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THE YOUNG SOUTHERNER
1 Conducted by Louise Threete Hodges.
All communications and contributions intended
for this department should he addressed to Mrs.
Louise T. Hodges, 83 East Avenue, Atlanta, Ga.
“In this world there will always be things to annoy.
And life’s lessons are hard to be learned,
But to cheerily look on the bright side, my boy,
Is the best for all parties concerned.
If you smilingly go to your work with a will,
There’ll be joy in your heart all the day;
If you frown the big load will grow heavier still
And you’ll have a hard pull all the way.
It is work while we live, and it’s rest when we
die,
In that city where sorrow is not,
And we ought to feel glad, and we can if we try,
And contented, though humble our lot.
—F. L. Bixby, in Nebraska State Journal.
Various attempts have been made at different
times to invent a language that would appeal to
all civilized peoples and be adopted as a universal
medium of communication, but all such efforts have
hitherto failed of success.
At last, however, a Russian physician. Doctor
Zamenhof, we are told by a writer in the Ladies’
Home Journal, has invented or compiled a language
which seems to have at least one requisite for an
international language, viz., simplicity.
While “Esperants”—that is the name of the
new language—has been successful in Europe for
three or four years, it has just been proposed to the
attention of the American people, says the writer,
and the success promises to be as great, if not great
er, here than in Europe. There are Esperanto
clubs, the writer goes on to say, all over the world.
In Paris alone forty-five courses in Esperanto were
given last winter, and one of the clubs had no fewer
then three thousand members.
The new language is said to be a marvel of sim
plicity. One central idea is the basis of the whole
scheme: “Esperanto makes use of everything that
is common to our civilized languages, and drops all
■ that is special to any one of them.
“All sounds that are common to all languages
are kept; the others are dropped. For instance,
the English ‘th’ and ‘w’ which are very difficult
for people of other nations are dropped; the French
‘u’, the Spanish ‘j’ and ‘n’ have the same fate.
“There is no trouble in Esperanto about spelling.
There are no mute letters like the ‘w’ in the Eng
lish ‘written.’ For the letters that remain there
is the inflexible law: One letter one sound; one
sound one letter.”
There is not a new word in the language. “By
all means make use of what people already know,
thought Doctor Zamenhof, and he did not invent
one new word. But he took words in current use
in various nations; he only changed their spelling
in order to make the language more simple.”
“So there will be very few words, comparatively,
that will he entirely new to any one; most of those,
it will be found, are small words like conjunctions
or prepositions, as they are seldom alike in different
languages.”
It would seem that, since the new language is
so simple and a knowledge of it so easily acquired
it may in time come into universal use at least for
commercial purposes.
Hawks and Story Books.
“In earlier days the farmers’ boys used to run
for the gun whenever a hawk was seen wheeling in
the air, and many an innocent bird was slain be
cause some hawks do now and then kill a chicken.
But today we hope the farmers know better, and
have taught their boys that most hawks do more
The Golden Age for May 10, 1906.
good than harm, and that only a few kinds are the
farmers’ enemies.
There was a time not so many years ago, when it
was considered by many parents a waste of time to
read any but ‘serious books,’ and all story-books
were frowned upon. Even when Sir Walter Scott
was writing his wonderful Waverly Novels, one
reason he had for concealing his authorship was the
fear that his story-writing would be thought undig
nified. Today it has been learned that among sto
ries, as among hawks, there are the harmful and the
helpful kind. Yet still there are some traces of the
old feeling,- and some children are constantly ad
vised to choose the ‘serious books’ or ‘solid read
ing’ only. A story told of himself by a historian
will shed some light on this question.
He said that after he had tried for some years to
acquaint himself with life in Byzantium, he could
acquire only the vaguest idea of it from the his
torians, but when he read Scott’s ‘Count Robert
of Paris’ the period seemed to come at once to life
in his mind. So much for a good story-writer as
compared to historians with less imagination.”—St.
Nicholas.
Some “solid reading” is of course necessary
even for boys and girls; besides “serious books”
are not all dull and uninteresting. Some histories,
biographies, travels, etc., are as fascinating as any
story-book. Still it is well to have variety and 1
am glad that so many good writers are putting their
best work in stories for young people. Many of
these stories are altogether delightful and I do not
wonder that the boys and girls like them. I hope
we shall continue to have a great number of them.
But, young friends, don’t let the story-books crowd
out the “solid reading” altogether.
L. T. H.
With Correspondents.
Dear Editor: Will you please print this letter?
It is my first letter. My subject is
The Average Farmer.
Farmers are the backbone of the whole country.
They have someties been looked upon as a lower
class of people, but that was because most of the
farmer boys who got an education rushed off to the
cities. But now we have a mass of bright boys on
the farms, and they are climbing to the top of the
hill. 1 r'-R;
Some of our men who have held high office were
farmers; for an example, one of our governors was
in the field binding wheat when he was elected.
Farmers should have nice, comfortable homes, as
well as those who live in cities. Some farmers
think just because they are going to live on a farm
they do not need an education; but this is not true.
If we run large farms and keep machinery and
other thing’s which are needed on a farm, we should
have education. We should know the laws of the
country, and how to vote for the best men to make
good laws.
The boys who expect to be farmers should con
sider all these things and get an education, just the
same as if they were going to follow any other busi
ness. If they can go to college, they should study
hard, then come home and settle down and make
intelligent, industrious, honorable farmers.
Yours truly, Tilden Ellington.
Oxford, Ga.
Dear Editor: I have been very much interested
in The Young Southerner. The letters are, I think,
good, and so is the poetry and other things on the
page. I wish some one would write some good little
stories for us, and also send some puzzles and
games. I like very much to play nice games.
I like both the city and country, the city for a
home and the country to visit. There are many
things of interest to be found in both.
lam a member of a girls’ club. There are six of
us and we are all about fourteen years of age (two
are nearly fifteen). We call our club the Work
and Play Club. We meet once a week and do some
pretty fancy work. We always make- something
useful, and each one tries to find out something
new to teach the club. After we work a while, one
of us reads aloud a 'nice little story or a pretty
poem, then we sing a song and play games.
Sincerely yours,
A Club Member.
Dear Friends: I want to write to the Young
Southerner. My father takes The Golden Age, and
we all enjoy reading it very much. I like The
Aoung Southerner and the “Marvelous Light” the
best of the Golden Age.
We live in the country, and I love the trees, flow
ers, fields and animals.
We all are very sorry for the poor, homeless peo
ple at San Francisco, but hope they will not suffer
from sickness and hunger.
The boys and girls’ letters are fine, but I hope
the boys will not get ahead of the girls.
I have written enough for this time, but hope
the editor will have this short letter printed. I
will close with all love to the little boys and girls
that write for The Young Southerner. I am
Your friend, Annie L. Thornton.
. Columbus, Ga., R. F. D. No. 4.
Dear Editor: I thought I would write to The
Young Southerner and add another letter to the
boys’ list.
Igo to school. I am in the Fourth grade. I go
to Sunday school every Sunday. My papa has been
superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school for
several years. Rev. L. T. Reed is our pastor, and
I enjoy hearing him preach very much.
We had a church rally the second Sunday in
April. Mr. W. D. Upshaw was here, which added
greatly to every one’s pleasure. I made him a
promise that I would never smoke, chew or drink,
and I am going to keep it.
I have one sister. She goes to Monroe College.
Hoping my letter won’t be thrown in the waste
basket, I will close with all good wishes for The
Young Southerner Yours very truly,
Lithonia, Ga. George A. Coffey.
A Drummer Boy.
Tired from a long walk, which had just led
through an old wood lot densely covered with a low’
growth of bushes and brambles, I sat down to rest.
At my feet trickled a little brook, and opposite rose
a gentle slope covered with hickories, seemingly an
ideal place for birds.
As I looked about, my eyes rested on a stump, and
standing on it, though scarcely discernible on ac
count of the blending of color was a cock partridge.
The bird strutted about on the stump with droop
ing wings, his fine tail spread and ruff raised, ap
parently looking to see if he was observed. No
one was looking, he concluded, and so he stood
erect and preened himself. Then the woods re
sounded with his drumming. He seemed to produce
the sound by striking his wings against the side
of his body. This, he did very slowly at first, then,
after a short pause, he gradually increased the
speed until the sound died in a continuous whirr.
Ten consecutive times I saw this partridge drum,
and every time he went through the same prelimi
nary movements.
All summer I thought of this persistent fellow,
drumming on his stump to call a mate. Always
there came the wish that the ruthless hunter would
spare his life, and that he might secure a loving
mate. Elf si a Space Jackson, in Ornithologist.
L. T. H.
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