The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-07-11
THE JUNrA CLUB.

Merchant--"I heard a man the other
day, in speaking OF the present gencr-
alton. call II the age of frivolity. What
do you think OF the idea gentlemen I
have not given the matter much consld-
Grafton. but the name pleased me and
my FIRST impression was that the name
was appropriate"
i.aborcr--'it seems To me the man
who used the term is mistaken. This
Is time Of general dissatisfaction aud
rault-dnding The pessimlstic spirit
is what prompts man to view the
present generation with disfRvcr. Per-
haps II has always been so--perhaps all
generations have looked upon their own
ages with uncharitable criticism"
Merchandising just look at the
ways ot the world today. and tell me
whether this Is not really an age OF
frivolity-an age In which there In a
lack OF seriousness and prevalence
Of a habit OF triflIng, Now take FOR
Instance the fads Of the day, the blcy-
Gle. football. and baseball crazes. the
big sleeves. parting the hair in the
middle. ladies' wearing boomers, and
all that sort OF thing; don't you call
that frivolousness?
I.aborer--'I would hesitate TO do 80.
Bicycling is not frivolous from neoes-
sity. II Is mems OF exercise and
pleasure. II Is n means OF rapid transit.
II saves time. labor and money. OF
course II may be carried to extreme
sometimes. but that Is no more Of an
argument against II than over-indul-
gence is an argument against eating.
As for football. and and baseball. the
same rule viii apply. except that they
are sources OF pleasure and physical
development principally. and have not
the extra advantage Of being time and
money savers. | don't know that the
fads Of this age are any more frivolous
than those OF other ages. II you will
notice the pictures OF men who lived n
hundred years ago-Or two hundred
years ago--or in any past time for
that matter. you will find that styles
Of dress. manner OF wearing the hair.
etc, were greatly different from what
they now are. / presume that when
the styles that we consider so odd,
began to change, the new styles we're
called fads, and yet few Of us would
want to return to the manners and Gus
toms Of our Puritan forefathers"
Lawyer-"But there is an evidence Of
friyolity in the prevailing habits Of
thought. We do not read good sensI-
BILE llterature-do not study the ALL
important questions Of sociology as our
forefathers did. For instance, there
IL tendency 10 disregard matters OF
religion, and craftsmanship has become
subservient to machine politics"
MInlster-"I think you are wrong
there. for where we had the blind zeal
Of an Ignorant class OF creed followers
a few years ago, we now have an en-
llghtened, free-thinking and independ-
ent people who have learned TO form
their own creeds and settle questions
Of doubt for themselves. The same Is
true In politics ana the unsettled con- !
dltIon Of the times is an evidence Of !
more serious thought by the masses
Of the people"
Teacher-"YOu must remember, too, ,
that history does not shed much light
on the friyolity Of past generations.
Its aim is u record the great achieve
ments and important conditions, 80 we
are not capable Of comparing this gem
Grafton with any other in this respect
have an idea that the next genera
ton will look back upon ours as an
ideal age, while at the same time they !
condemn their own as frivolous. We
There's more clothing destroyed by poor
soap than by actual wear. Hoe Cake"
soap contains no free alkali and will not
intuFa the anaaf lace 1frv 10 and naffoa