Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-09-17
MAN WITH A HAMMER
Every Town Should Take Quar-.
antine Measures Against Him.
NATURE ABH0Rs A KNOCKER.

Several SprightIy California Papers
Jump on Hammer Handlers With
Both Feet, Even Poetic Feet-Let
Us Bury the Hatchet and Hammer.
1t has been said that there is a time
and place for everything and that
everything has some good and prac-
teal use in the universal plan. While
this may be true, there remain to be
discovered the benefits to be derived
from the man with the hammer"
This does not refer to the man who
yields that useful implement of toll,
but to the fgurative hammer in the
hands of that species of the human
animal known as the %"knocker."
The real man with the hammer is a
builder. He is one Of the most neces-
sary and beneficial of our citizens.
The figurative man with the hammer
is q tearer down, a %hindrance, an OBJ
stacle, a tumor on the body polite, a
municipal cancer, a to prog
ress. a breeder of dissatisfaction, a
promoter of trouble.
Thank heaven Beaumont has not
many of these enemies of peace and
prosperity, editorially remarks the
Gateway Gazette, published at Beau
mont, Cal. There may be n or two
Of the species among us, for it is
said that no community is free from
them. Some recent editorials and con-
tributions in southern California pa
pers indicate that there are men with
hammers in neighboring towns. For
this reason warning is here given.
Let us quarantine against the pests.
One Of the towns which seem to be
infested is Huntington Beach, and an
editorial in the News of that city con
tains so much good and sensible ma
terial that it is here appended:
much has been said and more has
been written Of the person who is al
ways bewailing the fact that the town
in which he lives is doomed to be for
ever small and u%nimportant. its people
shiftless and incompetent in business.
its streets in filthy condition-in short,
the other towns are in every way
more desirable as places of residence.
To define his qualities, the word
'knocker' has been coined. 1t is i'm
pressive. 1t is even emphatic. yet it
is not strong enough.
This kind of alleged citizen is found
everywhere, even in Huntington Beach.
The News meets him occasionally and
tries to talk him out of his Dumps
No one so quickly contracts disease
physical as the one who always seems
to think that he has it. No u con-
tracts disease financial so certainly as
he who is always telling and finally
persuades himself that he is doomed
to be a pauper; that his town affords
no opportunity of earning a decent live
lihood. Brace up. Talk cheerfully.
Make your opportunities. Boost your
town. Join the board of trade. Try to
have some enterprise. Try to believe
that others have. Be sure that your
town is the best in the country. Why,
the members of our Woman's club are
more manly in spirit, more helpful to
the town, more likely to build it up,
than a male 'knocker.' An admonition
that has been given ever since the ad.
vent of the Prince of Peace is, Bury
the hatchet.' Quite right. Favor al
ways peace, but Bury the hammer is
not q bad motto, either"
Deducing from a poetical contribu-
ton to the Chino Champion, the sugar
beet town is not all sweetness. The
article is entitled Boost a Btu and is
contributed by one of the merchants Of
the town. 1t, too, is worth reading,
and it is here given:
Here, you disconnected knocker.
Growlin' bout the country's ills,
Chloroform yer dismal talker;
Take a course of liver pills.
Stop yer durn kiotee howlin',
Chaw some sand an get some grit.
Don't sit in the dumps a-growlin'.
Jump the roost
An boost
A bit!
Fall in while the bands %a-playin',
Ketch the step an march along.
Stead O. pessimistic brayin'
Jine the halleluyah song.
Drop yer hammer, do some rootin',
Grab a horn, you cuss, an spit
Every echo with yer tootin'.
Jump the roost
An boost
A bit!
A Hint to Home Merchants.
Most farmers would rather trade
with their local merchants than send