The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-08-02
SAYS UNCLE CAV

Every once in a While the world mas
need of the services of an inspired ego
maniac There are many times when
the chap who is just burned fool
enough not to see the logic of things
as they are is mighty good medicine
for u.s. He lifts up his unreasonable
voice from the pulpit, the housetops,
from the corners of the streets. POSSIBLY
gets himself arrested for blockadinS
traffic or disturbing the peace, ana in
the process calls our attention to the
fact that the social fabric is getting
rusty and our conventional morllities
a trifie frayed. We know know thai ne
is crazy and We keep him locked up
or look upon him as more or less
harmless nuisance, but We proceed to
polish up the handle of the big front
door and use the vacuum cleaner upon
the corner in which he raised the most
dust Thus our cranks and fanatics,
Super-eSOt1StS all, nave their good anu
healthy uses.
But for all that the big end of the
worlds word is done by men who don't
take themselves too seriously Life IS
serious enough at it's Hghtest and the
man who lives at PIP degrees Fanren-
heit doesn't last long enough to get
down to details. He is with US merely
long enough to impart the big iuea.
If he doesn't burn up or blow up, We
send him to jail, lunatic asylum or
oblivion, and leave the practical appl-
cation of his ideas to men who can
laugh while they live and work.
1t is the laugh that saves. No ego
fist ever really laughs. He may cackle,
but it is only a feeble imitation of u
hearty exclamation, being a CONFESS
sion upon his part to the fool habit of
fools who know no better than TO he
happy in a world of woe. We resent
this attitude and keep the egotist so
busy answering arguments that, prior
to the prison period, We make lead
err out of him. Leaders don't work.
They have their uses, but these uses
are those of stimulants. When We
really make up our minds to get re-
suits, we enlist the great army of COM
mon folk who sweeten their labors with
smiles, at least half of which are at
their own pretensions.
Martha, who was numbered With
much serving. may not have known
how to smile but her sons have
learned the trick. They know t'lat
they are the salt of the earth and
that there is nothing except dirt that
is as common as salt. Therefore they
give themselves no airs and count it
little loss when they drop out of ranks
to give place to fresher, stronger
minds and muscles Thus they keep
their energies for the task at hand.
They gave little thought to them
selves, knowing themselves of small
importance. Hence, they md life sweet
and existence more or less of a good
joke-the joke being on themselves and
the race. They whistle at their la
bors because labor is its own end cad
its own happiness. They do not fear
that the earth will cease to rcvolve
when they quit for lunch and a pipe IN
the shade. They are given to few il
lusions. The job is the thing-theY
know themselves to be unimportant
So they live and laugh and work and
smile and get results.
There is no particular moral in all
this. If you are a crank you'll doubt
less fulfil your destiny and die e;Iori-
ously forlorn. If you're an earthworm
and son of Martha you'll not waste
time thinking about yourself, but put all
your energies into your laugh and the
punch that goes with your job. This
is as it should be, since it takes both
kinds of people and a few drones to
make the world.-(Copyright 1913 by
the Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate)