The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-01-04
Mononaalia Musings

A sentimental sage, q fellow Of in
finite imagination pours forth the fol-
lowing sweet and scintillating sem
fences: christmas eve, and strange
emotions rise in me-golden moths
that fiutter around the lamp of mem.
o7y. Christmas eve. and / who live
far beyond the glowing CRATES Of hui
man ways and have long roasted with
the silent eagles OF ivory on the peaks
of Vision see the old Christmas stock.
the patter of my feet as l leaped into
the bed and went to sleep praying to
Santa Claus. Christmas eve, and
snowflake sails from far away toward
my window pane, and will melt and
die away into a tear, like that boy
that was, like memory itself, like all
that ia and shall yet be forgotten.
A fair maid has made the startling
discovery that It may be all right to
marry an economical man, but 1t is
terrible to be engaged to one.
The committee appointed to inves-
tigate the high cost Of living, has de.
cided that two years will be requir.
ed to determine the cause. By that
time those of us who are not too lazy
can raise a ton OF potatoes and soup
beans.
A man who is evidently out of
Job has figured out that twelve million
one hundred and seventy-three thou
sand four hundred and twenty-eight
working hours are lost each day
throughout tie civilized world shaking
fountain pens SO they will make a
mark.
What the world would like to see
is peace that passeth all misunder.
standing sings cynical sage.
A dapraved wit says that Billy Sun
day took off his hat to Boston and
then passed 1t around.
With an opening Of another year
let us recall this gem from Bayard
Taylor:
How the Sinters are drifting like
fakes OF snow,
And the summers likes birds be.
tween,
And years in the sheaf how they come
and they go on the rivers breast,
with its ebb and its flow.
AS 1t glides in the shadow and
sheen"
The following from Daniel Webster's
"Old Log Cabin" grafton merits care
full perusal: ut is only shallow mind
ed pretenders who either make dis
tinguished origin matter of personal
merit, or obscure origin a matter Of
personal reproach. Taunts and scott.
ing at the humble condition of early
life affect nobody in America but
those who are foolish enough to in
dulge in them; and they are generally
sufficiently punished by public rebuke.
| A man who is not ashamed Of him.
self need not be ashamed of his early
condition. 1t did not happen to ME
to be born in log cabin; but my
elder brothers and sisters were born
in log cabin, raised among the snow
drifts of New Hampshire, at per.
iod so early, that when the smoke first
ed over the frozen hills, there was no
similar evidence of white mans habi-
tation between 1t and the settlements
on the rivers of Canada. It's remains
still exist. I make to it an annual visit
carry my children to 1t to teach them
the hardships endured by the gener,
atoms gone before them. | love to
dwell on the tender recollections, the
kindred ties, the early affections, and
the touching narratives and incidents
which mingle with, all know of this
primitive family abode. | weep to
think that none of those who inhabited
1t are now among the living; and if
ever am ashamed of 1t, or If ever l
fail in affectionate veneration for him
who reared 1t and defended 1t against
savage violence and destruction, cher.
ished all the domestic virtues beneath
its roof, and, through the fire and blood
of a seven years revolutionary war,
shrank from no danger, no toll, no
sacrifice to serve his country. and TO
raise his children to condition better
than his own, may my name and the
name OF my posterity, be blotted for.
ever from the memory of mankind"
S. c. MUSGRAVE.