The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-26
,opcrTTING TO SAY THANK YOU,
Inc International Sunday School Les
Ion for May 81 IL "The Grateful
o,mariuan."-Luke 17:11-10.
nv WILLIAM T.. ELLIS.)

nv WILLIAM L. ELLIS.)
piding one day in a crowded Toxic
,,.e,t car. | CHANGED to see at my
saef several silver coins, aggregating
~ value perhaps fifty cents. / picked
,bem up and, by signs, asked the wo-
w,n beside me, with a baby on her
bark. if the money belonged to her.
with evident amazement n looked
md found her money gone, and was
@vtdently trying to thank me. My
staDping place had been reached, and
"a rose and left the car and started
m toward Uyeno Park, l heard h
catering OF clogs behind me. Sus
Meeting the cause, I locke around
and saw the woman to whom L had
rendered this trifling service-al-
though that amount OF money was not
trifing to her.
Walking slowly 1 let her catch up
~ me. and she Fastening in ron Of
me and facing me, made a series Of
elaborate bows, almost imperilling the
h,bv on her back. l recognized the
Japanese word for thank you," re-
heated i'm what she was saying to me.
The trifing incident has remained
long in my memory, because it is TAX
inc the pains to say thank YOU" I
could recall, if l cared to, literally
hundreds of experiences of doles given
u beggars and the needy of the
Orient. with never a return token of
gratitude.
Recently I made an address before
a mems club in a Baltimore church
To my establishment, I received short
ly a telegram, more than n hum
dred words long, signed by the off,
GERS of the club and others, thanking
me for the address, n this was fol-
lowed by numerous letters. I cite the
fact simply because of what it shows
about one company Of men. n con-
tract with scores of other COM
mittees, who lost all interest in a SER
vice rendered them after it has been
completed. One regrets to say that
oftener thar not a public speaker fails
to receive any acknowledgment of his
services. The mails are ful of urgings
to deliver addresses but few are the
thank you's'' that follow.
The editor Of Association Men told
me recently that he had heard 8
stranger preach an excellent sermon
his personal gratitude To his amaze
ment the minister replied that thi.
was the first letter Of the sort he haG
ever received in all his ministry. Al
editor or writer could tell piled VI
stories of the persons and causes h
has served with never a word o
acknowledgement or gratitude in re
turn. A man recently issued, in re
sponse to a considerable demand from
pastors, a pamphlet containing sam
pies of certain church methods tina
had been found successful. He spen
one hundred and fifty dollars in pre-
pairing the pamphlet, not to speal
Of postage. The requests for it mum
bered hundreds. The men who sal
thank YOU amounted to less than
dozen.
so modern versions of the Master
story of the ten lepers who were heal
ed. of whom only one returned t
give thanks, might be repeated a.
most indefinitely. The voice of en-
treaty is loud. 1t is surprising whe
the voice of gratitude is heard at al
Of ten helped, it is rare that eve
one comes back to say so.
Why Helpers Are Discouraged.
lngratitude Chilis b~enevOlence
Everybody who has had experienC
In securing funds for philanthropy
who refuses to give further, becaus
Of the ingratitude which he has m
IN the past.
pt course, this is unreasonable, b,
" Is an existing fact, none the les
we should not render service for tt
sake OF receiving praise, but sole
from "a motive of love. Anybody WI
- u ~ tiiC DuSlIlcSS VI pIlIdllII VI
because the music of gratitude sOun
sweet in his ears, will soon decla
the business a failure and retire
dlSSust. Every helper of his fello
men. whatever his line of serviC
should at the beginning make up h
mind that he will not expect graz
'rde aud hat he will not be daunt,
"f deferred by it's lack.
Tho CercmOniOuS East.
In the Orient the business of col
mlnity- life has been reduced to
science. People there have had a lol
tline III which to test the best met
mas OF getting along with one anoth'
lhat is why ceremoniousness preva
IN the Orient The people are polit
uan we brusque Westerners can II
acrsland. a they have fou
p"ilteness removes the friction of |
ana oils the wheels Of human re-
u'nship. Even though much of tn
n~"liteness is insincere and pure
rmal. 1t dOes nevertheless preve
nF4tation n promote the smooth
running of Society's machinery.