The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-12
GRIP, GRIT AND aUMPTIoN.

Grip comes from Anglo-Saxon gripan. 1t
means to grasp, to hold fast, strength in
grasping. Not merely to take hold of, to
take in hand, but to lay hold of in earnest,
with a vim as though you meant it. Grip
doesn't mean to take hold of a thing in a half
hearted, Observation-Disclosures
not kind of way. 1t doesn't mean to take
hold of a thing as a woman takes hold of u
harmless, wiggling angle-worm-at arms
length with the kitchen shovel, but rather
the way the small boy clutches His Wiggle-
ship as he turns him up from his earthly
home preparatory to goin' a fishin'; the
way a woman lays hold of the coming states
man when, showing respect for one Of Solo
mons most profound proverbs, in which a
rod and a spoiled child figure prominently
as leading characters in the cast-that's grip.
"Ths friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel"
That's grip. The way you shake hands
with a fraternity brother, that's grip, or
ought to be. The way you shake hands with
q man, wherever you find him, be he fra
ternity brother or not, that's grip, or ought
to be; for he is of all men most pitiabie
who limits his friendships by fraternity
bounds, However, it is about as pleasant to
shake hands with the tail of a dead catfish as
with some people. Their grip Is about as en-
thusiastic. Of course, this "grip-greeting"
is not permissible with the female sex. 1t is
not the custom of the land. Yet, as Mephis-
topheles remarks, 'it does sometimes happen
that way" At least, it is so said. Is there
a duty to be done? Grip it. A lesson
to be learned? Grip it. A task to be
accomplished? Grip it. A life mission to
be fulfilled? Grip it. Grip it earnestly,
warmly, enthusiastically.
Grit comes from an Anglo-Saxon word
meaning dust, and probably the expression
"a man with sand in his craw" comes col
loquially to mean spirit, spunk, will power,
resolution, determination. Without grit,
but no grit will not make a dazzling success
of life. Grit is the staying qualities. The
tick-to-it-iveness, Observation-Disclosures,
Observation-Disclosures NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Characteristic Examples are many and illus
t~rations profuse. There is an abund-
ance of room yet, however, for more
of the same. Jacob furnishes an admirable ex-
ample of grit. He wrestled all night with a
man, name unknown, until the breaking of
the day. 1t is not recorded whether they
wrestled G~r9co-Roman, collar and elbow, or
catch as catch can. At any rate, Jacob dis
played such skill and endurance that his
antagonist prevailed not against him. Even
after his thigh bone had been dislocated, with
a display of grip unparalleled Jacob wrest-
led on until his fellow-wrestler, assigning
the same cause of departure as was alleged
by the ghost of the royal Dane, wished to
call the match draw. Although sadly dis
abled, Jacob refused to accede to the pro-
position except on conditions of his own.
When you have gripped a task, have the grit
to hang on till finished. Stay with it closely;
stick to it adhesively; abide by it tena-
ciously.
buluDllOH COuleS lEOIn Tie A1plO-OuXOn
word meaning to regard, thence through
old English meaning TO understand. Colo
quially considered it means shrewdness, tact,
common sense. Grip and grit are necessary,
but alas for him who has no gumption to
guide and direct them. A mule has grip and
grit, but is not overstocked with gumption.
Although last in the trinity of grip, grit, and
gumption, it is generally first in order of
exercise. Gumption surveys intelligently
ones power and abilities, and tells a man
what to grip and when and how to grip it.
Ii a poker is to be lifted, gumption directs to
take it by the end which has been farthest
from the fire. II a stone wall is in the way,
gumption says go around or climb over, and
not attempt to butt your way through it. If
a hornet must be gripped, gumption teaches
not to take it by the business end. If you do,
that will be an end Of the business. Ifyou can't
get all you want, gumption i~nstructs to take
all you can get. When you have gripped a
thing, and, despite your grit, the success of
the undertaking is clearly impossible, gump-
ton hears it thunder, and you hang on no
longer. When the task assigned you is UNI
reasonable and beyond your abilities, gump-
ton brings to you unmistakable evidence
that the summer is past, and you are to fight
it out on that line no longer. In short,
gumption is the controlling power, the
guiding principle, without which the forces
of grip and grit work disaster.
And now abideth grip, grit and gumption,
these three, but the greatest of these is
pumntiOn.