Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1913-11-20
DENIED ONE PLEASURE
HANDICAP THAT is THE ACCOM-
PAYMENT OF RICHES.
Possessors Of Great Wealth Debarred
From Owning Anything That 10
Difficult to Acqure-Joy He
Is Doomed to Miss.

Great wealth takes away as many
things from man as it brings him, as
serts William Frederick Dix in the
New York independent. The man OF
many millions loses one of the great
est pleasures In life--the zest Of own
ership, that sense of satisfaction which
comes with the possession of some
thing which has been longed for and
finally acquired with difficulty.
II something that one possesses can,
If lost or broken, be at once replaced
without the expenditure of anything
that can be missed, it necessarily has
no value, because whether it is lost or
not is immaterial.
This is perfectly simple law of hui
man nature working automatically and
universally. The value Of possession
depends upon the sacrifice required to
obta!n it and the difficulty Oh replacing
1t. The only exceptions to this are the
things OF no intrinsic worth, such as
heirloomD, tokens OF love, or souvenirs
with sentimental associations. Those
are precious but not valuable. The
countless tempting, material things or
life that lure the unwealthy-- clothes,
toys, books, furniture, pictures, mo-
tors, yachts and so on-cannot bring
with them the rul! joy of possession 20
the mar who has but 10 stretch out his
hand TO take them.
The fascination Of the jewelers. win
dow are not for him. He can select
anything IL d everything in the shop
which ne fancies and tuck it into his
pocket without pricing it. His Gecre
tary vii! draw q check for the bill lie
may fancy these jewels, but he cannot
prize thom, they have no endowment
OF charm, because they have been ac-
CURED without effort and could be re-
placed without the slightest inconveni-
ence. The rich boy has never known
the ecstasy of owning a pushmobile
made out Of a soap box. TIE JOY Of
saving and planning for, and finally
selecting certain long coveted fish
ing rod, OF canoe, or set OF books, can
never come to aim.
One might say that the pleasure Of
ownership is only one of degree after
all--that the poor NAN finds pleasure
in owning his cottage and the rich
man in owning his railroad, Poets
have for ages sung OF the joys of home,
the sweetness Of the hearthsde and
the happiness found at the vine clad
cottage door, but have any poets ever
sung the hallowed delights of owning
a chain of rolling mills, or eXtolled the
joys OF the financiCr as he acquires the
voting control OF railroad system?
How can a man of many millions
conceive of the delights of digging and
planting little suburban garden,
planning for 1t winter evenings with
his wlt's eager help, buying the seeds
and coaXing them during the radiant
summer days into fruitage, when the
only garden he knows is the vast, for
nal one on his country estate, planned
and built by the landscape architect,
cultivated by foreign gardeners and
visited by himself for an occasional
after dinner promenade?
1t IS not his, he merely transferred a
few tAo4land for the title 10 it. The
patti>s lovingly into place Of the seeds,
the wedding and watering and watch
ing and welcoming of the first shy
shoots are not for him. He does not
see the timid thrusting out Of tender
green things in the spring, the dawn
of fragrant color as the buds open to
the sunshine, and, finally, the full flow.
err and fruit, nor feel the pride of IA
therhood. of ownership, of possession
as he looks over his garden. Tony or
Mike or Sam have attended TO all those
details! And what a world of joy, of
beauty and fragrance. what peace and
content, what feeling of triumph
have his millions robbed him of in the
unfolding Of thai garden!
The man Of many millions has been
given many things, but he has been
deprived OF corresponding number Of
things which count in this world.