Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, December 03, 1912, HOME, Image 20

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EDUTORIAL PAGE THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY At 20 East Alabama St.. Atlanta, Ga. Entered as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 8, 1878. Subscription Price— Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mail, 15.00 a year. Payable in advance. How Does YOUR Mind Work When You Read? W The Answer to That Question Tells You How Much Good Your Reading Does You. Some men worry because they can not REMEMBER what they read. Very foolish worry. It is not REMEMBERING things read that makes an abler man. The important question is: “What and HOW do you THINK as you read? - ' Reading to the mind is like eating to the body. You can not REMEMBER the beefsteak of week before last— and that does not matter What, matters is DIGESTION, lhe mak ing of good, new blood as the result of eating the meat. When your mind eats a book, it is not remembering the book that matters, but the making of good, now thoughts; the increase of mental power. Many men overeat mentally as well as physically. To swallow down a lot of books for the mere sake of swallowing is as foolish as swallowing down a lot of food with the idea that it will make you stronger. Only what you DIGEST adds to your strength, whether it be BOOKS digested in the brain, or MEAT digested in the stom ach. You should eat slowly with the mind as well as with the teeth. You should THINK YOUR WAY THROUGH A BOOK, as you chew your way through a steak. It is not what the OTHER man, the author, thought and wrote that is important to you. Il is what he MAKES YOU think as you read him. The falling apple, according to the legend, made Newton think of the law of gravitation. The dancing lid of the tea kettle made another think of the steam engine. Reading that a humble Dutch optician had made a glass that brought objects nearer made Galileo think of the telescope—in all cases the thinking was followed by ACTION of great value to humanity. Very likely Newton soon forgot that apple, and Galileo prob ably could not have remembered after a year or two just HOW he happened to think of the telescope. But it is not the REMEMBER ING that counts. So do not worry because you read a book and do not remember it. You might forget every word of it and still be a much alder man for having read it. Let us take today, and perhaps at other times, some well known short pasages of good writers, and see what thought they develop. For instance; Give us, give us, the man who sings nt his work! lie will do more in the same time —lie will do it better —he will persevere longer. One is scarcely sensible of fatigue whilst he marches to music. The very stars are said to make harmony us they revolve in their spheres. Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness; altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts to be permanently useful must be uniformly joyous a spirit all sunshine, graceful from very gladness, beautiful because bright.—Carlyle. There are a few strong lines from Carlyle. You may not remember those lines tomorrow. What of it? The question is. What thoughts, if any. do Carlyle's words stir up in YOUR OWN MIND? Do yon accept the statement as it is made, saying to yourself, “Very tine, indeed," or do yon think it over and question its sound ness. or confirm it with your own thought? Does it occur to you that it is all very well to say, “Give us the man who sings at his work," but it is first necessary to get the employer to give work nt which n man CAN sing? Stoking in the hold of a ship, under terrific heat, or working in th? hell hole of a sugar refinery, is not work conducive to song. A man with a sick wife and half-fed children may do hard and honest work, but he will do it without singing. Singing is a tine thing, but the kind of work that LETS a man sing is liner and SCARCE. The old kings knew, and modern rulers know, the value of music—that is why they send soldiers out to murder each other with lhe band playing! Some day they will have the band playing for men that do hon est and useful work—the hand will play for tired men digging irri gation ditches to conquer deserts and to men digging drainage ditches to conquer marshes, instead of playing only to men march ing out to kill. In that day. when the music, lhe honors, the uniforms and medals are given to those that work, and not merely to those that kill and rule there will be no lack of cheerful men singing at their work, and dyspeptic Carlyle, looking down, or up. at the world he left dismal and morose, will see a very different earth and a differ ent race—for there is not a man but WOULD sing at his work if his work would LET him sing. And it is NOT true that “efforts to be permanently useful must be permanently joyous." for lhe slaves that built the perma nently useful roads (UNDER THE LASH) in old days were not “joyous." and the mothers that have borne great and permanently useful men in agony and in poverty were not “uniformly joyous.’’ By all means “Give us, oh, give us, the man who sings at his work.” But also, and first of all. give us, oh, give us. a civilization in which work shall mean happiness, and the desire to sing. If you want to do something useful to your own mind, rewrite now that saying of ( arlyle s. changing it to read according to your thought. The Atlanta Georgian TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1912. Jenkins, He’s a Lively Guy Drawn By TAD. GO OP pH IL \ YY ■&ELONJG- to A /x W V \ iVA® r VIHJCM MEETS 5 l NIGHTS A sai EEIC z / z ' s ANO THEY |- CT * WlsY* ■ A | BREL 3ENK/MS f* THeoPRCE ■ I* i| 1-1 HOOPS A t>AY AMD « V I XMOKKS THE- kNHOLE ‘ ’LAyJ- kHGrMTTHPOOG-H ? I BEFORE A WOLtVAV— I fAi l ' them oust gets "j z f.jGyfe GL—vy' HOME IN THE TO HOOK W FIVE’S yWMa /{ff 1 J ! LUCK'/ DOGr (that fc»-IX)'Y '/OU ALV/AY s I Me ° 3££ AT EMERY G'/> PH / x —Uz y lor pleasure DySt 1\ 6 IF| (<? °. 'V AN 15 OV COUfiSE Y K, \ S I \ THE NEIGHBORS “ a V 3EE HINA- ' • Her Ideal By DOROTHY DIX §3 AMAN who says ho Is 40 years old, anj comfortably well off in this world’s goods, writes me that he desires to marry, and he wishes a wife that will come up to the following specifications: “She must be a woman who will wear her hair short, and a hat something like a man—that is, a plain, simple hat that she can keep on her head without spiking it on with hat pins. She must wear a coat, waistcoat, plain shirtwaist, also with collar and tie like a man's. There must be no flummery about her dress. “She must be able to sing a song, tell a good story, and play a good game of cards. “She must be able to make allow ances for my weaknesses, and neither criticise me nor try to make me over according to her taste. “She must do the marketing, and be able to manage the home suc cessfully, but never try to inter fere in my office or business “She must leave religion and pol ities on the back porch when I am at home. I don't care what she be lieves, so long as she doesn't in trude her opinions upon me.” Good Working Model. What do you think of that as a working model for a wife? Pretty good. I think; and the man who gets that sort 'd 1 a good-fellow'wife may be short on a few romantic thrills, but the one best bet is that he will be long on comfort and happiness. One of the greatest troubles in married life comes from the fact that men are more concerned in picking out lady loves than they are in choosing chums when they go n wooing. Then when the time comes —as it invariably does —when the women are no longer lady loves, but just plain wives, they have nothing upon which to fall back. No man can go through life hold ing his wife's hand, or writing son nets to her eyebrow s, or sighing at her feet and telling her she is the most wonderful and beautiful crea ture on earth. He’s bound to come down to earth, where people eat three square meals a day and talk about ordinary topics Then things • are In a bad case if it happens, as it only too often does happen, that husband and wife have noth ing on earth in common except the gossamer surface attractions that drew them together. Mutual Tastes. It doesn't take long for matri mony to tear romance to rags and tatters, and rub off the gilding that made an ordinary’ woman look an angel to a man, aatd a common place man appear a hero in a girl's eyes. Then unless they have the same tastes In a thousand different little things, and the same Interests in the big ones, they are bound to yawn in each other's faces, and when people begin to yawn across the hearthstone Cupid packs up his grip and departs. The real cause of divorce is not the big sins of which moralists prate. It’s ennui. The affinity and the charmer could never get their work in on a home unless boredom first opened the door to them. Therefore the man is wise who takes into consideration, first of all. a woman’s congeniality to him, and her ability to entertain him, in choosing his mate. He’s build ing his domestic happiness on a sure foundation, for the charms he banks on are not ephemeral, nor are they the ones of which a man tires. Beauty fades, youth passes, cute and kittenish ways become mere evidence of imbecility as the years go by, but the woman who can sing a good song and tell a good story has within herself the source of perpetual fascination. Wives’ Patron Saint. She can keep a man Interested and entertained, and that is the secret of keeping a man nailed to his own fireside. Women put their faith in beauty, but let it be not forgotten that it was not the good lookers of the harem, but the lady with the glib tongue, who was en abled to save her own neck, and keep her lord enthralled while she unwound the thousand and one ad ventures of the Arabian Nights Believe me, the spellbinder. Sche zerade. is the one woman above all others who should be the patron saint and exemplar of w ives. At first blush it would seem that ' it would be easy enough for my correspondent to find a wife who could meet his requirements, but alas! to find a woman who can in deed sing a good song, and tell a story, and play a good game of cards, and who can take a man as he is without trying to make him over, is like starting forth to search for a needle in a haystack. Women possess all virtues but comrade ship. They can be anything but pals. They can love a man well enough to die for him, but not enough to let him go his own way. There is nothing that women complain of so much as that their husbands do not like to take them out. and it never occurs to these left-at-home ladies that the fault Is their own. It is the truth, however, that the average wife is such a wet blanket on any festive occa sion that after her husband has had her enact the role of the spoil sport for him a few times he decides to henceforth take his pleasure excur sions alone. Aii Illustration. Just as an illustration of how lit tle a woman understands how to ehum, watch the next couple who invite you to go au tom obi ling with them, and listen to the wife's criti cism of Iter husband’s driving,* to her objections to the route he takes, or the speed he .is making. She is one perpetual knock that must make him want to drive in a ditch and break her neck. Or watch them at the theater, where wife fusses because the seats are where they’ are instead of some where else, or holds him responsible for the play, or spoils the most thrilling passage by’ wondering if they put out the eat, and if the baby’ is uncovered. Or observe them ala restaurant, where she takes the flavor out of the viands by count ing up the cost, and telling hubby’ how bad everything he likes is for his digestion. Doubtless my correspondent has taken note of some of these wives, which is why he puts good fellow ship first on the list of the qualities he demands in a wife. And he's right. The man who marries a •woman who can chum with him will never have need of the serv ices of a divorce lawver. I THE HOME PAPER Thomas Tapper Writes on U - r ~ Working For the Boss a a fc "Will Health Is Capital. I Sickness Is Ex- j pense. Anyone Who Is Working ’ <. For Pay Capital- a||9H izes His Skill and H ealth About I j|O Equally. i j By THOMAS TAPPER. i. . HEALTH is capital. Sickness is expense. Anyone who is working for pay capitalizes his skill and his health about equally. He does busi ness with both. A ntan who earns twenty dollars a week has an annual income of one thousand dollars. This is all the money that twenty thousand dollars can earn, safely invested at 5 per cent. Hence the earner of twenty dol lars per week is a corporation cap italized at twenty thousand dollars and paying a regular weekly divi dend of twenty dollars. The assets of this business may be grouped about like this: 1. Knowing how to do the work SIO,OOO 2. Health 10,000 Total $20,000 These two factors are very close ly related, for the healthy man without skill can earn little money; and the skillful man without health can earn little or none. Now, ever so many people earn money and save some of it; but very few earn health and save it. But as health is the basis of the ability to work, it Is better worth saving than money is. Whatever condition of health one is in, is the result of habit, to a large extent. Good Habits Help. Good habits not only keep us well today and allow us to Increase skill, but they actually put health in the bank for us, where it draws a high rate of interest and accumulates. Bad habits are like the white ants of the tropical countries. They find their way into root, trunk, branch, stem and every fiber. They work unseen and eat the heart out of everything they touch. Then, one day, the wind blows and down fails the tree -which look ed so sturdy and strong outside, but which for a long time had been concealing the trouble it had inside. H. 'P HERE is just one way to avoid 1 falling in a heap like an ant riddled tree. Don’t contract bad habits. And there is just one way to stand so firmly and to be so strong that the winds of heaven can not destroy you. good habits. This contracting of good habits The Last of Blackbeard By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY. Blackbeard, the most noted • of the pirates of the Spanish Main, ended his career and his life 194 years ago. Blackbeard, whose real name was Teach, had his main rendezvous in the Baha mas, but often came into tlie sounds of North Carolina for ref uge. or foY the hiding of his spoils. The ravages of the "Sea Wolves. " of whom Blackboard was the most terrible, became so alarming that the king of England dispatched Captain Woodes Rogers, the man who saved Alexander Selkirk from his desert island, to break up their nest in the southern seas. Rogers was successful in capturing many of them, but Blackboard eluded him and turned to his favorite refuge in the Carolina sounds. But it was impossible for the arch-pirate to remain idle and he was soon upon the high seas again, looking for plunder. Fortune fa vored him, and in August of the year Indicated above he captured a rich French merchantman, which he robbed and burned, taking his treasure into Bath. The news of the pirate’s arrival was sent to Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, who determined upon Blackbeard's Obtaining two small vessels and fitting them out secretly with men supplied from an English warship that chanced to be in the neighborhood, Spotts- •j* is an example of the waiting gam. And the waiting game is the hard est game in the world to beat. Now, the good habits that keep health top-notched are so few and simple that every one can culti vate and practice them. Let us begin tonight when work is done and we go home to supper It is the very best of good habits to be absolutely clean when we sit down to the table to eat. It pays to eat enough, but not more than enough, and to eat it in such a cheerful frame of mind that every body else becomes cheerful just from being with us. That is some times a difficult habit to practice, but it is a great health-bringcr. Try it. Improving the Mind. If the evening hours are free, they may be made to pay in health and skill. (You remember that health and skill are worth Ten Thousand Dollars each per annum, to a Twenty Dollars a week man.) Let them improve the mind or en tertain it, or both. Almost any man or woman can learn enough in the evenings of two or three years or so to double skill-capitalization. (That means Forty Dollars a week instead of Twenty.) The next thing is sleep. Nature demands about so much of sleep every 24 hours, and must have it. See that nature gets it. She will pay a big return. To go to bed clean and sleep enough to rest the body thoroughly for another day's work is actually putting health into the bank to be drawn out in the future. Many people of good hearts and bad judgment tempt us to sit up until 2 a. m., and so re duce our capitalized value for the next day by one-half. To a work ingman that costs too much. He can not afford it. When we get up in the morning, it will pay to forget utterly the old rule: To live the day as if it were your last. Let us get up with the conviction that this is the first. The slate is wiped clean. Get a fresh start. Keep the body' just as clean as pos sible. Eat food cheerfully. Pass good cheer around to everybody else, and remember that we have a large area of lung space that should be kept active by deep breathing. There Is nothing complex about good habits. They are the best “pull” we have with the Boss and • • the Pay Envelope. • wood sent them, under the com mand of Lieutenant Maynard, look for Blackbeard's vessel, t Adventure, which they discover, - on November 23. near Ocracoke in let. not far from Roanoke island In maneuvering, the Adventure was stranded, and as .Maynard's vessel approached the pirate pom into it a murderyhs fire that swei t off many of its crew, (tut undaunt ed. Maynard, ordering his men be low, steered straight for the Ad venture, and as the vessels dost Blackboard and his crew sprang upon the deck of the Virginian and with desperate courage attempt'' to capture her. But .Maynard's m were as desperate as the board ers, knowing as they did that sur render meant death, and, rushing up from below, they met the pirate in a hand-to-hand encounter, atm after a hard struggle succeeded overpowering them. The Adventure carried eight can non, and of the crew of eighteen men, nine, including Blackbeat himself, were killed outright, am nine, some of them mortal V ■wounded, were taken prisoners the Virginians and t'aliforni " twelve were killed and twenty-:" wounded. But it was the last of Blaekbca and forever afterward the settler along the Carolina sounds had , more occasion to fear the king of the -robbers-