Evening star., 1925-01-02
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Two curious looking men stood side
by side in the photograph. One had
very long hair, tucked up at the ears
in two grotesque "buns," such as
| those affected by the Moqui Indian
girls, and later by thousands Of Amer
lean women, who perhaps. did not
realize where they got their style in
hair dressing.
The second man was hunchback,
with his head set close on his wide
shoulders. He had piercing eyes, and
was smoking a long cigar, which
stuck out from his mouth in a per-
| fectly horizontal line.
Nine out of ten persons, looking at
the photograph, and not knowing who
the two men were, would exclaim,
Some pair! Look at the guy with
the hair-and who's the funny little
fellow?"
Yet those two men were great men
in their day and generation, which
was not so long ago, either. The man
with the hair was Ebert Hubbard,
famous philosopher and craftsman of
the everyday life, and the other was
Charles ,Proteus Steinmetz, great
electrical wizard" The former died
aboard the Lusitania, the latter last
year.
The fact that nine out of ten men
would laugh at the photograph of
them together shows but one thing,
and that thing very. clearly:
That most men are given to under
estimating their fellow human beings.
We expect king to look like a king,
philosopher to look like a philos-
opher, a great inventor to look like
an inventor
Most of us judge only from super
fetal "looks." and are more struck
by the hair or cigar, or some other
surface characteristic, than we are by
the inner worth of the man.
This is one of life's hardest les
sons-the fifth in our series-to learn
not to underestimate others We
ought to try to think first of the real
worth Of our friends, children. bosses,
employees and enemies, rather than
of some little popularity at which
to laugh.
Understanding those we know be-
gins at home in the daily family life
Little Johnny is not much of a kid,
in the fathers eyes, until Bill Jones
comes around some day, and says
Say, Bill, that is some boy you
got-some boy, that kid-why 1 saw
Then Jones launches into a descrip-
ton of Johnnie's deed. something or
other that excited his admiration
Afterward father has a new conception
OF Johnny.
1t seems a shame that il is neces-
sary for an outsider to point out the
worth of a child before the parents
realize it themselves, yet this is the
state Of affairs in thousands Of fam
lilies.
How many children have their lives
made miserable for them because their
parents continually harp upon the sup
posed virtues of some other child,
The mother of little Jane will hold
up a playmate. Margaret, as a para
gon. 1t is always why don't you keep
your dress clean like Margaret or
Why can't you get as good marks in
your lessons as Margaret?'
The upshot of the thing is that the
very name Margaret becomes a thing
Of loathing to Jane. 1t Is Margaret
this and Margaret that" all day
long.
AS a matter of fact, the virtuous
Margaret is not a whit better than
Jane. In after life she runs away with
bootblack and turns out distinctly
no better than she ought.
X X X
Most people regard with easy tolera-
ton their best friends. Yes, Bill is a
fine fellow, and a good provider, and
all that, but he will not set the world
afire To get down to it. just between
US, of course, Bill is a bit lazy, you
know. and
So it goes.
The ladies have their own methods
Of appraisal, which we need not enter
| into here, as 1t has been discussed a