Evening star., 1925-07-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Newspaper men have several happy
phrases which they use among
themselves, such as What do you
know" as a form of greeting, to
which the invariable response is,
Nothing"
Another expression is ito dig up a.
story" a city editor will tell one Of
his most reliable men. GO out and
dig me up good story" and the man
goes out and digs it up
Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor,
must have been one OF the first real
newspaper men, for in the seventh
book of his Meditations" he says, as
one born TO the profession:
Look within. Within is the foun-
tain of good. and 1t viii ever bubble
up, if thou wilt ever dig"
No doubt Marcus added the sen
tence so often heard today from
visitors TO newspaper offices, II was
a newspaper man myself once" but
the translator must have stricken it
out. for | cannot discover il in my
copy.
Anyway, newspa per men and others
Will find his advice about digging
much to the point He simply re.
verses the ordinary process. He tells
us that what we seek is not to he
found in some Government depart
ment, nor exc in the District Build
ing, but simply and solely within
Within each one of us, he says is
veritahle fountain of good, from
which we may drink of the waters Of
happiness, and this fountain VIII con
tinue to bubble up our whole life
through, if we will take the trouble
10 nourish il by continual digging.
Thus he breaches the doctrine of
effort, of something attempted, some
thing done, which earns nights re
pose. His fountain of good" would
not be such a waterworks If II did not
nave many parts of happiness in il,
for, TO man, good means happiness
Happiness is the universal solvent
we all seek, some one way. some an
other. No one can find it for another.
The only thing we may be rea asonably
sure of is that we will find it within,
if ever, and the only sure way of
keeping it going is TO dig"
4; X X X
''It is very possible to be divine
man and to be recognized as such by
no one"
l
is generally felt that If one makes a
better mouse trap than his neighbor
as the saying has it, the world will
make the much-heralded beaten path
TO his door.
Perhaps this is usually so-but not
always. And when we forsake the
tangible path of material inventions,
for which the world is always ready
to pay handsomely, and confine our
selves 10 abstract virtues, the road
becomes less worn.
Beautiful on the mountains are the
feet of those who bring glad tidings.
said Isaiah. but even he did not take
the trouble to record the names of the
bearers.
So Nero, who burnt Rome. is
known to more people today than
Romulus and Remus, who built it:
more could tell you the story OF Nero
and his fiddle than could recount the
tale OF the famous pair ard their wolf
There must exist thousands OF beau.
tiful souls who never get their names
in the newspapers. Probably there
are many good writer's who never get
printed, and many fine painters who
never get exhibited.
To all such the words of Marcus
Aurelius will bring their comfort: 1T
is very possible to be a divine man
and to be recognized as such by no
one" The world is so busy with it's
daily life, it scarcely has time to
discover all.
Happy circumstance operates in
these matters as in many others, SO
that all who feel the world owes them
recognition which it has not ac.