The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-22
To Cultivate Good Cheer.

New York Evening Post.
A hearty genuine laugh from one whose
nature leads him to seek 1.-The side that's
next the SUM- is of more value as a tonic
than many bitter herbs. In an outlying
camp where a regiment did picket duty, on
the shore of the Potomac, the heat of a
fierce August sun and the dews of the chill
nights played havoc with the health of men
unaccustomed to the field. Bad food, mac
ton half the day, alternating with hard
drill in a temperature Of ninety degrees,
brought on various disorders hard to bear.
No hospital tent afforded such scant COM
fort these apologies for better things can
give; the men lay on their blankets slowly
losing strength. At the head of their com
pany street" their captains wholesome,
hearty nature did what it could to impart
energy and hrmnesS. Coming up through
the other end of the narrow way between
the tents you would sometimes hear ripple
of laughter running from one TO another, as
fire catches in dry grass and runs from tuft
to tuft. If you asked the cause your an
swer would be: The captain is laughing up
at the head of the street. it was the mere
contagion of joyouSnesS from an overflow
ing cheerful nature which had this happy
result. The joke never reached the ears of
the sick men, but the laugh which it
brought forth was so sincere and honest
that it echoed through the hearts of the
languid invalids and helped them per-
The very tone in which the head of
house says "Good-morning" has its effect
on your breakfast. 1t can be made to con-
vey an idea of good fellowship, OF pleasure
at meeting after the hours of darkness,
and subtly suggest that the coffee is fra
grant and the bacon crisp On the other
hand, his early greeting may be made after
such a fashion that you hesitate to chip
the. shell of your egg lest you should find
it far from that condition which our En-
gliSh cousins call new laid
There is much gained, by the way, in the
general kindness of family life, by care
FITNESS about this morning greeting. Cor
dial welcome to the new day and its posi-
bilities sense of pleasure in gathering
round the table. persevered in as a habit
strengthens the family unity. 1t is churlish
not to extend this also to those who serve
US; why should we not Sweeten their dull
routine of labor by wishing that this shall
be good morning for them as well as for
ourselves?
pulous to keep the 'seamy side" concealed;
why should we not see in this instructive
universal habit an indication of what is
wise in our mental and emotional expert
ences? God knows the rents and rendings
of our complex lives are often enough too
harsh and deep to be concealed but let us
mars and disfigures while ii is yet trifling
enough to be yelled, and set forth what is
fair and sweet and pleasant to human eyes,
as far as IL is possible for us to do so.
Nature just now is busy day and night
with labor to this end. Not bit of trampled
roadside, not a gaping hole dug out of the
bosom OF the earth, not a spot from which
500 mas been torn, not a grave that has been
heaped with bare earth but finds her labor
ing in sunshine and shower to restore the
green mantle defaced by man and embroider
II with Mowers. Not q bare rock which
she does not lay patch of tender moss; not
a dying tree-trunk she does not beautify
with lichens.
To ignore trining annoyances, to avoid
ultra fdSttdfousness, to condone human frail-
ties. remembering whereof we are all
made; TO think the east wind will 'go