Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-10-17
TALKS ON THRIFT.
THE TURKEY THAT WOULD
BUILD A HOUSE.

! There is a negro story Of a turkey
who, every time it showed, drew his
feathers about him and firmly resolved
to build him ahouse. But before he
could decide where to build, or what
kind of house, the sun same out and
he would shake out his feathers: strut
around and say to himself Nobody
wants to be in a house on xlay like
this and the result was he froze to
| death one winter night.
There are a lot Of people in the
same frame of mind as the turkey.
When things are going wrong, work -
slack, times are hard, sickness or &C
cident comes and their money is gone,
they firmly resolve that in the future
they will take care of their money
and look out for the rainy day; build
them house, as It were; but as soon
as things right themselves, they for
get their good resolution and the next
time of need finds them as i'll prepar
ed as ever.
Most of us are merely grown up
children. We want what we want
when we want it. We live day by
day. Tomorrow is vague uncertainty
to us. The boy will gorge himself
with green apples in June and forget
that there is a physical law against
eating green apples. Tomorrow he
will find it out, and resolve not 10
eat green apples again; but good
resolution never gets 2 man any
where unless he keeps it. Many a
New Years promise is made only to
be broken and pledges are signed
only to be forgotten. How many a
man has resolved to stop drinking
when drinking brought him in court;
He should have stopped before.
Thousands Of men have firmly re-
solved that they would start saw
ings bank account make a deposit or
two. and then quit. An examination
of the books of any savings bank will
show a large number of accounts
with one deposit. 1t is mute evidence
tain father with two children had
them insured in an industrial insu-
rance company. He concluded that he
could save the money he was paying
for insurance some other way and
decided to put it in savings bank,
and proceeded to open an account for
each child. The first was the last
deposit ever made. The insurance col
lector quit his visits and the fathers
good resolution to save for his child
rem stopped with his coming, and to-
day they are without either bank
account or insurance.
The rainy day comes to every man.
No matter how long it may be de-
layed or how distant it may seem. or
how bright the Sky today, trouble
is bound to come to us all, some time.
A certain young man, full of energy
and ambition, with as bright pros
poets as a man ever had and highly
successful, made the boast that he
never expected his income to be less
than it was at that time; but inside
of three years it was nothing. He
thought he had q life job, and it had
every indication of being such, but the
props went from under and at forty
he had to begin building all over
again. He does not boast now.
The turkey in the story was no
more foolish than lot of human be-
ings. The difference lies in the fact
that the turkey takes what is given
him, or what he can find. We have
the power to choose. We are in large
measure masters of our own fate. The
beaver and the ant have the right
idea; they build their houses, fair
weather or foul, knowing that having
a house you can go into it when It
rains or stay out of doors when it
don't as you like. You are safe either
way.