The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-11-30
COMMUNICATIONS.
Rudtitug Genius,

To the Editor of tho JOURNAL AND COURIER
 One of the prettiest incidents Of bud
 ding genius that ever came to my at
 tention was that of Il young girl. Hei
 father was a ripe old genius. so he de'
 cided to send his girl to young ladies
 seminary. When the young girl came
 to the door. followed by the family. the
 old man brought out an old hair trunk,
 and he said: "Linny, ye'll find all the
 little kumfurts yer want in this hyar
 trunk" and saying this, he chucked 1t
 into the wagon and the girl got in and
 the old man got in and gathered up the
 reins. There was a troubled look on
 the mothers face, something more
 than mere sorrow of parting, and she
 said, 1T can't reconcile my daughter
 going off with that old trunk: 'taint
 what the other girls will have"
 But the old man glared at her warn-
 ingly. You shut up, mother" he said' and drove away. When they had driv-
 en about four miles he said: "Linny,
 yer heard what yer muther sed.
 That's goin' to set yer to thinkin'.
 Now l want you to promise me sum- thln,. Whenever you feel ashamed of that ole hair trunk I want yer to come right home" and Linny prom ised, but even after he saw her seated In the car he turned at the door and hollered back at her, Don't forget about the ole hair trunk now, will yer?" And all through the journey she thought of the old hair trunk ahead in the baggage car, and she wondered what magic bond 1t could be that made 1t seem like the only friend she had left. But what amazement was written on her face, when, after she alighted from the train at the sem mary town and a man, the man from the seminary, came up to her dragging the trunk in one hand, while the other was extended to her. and said, "Yer check, please" How in the world the man knew the trunk belonged to her puzzled her for a long time, and final ly she held it up in the light of her promise to her father, and she said to herself, Well, there's no use being ashamed of 1t; everybody recognizes it as being part and parcel of each oth- er."
 Great idea, wasn't it? My boy, my friend. That old hair trunk Is your and it bears many a com fort, many a little lesson, some of which are hallowed by a mothers tears, and some bring remembrances of fathers stern visage. such as he wore when some day you conferred with him in the woodshed. Don't oe of it, It is indlstinguishable from you. Just walk side by side with it and feel proud that it belongs to you. Don't present the pitable spectacle of trying to disown yourself, and you will find that other people will begin to take an interest in you. Why! In the case of that girl we were just speaking about, they just glori- fled her and that old trunk when they got them up to the seminary. Made her the mascot on the football team, and the girls used to say: Seems like Linny Snifkins was the finest girl in school: she makes that old trunk look just beautiful when she sits down by it. She says it's her mascot, and that's why she passes examinations every time"
 Did you ever. when you were boy, think how you would like some other fellows mother for mother. l used to speculate on it. I would think Of some nice lady evidently great lady, and try to imagine that she was my mother. Couldn't compass it. You don't know how homely that woman became in the comparison. Just why, then, do young men. or young girls either. try to turn their backs on the influences of their early surroundings when they leave home? We'll, l sup pose they are over-awed. But would like young persons when they stand in the temple of learning and listen to The eXDOSlllOll Ol 6 Noe IA ~sAAS - J~'~ take some of these home and compare them with the lessons that they learned at their mothers knee and see if it isn't pretty much the same thing, only magnified by its association with big words and rendered imposing by proximity to some intellectual giant.
 You've got to fall back on your own personality some time and the sooner the quicker and more gracefully you'll do 1t.
 Be practical. I have friend and he runs a grocery store. The other day 8 lady came in and asked, "How much are potatoes?" "Butter is twenty three cents a pound" he replied. See the point? No? We'll, you're looking for the wrong one. Look for the prac- tical one, the matured one. The man was deaf. h. BLU DHo