The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1916-07-29
STICKING TO TRUTH
SAGE THINKS IT is SOMETHING
THAT CAN BE OVERCOME.
M,L.s +bs Assertion That II Should
Be Used Sparingy and with lack
and Judgment on Az
Occasions.

"Twicley says he never told lie IN
his life" related the druggist. lie
saws he'd rather lose all he has than
take a fall out OF the truth.
He hasn't much to lose. observed
the village patriarch. Hes 80 poor
the assessor has quit calling at MS
house, and his poverty is largely due
IN hts weakness for the truth at all
times and seasons.
"The truth is an excellent thing. but
il should be used sparingly, ana Win
tact and judgment. Some peopie can
he made TO realize that the truth may
be supertiuous, even admitting lis
value at ordinary times. was reau'
ing OF a case In point tie other Jay
The publisher OF an obscure nasaZihe
in England was surprised ana an
moved when lot Of otiicials visited ms
premises, contiscated everything IN
sight. and took him away tc Jeil. tie
had been printing a lot OF unpleasant
things about the Russian government.
1T Is more than likely that what
he said about the government was
true, and If he had printed them two
or three years ago he would have been
generally applauded and number OF
people would have subscribed for his
magazine; but just now England ana
Russia are great friends, and you cam
hit one without offending the other.
Our friend, Tom Swike, the black
smith, is the strongest man In town.
He also has a passion for punching
peoples heads, and the smallest ex'
cuse will serve Tom never pays his
bills when it can be avoided, and as
falsifler he would make Ananias look
like a cheap amateur. know all this
to be the truth, yet would be unwise
to blurt out the truth in Toms hear.
ing.
You will gather my meaning from
these illustrations. The truth Is an
admirable line OF goods. yet, II man
would get on in this world, he must
handle it with discretion.
Our friend Twigley, who boasts
that he never told cherry tree,
couldn't sell gold dollars. He would
be sure to tell some unpleasant truth
about them, saying they were short
weight, or he found them in the pest
house, or something. He's always
saying things nobody needs to say.
Last fall, just before Thanksgiv'
ing, he carried a dressed turkey all
over town in q basket, trying to sell
it. Any other man could have sold
| it at the first house visited, for 1t was
one of the ,flnest-looking birds l ever
saw. He came to our back door and
tried to do business. l asked him how
old the turkey was. II he had said
ten months Id have believed him and
shelled out the money. for the bird
had youthful appearance. Twigley
said he didn't know for certain. He
bad worked day for a farmer and
the farmer gave him the turkey for
his wages. He inferred from what
the farmer said that the bird was
three years old, but his private opinion
was that it had celebrated Its fifth
birthday.
| MY friends, there's no hope for q
man so painfully truthful. He would
be as poor as Jobs owl II money grew
on his gooseberry bushes. OF course
he didn't sell the turkey. don't
know what he did with it. but he may
hsve sent 1t to one Of the automobile
makers to be converted into tires.
"Twigley is fond Of fishing and tells
me all about his excursions. l have
been waiting for five years to hear
him describe the large and beautiful
fish that got away. and he never says
q word about 1t. Such a man is i'm
possible, in any human society, and the
best we can do for him is to pity him. "
Pittsburgh Gazette-Times.