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THE YOUNG SOUTHERNER
Sweet Friends of My Youth.
I cannot forget thee, sweet mother of mine,
For never was mother-love greater than thine;
And no heart in the wide world was ever more true
Than the one that now fills with remembrance of you.
I cannot forget thee, dear friend of my youth,
Whose soul was my sanctum of love and of truth;
Whose heart was a refuge for mine in distress;
Who oft’ soothed my sorrow with tender caress.
Not more of an angel in Heaven above
Can you be than you were to my childhood’s great
love;
And I’ve felt your dear presence through perilous
years
Breathing pity and pardon and wiping my tears.
I cannot forget thee, dear mother of mine,
And the tears and the love that have mingled with
thine,
And the heart that was ever my haven of truth;
I cannot forget thee, sweet friend of my youth!
—George F. Viett.
A writer, wishing to illustrate the beauties of the
II simple life,” told, with commendation, of a family
whose “income was sufficient to command practically
anything within reason,” but with whom the ques
tion was “not what we think we need, but what we
can do without.”
The mistress of this home, the writer said, studied
the question of getting along with as few servants
as possible. “Now, mark you,” the writer contin
ued, “this was a good-sized house of seventeen rooms
and had a generous number of acres of land around
it.”
Yet the mistress studied how she could get along
with as few servants as possible, and the master
would have no stable on the premises because he
could hire a carriage or a horse when one was needed
and thus dispense with the services of a coachman
and groom and “have two people less to bother
about. ’ ’
Two men were employed to mow the lawn when it
was necessary, but no regular gardener was em
ployed, for the reason that for the “five cold months
of the year his services would not be needed.” Yet,
during these five cold months the man who might
have been the regularly employed gardener must live
and perhaps support a family. So, also, must the
would-be coachman and groom.
This 'man of whom the writer quoted told was
not actuated by miserly motives, and no doubt would
cheerfullv give a few dollars to any one in actual
want. But to mv mind the truest charitv is to help
people to help themselves. There are al wavs num
bers of persons who must work for their dailv bread
or beg. If. like the men in the parable who lingered
idle until the eleventh hour, no man hires them, how
are they to earn?
It is right to live simply and without ostentation,
and of course reasonable eeonomv even among people
of wealth is to be commended and extravagance con
demned. but if nennle whose “income is sufficient to
command practically anything within reason” would
study, not how to get along with as few servants
as possible, but rather, how to give reasonable em
ployment at equitable wages to as many as possible,
they would come nearer living the simple life which
exemplifies true Christian spirit.
One of our young correspondents says in her letter
that she wishes to become an artist, and with that
thought in mind she will, when she visits the country
during her vacation, “sketch the beautiful land
scapes and old bridges.” That is the way to attain
success in any career. Select your life work, if you
Conducted by Louise Threete Hodges.
may; then keep the thought in mind and aim for
the top of the ladder. This is a day of specialists
and if you would reach the highest measure of suc
cess you must learn to do your work better than
other people can do it. And to prepare yourself for
this you must keep the thought in mind.
Os course a thorough, all round education is the
best basic preparation for any vocation—any career;
but while attaining that one may keep in mind the
special work that one means to do; then everything
that comes to hand will in a measure be grist for
that mill.
One trouble with many persons is they wish to
reach the end without troubling much about the be
ginning. They are too impatient for results, and the
consequence is they never have any that are worth
while. Real success in any line of work must be
reached by earnest, painstaking preparation.
With Correspondents.
Dear Editor:
This is my first letter to you. You asked the boys
and girls to tell you what they think of vacation.
Most children think vacation is the time for play
and not for work, because they have been studying
hard for a long time. But I think it would be very
tiresome to do nothing but play all day long. The
poet says:
“Spring would be but gloomy weather
If we had nothing else but spring.,”
and the same is true about play.
“Work while you work and play while you play”
is a very good motto, because after your work is
done you feel so free and enjoy yourself so much
more.
In vacation I usually go to the country to visit
some of my relatives. That always means lam going
to have a good time. We go on picnics out in the
woods and gather wild flowers.
Another reason why I like vacation is because my
birthday comes then.
Tn vacation one can do what one wants to do with
no thought of books or school; still, it is best to
have some work or study along with the play.
Truly yours,
Atlanta, Ga. Gussie Fraser.
This is your first letter, Gussie, to The Young
Southerner, but I hone it will not be your last. I
am sure you can find many things of interest during
yonr vacation to write to us about. Tell us of some
of the principal industries in the places you visit.
J)par Editor:
You desired the young people to tell you what they
thought of vacation.
Vacation comes but once a year and then let us
enjoy it. Many leave the hot, dusty cities and go to
the country where all is quiet and rest. For those
who stay at home in the cities there are many good
times in store— trolley rides, visits to the parks,
and long walks to the woods, and if not these then
one can stay at home and enjoy some good hooks in
a cosv hammock. Then the picnics to which we
are often invited in vacation give us a taste of the
simplicity of country life.
Tn the country we enjoy many kinds of fruits,
spring water, pure fresh air and quiet.
Many an old orchard has its swing where the
children come in vacation and play.
There is the brook to fish and wade in, the woods
to roam, the flowers to pick, the chickens to feed,
and best of all, the horses to ride every morning
before breakfast.
For the grown-ups there are parties, picnics, fish
ing and tennis.
At the summer resorts there are few real pleas
ures for children. The same stupid drives and walks
The Golden Age for May 31, 1906.
to take dressed in your best clothes. Still, some
people prefer spending vacation in this way.
Compare the three places for spending vacation.
Has not the country the most pleasures in store for
you ? Yours respectfully,
Elizabeth Quillian.
Atlanta, Ga.
With your philosophical turn of mind and your
observing eyes I am sure Elizabeth that you could
spend a pleasant vacation almost anywhere.
Your letter is interesting. Write again.
Dear Mrs. Hodges:
Would The Young Southerner like to have a letter
from a girl of Gadsden ? Our town is situated on the
Coosa river and is a pleasant place to live. Steam
boats ply up and down the river as far as Rome, and
it is very pleasant to take a trip on one of them,
although they travel much slower than the trains.
It is pleasant and interesting to sit on the deck and
watch the rippling water as the sunlight glistens on
it, and also the pretty trees and fields along the
banks.
Not far from Gadsden on top of Lookout Moun
tain is a beautiful waterfall, called Black Creek
Fall. The water pours over a great ledge of rock
and falls straight down for about seventy feet and
forms a great deep pool. The ledge over which the
water pours extends far out so that one down in the
chasm can walk around the pool and stand back of
the water as it falls. There are steps leading down
into the chasm and there are many beautiful nooks
formed of great rocks, about which many Indian
legends are told.
Gadsden is a great manufacturing town, and new
industries are frequently being added.
I like very much to read, and if you publish this
letter I may tell you next time of some of the books
I have enjoyed most. Very truly yours,
Alabama Girl.
Gadsden, Ala.
Alabama, your description of Black Creek Falls
is quite interesting. You write entertainingly. Let
us hear from you again.
The Boys’ World.
“The value of glass may far exceed that of gold.”
The front lens of a micro-objective, costing $5, does
not weigh more than about 0.0018 gram, which
weight of gold is worth about one cent, and so the
value of a kilogram of such lenses would be about
$3,000,000. The cost of the raw material for making
this weight of glass is five cents , and thus,
when worked up into the shape of a lens, the glass
has been increased in value about fifty million times.
Such disparity between the cost of the raw material
and the manufactured article is probably a record
in industrial technics.—Amateur Work.
Dear Editor:
My teacher wishes me to write to The Golden Age,
and since you request the young people to tell you
what they think of vacation I will write on that
subject.
Os course every girl has some idea of what she
would like to be when she is grown, and as art is my
favorite study I think I shall be an artist. With this
thought in mind I intend to spend most of my vaca
tion in the country, where I can sketch the beautiful
landscapes and old bridges.
Vacation should be spent by everyone in doing the
things that give them and others most happiness and
pleasure.
I intend to go to Savannah and spend a few days
where I can get the fresh ocean breeze.
In vacation I always want to travel, draw and
paint, but when this pleasant part of the year is
over Atlanta is the place for me.
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