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THE WOLVERINE OBSERVER
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THE STAFF
James C. Reese Editor-in-Chief
John R. Sanders Associate Editor
David Talbot Associate Editor
Naomi Whatley Society Editor
Donald Smith Sports Editor
James T. Redd Business Mgr.
Paul Owens News Reporter
Lillie Glads News Reporter
James Williams Humor
Dorothy Cobb Feature
Harold Amold___ Advertising
Esther Jones Press
Walker Solomon Press
The Wolverine Observer is a publication printed monthly under the
direction of Professor V. C. Clinch
EDITORIALS
BE THANKFUL
Long, long ago, before 1621,
before the Pilgrim Fathers
ever thought of landing on the
shores of New England, long
before Columbus dared to de
fy the authority of Church
Education and State, the re
sult of which is America—
yea long before then, Man ob
served Thanksgiving.
Far down the dusty corri
dors of History we observed
Paganism directing iteslf to
the worship of a goddess of
Agriculture—Ceres. This Ce
res was the Roman name for
Demeter the worship of whom
was introduced into Rome
from Sicily between the 4th
and 5th centuries B. C. She
was regarded as the goddess-
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production, special emphasis
being placed on fruit and
grain. The Roman Cerelia
compares with our Thanks
giving. Just one more retro
spective step. The Pilgrim
Fathers dedicated this day in
thankfulness to Him who,
throughout the year, had fed,
clothed, and taken care of
their welfare. Would it nott
be fitting to us, the scions of
their loins, their re-incarnat
ed selves, the only possible
expression of their thoughts
to pause in the midst of our
jubilations, our feasting, our
reckless pleasures, our wor
ship at the shrine of Bacchus
to dedicate some time to the
God of the Harvest, who giv-
eth all?
In other countries Thanks
giving takes the form of a sa
cred feast, known as the feast
of Harvest. A portion of the
increase of the field is taken
to the church where it is ded
icated to God as a gift from
the grateful hearts who have
been blest by His tender mer
cies. Hymns and prayers of
thankfulness are sent up and
the products thus offered are
used to further Christianity
chiefly through charitable
deeds.
What impediments ob
struct us or what civilization
forbids our being grateful.
Grateful for life, grateful for
a reasonable portion of health,
grateful that in the midst of
the greatest economical ca
lamity that has ever befallen
this mundane sphere, w e
thought perhaps by its great
momentum have not been
submerged under its debris.
Though perhaps smitten by
the avalanche of the depres
sion, we have neither been
swept away nor demolished.
We need to be grateful that
in the midst of the tumults
and conflicts which at this
time disturb the entire earth,
our glorious democracy—rule
of the people, for the people,
by the people, is still preserv
ed. While nations are destroy
ing each other and even them
selves, our form of govern
ment remains untarnished
and presents to the world a
united front. Great is our
blessing in being allowed to be
members of a student body of
a school such as is Morris
Brown—a heritage passed to
us from our immediate an
cestors watered with the
sweat and nourished by the
blood of over 200 years of
cruel mnuman, wicxed slav
ery. Because we are being pre
pared for the difficulties of
life by such an administra
tion and faculty, because we
are the future controllers of
the destiny of this world, be
cause we have been taught
how to enter the battle of life
and quit us like men, because
life with all its thrills lies be
fore us and because
All things bright and
beautiful,
All creatures great and
small,
All things wise and won
derful,
The Lord God made them
all;
Let us on Thursday, 26th
of November devote a frac
tional portion of our time to
Him from whom we derive
our health, wealth, power to
think—our All. Let us be
thankful.
THE KEY TO CULTURE
Mastery of Conversation
There are certain ‘don’ts”
in discussing mastery of con
versation that are well to re
member, the most common—
and one that is disregarded
most—being, never interrupt
It should be remembered that
among those people of real
culture, interrupting a speak
er without a good and suffi
cient reason and without an
apology being made for doing
so, is most emphatically not
tolerated. There exists, of
course, as in nearly every
case as for as rules are con
cerned, exceptions to this
rule, but in most instances if
at all possible the most cour
teous and the wisest course
to pursue is to permit your
companion to carry his speech
or queries to a conclusion.
You should never deliberately
contradict another. You must
remember that there are dif ;
ferences of opinion and, al
though you may feel positive
that your opinion is correct,
yet there is the possibility
that you may be in error. No
matter how bright and intelli
gent one may be, it is certain
that no one is infallible.
Consideration of others is
another element in the mas
tery of conversation. One
should never forget that
others like to talk as much as
they possibly may. The listen
er must remember that the
rule of reciprocity applies in
conversation as well as in
other social graces and that
he should not be only willing
but anxious to observe the
Golden Rule in this respect
and feel that in return he has
a right to count on the same
courtesy being shown him.
One is safe in feeling that he
is playing safe, by following
this rule “Talk frequently but
at no great length”.
THE CHRISTMAS SEAL
FIGHT
TUDEftt, CTLU3I3
Buy and Use
CHRISTMAS
SEALS
“It takes a Christmas seal
to make it Christmas mail.”
As the holiday season ap
proaches, everyone thinks of
spreading good cheer.
Many of you will spend
Christmas at home, others
will visit friends. But where-
ever you are, you are plan
ning for a season of joy and
happiness. Stores will be
jammed, the mail will be
loaded with packages, letters
greetings and smiles will be
handed out wholesale.
In your plans please re
member that the smiling
Santa Claus on the 1936
Christmas seal will do double
duty. He will help to beauti
fy your letters, greetings
and gifts and also recruit
funds for skin tests, X-rays,
and Clinic service.
The Tuberculosis Associa
tion is not fighting a losing
game—the death rate among
Negroes has shown a marked
decline.
HELP KILL THIS LIFE
CONSUMING MONSTER!
Seals may be purchased at
The Atlanta Tuberculosis As
sociation, 286 Forrest Ave.,
N. E., Walnut 9580.
THE OXFORD ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
By Dorothy Cobb
The Oxford English Dic
tionary is, as has been said,
a dictionary with a history
like that of a great cathedral.
It was put together after sev
enty years of labor involving
some 1,300 experts . If this
book is not a part of your tool
chest you are a poorer work
man than you really ought to
be.
The first installment of
this article mentioned Her
bert Coleridge, Dr. F. J. Fur-
nivall, Archibishop Trench
and A. H. Murray as having
been the leaders in this great
educational movement. There
was also mentioned the im
portant data the voluntary
workers from various parts,
of the world, contributed in
this great collection of facts.
In the rest of this article
most of the space will be giv
en to the making and value
of this Dictionary.
The raw material that had
been sent in, and the editors
already possessed, was typed,
and put in a bundle on
small slips of paper. This ma
terial was put upon shelves
in chronological order when a
member of the staff prepared
a word or group of words, he
began by taking the slips
from the shelves. His first
task was to go through the
questions chronologically, no
ting the forms, then to tac
kle the serious and difficult
work of definition. In doing
this the use of the existfng
dictionaries was necessary.
After a meaning has been
drawn, modern technical
terms and colloquialisms
must be given special atten
tion. The search for mater
ial has consisted in the exa
mination of the Old English
and Middle English Diction
aries, the glossaries to every
text and the concordances to
the Bible, Shakespeare and
other poets. Through the va
rious stages these “slips”
passed until they were for
warded to “copy” to the
prints.
Though the book is a bar
gain to many who purchase
it, it was not cheap to pro
duce. The material of the Dic
tionary is owing, in the main,
to the unremunerated albors
of the members of the Philo
logical Society and its army
of volunter readers. The cost
of the conversion of this ma
terial into the Dictionary it
self, and the cost , of the man
ufacture, has been borne by
the Oxford University Press.
The Oxford English Dic
tionary contains a record of
414, 825 words; 240, 165 of
these are main words. 67,105
subordinate words, 47,800
special combinations, about
500,000 definitions and 1,-
827,306 illustrative quota
tions. Of the 240,165 main
words in the whole of the
Oxford Dictionary 177,970
are current; 52,464 are abso
lute; 9,737 alien. The letter
“S” yields the most words,
not fewer than 57, 428. “P”
coming next with 37,689, and
“C” third with 29,295.
The value of the Oxford
Dictionary is not determin
able. From the time of the
publication of the first part
of “A” in 1884, the Diction
ary has been a source of daily
enlargement and satisfaction
to an incalculable number of
readers. The Dictionary has
done a great deal to correct
vulgar errors. It has been and
still is, used by the physician
for medical terms. It has been
repeatedly relied upon in
courts of justice, where mem
bers of the bar have quoted
it and members of the Bench
bowed to it. It has been ap
pealed to in a political con
troversy in Parliament and
on the platform.
If such a book as this is in
reach, why shouldn’t we take
the advantage as well as op
portunity to use it. Make it
your by-word and your guide.
THANKSGIVING
We thank thee, Lord that we
have seen
Spring clothe the earth again
in green.
We thank thee for the April
breeze
That gave new life to all the
trees.
We thank thee for the joyous
hours,
The fruits, and rain, and sum
mer flowers,
For the autumn with its har
vests of gold
In which we see blessings
manifold.
We thank thee for these true
friends
Upon which our succes in life
depends,
We thank the for each battle
fought,
We are grateful for the vic
tories wrought.
For all that has come our
way,
For blessing unasked from
day to day
To thee, Lord of Harvest,
we raise
A strong and mighty hymn of
praise.
—D. Cobb.
“I won’t” is a tramp
“I Can’t” is a quitter
“I Don’t” know is too lazy
“I might” is waking up
“I will try” is on his feet
“I can” is on his way
“I will” is at work
“I did” is now the boss!