Evening star., 1923-11-04
Listen, ,WorId! ID
~ Gsse Robinson

7 WISH had taken Mrs. Amos Jack
son to see that movie. 1t would
surely have made her think twice
i before she tells young Bill and
Ethel any more fairy tales about the
pioneers led.
One view Of "The Covered Wagon"
10 enough to convince the tightest soul
that the last thing grandpa did was to
stop. look and listen when adventure
called and that, In truth. he had more
Jazz to the square inch In his life than
his grandson has to <the square mile!
4 Perhaps you haven't seen '"rhe Cow
cred Wagon" It IL the Aim story of
the long 1849 trek In prairie schooners
across the western wilderness Of Amer
lea into the treasure lands Of Oregon
and California.
Such trek! shivers dance q tattoo
on your spine as you see the feats
those men and women dared. A string
Of ramshackle wagons swayed against
a horizon whose lonely immensity ap-
pals-such battered wagons-such slight
women In their poke bonnets and
sweeping skirts-such common, heavy,
plodding men. And yet, those battered
wagons went through flood and fire like
the arks Of God-those slim, frail
women served their husbands and bore
their babies undismayed while Indians
secuted on the heights aboye-those
common. blundering men swept on and
on until they'd planted homes beside:
the setting sun and spread America,
across q continent.
Huh! There's nothing new in
that" you say. IT learned all that
In school," Yes. but how did you
learn It? As did. probably. An Oft
heard tale. read yawningly between
the covers OF q book. A tale that
later was Invested with an added,
dreariness by hearing sermo n 8,
preached about those same old
pioneers. Listen TO Mrs Amos Jack
son II you wish to hear q recital that
would make any normal child prefer
a, lively Zulu as an ancestor to the
dehumanized grandpa she depicts.
F%*
rs there anything thrilling or aliur-
l. Ing about our grandfathers as
usually described? There is not. You
feel exactly as If you'd been fathered
by a cast-iron stove. Caution and
sacrifice seem to be the dominant
motives In their lives. Undoubtedly
they did heroic things. but. II you afe
to believe the Mrs. Jacksons of the
world. they went about them Just as
IL they were taking good big dose
of castor oh. Never did they do a
great feat, for sheer love OF the
doing. never did they Ming caution to
the wind or defy the wtsaaercA And
never, never did they think OF them /
selves 80 = - 81. = p Il
Was this stupendous trek under
taken because they were seized with
the joyful hunger OF the wanderlust?
No indeedy! They did 1t simply that
they might serve their country and
bequeath rich acres to young Bill and
name they bear. Such were the pio-
neers, according to Mrs. Amos and her
ilk. And q more sickening slander
was never breathed than that.
The truth is that those pioneers
were the most reckless excitement
loving, human lot Of rebels that ever
turned the established order upside
down and struck out in defiance of
all caution or common sense. They
were, the very Quintessence Of youth
in revolt!
That trek was no sacrincial pill
grimage trodden grimly by a. band or
martyrs. They weren't laying down
their lives that their children might
live. They were spreading out their
lives that they themselves might 1--we.
Which is the normal motive behind
all human progress. That march OF
theirs was inspired by the most auda-
cious curiosity the world has ever
seen. Their veins were apulse with
the mightiest Jazz that has ever
rocked the universe-the marching
Jazz Of man the conqueror.
4 ** 4
vrHERE IL nothing related to our
i humanity In the men or the
standards which Mrs. Amos jackson
extols. No wonder their grandchil-
dren listen to such recitlls unmoved
or with open contempt No wonder
they believe that their forefathers
were "eticks" and feel that this
present generation Is the first red
blooded one In America.
But with what q feeling OF proud
they would reverence
their names If you told them that
those same pioneers were the rebels
and adventures Of their day. as
young Bill and Ethel are of 1923!
Only they made better use of their
hot blood than the youngsters are
making now. But the Mrs. Amos
Jacksons of 1s4s didn't think they
were making good use of 1t. Read
the old chronicles and you will find
them squealing out against reckless
ness then as they squeal against 1t
now, misunderstanding courage then
as they misunderstood 1t now.
We're doing a wicked thing by 30
misrepresenting the motives which
inspired those heroic men and women.
and by SO .cramping the glorious
reality Of their lives. They might be
a flaming light to these young stum-
bling feet who wander far astray.
But we have smothered the light and
robbed the children of the richness
OF their heritage. Instead Of show
Ing the noble use to which hot youth
may be put. we preach caution.
safety, sanity. But every inch OF
real human progress has been
achieved by recklessness and noble
disregard OF safety. only when men
,werc willing to live dangerous lives.
did- those lives amount to anything
to themselves or their children.
That 10 the true message OF The,