accomplishes in an entire lifetime; not be cause of superior ability, but because of consecrated effort in behalf of others—in behalf of the right. The efforts of a good woman in her humble home may do more for the best interests of mankind than the influence of a reigning queen, surrounded by all the pomp and ceremony of royalty—if the former is concerned for life’s highest and best ideals while the latter seeks merely to gratify a selfish desire for power or vainglorious display. In either case (that of the man or of the woman) it is not so much a difference in natural ability as of life-purposes, of ideals, of effort. As a rule there is no great disparity in the natural endowment of human beings belonging to the same race; the distinctions we see are largely the result of environment, of opportunity, of individual ef fort. I think the fact that one person succeeds where another fails is not often due to the differences of mental capacity, but to differ ences of mental and physical energy. I think there is many a man between plow-handles or at the artisan’s bench who has ample natural Woman’s Work. ability for a high order of statesmanship. I also feel sure that there are many men attempting to serve in the role of statesmen who might far better promote the interests of our kind if they were honestly and earnestly tilling the soil somewhere on our plains or hillsides or meadows. The matter of vocation is not so important as the manner of application. If our boys and girls would fully realize and accept as a fact that all honest employment is honorable, it would be one of the greatest blessings that could come into their lives. If they could feel that to live in idleness or to labor indifferently is disgraceful we would begin an era of far greater achievement, and there would be a great broad ening of life’s purposes throughout all civilization. • • • SeeklHO The man of wealth or the intelligent business man ** is very careful to seek financial investments that flOOd are deemed safe and that are reasonably sure to- Investments, produce satisfactory dividends. This is entirely natural and proper: any other course would invite suspicion of men tal malady, either acute or mild. Such being the case, how strange it is that these same men are so often indifferent to the investment of a far more valuable asset —their influence. Surely character and the influence we exert should be regarded as our most precious possession. We should protect it with jealous and zealous care —should investit only where it w 11 yield large dividends for our enrichment. The chief beauty of such investment lies in the fact that the more valuable we make this possession to ourselves the more helpful it becomes to others; we cannot use it for self alone, or for selfish ends, without destroying it; we cannot use it in its highest sense and to greatest advantage without adding to it" value. We should be very grateful for such priceless possession and such rich opportunity as this, but I fear there are few if any of us who prize it at its real worth. If it were only of a nature that we consider tangible—if it were a material possession—how we would exert our selves to convert it into profit! And yet there is nothing else that can come to us in this life that is quite so valuable or that will pay so handsomely as the good reputation we make —the good influence we may exert. Ido not mean that this is true only of a few gifted in dividuals; I mean that it is true of you, of me, of every man or wo man who will earnestly endeavor to use to best advantage the natural talents and daily opportunities that are common to all of us. Great may be the influence of the smallest effort or the humblest life; let us not forget what the Master said of the widow’s mite. • • « Profits Btated intervals the prudent business man will count j up to see the results of his operations. If he is gaining . in assets or in volume of trade he wishes to know how LOSSES, much; if he is losing, it is important to ascertain how and why and where. He may make this comparative showing each day or each week, or it may be monthly or yearly, according to the nature of his business. Why shouldn't we pursue some such plan as this in our mental and spiritual interests—in cur associations and our influences, our relations with mankind in general and with those near and dear to us in particular? Os course we cannot always count it in dollars and cents, for it is well that we cannot reduce everything in this life to a money basis; and yet if we should attempt to put a price on every deed, it might be a surprise to find the value to us of some trivial act in behalf of the needy or the suffering about us. Render a service to some one who is not accustomed to receiving kind attentions: note the expression of surprise and of appreciation; think of the comfort you have bestowod, of the happy sentiments you have awakened in another heart and in your own; then sit down and attempt to calculate what it was worth to you; ask yourself what it would take in mere silver or gold to make you undo the kindness you have bestowed. I think the amount would astonish you; I think it would be somewhat like the poor but loving parent who was asked to name a price he would take tor his child, but he shook his head and said his child was not made for that purpose—that some values could not be counted in mere coin which was made for use in barter and sale. Suppose The merchant counts up to see what he has accu mulated in goods—what wares are on hand and what Tn bp Stnrbl gain has come from merchandise sold. Suppose we t Bee just what we have accumulated in assets of hap piness and usefulness. If we are useful we are more than likely to be happy: if we are happy-natured we are in a fairway to prove useful in all the affairs of life about us. Perhaps you have gradually saved from your income until you possess a fair share of this world’s goods; perhaps you are too wise to hoard it or to become miserly, but you prudently guard your proper ty and you are hoping to see it increase from year to year. Perhaps you shall enjoy having it grow to large proportions, but you can nev er afford to make it the main object of your affections—to the neglect of life’s best opportunities and highest purposes. Worldly gain may be nobly used for the advancement of God’s cause through the wholesome enlightenment and elevation of His peo ple; but worldly gain may prove life’s greatest curse, if it is clung to and treasured only for the satisfaction of its possession—if it is allow ed to overshadow the ennobling interests which are ever at hand to demand our attention if we will but give it. I don t claim to be better than other people, but I have never un derstood how any satisfaction can come from wealth except through its use for the benefit of mankind. May be if lam ever so- fortu nate (?) as to become financially independent I shall cultivate the short sighted and mistaken view that money is in itself worth loving and holding, but I trust tor a clearer conception of its best purposes -a true appreciation of its proper uses which shall prompt me to use it worthily if it shall ever be entrusted to me for use. I suppose men MARCH, iftio