Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-11-19
Life'S Problems
Are Discussed
My MRS. WILSON WOODROW

1 there is one there mus: be the other
Everything goes by opposites: light,
! darkness; good. bad; love, hate;
sour. sweet. If we are thrown con.
stantly with the sick We are very apt
10 develop ailments; whereas, if we
are associated with those who radi-
ate health and strength We are al
most certain TO feel like shouting
with King David, Il shall leap over
Il wall"
If we spend much time with those
who are'fretful and complaining, who
have a long list of woes and no de-
cent reticence about retailing them,
it is very difficult to keep our own
pose and serenity and cheerfulness.
Our spirits go below zero in spite OF
ourselves. On the contrary. if We
are with those who are having the
best kind of luck and the best kind
OF a time. we become correspondingly
light-hearted and feel that we. too,
are on the crest of the wave.
| was talking TO an officer of a
transport ship the other day, and he
spoke of this very fact.
Mental influences are strange
things. aren't they9" he began
There we are. a comparatively small
group of men this boat does not
carry troops), and all cooped up to-
gether for days at a time with moth
ing 10 look al but the sea and the
sky. and no variation of our regular
routine. Now. | have seen this hap
pen over and over again. One man
will get up in the morning with a dark.
deep crouch. It's as catching as the
measles. and presently another will
begin to show grouchy symptoms
and then another and another until
it spreads all over the ship. Then
upon another day one man will come
strolling out TO breakfast evidently
enjoying the top of the morning, and
before you know it We are all as
merry as grigs, laughing and kid
ding each other.
Il often think" he continued,
that the people who DO the most
SbOu III tue " VI III dl Z lllN OllCS W llu
get the least credit for ii. 1t is
usually said of them. with many
headshakings, that they have no Sc
riouS purpose in life. or that they are
irresponsible or that they have no
idea OF making their way. rernaps
they haven't. but we cant have ev-
erything, and what a leaven their
laughter and spontaneous JOY is 10
the stodgy mass of fears and dark
forebodings."
Apropos of this. I received a letter
in which woman sets forth the his
tory of a friend. She describes the
girls unfortunate life as a child
when she was shuttled about between
a harsh Indifferent mother and a
drunken father. When they got
tired of looking out for her they
dumped her into an institution.
Finally, when she was about fif-
teen years old, the mother insisted
upon her marrying a man for whom
she did not care. She led a miser-
able life with his relatives who made
drudge of her. allowed her no free
dom whatever and did nuC give her
enough to eat. After a year or so,
she ran away and started ont to
make her own living. She is still
under twenty and her biographer de-
scribes her thus:
She never bothers about anything
I have seen her when she has not
had a cent in her pocket and she has
only laughed and started out to find
I, -. 70 do ha o1
too for she is bright and capable;
but she gets tired of these jobs and
won't hold them. She is always
ready To help anyone and has stayed
up many nights with those who are
i'll. Much OF the money she earns
goes to buy flowers for the sick and
food for those poorer than she. Ev-
eryone loves her for her CHEEKY
smile and the words of encourage
ment she gives TO those in trouble.
Yet many blame ner, because she
ran away from her husband, and be-
cause she is careless and improvi-
dent. Now Mrs. Woodward, what do
you think about it?"
| don't think. What is the use of
having hard and fast opinions about
people? She seems to be living her
own life in her own way, asking
nothing of any one and doing a num-
Der of kind, pleasant thing as she
saunters along. So why should any
one go out of their way to shy a
stone at her? l can't, | know; I'm
too busy.
She is evidently one of the worlds
beloved vagabonds," and is, no
doubt. excellent company. The peo-
pie who t-ke no thought for the NOR
row always are. They are the child
rem OF nature, accepting everything
as it comes, and they are full of the
joy of life. They are apt to be a
thorn, in the flesh of their families,
but a delight to their friends. IRE
sponsible gypsies they are, who can
not be cribbed, cabined or confined.
They wonder along life's highways,
planting the flowers of their gypsy
pattern as they go. Now and again
they turn up at our hearthstones and
fascinate us with the tales of their
adventures
If it were not for them life would
lose much of it's color and romance.
STOCK SURVEY BEGUN
Under the direction of Donald Nc