The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-11-04


Property Of People.
There Is quaint story somewhere In
the letters Of Dickens about two old
ladies' In Switzerland. Their house
stood high, and as they grew older they
found the mountain air trying. Why
not move down to the valley? The
question produced q superior smile. So
easy to talk of such a tremendous
change! Move down to the valley, In
deed! Why, what would become Of
the library? They could not bear to
abandon the library-to leave it uncared
for or to subject it to the perils Of
removal. So they stayed up In the try
ing mountain air. And Dickens, hav-
ing seen the great library, prophesied
that when the poor old ladies were
gone, some girl would carry OF all the
books In her basket.
Every one knows persons just like
these old women-persons who are
owned by their property instead Of
owning 1t. In pleasant little story
from the pen Of very modern writer.
we are given clever study Of another
phase Of this complex little problem Of
the relation Of woman to her posses
sions. Edna, great dealer, has come
to some fame and considerable fortune
partly because she had a genuine love
Of beautiful things. She can hardly
bear to sell her most precious acQuisi-
lions, though selling Is her trade.
Now nobody would deny that this al
lection for beauty, wherever 1t may be
found, Is In its way virtue. In gen.
eral and the abstract man or a wo-
man is likely to be the better for be-
ing fond Of good design and cunning
craftsmanship.
This does not lead you to the hope
lessly irrational conclusion that 'col-
lecting" Of all sorts Is moral pursuit
People may, and in fact they do, col
lect almost any object in nature or
civilization. The small urchin who
amasses cherry stones and buttons has
his exact parallels among the grown
ups.
As far as such uninteresting collec-
lions are concerned it Is plain that de-
duence on the collector. His efforts
after more cherry stones are rather
likely to conduct him into breaches Of
the tenth and other commandments
than to more elevated paths. There Is
no ennobling effect from the contem-
plati0n of piles of cherry stones or
even a treasury of buttons; but, after
all, such collections Of the useless are
still the exception and not the rule.
The collecting impulse is generally ex-
ercised upon things which have some
beauty or grace or intellectual interest,
and 1t Is mere platitude to remark that
people who care for such things are In
general better worth liking than those
who do not
But while collecting" undoubtedly
has its good effects 1t also has some
bad ones. For instance, the man or
woman who begins collecting usually
ends by caring more for his ''sticks and
stones"-that is, his beautiful posses
sions-above everything else In the
world. He sometimes puts even his
wife and children second to his art OBJ
property rather than owning it.
This is obviously vice not confined
to collectors. A person may not care
cent for any beautiful thing on earth,
and yet be wholly in the grip Of his
property. Then we call him miser.
If we are to make comparisons the
collector certainly has the advantage.
It Is q more gracious state to live for
your china or your Chippendale than
to live for your bank account. But
there is another way In which the pas
sion for ownership damages many col
lectors. They want to make property
Of people as well as things, to treat
their wives and daughters or husbands
and sons like the other objects Of art
In their collection.
Again, 1t Is q spirit not confined to
the collector. Most Of US, unless we
are marvelously easy going, have Some
share of it. We do like to have other
people at our disposal, to lay down the
law for them and arrange their future,
to say to one go and he goeth, to an
other come and he cOmeth, to q third
do this and she dOeth 1t. Cynics have
even been known to hint at the hor-
rid heresy that parental love Of chill
dren is inspired and stimulated by this
proprietary interest, and does not sur
vive the age at which children insist
upon being emancipated. In which
theory there Is, as usual with cynicism.
Just enough truth to deceive.
CauIiRowsr Pickle.
Take q firm white caulia0wer and
soak 1t head down In strong solution
of salt and water for one hour; then
take or the leaves and break up into
small flowerettes. Pour boiling water
over these, let them stand for eight
minutes, drain and sprinkle literally
with salt.
Spread the fowerettes out on sieve
to dry. When thoroughly dry I'LL into
pickle Jars and pour over them hot
"a kHok 10 hofI kxxv<,