The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-02-26

The time is out Of joint: o cursed
spite
That ever I was born to set it right.
Hamlet.
The time is out of join: today
more than in the age of the Immortal
Bard. 1t will remain out of joint
until men get a true sense OF values
and appreciation of the worth OF
men.
One of the greatest wastes today
is in the glorifcation of human para
sites. .
Take, fo. Instance, the case; of the
person known as Jack Dempsey.
There hardly is schoolboy in Ameri-
ca who does not look upon him as a
hero. There hardly is a business
man in America who does not read
about him. The nation, in a sense,
pays homage to him. When his pic
ture is flashed on the screen in mo-
tion-picture houses, the audience
cheers.
Yet he never did an honest days
work if he could avoid it. He was a
hobo, a bum, an associate of black
legs and dissolute women until his
talents as bruiser brought profit to
him. By defeating the elephantine
Willard he became world figure, a
celebrity.
In the war he acted the part of the
coward and the Stacker. He got de-
ferred classification on the ground
of dependent relatives. No one ap-
parently inquired about the status
of these dependent relatives while he
was hoboing about the land. He
posed as shipyard worker. The
photographs show him driving riv-
ct. They also show he wore patent
heather shoes, spats and work
clothes unsoiled by work. Yet the
faxed pictures of Jack Dempsey, ship
builder, win applause.
That a prize fighter should do hon
est work seems from this applause
to be virtue.
One of the great captains of indus
try sat by the ringside and when
Dempsey won the pugilistic crown
from Willard and was one Of the first
to spring into the ring and congratu-
late him when Willard collapsed.
People journeyed thousands of miles
to see that contest. The newspapers
gave as much if not more space to 1t
than they did the battle of the Marne.
Coutless millions know Jack Demp-
sey, plug-ugly.
Who knows the inventor Of the
sewing machine? Yet the sewing ma-
chine has done more for human prog
ress than all pugilists that ever lived.
The youth of America know Babe
Ruth, who has a niche in the Hall OF
Fame because he is the "Home-Run
King" of baseball. They know Alex
ander the Great, the pitcher, better
than the Alexander the Great who
CONQUERED Kingdoms. They know
Zin, Benny Leonard and Ty Cobb,
but who knows the modest genius o.
Kokomo, Ind, who invented the au-
tomobile, or the Wyoming sheep
herder who took up the airbrake
where Westinghouse laid it down and
carried it to the supreme height it
holds today? Without the genius OF
that man it would be impossible to-
day for American railroads to handle
the long trains they are able to con-
troll by means of the airbrake. George
Westinghouse developed the airbrake
to a point of control on about forty
cars, his successor carried the air
brake to a point where it can control
$50 cars.
Millions remember the lame Bob
Fitzsimmons. Who remembers the
inventor of cold storage? Yet, but for
cold storage, England might have
been starved into surrender through
the operations of the submarines and
the history of the world changed.
The record of base hits in the
National League and American
League is blazoned before the people
spring, summer and fall. The news
paper that failed to furnish this i'm
portant news would be scorned by
the multitude.
But who clamors for information
regarding the master workers in the
steel mills, the cotton factories, the
shoe manufacturers, the thousand and
one hives of industry where honest,
earnest, worthy men are adding daily
to the sum of human betterment?
Who cares for the best record on
tho farm in production of wheat or