Atlanta Georgian., 1912-05-07

ffs1rIs a good and safe rule, said
Ruskin. ito soiourn in every
= place as II you meant TO
snend your life there. never omitting an
opportunity Of doing a kindness or
Speaking true word, or making
friend"
There are MANY stopping-oft places
in the course Of this journey We are an
engaged in Some are evidently to be
of months and years duration And at
some places the stop is 50 short We con-
slider II useless TO exert ourselves to
make friends. or to make home
A greater mistake was never made. II
is a lack Of permanency that often re-
suits in lack Of character. II is the
feeling Of here today and gone tomor-
row" that gives birth to all that comes
under the head Of selhshness, narrow
ness ana indifference.
What is the use. the one viii ask
who arrives al a stopping off place. OF
making friends? may not be here to-
morrow"
tits as important to make friends for
tomorrow as TO make friends for ten
years hence
=
heard a white-haired gentle-voiced
woman say. and I have made many
investments-som in ambition, some
in hatred. some IN love and some in
material gain But I have found that
the investment that has paid the best
of all was that I made in friends"
It Costs Nothing; Pays Well.
1t is an investment that requires no
expenditure Of time or money.
Just a little expenditure Of thought
fulness. a kindness, or true word
and every stopping -off place, be it ever
so brief. is marked by a friend.
1t becomes no longer a memory of en-
forced exile among strangers, it be-
comes a pleasing recollection of
friend.
And I would not have YOU end your
sojourn with making friends-whioh.
though the greatest Of ali, is not all.
I would have you make Of your abid-
ing place, no matter how temporary
home.
Women who travel much and who
are compelled nv circumstances to know
the loneliness Of barren rooms in lodg-
ing houses and hotels, have applied this
advice of Ruskin to their material pos
sessions
They are prepared to soiourn there as
If il is to be for life, and carry with
them a pretty picture or two, little odds
and ends Of draperies. photographs and
all the little ck-knacks which VIII
60 in one corner Of a trunk, and which
make a strange room look like a HOME.
AS quickly as If the traveller waved
an enehantress' wand the look of
temporary abiding place is gone, and
homelike room takes Its place
Little pains. but big gains, for no one
can do her best when oppressed by the
feeling that everything around is only
temporary
such an atmosphere is conducive to
disregard of others, and a too concen-
trated regard OF self
If one thinks. What's the use of
hanging up picture? There Is no one
but me to see IT," the next thought is,
whats the use Of being kind and po
lite and agreeable? l won't he here
long"
Outward Things Help the Heart,
The outward evidence of home and
permanency result in an inward ambi-
tion to match IT,
If the eyes get homelike feeling. the
heart seeks It, also and finds II in maxi
ing friends of those who were strangers
yesterday, and who may never be seen
after tomorrow
There is little counts more In char
acter building than this feeling of per-
manency The girl who learns her first
lesson in the book with the belief that
she will go through II 10 the end has
lesson learned well.
The girl who has a position down
town and does her work thinking that
she may not be there more than few
weeks is controlled by the spirit of in
difference, and never does It we'll
If a girl regards today as the begin
ming Of many days, she is more careful.
more thoughtful and more kindly She
knows that today is the beginning of
all time II she gets the idea OF perma
nency in control.
I do not believe that anything is
greater test of character than behavior
at a stoppng-of place II is easy to
be rude and hippant and thoughtless If
one thinks that one moves on tonnor-
row
For that reason. one should KNOW
the truth of what Ruskin says, and
keep II in heart and mind. whether the
stay is for an hour, week month or
Its good and safe rule" he wrote.
"to sojourn IN every place as II YOU
meant 10 spend your life there, never
omitting an opportunity Of doing a
kindness. or speaking true word or
making a friend"