The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-08-13
Boost Your Town.
The Man With a Hammer
Not Wanted and Every
Town Should Take Quaran-
tine Measures Against Him
Mature Abhors a Knocker
Let Us Bury the Hammer
Along With the Hatchet.

In the ''Village Improvement" de-
partment of one of our exchanges
we find the following, and it is worth
reproducing here. Read it and see
if it hits YOU. III SO don't holler-the
hit dog does that. Change your tac-
tics. throw away your hammer, stop
knocking and Join the builders. At
any rate, ii yon wont help, don't
hinder. And you can help by not
talking. Don't talk against your
town and those who try to do some
thing to push it along if you will
not do anything yourself. But to
the article i'll question. Here it is:
1t has been said that there is a time
and place for everything and that every
thing has some good and practical 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
wields 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
builder. He is one of the most necessary
and beneficial of our citizens. The figu-
ratiye man with the hammer is tearer
down, q hindrance, an obstacle, tumOr
on the body polite, a municipal cancer,
menace to progress, q breeder OF dis
satisfaction, a promOter of trouble.
Thank heaven Beaumont has not
many OF these enemies OF peace and pros
perity, editorially remarks the Gateway
Gazette, published at Beaumont Cal.
There may be one or two of the species
among us, for it is said that no commu-
nifty is free from them. Some recent edi-
torials and contributions in Southern
California papers indicate that there are
'men with hammers" in neighboring
towns. For this reason warning is here
given. Let lis quarantine against the
pests.
One of the towns wi ich seem to be in
tested is Huntington Beach, and an
editorial in the News of that city con-
tains so much good and sensible material
! 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 unimportant, it's people
shiftless and incompetent in business,
it's streets in filthy condition-in short,
the other towns are in every way more
desirable as places of residence. 10
define his qualities the word "knocker"
has been coined. 1t is impressive 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 one contracts disease
financial so certainly as he who is al
ways telling and finally persuades him
self that he is doomed to be q pauper;
that his town affords no opportunity of
earning a decent livelihood Brace up
Talk cheerfully. Make your opportuni-
ties. 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 coun-
try. Why, the members OF our Woman's s
Club are more manly in spirit, more help
full to the town, more likely to build it
up, than male 'knOcker' An admOni-
tion that has been given ever since the
advent OF the Prince of Peace is Bury
the hatchet.' Quite right Favor al
ways peace, but Bury the hammer is
not bad motto, either"
Deducing from a poetical contribution
in the Chino Champion, the sugar beet
town is not all sweetness. The article
is entitled Boost a Bit" and is contrib
uted by one of the merchants of the
town. 1t, too, is worth reading, and it
is here given:
Here, you discontented knOcker,
Growlin bout the country's ills.
Chloroform yer dismal talker;
Take u dose 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 fuost
| 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 split
| Every echo with yer tootin,
Jump the roost
An boost
A bit