Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-12-02
WHEN EVERYTHING PALS.

We have been told, from the time
of the institution of Thanksgiving,
that as we gather around the bounti-
fully spread board we must remem-
| ber with compassion those who have
little or nothing to make a feast
with on that day, and this is right,
though a more practical sympathy
would have sought them out and
seen that they had at least COM
| Portable meal on that day. But
] there is another class who are equal
| ly in need of sympathy, and that is
those to whom nothing is a treat.
| We are wont to think of the rich as
! fortunate, and especially at this time.
But just think of what they miss!
To him whose every meal is a ban
quet, what is there to look forward
to with pleasure in a Thanksgiving
dinner? Instead of being fortunate
that he can dine sumptuously every
day." he is unfortunate that he has
no feasts to look forward to. The
child who has a new toy every day
or every week cannot have the an
ticipations of delight in looking for
ward to the coming of Santa Claus
that has the urchin who makes her
dolls out of corncobs or his hobby
horse out of a broomstick. When
Christmas comes the child who has
everything either does not have any
anticipations or they are pitched SO
high that he is disappointed. The
child who has candy and nuts and
ice cream every day can't possibly
work up the enthusiasm over the
prospect, nor enjoy the pleasure in
the devouring, of a Thanksgiving
dinner as the child whose daily fare
is plain.
Just so with the grown-ups. The
writer remembers seeing, nearly a
score of years ago, a double-page
colored cartoon in the Judge which
has always remained vivid in his
memory because of its true portrayal
of life. 1t represented long lunch
counter At one end was a newsboy
eating a sandwich, next him a young
office boy with sandwich and coffee,
and so on up the line. At the ex-
treme upper end of the counter sat
the bank president. The newsboy
was wishing for what the office boy
had, the office boy for the menu Of
the one next above, and so on. At
the top the bank president, with a
wearied expression on his face, was
saying, 81 wish l had an appetite. /"
Take the matter of travel. 1t is
thought the proper thing to laugh at
the youth from the country who
gapes at the sights of the city, but
! just think how much more he gets
out of life than the man who is bored
! by Niagara and visits the Yosemite
only to find fault with the hotels
What, at the bottom, does that
! famous old poem, Backward, turn
| backward o, time in your flight, "
mean except to get back to that state
of mind where there is something
above and beyond to look forward to-?
God pity the man who is surfeited
with the things of this life, for man
will not.
There is only one help for him,
and that is to turn from things ma
terial to things spiritual. To learn
that Truth, Life and Love are the
verities of the universe and that the
only possible help for the man or
woman, boy or girl who is surfeited
(and most of our children are to a
greater or less degree) is to put self
entirely in the background and
think only of bringing happiness to
others. We all know how we enjoy
seeing the circus through the eyes
of the children. We can increase our
material blessings only by helping
others to share them.